Allentown's Referendum History

Dan Poresky announces referendum

In 1998, the Neighborhood Community Groups, under the leadership of Tom Burke, organized the first referendum under the new City Charter of 1996. The ballot question asked the voters in the following 1999 May primary if they supported a rental licensing law, rejected that previous fall by City Council. This coming May, voters for the second time in our charter history may be asked a question. The new referendum effort is being headed by citizen activist Dan Poresky, and is designed to stop Pawlowski's effort to privatize the water system. As reported in The Morning Call on November 26, 1998.

The petitions were collected by more than 80 volunteers beginning in earnest at Allentown polling stations on Election Day. Burke said 10 or 15 of the volunteers still have not turned in their petition forms, so the actual number of signatures collected might be even greater than the 2,700 names turned over to City Clerk Michael C. Hanlon.

While Burke and the neighborhood groups were organizing to put the issue directly to the voters, property managers were also organizing against the licensing law, and conducted a large meeting, with over 150 landlords.

Among those who received an invitation and attended the meeting was Edward Pawlowski, executive director of the Alliance for Building Communities, a nonprofit organization that works to return apartment buildings to single-family, owner-occupied homes. "The thing that impressed me most was how many people turned out," said Pawlowski. "It was a packed house."

In 1998, Tom Burke said that he wasn't heading a special interest group with money, and that they had to speak directly to the voters.  Likewise, in 2012,  Dan Poresky is facing the well financed private water industry,  and wants  the homeowners to decide the fate of their water system.

photocredit:Colin McEvoy/The Express Times

This blogger was part of the landlord group opposed to the rental inspection law in 1998

Guridy's Selective Memory

Julio Guridy is the only sitting member of City Council who actually voted for the police pension plan, which is now supposedly crippling the city. He now is advocating for the mayor's 50 year water lease plan. Before starting their referendum petition drive, Dan Poresky, founder of Dan's Camera City, and other members of the citizen committee, offered to work with council and find alternatives to the lease plan. That offer is still on the table.  Guridy rejected their help, because residents of the city would not have as much inside knowledge about the city's financial problems as members of council do. He told Colin McEvoy of the Easton Express Times; "Throwing this issue out to the public would be a big mistake..That's why we're here. We know the ins and the outs. We're more aware of the issues because we're working on it every day." Needless to say, the taxpayers would be much better off with Poresky's business acumen, than Guridy's political considerations. Pawlowski, and his wannabe, Guridy, are working against the referendum, claiming representative democracy knows best. I suppose that depends on who your representatives are. Clearly, some members of this council are not up to a decision that affects rate payers for fifty years.  Looking back at the police pension, I'll take Poresky and the referendum any day.

A Citizen Mission

Yesterday, the citizen group opposed to the privatization of Allentown's water held a press conference at City Hall. There is excellent coverage of the event by reporter Emily Opilo in today's Morning Call. The organizers of this effort are a diverse, impressive group, mostly former supporters of the Mayor's initiatives. They include Dan Poresky from the Mayor's Environmental Advisory Committee and Bill Hoffman, former city controller. Also involved are Richard Fegley from the Brew Works, and the Hunsicker family, icons of southside little league baseball. Below is a condensed version of their statement.

  The public will be asked whether or not the city must come to the voters before it can sell or lease any property or asset worth ten million or more dollars. The mayor's analysis is clearly designed to favor privatization. The mayor is disingenuous in his claims that the only option other than privatizing the water is to have a crippling tax increase. The mayor has said repeatedly that he would prefer not to privatize Allentown's water and sewer operations. But, he says there are no other viable options. Working from the information included in the Mayor's presentations plus our own research, it can be shown that the pension obligation can be met without privatizing our water or having major tax increases. We have petitioned council to give us a chance to work with them and the administration to find the best solution and we were rejected. Our referendum for a ballot question in May doesn't mean we have don't want to work with council now. Our request and our offer to help is still on the table.

Fighting City Hall and putting a referendum on the ballot requires a lot of work. Show above is one of many meetings they will hold to accomplish their mission. They are looking for volunteers to collect signatures on election day. If you support their effort and want to help, call Dan Poresky at 610 434-1396, or other members through their website.

Planet Pawlowski

The front page of yesterday's Morning Call featured a story about how the residents of the Pennrose Senior Housing were coping with the constant noise of the arena construction. The Pennrose highrise sits on 7th Street, adjoining the bank being demolished, and directly across from the arena. The construction projects are scheduled to continue through 2014. The Pennrose building is income restricted housing for senior citizens. Interviewed were Romaine Smith, 69, and Carmen Hernandez, who is 71. Also interviewed was Mayor Pawlowski, whose quote about the inconvenience and noise subtitled the article.

"It's a small price to pay for the new neighborhood they are going to have."

I could write something cute, like I'm not sure how many hockey games Romaine and Carmen will attend, but there's nothing cute about Pawlowski's disconnected answer. What the senior residents of Pennrose lost was their neighborhood and quality of life. Around the corner, among the buildings demolished, was a small grocery store, a pizza parlor, a Family Dollar store, and a pharmacy. Across Hamilton Street, and now closed, was a bargain Chinese restaurant. The senior residents, in the sixty three fixed income Pennrose apartments, have no use for the sports bar or high end bistro's replacing those stores,  which served the necessities of their lives. The Morning Call gave Pawlowski a pass on his insensitivity to these people's reality, I do not.

photocredit: Harry Fisher/The Morning Call/October 24,2012

Ballot Referendum News Conference

The ballot referendum committee will be holding a news conference tomorrow afternoon. Although molovinsky on allentown has received an advanced copy, I will leave reporting of this most important event to our local MSM. Tomorrow evening, at 7:00PM, the committee will be holding a public meeting on the second floor of the Brew Works. Come learn the plans to keep this most important asset in procession of the citizens. Volunteers are needed to gather signatures on election day. Pictured above is the water works in 1901, referred to at that time as Crystal Spring.

Regular or Premium

I would like to apologize for some staff problems at molovinsky on allentown. Yesterday, our aging photographer bulked at the demolition dust downtown, and only snapped a few pictures. Last night, one of our senior reporters misplaced his notes. Since this blog is published at 4:30 am, it's not possible to check sources before press time. This incomplete report has to do with the quality of water. Allentown water currently is comprised from both spring and creek sources. When demand requires that the supply be supplemented by more creek water, more chemicals, specifically chlorine, is necessary. A private water company will be allowed to increase selling water to the bottling companies in Macungie. They in turn will demand the premium spring water; Allentonians will get the regular grade, from the Little Lehigh; Except during heavy rains, when because of sewer runoff, the Lehigh River will be used. Bon Appetit.

Those who prefer to keep getting the premium grade through their Allentown faucets might want to attend the Citizen's Water Meeting tomorrow evening, October 25, on the second floor of the Allentown Brew Works. The meeting starts at 7:00 pm.