Ethical Question At Allentown School Board

MOLOVINSKY ON ALLENTOWN EXCLUSIVE

Allentown school director Phoebe Harris requested a personal loan from longtime district solicitor John Freund late in 2019. When Attorney Freund declined the loan request, her demeanor toward him changed drastically. This year he was replaced as solicitor to the district. 

This sequence of events raises numerous questions. Did Harris use her influence with the other directors to retaliate against Freund for denying her a personal loan? Did any other school directors know of the loan request and denial? 

For someone who sat at her mentor Pawlowski's trial, she must have known that her actions were ethically tainted. 

UPDATE OCTOBER 23: I have changed the word Violation to Question in the title. While it's certainly a question,  a violation should be determined by her peers on the board. I have deleted the last sentence calling for her resignation.  With only ten days remaining until the election,  the voters will judge her actions.

When 6th Street Was West Allentown

In 1903, the 600 block of 2nd Street housed one Russian Jewish family after another. They built a small synagogue there, which was kept open until about twenty years ago. My grandfather, who then worked at a cigar factory, had just saved enough to bring his parents over from the old country. They lived in an old house at 617 N. 2nd. The current house at that location was built in 1920. By the time my father was born in 1917, the youngest of five children, they had moved to the suburbs just across the Jordan Creek.

My grandfather lived on the corner of Chew and Jordan Streets. He butchered in a barn behind the house. The house is still there, 301 Jordan, the barn is gone. He would deliver the meat with a horse and wagon. On the weekends, when the family wanted to visit friends, the horse insisted on doing the meat market route first. Only after he stopped in front of the last market on the route, would he permit my grandfather to direct him. excerpt from My grandfather's Horse, May 13, 2008

Allentown has just designated the neighborhood west of the Jordan to 7th Street, and between Linden and Tilghman Streets, as Jordan Heights. The area encompasses the Old Fairgrounds Historic District. Allentown's old fairground, in the years between 1852-1888, was in the vicinity of 6th and Liberty. It was an open space, as is the current fairground at 17th and Chew Streets. When my grandparents moved to Jordan Street it was a modern house, just built in 1895. Many of the Jewish families moved to the suburbs between Jordan and 7th. The Jewish Community Center was built on the corner of 6th and Chew, today known as Alliance Hall.
I wish the Jordan Heights initiative well. There's a lot of history in those 24 square blocks, and hopefully much future.

reprinted and retitled from previous years

photo: Opening of Jewish Community Center, 1928, 6th and Chew Streets.  Now Alliance Hall

Bob Smith For Allentown School Board

Regular readers of this blog know that I'm non-partisan, a registered independent, and very reluctant to make endorsements.  I have often encouraged people only to vote on those ballots on which they are informed, and pass over the other contests. In my opinion a few informed votes are much more meaningful than random picks.  As for straight party voting, I think that it should be very much discouraged.  

With all the above said and out of the way,  the purpose of this post is to inform you about Bob Smith, with the hope that he will gain your vote. I've known Bob for twenty-five years, and you would be hard pressed to fine someone more dedicated and sincere.  Years ago Bob was seriously injured saving the life of a suicidal nursing home patient, who pulled them both over the edge of a roof.

Bob was on the school board previously, and is again making his experience available to the taxpayers. We who pay Allentown school taxes could find no better friend than Bob Smith. Nobody is more familiar with the structure and needs of the school system. 

I'm grateful that he is again making himself available to serve our students.

Ce-Ce Praises Philly Pro-Crime Policy

Philly's newest pro-crime policy is not to stop cars for minor violations.  The rationale is that the stops disproportionately affect people of color.  Never mind that large sections of Philadelphia are predominantly Black.  Allentown's own Defunder, Ce-Ce Gerlach, praises the new policy.

Several years ago they decided not to arrest people for shoplifting, until the merchants finally protested loudly enough.  Over the weekend a woman was raped on a subway, with no fellow passenger even calling for help.  Philadelphia appears out of control.

Years ago, when Ce-Ce first expressed interest in Allentown government, this blog supported her.  At the time I published  numerous posts on her behalf.  A few years ago my independence was misconstrued as a lack of loyalty.  While some might consider that a character flaw,  support for public officials has to be reevaluated when their policies change.

Promise And Promotion In Allentown

While the Morning Call promises us the news in its promotions, it mostly promotes Promise Neighborhood and other woke distractions from our grim reality. While the shooting  at the Lancaster Mall still didn't make the Morning Call by Monday morning, the weekend paper was full with an essay on Hasshan Batts' Promise Neighborhood,  marching against the shootings in Allentown last week.

My issue with the Hasshan Battses of Allentown is not only the distraction from what I call the grim news of Allentown's reality, but also the effort to divert precious public safety funds from actual law enforcement.  While Batts' employee Cynthia Mota  and other distractors actually sit on council, so far the mayor's office realizes that our survival lies with the police department. Nevertheless, those seeking office must pay homage to Batts and other opportunists in the new violence industry.  It doesn't help that the paper and their cub reporters drink the woke kool-aid which will eventually be our demise.

While our aspiring politicians must appease the defunders to harvest enough votes to win, and our paper also wrongly wallows in that mentality, this blog understands that our future relies on the Blue.

Shootings In Allentown

Over the weekend there was another shooting in Allentown. Funny thing about these shootings, in most of the cases, nobody knows nothing. Nobody hears, sees or says anything to help the police solve these crimes. However, let someone get pushed down by a police officer, then we have videos and testimony against police brutality.

The recent shooting was on 4th Street, but don't expect to see any advocacy groups protesting the violence, or the public's lack of cooperation.

molovinsky on allentown is published weekdays Monday thru Friday.  You will find a perspective and candor here not found anywhere else in the valley. Comments are accepted using your name or by establishing a pseudonym. Pseudonym identities remain unknown to both myself and other readers. Your readership is appreciated. 

reprinted from September of 2018

UPDATE NOVEMBER 10, 2020: Although the above post is over two years old, in regard to this past weekend's shooting, it could be a new post.  Once again, the advocates against police brutality, who have been louder than ever in this past summer, are silent about the shootings this weekend. Some of these advocates have been hyped as leaders by the Morning Call, and now are candidates for mayor. 

UPDATE OCTOBER 15, 2021: This is my second post this week about violence in Allentown, but it's also the second shooting this week. As I stated yesterday, we have a good chief, but it's time for many more policemen in Allentown...Many more boots on the ground.

Allentown Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

Yesterday, Allentown event promoter Alfonso Todd wondered aloud why Allentown's  political establishment was distracting itself with doing away with English as the official language, when wholesale shootings were occurring on main streets during the day and early evening.  Todd knows that nothing hurts or slows down an event or city as the much as people feeling unsafe.

While our progressives concern themselves with defunding the police and social issues,  our reality demands more police than ever on the streets.  We have a popular, excellent chief, but he needs a bigger force to cope with the Allentown of 2021.

While this blog is steeped in history,  the Allentown of yesteryear is no more.  A recent resident commented that Allentown is a better place now than it was ten or twenty years ago.  That's a hard statement for me to evaluate,  having graduated from William Allen in the mid 1960's.  Like the strawberry pie at Hess's, the Allentown of my reference is never to return.  However, as Mr. Todd observes, we must at least make our main corridors a safe place.  Call me old fashioned, but my prescription would be for many, many more policemen.