Rumble In Harrisburg

Last night the Pa. General Assembly passed a resolution setting aside Governor Wolf's emergency measures concerning shutdowns and re-opens in the state.  While it goes without saying that Wolf will not sign the proclamation,  what rule of law it has seems to be in dispute, and headed for court.

One thing is certain, there has been substantial lost to local commerce because of the virus.  The Morning Call reports that the Bayleaf,  a fixture on Hamilton Street for three decades, will not reopen.  A member of Allentown Chronicles reports that the Ritz,  part and parcel of the fairgrounds, will also be closing.

Locally,  our Harrisburg elected officials voted along their party lines on the resolution.

Shown above was my campaign sign as an independent in 2014.  I ran in the race against eleven term Republican incumbent Julie Harhart and a Democratic opponent.  Pennsylvania doesn't elect independents, and stays with incumbents.

It will be a hard recovery.

An Allentown School Primer

While Morning Call readers learned yesterday that Allentown School superintendent Russ Mayo would not be seeking another contract, molovinsky readers already knew that since early last week. However, today's post is a lesson in recent history. Before Mayo, the superintendent was John Zahorchak. The board that hired him thought very highly of themselves for that choice. Zahorchak was former Secretary of Education under Rendell. What the board didn't realize was that while the Rendell administration was a case study in cronyism, it was not concerned with expertise. Zahorchak came to town and turned the school system inside out, and upside down. He instituted every new concept ever written in the education magazines. Among one bad move after another, he transfered Allen High's very effective principal to desk job on Penn Street. In wake of the mess, the board was then glad to hire Mayo, who was familiar with the system before the chaotic changes.

Allentown School System has been suffering from the same problems which affect all urban systems with high poverty rates.  Why the board thinks that a new superintendent will change the parameters of that reality escapes me.  The district just announced that there will be another year with no tax increase, which would be considered welcome news in most communities.

Now some older history;  Shown above is Dorothy Taliaferro, as pictured in the 1920 Allentown High School yearbook.  Dorothy was a vocal supporter for woman suffrage, and hoped to become a doctor. She was the first black girl to graduate from Allentown.  Although Dorothy did not fulfill that career ambition,  she had two younger brothers who did become physicians.  The family lived at 450 Union Street, which was later demolished in one of Allentown's misguided urban renew projects.

Thanks to Dan Doyle, for loan of the 1920 Comus. 

UPDATE JUNE 9, 2020: This post is a reprint from 2016, which now seems like the good old days. Under the current superintendent, Thomas Parker, the district is in a financial hole so deep that no tax increase is no longer an option. Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic has caused another difficulty, not seen since Dorothy Talisferro attended Allentown High in 1918.

Allentown Money Tree

When Allentown first announced that they would be handing out $ 1/2 million dollars of federal aid to small businesses as part of the Covid-19  stimulus program, I expressed some doubts about how it would be distributed.

The handout is now complete, and the Morning Call linked to the recipient list.  Although I don't have issue with the majority of the beneficiaries,  ten of them do have this tax payer shaking my head.

These ten I consider either professionals, or others not really affected by the shut-down.  I will not mention names, but rather professions.

                                 1. Ob/Gyn MD
                                 2. Optometrist
                                 3. Podiatrist
                                 4. Chiropractor
                                 5. Lawyer
                                 6. Architect
                                 7. Surveyor
                                 8. Radio Station
                                 9. Translator (who works from home)
                                10. Accountant

Each of the above received $5,000 dollars, except the Chiropractor, who got $4,600.

I wonder if a blogger would be eligible?

Accommodating Reillyville In Allentown

Center City Reillyville, aka Allentown, will close the streets to accommodate Reilly's restaurants. With only a few exceptions,  all the restaurants are owned by Reilly's Hospitality Group, contained in Reilly's buildings, and paid for with our state taxes.

There is a small restaurant on N. 2nd Street that I sometimes patronize. Don't except to see 2nd Street closed to accommodate them.  There is a third generation sandwich shop on the south side, which fought for years to get a few limited time parking signs for its customers. Don't expect to see that street closed. Don't expect to see any other restaurant, in any other part of the city accommodated.

When it comes to an equal playing field,  Allentown doesn't even own a level.

The Morning Call is promoting the street closings, as they have every new building by Reilly.  They never question the occupancy rates of the Strata apartments, despite no lights or people.  They never question the state taxes being diverted...  They themselves are now Reilly tenants.

Except for some occasional scrutiny by this naysayer blogger,  all is well in Reillyville.

A South Whitehall Commissioner On The Hot Seat

South Whitehall Commissioner Matt Mobilio got himself in trouble the other day about Trump. He apparently posted on facebook that people who support Trump, should be hung for treason.

Although a number of his constituents requested that he resign because of the statement, he declined. He and others feel that such statements are within his right. I also had an issue with Matt, and I posted about it last week.

During a discussion about Wehr's Dam, he wondered how the commissioners could get out from under the obligation to keep it.

That obligation is from the Wehr's Dam Referendum of 2016, when the voters decided that they wanted the township to retain the dam, even through it would cost $600,000, That figure at the time was based on an engineering estimate of possible repairs, plus a hefty increase. The referendum itself wasn't designed to save the dam, but rather condemn it, with no political consequence to the commissioners at the time. Lo and behold, the iconic dam meant so much to the residents, that they voted to keep it anyway. That vote caused the Wildlands Conservancy to go back to their scheming, and inform the Pennsylvania DEP that they know of more problems and expenses, that could be foisted upon the structure.

The current township director of public works, himself no friend of the dam, but rather the Conservancy, has in turn not defended the structure with the state. With the dam being the property of the township, and the subject of a voter's referendum, that defense should be his mandate.

Anyway, back to the troubled commissioner. Apparently, Matt Mobilio thinks that democracy is a pick and choose menu. He defends his election this past November, but not the referendum from 2016.

UPDATE: The Morning Call has an excellent article on Wednesday's meeting, where Mobilio faced public and peer criticism of his ill fated statement about Trump supporters.

Devining Trump From Scheller

One would have thought that Trump's endorsement would have had more weight in the Scheller/Browne primary than it did. It was a very close race, with the margin of victory much less than expected.

On paper, Scheller's gender and financial self-sufficiency should have been formidable enough to take on Wild for her party.  Add the President's backing,  and Scheller should have been able to rest easy Tuesday night.  Since that was not the case,  would she had faired as well or even better without the endorsement?  Although I cannot devine that answer,  I think that this primary result doesn't bode well for Trump come November.

It is thought that Pennsylvania is essential for Trump, and that the Lehigh Valley is essential for Pennsylvania.  If Trump's weight helped Scheller so little,  how strong will he be here in the fall?

Between now and then, Trump is facing a historically steep hill.  With unemployment above 16% and a hostile media,  he needed some positive feedback.  Scheller's win on Tuesday didn't deliver on that.