On Wednesday evening, Ed Zucal broke ranks with the Democratic City Council and voted against Bill 16. That bill essentially changed zoning to allow homeless shelters anywhere in the city, by striking the phrase seniors only concerning certain community center kitchens. While we all have compassion for the homeless, having a homeless encampment, inside or outside, across from your home can be trying.
Such a shelter was a controversy for the West Park Civic Association at the former church at 16th and Chew. That strong neighborhood has successfully maintained itself, despite dealing with discipline issues outside of the high school.
City Council voted 6 to Zucal for the new ordinance. While Ed lost the Democratic primary, he did secure the Republican write-in vote, and now will be on the ballot for November. As an independent, I appreciate that there is now an alternative to what I consider an administration preoccupied with a social agenda. Yesterday, as I navigated through double parked cars and blasting car stereos, I longed for a less tolerant Allentown.
Let's face it - Allentown is doomed!
ReplyDeleteThere is a position that is difficult to argue with.
DeleteSome history, two years ago an NGO/Ripple communities was gifted the former Emmanuel Church at 16th and Chew. The executive of that NGO Sherrie Binder told the community they intended to convert the church into low income income apartments. We knew the sanctuary was an historic beauty and would be destroyed but expressed no objection. Several months later we discovered through press reporting that they had appeared before zoning asking for the moon. Funny how the zoning notices were never sent out to alert us of this. We read that they weren't just seeking low income apartments, but offices, a temporary shelter/homeless shelter and a community center. Trust lost, residents lawyered up to fight this. We saw this as an existential threat to the West Park Community, a harmonious, stable community of homeowners and long term renters. After many, many hours at zoning we prevailed when the variance for a community center/now homeless drop in center was denied. They appealed to county court and we again prevailed on the minor point that as Ripple had hoped to feed the homeless, community centers could only serve food to seniors. Ripple and their NGO allies then went to city council to craft a Bill around this ruling.
ReplyDeleteThis brings us to June 18th and Bill 16. An innocent enough sounding bill that stated the zoning regulation that Community Centers can only serve food to seniors is hereby null and void. Who could be against that? Needless to say all of our well reasoned testimony that this was the perfect example of bad government that served the needs of special interests rather than the best interests of the community were ignored. "The people must be fed" triumphed over the concerns of homeowners and renters who rightly feared the consequences of the presence of numerous homeless people lingering around their homes. It's interesting to note that the Lehigh conference of Churches was a cosponsor of this bill. To no one's surprise very few of them live in Allentown, most are in very safe, cozy neighborhoods where homeless drop in centers will never be a problem. In fact, the member of this group that penned the Morning Call letter supporting Bill 16 lives on a quiet leafy street in South Whitehall. One must ask, who are the real nimbies here?
But this isn't the end of the story. Mike is correct, this Bill, intended as a special favor to help Ripple around unfavorable rulings will open a Pandora's box. There is a mountain of grant money out there for NGO's and struggling churches willing to "assist the homeless". Is there any doubt how this will turn out? Allentown will become a homeless magnet because, " the people must be fed".
Only Ed Zucal sided with reason, good government, and the better interests of homeowners and renters. The other 6 very dim lights on council fell hook line and sinker for the platitudes and obvious demagoguery of the crass politician Ce-Ce Gerlash and the largely, well paid, self righteous, suburban dwelling Non profit directors and staffers. This night was a non event to the local media but will have repercussions down the road. My hat is off to Ed Zucal for siding reason and the beleaguered taxpaying residents. He has my support for mayor.
If the name Binder sounds familiar (as in Sherrie Binder referenced above), it might be because her husband just won in the democrat primary for city council. I don’t believe there are any Republican candidates for council in the general election.
DeleteThose seeking to profit from growing poverty in the city just put another person inside city government. Things will continue to get worse, before they ever even have a chance to get better.
everyone at ripple lives near to Franklin Park. who gets to define what a community is, especially in 2025? the fact that the church was donated at all proves that there’s been a decline in community. newsflash- homeless people are coming to allentown regardless of whether there are services here or not because this also has the cheapest housing in the region. surrounding municipalities are not doing their fair share of building residential, they’re all focused on warehousing. so where are the people who work at the warehouses supposed to live? you know that there are working homeless, right? at the public hearing you mentioned that homeless folks are “urinating in your yard” suggesting that 1. they are already IN your neighborhood and 2. they have nowhere to conduct that necessary biological function. wouldn’t it be great if there was a place in the neighborhood where they could drop in and do that?
DeleteNonbinary - Have you seen where the policies you advocate for will lead the city? I'd suggest you look at the tent cities that have sprung up in the larger cities in the country.
