While Jesus of Nazareth was killed in Jerusalem, Ce-Ce was crucified in Nazareth. One anonymous commenter after another cast stones. The mob found Ce-Ce guilty, because she accepted a scholarship from DeSales for NIZ residents, which was underwritten by the Trexler Trust and City Center Real Estate. Although, she took no direct assistance from J.B. Reilly, over 80 comments condemned her. The recipients were chosen by the college. I must confess I may be somewhat responsible for the lynching. I found some irony in Ce-Ce mentioning the scholarship on her facebook page, considering she has been portrayed as the advocate for community benefit by the NIZ. I mentioned this thought to an acquaintance, who in turned mentioned it to blogger Bernie O'Hare.
After imagining her hanging on the cross, and feeling somewhat responsible, I come to her defense.
Comments on Ramblings suggest that the scholarships are not intended for people of means who already have a college degree. I personally have no knowledge of Ce-Ce's finances, or the criterion used in selecting applicants, but neither do those condemning her. Ce-Ce remains one of the more sincere people offering her time and energy to serve the city. If she is willing to drive to Center Valley one night a week to further her education, perhaps we should be grateful.
I'm sure you meant to spell it as Ce-Ce Gerlach.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this blog, Michael. I can't think of anything better than Ce-Ce's getting an advanced degree that will undoubtedly make her an even more effective public servant. I abhor financial and political corruption but I don't sense any evil in this,whatever.
ReplyDeleteI have no doubt that Ms. Gerlach's scholarship grant is entirely above board.
ReplyDeleteI think some of the outpouring of negative comments reflects the feeling that she is not among the most worthy of recipients. And on that point I think there is considerable merit.
First, she has never been anything but a lackey for the commissars of the forced membership NEA. During the last school board campaign, any request for her support for merit pay or charter schools led to an instant banning from her campaign page. She won't even talk about anything union thugs don't want discussed.
Worse, her pandering to the radical (and radically misguided) extortionists at P.O.W.E.R. and to the louts supporting the student walkout was beneath contempt.
So, was any law or ethical guideline broken in her receiving the scholarship? Absolutely not. Was she a worthy recipient? Absolutely not.
Allentown can do better than Ce-Ce Gerlach.
jeffery@9:55, i could accept bernie's criticizing gerlach, although, I felt he got somewhat carried away. however, adding all the anonymous commenters who piled on created in my mind an unfair playing field. as for allentown doing better than ce-ce. the next question is how many elected officials in allentown are better or less conflicted than she is? imo, by allentown standards, she is pretty good.
ReplyDeleteI'm still astonished why anyone would allow themselves to become a human Piñata just because they decided to seek office. There's a right way and wrong way to go about showing at least a miniscule amount of respect irregardless of how much someone disagrees. This "have at 'em" attitude really stinks.
ReplyDeleteHow would you feel if she was elected to Allentown City council or Mayor? The average joe would look at this as some sort of bribe. This just looks bad at a time when our public officials have been bought and paid for. I dont think an elected official should be eligible for this grant. This really stinks
ReplyDeleteMike,
ReplyDeleteNot sure the Ce-Ce as Christ metaphor is working here. If you want all the details I could steer you to some adult Catechism classes but long story short, Ce-Ce getting criticized for accepting a gift from people who do business with the city and indirectly the school district hardly makes her the Lamb of Christ. I did sign my name to all the comments I made on this matter on Bernie's blog and I stand by them.
By the way, she is also one of the gang of five that is foolishly and vindictively trying to remove the superintendent who is by common consent at worst competent and has only a year remaining on his contract. The other four are David Zimmerman, Charlie Thiel,Audry Mathison,Elizabeth Martinez.
assassin@3:41, the scholarship recipients were selected by DeSales, so those who are claiming it's a bribe are over reacting. if gerlach should have applied is a more legitimate question. considering that she announced the scholarship on her facebook page, and acknowledged that the funding came from trexler and city center, suggests that she sees no conflict, she even noted the irony. i would have no problem with her being elected to city council.
ReplyDeletescott@4:34, my metaphor relates to the crucifixion, not being christ. she applied for the scholarship to DeSales, which is not an entity doing business with the city/school district. perhaps if she was with the group supporting mayo, you would look upon her continuing education differently.
Is Ce-Ce a martyr? Is she selflessly giving of herself so that others may find betterment. If not drop the crucifixion metephor and say she is being perhaps "tarred and feathered" or "flayed mercilessly by her critics" or even "attacked by scoundrels". Elected officials should know better than to apply for any personal benefit that is financed by people or entities that may directly or even indirectly benefit from their favorable vote. Those granting the scholarship should have known better than to award it to someone who serves on a board that was until a few days ago involved in a lawsuit against one of the scholarships funders.
ReplyDeleteCan't make this smell good but rest assured Mike no harm will come to Ce-Ce, this is after all Allentown where bad behavior is rewarded by the voters and ignored by the media. I see a bright future for her here in nit wit land.
I just wish we had Republicans in responsible positions within Allentown City government.
ReplyDeleteThe smell of corruption from Allentown's one-party government just contaminates the entire region. Ms Gerlach is just a part of it. It's incestuous.
I intend to help with this movement. They have an establishment and until one of us steps up and challenges them we'll continue down the same path. R/, Luiz
Deletescott@5:49, i'll keep the metaphor, but apologize to any who are sincerely offended by it. it was never my intent to make this smell better, but rather put it in more in perspective than it was portrayed on another blog. she apparently received 1 of 40 available stipends. often benefits available to lower income residents go unused. perhaps the publicity of this controversy will actually result in more NIZ residents making use of the the opportunity.
ReplyDeleteWhat exactly does Ce-Ce Gerlach do for a living besides community organizing?
ReplyDeleteWhat real job does she has to pay for her living expenses? All I ever see of her is protesting this or that? She must have to do real work for a living.
Mike,
ReplyDeleteThat will be ten Hail Marys.
MM, Scott is letting you off easy!
ReplyDeleteAuH20@9:07, I've know scott for many years, he seems to have become more religious yesterday, after i put up this post. if you have something to say, you're welcome to make a full comment.
ReplyDeleteSome loud mouths like to snipe at people they know nothing about.
ReplyDelete