Gabriela Cecilia Martínez

He said housing affordability is a top issue for him. “We don't have enough housing in the city,” he said.” I want to work with developers. I'd love to do publicly funded housing…My goal is to get 1000 new homes ..in the city in the next 4 years.”

I talked to, then candidate, now Democratic council member-elect Ray Baker. He was greeting voters and handing out flyers on voting “yes” to retain judges.

Thread: Spent Election Day yesterday visiting some of Reading's bilingual polling places to see if any issues came up, but mostly to network and build up sources for future election-related stories. some highlights:

Pennsylvanians are voting in judicial and municipal races today. Here’s everything you need to know. spotlightpa.org/news/2025/11/p…

Council President Donna Reed encouraging residents from other Berks County municipalities to pass their own “Welcoming City” ordinances (thanks to @HannaHolthaus for shooting these clips)

Remarks from Councilor Jaime Baez Jr. before the vote:

Happening now: Reading City Council hearing public comment on a proposed Welcoming City Ordinance that would formally bar local police from entering into agreements with ICE. The ordinance is listed for final passage on the agenda, but there will be a vote on an amendment first.

The city of Reading has spent years developing plans to make its roads safer, but has done little to implement significant changes. ow.ly/YL7s50WFwsm

Asked Sen. Pennycuick what concerns she’s heard from constituents: “Response time is something that we have heard about a lot, that they're not showing up, or they're, you know, so far away, and it's an hour later. ..."we have heard about that recently.”

“Reading 20 years ago, had 216 officers. They're down to 140 that's very difficult to police Reading with only 140 officers.” She also mentioned staffing issues at the DA’s office, “fewer investigators and prosecutors.”

Was just at a media"pre-event" in Amity Township for @SpotlightPA .PA AG Dave Sunday and State Sen. Tracy Pennycuick hosted a roundtable with more than 20 law enforcement officials from Berks and Montgomery counties. The roundtable discussion itself was not open to the press.