DeleteI'm not sure what you're talking about as far as people urinating in yards, but I can tell you that I see many more homeless nowadays since City Hall made the decision not to have them removed from public spaces. Urination in yards (and worse) is the obvious result of such policy, and short-changes the homeless from getting the real care they deserve.
Until such policies are reversed, Allentown will continue to follow the same failed path as what we've seen in California. We should all be doing all we can to prevent that.
ok good idea- remove them to where? where do you suggest to move hundreds of people to?
DeleteNon Binary, They are in the neighborhood and in the park because Ripple already as a homeless drop in center on the 13 hundred block Linden, two blocks from my house and West Park. Before they opened that, homeless people were rarely seen in the neighborhood or the park. Your claim that the Ripple supporters live in Franklin Park is also wrong. Franklin Park is a NGO Ripple/Cohesion creation. The Franklin Park Community Association officially closed in 2006. Once Ripple realized it couldn't control the WPCA they teamed up with the NGO Cohesion. Together they created an ersatz community in the same geographic location as the former FPCA. It was telling that at Wednesday's council meeting a supporter of Bill 16, who identified himself as proud member of the Franklin Park community went on to say he lived on 3rd street in Allentown and was the director of a non profit. I know people in the Franklin Park neighborhood, some attend the meetings just to keep an eye on what the outsiders who are running the meeting are up to. Finally, why not tell us where you live, are you like the majority of homeless advocate who live in the suburbs or in cozy, safe neighborhoods? Or just as likely, are you on the employ of a non profit as many clearly were Wednesday night?
DeleteThe democrats rule the local public thievery agenda designs upon this once all American city. This while most republican leaders have moved above this local agenda for the bigger piece of the pie. For the most part both are taking and faking numbers for federal allocations and enriching themselves through the different venues.
ReplyDeleteI hope that Ed Zucal will not be one of them as to my knowledge he is a hands on person. This is not like our current cardboard cut out for photos and flag raisings.
Good for him, I'm impressed. What bothered me the most about converting the church to a homeless shelter is that West Park is such a vulnerable neighborhood and the immediate neighborhood has almost all well maintained owner-occupied single family dwellings. The low income apartments would have had enough negative impacts themselves, but adding in the homeless shelter seemed like a deliberate attempt to undermine the character of this neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteRadical Liberal Allentown voters are getting the city they deserve. That is, a government dependent community of needy, unproductive families who believe it’s the job of someone else to feed, clothe, house, and entertain them. Keep facilitating that and you only get more of the same. Probably time to move out . . . if you can.
ReplyDeleteThe Conference of Churches has been a mixed blessing for decades. It’s another example of an organization whose track record indicates a mixed blessing for the community at large. While it has produced some modest programs it’s mostly been a small player in addressing the homeless issue. There was another group that consisted of a coalition of Allentown Churches a while back, rolled out with a lot of public and organizational hoopla. It’s one big effort, if memory serves, was a push for a County wide three digit, non-emergency telephone number to complement the existing 911 system.
ReplyDeleteWhen the group’s funding was cut off it’s local “Community Organizer” and her family left town for greener pastures. All those congregations who had been “organized” went back to their separate ways.
The West Park Civic Association’s concerns are well founded. The proposed homeless programs are indeed an existential threat to that still relatively stable neighborhood.
I wish them well.
The Council of Churches has been clueless for decades. Let’s not sugar coat it. It’s one big piece was paying an outreach worker a poverty wage to do, well, to do something or other, to assist homeless people.
DeleteRev. Bill was a nice guy who never did anything significant to address homelessness in Allentown, including the period of time when Lisa Pawlowski, “The First Lady of Allentown”, set her sights on ending homelessness in the once All American City.
I'm on board with Scott Armstrong's comments above regarding the well meaning liberals at the Conference of Churches who live in the suburbs. It's not easy to own a home and raise a family in West Park these days, especially when your own government is encouraging homeless shelters in your neighborhood.
DeleteI heard that CeCe Gerlach stated that she wants to see these “community centers” throughout the city.
ReplyDeleteA sane person (and a sane council) would realize that such an occurrence would represent the failure of city government to improve the lives of city residents. Instead, she wants people to believe that it’s progress.
Meanwhile, numerous non-profits and others are willing to carve up our neighborhoods to pursue their “mission”. They are actually making things worse for the city, but better for themselves. Apparently there is good money in government grants to feed the homeless.
