Trust Non-Profits, Don't Verify

If my blog title seems a little cynical, at least it's not costing you anything. That's more than Hasshan Batts and Karla Walker can say, they're raking it in and asking for more.  Karla doesn't even want you to ask any questions

If you're going to fund us, trust us. Trust that we know what we’re doing. Don't make us jump through hoops for your money.

Hasshan's Promise Neighborhoods now has a $3million dollar budget. Despite Allentown being on track for record number of shootings, including children, he claims that without his services we would have even more (75% more) victims. Walker's program is in Boston.

I think that without their services we would have the same number of shootings, but with more budget available for police. Fortunately for Hasshan and Karla we have no shortage of virtue signalers, unfortunately, those signalers include elected officials. Batts' organization and budget is now the largest gun violence prevention program in the state. 

My sense is that the public is growing weary of their claims. 

photocredit:Jason Addy/LehighValleyNews.com

Tuerk Cries Politics

Mayor Tuerk claims that in addition to the Discrimination Investigation not properly applying for the funding required, it is politically motivated. In a previous post I stated that personally I felt that discrimination was a questionable rap against the Tuerk administration, but his denying funding on a technicality was a flawed decision. Now complaining about political motivation is even weaker on his behalf. 

The junkets to the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico were nothing but politics. Lavishing grants on some of the non-profits is nothing but politics. Rising the flag of twenty countries is politics. We have a very diversfied city, too much so to spend resources learning about their culture back in the old country, or establishing sister cities there. Obviously we need to concentrate on making Allentown a safer, more desirable place for those already living here. 

Councilman Zucal maintains that because council is investigating the administration, the normal appropriation method can be bypassed. Council will vote this evening on hiring an attorney to represent them in this matter.

My photo above from last September shows Karen Ocasio walking back to her seat pass Tuerk, after telling city council that as an employee she was discriminated against... Two months later she was fired.

I'm Still Pitching For The WPA

In 2012, over a decade ago, I took our current park director, Karen El-Chaar, on a tour of the Allentown WPA structures. At that time, she was director of Friends of the Allentown Parks.  El-Chaar, a native daughter of the area, seemed to share my interest in seeing these irreplaceable icons preserved. She subsequently secured a grant from the Trexler Trust to repair the stairs by Fountain Park. 

In following years she organized volunteers to clear the overgrown spring pond by Robin Hood. In conjunction with the Friends group, I conducted a couple of tours of the WPA structures in Lehigh Parkway.

When El-Chaar was appointed Park Director by Ray O'Connell, I thought that finally, after so many years, I would have an ally about the WPA in the administration.

As it turns out El-Chaar does care about the WPA, but she hasn't made it a line item priority in the budget. The lower entrance wall of Lehigh Parkway is being repointed, but that is a continuation of the upper wall's replacement, after it collapsed from years of neglect, before El-Chaar's time.

I'm still lobbying to have the landings repaired on the Parkway Double Stairwell. Three years ago, she told me that the Trexler Trust wanted an expert opinion on how the flagstone should be relaid.  She is still waiting for the Trexler Trust to consult an expert, and only then might they issue a grant for that project. I would have preferred that it was already done, within the regular park budget.  Recreation items, such as the skate park, are directly in the city park budget. 

Above is a 1948 photograph of the bridge that went to the WPA man-made island in Lehigh Parkway.  In the 1980's the bridge was removed, and the island allowed to grow wild. When I gave El-Chaar that tour so many years ago, she commented that it would be nice to replace the bridge and restore the island. I replied that I would be satisfied if the remaining WPA structures are maintained....I'm still hoping and waiting for that to happen.

Since I started advocating for the WPA, El-Chaar has been more receptive than the previous directors. However, like the island, once a park feature is gone, we will never get it back. My mission remains to make sure the WPA structures get the timely attention our park history deserves.

photo courtesy of the Price family

above reprinted from September of 2022

ADDENDUM JUNE 25, 2024: The landings on the double stairwell have indeed began to concave from water damage. No expert consultant needed, but a competent concrete person to level the landings, and relay the flagstone. During the Depression hundreds of WPA projects were built throughout the country with the unemployed....They need maintenance, not consultants! The new city administration and another new park director have not responded to any of my entreaties.  I continue to be assertive about obtaining a seat on the new Parknership.  Both the WPA structures and myself are too old for diplomacy.

Stairway To Shame

In the mid 1930's, Allentown, and especially its park system, was endowed with magnificent stone edifices, courtesy of the WPA; Works Progress Administration. This was a New Deal program designed to provide employment during the aftermath of the depression. Stone masons directed the unemployed in this city and built structures which are irreplaceable. The walls and step structures in Lehigh Parkway, as the Union Terrace amphitheater, are legacies which must be protected. Pictured above is the grand stairway from Lawrence Street (Martin Luther King Drive) up to Junction Street, built in 1936. The steps are in a state of disrepair. They lead to the great Junction/Union Street Retaining Wall, thirty feet high and two blocks long, which was completed in 1937. I call upon the Trexler Trust and Allentonians of memory, to insist these steps are re-pointed and preserved. The current Administration knows little of our past.  It's important to save the things in Allentown that matter.

