Last night at the City Council meeting, the consequence of having a mayor from out of town, with a staff from out of town, was painfully illustrated. Our new Parks Director presented plans to hire a consultant to remodel the rose and old fashioned gardens. There is a good chance that the consultant, sometime in his past, studied the Allentown Gardens, nationally renowned for their beauty and design. There is an old saying, don't fix that which is not broken. Mr. Mayor, stay OUT of the our gardens.
photo credit: Donald Lawson
Mike: Remind me. Where do you live?
ReplyDeletejeff, i live in southwhitehall, several blocks over the line. BUT, although i will be living here in ten years,(G-d willing) where will pawlowski be living? i must ask where your from, for any real allentownian, regardless of their current address, is outraged by the prospect of altering the rose garden.
ReplyDeleteJeff, That's a sad and unnecessary snark. I thought you were better than that. Since when does someone have to reside somewhere to care about it? And while we are on the subject of qualifications, I am particularly disturbed that you have injected yourself into discussion about Allentown and have even done so far as to start a puff blog about 7th Street without disclosing your wife's involvement in A-town's Redevelopment Authority. If Mike's nonresidence makes him less credible, then your wife's involvement and your sad failure to disclose that involvement should taint you as well. As a professor who teaches about the media and communications, you know you have an ethical obligation to make full disclosure, but have not yet done so on your blog. Why not?
ReplyDeleteI'm glad they did not get approval to charge fees and take reservations at the Rose Garden. The city should focus on improving facilities for inner city kids to play ball and skateboard. The Rose Garden looks beautiful the way it is and the sign says "old fashioned", well actually they misspelled it "old fashion" But that just adds to its charm.
ReplyDelete"actually they misspelled it "old fashion" But that just adds to its charm."
ReplyDeleteI think proofreading has its charm too ...
Bernie: I suppose you're right, and I apologize to Mike for the snarkiness. I should clarify, though, that I was NOT suggesting that Mike doesn't have the right to care about Allentown--not in the least. It might surprise you to know that I wish there were many more Molovinsky's out there who vocally care about the city's future. No, I was merely reacting to Mike's snark ("a mayor from out of town"), which is objectionable for just the reason that you, Bernie, find rightly "sad and unnecessary." The fact that Ed Pawlowski wasn't born in Allentown--that he's only lived here for 11 years or so (don't know the exact number--surely shouldn't matter. That's all I was responding to. On the conflict of interest point, Bernie, you are absolutely right, and I've corrected that. One last issue, related to disclosure: On the pre-sale inspection, I could care less that Mike doesn't live in Allentown. I AM concerned, though, that he hasn't disclosed whether or not he owns or manages any properties in Allentown--which would be the mother of all conflicts of interest on this issue. I honestly haven't met anyone who isn't a landlord (though I'm sure there are good-faith reasons out there) who opposes this policy change, which is 25-year-old city planning orthodoxy.
ReplyDeletejeff, let me state once again, all rental properties and all properties bought to rent, are ALREADY inspected under the Rental Inspection Law. that law states approval from inspections is NOT transferrable, and all new owners must have the property re-inspected, REGARDLESS of the time frame. why do you insist on framing this as a landlord issue, when in fact it will effect mostly private live-in owners to other private live-in owners? i do own rental properties, they have all been inspected under the rental inspection law. i own no commercial property on hamilton street and oppose the lanta changes. i own no residential property near muhlenberg college and oppose the overlay district. fyi, i have never taken a public position based on my business interests. although you and the administration want to distract the public with this false landlord excuse, allentown would be better off if you concentrated on the problematic people, that's what lowers the quality of life, not the buildings.
ReplyDelete