The People's Candidate. I believe that Emma has a kindred spirit in Ce-Ce Gerlach. Now, I understand that a lot of people will take exception to my comparison, maybe even Ce-Ce herself.
Because of inaccurate media reports, Emma was falsely portrayed as bigoted. Her memory now unjustly bears that misconception. Most people today who repeat that slander never knew her. Emma was immensely popular, and easily won reelection to city council, election after election. Ce-Ce Gerlach was the top vote getter this primary, receiving almost double the votes of her fellow candidates.
As someone who knew both women, there are many similarities... Both being extremely accessible, down to earth, and making people comfortable.
Emma was energized to work hard for Allentown, as is Ce-Ce. Emma was passionate about the issues she championed, so is Ce-Ce.
I sat in diners having coffee with both of them, many years apart. I think that they would have understood and liked each other.
reprinted from 2019 with new photo
Because of inaccurate media reports, Emma was falsely portrayed as bigoted. Her memory now unjustly bears that misconception. Most people today who repeat that slander never knew her. Emma was immensely popular, and easily won reelection to city council, election after election. Ce-Ce Gerlach was the top vote getter this primary, receiving almost double the votes of her fellow candidates.
As someone who knew both women, there are many similarities... Both being extremely accessible, down to earth, and making people comfortable.
Emma was energized to work hard for Allentown, as is Ce-Ce. Emma was passionate about the issues she championed, so is Ce-Ce.
I sat in diners having coffee with both of them, many years apart. I think that they would have understood and liked each other.
reprinted from 2019 with new photo
ADDENDUM AUGUST 26, 2025:I've known Ce-Ce a long time, my first post about her was in 2013. What is behind today's reprint is that Ce-Ce has announced that she will run for State Representative. She is running for the 22nd district, currently occupied by Josh Siegel, who is running for County Executive. If you check my archives, I have about a dozen different posts about Ce-Ce. I chose this one because Emma also ran for State Representative, losing to then newcomer Jennifer Mann. While Mann retired from the state house years ago, and Mike Schlossberg inherited the seat, she remains the quiet kingmaker in Allentown.
“I think that they would have understood and liked each other.”
ReplyDeleteI think you’re living in Fantasyland.
I also knew Emma. She understood the greatness of American and had no time for those who didn’t.
She also believed in law & order and personal responsibility. CeCe is the opposite of this.
If Emma would be here now, she would stand up and make sure that someone with CeCe’s beliefs would NEVER be elected, and Allentown would be much better off because of It.
anon@7:01, you be bigly wrong. In reality, Emma was attacked by the last Republican mayor (Heydt) because she opposed the Rental Inspection Ordinance. She was ambushed at a press conference and accused of being a slumlord.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct that there are many issues that Emma and Ce-Ce would not agree on, but this post deals with their personalities, and ability to relate to people.
What does the rental inspection law or Emma being attacked by Heydt have to do with anything? I mentioned neither.
DeleteEmma did support law and order. On another of today’s issues beyond Gerlach’s irresponsible Defund the Police stance (which Emma would have vehemently opposed), Emma would be the first to find a way to get the homeless help, but she would never tolerate the homeless flopping down wherever they chose.
The democrat party that Emma belonged to isn’t the same party Gerlach belongs to. Gerlach is a socialist who just supported the socialist slate of candidates in the city council primary. Emma understood the dangers of socialism and would have schooled a know-nothing like Gerlach.
If you want to pretend that she’d do that over coffee, fine.
Emma was sincere and upfront about her beliefs. She didn't have a political bone in her body. None of this can be said of ce ce
DeleteThat grassroots effort to establish Systematic Rental Inspection included a Disruptive Tenant piece.
DeleteIt was completely driven by neighborhood groups and independent citizen activists without regard to party politics.
Yes, Alan Jennings and CACLV backed it but didn’t write the initial Bill 50 or the final ordinance or drive the initiative. Yes, Republican Mayor Heydt supported it but his Lieutenant Russ Marcus was too intimidated by Emma to speak in favor of the bill. Yes, Heydt loathed Jennings and Emma recognized Jennings as the bombastic poverty pimp that he was. Later Ed Pawlowski was against the idea unwilling to take any position he felt that Latino allies might find unpalatable. Pawlowski’s resistance led him to unenthusiastically enforce the ordinance. Pawlowski thought Latinos were loud, exuberant and unruly people by nature and should not be held accountable for what he interpreted as cultural norms.
