When Ed Pawlowski ran for mayor, one of his five solutions to Allentown's many problems was a "clean and safe" community. His website contained bold statements like "I will not tolerate any criminal destroying my neighborhood or any other neighborhood in this city" and a promise to "aggressively target criminals and drug dealers, and help re-establish Allentown as a place where families can feel safe and be proud to call home."Pretty tough, huh?
His newsletter contained a three-pronged solution to crime. First, he'd use Lehigh County deputy sheriffs. Sheriff Rossi was at the podium, standing next to Pawlowski, as he made this promise. Second, he'd use citizen volunteers to help out with paperwork and do things that could free up officers and keep them on the street. Third, he claimed to have knowledge of federal funding sources that would help beef up the police ranks.
In fact, he's done none of these things.
No deputy sheriffs have been used, despite a solemn pledge as Sheriff Rossi piously stood next to him. Strike one.
Federal funding to beef up the police department? In 2006, Allentown's police staffing was at its lowest levels since the 50s, and that's according to Pawlowski's own state of the city address. And wait until this year! Strike two.
Citizen volunteers? He keeps making promises about that, too. Steeerike three.
All of the damning evidence was on Pawlowski's own website last week, and I pointed it out in comments on this blog.
Guess what? Poof! Those promises have disappeared. If you click on Pawlowski's web site now, all you'll see is "Hello World!!!" All the incriminating evidence is gone.
49 comments:
Why criticize a candidate for taking down a campaign website three years after his election? Bernie, it must be a slow news day.
Richard: Sounds very newsworthy to me when empty campaign promises are exposed and then they are promptly deleted. Too bad the Morning Call isn't doing this kind of investigative research.
Nice work Bernie!
Richard, This website went down only after it was made clear that Pawlowski broke three promises concerning law enforcement. The link to his newsletters is gone, too. The newsday, which is reporting even more shooting in Allentown, is not slow at all.
"Too bad the Morning Call isn't doing this kind of investigative research."
Now hold on there, wait a second, our competence and integrity laden Morning Gall exposed the 'Porn at Parkland' scandal AND that 'Puppy Mill' thing recently so ... they're probably just taking a much needed rest.
Bernie, as you know, I have been critical of what I see to be a serious lack of courage and leadership on the part of Mayor Pawloski.
He accepted a very difficult job in becoming mayor. I do admire him for that, but it's a leadership position. His citizens are not served by passive indifference.
Allentown is very much under siege by criminal activity, and otherwise rampant bad behavior. This seems apparant to most observers, but not to the emporor.
It's time for Mayor Ed to hold a press conference on the street, at the city's worst intersection. He needs to stand-up against those who are acting to bring the city down.
He needs to list SPECIFIC corrective actions. Could be a strict curfew, increased attention to quality of life issues, even a revelation that outside help is being brought in.
There are plenty of law-abiding citizens living in Allentown's worst neighborhoods. Many are stuck there due to age or poverty.
They simply can't move. These folks do not deserve to be ignored while huddled in their homes.
I also believe it ESSENTIAL for Latino leadership to join the mayor in actively confronting what is wrong in this city.
Don't get me started on the Morning Call's failure in this sad situation.
I'll take this mayor over that STIFF career politician Roy Afflerbach. Now HE was a LOSER.
No, Pawlowski isn;'t perfect but look at the clientale he has to deal with in this city.
As for that ANGRY mad poster Vill Billa.....you need to get a life there pal.
retired asd wrote
"There are plenty of law-abiding citizens living in Allentown's worst neighborhoods. Many are stuck there due to age or poverty.
They simply can't move. These folks do not deserve to be ignored while huddled in their homes."
if the mayor cannot make the streets safe, at least he will make those homes safe for the next owner, through his home sale inspection law. this intrusion on property rights was not a campaign promise, on the contrary, this outrage was passed quickly and quietly; i will seek relief for the homeowners this wednesday evening.
