The current situation caught the attention of councilwoman Candida Affa, who is accused of racism by a deputy city clerk. Affa commented publicly about the Brown case on social media: "I’m thinking of those poor employees ..managers ….The Director.. who had to go through interviews and possibly DNA testing….Not one refused I repeat NOT ONE refused to cooperate.
These are the workers we should be concerned about not one person is claiming to be victim."
All the above might be the good news. The bad news might be that LaTarsha is also a school board member. It seems to this observer that the school board has been more concerned with racial identity issues than education.
shown above protest at city hall over noose
I would feel much better if Ms. Affa spent less time lamenting who took a DNA test and more time focusing on how to recoup the city and federal tax dollars (our money) that seems to have been wasted on this ridiculous investigation.
ReplyDeleteMy recommendation would be to retain Scott Curtis, but request that he wrap up his report. I would hope that the local NAACP be less accusatory. I would downsize the city's DEI to the HR office, and expect any employee with a discrimination complaint to take and leave it there, where it would get serious deliberation, and action if appropriate.
DeleteI’m fine with that, but if this is a hoax (or even if not) I want the city to pursue 100% restitution for the cost of the investigation from the employee(s) responsible.
DeleteGreat recommendations, Mike but Human Resources in a normal organization would be empowered and equipped to handle these types of issues but the common rumbling from the city is that the HR department has maybe one person that is an HR professional and the rest were all friends that were hired as a favor with no focus on capability or HR background. That is a recipe for disaster and the employees will continue to get the short end of the stick. DEI is experiencing an extreme uphill battle and will likely be completely abolished in the near future. It is unfortunate because if the charge for DEI was to make it fair for all it would have been a great success. Instead, it was hijacked and turned into something doomed to fail. No one should have an advantage over another in an organization, if all things being equal.
DeleteJussie Smollett syndrome in city hall. Oh myyyy
ReplyDeleteMike, It's no exaggeration that the school board in recent years has been a disaster for the district's children and the parents hoping their children can get a quality education. Yes! DEI seems to be the priority of the superintendent and grandiose statements a close second. The board acts as her rubber stamp instead of the independent oversight body it is supposed to be. But that's just the tip of the iceberg of what's wrong with ASD leadership. As I have previously written, it is so bad good people will no longer run for the board.
ReplyDeleteJust bc a person didn’t want to give their DNA does not mean they lied. Even if that was the case the rest of the allegations against the city of Allentown and Candida Affa are not.
ReplyDeleteTrue, on the first part. However, it is a shoot yourself in the foot moment especially if you requested FBI intervention. As for the latter part of your comment, I have no idea. All is see is a Mayor and Administration that is a caricature of left wing virtue signaling but incapable of accomplishing anything reasonably expected of basic, non idealogy driven government.
DeleteAs for DEI, my suggestion to Allentown residents is this - look all around you! Your city is MAJORITY non-white, non-whites are well represented on all levels of governance. Your local news outlet (Morning Call) is going out of its way to highlight all things non-white.
ReplyDeleteFor once, the Morning Call actually had some interesting information. According to today's article, when she first saw the object, SHE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT IT WAS. She took a picture and sent it to a co-worker, who also didn't recognize the object. They then did an online search and realized she needed to be offended. And then she couldn't remember the name of it? School Board member huh?
ReplyDeleteMaybe some day we'll all get a look at it, and then we'll all get to play "what is it?"
Affa is the poster child of a hack politician. She hasn’t had any integrity or credibility in decades, but forget about my comment. The public record speaks for itself.
ReplyDeletemj adams
I have some issues with some her votes over the years, BUT, she devotes her time to a thankless job. I thank her for that.
DeleteAffa loves the power and prestige that comes with the position, and the compensation isn’t bad if you can tolerate the company. As a native, civically active, Allentonian and a long time resident I rarely saw her as representing my interests as opposed to her personal political agenda.
DeleteAffa lacks the integrity to stand up to Pawlowski long after his corruption was exposed.
The public record speaks for itself, as I have said.
mj adams
Mr. Adams, I printed your reply because it is my policy to give signed comments enormous leeway. The compensation at 6k or so is very low, considering all the meetings, council plus committees. Furthermore, for the last year or so she has been the victim of a very aggressive council audience. I don't believe that she would run again for 10 times the renumeration. Down the road we may well look back on her time on council as the better days.
DeleteVictim??? She is no victim sir. She is the one doing the victimizing in this situation. When people call her out on her lies, racism and bigotry , she is a victim. UNBELIEVABLE
Deleteanon@1:54: I am aware of Tawanna Whitehead's accusation against Affa, but that's not people, but only one person. It's too easy for you to anonymously expand that to lies, racism and bigotry.
DeleteThis post is about LaTarsha Brown. I do not know if Brown fabricated the noose story, but I do know that it fostered a protest demonstration and an investigation by both the APD and FBI. I would think that she should be more cooperative.
Thanks for trying to get your posters back on track with your intended topic.
DeleteThe icing on the cake is that the acuser is also a member of several state wide organizations for racial equity and human rights. If she resorted to such a sham to drive home a point, she clearly h as judgement issues.
I have watched many many council meetings and found Candida to be open to discussions and reaching sensible outcomes.i appreciate her dedication. It's tough to sit back and say nothing whe audience is out of order and show such disrespect.
She is clueless. I have sat through many a council meetings. There will be a discussion on something for a half hour. When it's time to vote she has to ask what they are voting on. Every time there is a hot topic and someone cones up to speak she mumbles under her breath. As a professional, I think it is very disrespectful. Surely, not someone I want representing me. Just my two cents.
ReplyDeleteAt least she speaks her opinion. I have yet to hear Ms Santos contribute to a discussion. I am hoping she has realized that she falls far short of an active participant. She also has a terrible record of physical attendance. Other members of council show up and she is remote. I would like to see some accountability for real time engagement. Who knows if she is getting input from someone during the meeting?
DeleteMiss Santos is a class act and an incredibly intelligent council person. She may be smarter than all of them on the dias because she speaks when needed, says what she means, and does not play the fake politician role that is commonplace in the City of Allentown. @4:02-you sound like you have a personal issue with Miss Santos.
DeleteI'm no longer a frequent attendee at council, but I have never heard ms. Santos speak beyond yes or no at votes.
DeleteAnon 5:25. As expected, tonight's council meeting about a significant issue did not generate a comment or a question from Santos. And yeah, even though cece monopolized the conversation about a totally irrelevant comparison to berks County schools, and zucal even proposed halting the investigation, she should have shared an opinion. Camera did show her passing a note to cece, just like in high school.
DeleteBrown and her cohorts should be prosecuted for the fraud.
ReplyDeleteIt is very possible that the incident was a hoax, but that is yet to be determined.
DeleteMM@1:24 pm - Just to set the record straight:
ReplyDeleteCouncil members’ salaries are $15,000, with the Council President getting $16,000
Some might argue that it is still too low, while others might think it’s too high.
Personally, I think they should all be happy that their salaries aren’t tied to actual results.
That’s a damned good part time gig.
DeleteAre there additional benefits?
Allentown, oh Allentown: once the Queen City- now the laughingstock of the Lehigh Valley.
ReplyDelete