As a way of explaining why he made no promises during his campaign for office, Lehigh County Executive Phillips Armstrong told what some considered a socially unacceptable joke during his state of the county address at Coca-Cola Park last week about a supposed friend, a light blue Cadillac convertible and a blonde.

Armstrong addressed the issue in an email to the Lehigh Valley Press, “I’m deeply sorry to anyone who took offense to the story, which was told during my state of the county address. … The purpose of my story was intended to demonstrate that many often make grandiose promises in order to achieve an objective or goal, and I have strived never to be that kind of individual.”

He added, “I made my remarks without any deliberative desire to be malicious or demeaning, but thoroughly recognize the validity of criticism toward those remarks.”

Lehigh County Commissioners Marty Nothstein and Nathan Brown sent out a statement about Armstrong’s speech.

“(The) State of the County address should have been a showcase event that touted the county’s remarkable — and sometimes hard-fought — achievements to serve the needs of our citizens and that set a course to improve, to enhance and to grow services and opportunities that make Lehigh County a great place to live, to work and to raise a family.

“County Executive Phillips Armstrong eventually got to that point, but not until he tainted his chance to do so in a manner appropriate to his office by prefacing his remarks with a story demeaning to women — a story that served only to embarrass him as an elected public official and to brand him as tone deaf to the very public, very pointed discourse on how women are perceived in today’s society.”

“We are disappointed that the county executive chose to include his ‘joke’ in a serious discussion of county government. This government deals with the very real issues of life — issues like drug addiction, crime and punishment, child welfare and care of the aging to name a few,” the statement continued.

“Telling a ‘joke’ that characterizes a woman as an ‘option’ to a car has no place in county business.

“As he told the ‘joke,’ he noted that people in the audience were signaling him not to continue. He should have listened. His actions and words are shameful to an office that should be held to a much higher standard.”

According to a statement made by Armstrong in the video of the state of the county address, posted on Facebook page, one of the people who apparently told Armstrong not to continue with his “story” was his wife.

Armstrong said, “As an elected official, it’s important that those who took any offense or felt in any way deprived of value or equity, understand that I acknowledge and take to heart those feelings.

“The public will always be the ultimate check on my power and actions, and I will always remain subject to them.”

Commissioner Amy Zanelli responded by email with comment on Armstrong’s speech. “Unfortunately, I was not able to attend the event in question. Like you, after seeing the press release sent out by Nate (Brown) and Marty (Nothstein), I requested a copy of said joke. None was provided,” Zanelli wrote. “I messaged Marty personally and requested details. No more was provided to me than what you detailed above, despite my pressing.”

She noted that no one but Nothstein and Brown expressed an opinion about the story Armstrong told.

Lehigh County Commissioner Brad Osborne responded to a question by The Press about the incident via email.

“Why the county executive would squander the precious opportunity to share with our community the good work of the county, and lead off by demeaning women and wrongly stereotyping adult men, is incomprehensible to me,” Osborne wrote. “It certainly is a flawed view of the direction we need to be heading in as a society. On a personal level, I am extremely saddened.”