On yesterday's blog post I commented that I don't like slogans, having placed one myself on a photo of Ed Zucal, which I had cropped and turned from color to BW. So, I suppose I don't like a slogan unless I wrote it :)
On this know thyself topic, I didn't plan on plugging Zucal until closer to the May 20th primary. However, who knows what news will preoccupy this blog in the meantime. While most of my readers trend conservative and are receptive to Zucal, beating Tuerk will be no cakewalk. Tuerk's a flatter machine, and people eat that up.
Ed Zucal's background as a policeman appeals to those of us who believe that the ship should be run tighter in Allentown, while Tuerk's constituents enjoy the carefree attitude about enforcing quality of life issues. Of course, in reality, that attitude really benefits no one.
The current mayor is Allentown is a performer, not an administrator or a leader. I say this without a value judgement, simply as a matter of fact.
ReplyDeleteYea he's a performer all right. Belongs on Ripleys believe it or not after he got the city Seal tattooed on his chest.
DeleteRunning on stronger crime enforcement with an emphasis on quality of life improvement is a smart move by Zucal and I hope he wins. With the spectacular weather last night, Allentown residents citywide suffered through a constant cacophony of loud music, loud mufflers, dirt bikes, obnoxious homemade motor bicycles etc...we had to close our windows.
ReplyDeleteI watched the City Council meeting last night. All of a sudden there's a big push for Community Policing from Roca. Funny how a debate and election time causes people to quick change course. Where has this been for the past three years? Simply put it hasn't!
ReplyDeleteYea cause he wants to take Zucal's idea and make it his own. That's what that guy does. He isn't a smart man. Takes credit for everything. Mota just follows the wind. Mota and Roca have been is their positions long enough that if they wanted to start community policing they could have. I can't take either seriously
DeleteHow many times has Roca promised community policing initiatives and never followed through? I remember when he became chief he said he was going to put bike patrols back in all city neighborhoods. Not only did it never happen, but let's run through a list of other APD initiatives that amounted to nothing:
Delete- police were supposedly cracking down on noise ordinance violations with new decibel readers. That never happened. Someone please tell me if you've even seen one of these and watched an officer actually use it. I called dispatch and had a cop respond 42 minutes later on a noise complaint. The officer drove by with his window cracked. You could hear the music four blocks down, but he appeared to not hear it at all and just kept driving (and also never came back). That's some fantastic policing and use of new equipment.
- Dirt bike and ATV task force that has decided it doesn't need to do its job anymore. In fact, the mayor said the dirt bike and ATV problem is solved. Which would explain why ATVs and dirt bikes have now been joined by mopeds and motorized bikes on the roadways.
- Gunshot detection system the city heralds as a big crime-solving tool, but its clearance rate on any other crime is pretty abysmal (Mr. Mayor, are you sure you want people actually looking at these crime stats? Yikes!)
In Matt Tuerk's Allentown loud car stereos are legal, running red lights and stop signs seem legal, littering is legal, disruptive behavior is legal, black tinted windows and noise producing mufflers are legal. I say "legal" because all of the above have become normal and ubiquitous. Matt apparently believes all this behavior is cultural and therefore, the likely reason he won't direct the police to enforce so called nuisance laws. If this is his thinking then perhaps we should ask, who's the racist?
ReplyDeleteHahahaha. Good one. Cultural doesn't mean normal or abiding the law in the U.S. Tuerk just wants friends and people to like him. Guy isn't even from Allentown.
DeleteI like the huge push for Zucal. Anyone who supports him thinking he will clean up the city must have their head in the sand. He took his ball and went home after he was transferred to being a patrol sergeant because he wasn't doing his job in the traffic department. He has no clue how to supervise three people let alone manage an entire city. Good luck to the people of Allentown if you elect this guy!
ReplyDeleteI worked under him. He was probably the best Hit and Run Investigator the department has ever had. I'm sure his citations and arrests numbers are available. I had a family issue once and he was not just my boss but a friend. He left because he wasn't a part of the "boys"
Deletewho transferred him. He refused to let two small children home alone because of the schedule change. An honorable man.
Breaking news: The Lehigh Valley’s adjoining municipalities increasingly view Allentown as a serious liability.
ReplyDeleteZucal actually cares. He isn't running just to further his career. He isn't going to advocate for his donors. Tuerk was an idea, but he is too woke and way to sneaky to be mayor. There is no transparency.
