FOP Endorses Ed Zucal For Mayor

The Allentown Fraternal Order Of Police has endorsed Ed Zucal for mayor. 

Ed  Zucal press release

Zucal Endorsed by Allentown FOP (Allentown, PA) On Tuesday evening, Allentown City Councilman Ed Zucal, Democratic candidate for Mayor of Allentown, received the endorsement of the Allentown Fraternal Order of Police. 

 “I’m enormously proud to have received the support of the men and women who work to keep our city safe,” said Zucal. “As police and residents continue to face persistent crime and quality of life issues, they’re ready for a new direction. Sadly, the lack of leadership and often embarrassing behavior from Mayor Matt Tuerk has hurt the reputation of the city and destroyed the trust of the people who serve it. I’m running to change that.

 “As a former police officer in the city of Allentown, I know what it takes to deliver safer streets and higher quality of life for the people of Allentown. With the help of our law enforcement, we’ll work to protect and serve the people of Allentown, and bring respect and leadership back to the city we love.”

The Train Of Lehigh Parkway

This holiday season, as people drive over Schreibers stone arch bridge to get in line for Lights in the Parkway, few will be aware of the industrial past surrounding them. The Barber Quarry railroad branch line crossed the road, just beyond the bridge. On the left was the Union Carbine's Linde plant, the concrete loading dock is still visible. Although the last train ran in the early 1980's, the wooden railroad trestle is still there, to the west and south of the bridge. The area is now used as part of the disc golf course.

above reprinted from December 3, 2010 

ADDENDUM JANUARY 8, 2025: Although the former Union Carbine loading dock was visible for many decades, it now has been replaced by new apartment buildings on the parcel.  Also different is the intersection just uphill from the bridge, the long standing triangle island is no longer there.

Tuerk Pitches Tuerk

On Saturday the Morning Call gave Matt Tuerk a platform to promote himself for a second term.

Among the gems he tried to sell is that our city has grown by over 17% since 2000, and we’ve seen over $1 billion of investment in the past 10 years. He omits the fact that the $Billion is our states taxes being used to build one man an empire. Besides that NIZ nonsense, there has been very little investment in center city until the recent PPL residential conversions.

Another delusion peddled by Tuerk is that crime is going down to record lows. Credit great ER work at the hospitals and poor aim, because there has been no shortage of shootings. Perhaps some non-profit can build a shooting range, marksmanship shouldn't be a privilege limited to the middle class.

In fairness to Tuerk there was no reason, especially during an election year, that he shouldn't take advantage of the paper's offer for a column. Likewise, there's no reason that a local blogger shouldn't chime in with a review of it.

Where's The Creek?

The young man seemed proud to be at the Old Fashioned Garden with his wife and child. I got the feeling that it was a rite of passage that he had enjoyed years earlier with his parents. He approached me with a quizzical look and asked Where's the creek? I assured him that it was still here, but hidden behind all that underbrush. When he asked me why they did that, I just shrugged my shoulders and walked away. I don't think he really wanted to hear a rant.

The Wildlands Conservancy had no resistance convincing the past two park directors to stop cutting the creek banks and call it a riparian buffer. Both directors were from out of town, trained in recreation at Penn State, and had no feeling or knowledge of the park's history and traditions. To add absurdity to the situation, the storm sewer systems in Allentown are piped directly into the streams, bypassing the buffers, making them useless to their stated purpose. To add further irony to the absurdity, the park department must now spray insecticide on the underbrush to control the invasive species. Worse than blocking access and view of the streams, the recent director endorsed the Conservancy demolishing two small historic dams, after being here only six weeks, and never actually having seen the dams himself.

Why do I dwell on water over the dam? The Wildlands Conservancy is now pitching the dam demolition and riparian buffer agenda to South Whitehall Township. If they get their way, the beautiful picnic vista overlooking Wehr's Dam will be replaced with a wall of weeds. I'm on a mission to make sure that beauty and history survive at Covered Bridge Park. 

above reprinted from September 9, 2014

ADDENDUM JANUARY 6, 2025: While I did, with the help of others,  save Wehr's Dam, I have had no such success with the creek banks in the Allentown parks. On the contrary, this season yet another new park director didn't even do the once annual invasive species mow down. 

Although I am a long time known advocate for the WPA, I was denied a seat at the new Parknership table.  I did manage to place a letter to the Morning Call that appeared yesterday, and I will continue to speak out in defense of the traditional park system.

Allentown City Hall For Sale

I should clarify that I'm not talking about Allentown's current City Hall, some people think that it already has been bought and sold. I'm talking about the canopy over the main  entrance on Linden Street, and the  CITY HALL sign,  shown in the photograph above. Stored all this time, these Allentown artifacts are now available for the first time in over half a century. Send serious inquires as a confidential comment to this post.

Click on photograph to enlarge image.

reprinted from February 26, 2015

ADDENDUM JANUARY 3, 2024:Among those who thought city hall was for sale back then was the FBI.There is a current push to have Biden commute the sentence of former mayor Ed Pawlowski. I served as a contact between the former owner of the former city hall sign and the current owner. I doubt that there will be a third owner.  We with any institutional knowledge and interest are a dwindling commodity.

The Dam Video

Not too many campaign promises are kept, especially by a candidate who lost the election. Although I'm delighted that the dam was saved, in the upcoming posts I will divulge the money wasted and the lies told, in the attempt to demolish the dam.

reposted from March 19, 2015

ADDENDUM JANUARY 2, 2025:Although I lost the election, with the help of others I did manage to save the dam. The last article about the dam's fate by the Morning Call managed to omit my part in that effort, but that's the price of independent blogging.