Wehr's Dam Conspiracy Against Voters

The South Whitehall Commissioners never expected the voters to approve the referendum in November of 2016 to retain Wehr's Dam, especially when they had associated it with a possible tax increase. They thought that they could accommodate the Wildlands Conservancy in demolishing the dam, with no political consequence to themselves.

In July of 2014, the Commissioners gave the Conservancy permission to conduct a study of the dam, which was intended to justify its demolition. The engineering firm for the Conservancy then claimed that the dam was leaking under itself, at one small spot. On February 13, 2015, the DEP wrote the township; "The Wildlands Conservancy has recently brought to our attention that there is some confusion relating to the current condition of the Wehr's Dam..." For the Commissioners to have granted the Wildlands Conservancy permission to interface with the state was improper. The dam is the historic property of the township residents, not an outside party.

A subsequent study of the dam by another engineering firm could not confirm the above referenced leak. It is now necessary for the Commissioners to put aside their agenda of accommodating the Wildlands Conservancy, and honor the results of the referendum. They must change their Park Master Plan, which still calls for the dam's demolition. They must now advocate for the dam with the state DEP, and correct any misconceptions about its condition.  The reality is that the dam is a overbuilt massive concrete wedge, sitting on an enormous concrete platform, which would stand for another 100 years with no repair.

Although its been over three years since the referendum, the township hasn't applied one dab of cement to the dam. On the contrary, they have been rebidding the repairs trying to actually get a higher price, to exceed the amount authorized by the voter's referendum. They are trying to undue the will of the voters. The dam sits in a state of benign neglect, waiting for the state to accommodate the Wildlands Conservancy and condemn it.

photo by K Mary Hess

Lehigh County's Blue Wave

On Tuesday I ran into Lisa Scheller, who has announced for the 7th district, now held by Susan Wild. If I were her, I wouldn't have been a happy camper Wednesday morning.  I was somewhat surprised by the local blue wave. I figured that the new paper ballot was a good step away from straight party voting. Although there was still an oval for that straight party vote, at least every available candidate could be seen at one time. Supposedly this was the last year for the thoughtless straight party voting option.

Mark Pinsley for controller was hawking himself as a check and balance against the Republican county commissioners. With the solid Democratic victory, both by him and the commissioner candidates, who will watch them now?

The massacre of the Republicans even included Bob Smith on the school board. While Republican Tim Ramos lost for Allentown mayor, I think that under the circumstances, he did surprisingly well. The Republicans did prevail in South Whitehall, 2 out of 3, for commissioner.  However,  that is the county epicenter for informed turnout. I don't mean that in a partisan way, but rather they tend not to ride the waves so much there. But even there, the voters get snookered... More about that and Wehr's Dam in an upcoming post.

photo of Tulsi Gabbard

Voting Machine Madness In Lehigh County

The old voting machines were 800 pound monsters. They resembled old time photo booths found in arcades. In Lehigh County, these heavy steel booths would be trucked and placed in the various polling locations by prisoners of the county jail. When the county was mandated to replace them with  electronic machines for the 2006 election, I felt it was unnecessary. When they immediately disposed of the old machines, I knew that was a mistake. Those old monsters were reliable, foolproof and verifiable.

Governor Wolf has decreed that votes must now have a physical receipt. Although, Tim Benyo, Chief Clerk of Elections, claims that the new paper ballots are not going back in time, it sure seems that way. Some of the old mechanical machines, in addition to tallying the votes, also had a adding machine type of paper verification. Of course the expense of replacing those old mechanical wonders would now be prohibitive. So the new plan is paper ballots, which will then be electronically scanned.