Bernie, IF YOU ONLY KNEW..... while heydt and i limited ourselves to the format of 5 to 7 minutes per candidate, pawlowski would go on and on with easels and charts, or power point presentations for no less than 25 minutes. some of the people who carried the equipment for these dog and pony shows now actually work at city hall...... IF YOU ONLY KNEW
Bernie! isn't using stills from "300 Spartans" a bit over the top? Wouldn't "tombstone" with Kurt Russell be more appropriate?
BO,
Can't make it tomorrow. Can you call me to reschedule?
thx
Tuesday Night Date,
That's no problem. We can reschedule. I have a scorching case of herpes right now anyway.
Will call you later this week.
bernie,
welcome to the wonderful world of the google cache:http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:uGNuwwaYSbwJ:www.edpawlowski.com/+http://www.edpawlowski.com
Bernie! isn't using stills from "300 Spartans" a bit over the top? Wouldn't "tombstone" with Kurt Russell be more appropriate?
Last week, I was trying to draw a few of the teenage boys that Bill White stole with his lesbian posts. But my sitememter tells me I lost a few gay readers. Gotta' get them back, and "Tombstone" is not sufficiently homoerotic. If this doesn't work, my next step is a few shots of Angle in a loincloth.
Retired ASD Teacher,
I continue to be amazed at your constructive criticism. You're right. The mayor should go to the most crime-ridden portion of rthe city and announce specific steps.
pawlowski would go on and on with easels and charts, or power point presentations for no less than 25 minutes. some of the people who carried the equipment for these dog and pony shows now actually work at city hall...... IF YOU ONLY KNEW
Perhaps a less top heavy administration could afford a few more officers. Panto is trying to cut all the administrators.
Anon 11:42, I appreciate the link. I'll see if I can find the newsletter with the broken promises.
Retired ASD
The good citizens of Allentown need to clean up their sewer pit. The place is a hell hole and will soon fall into the same situation you now find in Reading. Teachers do play a role here and I say this as one retired from Bethlehem after 32 years. Discipline must be restored in the schools. When you have a district saying they do not have to protect little boys from being raped by other little boys something needs to be done. The teachers need to take on the responsibility of restoring order to their schools and classrooms and yes you can do that without administrating a beat down though one of those from time to time would serve as an example to others. The so called good citizens, many who have made lousy choices and have participated in turning their community over to the thugs and thuggets, need to stand up and be counted. Right now the insane are in charge of the asylum. Until people stand up and demand more from their own folks life will not change. To add to this, the political representatives and school administrators need to be replaced with those who know how to administer instead of doing all the touch feely stuff. Can you just see yourseld telling your old man at the tender age of whatever that you have rights. The only right I would have gotten from mine was the one attached to his body and he was the gentle one in the family--mom would have just tossed my ass off the roof. As for Mr. Ed, well you get what you vote for and in Allentown's case you keep putting the panderers into office.
So Heydt would have been different?
Allentown had a choice between Heydt and the current guy. Heydt was a retread and the voters obviously went the only other direction offered. If they elected Heydt. you might have "Lights in the Warzone" though.
Seems to me, they must be hamstrung for cash. Why would this mayor purposefully not hire more cops? Yes, you can fire administrators but what is this solving? Tax base is disappearing, the IronPigs won't even throw a bone Allentown's way, they have no cash. They seem to be just hanging on. Seems they need state or federal intervention. Call me crazy.
Maybe his buddy Charley Dent will fly in with his "Save Allentown" cape on and save him.
"I continue to be amazed at your constructive criticism. You're right. The mayor should go to the most crime-ridden portion of rthe city and announce specific steps."
Something you may not know: the mayor lives in the most crime ridden part of the city. He lives on 12th street about 2 blocks north of hamilton. He doesn't live on the West End like Hedyt did or out of the city like many of speculated about Roy Boy. He actually lives with the crime on a regular basis.
Maybe his buddy Charley Dent will fly in with his "Save Allentown" cape on and save him.
Actually, being the opportunist that Dent is I'm surprised it hasn't happened yet. That will happen over the summer II'm guessing. I'm sure I'll get robo-called about the great accomplishment.
