Because of inaccurate media reports, Emma was falsely portrayed as bigoted. Her memory now unjustly bears that misconception. Most people today who repeat that slander never knew her. Emma was immensely popular, and easily won reelection to city council, election after election. Ce-Ce Gerlach was the top vote getter this primary, receiving almost double the votes of her fellow candidates.
As someone who knew both women, there are many similarities... Both being extremely accessible, down to earth, and making people comfortable.
Emma was energized to work hard for Allentown, as is Ce-Ce. Emma was passionate about the issues she championed, so is Ce-Ce.
I sat in diners having coffee with both of them, many years apart. I think that they would have understood and liked each other.
above reprinted from May 28, 2019
ADDENDUM MAY 18, 2023: Once again Ce-Ce Gerlach was the top vote getter on Tuesday. That result does not surprise me...Nobody has knocked on more doors in the last 15 years than her. She is well liked in all sections of the city. Although I did not endorse her for re-election because of her progressive agenda, that agenda suits the majority of the current population. I believe that she knows that my congratulations on her victory is sincere.
Good lord Mike, Some people are excellent at fooling people but little else. Then there are always those who can be fooled. Ce-Ce is the former and clearly the voters of Allentown, and others, fall into the latter category. I sat on the school board with her for four years so my insights are a bit more involved than diner conversations, which I also had with Ce-Ce. I also know other people she used and now they finally realize it and regret. They helped to create the Ce-Ce myth that you repeat here. While her political views are a huge concern, the real problem is the person herself. She is totally focused on her goal of political attaining political power and she is excellent as faking sincerity. Normally these qualities are a recipe for success for politicians, thankfully the ruling local Democratic cabal want nothing to do with her and from what I am told she is isolated. Thank them for that.
ReplyDeleteGood lord Scott, again she was the top vote getter by far, and the Republicans once again failed to field even one candidate. I know you always stick to your guns, but wouldn't it be nice if the Republicans had one candidate who could muster half her votes.
ReplyDeleteI knew Emma Tropiano, and I couldn't disagree more with your assertion that Emma would have been "kindred spirits" with or would have "liked" Gerlach.
ReplyDeleteEmma believed in personal responsibility and a duty that came along with citizenship. Her focus was to raise the standards for people living in the city and for city government, and she was a strong supporter of the police force.
She would be appalled at Gerlach, both as a person and a member of council. Emma's disdain for Gerlach would have nothing to do with Gerlach's ethnicity, and everything to do with Gerlach's actions.
Above all, Emma would not sit quietly by Gerlach and others in her party destroyed the city with reckless policies pushed by the so-called "progressives" that control today's democrat party. Instead, Emma would be a leading voice in stopping those policies and defeating anyone who supported them.
Mike, do you have any idea what happens to Republicans when they run for office? They are ruthlessly smeared, called every name in the book in mailer's, and media buys. The East Penn Republican slate was recently on the receiving end of sush a slander campaign. The accusations were as false as they were ugly. Good people are called racists, homophobes, insurrectionists, book banners, extremists, conspirators, white supremacists...it's damn hard to find quality people who are willing to subject themselves and their families to this onslaught. Trust me, we spent months attempting to recruit candidates, all backed out. Who can blame them. My wife cried over awful things that appeared in print about me,few are willing to endure as much just to sit on a school board. Isn't the real problem Mike, that rank and file Democrats aren't bothered at all by their parties vile tactics? Apparently they and others aren't. All this said, none of this has anything to do with Ce-Ce.
ReplyDeleteMM 7:06 said: "...wouldn't it be nice if the Republicans had one candidate who could muster half her votes."
ReplyDeleteFor what purpose? The registration statistics in the city are 4:1 favoring the democrats. For a Republican to win, they'd have to take whatever republican vote is out there, a majority of the independent vote, and a significant portion of the democrat vote.
Simply put, there aren't enough open-minded democrats out there. They will ignore results and continue to vote party line. It's sad, but true.
Also, you keep mentioning that Gerlach was the top vote-getter, as if that's something by itself. But looking at the numbers closer, it seems that she received 2,765 votes (unofficially) on Tuesday, besting the second-place finisher by 495 votes. However, in 2019 when she was first elected to council, she received 3,310 votes, with the next closest finisher being 1,118 votes behind.
So while she might still have a base of voters, it would appear that her support is dwindling. In addition, in the 2021 mayoral primary she garnered only 1,817 votes and came in dead last in a four-person race.
Granted, running a race for a single office (mayor) is much different than running a race to be one of seven on council, but to me the results are a clear indication that many who voted for her on council don't see her as having the ability to handle something beyond her current position.
While I will grant you that Gerlach works hard to keep her political position, it doesn't seem to carry over when it comes to actual performance. Gerlach certainly doesn't come close in any measurable comparison to Emma Tropiano in terms work ethic, knowledge of city government, or anything else for that matter.
By the way Mike, I have asked plenty of Democrats to run for city office, they won't either. Not because their reputations will be trashed but because they rightly view our city council and school board as a lost cause, a clown show, a train wreck...they want no part of.
ReplyDeleteanon@7:57: although you sound like a Republican, your memory is contrived. The Republicans slandered Emma terribly, even ambushing her at an event at the Women's Club designed specifically for that mission.
