Alan Jennings:The epitome of Self-Righteousness

Alan Jennings, like all the self-righteous, feels he's entitled to adapt truth for his purposes, which are greater than ours. Karen Beck Pooley wrote a letter to the editor, praising the zoning decision against Rite-Aid's suburban store design for 7th Street. She noted that although the Administration and The Community Action Committee supported Rite-Aid, the zoners rejected the request for a variance. Jennings has responded on his blog with a rather far fetched defense of his position, and a distortion of Ms. Pooley's points. Jennings chides Pooley for not appreciating the accomplishments of the 7th Street Main Street Program, operated by one his divisions. On the contrary, Pooley actually praised the program's success, and wants Rite-Aid to fit in with all the other facade accomplishments. Jenning's distortion of Pooley's position is only the beginning of his fabrication. He ties the approval of Rite-Aid not only to thousands of jobs, but the actual "Salvation" of Allentown. I seriously doubt if more than a couple dozen people will work at the arena. The arena project is totally separate from other projects in the NIZ, such as the J.B. Reilly office building. Jennings cannot tolerate anything short of praise. He and his organization has been immune from criticism because of political correctness. When you work professedly to reduce poverty and with other sacred cows, I suppose it's easy to become sanctimonious.

Allentown Planning Puppies

The Allentown Planning Commission Puppies yelped and practiced growling, about being asked to approve the arena, after work had begun. But, like good paper trained puppies, they voted yes.* They received puppy treats for their yes vote, just like Allentown City Council. You would think that these appointed and elected officials, especially after having their authority usurped on the biggest project in Allentown's history, might symbolically register a protest no vote. Show me someone on a lot of boards and commissions, and I'll show you a yes man. That's why the directors and executives appoint them.

*The Morning Call/Jan.10/Devon Lash

Dr. Lee County

With Lehigh County moving forward with a possible health agency, I hope they remember the Hippocratic oath to do no harm. As a baby boomer I have been concerned with reports of fluoride contributing to brittle bones. It's my understanding that fluoride only helps the teeth of young children, and can be effectively applied topically, and enhanced through toothpaste and mouth wash. The current director of the Allentown Health Bureau can foresee dental programs as a component of a regional department, perhaps that would be a more appropriate venue to provide fluoridation to children. Although my demographic might benefit from valium or viagra in the water supply, I think pure water should be the regional goal.

reprinted from Dec. 13, 2007

UPDATE: The Bi-County Health Bureau remains a concept, and the fluoride proponents still rule.

The Transformation of Allentown

Transformational is Ed Pawlowski's word for the change taking place in Allentown. What's happening at the moment is demolition. There is an odor and dust in the air. One merchant told me he's fearful for his health walking around; Is the white soot asbestos? Thirty five, one hundred year old buildings, do that. I recall when the demolished rows of buildings were jewelers, shoe stores, opticians and tailors. None of the stores, even the ones on Hamilton Street, harked back to that era. The demolished stores apparently catered to a disposable clientele, whose votes matter more than their opinion. Those merchants, in vain, actually had gathered thousands of signatures pleading for their survival. The bulldozers, in one week, have established that Hamilton Street will never again aspire to be a shopping district. The only question now is will Allentown succeed as an entertainment and office venue? Will the taxpayers be able and willing to support a vision in which they had no input? The official answer will take years to determine. The true answer, even longer.

