Chris Kocher's Wildlands Conservancy Dilemma

Chris Kocher's letter to the editor,  which appeared in The Morning Call on December 7, 2014, assured the public  that the Wildlands Conservancy will respect certainly whatever decision South Whitehall Township makes about the (Wehr's) dam's future.  It was of course just a public relations gesture, knowing full well how much influence his organization welded over the township.  In reality, the Wildlands have written the township's Master Park Plan, which called for the dam's demolition.

When the Commissioners were presented with over 7,600 signatures, actually collected at the dam itself, they felt publicly pressured not to give the Wildlands permission to proceed with the demolition.  However,  they declined to proclaim the dam saved, or grant it historical designation. Likewise,  despite Kochers gesture in his letter, he made no subsequent statement.

The Commissioners then decided to hold a public referendum on funding the dam's repair, believing that the public would never vote themselves a tax increase to save the dam.  Once again they underestimated the public's regard for the beautiful historic structure.

Although Chris Kocher publicly stated that the Wildlands would back away from the dam's demolition if the Commissioners voted to save it, he never has afforded the residents of South Whitehall the same respect.  On the contrary, the Wildlands has written the state, claiming that the dam is in poorer condition than the state inspection indicated. It is now morally incumbent upon the Wildlands Conservancy to respect the wishes of the public, as affirmed through the referendum.  After writing his letter to the editor back in 2014,  hopefully Kocher has the integrity to now publicly repeat his commitment to the residents of the township.

photocredit: K Mary Hess

Confederate Flag, History or Hate

Hotel Bethlehem removed a Confederate flag this weekend that was part of a Civil War reenactment wedding. In the last several years the flag has been deemed a symbol of hate. I never associated it with something encouraging discrimination, but rather more synonymous with rebellion. I think that comparisons to Nazi flags are contrived. Although, the flag may have some association with slavery, it is not reasonably associated with the wholesale extermination of 20 million people.  But even the Nazi flag is part of history.  Understand, that during the crusades and inquisition, there were also victims of the cross.

The American Civil War is one the most studied conflicts in history. Its historical sites spread from Pennsylvania to Florida. While I can understand removing that flag from the South Carolina capital building, removing statues of General Lee from parks in New Orleans is pure revisionism. We cannot edit history on contemporary standards of political correctness. The Confederate flag is certainly appropriate in any reenactment setting.

photocredit: The Morning Call

Morning Call article on incident

Are There Consequences To Trump Hatred

I understand that Donald Trump is not very presidential, at least in terms of recent history. He was however legitimately elected president under our system. It wss thought by many that he would win the popular vote in November, but lose in the electoral college. Had Hillary won with that predicted formula, there wouldn't be the outrage that now exists.

Is there a point at which the discontent and disrespect for the presidential election is counter to the interests of the country? Although, I keep hearing the protesters say that they're acting out for love of country, I think that it's more of a visceral hatred of Trump. Recently, several AMA psychiatrists pronounced Trump mentally unstable through the media.  It's apparent that such a proclamation is against professional standards. The doctors said that they felt compelled to speak out.  How noble of them. A judge who stopped the government from blocking federal grants to sanctuary cities has been identified as a campaign bungler for Obama. How noble of him.

Partisanship is nothing new, but this negative attitude towards our 45th president is unprecedented. Professional news broadcasters, who always tried to appear objective, now feel free to join in the tar and feathering.  I do not believe that the current atmosphere serves the interests of our country.

Allentown's Mayoral Race

Back in 2014, I wrote several posts on two people who I thought would run for mayor in the next election, Charlie Thiel and Sam Bennett. In addition to writing about them, I also interviewed them, and ran the subsequent posts on this blog.

Move ahead three years and the primary election is upon us. Beyond clarifying that I believe that it's time for Mr. Pawlowski to move on, I decided not to endorse any one candidate. Yesterday, somebody asked me why I didn't attend a recent candidates evening. I don't believe that it's possible to write about so many candidates in an even handed fashion, nor am I motivated to make such an attempt.  Beyond that, I prefer to deal with issues, not personalities. Rest assure that whoever wins this election will clearly know how I feel on the issues facing Allentown.

In the meantime, The Morning Call has been doing extensive interviews with all the candidates. On their page you can read  about how they feel on practically any topic under the sun.

South Whitehall's Pasteurized Democracy

Recently, the Morning Call printed a letter praising the character of one of the candidates for South Whitehall Commissioner. Now, this is the same newspaper which refuses to print my letters about the township's conspiracy against its voters concerning Wehr's Dam. Although, the residents voted to repair and keep the dam, the township is allowing the Wildlands Conservancy to back-channel with the state, to condemn the structure. While my letter is news in every sense of the word, the candidate endorsement was just puff nonsense; The commissioner election in South Whitehall is only a dummy. There are no more candidates running than available openings. Like the sign pictured above, it is just an allusion of democracy, in an uncontested election.

My readers may be starting to wonder what's with me and this Wehr's Dam conspiracy, post after post?  There has always been sacred cows like the Wildlands Conservancy. However, in the past the newspapers would have an offbeat columnist, like Paul Carpenter, to write about the "irregularities" in the community. After that era, the paper would at least allow a citizen like myself to speak out. We now have entered the pasteurized zone, where no dissent is permitted.

Questionable Integrity of South Whitehall Township

The new edition of the South Whitehall Township magazine, in addition to updating residents on new programs and regulations, features the park system. Among the many park programs offered this summer, in addition to movies and concerts, are special children's nature programs, outsourced to The Wildlands Conservancy. Though many of these activities are scheduled in Covered Bridge Park, there is not one mention of Wehr's Dam.   Understand, that this past November voters passed the Wehr's Dam Referendum. In doing so, they agreed to a possible tax increase to keep their beloved dam. It is almost unheard of that voters pass a referendum which could increase their taxes. This referendum was put on the ballot by the South Whitehall Commissioners to enable the Wildlands Conservancy to demolish the dam. with no political consequence to the commissioners. So,  after having a devious referendum which backfired on the township and Conservancy, there is no mention of the dam in the summer magazine?

The township is now conspiring with the Wildlands Conservancy to have Harrisburg condemn the dam, despite the referendum. I have secured letters between the Conservancy, Harrisburg and the township, questioning the dam's structural integrity. The integrity that should be questioned is that of the township.