The Art and Politics of Lehigh Valley

Usually, when you meet a good artist who is prolific, they are also so versatile it's hard to define their work.  Among many other descriptions, it can be said that Alison Bessesdotter makes tranquil paintings and watercolors that resemble fabric.  She also makes fabrics which resemble paintings. Her tools, paint, brush and sewing machine are used interchangeably, sometimes all on one piece. If that merging isn't enough, she also puts her art on wearables, such as jackets and wristbands. Bessesdotter's studio is located at the Banana Factory in South Bethlehem.

A line on her page says slow art made here.  While her high quality art is made painstakingly slow, our local politics are fast and sloppy.

Allentown City Council appointed one of their own to the controller position, Jeff Glazier.  He was originally appointed to city council, and only managed to get elected with assist from the Pawlowski PAC.  Although his latest appointment is a disappointment,  he creates an opportunity for council to finally rise above its tainted reputation.  Once again council will have to appoint another new council member,  and therein lies its chance for redemption.

editor's note: I have wanted to feature some good artists and history, however, our bad government hasn't provided an opening.  Perhaps some good images will sweeten the bad taste from our elected officials.

Artist's Website

Jennings Remains True To His Mission

Over the years, Alan Jennings and I have become friendly. That's pretty amazing, considering that in 2005, if I succeeded with my long shot run for mayor as an independent, I would have locked him up in the basement at city hall. During that period I started proclaiming that Allentown was becoming a poverty magnet, which was a very politically incorrect thing to say. But as a landlord, I knew how many organizations were fixing up hardcore non-workers with move-in money, and what the long term consequence to Allentown would be. Of course, I was profoundly correct, and the consequences are now very obvious.

Yesterday, Alan had an editorial in The Morning Call, which called on Allentown to increase* and improve its affordable housing. Alan stays true to his mission, and I must likewise stay true to my observations. It is self evident that there is no shortage of affordable housing in Allentown, or we simply wouldn't have such a high poverty level. Jennings suggests that people report both deficient landlords and tenants. Systems are already in place for the landlord problem, and what would you do with the problem tenants? Because I remain politically incorrect, I suggest we need only observe the endless litter in the area north of Linden Street, to appreciate our problem is much more than a few bad apples.

Allentown has become a place with the urban problems of usually much larger cities. That toothpaste is not going back into the tube. While these larger cities have spent decades and $billions looking for corrective programs, solutions remain evasive. I commend Alan for his advocacy, but don't look for a fix, much less a quick one.

*ADDENDUM: Alan Jennings has pointed out to me that no where in his editorial did he call for additional affordable housing,  only that existing substandard units be improved.

photocredit: The Morning Call

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.