A Blogger's Saturday Photography

Alfonso Todd, Fuzion 2012
photocredit:molovinsky

Hat Tip to Steve Esack

I tip my hat to Steve Esack, education reporter for The Morning Call. This morning he reveals that the recently hired public relations officer for the Allentown School System has a history of being loose and free with public school money. He apparently was cited in the past for ethic violations, concerning the use of a school district credit card for his personal purposes; But, there's a much more disturbing question about the article. Why does Allentown need a PR man? Our main problem has been poor hiring, by both the school administration, and the school board. Zahorchak was hired because he had been a Director of Education under Rendell. In reality, it was a political appointment of favor, not a surprise in Pennsylvania. This PR man apparently rode the coat tails of a previous such appointment. Although I recently praised the school board, here's hoping that they dump their new PR man, and the position itself. I'm on the mailing list of a private contractor who currently handles the communications for the district. She does an excellent job, for a fraction of the cost. UPDATE: This story made the headline of Monday's hard copy edition. How pathetic that the School District hired a person for public relations at $87,000, and got this result. How pathetic would it be for taxpayers to now pay this guy to defend himself? Time for both the gentleman and the position to quickly depart. Time for Russ Mayo and the School Board to realize that taxpayers are disappointed that they would still hire glorified bubble blowers in these hard economic times. I now deeply resent my 2.6% tax increase.

Natural Born Promoter

Hamilton Street was hot and barren on Saturday afternoon. When the elevator opened onto the fifth floor of the BreW Works, I entered the world of cool and hip; It was Alfonso Todd's Fuzion 2012. Hundreds of people mingled, listened to music, and saw what was new in the Lehigh Valley. Unfortunately, when I left, the cool and hip didn't stick with me.
photocredit:molovinsky

A Warrior for Israel

After Yizhak Yzernitizky's father was murdered in the woods of Poland for being a Jew, the 20 year old immigrated to the British Mandate of Palestine in 1935. His sisters would remain behind and die in the Holocaust. He took a new name, Shamir, and came to command the underground Stern Gang, which targeted the British prior to Israel's independence. Twice captured by the British, he escaped both times. After Independence, he served Mossad for ten years. In 1983 he began his first term as Prime Minister. In his second term as Minister, he oversaw the mass migration of Soviet Jews, and the airlift of Ethiopian Jews. Yizhak Shamir died yesterday, at the age of 96.

Allentown:Fountain of Delusion

When the PPL Plaza first opened in 2003, the architect envisioned suburban families celebrating the rebirth of Allentown, in the mist of the plaza's fountains; Reality was a low income free water park. I don't know if it degenerated into a free car wash, I haven't seen any water on there for a while, but we do have a new fountain of delusion. Amendments to the NIZ Law have been passed by our conscientious State Representatives. "I think it puts the whole litigation to bed and allows us to proceed with the redefinition of downtown Allentown. This is in the best interest of the Lehigh Valley and the whole commonwealth that the third largest city is revitalized," said state Sen. Jennifer Mann, D-Allentown. Said state Rep. Justin Simmons, R-Lehigh: "The changes in the law will take care of both the local litigation and address and constitutional issues raised by the original law," He said the arena represents an "opportunity for the city. You can't have a strong Lehigh Valley and have its' biggest city struggling." In all due respect to Jenn and Jus, are you serious? Not only will the arena fail to revitalize Allentown, it will make it a hopeless cause for the next 30 years. With the block of stores now gone on one side of Hamilton, the street has become a dead zone. It will make little difference if it's a hole or a closed arena during the daytime, this project already succeeded in killing Hamilton Street. "One of the ugliest episodes in my 30 years working in the Lehigh Valley is almost over," said ANIZDA board member Alan Jennings, executive director of the Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley. "Maybe now we can bury the hatchet and get on to a new day for Allentown and the Lehigh Valley." Alan, let me tell you what ugly is. Ugly is displacing 34 businesses with a white elephant, which has buried Allentown's future. All available resources will be directed to this boondoggle for decades, while the remainder of the city languishes.

Union Terrace Gets Shaft

Timber lined shaft dug to water main in Union Terrace

Allentown City Council recently approved two park items funded by the Trexler Trust; Improvements to both the Franklin Playground and the Fish Hatchery. Both involved payments to vendors repeatedly used by the departed park director. Meanwhile, the iconic WPA structures continue to crumble throughout the park system. Although this blog, through the recently formed Allentown WPA Association, informed the Park Department of the conditions at Union Terrace, nothing has been done or scheduled. This summer, Shakespeare will be performed on the Terrace Stage. Last year, I documented the WPA condition there in a post entitled Tragedy Play At Theater.

Shown above is a project by the city water department. A cast-iron water main runs under the Terrace, feeding the West End from the water plant on Martin Luther King Drive. A private company will reline the existing 30" main, dating back to 1905, with a new plastic liner. The Terrace was built over the main in 1937, and was the last WPA project completed in Allentown.