Pawlowski As The Messiah, Special Weekend Edition

I just watched Pawlowski's State Of The City Address, and all I can say is,  move over Jesus, Pawlowski is here.  Considering the elephant in the room, some of his statements were priceless. He praised his administration for providing predictability in government, I hope he wasn't referring to pay to play. Not only did he thank all the little people who rub elbows with the unwashed, he apparently summoned them all there for a shout out. Included in his sermon on the mound were the veterans, the homeless, the Syrian refugees and last but not least, the poor.

 Pawlowski, as I have been recently writing, is a case study in delusion. In the speech, in regard to Allentown's revitalization, he said No one bailed us out. That might be a surprise to the Pennsylvania taxpayers, who have to make up the shortfall being used for J. B. Reilly's building boom.

Mayor Ed ended his speech by saying that service should be above self. I believe a forthcoming indictment will show that he put self above service.

 although I didn't attend the speech, I watched it live courtesy of WFMZ-69.

Subpoena and Award Same Week, Only In Allentown

This week Boyle Construction, received both an award from the Chamber of Commerce, and is the subject of a subpoena to the Allentown Parking Authority.  I believe that it may actually be the second  time the company has appeared on a FBI inquiry, the first at city hall. Seems as if the Feds are interested in the new Parking Authority Deck at 6th and Walnut, and it's connection to contributions to Pawlowski's campaign fund.  Boyle beat out other Pawlowski contributors also being probed, including J.B. Reilly, Jack Rosen and Pennrose. None of the mentioned have been charged with any crime. One must wonder exactly what attribute the Chamber awarded.  I had just mentioned in a recent post that both the Parking Authority and the Park Department have been tainted by Pawlowski shenanigans.  Iannelli invited Candida Affa to a recent taping of Business Matters.  She has served faithfully as a rubber stamp on the Parking Authority,  and now has been promoted to City Council.

Although it was my hope to  end the week with a historical post,  this town provides no rest for a political blogger,  as the Morning Call called me announcing my condensed flirtation with running for the state house.

On that subject,  since I dropped out, I have discussed the election with several of the movers and shakers in the local Republican Party.  In my short candidacy, I described myself as an outsider, and that's almost too insider for me.  The values and methods of political parties don't do much for me,  I'll be re-registered as an independent before this ink dries.

My staff informs me that I haven't insulted the Morning Call or Bill White in two days.  Yesterday, Bill White reguritated the Homeless Put Out In The Snow Story.  He repeated a mistake in the paper's first story on the incident,  that the shelter is half a mile away from Zion Church.  As I mentioned before,  the distance is at least double that, and mostly uphill to boot. Hopefully,   Bill will make that walk as research for the next rendition.

Bob Smith Jr. Times Two

Its been a long time since anybody used a pack of matches to advertise a political campaign. Who knows, maybe with marijuana becoming fashionable, someone will again use a match pack to make a point. Most local politicos know Bob Smith, long time Allentown School Board member. Bob also had a flirtation with city council and running for mayor. He actually sat on council as a appointed member when Spinoza gave up his seat. Pictured on the matches is an earlier Bob Smith Jr., who also ran for several offices, including mayor. The first Bob also owned and operated the diner at 19th and Tilghman Streets for a number of years.


I present this short political history hopefully as a transition from politics to history.  I'm hoping the political commotion in Allentown slows down enough to allow some long overdue history posts.

National Public Radio Confuses Corruptions In Allentown

National Public Radio made an understandable mistake Friday evening,  when they directly combined an outrageous state incentive program, of over a $billion dollars, with Allentown municipal corruption.   Again, it is a natural misunderstanding,  considering the amount of money involved and the greed in Pennsylvania.

The NIZ, the state program designed by state senator Pat Brown, did foster a $billion dollar development at 7th and Hamilton.  That incentive program is morally wrong, untimely with Pennsylvania's financial woes, and based on cronyism,  but is legal. There has been no suggestion of criminal misconduct with any of that development,  they have a license to steal from the taxpayers.

Two blocks away at City Hall,  the mayor, who incidentally was not instrumental in passing the NIZ as reported by NPR,  couldn't stand all that money flowing, without him getting a small taste.  He and his campaign manager decided to bend the arms of normal vendors to city service, who are not directly linked to the NIZ development up the street.

So, the smell of all that money up the street corrupted the mayor, and the custom designed development scheme there should be illegal,  but they remain two separate issues.

Allentown's Homeless Under The Bridge

When the Pawlowski's were crowned in 2006, the homeless were living under the 8th Street Bridge and kids were swimming in Fountain Park Pool, both shown in the old postcard above. While the king set about depreciating the park system, and closing the pool by hiring people with no institutional knowledge of the park system, the queen had a special spot in her heart for the homeless. Though her compassion, her new commission had meetings, but the plight of the homeless never actually improved, being shuttled from one basement floor to another.

This year, an imperfect improvement seemed as if it might help. The changing house at the now abandoned pool was converted into an overnight warming station, complete with beds. Earlier this fall, I complained that because of its remote location,  it was actually an internment camp. Little did I know that unfortunately it was worse than that, because the homeless were forced out Saturday morning into the blizzard. In any direction, it's a very long steep walk to the next shelter from the storm. The director of the Conference of Churches, which manages the facility, explained to The Morning Call; "We did what we were supposed to do and what we are staffed to do," It's not the station's job to remain open during the day — even if there is a blizzard outside.

 In a city with a $Billion Dollars of new development, there is something very sad about this story. At the coming city council meetings,  knowledgeable people will address the council with practical suggestions, about how to address this and other problems. Those sitting up on that dais must start heeding that advise, clearly the existing systems are broken.

Pawlowski Even In Denial About Snowstorm

The Morning Call reports Pawlowski responded to criticism that the city never called a snow emergency prior to the storm. He said one was never called because weather reports didn't indicate heavy snow until three hours prior. Strangely enough, the rest of the United States Eastern seaboard had gotten the warning.