The Corruption Of Allentown Pennsylvania

Whether Mayor Edwin Pswlowski is convicted or not, nobody can have any doubt about the corruption this city has experienced over the last decade. Every contract was negotiated not for the taxpayer's sake, but rather the position of the mayor. These distorted criterion infected every department. Those who follow this blog realize that while both local politics and history are my topics of choice, the park system is my passion.

Although the Cedar Beach Pool contract was investigated as corrupt, it was not the only questionable decision made by the park department under Pawlowski. First and foremost,  two new parcels should have never been purchased; This is the land by Basin Street, and the former fertilizer plant land along Martin Luther King Drive. The existing park system has been neglected since Pawlowski was elected in 2005, with the iconic WPA Stone Structures literally crumbling.

If the administration and city council had taken suggestions made on this blog to heart, the entrance wall of Lehigh Parkway would have never collapsed. I do not possess unique insight, but rather the simple understanding that Allentown has a magnificent park system which needs only to be maintained.

blogger surveying  entrance road wall after it collapsed in Lehigh Parkway

From Homeless To School Director

This is my second post on Ce-Ce Gerlach; The first was this summer, when I covered her block party fundraiser to buy uniforms for the students. Yesterday, I decided to sit down with Ce-Ce and learn more about someone in Allentown's future. She has been instrumental in attempting to share Allentown's good fortune from the arena's NIZ, with the city's less fortunate inter-city residents. Ce-Ce talks their language; She lived in her car for six months, about five years ago. Only 27 years old, she has emerged as a spokeswoman and advocate for Allentown's silent majority. Coming from the poor side of the tracks in Washington D.C., she knows first hand how little of opportunity can spill over from affluence, to a nearby population mired in the poverty cycle. In addition to being a leader on the coalition for community benefit from the NIZ, and the school board, she is on the city's Human Relations Board. She's open to more responsibilities, and even elected offices, in her mission to improve lives in downtown Allentown.
photocredit:Harry Fisher/The Morning Call

above reprinted from December of 2013


UPDATE: February 27,2018   Ed Pawlowski has blocked Ce-Ce's appointment to the Park and Recreation Commission.  In doing so he has further insured that she will be recognized as a reform candidate, and succeed in her quest for City Council in 2019.

Grasping For The Peanut Gallery

When I was a boy the audience at the Howdy Doody Show, comprised of children, was called the Peanut Gallery.  Later that phrase became a metaphor for an unsophisticated group. Wikipedia states that A peanut gallery was, in the days of vaudeville, a nickname for the cheapest and ostensibly rowdiest seats in the theater, the occupants of which were often known to heckle the performers.  Although the defense for Mayor Ed Pawlowski has rested,  Ed keeps reaching out to the local social media groups. Even this past weekend he was putting up links to headlines by his defense attorney that professed his innocence. He is still trying to campaign to his sycophants and assorted sickos.

 I am conscious of the fact that I have written about this phenomena several times already, but I find it fascinating. It reminds me of the disgraced television pastors who suddenly find G-d again.  I believe that Ed may become such a preacher upon his release from prison.

Pawlowski A Trained Liar

I didn't attend the mayor's testimony, but I can hear his lies.  I can hear the little insincere laugh that he injects to punuate his fibs. I can hear him saying that he had no idea about all the the corruption occurring on his behalf, behind his innocent back.

I can imagine the hours that he was coached by McMahon for this performance.  Although he needed McMahon's coaching for the specific legal defense,  he already had the lying down to a science.  In 2005 I attended 31 campaign performances by his liarship; He is good at it.  Credit McMahon for knowing a natural born liar when he meets one.  It was for this reason that McMahon was so anxious to get Pawlowski on the stand.  It was for this reason that one reporter even described Pawlowski's testimony as jovial.  He actually enjoys lying.

Early Thursday morning Pawlowski posted the link shown above that he was horrified by play to pay claims to his facebook page.  Next week we'll probably learn if the jury believes him.

Wrong Decision, Wrong Reporter At Allentown City Council

In a council vote headed  by Daryl Hendricks,  Tom Muller was rejected to start serving as Managing Director.  He correctly told council, “The mayor is across the street all the time right now and someone needs to be tending the shop,”  Although Hendricks stated that he would favor the appointment after the trial, Muller stated that he would have to re-evaluate his offer to serve. I know that Hendricks' dissenting vote wasn't unexpected, but Muller thought that he would be appointed by a 6 to 1 margin. I believe that Allentown may have lost the option of an experienced administrator for a political reason, nothing unusual for this city.

