The junkets to the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico were nothing but politics. Lavishing grants on some of the non-profits is nothing but politics. Rising the flag of twenty countries is politics. We have a very diversfied city, too much so to spend resources learning about their culture back in the old country, or establishing sister cities there. Obviously we need to concentrate on making Allentown a safer, more desirable place for those already living here.
Councilman Zucal maintains that because council is investigating the administration, the normal appropriation method can be bypassed. Council will vote this evening on hiring an attorney to represent them in this matter.
My photo above from last September shows Karen Ocasio walking back to her seat pass Tuerk, after telling city council that as an employee she was discriminated against... Two months later she was fired.
Yes, well, this is from a mayor who does not advocate unity for all. Turek divides us with his passion for identity politics.
ReplyDeleteWhile not wanting to praise either side in this dispute I will say this; unlike the Pawloski years, this is what democracy should look like. I much prefer this to Ed's rubber stamp council that included a bunch of yes men such as current state rep Mike Schlossberg, and st senator Peter schweyer. These two continue to practice what they learned on Ed's council in state government by acting as party rubber stamps. While there may be no good guys here, I have gone from feeling sympathy for Matt to fearing what is now clearly his woke agenda. If this dispute results in his legislative proposals, such as his new oblique zoning code going nowhere I'm good with that. This is exactly what democracy should look like, disagreement in government is necessary for good government. It's been missing far too long here in the city and it shows!
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of junkets, I'm dying to hear about all the good things happening in Allentown that Tuerk shared with the other Mayors in KC. Leave it to him to take an expensive junket and then hold a press conference to brag about it. I wonder if he bragged about the parking ticket?? I'll bet bringing in a community organizer to be the Manager of Civic Innovation was his top example of all the good things happening in Allentown. The residents of all the other municipalities in the Lehigh Valley sure wish they could swap out their long serving, responsive, accountable, competent employees for a newby community organizer/Manager of Civic Innovation.
ReplyDeletehello! manager of civic innovation for the city of allentown here. i’d love to talk to you more about what i do- laura.cole@allentownpa.gov !
DeleteHere's an "innovative" idea, allow people who have been rightly critical of the city's failure to properly maintain our historic city parks to be appointed to the newly created park board. Here's another "innovative" idea, try to read the draft of the new zoning codes, then tell us if you think it is, as it should be, comprehensible to the average resident.
DeleteAnother innovation...can anyone at city hall answer or return a phone call?
Delete@Scott I hope you will be joining us for one of our Zone Allentown Open Houses? allentownpa.gov/zoneallentown @12:56 the city has had years to amass hundreds of numbers we no longer use. i’m working on it!
Delete12:56 here. I was referring to phones the automated answering machine forwards people to. The phone menu sends people to dead phones?
Delete@6:36 i’d appreciate it if you let me know which numbers you’re trying to reach
Delete@6:38: Laura Cole can be contacted directly through her email and phone # listed on the city website.
DeleteThanks MM. I know you do not want a lot of back-and-forth and will take the gentle hint to contact Laura directly; however, one more comment for context that relates to the general topic of city operations and that may be helpful to your readers. When one calls the city these days, one gets a phone menu. If you don’t know the department responsible, you have no idea which option to select. I took a guess, left a message…and nothing (did this three times). This included a message left with the Mayor’s office. The new web page is no better and has its own issues. If Laura wants to serve the role as a sort of ombudsman, that’s great, but somehow, a human option on the phone menu would seem like a good thing. As an aside, Laura’s phone number is not evident on the city’s web page, although her email is discoverable. My last comment on the issue.
DeleteInstead of trying to call City Hall, you might have better luck posting your questions on this blog, as the Mayors Office reads this blog daily. The Director of Community Information can just answer your questions here publicly.
DeleteShallow commentary, MM.Doesn't it sound questionable that the committee thought the newly established company of the fbi agent who previously investigated the city was a better fit than legal firms with no preconceived ideas and track records of investigating specifically human resource issues? Also, Ce-ce has made regular comment at council meetings about how important it is to follow a process for hiring and assigning benefit but then no process was followed in this hiring? Zucal likes to flaunt himself as doing things by the book but he is talking both sides of his mouth.
ReplyDeleteCe-Ce?
ReplyDeleteWasn’t it Ce-Ce who was quoted from a recent meeting about the proposed 37 story tower for the corner of 9th & Walnut who said that building was not right for a RESIDENTIAL area? A residential area??
The proposed tower is for the heart of our ‘ever-growing’ downtown core! One block from the PPL? One block from our anointed developer king named Reilly?
The 9th & Walnut lot is NOT too small for such a building to be built. A dozen such buildings have already been built in Manhattan. No doubt, a building like this will be a tough go for any developer, but it IS doable. Maybe THIS developer doesn’t have the right NAME for this city.
So the Mayors Office reads the Molovinsky on Allentown? Surely they know of your unique qualifications for and interest in being appointed to the Parknership?
ReplyDeleteanon@3:12: There certainly was a neighborhood south of Hamilton along Walnut. Many of the houses have been lost, but Gerlach has lived there for years. IMO, aesthetically, the pencil tower is inappropriate for that lot, but that will be a zoning/legal decision.
ReplyDeleteanon@4:27: Tuerk participates on Allentown Chronicles, a facebook group which I administer. While the Parknership has been reaching out to people for over a year, I have been excluded by the City/Trust. It's too much of an opportunity for the WPA for me to allow pride to get in the way...I will continue to raise my hand.