Voters' Intent On Wehr's Dam Disregarded

South Whitehall, urged on by Commissioner Matt Mobilio,  has confirmed that they have no inclination to keep Wehr's Dam.   They feel no obligation to honor the voters' referendum of 2016 to save the dam.  They have distorted the voters' intent, and rationalize that anything over the $600k authorized by the referendum, frees them from any such obligation.

During the meeting of May 20, they said if we choose to keep the dam.

   The voters already chose that in 2016.  That amount of $600K was put in only as a fair faith estimate.

During the meeting of May 20, they said things outside of our control  affect the cost.

   The township and commissioners intentionally allowed things to get out of their control, by allowing the Wildlands Conservancy, dedicated to demolishing dams,  to interact with state DEP about the dam.  This ex-parte communication between the Wildlands and the DEP, not mentioned at the meeting, has escalated the repair into a rebuild.

Matt Mobilio wondered aloud during the meeting how they can get out from under this obligation. The board agreed to release to the general fund money set aside every year for the dam.

What Mobilio doesn't seem to understand is democracy... just as voters intended him to serve as a commissioner, they intended the dam to be kept.

The Matt Mobilios of the valley have it easy with a complicit newspaper.  For over three years, and three editors, the Morning Call has refused to publish my letters about the conspiracy against Wehr's Dam and the voters of South Whitehall.

photocredit: Jason Fink

Duck Paté Once Again At Cedar Park

In yesterday's post, I wrote about the Poison Hemlock and other invasive species taking over the creek banks in the Allentown Park System. This is a result of the ill-advised riparian buffers, promoted by the Wildlands Conservancy.

Yesterday morning the park department started to clear cut the stream banks in Cedar Park, the only way to get rid of the invasives. Removing them by hand would require the labor of the whole department, for the whole summer.

The buffers serve no ecological purpose in Allentown, because the storm water is piped directly into the streams, under the buffers.  However, the Wildlands Conservancy never lets specific realities get in the way of their generalized science.

These faux buffers have numerous victims. Yesterday this year's batch of ducklings were turned into paté  and mulch, when the mower went over their nests. For the rest of the summer, the city will allow the faux buffer to grow,  blocking both view and access to the creek.  It's not a good plan for the ducks or the children.

Allentown should defer to General Trexler's landscape architect, and again allow its citizens to enjoy the parks, as designed.

Beauty and Beast In Allentown Parks

My recent photograph of a Blue Heron in Cedar Park has a slight Rousseau quality to it.  The visual element contributing to that effect is the white flowered plant behind the beauty.  Unfortunately, that element is a beast, Poison Hemlock, an invasive species which is taking over the creek bank.

While I campaign against the Wild Conservancy's riparian buffers in our parks,  so do real botanists.  To keep such invasive species from along our un-mowed creeks would ironically take much more labor than simply cutting the grass.  Unfortunately, for the iconic Allentown Park System, the Wildlands and their invasive species are winning the war.  Last week the park department planted 100 trees, not along the creek banks, but 75 ft out, at the edge of the Conservancy's designated buffer border. 

Although I have lost the buffer battle, I will continue to fight for the WPA,  hoping to save some structures.

Allentown truly had an iconic park system.  It's a shame that it doesn't have the will or sense to preserve such an asset. 

A Newspaper And The Governor

Occasionally, an idea or article emerges which pushes all my buttons. Such was the case Sunday morning, when I read the Morning Call's coverage of Wolf's plan to employ the unemployed to track the virus.  Talk of illness, which of those things is more sick?

The Morning Call compared the plan to the WPA era, complete with pictures of structures in the Allentown park system.  As somebody who struggles everyday to bring some attention to these neglected, irreplaceable icons,  the paper's hypocrisy is stinging. They refuse to print my informed letters or cover the current neglect.

In what way could the typical unemployed person be qualified to track the virus?  In what way could that gathered data not be flawed?

Governor Wolf, you're no Franklin Roosevelt.  The Morning Call,  if you want to know about our crumbling remnants of the WPA,  call me.  Better yet, if you're sincerely interested in politics and historic structures, report how South Whitehall is conspiring with the Wildlands Conservancy to override the voter referendum, and demolish the Wehr's Dam.*

* The current Morning Call Editor/Publisher told me back in February that the paper would look into the Wehr's Dam situation...They never did.

Loyalty Bites Browning

In regard to the 7th Congressional contest, I fully intended this blog to be neutral, and probably silent. On that note, or lack of it, I certainly wouldn't be commenting on the primary race. However, with Trumps' tweets... Whatever you think of him, he certainly has introduced that medium into politics.

His tweet on Friday supporting Lisa Scheller was surprising, and certainly surprising to no one more than Dean Browning. Whatever you thought of Browning, nobody could question his support of Trump.

Primaries are usually the realm of super-voters. I suppose with this year's massive mail-in ballots, it might be more inclusive than normal. Browning contends that the Trump endorsement came from Scheller's money and connections. I suppose that the more informed members of his party might agree with that conclusion. However, if they conclude that those attributes are a positive or negative, is less clear to me.

What is clear to me is my choice of party, unaffiliated or independent, with a small i. In Pennsylvania I sacrifice my right to vote in the primary, but the alternative would be too costly for me. Imagine getting paid back for years of loyalty like Browning just did.

photocredit:The Morning Call

UPDATE: Same topic covered by Bernie O'Hare today

Time Capsule

Long time readers of this blog realize I occasionally revisit the streets of my youth, which seem idyllic in retrospect, although probably not at the time (certainly my shenanigans were not idyllic for my parents). My neighborhood was called Little Lehigh Parkway, and it was wedged between the southern top of the Parkway and Jefferson Street. Realtors now refer to this area as Little Lehigh Manor, but I have no recollection of that designation. The self-contained neighborhood even had it's own elementary school, where nursery rhymes of the time adorned the brick (they're still there)

As a little boy growing up, Spanky and Our Gang was a TV program, not an urban problem. When boys divided up to play cowboys and indians, being Hopalong was a coveted role. Our fathers experienced working in one of the most prosperous times in American history, post WW2. Children of Mack and Steel workers could well afford college if they so chose. Mothers could afford to stay home and watch their children grow and play.

Time has been most kind to my old neighborhood. A local leader told me that she is well satisfied with the current city government. The post war subdivisions, such as Midway Manor, remain oasis from the difficulties in central Allentown.

reprinted from March 2009