The old mechanical machines were hack-roof.  The current electronic machines are also hack-roof, not being connected to the internet.  Their replacement and disposal will be another knee-jerk reaction.

reprinted from March of 2019

UPDATE NOVEMBER 6, 2019: When you pulled the lever on the old mechanical machine shown above, you knew something was happening,  like pulling the lever on a slot machine. Even when you tapped the screen on the recent previous machine,  it showed your choices, before you tapped it again to count your ballot. With the new scanner supposedly counting your penned in ovals, it's like putting your vote into a paper shredder... There is no feedback or even an allusion of confirmation.  The poll worked did hand me a I voted sticker, but I still wondered if I really did.

The People's Candidate

In the late 1970's, neighbors would gather in the market on 9th Street to complain and receive consolation from the woman behind the cash register. Emma was a neighborhood institution. A native Allentonian, she had gone through school with Mayor For Life Joe Dadonna, and knew everybody at City Hall. More important, she wasn't shy about speaking out. What concerned the long time neighbors back then was a plan to create a Historical District, by a few newcomers.

What concerned Emma wasn't so much the concept, but the proposed size of the district, sixteen square blocks. The planners unfortunately all wanted their homes included, and they lived in an area spread out from Hall Street to 12th, Linden to Liberty.* Shoving property restrictions down the throats of thousands of people who lived in the neighborhood for generations didn't seem right to Emma. As the battle to establish the district became more pitched, Emma began referring to it as the Hysterical District.
Emma eventually lost the battle, but won the hearts of thousands of Allentonians. Emma Tropiano would be elected to City Council beginning in 1986, and would serve four terms. In 1993 she lost the Democratic Primary for Mayor by ONE (1) vote.

Her common sense votes and positions became easy fodder for ridicule. Bashed for opposing fluoridation, our clean water advocates now question the wisdom of that additive. Although every founding member of the Historical District moved away over the years, Emma continued to live on 9th Street, one block up from the store. In the mid 1990's, disgusted by the deterioration of the streetscape, she proposed banning household furniture from front porches. Her proposal was labeled as racist against those who could not afford proper lawn furniture. Today, SWEEP officers issue tickets for sofas on the porch.

Being blunt in the era of political correctness cost Emma. Although a tireless advocate for thousands of Allentown residents of all color, many people who never knew her, now read that she was a bigot. They don't know who called on her for help. They don't know who knocked on her door everyday for assistance. They don't know who approached her at diners and luncheonettes all over Allentown for decades. We who knew her remember, and we remember the truth about a caring woman.

* Because the designated Historical District was so large, it has struggled to create the atmosphere envisioned by the long gone founders. Perhaps had they listened to, instead of ridiculing, the plain spoken shopkeeper, they would have created a smaller critical mass of like thinking homeowners.

reprinted yearly since 2010

UPDATE NOVEMBER 5, 2019:Although it has been almost two decades since Emma passed, she still incites controversy. A Republican supporter of Heydt still resents her opposition to the Rental Inspection law. Some Hispanics wrongly still believe that she was a racist. I could tell both of them that Emma was a Democrat, Allentown was still a two party town, and that voters were much more engaged then than they are now. So, regardless of your party, get out and vote today.

Tomorrow's Election

I'm never enthusiastic about making political endorsements. I'm not even comfortable with the word endorsement. A number of years ago another local blogger was annoyed with me when I suggested a person I know not vote in certain races. This person had called me for recommendations, because he was completely unfamiliar with all the local candidates.  I never vote straight party, or for any race that I'm not familiar with the candidates. I often only cast a few votes, regardless of the number of races.  I believe that if you're not informed, don't vote blindly.

If I was voting in Allentown tomorrow, I would cast two votes for sure... Joe Hoffman for city council and Robert Smith for school board. Joe brings the hope of some new sorely needed thinking in Allentown city hall. He has no connections, direct or indirect, with the Pawlowski mentality, which unfortunately still resides at 5th & Hamilton. Bob Smith's dedication to the Allentown School Board is as documented as it gets. Reelecting him to the school board is the least this community can do for him.

In South Whitehall I will vote for Joe Setton for commissioner. He is one of few candidates not already associated with some position in the township. He recognizes that the current zoning ordinances need an update, but he hasn't been grandstanding at the recent contested development hearings.

