Hope And Opportunists

I have been impressed with acting police chief Charles Roca.  Yesterday he announced forming a Community Board to enhance rapport with the various neighborhoods.  The Morning Call, in covering the story, put loudly forward opportunist Hasshan Batts of Promise Neighborhood. They quoted Batts "..The police have the information and data and they can share with the community..." While Batts thinks that the police department should provide him with data to justify his ever increasing empire, Roca's intent was that the community will come forward with information to help investigate crimes. Batts called on the city to invest in programs. “It is the community’s role to nurture and support the village,” What Batts means is that the city should invest more in his organization. The Morning Call has the same old stale stable of people they quote for various topics...Unfortunately Batts is now their community crime go to person.

Roca is an experienced police officer who has been on the force more than nineteen years. While he knows that information about violence and shootings seldom come from affected neighborhoods,  the outreach nevertheless is a very positive gesture. Community activists, such as Wanda Genao de Salas, were hopeful about Chief Roca's visit to Stevens Park. The above photo is a screen grab from her facebook page.

The Bricks Of Allentown

When Mildred Gehman* portrayed the house on the southeast corner of 12th and Walnut Streets in 1950, it was already about 60 years old. Another 60 years have passed, and the house still looks the same today. The bricks of Allentown hold up well. Yesterday, as I passed the corner of Madison and Chew Streets, I noticed three buildings in a row wearing a new orange tag, Unfit for Human Habitation. I have seen many clusters of these orange tags. They are generally handed out to one unfortunate owner or another, by one inspector. Recently, I received a phone call from such a hapless owner. His two buildings were tagged for some superficial reason, such as peeling paint. Everybody knows who has painted, or paid to have his house painted, that the stuff starts peeling off in short order, since the lead and other emulsions have been removed. Back to hapless owner. Because his buildings were tagged, the tenants were forced to move. In addition to the disruption in the tenants lives, the owner was denied the income stream to meet his debt service. Upon completion of the work on the list, the inspector then created a new list upon re-inspection. The re-inspections required scheduling specific inspectors, such as plumbing and electric, and dragged out the time frame. The primary inspector then inflicted a third list on the owner. Over a year has passed, his two buildings remain vacant, and the owner is out over $Thirty thousand dollars. Buildings on 12th Street, just north of Chew, have been tagged so long that the orange is fading on the notices. The city can mistreat rental operators because the public has little to no sympathy for that class of ownership. Several years ago, Allentown passed a Point Of Sale inspection law, which requires inspections of all private houses for sale. Welcome to the bureaucracy. 

 *Mildred Gehman,1908-2006, starting teaching at the Baum Art School in 1946. At that time, Baum was on the southwest corner of 12th and Walnut Streets, across the street from the house shown above.

above reprinted from May of 2012

UPDATE AUGUST 18, 2021: While Allentown heralds the new Strata Lofts,  the prevailing attitude continues to blame the converted row-house small landlord for the demise of center city. The Progressive candidates lament the lack of affordable housing...They're wrong on both counts.  The small landlords are providing the services and housing that would otherwise be at public expense. Today's new lofts will be Allentown's future tenements soon enough.  

This blog was started in 2007 to scrutinize local government, and the newspaper reporting thereof. I've succeeded in earning the resentment of numerous elected officials and editors. Over the years I moved my soapbox to different corners to enhance exposure. Currently this blog continues to be produced each weekday.  Additionally,  the history posts and some tamer political ones, may appear on the facebook group Allentown Chronicles.

The Milkman Of Allentown

Years ago, on the quiet, clean streets of Allentown,  the mornings belonged to the milkman, until people got up for their jobs. The streets are still quiet in the mornings, but they're not clean, and very few people get up for a job. Over the decades, center city became entrenched with the professional low income, migrating from the bigger cities. The Historic District, and other endeavors, served only as a finger in the dike for the middle class. As welfare rules tightened, the under-motivated became dependent on Social Security Disability, a life long de-motivator. On Monday, as the Budweiser Clydesdales walked down the street at noon, half the city's population was still asleep. As Allentown builds a shiny new arena, hoping for a revival, those very people they hope to attract have moved on and away from that urban malady, not inclined to return.

above retitled and reprinted from September of 2013

UPDATE AUGUST 17, 2021: Monday mornings are recon day for me in center city.  As usual, I found Hamilton Street deserted, with other streets strewn with litter.  Ninth and Chew might be the litter epicenter, but I have no empirical data to support that observation. I do know that years ago even a parade wouldn't have generated  that much trash.  Talking of data,  the Morning Call reports that while the Hispanic population of Allentown grew to 54%,  the whites decreased by another 25%. The article goes on to say that more translators are needed, because although most Spanish speakers know English, when they get stressed, they revert to Spanish.  When I get stressed, I revert to blogging. 