Yes, Jennings remains a dead-ender Pawlowski cultist to this very day.
Pawlowski may have had back room deals with certain landlords and was surly protecting shady properties his nonprofit housing association was involved with.
His main man, Fred B.,was dirty.
All this verifiable information escapes Pawlowski’s Wikipedia profile.
Neighborhood groups are gone and along with them is any independent grassroots activism.
Democratic Party politics were once complex in an Allentown replete with strong characters, business interests and strong neighborhoods. All that has been replaced with cartoon character hacks and nincompoops.
DeleteAllentown is a failed one party urban tragedy.
The anon comment at 7:01 is unfortunately representative of Allentown's situation. He's most likely an R ranting about Ce-Ce's defund the police reputation. ( In reality people ranted against Emma being against the historic district and other regulations)
ReplyDeleteBUT, in the anon's rant he overlooks the reality of 2025. What he must hope is that a more centrist democrat runs against Ce-Ce and wins in the primary, because it's unlikely a Republican will win, even if one runs.
I notice that you once again take the republicans to task about their lack of candidates in Allentown.
DeleteI just read an article that the democrats are losing voters and both republicans and independents are gaining voters.
In light of this, maybe when you chastise republicans for not stepping up in the city you should also chide the independents for failing to run as well.
anon@9:07: Last time I checked the Republicans were a party, with city, county, state and national committees. Independents (with small i) are individuals, so who or which one should I chide? Also, for your information, if an independent does nothing he gets 3%, if he does everything he gets 5%. BTW, I ran twice as an independent, so I may know more about it than you.
Delete@8:37 Given Allentown's crime problem, why would a sane person want to defund the police ? If anything, the city needs to expand its police force, not lay them off for lack of funding
DeleteMs Gerlach is a radical democrat and is not worthy of being elected to any political office.
You seem to think that the Republican Party just anoints candidates and compels them to run. Like independents, PEOPLE (who happen to be registered republicans) make their own decisions to run.
DeleteIn addition, fundraising and campaigning are the responsibility of those individual Republican candidates, just like it would be for independent candidates. There is no republican pot of gold waiting to be dropped into any city race and bestowed on whatever Republican chooses to run.
So it would appear that there are more similarities than differences between republican and independent candidates.
As an aside, my observation with past independent candidates has been that most aren’t serious about winning. Some just want to get attention for their issue (or issues). Others think they can wait until summer to actually start campaigning and doing things like fundraising, sending out mailers, and going door-to-door. Then they think that if they can make the right speech (that few will hear) or have a good appearance in a debate (that few will watch) people will magically abandon the candidates they heard from for the first five months of the year (and supported in primaries) and vote for the independent candidate. That’s not reality.
Independent candidates should start their campaigns with everybody else on January 1 (if not earlier) and make contact with as many VOTERS (of any persuasion) as they can from that day until the general election. At a minimum, they should be locking down the sizable independent vote during that primaries, and identifying persuadable VOTERS of other parties early.
They can’t outwork the other candidates by waiting until after the primaries to start their own campaigns.
anon@10:06: Yes, I know that you're very knowledgable about the local Republican Party, but disingenuous. Independents aren't partisan, who vote for other independents...they vote mostly for Republicans and Democrats, but don't wish to be associated with dogmatic party platforms. They don't have tents at the fair to collectively get signatures. They don't have party picnics to get collective support. They don't have help canvasing neighborhoods.
DeleteYou're hoping for more successful independents to siphon votes away from Democrats, because the R party is dead in Allentown.
Council member Ce-Ce Gerlach presented an ordinance for Allentown to become a 'Welcoming City' to help protect immigrants (AKA Illegal Ailens) from ICE .....
ReplyDeleteNO THANK YOU
Yeah, I think the “welcoming city” stuff is over with. I’m pretty liberal but immigration has been out of control. Trump could have been a hero if he just worked on immigration, but he had to go put his orange hands on everything; doge, health, education, the Kennedy Center, universities. Ce-ce doesn’t inspire. Her problem with dropping the kid under the bridge will still haunt her.
