Bill White was persuaded to write a pitch for a Pawlowski pardon (commute of sentence) by a mutual friend of theirs. White pleads that Pawlowski didn't take money for himself, but only for his campaign for Congress, (where he could really enrich himself.) What Bill omits is that every city contract rewarded was based on those contributions to his campaigns, not on value to the city. White omits that in essence Pawlowski stole repeatedly from the city and taxpayers.
White complains that the judge threw the book at Pawlowski with a sentence near the top of the guidelines. At this point Pawlowski has served a little less than half the sentence, so a pardon now would be at the bottom of the guidelines.
The worse part of White's whitewash is his claim of what a wonderful mayor Pawlowski was. Prior to the indictment and trial there certainly was no criticism of Pawlowski from either White or the Morning Call. While the government proved Pawlowski's guilt on almost fifty counts, perhaps Bill should wonder why he still thinks that Pawlowski was a good mayor?
Mayor Pawlowski did some nice things for my late mother and aunt. They had difficulty getting around in their last years, and he authorized some disabled parking spaces in front of their homes so they would not have to park some distances from their front doors. Later, on a visit to Allentown, I arranged to meet him at city hall and thanked him for that, it was very kind of him to do that.
ReplyDeleteNow, given that other than superficially knowing him and meeting him, I did not really know him other than being the mayor of my hometown. And since I don't live in Allentown, all of his goings-on were unknown to me.
However, the fact remains that he was charged in United States District Court with 54 criminal felony charges, including conspiracy to commit mail fraud, bribery and soliciting, extortion under color of official right, mail fraud, wire fraud and honest services mail fraud. He was the first mayor of Allentown to be indicted with criminal charges. And stood trial and was convicted of 47 of the 54 felonies, well, you know, that's pretty bad.
Where the money went, well, I believe the applicable phrase in Pennsylvania Dutch is "Machs nix". It doesn't matter; it isn't important in English.
I read he's doing good things in prison. That's nice and once he does his time for his crimes (all 47 of them), hopefully he'll continue to be a good citizen, wherever he chooses to live.
Brent, glad for your mother's parking spaces, but he also used city hall as a weapon against this critics, especially code. He used appointments to commissions for political purpose, as opposed to the intended purpose. As for being an model prisoner, in minimum security prisons they're all model prisoners. He was very popular, and might still be able to be elected again. But, that is not a compliment about Allentown.
DeleteI would hope that the forfeiture clause of the city charter would exclude Pawlowski running for office again.
DeleteThat said, I worry about him getting a cushy city job from one of his many former cronies that reside in City Hall and once again fleecing city taxpayers.
Maybe that’s the real reason why so many democrat politicians in Allentown wanted the criminal conviction questions removed from city job applications.
How many good people were attacked by Pawlowski’s goons just for disagreeing with his policies?
ReplyDeleteHow many elected officials were smeared because people assumed that “they all do that”?
How much were Allentown taxpayers overtaxed (with tax hikes and new taxes) so that Pawloswki could overpay city contracts to get his political kickbacks?
How many city employees that wouldn’t go along with Pawlowski’s corruption lost their careers or were forced into retirement so that he could install his flunkies?
To that point, how many years of institutional knowledge were lost in City Departments and how much were city policies and standards degraded by the inexperienced lackeys Pawlowski put in place? Allentown still feels the effects of Pawlowski’s employee purge.
I could go on, but you get the point.
Pawlowski deserves more than he got. His corruption started early with smaller misdeeds (remember things like his misuse of city vehicles for personal use; the man cave in his home built shortly after he took office without city permits; the favoritism to certain city contractors in exchange for personal work and favors; or Pawlowski’s continuous shakedowns of city restaurants for free meals) and culminated in the even more egregious offenses he was charged with.
Perhaps if Bill White and the Morning had been doing their jobs instead of cheerleading for Pawlowski (or for a new municipal parking deck conveniently located next to the Morning Call offices; or lobbying for the lines of the NIZ to be redrawn to boost the value of the MC building), Bill White could have done his job and reported on such things.
The facts remain that the FBI probe did not even attempt to investigate or charge ALL of Pawlowski’s offenses during his terms in office, and he fought the charges he did face all the way through the trial further costing federal taxpayers. And Pawlowski wasn’t convicted on one or two small infractions. He was found GUILTY on all (or almost all) 47 counts he faced!
