City Council Awoke

On Wednesday evening, City Council, for the first time in six years that Ed Pawlowski has been mayor, didn't approve one of his proposals. The proposal wasn't actually rejected, but the 3 to 3 tie vote doesn't allow his scheme to proceed. Who voted which way, is the topic of this post. Although the Pawlowski promoted Trash to Energy company was going to charge the city twice as much, for twice as long as a competitor, the RubberStamp Trio once again sang the Yes Song. Worse yet, all three singers, Schweyer, Schlossberg, and Guridy, would like to be State Representatives. Rejecting the non- competitive offer was Jeanette Eichenwald, Ray O'Connell and Cynthia Mota. Jeanette has emerged as an independent voice on Council, but until Wednesday, usually stood alone. Many people had expectations when Ray O'Connell was elected, but it took over two years for him to stand on his own. The great surprise of the evening was new councilwoman Cynthia Mota, who asserted herself at only her second council meeting. I did not attend the meeting. This analysis is from the benefit of phone calls, and two excellent articles by Devon Lash in The Morning Call.

The People's Candidate

In the late 1970's, neighbors would gather in the market on 9th Street to complain and receive consolation from the woman behind the cash register. Emma was a neighborhood institution. A native Allentonian, she had gone through school with mayor for life Joe Dadonna, and knew everybody at City Hall. More important, she wasn't shy about speaking out. What concerned the long time neighbors back then was a plan to create a Historical District, by a few newcomers. What concerned Emma wasn't so much the concept, but the proposed size of the district, sixteen square blocks. The planners unfortunately all wanted their homes included, and they lived in an area spread out from Hall Street to 12th, Linden to Liberty.* Shoving property restrictions down the throats of thousands of people who lived in the neighborhood for generations didn't seem right to Emma. As the battle to establish the district became more pitched, Emma began referring to it as the Hysterical District. Emma eventually lost the battle, but won the hearts of thousands of Allentonians. Emma Tropiano would be elected to City Council beginning in 1986, and would serve four terms. In 1993 she lost the Democratic Primary for Mayor by ONE (1) vote. Her common sense votes and positions became easy fodder for ridicule. Bashed for opposing fluoridation, our clean water advocates now question the wisdom of that additive. Although every founding member of the Historical District moved away over the years, Emma continued to live on 9th Street, one block up from the store. In the mid 1990's, disgusted by the deterioration of the streetscape, she proposed banning household furniture from front porches. Her proposal was labeled as racist against those who could not afford proper lawn furniture. Today, SWEEP officers issue tickets for sofas on the porch. Being blunt in the era of political correctness cost Emma. Although a tireless advocate for thousands of Allentown residents of all color, many people who never knew her, now read that she was a bigot. They don't know who called on her for help. They don't know who knocked on her door everyday for assistance. They don't know who approached her at diners and luncheonettes all over Allentown for decades. We who knew her remember, and we remember the truth about a caring woman. * Because the designated Historical District was too large, it has failed, to this day, to create the atmosphere envisioned by the long gone founders. Perhaps had they listened to, instead of ridiculing, the plain spoken shopkeeper, they would have created a smaller critical mass of like thinking homeowners, who then could have expanded the area. reprinted from March 2010 

Circle of Taxpayer Distrust

Fegley's Brew Works is adding to it's brewing capacity. The El Vee blog reports that later today the pub will have a news conference, announcing the expansion. molovinsky on allentown will go out on the limb and say that the real announcement is that they have probably joined the NIZ circle of taxpayer distrust. Although they may not announce that today, or at all, I have every faith in Pawlowski the GrantMeister, to plug in his favorite receiver. When they built the brewpub they claimed to have reinforced the floor to support the equipment. I believe that the extra beams were necessary to support all the grants and incentives that would eventually be attached to the enterprise.

8th Street Bridge

When opened for traffic on November 17, 1913, with seventeen spans, the Albertus L. Meyers Bridge, then known as the Eighth Street Bridge, was the longest and highest reinforced concrete arch bridge in the world.
The Lehigh Valley Transit Company organized the Allentown Bridge Company in 1911 for the sole purpose of building the bridge. The bridge was designed by the engineering firm of B.H. Davis and built by McArthur Brothers of New York City. Costing in excess of $500,000, construction of the bridge required 29,500 cubic yards of concrete and 1.1 million pounds of metal reinforcing rods.
The structure operated as a toll bridge from its November 17, 1913 opening until the 1950s, at which time the toll was five cents for an automobile. The concrete standards that once supported the trolley wire are still standing on the bridge to this day.*

This iconic bridge is a monument to our industrial history; epicenter of both the cement and steel industries. Unfortunately, bridge is suffering. Weeds and undergrowth are being allowed to penetrate the roadbed. Spalling concrete is not being replaced, submitting the reinforcing rods to rust.

Harry C. Trexler, founding member of the Transit Company and Lehigh Portland Cement Co., was a principle player in the construction of this bridge. General Trexler's gravesite, in Fairview Cemetery on Lehigh Street, affords unique views of the bridge and center city Allentown.
*Wikipedia

reprinted from February 2010

White Harvests O'Hare's Brain

I was shocked when I saw Bill White's Column on reassessment. It simply was a combination of O'Hare's post about Cunningham outsmarting the Commissioners, and the comments that followed. Even White's title appeared borrowed. O'Hare labeled his post of Thursday, February 9th as Cunningham Strikes Out on Reassessment. Or did He? Bill White's copy, which appeared on Saturday the 11th, was called In Lehigh County reassessment battle, did Don Cunningham really lose? In the past, when I took the newspaper to task for not giving me proper attribution on a story I broke, Bill White defended the paper's practice. He said that if the paper independently verifies all the facts, it can use the news without attribution. Apparently, his threshold for using someone else's opinion is even lower.

A Tale of Two Bridges

In the mid 50's, it was a big deal to us southsiders when they opened the new 15th Street Bridge. Prior to that, we had to either go over the 8th Street Bridge, or use the old stone arch bridge by the fertilizer plant. The fertilizer plant is long gone, but the old stone bridge is still there. Schreibers Bridge was built in 1828, and rehabilitated in 1920. The new 15th Street bridge was built in 1957, and is now restricted to south bound only, until which time it can be completely replaced. So the new bridge lasted 54 years, while the old stone bridge is still in use, 182 years later.

Recently, I urged Donny Cunningham not to replace the stone arch bridge on Reading Road. His project manager, Glenn Solt, insists that the historic bridge must be replaced. He stated that stone arch bridges look nice on the outside, but inside, they're filled with "crap." Thankfully, Don and Glenn didn't target Schreibers Bridge, because we're really going to need it with the new 15th Street Bridge out of commission. Hopefully, they will reconsider about stealing our history on Reading Road.

reprinted from November 2010