They Shoot Landlords, Don't They?

When I ran as a long-shot independent for mayor in 2005, against Ed Pawlowski and Bill Heydt,  the first thing I did was take The Morning Call reporter on a tour of the properties that I managed.  As an intercity landlord, I knew that  downtown apartments could  become problematic for Allentown.  After WW2,  it became fashionable to live in a twin or small ranch, and Allentown's row houses began being divided into apartments.  Those apartments were mostly occupied by singles or childless couples, and helped keep downtown and Hamilton Street vital, long past many of its sister cities.  In the 1960's, despite the thousands of converted apartments,  center city was clean, and Allentown was the All American City.  Both the tenants and landlords were hard working and conscientious.  As the urban poor from New York and New Jersey discovered the clean streets of Allentown, and its moderately priced apartments,  a steady influx of new residents arrived daily.  These changes were not encouraged by the landlords.  Nobody ever purchased a building hoping to replace their conscientious middle class occupants, with a poorer, more problematic tenant base.  Various social agencies staked many of these newcomers to the first month rent and security deposits.  Although politically incorrect, I said at the time that Allentown was creating a poverty magnet.  My phrase and analysis back then is now recognized as an unintended consequence of such programs.  During Heydt's administration, Allentown passed a Rental Inspection Law.  Some viewed  this as the solution to the rental problem, I didn't fully agree...You cannot legislate pride of ownership. Bad operators could, and easily did, cross the T's and dot the i's.  Pawlowski's solution has been to tag buildings as unfit for habitation, so many,  that the process itself has created blight.  Halls of Shame, either by the city or private groups, only stigmatize both the property and owner, but don't produce a solution.  The programs in place, if applied with more flexibility, can work.  The school district is starting to show concern about the consequences of more apartments and students.  Recent zoning changes allowing the conversion of commercial space by right, rather than by variance, will be an additional challenge.  At the end of the day,  all landlords want to see their investment appreciate.  The city must learn to work with that basic incentive as a vehicle for change.

above reprinted from February of 2014

UPDATE AUGUST 16, 2021: In the seven years since I wrote the above post, the migration of poverty to Allentown never slowed down. The school system is now officially distressed. Shootings and violence are now a weekly occurrence. There are those who say that the new crime is in line with the increase in population, they are wrong. A slight increase in population doesn't account for a large increase in crime. Allentown is now a very different city than it was for most of its history.

Arrogance Of the Morning Call

When I saw the Morning Call pushing a opinion piece by Joshua Siegel and Ce-Ce Gerlach on defunding the police (they don't use that phrase)  yesterday,  I thought how persistent the paper is in promoting Ce-Ce.  When I scrolled down the article and saw her oversized picture, I thought how arrogant the editor actually is. 

Someone please remind Mike Miorelli that Allentown rejected Ce-Ce in the mayoral primary, even though he repressed the story on her poor judgement about dropping a minor off at a homeless camp. Although she has been indicted for failing to follow proper social work legal mandates, the Morning Call features her recommendations about social workers?

Someone please remind editor Mike Miorelli that there were two homicides last week.  We don't need more social workers,  we don't need editors pumping their favorite candidates, we need more police.

The Livingston Club, Allentown's Benevolent Oligarchy

Back in the day, when the town had three department stores, the major decisions affecting Allentown's future were made at the Livingston Club. Harvey Farr would meet Donald Miller and John Leh at the Club for lunch, and discuss acquiring more lots for Park & Shop. The bank officers of First National and Merchants Bank would discuss loans with the highly successful merchants, many of whom had stores in all three major Lehigh Valley cities. As the heydays winded down, likewise the exit plans were made there. The City of Allentown acquired the Park & Shop lots, becoming the Allentown Parking Authority. Leh's became the Lehigh County Government Center.

The new oligarchy consists of much fewer men, they could all met at a small table in Shula's, and be entertained by watching street people  arrested. The former 1st National Bank location is now a new Reilly building. The former Livingston Club building is now a parking lot, and future site to another Reilly building. Shula's is also a Reilly building.... 

reprinted from August of 2015