If you're an informed voter and don't agree with my choices, but know why your vote goes to someone else, good for you...That's better than anyone's recommendations.

There are other local candidates for whom I will be voting, however my enthusiasm for them does not rise to the level of an endorsement.

Allentown's Vanishing History

Years ago a reader sent me the above image.  It looks down the hill from 7th and Hamilton, north, toward Linden Street. He had been attempting to locate the old Lafayette Radio store on 7th street, because of a pleasant memory from his childhood. By my day the store had moved onto the southern side of the 700 block of Hamilton Street. History is quickly succumbing to the wreaking ball in Allentown. All the buildings shown above, on the unit block of 7th Street, have been knocked down for the arena and Reilly's Strata complexes.  When Salomon Jewelry departed,  Tucker Yarn remained one of Hamilton Street's last remaining businesses from the glory days.

Phil and Rose Tucker opened their first yarn store on N. 7th St. in 1949. That first store can be seen on the left side of the above photo. The Tucker Yarn Company had been at its current location at 950 Hamilton Street for over 50 years. For knitting enthusiasts the endless inventory was legendary. Phil told me years ago how even in May, traditionally a slow month for the industry, Hess's annual flower show kept Hamilton Street and his store busy. A busy Hamilton Street is a memory now, shared only by a couple of surviving merchants. Although many of Tucker's customers were elderly, the business was much more than a time capsule. His daughter Mae, nationally known in the trade, gave classes and operates a large mail order web site, tuckeryarns.com

Tucker Yarn has closed.  In the near future you will see the building replaced by one more new office building.  This blogger will continue his downtown recons, but I will no longer be sitting in a familiar place with familiar faces.

The above image can be found in Doug Peters' Lehigh Valley Transit

History and Politics

In 2012,  then county executive Don Cunningham and his public works director went about demolishing and replacing several historic bridges. When they got ready to demolish the Reading Road Bridge, this blogger went on the offensive to defend the bridge.

The bridge was built in 1824 and totally rehabilitated in 1980. At that time a separate walking bridge was built next to it for pedestrian safety.  Because the bridge was documented to be in excellent condition, I decided that Don would have to smile and cut his next ribbon somewhere else...I succeeded in convincing the commissioners to save the bridge.

A couple years later residents in South Whitehall would organize to save the historic King George Inn.  I would then play a part in saving Wehr's Dam.  None of these structures would exist today if advocates for history were afraid to do battle with elected officials.  Often these battles even have to be refought against persistent bureaucrats, and other vested interests.

Yesterday on facebook a group member complained about me mixing politics with the history. I only wish that they were as separate and protected as they should be.

photo/molovinsky/Reading Road Bridge, view from north side

South Whitehall's Contested Election

Recently, when I was asked why I don't write more about South Whitehall, I replied because politically it is hopeless. Although that is still my overall assessment, because for the first time in 900 years they're having a contested election, a post or two is not inappropriate.

What's stirring the pot over in the affluent township is two looming large developments. The gentleman farm on the northeast corner of CedarCrest and Walbert Aves. is proposing houses, while the motel at Rt.22 and Rt.309 is proposing apartments. In between these two proposals sit the comfortable Westfield and Deerfield neighborhoods. Although they themselves were developed from the original Jaindl turkey farms about 45 years ago, the folks there now decided that they're preservationists.

Three of the five commissioner seats are up for grab. It would be better if it was five of five, because the two remaining commissioners are also flawed. Although I attended almost every township meeting for two years between 2014 and 2016,  I don't recall any of the six candidates next Tuesday ever present.

South Whitehall has much more money than interest in local politics. They didn't notice that their taxes doubled in the last five years, but they are noticing these new building proposals. While turnout for Allentown's council race will be sparse next week, South Whitehall polls will be busy.

photocredit: Wehr's Dam by Y Tree