If Ed Pawlowski ends up convicted of pay to play in his federal case remains to be seen. Since the investigation of his corruption by the FBI began in 2013 or so, the law has changed. In a case called McDonnell vs. United States, the Supreme Court ruled that a specific favor for a specified contribution must be linked and documented. So, although I cannot predict the trial's outcome, I do know that he stole honest services from the taxpayers of Allentown.
From court testimony we learn that most contracts given out in Allentown were decided not by what was best value for the city, but by which vendor would contribute to Pawlowski's campaigns. Unfortunately, the consequences are even worse; Because Pawlowski was mayor for three full terms, this corruption impacted almost every department's integrity.
Hopefully, when Pawlowski is finally gone, Allentown can begin to clean this culture of corruption from city hall.
photo from Morning Call video
Mike,
ReplyDeleteA house cleaning is necessary but I'm not holding my breath. My guess is that when Ed is gone very little will change. Hope I am wrong but again, the future has been easy to predict in Allentown when all one had to do was expect the worst.
I am an engineer (but not a civil engineer). I read with amazement that the specs provided for the Cedar pool were completely incorrect. How did they miscalculate the volume of water by 100%?
ReplyDeleteWas there any action against Spillman Farmer? They must have errors and omissions insurance.
doug@9:27, i question both engineering firms. the previous pool walls were thickened. I fail to understand how the previous width was inadequate for a remodeled pool which would contain less water (a large Island was constructed reducing the volume significantly) I also fail to understand why the previous filter was undersized. generally, years ago everything was overbuilt. furthermore, when it was all said and done, it leaked, as first reported on this blog. I'm still not sure that everything is now OK.
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