Voters Needed

Although a mayoral year in Allentown, the turn out for Tuesday's election may be light. Are the voters dissatisfied with Pawlowski enough to come out and support Phillips? If their not motivated by the top of the ticket, will they come out for the bottom? In the local media, both main stream and the blogosphere, the drums have been beating, but is more than the choir listening? I took this photograph of Lou Hershman at one of his several press conferences. It's hard to imagine a more dedicated man offering his service to the city.

Media and Democracy

In 2005, mayoral candidate Ed Pawlowski gave a press conference at a house in the 400 block of Liberty Street. He praised the renovated house being occupied, as typifying his vision of Allentown moving forward. The Morning Call reporter, Daryl Nerl, wrote a glowing story. I decided to research the property. It turns out that the house was passed back and forth between two low income housing agencies for six years. (Pawlowski had been Director of the Alliance for Building Communities, a low income housing agency). After the six years it was "sold" to a low income couple who defaulted on the easy loan, but also destroyed the renovated house in the process. After six more years, two more agencies, and another renovation, Pawlowski gave his press conference.

At my press conference, also attended by the media, I spelled out the problem; Twelve years, no taxes, two renovations and two unqualified "buyers" attracted to Allentown by these give away programs at the expense of the tax paying homeowners. Channel 69 ran the story, but nothing in the Morning Call. I asked Daryl if he thought the story would resonate with the public? He replied that it certainly would. I asked if he was going to print the story before the election? The story never appeared.

photo: Channel 69, Liberty Street Press Conference

2005 Campaign Revelation

In 2005, when I ran for Mayor, I felt that my campaign was suppressed by the Morning Call reporter, Daryl Nerl. Now, four years later, Mr. Nerl and I discussed this subject yesterday at O'Hare's Ramblings. I have posted about this at Poliblog. Although I will accept no comments here, please feel free to comment at Poliblog.

Lost Treasures of Allentown

The Boat Landing Project has been completed. A total of nine different people worked on two separate occasions to clear away almost forty years of neglect and reveal this gift from the WPA. Although everybody deserves recognition, without the energy and enthusiasm of Chris Casey, the project could not have been completed. Let me elaborate on "completed." The landing at the bottom of the steps has been completely cleared.

The remainder of the landing, which is narrower and both to the right and left of the stairway area, remains unreclaimed. The photographer in me would have liked to document our accomplishment with a picture taken from the Island, which would provide the best vantage point. Before the Landing became abandoned, the Island was also a destination. A walk bridge took park visitors to a well kept spot, which sported benches and picnic tables. We lost the bridge and Island about the same time the Landing was discarded.

In 1981, long time Park Czar Donald Marushak, wrote a history of General Trexler. By 1985 he had pursauded the Trust to petition the Court to tear down the Trexler Greenhouse. The petition was necessary because Trexler's will specifically protected and funded the perpetual care of that treasure. He promoted this scheme to save money, but the same year he spent $750,000 to plant the riparian buffer in the southeast corner of Trexler Park. Ironically, that same year, Longwood Gardens built their new greenhouse for $750,000. It was during Marushak's tenure that both the Boat Landing and Island were abandoned. He is also responsible for not replacing the water edge willow trees and starting the practice of indiscriminately planting trees in the destinated open spaces.

Now, under another Park Director, the open space at Cedar Park will be replaced with multiple paved walkways. Perhaps in the future, another writer will take the current Trexler Trust to task for their lack of stewardship.

Prolonging the Pain

Over the weekend, Morning Call reporters Renshaw and Baxter shined the spotlight on State Act 44, which allows municipalities the option of extending the payment schedule on pension contributions. Locally, only Allentown's Mayor Pawlowski seeks to take advantage of this election time ploy, recently crafted as a gift from Harrisburg. To his credit, Controller Bill Hoffman has stepped forward to City Council and denounced this ploy for what it is, a bad idea which prolongs the pain.

ADDENDUM 5:30am: I just discovered that one of the nightshift bloggers, LVCI, also covered this revolting development.

Allentown Parks, The Real Deal

Separating the truth from myth about the Allentown Parks isn't easy. Although there is no question that by the early 1940's we had one of the finest park systems in the country, how it got to be that way has become clouded by the largeness of Harry C. Trexler. Here was a man who was encouraged to raise Buffalo by none other than Buffalo Bill himself. Trexler was one of the most wealthy men in the country and had a hunting retreat at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which was where he met Buffalo Bill Cody. Years later he was encouraged by his friend, George H. Hardner, to donate his various retreats to the public. These places are now known as Hickory Run State Park, Trexler-Lehigh County Game Preserve and the Fish Hatchery. George Hardner was a major Contractor of that era, among the many things he built was William Allen High School and The Tilghman Street Bridge.

The General and his wife had no children, he was killed and she had died within one year (1933-1934). His will provided for a Trust of well over ten million dollars, now over 100 million, to maintain the Allentown Park System, among other missions. Over the years he has become known as the father of our iconic park system. Most of us assume he donated most of the land for our parks. He did create the first park in Allentown, West Park, dedicated in 1909. In 1922, a national magazine published a story about Allentown, it was not too flattering. It described our park system as being limited to boulevard with a few plants hanging from the street lights.

What we now know as our iconic park system was then began out of embarrassment by Trexler and our city fathers.*

Harry Trexler donated 30.5 acres for Lehigh Parkway. The City then assembled 350 more acres from 20 separate parcels to create the park. At the same time twelve properties were acquired to create Cedar Creek Park. Altogether 450 acres of land was acquired and the park system was started.

* Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Internal Affairs, Vol. 6, No. 2, July 1938