Something you may not know: the mayor lives in the most crime ridden part of the city. He lives on 12th street about 2 blocks north of hamilton. He doesn't live on the West End like Hedyt did or out of the city like many of speculated about Roy Boy. He actually lives with the crime on a regular basis.
No, no. That's precisely why he isn't solving the problem. He likes it! He loves watching from his upstairs window! I bet he's in his office playing Minesweeper right now!
I don't live in Allentown, but that doesn't mean I can't be concerned about the city considering the amount of time I spend there, and the people I know that live there. I also care a lot about the Valley so I think Allentown, like any city, deserves a mayor (i.e. leader) that is responsive to the citizen's needs.
With that being said and things the way they are, I would like to see more appropriate actions being taken other than trying to recruit citizens to fight the crime themselves and deleting broken campaign promises. (By the way, that whole deleting thing isn't like shredding paper documents to protect someone or something - on the Internet, there's always a trail!)
I'm no expert but I without any doubt think that an increased police presence is needed. Perhaps more time on the streets (by both police officers and the mayor) and less time working on gentrification and eating at Johnny Mañana's "(that's with a ñ, damn it!)."
Also, I thought you were joking about that "Hello World!!!" thing. You can tell he's hurting now...
Something you may not know: the mayor lives in the most crime ridden part of the city. He lives on 12th street about 2 blocks north of hamilton
I know the mayor lives in Allentown. That's where he's supposed to live.
I'm no expert but I without any doubt think that an increased police presence is needed. Perhaps more time on the streets (by both police officers and the mayor) and less time working on gentrification and eating at Johnny Mañana's "(that's with a ñ, damn it!)."
Thats it! The mayor can personally patrol the streets. Did the city buy any of those combat Hummers with the 911 money?
Everyone knows the problem but no one has a solution - including the mayor.
I know the mayor lives in Allentown. That's where he's supposed to live.
No, he's supposed to live on the West End like the beloved Mayor Heydt.
"Everyone knows the problem but no one has a solution - including the mayor."
Someone should tell the mayor that he's not going to find any solutions inside of Johnny Mañana's.
Someone should tell the mayor that he's not going to find any solutions inside of Johnny Mañana's.
Ah, so now the mayor should not go to a restaurant within the city. The solutions keep getting more lucid. Keep them coming!
Re: "As for that ANGRY mad poster Vill Billa.....you need to get a life there pal." -Bob Abouy
Bob, I have a wonderful life, here, "there," and everywhere. If you knew the half of it, you'd be sooooo jealous ...
Hayshaker,
No he should continue going to Johnny Mañanas (that's with a ñ, damn it) and continue listening to those "leaders of the downtown renaissance", as they like to call themselves, to find out more efficient ways of sweeping Allentown's poor off the streets so they don't have to be seen by the likes of Lee Butz and his prospective tenants. The last thiong he should do is listen to the democrats who helped get him elected by encouraging him to take a proactive approach to crime while embracing A-town's diversity.
I'll take a real Dem or a real Republican over a "wine and cheese" elitist any day of the week. But the mayor has forgotten those who helped put him where he is. Lee Butz and the LVP doa great job throwing a party, but they don't win elections. Mayor Ed is about to find that out unless he gets religion, and fast.
Whether it's a wannabe "wine or cheese" mayor or a "real Dem or Rep.", I would like to see someone who cares enough about the citizens to listen and clean-up the streets, not replace them.
Allentown had a choice between Heydt and the current guy. Heydt was a retread and the voters obviously went the only other direction offered.
Actually there was a third choice. Michael Molovinsky was a candidate.
Bernie, you missed my point. The mayor lives in one of those crime ridden areas that you suggest he go to in order to make announcements... he's living where drug deals are taking place. He's about 3 blocks from the bar that you mentioned this morning. Heydt lived on the far west end where the living is good. Awfulbach was rumored to have his lights on a timer and live outside of the city. Heck, even Charlie Dent has left his center city state house district (in the same area where Ed now lives) and lives out past cedar crest blvd... his kid goes to Parkland.
