An Allentown Cheesesteak Story

Readers of The Morning Call have seen several photo spreads of Tony Luke's opening on Hamilton Street. Two spreads in a row showed Mayor Pawlowski and the owner hyping the new cheesesteak spot, along with at least two articles in recent weeks announcing that the business was coming. The same readers have also seen coupon ads by Zandy's, which have been advertising in the paper for maybe 20 years. Zandy's, on the intersection of St. John and Lehigh Streets, is a third generation Allentown business. Yesterday, a reader commented on a different blog topic that the NIZ is crony capitalism, supported by crony journalism. Submitted comments about which cheesesteak you think is better will not appear, I don't care about that. What I do care about is a mayor and a newspaper, who now seems to think that Allentown starts and stops at the NIZ portion of Hamilton Street.

Allentown's Misplaced Park Priorities

It wasn't that many years ago that Allentown was nationally known for it's park system. This distinction resulted from the foresight and wealth of General Harry Trexler. The general had an elaborate system designed by distinguished landscape architects in 1928, but when the Depression struck in 1929, the plans were put on hold. By the mid 1930's when Roosevelt's New Deal was formulated, Allentown had shovel ready plans. Up to 4,000 men labored throughout the park systems building irreplaceable stone structures. The completed iconic park system became a designation with a national reputation. Move ahead to 2014, and we have a city hall with no institutional memory or knowledge of these resources. We have a succession of park directors from out of town with a background in recreation. The current park budget again doesn't have one dollar earmarked for WPA restoration.* Not unlike Detroit, we will be building a Kaboom Playground, a strategy for impoverished inter-cities, utilizing public planning and participation in construction. While the Kaboom project is the emphasis of the park department, the top wall of the double staircase leading down to the amphitheater at Union Terrace is crumbling. Another winter of wet and freezing may well destroy another monumental structure which we could never replace. Where is Allentown going?

*For the first time since I began advocating for the WPA, this year's budget has $25,000 allocated for an engineering study of the Fountain Park Steps.  Although this hopefully will be a beginning, I believe that the funds would be better spent on a stone mason. The top of the wall at Union Terrace and St. Elmo Street, and the missing treads on the Fountain Park steps, could be replaced with no engineering necessary.

Obama helping to build Kaboom Playground

The Crime and Nonsense of Grants

Just a few years ago Allentown and the local Chamber of Commerce were conducting Vision meetings for the merchants of Hamilton Mall. While these soon to be displaced saps thought that they were planning Hamilton Streets' future, Reilly and Browne were cooking up the NIZ. On a more regional level, in 2011 the valley received $3.4 million dollars to study development. This hunk of HUD cash was distributed to local agencies, who like baby birds with open beaks, ate it up. The baby birds included LVEDC,LVPC,CACLV,and LANTA. A special director was hired and community meetings were conducted to collect your input. They named this disappearing $3.4million Envision. You can now attend the final meetings where the conclusions are available; Imagine that.

ADDENDUM: There is a mistaken notion that a grant, especially a federal HUD Grant, has little bearing to our pockets. Apologists for this bureaucratic waste say well at least the money is being used locally. If the money is being wasted locally or not, this waste is being repeated locally, regionally and nationally. Grant writing specialists are prized employees in all levels of government. Although due diligence needs to proceed any project or expenditure, the grant process has assumed an expensive life of it's own.

molovinsky Battlefield Policy

Mayors' Nutter and Pawlowski were recently taped for a Business Matters segment. Both mayors lamented the lack of pension reform as anchors around the neck of government. Neither gentleman bothered to mention that their party, which they fully support, failed to muster even one vote for pension reform in the state house. Although it's easy for me to point out that hypocrisy, many of the other issues I bring to light are painful. I normally support the Lehigh County Commissioners who are being obstructionists in keeping Cedarbrook viable. Although I criticize the South Whitehall Commissioners for allowing the Wildlands Conservancy to set the time table for the Wehr's Dam decision, I admire most of their other good decisions. I suppose that I might be less abrasive and more diplomatic championing these causes, or more political as some would say. My problem then is that there would be one less voice speaking out, and there's so few already.

County Commissioners Euthanizing Cedarbrook

Reflecting upon an article by Samantha Marcus in The Morning Call, the County Commissioners are hellbent on killing Cedarbrook. Despite a most complete, logical plan to restore it's fiscal health, Commissioner Mike Schware keeps saying that he will withhold any nourishment until there is a plan in place. Vic Mazziotti's rationale might even be more Catch 22ish; He claims that the plan to attract higher paying Medicare Rehab patients to one wing is contrary to the facilities' low income mission, and that it should stay exclusively with medicaid patients. Both of these absurd, disingenuous arguments mean that Executive Tom Muller will have to improvise to keep the cherished institution alive, until which time more responsible people occupy the dais at Government Center. Commissioner decisions should not just be an ultra conservative ideology formulated in a void, but a localized decision, reflecting the traditions and best outcome for the residents of Lehigh Valley.

photograph by K Mary Hess

An Expensive Endeavor

The other day I received a message on my answering machine thanking me for my effort to represent the residents of the 183rd District. Although the election is over and I lost, I am not too proud to still accept contributions. The district is very large, and to get my message out to the voters was an expensive endeavor. Those inclined to contribute can use the paypal button on the sidebar, thank you.

Citizen Abuse

South Whitehall, at this point, is actually abusing it's residents over Wehr's Dam. Over 7,000 have signed petitions to retain the dam, with 6,500 of them actually signing the document while at the dam. The Commissioners are not being uniquely stubborn, rather the problem is politics as usual. Although the dam has been declared structurally good by the state, the township agreed last summer to allow the Wildlands Conservancy to make a case for it's demolition. In a further insult to local residents, the Wildlands' study is being funded by the taxpayers through a grant. Over $200,000 is being spent to make a case which the residents do not want, nor is necessary by any objective criteria. Additionally, the Commissioners feel compelled to defer their decision until which time the Wildlands presents their finished report. In addition to wasting the taxpayer's time and money, the credibility of local government erodes for 7,000 citizens.

photograph by Gregg Obst

Re-earning My Certificate

Several years ago Allentown Friends Of The Parks presented me with a certificate for my advocacy for the WPA Structures in the park system. A year later, I re-earned the certificate by attempting to defend the WPA Robin Hood Dam. This week I will again re-earn it by explaining to the Park and Recreation Committee that funds have been allocated for WPA restoration, but never used for that purpose. In reality, I will be talking to a proverbial stone wall. The Committee was comprised of Cynthia Mota, Joe Davis and Peter Schweyer, but Schweyer has resigned Council. Mota and Davis allowed the Wildlands to remove the scenic WPA Dam on the recommendation of Park Director John Mikowychok, who had only been in Allentown for six weeks at the time. Neither Mota or Mikowychok had ever seen the dam before. Mikowychok has since resigned, and has been temporarily replaced by Vicky Kistler, from the Health Department. Mikowychok had replaced John Weitzel as Park Director. Weitzel had secured funds to repair/fortify the leaning wall along the Lehigh Parkway entrance road, but the funds were never spent for that purpose. Mikowychok had secured funds for the repair of the steps leading down to Fountain Park. This week when the Park and Recreation Committee meet to discuss the upcoming budget, I will be there re-earning my certificate once again.