If there is one person who cannot rightfully be accused of discrimination, it would have to be Matt Tuerk, but that didn't stop an inane accusation from Dan Bosket, when Tuerk was called on the carpet* by the local NAACP group.
In reality, Tuerk's main fault, in my opinion, is a preoccupation with diversity and inclusion. Bosket complained that the two senior level Blacks in the administration left. One of them, Leonard Lightner, had been elevated to the highest new appointed position in city hall by Tuerk, Chief Operating Officer. He left for an even higher paying job elsewhere.
Recently, I did a post mentioning Joel Fitzgerald, a former police chief in Allentown. Fitzgerald has been traveling the country, taking advantage of municipalities preoccupied with hiring minorities. His latest salary is almost half a $mil, as head of the Denver Transit Police.
Bosket's complaints certainly didn't fall on deaf ears with Tuerk. Tuerk wants to push employment opportunities to diverse candidates. Councilperson Ce-Ce Gerlach wants to give minority owned businesses preference in awarding contracts.
Bosket, Tuerk and Gerlach aside, a preoccupation with complexion, rather than competency, can in itself be a problem.
*The Morning Call/September17/Lindsay Weber
The truth is lots of people are leaving city hall because of the "toxic" environment there. Apparently word has gotten out and the city has a very hard time filling vacant positions. This said, hiring has become a spoils system with competing self appointed spokespeople of special interests.
ReplyDeleteOf course federal laws forbids raced based hiring. Clearly the City of Allentown isn't alone in openly flouting this law.
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