An Eminent Domain Failure

During the early 1970's, Allentown demolished the entire neighborhood between Union and Lawrence Streets. It was, in a large part, home to the black community. How ironic that we destroyed the cohesion of a neighborhood, but renamed Lawrence Street after Martin Luther King. The only remnant of the neighborhood is the St. James A.M.E. Church. Going up the hill today we now have a vacant bank call center on the east, and the Housing Authority Project on the west. A whole neighborhood existed in from both sides of Lehigh Street, including black owned shops. The houses were old and humble, but people owned them, many for generations. Some blacks at the time wondered if the project was Urban Renewal or Negro Removal?
above reprinted from January 24, 2011 (then titled Downhill on Lehigh Street)

You don't have to go far from Hamilton Street to see an eminent domain failure; Only several blocks and 40 years. Fortunately, for our imported leaders, memory of this debacle has faded. Allentown now wants to discard the most historic mercantile block of Hamilton Street, so that an out of state developer can force feed hotdogs to people from Catasauqua, at minor league hockey games.

A Promise Kept

Irena Sendler was 30 in 1940, when the 400,000 Jews of Warsaw were herded into the ghetto and sealed off in the first step of the plan to exterminate them. In late 1942, after 280,000 had been deported to the death camp Treblinka, Sendler and others formed Zegota, a Polish underground council to aid the Jews. Sendler's heart-rending mission, was to explain to a Jewish mother, that the only possible way to save her child was to give the boy or girl over to her. She promised that after the war she would try to reunite the families. The children were secreted in convents, orphanages and with Polish families. Captured by the Nazi's and tortured, she was freed by the underground on her way to be executed. She had put the name of each child on a slip of paper, and buried them in a jar for safekeeping. After the war she did attempt to reunite the families, but almost all the parents had perished. Irena Sendler's remarkable courage has become widely known because of ninth grade school project in Kansas, Life in a Jar.

A Better Arena Site

As a boy growing up three blocks from the Mack assembly plant, I was always fascinated by the giant doors at the S. 12th and Lehigh Street end. Only recently did I learn that Catalina Flying Boats were assembled there during the War (Second World). What I did see everyday was endless Mack trucks, in every color, filling the huge yard next to the plant. They would be driven away, piggyback, to destinations all over the country. That plant has been gone now about fifty years, with only the footprint still visible in the above photo. Since that time, Route 78 now intersects with Lehigh Street, 1.5 miles away. Imagine a public arena fronting on a major road, with easy access to a main highway. Ed Pawlowski probably doesn't know about the old Mack parcel, but he's welcome to use the idea. It sure beats destroying center city with an illegal arena. I do think it's illegal; At Wednesday's meeting, City Council indicated it had full knowledge of the arena plans. This secret knowledge allowed them to approve the location, and permit eminent domain with no due diligence between the first reading of the resolution and the passing of the vote. Although public comment was permitted, there was no public input or discussion. In an unusual move, the City Solicitor was there, instead of an assistant. Despite Attorney Snyder's presence, there appears to be multiple violations of the Sunshine Act of 1976.

UPDATE: Councilman Michael Donovan elaborates on Arena

Sign electronic petition against eminent domain

Pawlowski Muscles Redevelopment Authority

Although Pawlowski effectively gutted the Redevelopment Authority earlier this year by de-funding it's director, that agency is still fighting for survival. Here we see a City Solicitor dress down an attorney for the Agency, at the apparent amusement of City Council. Despite the solicitor's overbearing, the assessment record does show the Redevelopment Authority as owner. I have added two more short video's by Grounzero's Imantrek at the bottom of Pawlowski's Sham, two posts ago. Apparently, citizens of Allentown don't deserve much in the way of democracy.

