It's Raining Candy Sprinkles In Allentown

If you picked up the Morning Call on an airplane seat in Atlanta,  and were never here,  you would think that Allentown is the jewel of the northeast.  After all,  its new district with a $Billion dollars worth of new buildings just won a  Global Award of Excellence.  However,  if you decided to detour your trip to a real paradise to instead visit Allentown, you would be in for a rude awakening.  Walking down Hamilton Street you would find virtually no stores,  much less anything upscale.  Your few fellow shoppers would resemble the urban poor in the most depressed cities.

The Lehigh Carbon Community College, now on Hamilton Street, will be moving into the Morning Call Building, which is now owned by J.B. Reilly, along with most of the new buildings in the NIZ.  I suppose the students can study journalism and intern with the paper.  However, like the paper, they will have to be very careful what they write about Reilly and the NIZ.  Maybe their professor would allow them to intern with a blogger?

An Invitation To Pawlowski

Students of this blog know that I supported Nat Hyman for mayor, and have been a long time critic of  Ed Pawlowski.  I have even been critical of those who supported him. I see no benefit of continuing to beat that drum.  I believe that you will see a shift in this blog that will appear more conciliatory.   He will certainly be submitted to enough public scrutiny when the trial begins in January.  I don't think that you will be reading much about that, if at all, on this page.  I don't operate as a reporter,  but rather a commentator on local politics and history.

That is not to say that I won't be critical of the administration in regard to policy.  I will always strive to improve the priorities,  especially in regard to the park system.  I'm inviting Mayor Pawlowski to take a tour with me of the WPA structures.

When Allentown High Was Pennsylvania Dutch

In 1950 when 16 year old  Jayne Lichtenwalner made this plate in art class,  Allentown for the most part had a Pennsylvania Dutch demographic.  Jayne's family lived at 642 Chew Street.  The principal of Allentown High was Clifford Bartholomew.  After Bartholomew retired from being principal,  he later would go on to become mayor.

Move ahead seventy years, and the Pennsylvania Dutch student is an endangered species in the Allentown School System, perhaps even extinct. The new superintendent of the system is from Detroit,  and the mayor is from Chicago.  The dominant demographic in center city is now Hispanic, and they just elected the Chicago mayor for a fourth term, even though he's indicted for corruption.

I grew up on the south side near the Mack Truck assembly plant. I graduated from Allen in the middle 1960's, and remember when Bartholomew was principal and then mayor. I worked in center city when the stores died and the neighborhoods changed.  This blog was designed to be the juncture of local history and politics.  Because I find the politics at the moment so distressing,  I'll be conducting  more history classes.

Where's Waldo Molovinsky?

I have been a citizen participant in local government for decades.  Over those years I have championed for and against proposals by numerous mayors and councils.  Needless to say to those that know me, many of those efforts were in the against camp.

In 2005, I ran as an independent for mayor.  It was at that time I noticed some things about Pawlowski that differed from his public perception. In 2007, when I started this blog,  even fellow bloggers Bernie O'Hare and Chris Casey dismissed my complaints about Pawlowski as sour grapes from a losing candidate.  In 2014,  I ran as an independent for state representative against an eleven term  Republican incumbent and a Democrat. I received 13% of the tally in Lehigh County.

I'm not a people person.  The last organization I belonged to was the Cub Scouts in 1954.  I wasn't at any campaign parties on Tuesday night.  I don't play well with officials, bureaucrats or the press. I don't curry favor with any elected officials, nor do I regularly visit them with praise.  In recent years my attendance at  county, city or township meetings is usually to defend our history against political correctness and sacred cows.

I think that you will find the observations on this blog informative.   I only write about those issues with which I have experience and knowledge. I occasionally get calls from people researching a local topic or place that have found information about it here on this blog. My current efforts have gone toward saving historic structures within our park systems. Although I do not accept anonymous comments, comments may be made by pseudonym.  Registration for a pseudonym name is through third party entities, such as Google, and I have no access to actual identities. Your readership is appreciated.

A Statue Of Pawlowski

Pawlowski's upcoming fourth term may well be less than the full four years.  Although he won the election with 39% of the voters,  his next evaluation will be by a jury.  However,  I suppose the lesson from election night is not to underestimate Mr. Pawlowski's ability to overcome obstacles.

Ray O'Connell supporters harbor the hope that Pawlowski will either resign in a plea deal,  or be removed from office when found guilty in the upcoming trial.  It is their understanding that City Council will appoint O'Connell mayor until a special election can be held. At that point he could then run as the incumbent.