The City of Allentown is embarking upon a $3.8 million dollar capital plan to change the nature of our parks, funded in large part by the Trexler Trust. Although a number of fads will be accommodated, not one dollar is earmarked to preserve the existing WPA treasures. General Trexler envisioned the parks as a reserve for the passive enjoyment of nature. Among the new Disney-World type plans are a wedding pavilion in the Rose Garden, and the largest playground in eastern Pennsylvania to be built in Cedar Park. The trail through Cedar Creek Park will have lights installed, and the picnic areas will be expanded. Anybody driving past Cedar Beach on a Monday morning sees the trash generated currently by only a few picnic tables. How many more park workers will be required to deal with the consequences of these new plans? The playground is being billed as a "Destination Playground", who will pay to keep that clean? Allentown should build and monitor numerous playgrounds throughout center city, within walking distance for children and parents. The Trexler Trust and The City of Allentown have a responsibility to first repair and maintain these iconic stone edifices which are unique to Allentown.

photo info: the dedication stone is on the Union Street wall. The steps shown in the photo here go through a tunnel in the wall and climb up to Spring Garden Street. They are in total disrepair. This posting is a combination of two previous posts, which appeared on this blog last September.

above reprinted from May of 2009

UPDATE APRIL 10, 2018: My campaign to save the WPA structures has been on going  for over a decade. About 10 years ago, I organized meetings at the library to bring attention to the neglect inflicted upon these structures. In the process I tutored Karen El-Chaar, from Friends Of The Parks, on the issues. She then was able to obtain a grant from the Trexler Trust,  and repoint the Fountain Park Steps. I opposed the more outlandish proposals cited above for Rose Garden area, and plans were scaled back.  I organized efforts to dig out and reveal the WPA Spring Pond and Boat Landing, both of which were discarded decades earlier. Because of the neglect, the Lehigh Parkway wall collapsed, but has since been partially rebuilt, to allow use of the entrance road into the park. In cooperation with Friends Of The Parks,  I conducted tours of Lehigh Parkway, featuring its history and WPA structures. During the Pawlowski regime I offered my advice to City Council on the traditional park system and WPA, but it was rejected.  I again make the same offer to Mayor O'Connell and the new administration.

UPDATE MARCH 3, 2020: Although O'Connell did invite me to a meeting about the parks, I am once again a persona non grata.  Karen El-Chaar is now director of parks.  It is my understanding that the Trexler Trust has commissioned a study of the Parkway Structures,  but declined to share any information with me.  It is my informed opinion that the immediate services of a stone mason are much more needed than that of their consultants. Time is the enemy of these structures.

ADDENDUM JUNE24,2024: Although the Trust paid for a consultant and stone mason to repoint the vertical wall of the Parkway's double stairwell, they did not repair the surface of the landings, and they have begun to cave and sink, as I warned. Truth be told, the structures don't need experts, they need upkeep by a stone mason. As I wrote over four years ago, time is the enemy. Although the Trust and City has started a Parknership which will supposedly address WPA structure issues, I have not been offered a seat at the table.

The Morning Call Forgets The Meat

Despite a large front page story on the Arena and Mr. Reilly's spinoff development, complete with charts and graphs, despite being written by two of its reporters, where's the beef? Like the famous 1984 commercial, the articles are large buns with small hamburgers. The real story is that none of the merchants were ever told that they could use taxes to purchase a new building, after being displaced by the city. The use of sales tax, 6% of their gross sales, could have been used for debt service on a new Hamilton Street location. To my knowledge, none of the affected merchants will have a new retail store on Hamilton Street, or will have any benefit from the NIZ. They had asked for a meeting with the city for help, which was attended by The Morning Call, and were never told that the NIZ lever could be used by private property owners. They asked for a meeting with Senator Brown, and were never told about options which could have helped them save their businesses. The explanation by Browne and the Administration that this information was available if they had asked the proper questions, is unacceptable. FACTS ON THE GROUND INDICATE THAT THE LAW WAS APPLIED IN A SELECTIVE FASHION, TO FASHIONABLE PEOPLE. If this post sounds repetitive, that's because it is. There's still no hamburger inside the bun, and still no explanation.

above reprinted from October of 2011

ADDENDUM JUNE 21, 2024:Thirteen years have passed, and analysis and criticism of the NIZ is still mostly limited to this blog. About four years ago the Morning Call did file a RTK request about NIZ finances,  the denial for which was upheld by the court. Pat Browne had protected the gravy train with a privacy clause added on the ever evolving NIZ legislation. More recently, Jarrett Coleman has followed through with his campaign promise to shed some light on the NIZ 's real cost vs benefit to the taxpayers. In the meantime, Pat Browne is now Director of Revenue for the state, rewarded by a naive Shapiro.

Morning Call Delivery

I've been a continuous Morning Call subscriber for 34 years, every day, seven days a week. I think that might well be some sort of record. Even other dinosaurs, occasionally, have let their subscriptions expire, to take advantage of some promotion. Not me, full ticket, paid by the year. The last couple of years, as their delivery system broke down, I have taken to pay semi annually. Quarterly will now be the prudent choice. I no longer attempt to complain about a missing paper. Waiting to speak to somebody in India is detrimental to my blood pressure. molovinsky on allentown opens early, but the paper keeps coming later; Even mcall doesn't refresh itself until about 5:45 a.m. I no longer get the paper in time for my morning coffee, the pot is long empty by the time it arrives. I suppose soon I'll have to get my news from the City Web Site.

above reprinted from October of 2011

ADDENDUM JUNE 20, 2024:While I still get the Morning Call on-line, I finally stopped getting the hard copy paper around 2018. When the phone call comes from India several times a year offering me a free Sunday hard copy edition, I beg her not to include me. While I read numerous complaints about the paper's content on social media, I think that they still do a pretty good job with the local news, considering their handicaps of not having a newsroom and a reduced staff.