Pawlowski never has offered a real admission of his guilt or apology to the taxpayers of Allentown to this day. For him to be pardoned or have his sentence commuted would be a further miscarriage of justice.
May Pawlowski rot in jail for his full sentence.
Pawlowski deserved more, and Bill White needs to go back to writing stale articles about Christmas lights and festival food.
anon @ 5:29: By coincidence I will be mentioning some White articles this week, but not with any malice. On the note of my budding softness, I even gave White some heads up about this post. He believes that this is the last chance for a Pawlowski pardon before serving his full term. Trump actually issued many pardons and commutations before leaving office in 2020.
Delete“Bill White was persuaded to write a pitch for a Pawlowski pardon (commute of sentence) by a mutual friend of theirs.”
ReplyDeleteI suspect that the “mutual friend” is the mentally-challenged former head of a local non profit.
If correct, Pawlowski kept that local non profit (and the mutual friend’s personal salary) afloat with city-directed tax dollars, while that non profit provided cushy jobs to Pawlowski supporters.
Mind you, Pawlowski never required any report cards on the success of that non profit, and the problems the group was supposedly addressing got nothing but worse in the city by all objective standards.
Maybe Bill White should write an article analyzing his choices of friends.
anon@6:11: I also think that Alan Jennings is probably the mutual friend. Jennings began campaigning for an early Pawlowski release immediately after the sentence began. I outlined to Jennings and a few other Pawlowski die-hearts how to abused his critics...they could care less.
DeleteWhatever the 'for' or 'against' arguments may be, had he pled guilty and expressed sincere remorse he'd probably be out by now. It's never a wise idea to go up against prosecutors when they have such a strong case against a defendant. I may not be a lawyer but I watch a lot of TV :-)
ReplyDeleteIt may be just a relative issue, compared to the corruption of the Biden administration and possibly of the present Mayor of Allentown, he doesn't look any worse. It may be becoming the expected norm for political leaders.
ReplyDeleteI have heard that response many times from democrat voters, "they all do it" A sad commentary on the standards of the citizens.
Pawlowski got things done - simple as that. Not much has happened in Allentown since he left office. Pretty much everything that has happened is Allentown since is the result of his efforts to some degree.
ReplyDeleteI struggle to feel any sympathy for Pawlowski. He could have thought of his family and resigned on day 1, apologized to the citizens of Allentown and cooperated with the authorities and probably avoided any jail time at all.
ReplyDeleteBill White. Take a look in the mirror to see one the many people guilty for the damage Ed Pawlowski did to the city. The fact that to this day, you don't recognize your own culpability speaks to your own lack of contrition for the damage Ed did to the city, its city employees, and its residents. In this, you and Ed are one and the same. One might say your request on Ed's behalf is very likely a request for your own pardon. Forgiveness is given to those who are truly contrite. Both of you have failed that test.
ReplyDeleteMike, you are spot on how Pawlowski weaponized City Hall to go after his political enemies but let us not forget how he also used city resources to ensure that his political supporters/campaign contributors were more than taken care of with city resources. Let us not forgot how he caused havoc on career city employees lives.
ReplyDeleteIn 2011, I met nice man running for City Council named Eric Weiss. He told me how he was recently forced to retire from being a city building inspector because he wouldn’t pass a building for a certain developer and campaign contributor to Pawlowski. Interesting enough that developer ran against Pawlowski for Mayor years later (reminds of Roosevelt/Truman and Stalin in the 1940’s).
Then there was Craig Messinger, who was the director of public works. From what I read, he was probably the only Pawlowski appointee that was from a family who lived in Allentown for generations. I remember time and time again how he carefully worded what he said at council meetings to both appease council members but stay in the good graces of Pawlowski. The last council meeting I went to before COVID started, Pawlowski was gone and O’Connell was mayor, and I couldn’t believe how much better Messinger looked. The stress of trying to be ethical but yet appease Pawlowski had to take a toll on him all those years.
I could go on and on how much Pawlowski screwed up hard working people’s lives, but I’ll leave it at that for now. Thanks for covering the story Mike!
