Middletown Parking Director Hired In Pennsylvania

Hartley was chosen from among 15 candidates after a national search by Bethlehem. He previously worked for the Mohegan Sun casino and Disney World in Florida.

"He's done a lot in the time that he's been here, and he'll be hard to replace," said Middletown Mayor Sebastian Giuliano.

Hartley was hired in March 2010 to be Middletown's first parking director when the city's parking operations were separated from the police department. He will leave in June.

In an interview before he was official hired in Pennsylvania, Hartley said he hoped to integrate more technology into the parking operations in Bethlehem. He noted that in Middletown, he worked to bring automated payment kiosks to public parking lots and is in the midst of a project to install sensors near parking meters, which alert enforcement officers when a vehicle pulls up to a meter. That allows officers to delay ticketing vehicles for 10 minutes in case the driver went into a store to make change.

"We want enforcement, but it needs to be balanced," Hartley said.

He said he wasn't looking to leave Middletown but was excited about the job in Bethlehem, where the parking authority is significantly larger.

Giuliano said Hartley has "done an awful lot in a short time." While Hartley was director, the city renovated its off-street parking lots, and new parking meters that accept credit cards will be installed Main Street soon.

"One of the things I've asked him to do is make a road map of all the projects he has going so we can continue them," Giuliano said.