Allentown's Department Of Neglect

Trump wants to rename the Department of Defense, the Department of War. Likewise, Allentown's Park Department should be the Department of Neglect. Bogert's Bridge has to be the classic example. Rather than just keeping it painted, it is getting a $2.7mil overhaul. It's grant money mind you, but it's the system which needs the overhaul, not the bridge. 

For the pedestrians and the occasional horse, it has plenty of structural integrity. It had seen its last motor vehicle many decades ago. Although technically a sag in the span, two concrete piers were added to the middle back in the traffic days. 

When the metal bridge in the parkway was damaged by a storm, it was replaced with a pedestrian bridge, bisecting the park to vehicle traffic. That was the time and place to spend money, and keep the park as designed. We essentially now have two parks, both depriving citizens the pleasure of driving through. The Department of Neglect has suffered from the lack of strategic planning for the last three decades.

The Strange State Of Florida

In the last few years I revealed that I have been exploring Florida. Last year, I mentioned my low-rent office, inland from Cape Canaveral. While near the marsh, I can still see Musk's endless rockets taking off, crowding space with satellites.

Florida is governed by Trump wannabe Ron DeSantis. His Nigerian born Surgeon General wants to ban childhood vaccine mandates, like Measles and Smallpox. Yesterday, he compared those vaccines to slavery. I would think that in reality, slave children were denied the medical advances of their era.

Last year, I posted about the Death Train, which speeds through sleepy towns, killing slow reacting seniors. I am of course now one of those seniors. My friends of the liberal persuasion should restrict themselves to the blue enclaves when here. Otherwise, you might find the alligators friendlier than my neighbors.

Hootchy NIghts At The Allentown Fair

Morning Call columnist Bill White had a piece earlier in the week where he lamented that  Bobo the dunking clown was no longer at the fair. Although that's about as funky as it got for Bill in his era,  we older Allentonians remember much hotter nights at the fairgrounds. Up to the late sixties the fair had girly shows. I'm going back to the era of Gooding's Million Dollar Midway and Benny's Bingo. I'm going back to three midways packed between the Farmer's Market and Chew Street. I'm going back to when the fair only started after Labor Day.

I mentioned in one of my previous fair posts that Fred Schoenk and I made and sold printed t-shirts at the fairs during high School. At the Kutztown Fair we were hired by the burlesque show owner to letter a new banner for his show tent...as high school boys we would have paid him for the experience.

reprinted from September of 2018

photocredit:molovinsky...Black rock and roll review with strippers, 1969 Allentown Fair

A Complaining Blogger and The Rose Garden Ponds

In 2008, when the Rose Garden Ponds were being rebuilt, there was an annoying blogger complaining that the pond walls were undermined when the ponds were dredged. Although they did replace that ground, he then complained about it not being compacted enough. Seventeen years later, I'm back with a bigger complaint. 

The pond walls seem to be falling apart, and quickly. Although built in the mid 1930's, they were in better shape before the restoration in 2008, than now. Perhaps they used the wrong mortar mix. Although they stood for 75 years before being restored the first time, the next restoration will have to be much, much sooner than that.

Worse for the ponds, this park administration doesn't appear to have much interest in maintaining park infrastructure. Recently, I complained about the vines destroying the park barn at 30th and Parkway Blvd.. Shingles are now starting to fall off the barn roof. The parking lot retaining wall continues to crumble. I will continue to complain.

The Good Trouble Of Eddie Aviles

The other Sunday when Eddie Aviles put on a tie and canvassed with and for the local Republicans, I told someone that it could come back to bite the Republicans. That come back didn't take long! Although Eddie was recently arrested for protesting on behalf of the homeless, the card features an old issue. Old is the keyword here. The incident referenced goes back over a decade, to 2013.

It occurs to me that the effort to defame Aviles might well backfire on Siegel and the Democrats. Eddie now gets into what John Lewis used to call good trouble. Standing up for the homeless won't lose votes with most people.

Eddie is certainly his own man. Between now and November, he could be involved in several commotions. I've always related to freelance activists, and one man bands.

Mrs. Smith Goes To 7th & Hamilton

The title above is a play on words, and actually refers to Jackie Rivera, who will probably become a County Commissioner an easier way than she expected. Her opponent, the incumbent Zachary Cole-Borghi, has been arrested and charged as part of a large marijuana ring. The Smith refers to her maiden name, being the daughter of Bob Smith Jr., local Republican and Allentown School Board candidate.

People charged with crimes have won elections before, including Allentown's mayor Pawlowski. Borghi is not charged with processing a couple joints of pot, but rather being part of an organized ring, involving large quantities and lots of money.

How the local Democratic Party will react remains to be seen. Although people are legally innocent until proven guilty, hopefully the party will at least show some integrity and shun him.