ReplyDeleteI could not in good concience support Zucal. He is a sanctuary city supporter. As a police officer he should support enforcment of ALL laws, that means removing ALL illegal ailens from schools and government housing as well as deporting them.
ReplyDeletei know Matt, but I wouldn't vote for him. Nice guy and a friend but I don't care for his policies.
You know and I know the "Welcoming City" declaration holds as much weight as a wet piece of paper. It doesn't make Allentown a sanctuary city and at no point has Ed Zucal or anyone else said they'd attempt to interfere with or attempt an end-around on federal law.
DeleteI liked it when it was the City without limits. Way more fitting Mike. You still can do whatever you want to, but atleast you felt it was okay to blast music, steal, ride dirt bike etc. Remember no limits.
ReplyDeleteGreat Point! I wonder how much money was spent on that slogan and if it can be brought back. I just hope Mayor Tuerk doesn't try to adopt "The Beating Heart of the Lehigh Valley" as the City's motto, because Allentown is on life support. Allentown really is The City Without Limits (no speed limits, no stop sign enforcement, unlimited noise is permitted, no limits on double parking, no limits on riding homemade motorized bikes and motorized scooters on City sidewalks etc. etc.)
DeleteClear difference between wanting to make a difference for the city or wanting to make a name for himself to further his lame political career.
ReplyDeleteNo longer living in Allentown BECAUSE of lax public nuisance control. It’s the (not so) simple things in city life that matter most to those being stuck living there. You know, those responsible and stable working people who show courtesy and respect toward others. People who respect laws . . . all laws. Laws intended to keep the peace, without reference to any particular culture.
ReplyDeleteSomeone once said “Humans are the only creatures who foul their own nest.”
Imagine, if you will, if they enforced simple quality of life issues AND enforced traffic laws... imagine the income stream that would be generated for this money starved city... This scribe would suggest the city would a): be more livable and b): be in the black in no time. Extra bonus points for citing vehicles with obviously altered suspensions (which DO NOT PASS state inspection) and double bonus points for citing the garages that inspect and PASS such vehicle. Just imagine........ Hint to the city: special bonus points after the bars close and then when the after hours clubs, as the noise is just obscene at those times... How about it, Allentown???
ReplyDeleteI've tried to report obviously stolen or fraudulent inspection stickers affixed with tape on some local nuisance vehicles parked on the street and APD has indicated that they have no jurisdiction. I was directed to report such issues to a certain state regulatory agency that manages state inspections (run like the DMV) that never answers the phone and doesn't return voicemail messages.
DeleteWell, that's interesting considering the parking authority checks licenses and inspection stickers and actually writes tickets. Another classic example of our non-policing police department... they complain about not enough manpower, but yet when shots are reported fired, it seems half the force shows up...quite an impressive spectacle, indeed! (Roads blocked every which way with cruisers...) We should rename the place Joketown. This poor performance is akin to the gas company... can't get them to cooperate but announce "I smell gas" and they're johnny on the spot!
DeleteTry the parking authority
Delete11:59 in Matt's woke perspective that would be racist. Again, who is the racist. The new Allentown game.
DeleteI am a huge supporter of police officers out on the street trying to make sense of living in today’s “no one has responsibility for anything” America.
ReplyDeleteThe rank and file police officers put their lives on the line everyday, every night, particularly in dysfunctional Allentown neighborhoods. I would not be surprised if some officers are less motivated to deal with some of the crap that’s out there and typically goes unpunished. Regardless, I thank them for going to work every day. I’d never last there. My upmost respect to each of you.
Does that mean you are gonna burden us with your anti Tuerk-Pro Zucal every day for the next 2 weeks? A post about the doom that will descend if the slate of Santos, Stemrich and Palmer are elected to allign with Ce-Ce. Ask yourself how tight that ship will be run.They will run over Zucal and he won't even see it coming.
ReplyDeleteYes, I do plan to continue to point out the failed leadership of Tuerk. It really isn’t about Zucal being the best choice. It is about getting this social experiment of a mayor and his poor cabinet choices out so that Allentown can recover from some of the damage that this administration (and council) have caused.
DeleteSo we should vote for the woke mayor because he might stand up to the even more woke Ce-Ce slate? I think Ed would be better at that than Matt. But hey, what do I know, I'm a mere Republican, and you Dems are running the sh*t show here.
DeleteAs a 40 year center city Allentown taxpayer, I can report we are very short changed on our tax revenues we are forced to pay. Noise, litter and traffic violations galore! Cut our taxes to one tenth and then we get what we are paying for, not until!
ReplyDelete