The head of the policeman's union has criticized Tuerk for moving protesters closer to Trump supporters than the police wanted.
Tuerk was wearing two hats on Tuesday... One as a leading Democrat in the city, the other as mayor of Allentown. Considering that presidential candidates have been visiting the city since the 1800's, that should not have been that difficult of a situation for him, but apparently it was.
I understand that as a Latino he was riled up about the distasteful comments at Madison Square Garden. However, any solidarity with those protesting against Trump should have been more thoughtfully demonstrated. Instead, Tuerk wore it like a banner, on both news and social media. YouTubes of him wanting to open up center square for voters early Tuesday morning, if a political shenanigan or not, demonstrated poor judgement. Certainly there was no way to accommodate both voters and arena attendees at the same time in the same square.
Allentown may be majority Hispanic and majority Democratic, but everybody living here pays taxes and is supposed to be represented by city hall. There are some traffic adjustments Tuerk could make. He might instruct his police chief to enforce the law against double parkers, especially on Tilghman and Linden Street.
The mayor’s adoption of his Latino heritage is 3/4 theater, a canard. He has sadly revealed himself to be a small character on a midsize stage.
ReplyDeleteNothing more needs to be elaborated.
When it is all said and done Allentown remains the third largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The Queen City deserves a much, much, better fate than the one that it has faced in the last generation.
It is all quite sad.
One is left with the feeling that the mayor of Allentown was disappointed that there wasn’t a dramatic clash between citizens going to a political rally and counter-demonstrators.
ReplyDeleteTurek needs to act like a mayor and not a Democratic activist. He presented a very poor image of Allentown to the world media.
ReplyDeleteHopefully Allentown voters will elect a stateman next year as mayor, not a woke zealot who understands how to represent and govern the city properly.
I think we have to set the record straight about some things:
ReplyDelete1) Tuerk was not “riled up about distasteful comments at Madison Square Garden”. The lone comment at MSG was from a little-known comedian about the ISLAND of Puerto Rico, not the people there. The Harris camp and their minions (like Tuerk), tried to stretch that into being a comment against the people of the island and tie it to Trump.
2) Tuerk himself is of slight Cuban descent, and he uses that to gain favor with the city’s minority population. Even under the greatest of stretches, he was not insulted any more than Pennsylvanians would be insulted about a joke about New Jersey.
3) Tuerk is a partisan who believes in the extreme (and insane) democrat agenda. He was trying to promote himself (and his Presidential candidate) and in the process got caught making a fool of himself and (unfortunately) the city.
4) Allentown does deserve more from its Mayor, and it goes beyond ticketing double parkers. In mid-October he was quoted in the national media (from yet another mayor conference) saying how important the city was for the Presidential election and how many doors he’s knocked on for the Harris/Walz campaign. He should have been campaigning FOR THE CITY OF ALLENTOWN, not a candidate.
5) As just mentioned, that time could have been better spent focusing on Allentown, and just the next day a global semiconductor company with a facility in Allentown company announced it was building a new advanced test and packaging facility in Bethlehem. It (along with another project out-of-state by the company) will create 500 manufacturing jobs and 1,200 construction jobs. The problem? The company’s new facility here in Pennsylvania will be built in BETHLEHEM. Maybe that time spent doing partisan campaigning would have been better spent worrying about bringing new manufacturing jobs to Allentown.
Again, look at the size of the protest Matt organized. Tiny. Clearly Matt was one of a very few worked up about Trump's visit. It seems just as clear very few were weilling to be used as Matt's political pawns. P.S. Most of the protestors were paid political organizers.
ReplyDeleteI think the Allentown Mayor has now been sufficiently embarrassed by his inability to have understood the ‘bigger’ picture as the world was coming to visit his city. Instead of capitalizing on an opportunity to promote goodwill for all in Allentown, he chose to interfere and be combative.
ReplyDeleteI believe this Mayor’s biggest fault as a leader is to focus too much on the smaller groups who shout the loudest, rather than a greater good as expressed by our bigger, less formally organized masses. An effective leader needs to cut through all the noise and set a more balanced and thoughtful tone. To find agreements in principle that keep things harmonious.
One example is the outward quality of life reflected by living in Allentown, so that all who encounter his city, are filled with a desire to participate here within it.
It’s true, our streets are cluttered and dirty. Our public spaces neglected. Peace, tranquility, respect, and dignity here are sadly under par. We ALL know that.
I was at the Trump rally, but had to wait in line for almost two hours before I got in. I can’t speak to how large Tuerk’s manufactured “protest” was, since by the time I got to the front of the line at the arena entrance there were only three, very-glum looking, “protesters” present and no TV cameras there.
