Allentown's City Council Vacancy

The list to fill Peter Schweyer's vacant City Council seat just became more interesting. Former Police Chief Roger MacLean threw his hat in the ring, by switching parties from Republican to Democrat, as reported by The Morning Call. Although Council will probably choose Pawlowski favorite Jeff Glazier, MacLean's switch makes the next mayoral race more interesting. It is a given that any successful office seeker in Allentown must campaign under the Democrat badge. MacLean's willingness to adapt to that reality makes him a serious contender for future mayor. The same switching tactic was recently employed by Charlie Thiel, another mayoral contender.

Protecting A Stage Set Called Allentown

Sharon, An out of town visitor to the arena, wrote in a letter to the editor yesterday, Please keep the police presence around the arena. It was so reassuring to see them and know their job was to keep the fans safe. Actually Sharon, their real job is to protect Allentonians, all over the city. However, they are being diverted to Reilly's taxpayer funded,  part time adult disneyland. A well known restauranteur confirmed that indeed he was given such a lucrative inducement to open up,  that it made no sense to say no. Although center city Allentown will certainly hum with a vitality that it hasn't seen in many decades on event nights, there are hidden costs involved with this theater of public money. If it's the other sections of the city being under served by the police on event nights, or the waiters making no tips on non-event nights, the new entertainment will cost everybody something.

Blue Heron Blues

Today's Morning Call promotes that their website has been digitally remastered, to be more compelling on the new smart mobile devices. Although they imply the same for their journalism, in truth, the paper staff continues to downsize. Here at molovinsky on allentown, we continue to use our original format, classic if you will. Another hyper local blog just announced, after only a few weeks, that he's closing shop. The young man couldn't figure how to make local news' blogging financially feasible, good luck with that. This blog will continues on, defending the history, traditions and values of the Lehigh Valley. I give no consideration to audience size or financial remuneration. Likewise, I give no consideration to political correctness or diplomacy. Although your readership is appreciated, the only mission here is to defend issues of local significance.

photocredit:molovinsky

Emergency At Union Terrace

From a distance, the double stairwell off of St. Elmo Street, down into Union Terrace, looks pretty good. As you get closer, the disrepair becomes more apparent. The neglect and demise of this icon is nothing new, I have been writing about it for years. Union Terrace was the last major park developed by the WPA, and without a doubt, the most ambitious. The amphitheater and raised stage is separated by the Cedar Creek, an incredible symphony of landscape design. The park is now called Joseph Daddona Terrace, but I always use the original names, they have more meaning and history. The top of the main wall of the staircase is missing numerous cap stones. As this winter weather begins, water will seep down into the middle of the wall and freeze. This freezing and expansion cycle can destroy the irreplaceable wall in short order. Let us hope that a city with a $billion dollars of new development can find a few dollars to seal the top of this wall.

The Culverts of Constitution Drive

As an advocate and student of the WPA, I'm often asked about the stone walls on Constitution Drive. None of the walls there invokes as much curiosity as the one I'm shown photographing. Locals refer to this structure as The Spring. Notice that there is a small short wall in front. This stone barrier protects vehicles from driving into the pit, designed to drain water through a pipe under the gravel roadway. Culverts and other practical structures were common WPA projects. Constitution Drive has several WPA culverts, but none of the other retaining walls are as elaborate as the one seen in the photograph above. Although Lehigh County designated funds several years ago to repair this wall, the work was never done. Such neglect is also the case in Allentown. The top wall of the double stairwell descending into Union Terrace is in dire jeopardy. This blog will soon once again document the condition of that structure. While our history and legacy crumble, this community and it's leadership is preoccupied with the arena and Philadelphia cheesesteaks.
photograph by K Mary Hess

South Whitehall's Transparency Issue

As an advocate for Wehr's Dam and traditional park systems, I was slightly disturbed when South Whitehall's Commissioners congratulated their park director, Randy Cope, for winning an award for the Covered Bridge Park Master Plan. That plan recommends that the dam be demolished, and that the Jordan Creek be lined with a riparian buffer. Both those agendas are the business of the Wildlands Conservancy, which participated in the plan's formation. Visitors to Allentown's parks in the summer are distressed to have their access and view of the waterways blocked by the unsightly weed walls. The notion of replacing the vista of Wehr's Dam with just a wall of weeds shows no respect for history or beauty.

This weekend I learned that dam demolition and riparian buffers are family business for Randy Cope, whose father Scott Cope, is a director at the Wildlands Conservancy. I also learned that the former park director of Allentown, John Mikowychok, had met with the Conservancy, and was bought on board with dam demolishing before he even began working in his Allentown position. This explains how he endorsed demolishing two small dams on the Little Lehigh, before he actually ever saw them. Although I never underestimated the influence of the Wildlands Conservancy, I didn't realize that they were actually inside and running the park departments.

It's disappointing that after attending township meetings for five months, nobody in the administration had the courtesy to inform either myself, or the other advocates, with a potential conflict of interest disclaimer concerning their park director. In light of these new revelations, it is now apparent that Wehr's Dam must be added to the Historic Overlay District, if it is to be preserved.

Jew Killing, A Long Tradition

In response to the synagogue killings in Jerusalem, the media has been speculating about a religious war. I'm not sure where those reporters have been for the last 3,000 years, but killing Jews is a historical sport. Almost every language even has special words for the ritual. For many centuries before the Holocaust, killing Jews was called a pogrom. In 1929, the Jews of Hebron were massacred. Yes Dorothy, there were Jews living there long before Israel was created in 1948. There's even a long tradition of killing Jews in their synagogues. Twenty two Jews were murdered in an Istanbul Synagogue in 1986.

What's new is that Jews in Israel are capable of shooting back, capable of defending themselves. Although the world is used to dead Jews, they don't like Jews who fight back. For Israel's audacity to defend itself, it is called racist, apartheid and even nazi. Fortunately for Israel, it doesn't allow those insults to deter them from defending themselves.

South Whitehall Slams It's Placid Residents

Imagine a municipality where the elected officials can announce a 37% increase in taxes, and not one citizen questions it. Such is the case in the burb just west of Allentown. In their defense, the Township maintains that this is the first increase in 29 years. They have been previously operating with a surplus, generated by decades of high end development. One thing is for sure, the township operates virtually with no outside scrutiny, seen elsewhere in the Valley. I think that when the new tax bills arrive next spring, even the normally calm township residents will take notice.