Allentown Or Zombietown?

When I think back to the excitement and pride which was Allentown this time of year, back in the day, I cringe at what we have become. Although there's a little buzz about the arena, when you divide the state taxes diverted by the people who will attend, it's a very expensive ticket. Circumstances have conspired against Allentown; Demographically, center city keeps becoming poorer. We have become a one party town, not benefiting by a meaningful civic discourse. What was once a powerful local newspaper is now in an idle mode, waiting for another consequence of corporate takeover. This blog will continue to write about both history and politics, but will never blend them together into some sort of artificial smoothie.

above reprinted from December of 2013

UPDATE JANUARY 10, 2022: Our new mayor claims to be excited about Allentown having a majority of women on city council.  While I have no problem with their gender, I'm very nervous about their disposition.  One of the women, Ce-Ce Gerlach, participated in the march to defund the police. Another one, Cynthia Mota, worked for Hasshan Batts, whose organization would most likely receive any diverted funds. Batts writes...

Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley is a Black-led, anti-racist, liberation-based grassroots organization focused on healing and wellness through leadership development, violence prevention and reentry, racial justice and health equity and community capacity building. 

I applaud Matt Tuerk's diplomacy, but I can only hope for the sake of Allentown that he realizes that rather than defund or divert police funding, the police department needs to be bolstered.