Last Saturday night I was offered two free tickets for the documentary Broke(n), shown at the Civic Theater. The film makers appreciated my institutional knowledge of Allentown, and subsequently mentioned me in the credits. This post is about free tickets, and an issue with the mayor.
I was contacted during the fair by an offended, long term former employee of Allentown. It was a long standing tradition that the free fair tickets, given to the city by the fair association, were then distributed to the city's retired workers. This year, for the first time in memory, Mayor Tuerk changed the rules. Instead, he decided to give the tickets to his beloved diversity organizations. Although I don't doubt his genuine feelings for these groups, I suppose it's also good politics for an elected official in his first term.
The retirees, in mass, were not happy campers. For damage control, he invited any of them to stop by his house and receive some tickets and a glad-hand. Several took him up on the offer.
So far, he hasn't invited me to stop by.
photocredit:molovinsky
He has also canceled a long standing Allentown tradition, the Halloween Parade.
ReplyDeleteI'm not surprised to hear that retired employees with a generous pensions would be offended by not getting free fair tickets. I'll bet the many of the recipients were low income residents who might not otherwise go to the fair. I'm sure a retired City employee could afford the $8. Sounds to me like a reasonable policy for a new incoming administration.
ReplyDeletePlease tell me the parade rumor is false. It’s the oldest in the nation
ReplyDeleteApparently he is replacing it with a "Halloween event".
ReplyDelete