An Extra Inning For The Establishment

When you're fighting the establishment in Lehigh Valley, you better get your P's and Q's in line before the deadline,  because there are no extensions. However, for the establishment, deadlines are just the beginning.

When Chris Kocher of the Wildlands Conservancy said two years ago that if the South Whitehall Commissioners voted to keep Wehr's Dam, that would be the end of the issue, he must have given himself a good chuckle.

When Lehigh County reached the deadline for farmland preservation, they simply reset the clock. Their goal is to preserve 25% of all the land in the county, so far, they have only 10%. Now, of course that doesn't mean that the remainder is being developed, most of it will remain farmland. Those figures pertain to land officially preserved. It doesn't count in their eyes unless the development rights are paid for with our tax dollars. What these advocates really know about farming or land, you could stuff in one organic tomato.

Last week, when Allentown's Shark Tank business subsidy plan failed to attract enough applicants, they extended the deadline. On the other hand, when a local judge ruled against taxing the arena, the Allentown School District decided not to file an appeal. While there is a limit on trying to save the taxpayer some money,  there's no limit on how much of our money can be spent.  We learned that the NIZ board will be able to keep their full annual $million dollar budget, which they need to scrutinize project applications. As if they really scrutinize Reilly, Butz and Jaindl, or would ever deny them.