Lehigh Parkway Depreciated

 I have been involved with photography since the late 1960's. I started blogging in 2007, for me  a much newer activity. I've been publicly advocating for the parks and WPA since 2009, although privately much longer. It's not often that I get to combine most of my interests in one image, but that's the case shown above.

The Robin Hood section of Lehigh Parkway is arguably the most iconic of our park system. The bridge over the Little Lehigh was the last WPA project, built in 1941, and ties the park together. The weed wall shown, mostly invasive poison hemlock, put simply is a crime against the city's iconic park system.

I'm hoping that the new Parknership has the fairness to include me on their board.

Zucal's Bid For Mayor

Ed Zucal is rolling out his long expected bid for mayor on November 19th at the Allentown Fair Grounds. For the last year there has been no shortage of thorns in Matt Tuerk's side,  with councilman Zucal being perhaps the most pointed behind the dais. 

In the audience in front of the dais, Tuerk's list of critics is much longer, but with less political potential. Zucal is a retired policeman and veteran of what many believe was Allentown's better days. That is what the All American City logo shown above alludes to. 

It is my assumption that Zucal's challenge will come in the Democratic primary. The conventional wisdom is that Allentown is a one party town, with the primary essentially being the election.

You Got To Play To Win

Allentown's three state representatives, Schlossberg, Siegel and Schweyer, all Democrats, ran unopposed on Tuesday. We keep reading that Trump made big headway with the Hispanic vote this past Tuesday, did Allentown Republicans miss the boat this election cycle? The terms Hispanic and Latino refer to many different groups.

Anybody living in Southern Florida can attest to the ambition of the Cuban population, exiles from Castro's socialism. They have been Republican from the get-go. The older Mexican population, imported to Hellertown in the 1930's by Bethlehem Steel, is an established local community. Allentown's Puerto Rican community is much newer. 

While Allentown currently remains a Democratic stronghold, we learn from Pennyslvania's lottery that You Got To Play To Win. I often heard that Republicans running in Allentown face libel and slander before their ultimate defeat. I can understand that neither Republicans or Puerto Ricans are eager for advice from an old white independent, but you got to run to get elected.

Allentown's Barrio

We were told that the Puerto Rican community was the local key to the election this week, Matthew Tuerk was even featured in New Yorker Magazine.

However, to inject some reality into the Latino influence, the state house district that was created to represent Allentown's Latino population is held by a whitebread kid born and raised in New Jersey, whose Hispanic culture is limited to have eaten at Taco Bell once. Although Tuerk translates everything into Spanish, and the president of City Council facebooks exclusively in Spanish, they failed to educate their Hispanic constituents on the deceptiveness of the transfer tax referendum. These affordable housing advocates just made housing more expensive.

While the Latino political strength is overestimated, there is no disputing Allentown as a Democratic stronghold. All the city Democratic state representatives ran unopposed on Tuesday.

Muhlenberg's Big Week

With Kamala Harris having spoken at Muhlenberg, and its own poll showed her ahead, the college had a big week. Most important, save for this malcontented blogger, the recent shooting there has been forgotten. 

I surmise that the shooting occurred by their football field in a game between charter schools. Surmise is the operative word because neither the college, police, city or newspaper has said or written another word about that incident. The Morning Call/Muhlenberg poll had Harris up by two. I surmise any and all polling calls made were from Muhlenberg, because the paper has no building to call from, and can't even be reached for missing newspapers.

If Kamala wins, I suppose those photos of her in Muhlenberg's Memorial Hall will become wall fixtures elsewhere in the college. If Muhlenberg's neighbors are also to win, more information about that shooting will have to be disclosed.

ADDENDUM 6:00AM:.With the decisiveness of Trump's victory, it appears that Kamala's picture won't end up in the library and administration building after all.

The Redemption Of Matthew Tuerk

The redemption in the Marshall McLuhan sense was Tuerk's photo opt with Candidate Harris, hopefully for him replacing the social media confrontation with the Trump barricade worker. However, the post title is misleading, because the redemption portion of the post is now complete, and fresh criticism follows below.

The screen grab shown above is from the LehighValleyNews.Com coverage of the Rosie Perez stop in Allentown last Friday, campaigning for Kamala. At that event, Tuerk claims that he represents all Allentonians, but he doesn't. He certainly doesn't represent those that are not Democrats. More and more, he is also not representing those who are not Latino. 

When you direct your police chief not to enforce quality of life issues such as double parking, you're catering to a laidback attitude, that less of the city may share than he believes. Tilghman Street is not a backroad on a Caribbean Island, where double parking has little consequence. Between people's political correctness and his sycophants, Tuerk may be overestimating both his popularity and effectiveness as mayor.