I bill myself as an independent non-partisan. This November, voters will have their last opportunity to keep Allentown resembling something of its past. By resembling, I mean a re-emphasis on public safety. By public safety I mean a crackdown on double parking, loud stereos, litter and other kinds of rudeness against quality of life in the city.
Ed Zucal will be on the ballot for mayor in the Republican column. Although not a Republican, he gained enough write-in votes from Republicans to secure that spot. I'm hoping that for the sake of Allentown there are enough disillusioned Democrats to join with Republicans and independents to put Zucal in the mayor's office.
Four more years of Matt Tuerk's progressive politics, despite new buildings on Hamilton Street, will make Allentown a Camden on the Lehigh. Those interested in helping the effort may contact Ed Zucal directly, or join a coalition of supporters here through this blog post. If you comment with your contact information, it will NOT be printed.
Michael Molovinsky
Mike is the Z for Zucal or for the Zone niz for the small minded visionaries.
ReplyDeleteThe independants, and Republicans could pull off an upset in November. It would be nice to see some positive blogs about the Mayor but besides a skatepark and a basketball court at Bucky Boyle what has he done besides embarass the city with his lack of leadership. Allentown only makes the news for shootings, internal corruption, ways its going to go bankrupt. Then Allentown makes national news for Mayor trying to destroy a Trump event, or cops accused of raping multiple woman. Where is something meaningful and positive?
ReplyDeleteThere is no path to victory. Boomer Allentown natives who now live in the suburbs and read this blog can’t vote.
Deleteanon@9:22: the path to victory is not my audience or the suburbs, but the taxpayers in numerous neighborhoods, who see the quality of life issues ignored by the current administration. Tuerk's pretending to care now with a new police dashboard and other gimmicks, but it's too little, too late. People saw his priorities for 3.5 years, and they weren't included.
DeleteDon't forget the Noose on the desk as another example of Allentown in the news. I cant see a scenario where Zucal gets 25% of the vote, never mind a victory. There's just too many straight ticket voting Dems in Allentown. I'd love to see Zucal win though, the deteriorating quality of life in Allentown is my number 1 issue (but I'm an informed voter that doesn't vote straight ticket).
DeleteAh, yes, that very, very real and trusty voter bloc of discontented taxpayers whose zeal for addressing quality of life issues has spelled the doom of many Democratic city leaders over the past 20 leaders. Allentown, the city where voters cast aside their partisan loyalties and the 2-to-1 registration difference is not predictive at all. Where politicians always pay for their pandering and “gimmicks” at the ballot box.
DeleteThose boomers remember when Allentown was safe, clean, busy with art, entertainment, and commerce. They remember a school district with the best Latin program in the country, a renowned gifted track and terrific sports teams.
DeleteHow dare they.
Your post yesterday brought up the matter of out of state plates, I’ve been noticing a lot of out of date out of state plates when driving in Allentown. Don’t the police see these? And I assume that if the registration is out of date then the car is uninsured. Again, don’t the police see these? Are the police afraid to stop these illegal drivers? And it isn’t just New Jersey and New York. Last week I saw a Florida plate, expired August 2024 on Cedar Crest.
ReplyDeleteTeurks base of support is the elites. He sings their song and they vote. Allentown's working class, who make up the vast majority city residents are dissatisfied. They are, however less likely to vote in off year elections. Ed job will be to make sure they do. Godspeed on that!
ReplyDeleteMike Is Ed Zucal running for mayor or not, he has been silent this summer while Pee wee Herman's been everywhere. Even Ed's website has not been updated. What is going on?
ReplyDeleteDon@12:23: Yes, Ed is very much running, even if his website refers to the May primary. He is on the ballot for November, and meeting with residents. Although I printed your comment, in the future, no comments will appear that use derogatory terms describing anybody.
ReplyDeleteLooks like about 41,000 of the city’s 74,000 registered voters were still Democrats as of last November. That’s 55%. 12-13k votes cast in the past three general elections. Tuerk and O’Connell both exceeded 8k, with Ramos a little north of 4k.
ReplyDeleteDon’t forget that Tuerk beat Zucal something like 5,000 to 1,200 in the primary. So Zucal will need all 1,200 of those voters plus another 5,000+ to have a chance (assuming similar turnout as past three general elections).
ReplyDeleteThis guy didn’t exactly over-perform in his city council races in 2017 and 2021, if I recall correctly. And based on his primary performance, Tuerk doesn’t seem like a much weaker candidate than himself in 2021 or Ray in 2019. Zucal has his work cut out.
anon number cruncher@2:12: Tuerk underperformed as mayor for the last 3.5 years, which is why Zucal is running, and I and others are supporting him.
ReplyDeleteYork, Pa recently pulled off a Republican upset. If it can happen there it can easily happen in Allentown. The bigger question is can Zucal make it happen. Doesn’t feel like it right now.
ReplyDelete