ReplyDeleteTuerk was not there, presumably since the cameras were gone. So if he was with the protesters earlier, his phony “outrage” must have left with the cameras.
There were a few thousand of Trump supporters still behind me in line, so I guess the Trump supporters believed in their candidate far more than the protesters believed in theirs.
Mayor Tuerk did his constituents proud standing up to the orange faschnaut , his Grey suit and sneakers is fashion forward he knows how to connect with the downtrodden because he has EMPATHY! All the haters can't stand the fact a grown up punk has risen to the top while maintaining his counter culture bona fides.
ReplyDeleteI'm a constituent who can't stand Trump and his supporters and I think Tuerk acted like an ass. He should have dropped the pathetic staged protest (why use a bullhorn when speaking to like 15 people) and the politics and acted like a Mayor to best present the City to visitors and to advocate for the public safety.
DeleteAs satire your comment is very funny, if you are serious, it's far less interesting.
DeleteYour story could have added background that the police union president has already made multiple criticisms of the mayor, most recently because of the mayor advocating for the sale of the secondary police headquarters. Also that the union president orchestrated an attempt for no confidence in the chief. Might make his current criticism more understandable.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe the fact the Mayor tried to sabotage the event and by moving protestors closer it endangered other rally goers and the police. Union leader seems to report the truth, not hide it like City Hall does.
DeleteThe police union president possesses exactly what Council and the Mayor's cabinet are lacking. Integrity. The APD Chief is as fake as they come and is only protecting his loyalists that are all named in a lawsuit that alleges a ton of illegal activity. They are all in self-preservation mode at the moment. The mayor had the 10th Street station sold prior to the council presentation. My fellow Allentownian's should watch the council videos, and you will see the council members who were originally opposed to the sale suddenly switch their position and feel it was the best option. Why? $$$$. JB inserts himself in politics by threats to leave Allentown and the Council submits to his demands over and over again. Up next? The Finance Director will bring the need to borrow millions (sources say $50m +) to build the Police Station alone. I can't wait to see her tap dance as she tries to sell this loan to the taxpayers. Unfortunately, the Council will protest, make a big deal about it, forget, and then pass the loan because now the police have nowhere to work out of. This administration is the worst ever for Allentown and that is saying a lot when our former Mayor sits in prison.
Deleteanon@11:47: I print these anonymous allegations with some hesitation. If being unidentified is paramount to you, please contact me off line, so that I can properly disclose the situation. Contact information can be sent by another comment marked personal, and it will not be printed.
DeleteTurek had a good reason to be riled about the NYC rally, but this reaction didn't help. The Trump staffer was being a self-important jerk- that didn't help either. I hope the Trump Campaign paid their bill to the city.
ReplyDeleteThe less-than-lukewarm brush that Puerto Rican's got from the Trump Campaign is a much bigger insult. "This comedian's views don't reflect the views of the Trump Campaign." Really? Then why were they expressed AT a Trump Rally? Sorry folks, as a popular tv judge used to say, "Don't pee on my leg and tell me that its raining?"
Check out "Mayor Sneakers" comments about Harris' upcoming Monday visit to Allentown... like night and day... partisan to the bone. As Mayor, he most certainly should have taken the fork in the road to the high road and welcomed Trump to the (formerly) Queen City.
ReplyDeleteAll this horseshit needs to stop... BOTH sides!!!
Tuerk wet himself over the prospect of the national spotlight and his chance to escort Kamala in Allentown. If you think he acted like a silly teenager in love, fawning over Tim Walz, just wait until Monday's coverage.
DeleteI’m sure that the Harris rally will be held in the PPL Center to showcase her popularity
DeleteWhere will they park all the buses for the imported "supporters"????
DeleteThis entire city is run like baby-land and it shows fro top to bottom, side to side and corner to corner... impossible to get away from or distance yourself from the silly shyteshow!!!
ReplyDeleteMayor Babyland's slavering comments, in the Call, about Harris were embarrassing as was his show down at center square... beyond pathetic IMHO. And these are our "leaders"???? Amazingly, that little shyteshow was seen and commented on across the country... maybe Billy Joel was right!!!
Once again, we seem to have a mayor more focused on partisan politics than improving the city they are supposed to lead. Matt has likely alienated everyone who isn't on board the Harris train. A wiser mayor would have acted like a mayor. Matt's partisan hissy fit showed the city the caliber of his intellect and his primary interest. It isn't us.
ReplyDeleteTuerk treats his job like a frat boy. Wears goofy outfits.
ReplyDeleteTakes goofy photos. Thinks people like him, but in reality the city workers can't stand him. He has embarrassed the City enough. Time for you to go. Go be a nature tour guide in Colorado or wherever your from cause your political career is over!!!