Allentown Investigation Goes International

Allentown City Council traded a former FBI agent familiar with the city (He investigated the Pawlowski administration), for an international law firm, with offices in United States, United Kingdom and Asia. While we must still pay the former investigator, Scott Curtis, the time clock will soon start ticking with Duane Morris law firm, at over $1200 an hour.

Taxpayers can thank Cynthia Mota, Daryl Hendricks, Candida Affa and Santo Napoli for treating our taxes like money is no object.  The $64K dollar question, or I should say the $640K question, is what was Matt Tuerk afraid of Scott Curtis disclosing?

The original purpose of examining city hall had to do with discrimination.  With the obstacles placed in the way of the Curtis investigation by Tuerk, I think a second investigation of Tuerk's motives would not be inappropriate.

The Day Non-Profits Stood Still

The local non-profits were wringing their hands over Trump's grant fund disruption. Needless to say also the local elected Democrats were expressing their disapproval over such an insensitive measure. Bethlehem mayor Reynolds whined that the Trump funding freeze is ‘an existential threat’ to city’s 78,000 residents.

The dilemma even challenged the newly elected Republicans. Arnaud Armstrong, spokesman for Ryan McKenzie, had to show concern for the unfounded fears of local constituents, but at the same time not be critical of the Trump administration. Of course former Congresswoman Susan Wild would not have been under such constraints.

Although the Trump administration had made it clear that it was a temporary freeze which didn't affect normal disability or rent subsidies, etc., by late yesterday afternoon they had to rescind the hold on funding. I expect that next time the administration will issue more targeted holds. I also suspect that some of these more nebulous non-profits will have to disguise themselves to have more legitimate purpose.

A Noose, A City Council And A School Board In Allentown

The plot has thickened in the Allentown City Hall noose case. The alleged victim, LaTarsha Brown, refused to volunteer a DNA sample to the FBI. Public speculation is trending toward the victim having fabricated the incident.

The current situation caught the attention of councilwoman Candida Affa, who is accused of racism by a deputy city clerk. Affa commented publicly about the Brown case on social media: "I’m thinking of those poor employees ..managers ….The Director.. who had to go through interviews and possibly DNA testing….Not one refused I repeat NOT ONE refused to cooperate. These are the workers we should be concerned about not one person is claiming to be victim."

All the above might be the good news.  The bad news might be that LaTarsha is also a school board member. It seems to this observer that the school board has been more concerned with racial identity issues than education.

shown above protest at city hall over noose

French Hill

French Hill went straight up from the old mill along the Nashua River, in Nashua, New Hampshire. It was always a poor neighborhood, housing mill workers and immigrants going back over a hundred years. Almost all the buildings on the narrow streets were wood, except the churches. The name came from the many French Canadians drawn there to work. I lived on the Hill during the early 1970's, on the top floor of a triplex.

The old wooden three unit was heated by gas space heaters and the whole building would rumble and shake when a vehicle came down the street. In the morning I would walk down the hill, through the mill property and over a pedestrian bridge to the old main street, where I worked in a photography store. A google search tells me that the neighborhood now houses street gangs. Nashua is right over the border from Massachusetts, yet I would have never imagined such urban problems reaching so far north.


The above post is a reprint from 2010.  Years ago I also never imagined Allentown having gangs,  nor the shootings and stabbings which are now occurring.

Allentown's Buffet Of Legal Cases

The Morning Call's Lindsay Weber did a good job of presenting the smorgasbord of legal cases currently involving the city of Allentown. She appropriately peppered her article with alleged and supposedly. Myself, not being a trained journalist, but rather an abrasive blogger, will add some speculations to her piece. Unfortunately, as you can see from the screen grab above, the Morning Call article is for subscribers only. The wisdom of that policy is above my pay-grade. I'm such an amateur that this blog is not monetized in any way. If you need reference to the MC article, you'll either have to buy a subscription, or find/buy  a copy of Sunday's paper.

The Tuerk administration's refusal to honor council's Scott Curtis investigation was flimsy. Bids and proposals are brought into compliance all the time. Council's reversal on the Curtis investigation is political, with Tuerk  holding sway with a council majority against Zucal's primary challenge. The motives for the Duane Morris replacement investigation, in this blogger's opinion, should itself be investigated.

I believe that one thing the paper and blog concur on is that the city government is as conflicted as ever. However, I believe that the only thing worse than such government conflict, is totally smooth sailing. That's when the real shenanigans occur, as during the Pawlowski administration.

Blue Light Special From Lehigh County

I suspect that even from Harrisburg, Josh Shapiro can see the blue beams projected into the sky from Allentown. Those beams come from both City Hall and the Lehigh County building. 

Last week County Commissioner Jon Irons pitched totally blue Allentown City Council on becoming a Welcoming City. The mostly blue county is contributing $650k to the affordable housing project on Walnut Street. When all said and done from various levels of government, that feel-good will cost the taxpayers over $20mil.  

The county does have a moral obligation to make sure that the  historic Cedarbrook remain in good operation. Started over a  hundred years ago as the county poor home, it evolved into a nursing home for low income seniors. A decade ago, Cedarbrook's future was in doubt... County nursing homes became unfashionable. Fortunately, both Lehigh and Northampton continue to meet that commitment.

Outside of the city boundaries, local Republicans were encouraged by a few wins, likely helped with Trump's coattails. The midterms in 2026 will be competitive and expensive.