ReplyDeletescott@8:18: The Republicans do fine just over the line in South Whitehall, controlling the township commission. However, I expect Mike Schlossburg to prevail in the "new" 132nd. Although I can certainly appreciate that Allentown would be a very steep slope for any R candidate, the "message" of no candidates, election after election, is sad. Sometimes you cite Tom B from 20 years ago, but he was too much of an elitist to knock on any doors, even in his own neighborhood.
Again you are wrong, the Republican's did not ambush Emma at the "women's club" in 1999. The event was sponsored by the city's community groups, that were quite strong back then, and the League of Women Voters was brought in to run the event. I was the one that "ambushed": Emma when as a representative of the community groups I posed the question; " do any of the candidates here running for city council have rental units that have been declared "Unfit For Human Habitation". We knew she did and wanted to expose her as a hypocrite, We did and it was all very fair. At that time I was not active in any way with partisan politics and refused even to endorse Republican Bob Lovett over Democrat Roy Afflerbach, ( even though Allen Jennings begged me to) because I didn't want to be partisan. It was years after when I decided to get more involved in partisan politics in order to get quality people into city city offices. Needless to say, that effort has been an exercise in frustration.
DeleteScott, as you know I prefer not to comment, much less debate on my blog. Although it's admirable of you to fall on the sword, I don't think you could have been any more connected to Heydt's Republican administration had you worked for him at city hall.
DeleteAs president of the West Park Civic Association and one of the leaders the Rental Inspections initiative, and after that the effort to make West Park an historic District, I worked closely with Bill Heydt and Ross Marcus because they supported both of those efforts. Remember, this was the pre-partisan Allentown, the time when party labels didn't seem to matter as much and in many cases not at all. City council was a contest of egos rather than party labels. Lou Hershman was Lou, Emma was Emma, Davey Howells was Davey Howells, how they were registered to vote was a very small matter. Those were the days. One more thing, Bill was thinking of running for a 3rd term, we had become friends and he asked my opinion, my response was, "why put yourself through it". Unfortunately he listened, and Allentown started it's rapid decline so after he left office.
DeleteHeydt and Marcus did more than support the historic district... They fabricated the survey results to Harrisburg, falsely claiming that a majority of the property owners favored the district. Both the city and the Morning Call ignored documentation that the opposers provided. Of course Heydt did run for a third term in 2005, losing to Pawlowski. I believe that he would have also lost to Afflerbach in 2001.
DeleteWe are rehashing an old battle, I could state an opposing account that is quite credible but it would bore the socks off of everyone but us. What is fun to remember was our adversarial relationship in council chambers and how we would exchange glares but somehow managed to remain on friendly terms throughout outside of those meetings. Roy and Ed ruined a good thing by painting people as either one or the other, and the other should not be tolerated, the media followed their example and the ugly started. We are veterans of that far friendlier and civil time.
DeleteIt might be best for more citizens to simply move out of Allentown. Assuming they have the ability, of course. I once owned 2 properties in Allentown. Sold both of them and moved to a much smaller town in Northampton County. Much better quality of life now.
ReplyDeleteAllentown is pretty much a lost cause. If you aren’t forced to remain there, why stay? Life is too short.
I don't know that we should draw too many conclusions about who got the most votes in the primary election, other than that the mail-in balloting makes an already short primary election season even shorter. That works to the favor of incumbents, as it gives even less time for newcomers to debate, fundraise, get their message out, and have the voters get to know them.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that for many voters, voting for the devil you know was easier than voting for the devil you don't know. That would seem to be the case in Allentown, as all three incumbents won their council races.
Gerlach has run for office in at least the last three elections, more than any of the other city council candidates, as well as school board races before that, so her name is likely fresh(er) in the minds of voters.
MM 9:41 said: "anon@7:57: although you sound like a Republican, your memory is contrived. The Republicans slandered Emma terribly, even ambushing her at an event at the Women's Club designed specifically for that mission."
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure of the point you're trying to make. Are you disagreeing with the characterization of Emma at 7:57, or are you saying that she was who the republicans in your example claimed she was?
I knew her, I knew what she believed, and that doesn't change for me because of what others said about her (now or then).
Emma certainly believed in personal responsibility and wanted what's best for the city. I don't believe that's up for debate. Behind the scenes, she also had an incredible sense of compassion and charity for others on a personal level.
I'm also very certain that in today's environment, she'd be canceled by members of her own democrat party.
anon@11:18: Sorry about confusing comments, that happens when people comment anonymously. Scott Armstrong was commenting how Republicans who dare run are slandered by Democrats. My point was that Republicans also engage in slander. I stick by my original assertion that Emma would have admired Ce-Ce's connection to the voters. Furthermore, if Ce-Ce was older and had an opportunity to personally know Emma, I believe that they would have had a mutual admiration not of policy, but of style.
ReplyDeleteMike, I can show you a Democrat mailer that proves my point. In fact I could produce candidates who will back me up, one of them is Dean Browning who was slandered ruthlessly as a racist. Can you find me a Republican mailer that resorts to this level of smears? Love to see it if you can produce one. Sure we attack Democrats but we do it on the issues, we label their positions as extreme without the ugly insults.
ReplyDeleteWhen I landed in Allentown Emma was battling worn out living room furniture being used on front porches. Sounds trivial, but it wasn’t. There are great reasons other than aesthetics for this concern as lots of normally outdoor critters would love to live in grandma’s old couch. But this got turned into a race issue against Emma. I left for the burbs years ago but I chuckle when I see all the worn out upholstered furniture on Allentown’s front porches, and think, ‘Emma lost that one.’
ReplyDelete