Allentown Becomes Reillytown

molovinsky on allentown exclusive*
Just as William Penn gave this town to William Allen two hundred and fifty years ago, Pat Brown, Jennifer Mann and Ed Pawlowski have now given the town to J.B. Reilly. Actually, Reilly's getting a better deal than Allen, because the existing taxpayers will underwrite all his new acquisitions. This blogger has learned that with three exceptions, Reilly has purchased the square block across from the arena; that would be from 7th to 8th, and Hamilton to Walnut. The exceptions are the LCCC Portland Place building, and two adjoining store fronts. All other properties are either under an agreement of sale, or have one pending. One of the sellers claim that they were initially approached by a strawbuyer, who used language of eminent domain, similar to the tactics employed on the arena side. Although the offers appear fair to generous, several of the sellers supposedly felt they had little to no option. Although I initially thought that the threat of domain was an idle threat, perhaps it is possible. City Council really doesn't know what authority they gave the City and it's agents, when they signed that dotted line. One council member hoped it wouldn't result in just some rich white guys getting richer; Guess what? Just as the general public was not aware that the NIZ taxing mechanism could be used by approved private parties, few people understand that property taxes will be used if the earned income and sales tax fall short. In addition to the block outlined above, Reilly's City Center Investment Corp., funded by an initial $20million from the City Authority, and a yet disclosed second amount, is buying up both sides of Hamilton, from 5th to 10th Street. Additionally, he is purchasing the property north of Linden Street, to Turner Street. Several displaced former merchants who owned property on Hamilton, will now be tenants in Reilly buildings.

City Center Investment Corp. is a visionary real estate development and management company....We look forward to welcoming many tenants to live, work and play in what will be an inviting, accessible urban community.

Considering that Reilly hasn't been given the keys to the city, but rather the city itself, let us hope he succeeds.

*When The Morning Call reads this post, and produces their own longer version, with charts and maps, will they give this blog appropriate credit?

Allentown Soccer History

Guest Post by Rolf Oeler

America has long been famously known as the Land of Opportunity for those born both here as well as abroad. And so, once upon a time in a blue collar, industrial city called Bethlehem, a local Hungarian immigrant businessman named WILLIE EHRLICH dared to pursue his own particular vision of American Exceptionalism. A feat many of his contemporary countrymen would have been inclined to believe impossible — to capture a championship in professional soccer using a good supply of homegrown players from right here in the Lehigh Valley.

The upstart PENNSYLVANIA STONERS — employing a trio of products from the local high schools of Freedom and Liberty in Bethlehem as well as Louis E. Dieruff in Allentown — spectacularly made Ehrlich’s dream a reality in just two years’ time when the club captured the American Soccer League title in 1980.
Professional soccer’s popularity in the United States had already peaked by the time the Pennsylvania Stoners contested their first league match and Ehrlich, who was named the A.S.L. Coach of the Year twice, would incur financial losses of almost a million dollars in only three short seasons. But the logo of ALPO, a local dog food manufacturer, delightfully decorated the team’s jerseys while a memorable bumper sticker — “Fifteen Games On One Tank Of Gas” — colorfully adorned the backs of many cars in the area to celebrate the shoe-string budget. And the team was triumphant on the pitch most of the time, as well; in short, it was a whole lot of fun while it lasted.
There can be no question that Ehrlich’s long-gone creation left a lasting legacy which exists to this very day in the Lehigh Valley by fostering an affinity and appreciation for The Beautiful Game to an entire generation of fans in the region — including a certain, unnamed 11-year-old kid who would later play his high school soccer in the very same stadium where the Pennsylvania Stoners used to perform and then, many moons on down the line, get his hands on a blog.
The memories are quite numerous and include a special, rain-soaked evening in April of 1980 on which a franchise record 8,300 people braved the elements at the since-remodeled as well as renamed Allentown School District Stadium (which had a capacity for 20,000 at that time) in the West End to witness the city’s own Polish cannon, ROMAN URBANCZUK, fire the game-winning goal in double overtime as the Pennsylvania Stoners dispatched the visiting Miami Americans 1-0 to open the A.S.L. title-winning campaign. The 21-year-old native of eastern Europe had been honored as a high school All-American at Dieruff on the East Side of town before signing his first pro contract to play the 1978/79 season with the Cleveland Force of the Major Indoor Soccer League. Urbanczuk, who also appeared with the Philadelphia Fever in the old M.I.S.L. during his playing days, would become the one and only player to play every season with the Pennsylvania Stoners during their four-year stay in the since-departed American Soccer League.
Urbanczuk went on later that season to score the only goal of the game at ASD Stadium when the eventual A.S.L. champion shutout the incoming Golden Gate Gales in early August, but that would be another Stoners Story for some other day …
Guest Post by Rolf Oeler