When Donald P. Miller owned and operated the Morning Call, he and a few associates more or less ran Allentown. Fortunately, they were a benevolent oligarchy.
When he passed away, his fortune funded a trust, which has been one of the wizards behind Allentown's curtain. There are several such trusts or foundations in the valley. They are very much a closed society.
Miller's trust, The Century Fund, was specified to end in 25 years, which will be reached this coming year.
The Fund is contributing about a third of its remaining assets ($20mil) to established local cultural institutions, such as the symphony, library, art museum, theaters and colleges. A third will be contributed to the Allentown School System, and the remaining third to another fund, the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation.
Excellent post Michael.. thanks.
ReplyDeleteI was unaware of this. ASD can sure use the money. Imagine what this town would have been like without Miller, Trexler and a few others. They truly gave a damn. Something almost completely missing today.
So your saying I'll be getting a refund on my school taxes this year?
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of which, how can our school taxes be going up when they're doing remote learning for at least the first semester? Even if all the teachers continue to "work", surely some positions won't be needed during the period the district is shut down. Not to mention lower electric, heat, cleaning and other costs of operating the buildings.