Our School Taxes for Hockey Arena

Guest Post by David Fehr Zimmerman
Sports Arena Financing through the NIZ (Neighborhood Improvement Zone)
An article on the WFMZ web site, perhaps, provides some insight into this issue(March 3, 2011 - Jocelyn Moes).
It refers to the establishment of a Neighborhood Improvement Zone empowered inHB 1614 THE FISCAL CODE - OMNIBUS AMENDMENTS Act of Oct. 9, 2009, P.L.537, No. 50 Cl. 72 Session of 2009 No. 2009-50 ARTICLE XVI-B as a financing mechanism for this project.The articles states:"A majority of the project will be paid for by the creation of a 130-acre Neighborhood Improvement Zone, or NIZ.""It essentially is a self-financing part of the project because what you will use are future tax receipts that the project generates to pay for the debt service for the project's existence," said Mann, who added that sales and use taxes, state income taxes, and property taxes could all be used as long as they're generated within the130 acres."That could include not only the arena, but surrounding homes and businesses."Mann said people in the NIZ zone wouldn't be paying any more taxes than they normally pay. The money would just be going directly to pay off the project." Instead of being collected and going to their normal coffers, those taxes generated from the facility will be redirected towards debt service on the facility," said Mann.From my review of the legislation it is unclear as to exactly what tax revenues will be included relative to real estate. I am waiting to hear from Pat Browne's legal staff on this issue. It is critical to consider Mann indicating the list of taxes that "could be used as long as they are generated within the 130 acres".Within a 409 meter radius of the center of the block proposed for development,approximately the same area as 130 acres, there are approximately 708 structureand/or land parcels with an assessed value of approximately $88,823,000.If property taxes are included the property tax liability to the school district could beapproximately $4,049,618. The city is $1,533,874 and the county is $1,056,994 A sizable sum given the current financial condition of the state, county, city and school district of Allentown. If the property taxes are ear marked for diversion the school district may need tocome up with another $4,000,000 to balance the budget as declared by the new authority? This year or next? I question if we could end up trading education for economic development? I hope the reference by Ms Mann to property taxes in the WFMZ article is a misstatement. It seems to me the enactment of this bill and the development of this project could result in the diversion of tax dollars to pay the debt services on the financing of a development for entertainment based services without any real regard for the state of the other entities and the economy. Could this really happen?
Channel 69 Article
Google Map-130 Acre Area
List of NIZ properties and tax liability calculations
Act 50-2009
title and photograph added by molovinsky

Pawlowski's Sham

Chester is a city plagued by high levels of poverty and crime rates. Elected officials promise that a soccer stadium, financed heavily by taxpayer dollars, will be part of solving Chester's economic woes. Governor Rendell said, "I believe this guarantees that Chester will be one of the first-class cities in Pennsylvania."

Yet economic research finds that athletic stadiums do not result in economic growth. Economist Phillip Miller demonstrated in his empirical study of St. Louis that stadium construction has no net effect on employment. Economics professor Ian Hudson found similar evidence. Other studies, including Dennis Coates and Brad Humphrey's analysis, "The Stadium Gambit and Local Economic Development," are even more pessimistic. Coates and Humphrey go beyond claiming that stadium development has no benefit for local economic development, concluding that projects actually have a negative effect on real per-capita income.

Politicians have a penchant for giving handouts to new facilities. They seem to believe they can hoodwink voters with a façade of progress. Construction offers the illusion of economic progress, and ceremonies to award tax dollars for new projects make elected officials look and feel like they are helping their constituents. But sports stadiums represent more “political development” for lawmakers than economic development for citizens.

The plan sounded great... build a midsize arena, stuff it with sports, music acts and monster trucks and create a centerpiece for the new city center...But trouble started almost from the day the doors of Santa Ana Star Center opened in 2006. Arena in New Mexico

Chester is poised to experience what other communities across the country have learned: athletic parks are no panacea for community revitalization. The benefits of sports stadiums are grossly over-sold by politicians and become extremely costly to taxpayers.

The enthusiasm of elected officials to build a soccer stadium in Chester is misguided, at best. At worst, it represents a waste of taxpayer dollars and an economic sham. It is unfortunate that political calculations are trumping sound public policies that would foster real economic growth and true revitalization in Chester. Reducing the tax and regulatory burdens on job creators would bring more lasting improvements to Chester. Harrisburg’s corporate welfare is a flagrant foul and deserves a “red card” from all taxpayers.

The above article excerpted from The Commonwealth Foundation
Update on Chester Stadium: Portrait of a boondoggle
WATCH RUMBLE AT CITY COUNCIL




video's created by IMANTREK for Grounzero Magazine