There should be money for those who want to SOLVE the homeless problem. Unfortunately, right now it seems there is only funding for those who profit by perpetuating it.
where are poor people supposed to go? “anywhere but here Jack! now excuse me, i’m late for mass”
Deletenonbinary politics,
DeleteBuild some facilities for the homeless in the suburbs where the Board and the staff of the Conference of Churches
live. Who is the Director of the Conference and does he/she/they/them live in Allentown?That should satisfy he/she/they/them/you.
Let LMT step up and do it’s part.
The main purpose of the Conference of Churches is to provide an outlet for ineffectual liberal mainstream Christian guilt.
do you think that everyone in the suburbs is also amenable to things such as this? do you know that suburbs also have zoning laws, capable of producing organized action? did you know that the director of ripple does live in the neighborhood? if we establish all of the housing initiatives in outside areas but then all of the social services to try to help people get out of their situation, how will those with no money get to those resources? who will pay for bus passes?
DeleteWhere the liberals in the church conference live of course...South Whitehall Township, Upper Saucon Township, Lower Macungie Township, Upper Macungie Township, Bethlehem Township etc. etc. Why does Allentown have to be stuck with all the poor and homeless????
DeleteAs someone who was born in Allentown and spent several decades as a professional dedicated to building strong neighborhoods across the Lehigh Valley, including Allentown, my residence, let me get right to the point.
ReplyDeleteThe West Park Neighborhood Association has the best interests of it’s residents, indeed the entire city, at heart in stopping this half baked project.
“Ripple” is an appropriate name for this project. The instability it will create will ripple across West Park and adjoining neighborhoods already struggling with instability and decline.
Ripple, The Council of Churches, and most significantly, City Council, is clueless, reckless, and irresponsible in promoting this entirely irrational and misguided agenda.
God bless the people of West Park in their efforts to maintain a stable community.
I neglected to sign the comment I posted at 8:49.
DeleteApologies for the oversight.
mj adams
I happened to be driving along Linden Street the other day. The funeral home near 14th is gone, and is has been converted to another Ripple property.
DeleteI wasn’t able to notice ANY positive change there as I drove by.
Allow me to add my 2 cents (and more) to the discussion about the homeless:
ReplyDeleteTruth Bomb #1: The homeless typically have some sort of underlying issue (mental health, addiction, etc.) that is the root cause of their homelessness.
Needless to say, that is the reason that it’s not a good thing to set up a soup kitchen, warming center, or sleeping facilities in residential areas where people (including young children) are living. Simply put, such facilities do not belong in residential areas.
Truth Bomb #2: Like the rest of us, the homeless are creatures of habit, and are remarkably good at rationalizing the reasons that they are presently homeless and that they will be able to reverse their condition on their own.
That is to say, if you set up places to feed them, they will rationalize that they are fine, that their present condition is normal and acceptable, and are taking the steps on their own reverse their condition (assuming they even want to).
Truth Bomb #3: Feeding the homeless will only attract more homeless to that area.
This is common sense. Word gets around where to go for something free.
Truth Bomb #4: Many if not all who are supposedly concerned about the homeless are either misguided or looking to profit off the homeless. They’ve given up on any real chance of improvement in the City’s neighborhoods and are content with managing the decline. They want to feel good about themselves, but also want to be compensated for their efforts.
If their concern was actually about the homeless, they would get them off the streets IMMEDIATELY and into real programs that are actually designed to address AND CHANGE the condition of the homeless. Instead, they are allowing homelessness to become habit for the newly homeless, and further cementing the condition in those who have already been homeless for a longer time.
But again, there is big money in treating the symptoms. Organizations like Ripple have well-paid directors and others at the top who make more money with each facility they open. Turns out, our non-profits are often pretty profitable.
Truth Bomb #5: I will believe that City Hall truly thinks that homeless shelters are good for the city the minute they plan for and place them next to the PPL Center, Archer Music Hall, downtown restaurants, the new Riverfront properties, and throughout the NIZ.
We won’t see this, because large landlords (and large donors) are who City Hall actually answers to and cares about. It’s not the homeowner’s in the city. They have been abandoned by City Hall to fight for their neighborhoods on their own.
Conclusion: Prior to Wednesday night’s zoning change, the zoning code inherently recognized the danger and damage that soup kitchens have on residential areas and automatically limited them to the smallest impact possible (seniors only). Not that there wasn’t a need for others to be fed, or that others shouldn’t be fed, just that doing so broadly and (potentially) on that large of a scale is not good for residential areas and should be limited to other areas. Council’s vote undid that protection and made neighborhoods through the entire city more vulnerable.
