Pending Approval

Today we learn that the Waterfront Project gained approval from the Allentown Planning Commission, who would have thought? The other day we learned that Joel F. Fitzgerald will be Allentown's first minority police chief, pending approval by City Council. Even Julio Guridy, Council President, couldn't imagine what the reporter was referring to. He told her that he never heard of a police chief candidate not being approved. Actually, I never heard of anything not being approved in the last 8 years.

Woodman's Controversial Letter

Thanks to Bernie O'Hare, everybody in the local blogosphere knows who Wayne Woodman is; according to Bernie, he's Scott Ott's puppet-master. I personally never subscribed to that theory, but then again, I think more of Woodman and Ott than Bernie does. Yesterday, Woodman, as Republican Party Chairman, sent out an email summing up the election. He praised Scott Ott for running a positive campaign, and yet remaining competitive. He complimented the victors in Lower Macungie, but wondered if they were Republicans of convenience. One victor, blogger Ron Beitler, already took exception to that insinuation. But, what brings me to this post, is a thank you to Scott Armstrong, for his efforts in the Allentown school board election. Scott had been critical of Woodman's lack of attention in regard to Allentown. Bob Smith Jr., has stated that he believes that the Republican abandonment of Allentown cost Ott the election. I wondered if Woodman's overture to Armstrong indicated a change in strategy for future elections. In reality, school board members cross file. The only candidate registered only as a Republican lost, coming in last. We will see in the next election if Woodman continues to court Armstrong, and if the party gives Allentown more attention.

Allentown's Fading Memories

I have written recently that the market for Allentown memorabilia was closing fast. With so many new comers to the area, and the graying of the old timers, those interested in acquiring such objects are far and few between. Nostalgia is a different story. The internet allows former Allentonians to remember the good old days. In Allentown's case, many feel that the expression is unfortunately very true. Shown above is the first mayor for life, Joe Daddona, with Willie Restum. Willie was a nationally known sax player, who never forgot his Allentown roots in the Syrian 6th ward. Adding to this blast from the past, is Willie wearing the Allentown All American City tee-shirt. This post was for the subset, born in Allentown before 1960.

A Governor's Choice

On October 24th, I was forced to change my police chief prediction from Ted Kohuth to Joel Fitzgerald. Kohuth had made sense for the department and the city. As a local law enforcement officer, he had the respect of the department's rank and file membership. His appointment would have avoided the rancor that had come with the last out of town appointment, Chief Kuhns from Chicago, under Afflerbach. Pawlowski had been part of that administration, and knew of that disruption first hand. By mid October, blogger sources were telling me that Pawlowski had decided to go with his governor quest, rather than the APD's morale. Fitzgerald will play well in Philadelphia, his home town. For picking the first minority police chief of Pennsylvania's third largest city, Pawlowski continues his narrative as a innovator. Joe Biden called Pawlowski to congratulate him on his overwhelming victory in last week's election. Nowhere in the narrative does it say that his opponent only decided to run this past spring, as an independent, and spent the summer in Ukraine. On the road to Harrisburg, Pawlowski will get much more milage from Fitzgerald than he would have ever gotten from Kohuth.

UPDATE: 6:00a.m.  According to The Morning Call, Fitzgerald was the top choice of the Allentown Police Union.

photocredit:Emily Robson/The Morning Call/November 11, 2013

Israel Defense Forces

Benny Gantz, Chief of Staff for the IDF, stood on the tracks at the station in Berlin on Saturday, from which Jews were deported to the death camps.

Today too, we are required to deal with hostile states and organizations that seek to harm us, but unlike the past, we face our enemies from a position of strength – stronger than ever before.We won’t allow the horrors of the past to return, we will not allow those who seek our harm to raise their heads. We won’t be helpless when facing our enemies. The nation of Israel will always have the most protective and skilled force. Against any threat, from any distance, we will be fortified and independent in our abilities to defend ourselves. We won’t bow our head before any danger that threatens the Jewish people in its land. The IDF is the Jewish people’s answer to the incinerators, gas chambers, the pits and the killings.

Gantz is the son of a Hungarian Holocaust survivor,  who began his military career as a paratrooper.

The Night of Broken Glass

In 1938,  on the nights of November 9 and 10, the Nazis whipped up anti-Jewish riots in a pogrom now known  as Kristallnacht.


During these two nights,    synagogues were set on fire and  thousands of Jewish shop windows were broken.



Ninety one Jews were killed.  30,000 were arrested and taken to camps, a harbinger of the Holocaust.

reprinted from previous years

The Blame Game

Much as already been written about the Muller/Ott race. Although I don't profess more insight than my fellow bloggers, I don't have their hate of Ott/Woodman, and therefore perhaps a more objective viewpoint. First of all, at less than 48/52, it was a close race. Although I keep reading about the money wasted by Woodman, in reality, Muller/Fleck spent an extraordinary sum. In addition to endless oversize flyers, they canvassed Allentown with hundreds of workers for two days. Those couple thousand votes probably cost $25 each. Some pundits feel that Woodman erred in not fielding Allentown candidates, to help bring out the Republican base in the city. I spent three minutes and interviewed that entire base, they did vote. The Allentown Republicans fielded excellent candidates in recent elections, to no avail. Due to the white flight out of Allentown, the closest suburbs, such as South Whitehall, now have a more Democratic composition than in years prior. Finally, lets not underestimate the power of negative advertising in politics. While Muller sent out one negative flyer after another, Ott did not respond in kind. Scott Ott took pride in running a positive campaign. He's a much nicer guy than me.