This meeting was covered by Daryl Nerl, now a freelancer for the Morning Call.  Nerl was Pawlowski's first and last supporter. As the full time Allentown beat reporter for the paper in 2005, his coverage of that election was notably biased for Pawlowski. When Mike Fleck closed his office and fled Allentown, Nerl was in his employ promoting Pawlowski.  His assignment to cover Pawlowski related news is ill-advised, nothing unusual for this paper.

photocredit: WFMZ-TV/ 69 News

Rumble In South Whitehall

In real estate no good deed goes unpunished. The farm on the corner of Cedar Crest Blvd. and Walbert Avenue watched the surrounding area develop into houses, a shopping plaza and office park. Now that the owners finally want to develop their parcel, the neighbors are in an uproar. When the municipal building was too small to hold a public meeting on the topic, it was switched to a school auditorium. The protestors have the usual complaints about traffic congestion and overcrowded schools. As a property rights advocate, I believe that the owners have the same rights to develop their land as did all the adjoining complainers. The topic of proper local government is what brings us to this post.

According to The Morning Call, an elected township commissioner told the large crowd that he agrees with them that the project, as designed, would be too much of an imposition on the township. I believe that his crowd pandering had a political motivation, and he was acting improperly as a legislator. Furthermore, as a political gesture he stated that the entire township should have been invited,  rather than just the adjoining neighbors. Understand that he appoints the planning commission and the zoners, who have jurisdiction over such matters. That public meeting was not the place for his opinion, although in South Whitehall the commissioners do have the final say.

There is however another topic on which he could properly express himself. The voters of South Whitehall voted to preserve Wehr's Dam. He and his fellow commissioners have been absolutely silent on their intentions and plans about the dam, and are allowing the Wildlands Conservancy to lobby the state for condemnation.

Small local government at its worse.

For reasons unknown to me, some comments recently submitted to posts have been going into the blog's spam folder, rather than being published.  I apologize if your comment(s) hasn't appeared. 

CastleRock

CastleRock took place in the cavernous Dorney Park dance-hall, Castle Garden. The "Garden" was built in the early 20's and hosted all the famous big bands of that era. By the late fifties it was called CastleRock. The Philadelphia recording stars, such as Frankie Avalon and Freddy Cannon would routinely perform. By my teenage era, in the early mid 60's, it was mostly disc jockeys. The Park was free, no admission. Pay to park, and maybe a buck or so for the dance-hall.







By then the nightclub tables shown in the photograph were gone, and sitting was around the sides. There were no shootings, and rowdiness was restricted to sneaking on a ride without buying a ticket. The dance-hall overlooked the lake, it was destroyed by a fire on Thanksgiving in 1985.

Reprinted from January 2013

Pawlowski Supporters

The above screen grab is a recent example of Pawlowski support taken from an Allentown facebook group.  I have redacted the author's name, because this post is about Pawlowski supporters in general, regardless of their particular motivation.

Are most Pawlowski supporters uninformed, while others even contrary and disingenuous?  While I also have previously referred to many as unethical,  in truth why would I care about which conditions afflict this group?  The problem unfortunately is that they might sooner than later determine Allentown's leadership. Although it took essentially a three way race to re-elect Pawlowski this time, clearly a third of the voters went with him, despite the indictment.

From facebook and other social media, we learn that most of his supporters are both low information and low expectation types.  Pawlowski himself keeps posting any link that suggests he might be less than completely guilty.  Which choir he is attempting to preach to continues to baffle me.

Truth be told I'm not optimistic about Allentown's political future.  Within the last decade a perfect storm of political opportunism and indifference has apparently drowned the city.

Issues With The NRA

I'm a supporter of the 2nd Amendment. Although that is a right which I defend, as an engaged citizen I appreciate living in a society of laws. There are rights and laws, and we can all live within them. I do not blindly consider every regulation as a curtailment of my rights, or as a slippery slope which will erode them, as does the NRA.  I can exercise my rights in a responsible manner, without purposefully provoking those who feel differently about this issue.

Each November the NRA sends its current and former members a card telling them whom they should vote for in their district, to protect their 2nd Amendment rights. Although their member magazine often features hunting rifles, the organization must also think of their members as sheep, who should only care about one issue. As Americans we should guard our right to own firearms,  but never tolerate being told how to vote.

I support Americans For Responsible Solutions, the group started by Mark Kelly and  Gabby Giffords.  They both value their right to own a fireman,  but appreciate the need for greater controls against irresponsible ownership.

Shown above is a 38 special, gifted upon Frank Sinatra by the Miami Beach Police & Firemen's Association.  