ReplyDelete9:06 & 10:08 - I agree with your take on Gerlach. My question is, what democrat will run that is substantially different than her on the issues? I see a party in lockstep around bad policies, with nobody speaking out about the socialist influence that’s taking over the party. And I’m a democrat.
ReplyDeleteIf democrat candidates (at best) are just going to fall silently in line behind socialist policies, I’m not voting for that. I’m looking for real leadership. It’s easy to attack Trump, I want someone whose going to stand up for common sense in the party.
Although my conservative readership, or what remains of it, is appalled at the idea of Ce-Ce being a State Rep., she will outwork and out-canvas anybody else running for office. Furthermore, the voters in District 22 can relate to her, she is one of them.
ReplyDeleteYour anti-trump rants won’t deliver the ROI you are banking on to burnish your reputation as a centrist blogger.
DeleteGive it up.
A lot of evil people are hard workers. Never heard you comment positively on Trump's diligent work ethic
DeleteI may often have issues with Ce-Ce’s positions but her work ethic is intense and I believe that she is driven by the public good as she sees it.
ReplyDeleteCe-Ce has some wacky positions but she is a real person and not the empty suit Pete and Mike are, trucking off to Harrisburg every day to collect a paycheck and a per diem.
ReplyDeleteI do not live in District 22, so no vote either way, but at least she would be off City Council.
ReplyDeleteA don't recall Emma ever being arrested for facilitating the rape of a minor and as a result sentenced to a first time offender program. Did I miss that?
ReplyDeleteanon@11:53: .Perhaps Allentown R's should register as D's for the primary. This has been done by both parties as a subversive technique to place poor candidates, but perhaps in a one party town it's the only way to foster better elected officials. ???
ReplyDeleteThere is no political solution for Allentown. The place is cooked, stick a fork in it.
DeletePerhaps independents should as well.
DeleteAs Mayor Heydt's Community Development Director, Ross Marcus, was absolutely essential and instrumental in the passage of the Rental Inspections Ordinance. In fact, for all intents and purposes, he wrote the ordinance and furthermore, authorized Code Enforcement's prosecution in Magistrate's Court of Councilperson Tropiano for Property Rehabilitation and Maintenance Code violations cited on one or more of her 9th Street rental properties. In the history of the City of Allentown, how many sitting City Council members have been prosecuted for violating the PRMC? Answer: one. Emma was emotional and bombastic. Ross as CD Director was insightful, intelligent, forthright, capable and professional (he was also a Democrat appointed by a Republican Mayor, an impossibility today). Two different approaches by two different people with two different points of view.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous @2:26
DeleteRoss Marcus was a sharp guy and functioned as Bills brain, he also kissed Jennings butt.
Politics does frequently make strange bedfellows.
Mr. Marcus was almost always the smartest guy in the room, and never bombastic about it. While by temperament and up bringing he lacked the ability to relate to the common man on a personal level he always had the interest of the people at heart.
DeleteKudos for his efforts in rental inspection.
Ross’s attempt to re-reinvent himself in Northampton Co. was complicated and ultimately unsuccessful.
DeleteI remember Jennifer Mann for her support for Same Day Lending, a boot on the neck of the poor and down on their luck working class individuals, bonus points for an outsized impact on Allentown partisan
ReplyDeletepolitics long after she ostensibly retired.
(I remember Emma as using her elected office as a scalpel to attack anyone who opposed her on any issue or at any level.)
Emma and CeCe are both women with a rare level of idiosyncratic charm and approachability, neither has a microgram of elitism about them.
Mann initially ran as a supporter of working class people on the shoulders of her father’s involvement as a Union Electrician.
She was nothing of the sort.
Jennifer Mann has charm. She remains a backroom operator for the rich and powerful.
The names “Emma” and “CeCe” stand alone.
Both have left an enduring impression on city politics, each in their own way.
At 5:15
DeleteWe have a typo. It should read “Jennifer Mann has no charm”.
Apologies.
She does indeed still have considerable influence in the backrooms to this day.
She had the smarts to avoid the Pawlowski scandals.
Emma could, and would, use her influence in the Allentown Parking Authority to exact a pound of flesh.
DeleteMr. Marcus had the good sense to get out of Allentown while the getting was still good.
ReplyDeleteI would love to have his take on the last couple of decades.
Didn’t Gary Day take over the Ross Marcus spot on the Mayor Heydt roster before the season ended?
ReplyDelete