There will be much speculation about how the election may have turned out without the write-in and independents.  However,  such speculation seems less than productive at this time.  Although the upcoming trial may change the political dynamics once again, at this point Ed Pawlowski is mayor. The city and his distractors,  myself included,  can best proceed accepting that reality.

Ed Pawlowski was elected for his 4th term for the most part with the support of the minority communities. While I have referred to these voters as low information,  many in fact were aware of the charges against the mayor.   Although several of their members, with their own political aspirations, say that they think that he is innocent,  others are more blunt.  They simply don't consider criminal charges a deal breaker,  and certainly not charges pertaining to corruption.

It was a given for years in Allentown that you had to be an ethical Democrat to win.  Now perhaps  you no longer even need to be ethical.  In Washington D.C.  they are erecting a statue of Marion Barry.  Barry was re-elected mayor after finishing a federal prison term.  Perhaps a statue awaits Ed Pawlowski.

Post Election Revelations

Although I have previously recommended candidates,  my efforts towards yesterday's election were much beyond my normal.  I felt that whatever influence I may wield,  this was the time to use it.  The idea of electing a fourth term mayor who would immediately be completely preoccupied with a corruption trial was something which I had to fight against.  In the course of such combat I have been uncomfortably harsh against some other candidates and officials.

I've always had a good rapport with Ray O'Connell and considered him worthy of the mayorship.  However, as a write-in, I felt that he would siphon votes from Hyman,  who I considered the  preferred  alternative to Pawlowski on the ballot.

Probably the city official I have been most critical of is park director Lindsay Taylor.  This is because the park system is the part of the city I know and care the most about.  Although I believe that the department needs new priorities,  I do not believe that it needs a new director.  The city could benefit from Taylor's experience and growing familiarity with the large park system.

I have been critical of The Morning Call and their coverage of the election.  Although Emily Opilo co-authored many of those stories, I find her an excellent reporter,  whose efforts have benefited  Allentown.

Here in the local blogosphere,  earlier in the year I speculated that a commenter, Monkey Momma, might be Bernie O'Hare.  Recently,  Monkey Momma introduced herself to me.  Although I immediately disclosed the encounter to O'Hare,  it's also necessary to disclose it to my general audience.

Last night a woman told me that she voted straight Democratic as a protest against Donald Trump.  It appears that she was not alone with her inappropriate use of the ballot on the local level.  The anti-Trump sentiment could well have been a factor in many county races.  In the close Allentown mayoral race,  Hyman would have easily prevailed, had he been alone on the ballot with Pawlowski.  Ray O'Connell may well end up mayor as Allentown's Trial Of The Century starts in early 2018.

The Last Hurrah

Sunday was the last hurrah for The Morning Call trying to shape the election;  the paper's circulation is much less on Monday and Tuesday.  Ed Pawlowski must have been very pleased with the article.  It said that he shepherded in the new downtown development. Although it happen on his watch, and Brown and Reilly let him to cut a few ribbons,  he was less than incidental.  Actually, he tried to use those backdrops as his ticket to ride out of town. with campaigns both for governor and senator.   The paper also said  "In October, he triumphantly opened the city’s long-shuttered Cedar Beach Pool for a one-weekend event, weeks after the rest of the city’s pools closed for the season."  There was no mention of the overcosts, or that he knew that the pool was leaking, but went ahead with the pre-election ploy anyway.

In addition to glossing over Pawlowski's indiscretions,  the article took a shot at Hyman, saying that he spent less than what was anticipated.  Anticipated by whom? Considering that Pawlowski and Hyman raised about the same amount of money, and presumedly will spend about the same, the statement about Hyman was pejorative.

 I suppose from a newspaper point of view, a sitting mayor on trial for corruption is about as juicy as it gets.  However,  for those of us who have a stake in Allentown's  future, let us hope that Hyman prevails.

Parasites For Pawlowski

                                           artwork by Mark Beyer

Readers of this blog know that I don't have much respect for those who support Pawlowski.  I think that they are limited to low information people, and those who put their own self interest above that of the community.   They might want to consider that all this pay to play occurred when he was interested in running first for governor,  then for the senate.  Although Pawlowski is now claiming to care so much about Allentown,  he was doing his best to use the town as a stepping stone.

What bodes poorly for Allentown's future is that Pawlowski might just win the election.  The fact that segments of the population would consider using their vote in such a fashion helps explain the crime and violence.

This is a critical juncture for Allentown.  It's time for completely new leadership.  It is essential that people of character come out,  cross party lines,  and vote no to the corruption.  I support Nat Hyman because he has the qualities to restore Allentown's pride, and allow the new construction to become  truly a revitalization.

artwork by Mark Beyer