Fools For Pawlowski

In yesterday's post I wrote about tiptoeing through the Pawlowski minefield. We will see a parade of character witnesses testify that their contributions were made because of Pawlowski's leadership and accomplishments, not to gain the work which they received.  What else can they say and not incriminate themselves? Pawlowski's attorney, Jack McMahon, organized the parade,  composed of some of Allentown's most prestigious attorneys.  The downside for them is that everybody knows that Pawlowski was at best just a self-serving opportunist. Those who testify they felt that Pawlowski moved Allentown forward know full well that he was only the ribbon cutter for the NIZ, not the engine behind it. Those who say that they thought he was governor or senator material only erode their credibility even farther.  It is their hope that the trial end soon, and that their testimony be forgotten; For the most part it will be.

photocredit: The Morning Call

Tiptoeing Through Pawlowski's Minefield

If the witnesses who haven't pleaded guilty seem to hem and haw about what expectations they had for their contributions or services to Pawlowski,  understand that they do not want to openly admit that they participated in a pay to play scheme.  Although they may be offered immunity from prosecution,  they still have their careers to consider.  Some may be attorneys, and others may even have their own political plans.  Their objective is to get into and out of the federal courthouse with as little damage to their own reputation as possible.  If their evasive answers result in Pawlowski being acquitted, in their mind that's better than sacrificing their own future.

A problem for Allentown going forward is the people who supported him this last November.  Although most of them are not policy makers,  some have their own ambitions for elected office.  Imagine the ethics they would bring to the table?

photocredit: The Morning Call

Pawlowski's Theft Of Service

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

Survivors Of The Pawlowski Era

While Celeste Dee's current website heralds her experience as a campaign strategist, there is no mention that she got the experience working for Mike Fleck's H Street Strategies.  H Street promoted Pawlowski and his stable of yes men and women. In light of the Pawlowski trial, and Fleck's guilty plea,  her omission is understandable.  She testified that she was well aware that city vendors were being burped for campaign contributions.

Candida Affa went with Celeste and her spinoff agency; She was perhaps the last member of City Council to cut ties with Pawlowski.  Celeste will be able to survive and prosper in Allentown's Democratic world;  She is treasurer of the local party.

The Pawlowski era and lack of ethics so permeated local politics that there are no players that were not tainted by it.

photo of Celeste Dee in front of Federal Courthouse by WFMZ Channel 69 News

Pawlowski's Defense In Action

Although Molovinsky On Allentown's mission is to provide informed commentary rather than being another reportage site,  I felt it might be useful to witness Pawlowski's famed defense attorney in action.  I observed his cross examination of Matt McTish.  While the prosecutor seemed meek and barely audible,  McMahon was strong and commanding.  He produced an email that McTish sent his lobbyist,  Jennifer Mann, complaining that his contributions to Pawlowski were not being productive.  To use McMahon's words,  there was no bang for McTish's buck, nor quid pro quo established.   He made McTish confirm that contributions to various politicians were a common business expense for his engineering firm.  Furthermore, he revealed that McTish additionally paid Mann $60,000 a year to assist him in securing business, with both government and private sectors.

McMahon had succeeded in taking a prosecution witness and scoring  points for the defense.   When Pawlowski left the courtroom for a recess,  he was clearly pleased with his attorney's performance.

Let me clarify that this snippet involves only one cross examination,  in what will prove to be a long complex trial.

court rendering from earlier in the trial by The Morning Call

Lanta's Snow Hysteria

Yesterday's snow wasn't expected to slow down the earth's rotation.  Never the less,  Lanta put in effect their Snow Emergency Routes.  Standing outside in the cold for a bus isn't the picnic Lanta thinks.  On their website they state that you can access information free of charge on your iPhone.   Nice of them to make the information free,  and of of course we must assume that everybody has an iPhone,  even those low income bus riders.

What would motivate them to implement snow detour routes for less than 2" of snow? Perhaps they have a special position for such decisions,  and he/she feels less useless by declaring the emergency routing.

At the end of the day, or I should say the beginning, it's quite a kick in the teeth to wait for a bus not coming. 

Pushing Pawlowski Back

I grew on Liberator Avenue. Liberator and Catalina Avenues, and Coronado Street, were named for Vultee-Consolidated WW2 planes, and are next to the airport built as part of the war effort. Vultee Street was built to connect the hangers with the Mack 5C plant, which was given over to Vultee-Consolidated for plane part manufacturing during the war. Vultee Street was the runway, and Lehigh Street would be closed off if a plane was landing. Today, this small airport now known as Queen City, has been under relentless threat by Mayor Ed Pawlowski, now a member of the Lehigh Valley Airport Authority. This past Tuesday, fellow board members started pushing back against Pawlowski.

