Social Media Ablaze Over Fire

The city spending money to tear down a rich landlord's property is more than some peeps on facebook can take. Doug wrote... Someone please explain to me why the taxpayers are going to foot the bill for a building to be torn down, when the building is owned by Nat Hyman? Well Doug, because public officials have declared that the fire damaged building must be demolished immediately, and that sort of expedited action usually takes the city to implement. A private party would need a week just to gather the necessary permits.

Over the years the city has torn down buildings before, then collected from the property owner, it is far from an unprecedented action. There is however, added fuel to these speculations. The owner did himself run for mayor, and may be less than popular at city hall. I expect that the flames against the landlord will continue to be fanned, both in the press and on facebook.

The Morning Call And Allentown

Yesterday on facebook,  on an Allentown information page no less,  someone wondered what yesterday's post about Bill White's column had to do with Allentown?  Actually,  just about everything.  The Morning Call remains the dominant news sources in Allentown, and especially with no new publisher on board,  Bill White is their voice.  Since the paper no longer publishes editorials,  only White's column now fills that void.

I find it no coincidence that White has no respect for Trump, wrote Monday's column and that all the letters recently were against Kavanaugh's appointment.

Although media bias seems more the norm than the exception in this era,  there are local consequences. For example,  Marty Nothstein was abused by an unsubstantiated claim.  Although totally exonerated,  like toothpaste,  those headlines do not go back into the tube. He has filed a lawsuit against the paper.  Perhaps the paper, in another time with more of a firewall wall between staff bias and candidates, would not have run with such an allegation.

As a local blogger,  I can think of no better calling than keeping my eye on the local main stream media.

Bill White's Pink Hat

I was somewhat surprised when Bill White's column didn't appear in the Sunday paper....  I figured he was too over-wrought from Saturday's vote to write.   His column appeared Monday, and it's about a church based group headed by an ambitious pastor, which is holding rallies to shift the congress to Democratic in November.

they feel religion and faith intersect for them in 2018 and why they can simultaneously claim to be nonpartisan and still tell people it’s imperative that we elect Democrats in November. “We do not advocate for a party,” the group’s website explains. “We are calling for the Common Good. This year, in this election, in these circumstances, the Common Good means flipping Congress.”

Apparently, neither they nor Bill White understand that despite their rationalization, they're implying that they're on a political mission endorsed by G-d.  Bill White has his pink hat pulled down so far over his head that he tries to soften his partisanship with quotes from the Morning Call's political expert, Muhlenberg College's Chris Borick.

While donations to the sanctimonious Reverend Good & Plenty's traveling revival show are through a 503c4,  if you prefer, he can accommodate tax deductible contributions through his supporting partner's 503c3.  Meanwhile, Bill White celebrates Halloween early, with just another anti-Trump piece, costumed as a column on this group.

Weitzel's Water World

Although other accounts of last nights meeting may indicate that the Swimming Toward The Future plan was drowned by City Council, its DNA lives in the new resolution.  Council thinks that somehow, they must get something from the $80,000 study.  It was not done in vain; Weitzel used it as part of his resume to secure his new job in Idaho.  Mike Schlossberg wisely pointed out that a future Council may misconstrue the passing of even a  revised resolution as essentially approving the contents of the plan. The Council will be changing dramatically. Schlossberg will be going to Harrisburg, with Schweyer not far behind. Julio Guridy, and his protege Cynthia Mota, indicated pleasure with Weitzel's Water World.   Francis Dougherty is the mad scientist who will nurture the DNA, until which time the monster can be resurrected. Dougherty is both the former and current Managing Director of Allentown. During his first term, he is the one who brought Weitzel to Allentown.

The politicized Trexler Trust is still on board with Water World. Weitzel's plan was his most ambitious to date. The destination water park would fill the entire section of the park near the Ott and Hamilton Street intersection. That plan should be formally rejected.  A new plan should be created which simply indicates that Allentown will conform with ADA regulations, and strive to open and operate our five swimming pools in a clean and safe fashion.

both pictures from Swimming Towards The Future presentation

above reprinted from May of 2012 


ADDENDUM OCTOBER 8, 2018: This past weekend one of the many congratulations on facebook to Karen EI-Chaar was from former park director Greg Weitzel. Weitzel, who now works in Idaho, wrote that he hopes to see El-Chaar at an upcoming national recreation convention. 

One of my achievements in regard to the WPA was making Ms. El-Chaar, in her former capacity as director of Friends Of The Parks, more familiar with the importance of the WPA in our park system. Ms. El-Chaar is now the new director of Allentown Park and Recreation. Although I'm encouraged that she asked me to reconvene my previous WPA group, I realize that an additional mission must be advocating for the traditional park system, of which the WPA is just one part.

When Ms. El-Chaar attends these groups she will be surrounded by Weitzel types, who think that being a park director is ordering recreation equipment from a catalog, the more the better. Frankly, Allentown's unique park system has been corrupted. We have historical structures, such as Bogert's Covered Bridge, rotting away. We have outside conservation groups blocking both view and access to the streams with weed walls. Although I will continue advocating for the WPA, I will not become silent on the other issues.

