The Inside Out Of Pawlowski's Victory

I suppose with a 61/39 win, Mike Fleck, Pawlowski's campaign manager, can still claim an overwhelming win. We here in A-Town know better. Michael Donovan, who didn't decide to run until the beginning of summer, was a restrained candidate. He was away for the summer, and didn't begin to campaign until September. In two months, with a little more than $10,000, he took a 40% bite out of Pawlowski. Both The Morning Call and Muhlenberg College did what they could to defend Pawlowski, by not sponsoring their traditional televised debate. Bill Heydt, former two term mayor, told me that he expected Donovan to get no more than 15% of the vote. What's the real message for an incumbent who used a $600 million dollar construction project for his photo backdrop? The message is that Allentown realizes that the arena will be no panacea for the city's real problem, crime, with no real solution in sight. It also says that the Transformation of Allentown is more in Pawlowski's head, than in the perception of it's citizens.

Knock and Drag in Allentown

The Democrats started it years ago in large urban centers. They hire workers, or solicit union volunteers, to go door to door, dragging voters to the booth. Yesterday, center city doors in Allentown were hung with reminders to vote. Here's yesterday's email blast from the local Democratic machine.

.November 4,2013 NEWS ADVISORY PA AUDITOR GENERAL EUGENE DePASQUALE TO JOIN GET OUT THE VOTE RALLY AT MAIN GATE TONIGHT Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale will join local Lehigh County Democrats tonight at their “Get Out The Vote” Rally which starts at 6 p.m. at the Main Gate in Allentown. Local Democratic elected officials, candidates, and community organizers will be on hand to energize and encourage democrats to get as many voters to the polls tomorrow as possible.

With the excuse of voter suppression, we now have the absurdity of no voter ID required.  Combine no ID with knock and drag,  the potential for voter manipulation, if not outright fraud, is overwhelming, with no method of verification in place.

The Morning Yawn

The Morning Call is always sparse on Monday. They compose Saturday, Sunday and Monday on Friday, so besides the Allentown police blotter, there's no local news. The limited space is filled with stories with no time line, like today, on Martin Guitar. Half of this limited local space today is filled with the voter checklist for tomorrow's election. If Monday's papers aren't worth the price, today's deserves a total refund. The voter checklist, all two and half pages, or half the local section, is from last May's primary. Wonder if it will matter?

The Marketplace Speaks

Allentown's experiment in fine dining is over. Sangria is becoming Billy's Diner, and the eloquent rooftop bar at Cosmopolitan was converted into a dance club. Although the club will have different hours and a separate entrance, the restaurant cannot escape it's downward transition. Allentown simply does not have the ambience to support upscale dining. I'm pictured above, in my younger days, at a club in Brooklyn.

Open Letter To Mayor Pawlowski

Mr. Mayor, I don't know if you remember me, Mr. Molovinsky allowed me to use this newsletter to write you before. Maybe you remember, I live in the senior highrise on Union Street, and used to get my prescriptions at the Rite-Aid on Hamilton Street. Maybe you remember, I used to work at the Mack factory on S. 10th Street, but that was long before you even heard of Allentown, much less lived here. Here's my question. I was a union guy and usually voted Democratic anyway, but why is there no one else on the ballot this year? Why are those City Council candidates putting their posters all over town when they have no opponents? I don't use a computer, but my daughter prints out Mr. Molovinsky's newsletter for me. We have been walking up to Hamilton Street and looking at that hockey stadium, holy cow! My buddy, on the next floor, says that you're running for governor or president. I said, No, he's running for our mayor again.

p.s. Mr. Molovinsky took this picture of me a long time ago.

Lehigh County's Opportunity

When Matt Croslis endorsed Scott Ott on Thursday, the politics of old cried pay to play. Muller's henchmen, and their sycophants in the blogosphere, even rumored and fabricated details of the payment. Croslis has now vetoed the very amendments that Ott and the reform commissioners passed at the budget hearing. The IT budget, the same sex health benefits, the crime center, and the tipster budget, are all back. Truth be told, the old establishment which Muller represents, cannot understand independent thinking. In their world, if you're not touting the establishment line, you must be receiving some payoff. It's refreshing to see new people, like Croslis and Ott, assert independence. It's nice to know that the voters on Tuesday have the opportunity to rid themselves of business as usual.

The Donovan Factor

The Donovan campaign has some wheels, not so much as a viable shot for mayor, but it's effect on the contested race of the election, Muller vs. Ott. The Republicans in Allentown are no factor, the six of them may, or may not vote. My guess is that Donovan will get their default vote. The group in play is those Democrats and independents that are disillusioned with Pawlowski. Each vote that Donovan gets, may well be from someone who would have otherwise stayed at home, but now in the voting booth, will vote for Muller. Conventional wisdom has Ott winning in the suburbs, but Muller sweeping Democratic Allentown. If Donovan increases the turnout in Allentown, Muller benefits.

UPDATE: It would be ironic if Donovan voters were to vote for Muller, particularly those who were against the water lease deal. Ott was against the water lease deal, recognizing it as a bad deal, and voted against extending the charter of the LCA. Muller is on the LCA board and voted for the water lease deal.     from an anonymous comment