"You're not the mayor of the Lehigh Valley International Airport." board member Frank Kovacs to Pawlowski

The board voted to build a new taxiway, indicating there's not much consensus to sell the airport, which has been Pawlowski's objective. Pawlowski wants to add to Allentown's real estate glut, for a short sighted tax gain. Matt Assad, from The Morning Call, wrote an excellent article explaining the arguments to both sell and keep Queen City. He also provides quotes of the tense discussion between board members and Pawlowski. This blogger is not surprised by Pawlowski's position, but questions Don Cunningham's judgement in appointing him to the Authority.

 reprinted from April of 2012

ADDENDUM FEBRUARY 7, 2018: My pushback against Pawlowski started in 2006. In 2007 when I started this blog, he and his enablers were still being defended as good for Allentown, even by fellow bloggers. This blog is fact based. I have no politicians whom I support. I am loyal only to issues, not elected officials.

Under Pawlowski's Bus

Although it's reprehensible, one can understand Pawlowski's Philadelphia mouthpiece throwing the mayor's former associates under the bus. But apparently that's not enough for Mayor Ed, he reprints that line on facebook himself.

 Now here's the problem, Pawlowki is still mayor of Allentown.

He is in essence telling all city employees that they could also become a sacrificial lamb when needed.  He is apparently more concerned with his reputation on facebook than the operation of the city.  Although   his supporters are limited to the uninformed,  the contrary and the unethical,  and the election is over, he is still more concerned with them than the operation of the city.

Credit city managers and workers for anything being done right in Allentown.  The mayor's office is worse than empty, it's actually working against morale.

Allentown's Lost Innocence

A posting like above appeared on an Allentown facebook discussion group this past weekend.  Forty two people liked the message, among them a newly elected member of the Allentown School Board. I suppose that these people belong to several groups, none of which is good for Allentown. In the first group you have the totally uninformed. They are probably the least destructive grouping, and likely do not even vote. Secondly, you have the contrarians. There will always be people like them,  and they seem to love facebook groups.  The last group is what scares me the most for Allentown. They know that he abused the system, yet still admire him for it. They know that in order to profess his innocence, he is impugning the reputation of his subordinates, who only followed his directions. Although a few of the nine who pleaded guilty are indeed co-conspirators to his plots, most were sucked in by a greedy and ambitious boss.

Although Pawlowski might be found not guilty because the prosecution cannot reach the current burden of proof, he surely is not innocent. Although I do not care about Pawlowski's future, I do hope that those members of the third group come to realize that government shouldn't be about what you can get out of it for yourself. My hope is probably naive. Greed has become part of large urban politics, and Allentown seems to have lost its innocence.

Fly In Allentown's Soup

If I saw a shrink for my frustration about Allentown, I would have to be in therapy all day. If I took sedatives, I wouldn't be able to stand up, instead I run for office and blog. Pawlowski announced his plan to restore the city on Friday; continuously inspect every inanimate object in Allentown. This professional advise came from a former Philadelphia housing guru, of course a fly in the soup is that Philadelphia is the corruption and murder capital of the world. Allentown's Rental Inspection Law failed to upgrade the city; while you end up legitimizing slumlords with certificates of occupation, you cannot legislate pride of ownership. Many local conscientious owners sold out rather than submit to the bureaucracy, increasing the frequency of inspections will again backfire. Although Pawlowski (and Cunningham) campaigned about their grand plans and communication skills, neither even knew the Allentown School System was going to demand reassessment; It's time for the taxpayers and citizens to reassess who they elected.

reprinted from November of 2007

UPDATE FEBRUARY 2, 2018:  Apparently when it comes to corruption, Philadelphia didn't have anything over us after all.  During the course of the trial this week, it was reported that Pawlowski used some Allentown inspectors as his personal goon squad,  rewarding donors and penalizing those that didn't pony up.  A number of years ago several landlords complained on this blog that they were indeed mistreated by the inspection program.  In my limited exposure to inspectors they have been professional.  I'm sure the testimony this week is not pleasant for that department's personnel.  They will however continue doing their job,  and move beyond the stigma of the Pawlowski scandal.

A Salty Tale In Allentown

The prediction of light snow early Tuesday morning proved to be correct.  By Wednesday morning the streets were white, however it wasn't snow, but salt.   For a city which just enacted a stormwater fee, largely because of salt runoff,  you would think that a more prudent use of salt would be in order.

Despite the federal mandate to clean stormwater running into the streams,  I have doubt that anything significant will be changed for many years.  Understand that the city was under federal mandate for over a decade to correct the leaking sanitary sewers which actually contaminate the Little Lehigh with feces during storms.  The city didn't do anything, and now the Lehigh County Authority has inherited that mandate.  Those who complained that the Stormwater Fee was actually a backdoor tax increase were correct.

photocredit:Rich Schultz/The Morning Call