Join the Party

Mayor Pawlowski has told developers concerned about the unlevel NIZ playing field that they are welcome to join the party. He left out a couple important passwords in that invitation. First of all, their project must be approved by the NIZ Pawlowski appointed, connected board.

Pawlowski said. "It's hypocrisy of the highest degree. This whole argument is ludicrous. No one is stopping Rich Thulin or any other developer from taking advantage of the NIZ."

Remember that the displaced merchants, despite meeting with the City and Pat Browne, were never told that NIZ tax benefits were available for private parties. Secondly, J.B. Reilly has already purchased most of the available surrounding properties adjoining the arena block. He did this with $20million dollars provided by the City (ACIDA), which is repayable by NIZ taxes, although it was not assigned to a particular property or project. This seed or hand money was not offered to any other developer, or even mentioned in the rules specified after the fact. With two exceptions, Reilly now owns all the property on the entire block from Hamilton to Walnut, 7th to 8th.

Allentown's Grim Future

In the 1991 movie, Nothing But Trouble, Chevy Chase and friends inadvertently drive into a fictional Pennsylvania, where they are terrorized by a corrupt legal system. A local judge is portrayed by Dan Aykroyd, who rules over a well and mine infested junk yard. The corruption runs right up the chain of command to the state government. Here we are, twenty years later in real Pennsylvania, victimized by fracking and private menu laws. I expect our local government to back down on borrowing the EIT, so that the NIZ can proceed to burp our taxes for private gain, for the next 30 years. Allentown was apparently written off, now sold off, and in the process of being cannibalized.

The NIZ, Regurgitation and Digestion

Mayor Pawlowski has offered the discontented surrounding municipalities a guaranteed return of their EIT in exchange for dropping the collective lawsuit against the arena project. He would use Parking Authority funds to replenish that loss of revenue. This blog has often referred to the Parking Authority as a Frankenstein that preys on Allentown's poorest residents. The Authority already has the debt service of two recent parking decks; The deck next to City Hall and the deck at 6th and Linden, which was to serve the Arts District. What were they thinking and what is the Arts District? If this scheme comes to pass, the Parking Authority would turn from aggressive to predatory. Bernie O'Hare had an intriguing post today that suggests that the NIZ was really authored by J.B.Reilly, it's chief beneficiary. When one factors in the exclusionary fact that only Allentown qualifies for this law, property owners may have been improperly threatened with eminent domain, $20 million hand money was given to one private developer before any guidelines were publicly announced, would a visit by the Attorney General be in order? UPDATE: 9:40pm> Bernie O'Hare in his post speculated that the NIZ would unfairly drain tenants from other office complexes throughout the valley. I question how successful the NIZ offices will really be? So far, only tenants connected with Reilly have expressed interest. Is Allentown better served by the Hospital Network moving to an office building at 7th and Hamilton, or making a renewed commitment to 17th and Chew Streets? If Reilly builds the office buildings on speculation, will we end up paying for the empty space in some way? According to Pat Browne and Jenn Mann, the NIZ rules are too complicated for us simple folk to understand. How many more surprises can we afford? I read several times that nobody wants to see the project stopped after this much progress. Perhaps the taxpayers of Allentown would be better served by a hole in the ground, rather than an unregulated monster stuffing our taxes in a few private pockets.
UPDATE: My comment #6 at 6:40am.

we had success with heydt's hole, eventually the PPL Plaza was built. although pawlowski's hole would be much bigger, and have cost much more, eventually private developers would build real buildings for a real market. with hockey only 40 nights a year, and the Sands already having booked first rate acts as a draw to their casino, the arena is doomed to failure. the hotel is a moronic pipe dream. who would want to deal with 7th and hamilton for a medical appointment? after 5 years of failure, the arena authority will hire a new manager. in 10 more years, allentown will tear it down. i prefer leaving an expensive hole.

Forsaking the Children

Long time readers of this blog know that on several occasions I have identified Alan Jennings with hypocrisy. I generally stand alone with this accusation; Most people do not have my combination of institutional memory, independence and total lack of political correctness. Jennings' enterprises concern the poor and minorities, sacred cows among the diplomatic. I don't suffer self delusion well; On that note, CUNA (Congregations United for Neighborhood Action) is going to meet with Pawlowski* about the benefits and housing that the arena's NIZ can bring to low income residents of center city. What doesn't CUNA understand? The intention of the arena is to push that demographic away from 8th and Hamilton. City Center Investment Corporation speaks only of upscale apartments in phase 2. CUNA is an naive Johnny Come Lately, asking to be told lies. Enough of this sweet talk, back to Jennings. He published a commentary in the Easton Express, urging the suburbs to support the arena project. Jennings is a member of the NIZ Board. As such, I would think he should concern himself with it's just implementation, and leave the defending and promoting to the paid professionals. Previously, I took Jennings to task about using government money to train minority entrepreneurs, while standing silently by, while 34 minority businesses were displaced for the Palace of Sport. He now ignores the fact that J.B. Riley will be using over $7 million in cigarette tax to fund his speculative office buildings. Those millions would normally be going to fund CHIP, providing health insurance for low income children. I understand that Jennings is motivated to use his prestige to curry favor with grantmeisters, such as Pawlowski and Browne; But, when he promotes a program which has forsaken the poor, especially the children, he's putting his organization's budget ahead of it's mission.

*by Devon Lash/The Morning Call/April 8, 2012

The Life of Riley

The situation comedies of the 50's had a common theme. The father would have to resolve some family commotion within 30 minutes, but back then 30 minutes was longer, there were many less commercials. Diversity was limited to social-economic circumstances. Ozzie Nelson lived in an idealized suburban house and had all day to find the solution. Riley worked in factory, lived in a duplex, and had to do his conflict resolution after work.

Conflict is no stranger to this blog, often only lubricated by turmoil. Though usually dissecting Democrats, I have also bickered with the remnants of the local Republican party. Seems the remnants resented it when I revealed that the majority of homeowners in the West Park area were opposed to the Historic District, imposed upon them a decade ago. They can't understand why the opposers didn't attend their coffee clutches at the time; They say that they would have dropped the plan if only they knew. They didn't offer that option back then, to the standing room only protesters, at the City Council Meetings.

William Bendix, as Riley, would end every episode by saying "What a revolting development this turned out to be!", pretty much like Allentown.

UPDATE: This post is adapted from April 2009. In retrospect, they were the good old days. An outrage at that time was having an historic district imposed on a neighborhood. Now, we have a mayor who takes an entire square block, tears it down, and burdens the community with $200 million in debt, with no public input what-so-ever. What a revolting development this turned out to be.

Passover Libel

German Nobel Literature Laureate and former SS officer Gunter Grass, has been banned from Israel, not that he wants to go there anyway. In a new poem published last week , he wrote "the nuclear power Israel is endangering an already fragile world peace." Israel and world Jewry no longer suffer this sort of distortion well. "The Germans will never forgive the Jews for Auschwitz." The sentence is attributed to Israeli psychoanalyst Zvi Rex. He believes that Germans are filled with pathological guilt and shame about the Holocaust, and turn Israel " into a punching bag to purge their guilt complexes. " Grass believes that Israel is a threat to Iran, and Germany could be a “supplier to a crime” in connection with it's decision to supply Israel with a sixth Super Dolphin-class submarine. Emmanuel Nahshon, deputy chief of mission for the Israeli Embassy in Germany, said, “what must be said is that it belongs to the European tradition to accuse the Jews of ritual murder before the Passover celebration.”