After Pawlowski's commission of many so crimes against the people, it is still impossible for White and Jennings to face the fact that they were so completely wrong to support self- serving Pawlowski, the worst criminal in the history of Allentown. And now, while Allentown's government continues to struggle to overcome his shameful legacy, while the criminal mayor remains non-contrite, and there remain so many wrongs that can never be righted, these two want to double down on their delusion.
ReplyDeleteNo, just plain, no. Pawlowski strong-armed so many people. He exploited the office and his ambition left a wake of charges for others involved in his scams. Religion and good deeds? I’m glad he’s changed his ways but I suspect his redemption in prison has more to do with access rather than choice. You can’t help yourself to other people’s money in prison. A jury found him guilty of 47 charges. I think we should feel confident in their decisions. I do think that if the Morning Call had any real investigating reporting they could have brought his shenanigans to the public earlier. I agree with you. If released I’m suspect he would start up his own 501c3 and start helping himself again.
ReplyDeleteI believe his sentence should be reduced but not in a pardon. 15 years is excessive compared to other politicians who accepted bribes and lied about it.
ReplyDeleteWhen Pawlowski was in Allentown he made a big deal about having only one kidney, it came out during sentencing that this was a complete fabrication. Ed is an unrepentant criminal who left a trail of pain and hurt in his wake. He is a serial liar. As his chief of staff, Francis D. said during the trial “you could tell he was lying when his lips were moving.” You’re another Jennings apologist. Let Pawlowski do every single day of his sentence.
DeleteActually, I think Pawlowski has one lung. But, what Jennings, White, and O'Hare have in common is putting their name to their POV.
DeleteAs someone commented earlier, I believe not only I, but the justice system would be more sympathetic to him if he would have showed some contrition.
ReplyDeleteAnother reason I think he got hammered was he started stepping on toes when he tried to flee Allentown for higher offices. Seemed no one had a problem with him doing such things as having the city buy a property for millions then selling the property for a fraction of the price to someone who gave him a campaign contribution until then.
I consider Bill White to be a bit of a phony, a hypocrite in many, etc., but that’s true of most liberals I’ve met, and certainly true of the employer who gave White a long career, the Morning Call.
ReplyDeleteDespite my disappointment many of White’s opinions, I also believe Pawlowski’s sentence should be reduced. I mean, in today’s America we have murderers serving less time than Pawlowski has already served.
Unlike most criminals, Pawlowski's victims are many and Allentown still suffers from the corruption he brought into city. Until Ed himself and the responsible parties that choose not to see admit their misdeeds, sympathy and mercy are unwarranted.
DeleteRelative to his sentence and continued incarceration, it's important to remember that Pawlowski was so deep into the corruption he could not dare to cooperate with the Federal investigation because ratting on the Philly political bosses who were pulling his strings, while he in exchange pumped Allentown's wealth down to them, would have gotten their revenge on him one ugly way or another. And don't think for one minute that he cooked up all those illegal deals by himself. As it stands now, the bosses owe him for his silence but his silence harmed the government investigation so he made his bed and now he needs to sleep in it.
ReplyDeleteEd is doing good things in prison. He’s helping train dogs. The entire time Ed was in prison he insisted that he was highly allergic to dogs. The guy is a criminal sociopath.
ReplyDeleteLet me join White, BO’H and Jennings in the name thing. Ed Pawlowski fully deserves to do every single solitary day of the sentence he was given for being found guilty of 47 felony counts. Ed is an unrepentant criminal, liar and cowardly thug. Jennings should have been indicted as a coconspirator.
ReplyDeleteMichael Adams
I have received a number of other comments critical of Pawlowski and those publicly supporting him. At this point in the barrel shoot, don't expect such comments submitted anonymously to appear.
ReplyDeleteOne thing is certain, Ed Pawlowski kept City Hall working and held the staff and his cabinet accountable. The current occupier of the mayor’s seat is weak and has a worthless executive staff guiding him. Good luck trying to find anyone in the office. Work from home is the largest theft of time ever and city hall has yet to figure it out. How can a govt professional work from home? Maybe the Mayor spends too much time at the Mustang dealership looking for his next car to notice?
ReplyDeleteanon@3:04: accepting your comment with reservation. It is off-topic, and I'm not familiar with the allegations about Tuerk's staff. The Mustang issue is getting old.
Delete