Did Pawlowski Add To Pension Problems?

Bloomberg News reports that Allentown mayor Pawlowski is helping to create some of the pension problems that he now is trying to manage by leasing our water and sewage systems. According to John Stribula, head of the Firefighters Union, Pawlowski's staff cuts to the fire department created the need for extensive overtime, which results in the high pensions. He blames Pawlowski for the pension problem. "We share in the irritation” of the public about firefighters receiving annual pensions that exceed their salaries, he said. “I’m a city taxpayer myself.”  Because of such overtime, one firefighter retired last year with a pension of $99,289, which is 29% higher than his last salary. The department now is down to 123 fire fighters, from a regiment of 140 in 2006. In fairness to Pawlowski, which I'm not known for, one would expect the union leader to advocate for more firefighters. However, it is also apparent that firefighters and police have taken good advantage of the overtime provision in the contracts. This highest paid pensioner just retired last year,  on Pawlowski's watch.  Pawlowski had pledged in his first term to work with both the police and fire chief, to avoid these overtime pension grabs. The fire chief recently stated that his staffing is adequate.  It's not adequate for the taxpayers if these high pensions could be avoided by hiring a few more firefighters.

UPDATE:  This post has been slightly reworded, to convey that Pawlowski might be a contributor to the pension problem,  as opposed to the primary cause.

Guns and Sneakers

Besides the hole, there are only two buildings standing on the square block; The long vacant old Dime Bank Building on 7th Street, and and the Farr Loft building on 8th Street. The Farr building has an urban retailer at street level. As reported in The Morning Call, for the past two days a long line of young shoppers braved the cold in order to purchase the new Air Jordan sneakers. Apparently, Nike creates a demand by only releasing them a couple times a decade. Unfortunately, the tragedy in Connecticut has created another unintended consequence. The local gun stores are also selling out, as buyers anticipate new gun control legislation.

photocredit:Harry Fisher/The Morning Call

The Weigh-In

                                            Madison Square Garden, March 27, 1942
When they met for the first time the previous March, Abe Simon battled Joe Louis for 13 rounds. The Detroit crowd went wild that the Jewish giant from New York could absorb Louis's punches. Louis had the power of Mike Tyson and the finesse of Muhammad Ali. When it was revealed that Simon had fought with a broken hand, the Madison Garden rematch became a big ticket. Louis knocked Simon out in the sixth round. It would be Simon's last fight.
click on photo to enlarge

reprinted from January 2011

Whose Quality of Life?

According to news reports, last night when the County Commissioners postponed distributing funds for Trail Network Plan, Allentown mayor Pawlowski said "Quality of life issues cannot be classified as unnecessary or frivolous." But whose quality of life was he really referring to? The MLK Pathway represents the very worst of plans for the Allentown park system. The former park director, Greg Weitzel, deferred essential maintenance and put his emphasis on new projects, to enhance his personal resume. The strategy worked for him, but not Allentown; This past summer he left for a new position. The new pathway would pass the Fountain Park Pool, closed now for three years, because the filter pump was never repaired. That pump replacement was estimated to cost $170,000, while phrase 1 of the Trail Network Plan will cost $674,700.00. While Weitzel spend untold $thousands of $dollars planning a destination water park at Cedar Park, the pool at Fountain Park stood empty of water. If Pawlowski and Weitzel had any institutional knowledge of this town, they would know that thousands of kids over the generations cooled off in that pool, after a game on a hot day. That's why the pool was next to the extended athletic fields. Whose quality of life was Pawlowski referring to? The intercity kids without a pool, or the suburban spandex cyclists?  Allentown parks are indeed in need of help, especially after Hurricane Sandy, but not a paved pathway, connecting  one broken and damaged park with another.

Postcard shows Fountain Park Pool, when it had water and kids, before the Pawlowski/Weitzel era.

Heavyweight Championship Of The World

On March 21, 1941, my mother's cousin Abe Simon, son a of Jewish egg and butter salesman, fought Joe Louis for the title in Detroit. Lasting 13 rounds, he earned another title shot against the Brown Bomber a year later in Madison Square Garden. After retiring he acted in several movies, including On The Waterfront and Requiem For A Heavyweight.


Administrator's note: I'm reprinting these photo's and captions in a much tighter time frame then originally posted, to give the viewers more of a feel of the Louis era.

reprinted from October 2009

Pre-Fight Hype

In the early 40's, during the War, boxing was a big sport. Pre-Television, fans would rather around the radio, and hear blow by blow commentary. Visuals were mostly restricted to newspaper photographs the following day. Not unlike the hype for the SuperBowl, the papers would also run photos prior to a big fight. Shown here are photos of contender Abe Simon, who was challenging Joe Louis for the Heavyweight Championship on March 27, 1942, at Madison Square Garden. These AP syndicated photos appeared in newspapers across the country on March 6th. Above, shows Abe and his wife in their kitchen. Below, he squares off with a neighborhood boy.

Simon's Record

reprinted from February 2010