Allowing soup kitchens and “community centers” to more-easily spread throughout residential areas in the city instead of getting the homeless REAL help is neglect touted as progress, and cruelty disguised as compassion.
Shame on the six on City Council who voted for this bill.
Anyone interested in seeing first hand the problem should drive by Dubb's church at 5th and Allen and the old Pioneer fire hall at 8th and Tilghman... the people are lined up with carts for all the food being given out. The worst part is their disregard for the motorists and littering, not to mention the loud talkers on cell phones. If they can afford a cell phone, they can afford food. The most they should have is flip phone with Tracfone not the high end phones I often note...
DeleteAnd, YES, it IS a disruption to the neighborhood!
@10:59am regarding truth bomb #1: although you are correct that many homeless people have issues with addiction and mental illness, the data is inconclusive as to whether those are the cause of, or the effect of, homelessness. regardless of being a root cause or a symptom, simply stating it does not solve the problem. what do you propose to do with people who have mental illness or addictions? it would seem to be- go upstream to have more of those services available. so ah, again, is this going to be paid for by government or by the third sector?
DeleteNonbinary politics 10:03 wrote:
ReplyDelete"...homeless people are coming to allentown regardless of whether there are services here or not because this also has the cheapest housing in the region."
Nonbinary - Thank you for admitting that this is the case.
Allentown does already have the cheapest housing in the region, but all I hear from homeless advocates and their minions in City Hall is that we need more affordable housing.
Allentown already has the highest poverty rate in the Valley, so why should they put more money into more "affordable housing" that will only make the poverty problem (and therefore the homeless problem) worse?
This is the obvious question that nobody advocating for more affordable housing in the city wants to bring up and talk about. Same with the question of 'How much poverty can one city absorb and still be sustainable?" I would tell you that Allentown is already beyond where it should be (as far as poverty goes) if it wants to be a healthy city.
I'm sure you know that one of the underlying causes of homelessness is poverty, so why would ANYONE advocate for making the problem worse?
The policies you support are not solving problems in Allentown, they are adding to them. Those policies are accelerating Allentown's decline, not preventing it.
For those failing to pay attention... the newly built "AFFORDABLE" housing is anything BUT affordable.
DeleteI must also add that I am incensed at the rebuilding of the section 8 units at MLK and Lehigh hill. These new units will be destroyed in short order as were the old ones being torn down. If they want to live in squalor, let them and stop using our tax $$$$ to fix a problem that only perpetually perpetuates itself. My 2 cents!!!
@11:11am Thanks for cherrypicking my comment- we both agree this is a regional issue. So then why hasn't county government done more to balance this issue across municipalities? do you think the incoming administration will prioritize this? since any local action will take- you guessed it- tax dollars, then the only other option is for nonprofits to step in and fill the gap. to categorize all nonprofits as trying to pimp poverty is disingenuous and quite cynical. also, you are not advocating ANY policies, so maybe this is why only policies you disagree with are being tried.
Deletenonbinary, sorry to state this IS "poverty for profit"... some one is making book on this whole situation. Something tells me there should be LESS money thrown at this situation, except for the disabled, sick and some elderly. It seems to me, if I wanted to eat, drive and keep a roof over my head, the answer was a JOB!!! What a concept that if the rug(s) were yanked out, people just might start taking jobs.... fast food is always hiring.
DeleteI would like to hear from the Mayor before I come to a decision on this matter.
ReplyDeleteDoes Allentown even attempt to encourage home OWNERSHIP with some incentives? Seems to me the goal should NOT be to accommodate more homelessness and rental units.
ReplyDeleteIt’s undeniable, most people who own their home take better care of them inside and out. I would like to see a real incentive made available to those willing to earn that status.
How about a down payment subsidy or monthly stipend to those who invest themselves toward a life of stability? Such incentive s available only to married couples who have at least one spouse who holds a legitimate full time job.
Allentown is creating a growing low-income municipality. A massive housing “project” with no boundaries. A taxpayer funded lifestyle that tends to bring a unique set of difficult problems to handle.
are you willing to contribute tax dollars towards the ideas you proposed?
DeleteThe comments are getting repetitive. Please don't submit any more anonymous or pseudonym comments rephrasing a previous made point.
ReplyDeleteNonbinary politics 10:25 said:
ReplyDelete"ok good idea- remove them to where? where do you suggest to move hundreds of people to?"
Nonbinary -
I would suggest building a Kidspeace-like campus somewhere in the county/Valley, far away from the Valley’s cities and ANY residential area.
In another post you mention the working homeless, who have jobs in the suburbs but are somehow homeless in Allentown. Why do you suppose they keep coming back to Allentown every day instead of remaining close to where they work?
