Kingdom At Stevens

On Saturday afternoon, Stevens Park, a large center city playground, teemed with festivity. As the parents and older kids swayed to the Latin beat from a live band, children at the other side were entertained with craft activities. In between, large stands provided free hot food. The event was sponsored by Kingdom Life Family Center, an outreach ministry based in Orefield. After leaving the park, I decided to visit some merchants who are relocating to 7th Street from Hamilton. On 7th, I encountered the Pastor of the Ministry, Tony Adamo. It is his hope to secure a storefront in that vicinity, and establish a full time presence in Allentown. That would be a blessing.

Secrets From The Shadow

The headline in the paper said that infamous developer, Abe Atiyeh, might monkey wench Pawlowski's Palace of Sport with a lawsuit. It says that he has been a tenant in the building since 2004. That's not exactly true, he's been a tenant on the building* since then. Nobody has used the inside of the building for many years. Regardless of Atiyeh's weak case as a displaced tenant, his other points are right on target. The threat and passage of eminent domain was, as he claims, a misuse of that law. Also, as he claims, the building is not blighted. Matter of fact, this blog reported on a luncheon given by Pawlowski and Realtors several years ago to promote the building.While Pawlowski and crew were serving lunch in a winterized building with no running water, a coffee shop across the street, in the Monument building, was being cited for multiple code violations. I suppose the status of a building in Allentown depends on the Mayor's agenda.

*Atiyeh has a small sign advertising his nursing home in Whitehall painted on the side of the building. Atiyeh has a long term lease for that sign which has been conveyed to several owners. Because the sign will be covered up by the adjoining Arena, he seeks compensation.

Would Be Kingmaker

There's a new factor in Lehigh Valley politics, and it's the Lehigh Valley Association of Realtors. Valley voters have received no less than four slick mailings from the LVAR-PAC. Their mailing placing a Democrat with an organized slate of Republicans was the topic of a previous post. Their second mailing for this hybrid team now identifies the team as bipartisan. An Allentown City Council candidate has also benefited from two of their mailings.
Ryan Conrad, who has both an undergraduate and graduate degree in political science. became CEO of the Realtors Association this past September. Before becoming a Realtor, he worked for various elected officials in New York State. Ryan is vice president of the Township Commissioners in Lower Macungie. Look for more voting advice from your friendly neighborhood real estate professional.

Pawlowski's Palace of Sport

Although the Arena/Concert Venue will not open for over a year, attendance is already down over 1 million people. Only several months ago, Mayor Pawlowski told City Council that the Center would attract 1.5 million people annually. Earlier, he used the figure of two million. Although his current figure of 500,000 is more realistic, there's still no lack of sugarplums. The Morning Call uses the term vision, hallucination would be more accurate. The best guess estimate for the 40 home hockey games would be 200,000, requiring an additional draw of 300,000 for concerts. Between the lines, his mention that real estate taxes may be necessary to finance the project, is the writing on the wall. Also translating political speak into english, there are no plans, whatsoever, for parking and traffic. His claim that the hockey fans will visit upscale restaurants and stores after the games is beyond wishful thinking.

Here is the Shadow Mayor's* take; The square block White Elephant will sit dormant most days and nights of the year, creating a ghost town feeling, sucking whatever life downtown had remaining. Stores and restaurants, induced by grants and incentives, will wither and drop away when the owners must start reaching into their own pockets. On the sixty or so nights a game or event takes place, the restaurants will do virtually no business, as the fans scurry back to their cars afterwards. Welcome to the bitterness of the sugarplum's reality.

*a self anointed title I bestowed upon myself

Picture of Dedication

Lou Hershman in the past has served as Controller for a total of has 24 years. During his tenures, there were never any questions about where and how taxpayer money was spent. Who knows where to look, and what to look for, better than Lou Hershman. Lou's not a good public speaker, but as an accountant, he's great with numbers. It's hard to imagine a more dedicated man offering his services to the city. I think even if I was a straight Democrat lever puller, a real party man, I would vote for Hershman, just to keep the game honest. The controller makes no policy decisions, he only safeguards the budget. Of course, I suppose a town as prosperous as Allentown, need not concern itself with cash issues.

Gentrification Day in Allentown

And let’s be quite honest, the intention of this project and the redevelopment of downtown is to remove the stores that bring lower incomes to downtown. Discount sneakers, $1 stores, urban clothes, cheap jewelers, cell phone repair, and barber shops are not (the) answer, they are the past and on 10/31 they will be gone! Now it is time that we take back our downtown and make it in what we want it to look like.....Gentrification is not a bad word Future Downtown Arena Attendee

Today was D day, or should I say G day, for the merchants displaced by the arena. Future Attendee, who has become the De Facto voice of the Administration on this blog, looks forward to the transformation. According to Future, he's in attendance at all Council Meetings, and may well be connected with the regime. I have been told, but have not confirmed, that this blog, along with O'Hare's Ramblings, have been blocked from city computers. I do not have an issue with the Administration's desire for a more upscale downtown, the problem was the method. Such change, if successful, would have been organic, with a level playing field. If gradual market forces would have made the merchant's property more valuable as real estate, than businesses, they would have been eager sellers. Such a transition would not have compromised the merchants rights, and not made the taxpayers potentially liable for the project's failure. This blog is proud to have been a voice for the merchants, and wishes them the best success in their new locations.

An Independent Lady

Although Allentown City Council is currently composed of all Democrats, there is an independent voice. On the vote for approving Eminent Domain, the only dissenting vote came from Jeanette Eichenwald. Whenever a group is being disenfranchised, they have an ally in Eichenwald. Her passion for prejudice reduction is well known in the community, and always supercedes any party affiliation or loyalty. Eichenwald's campaign budget for this coming election is $0.00. She feels that it's inappropriate for financial support to be a factor in City Council Elections. The moral compass in the Council Chamber has always pointed to her seat on the dais.

New Slate Member

Last week I received the oversized postcard with the Republican Slate for County Commissioners. These giant postcards have become the mailer of choice for politicians. Although there are four open seats, and four Republicans running, the Slate only contains three members; Scott Ott, Lisa Scheller and Vic Mazziotti. It seems that the fourth Republican, Brad Osborne, wasn't part of the cooperative effort stemming back to the primary. It's my understanding that the Slate was created to oust Dean Browning, for not toting the party line. Frankly, such political nuances don't interest me. I prefer to dwell on the issues, not the characters. As I approached my special archival container for political mailings, I noticed that the Slate now had a fourth member. Putting on my special glasses for political mailings, I saw that it was Geoff Brace. How could this be? The card was practically identical to last weeks, but the new, forth member is a Democrat? Turning the card over, the name linkage continues. Ott, Scheller, and Mazziotti, were now Ott, Scheller, Mazziotti and Brace. They've Got Plans...., They Will...., Vote For..., My first inquiry was to a long time Republican workhorse, who is currently disenchanted with the Republican Party leadership. I explained the card, and his initial reaction was perhaps the Slate was trying to tag team Osborne, as they had done against Browning. The address portion of the card does contain the sender's name, LVAR-PAC. That name didn't register with me or him. A call later in the evening, to Dean Browning, solved the mystery. LVAR is the Lehigh Valley Association of Realtors. Browning believes that the association is supporting those four candidates because of their replies to a survey on county assessments and other real estate issues. I think most voters will find the card most confusing. If you didn't get one in the mail, click on both sides shown here, for a larger version.