Allentown's WPA Watchman

Being a self appointed watchman over Allentown's WPA structures is an act in frustration. Since I started posting about the neglect of the structures in 2008, I have seen nothing of substance done. Actually, besides the steps at Irving Park being rebuilt, I have seen nothing done at all. While rebuilding that small staircase was positive, many negatives occurred in the meantime. The meantime has been over seven years. Also in the meantime, another set of steps were removed from Irving Park. The staircase at Union Terrace is deteriorating to the point where that structure is in jeopardy. The repair to a remaining staircase at Irving was done with a $25,000 grant from the Trexler Trust. In the last seven years, the park department's budget has been over $25 million dollars. The playground at Cedar Beach cost $1 million. Pawlowski has rejected my offer to be a liaison on behalf of the WPA structures. I'm pictured above standing over the former WPA wall, after it collapsed this summer, closing Lehigh Parkway's classic entrance. This city's history and future are tied to our park system and other quality of life issues, not just some private/public new buildings. I know there's no big money or national attention to be gained in fixing an old wall, but we have a responsibility to the things which made this city unique.

above reprinted from October of 2015


ADDENDUM OCTOBER 5, 2018:  On Wednesday evening,  city council confirmed Karen El-Chaar as the new park director. Her three predecessors, all appointed by former mayor Pawlowski, had an identical background...All three were from out of town, and had a masters in recreation. None of them had any appreciation of the iconic WPA structures, or Allentown's traditional park system. That system was a destination in Pennsylvania, and over the years the subject of many picture postcards.

After advocating for the WPA for over a decade,  finally a park director is in place who has an understanding of the significance of these structures in our park system.  As the former long term director of Allentown Friends Of The Parks,  Karen El-Chaar is schooled in both the traditional park system and the current recreational expectations of the public.  Mayor Ray O'Connell made an excellent choice.

Reconvening WPA Group

Karen El-Chaar, new director of the Allentown Park System, has asked if I would reconvene the WPA group I started in 2011. She is interested in cataloging an inventory of all structures built by the WPA, something which Allentown apparently doesn't have.

In yesterday's post, which was written in 2015, I concluded by saying that I was optimistic that Allentown would continue repairing the iconic structures. Actually, that optimism turned out to be unfounded, as nothing more was done. However, I am now again encouraged about the future. Karen El-Chaar does have an appreciation of the structures and their importance in the parks, something which all her predecessors lacked.

I invite my former committee members to contact me, and anyone else interested in this important endeavor.

In the photo above,  El-Chaar and I are standing in front of the double stairwell in Lehigh Parkway.  That structure is in need of repair.  Director El-Chaar will attend our upcoming meeting when scheduled.


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WPA, A Work In Progress

On Labor Day in 2011, The Morning Call ran a story about my efforts in regard to the neglected WPA structures, and announced my upcoming meeting at the Allentown Library. Among those in attendance at that meeting was Karen El-Chaar, director of Friends Of The Allentown Parks. Later that year, I took El-Chaar on a tour of the WPA structures throughout the park system. In 2013, I conducted my first tour of the WPA in Lehigh Parkway, in conjunction with Friends Of The Parks. This year, El-Chaar successfully secured a grant from The Trexler Trust, which is currently being used to restore the steps at Fountain Park. The grant is being supervised by Lindsay Taylor, Allentown Park Director. The work is being done by Dietrich Stonemasonry, and managed by parks supervisor, Rick Holtzman.

Although much work remains to be done, it's my sense that all the decision makers mentioned above, are developing a greater appreciation of the unique gift that the WPA bestowed upon the Allentown park system.  I'm hoping that both that interest and work continues this coming spring and summer, especially in preserving the remaining portion of the wall in Lehigh Parkway.

reprinted from October of 2015


molovinsky on allentown is published weekdays Monday thru Friday.  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.

The Allentown Peanut Gallery

You cannot underestimate the comprehension of readers on social media. My post yesterday on this phenomenon yielded even crasser comments than before. One reader wrote I can't wait until this generation dies off, They've left us with nothing but financial debt and inherent fears. I can only assume that many of the responders never actually read the post, but were responding only to the picture of me with the Trump poster. Apparently, they are so used to memes, a link might be too much commitment for them. Facebook is full of people posting memes all day, and people commenting on them all day. Few understood that my title, Make Allentown Great Again, was a play or pun on the Trump image. A serial insulter wrote, Wow... the guy whose scared of minorities is a Trump supporter. This really is "informed commentary.

In a facebook entry yesterday, Allentown event promoter Alfonso Todd referred to those inappropriately  speculating on the tragic car explosion as the peanut gallery.  The peanut gallery is a good metaphor for many who comment on Facebook. The term originally referred to children who comprised the live audience for the Howdy Doody Show.