It's because municipalities outside the city won't allow the homeless to stay there. They won't allow the homeless to sleep in their parks and public spaces. They make it clear that it's not an acceptable condition. They won't fund making it easier on the homeless to remain in their condition (remember, what you fund is what you get), they won't normalize homelessness, and they won't accept it.
I would argue that they're not only protecting the quality of life in their own municipalities, but they're also doing more to actually solve the problem than anyone in Allentown, is. Why? Because they aren’t enabling homelessness.
Could they do more and contribute to a regional facility outside of the city to deal with those who truly have issues and need our help? Absolutely!
In the city, Allentown does exactly the opposite of what the suburbs do, and the results are very predictable - more homeless, and more poverty. It’s not rocket science to realize that’s the result of current city policy and where it leads. It’s not sustainable. I would also surmise that many of “Allentown’s” homeless are actually coming from other areas to take advantage of the city’s largesse and lack of expectations.
But in addition to also contributing to a regional facility, what else should Allentown be doing? City Hall should make it difficult to be homeless. It should be removing those sleeping in our parks and public areas and taking them to the regional facility. It should be reducing the number of homeless facilities in the city’s residential neighborhoods.
If facilities in the city are going to feed or otherwise interact with the homeless (like warming stations, etc.), it should come with requirements. Facilities in the city should be required to first collect the names of the homeless, where they came from, how they came to Allentown, and where in the city they’re currently staying. They should have to report that information to the city, county and state government. That information can then possibly be used to help catch trends and problems in certain neighborhoods that the city (county, and/or state) can then deal with proactively, or find if other municipalities (inside the Valley or outside) are dumping their homeless problem on Allentown.
The in-city facilities should also be required to send each homeless person to the regional facility IMMEDIATELY after they finish their FIRST meal so they can be properly evaluated and get the help (addiction, mental health help/job training, etc.) that they need to QUICKLY get out of their homeless condition.
In the case of the soup kitchen, the meal is no longer free, and it comes with the homeless trading that information and going to the regional facility in exchange for what they get upfront as well as the opportunity for real help. No repeat customers for in-city facilities, and if the homeless don’t agree to that deal or follow through on going to the regional facility, they can’t come back to an in-city facility a second time. That may seem harsh at first, but that’s both REAL compassion and a REAL solution to the problem.
You see, it really isn’t a matter of caring about the issue. I actually think that most of us do. Nobody I know wants to see anyone suffer from homelessness. But to me, it’s about the difference between putting a Band-Aid on a problem that requires much more than a Band-Aid or actually trying to solve it and turning the lives of the homeless around as quickly as possible.
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ReplyDeleteHappy to offer a different perspective. The fear that there will a shelter on every corner with legions of drug addicts, mentally ill, criminals lurking on the doorstep is baseless. Napoli focused on the salient point that there are conditions that will be implemented. My guess is maybe one of your posters, and not even you, MM, watched the council meeting and heard the discussion. The ways things are heading, the pool of funds to establish a shelter is not bottomless. Your concerns are not grounded in reality but instead, a worry of a worst case scenario.
DeleteRipple is garbage. How much do the Binders make off of this nonprofit? There has to be some order in this city. I will never let homeless people set up shop in my yard. Sorry they will be dragged right off into the street. Shame on council for voting for this. Atleast Zucal has some brains and guts to vote no.
ReplyDeletelike government, all nonprofits have to be completely transparent with their finances. in looking up the 990 for ripple, Sherri Binder made ~$82,000 in 2023 as director. since nonprofits are providing a service that would otherwise have to be handled by taxpayers, it makes sense that their executives need compensation. why do people expect nonprofit professionals to act as martyrs? if we don't want to pay taxes for these services, then we need to attract talented individuals to the nonprofit sector. i've been commenting all day (a rare day off from work) with only about 60% of my comments being published. it's a little bit maddening trying to bring some differing perspective to a cynical echo chamber, but hey, i have that lehigh valley stubbornness in me. i wish everyone here would remember teddy roosevelt's quote about the man in the arena:
ReplyDelete“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
Anon@4:57: your perspective isn't any different than Teddy Roosevelt at 4:45 :). This blog post essentially presented Ed Zucal as an alternative to the status quo in this city, which places inclusion, (including the homeless) non-profits, etc. above quality of life issues in this city. My patience for repetitive comments is used up.
ReplyDeleteYes, it may be redundant, but it deserves to be emphasized - the Binders are profiting off the homeless issue.
ReplyDeleteI, too, am waiting to hear the Mayor’s position on this matter.
mj adams
mj adams