When the other politicians have left the center city, Ed Pawlowski is raising his two kids where others are more than happy to leave.
Anon 10:14,
I don't miss your point. He lives in A-town, close to the west end. Without knowing more, that means very little to me.
What I do know is that the Mayor has abandoned many of the democrats who helped elect him on a message of fighting crime while embracing diversity. He has done neither. He has instead embraced the wine and cheese crowd and the Lehigh Valley partnershjip types like Lee Butz. That might get him Sam Bennett's vote, but not many others.
He has ignored the very people who voted for him. Remember those merchants on Hamilton Street? The ones he ignored? The ones he allowed to twist slowly in the wind while ineffectually trying to blame LANTA? Who do you think they'll be voting for? There's approximately 40 of them, and they all have familieis that vote and live in Allentown. They all have customers, too. I'd estimate he lost 400 votes there. How about the bus drivers who feel like they were swept out of the way? People like Barbadel? There's another 200 or so. How about people who like to have yard sales in the summer? How do you think they'll react when they find out how he treated Zee Weikel. That's another 500 votes, especially if they hear the goofy argument that they're fecncing stolen goods. How many votes do you think he'll pick up when people learns that he wants them to spy on each other? There's another 100 votes. Allentown police? I don't know how many live in A-town, but soubt any that do will vote for that guy. And how many thousands of votes will he lose when people learn he broke each of the three prmises he made about safety when he first ran for office.
I think he's already around 2,000 votes below where he was in the last election.
He's ignored the people, and if the right person can make people aware of howe bad he's been to them, he'll lose. And this time, his political machine will be MIA bc they have already seen him as a phony. That's another 1,000 votes for sure.
He is vulnerable and deservesd to be vulnerable bc he broke his compact with the voter.
Mike Fleck claims to have run Pawlowski's campaign. What do you expect. Bernie you should a photo of those two and put them side by side. I bet they look alike.
What I would like is a picture of the night that pawlowski dropped by a Fleck fundraiser. he was driving his city SUV with its municipal plates to a political function. I guess that's how they do things in Chicago.
Translation: "Catering to the wine and cheese crowd" = Attempting to generate REVENUE (that is cash flow) for the city so it CAN do things like escalate the fight on crime.
Apparently BOH wants the mayor to start a soup kitchen downtown at the LANTA stops and disregard economic development. But everyone knows that if he do that, people like BOH would chastise him for ignoring economic development.
I also find it hilarious that BOH is OUTRAGED that the mayor actually use his municipal SUV (I suppose BOH wants the mayor to drive in a Kia Rio and sled to city hall in the winter) for personal use. Oh NO!!! The humanity!
"I don't miss your point. He lives in A-town, close to the west end. Without knowing more, that means very little to me."
Are you kidding me! Stop discrediting yourself.
The Mayor lives at 11th & Linden. While not the worst neighborhood in town, You can get much more center city than that.
Anon 10:08,
1) What OUTRAGES me is that your mayor uses this fat ass SUV with municipal plates to attend a political fundraiser in Easton for Mike Fleck. Is Allentown now paying to fund Michael Fleck's campaign in Easton? In case you didn't know it, what the mayor did is illegal.
2) I'd like a picture, if anyone has one. I have the name of the person in Easton who saw it. This is not the first time the mayor has used a municipal vehicle to campaign.
3) I am OUTRAGED that the mayor of Allentown would sip wine and munch on cheese at JM with the beautiful people while one person is being murdered and three others are being shot. But that's me.
4) I am OUTRAGED that those among you who call yourselves the "leaders of the downtown renaissance" are so full of yourselves that you would think your agendas matter more than someone who, just blocks away, is being shot.
5) I am OUTRAGED that pompous assholes like yourself would falsely tie that JM meeting to economic develepment. It was a campaign fundraiser. It cost you $75 to get on the door, and for $5,000, you get a gold taco. That little shindig weas for the Mayor's campaign coffers, but you're now claiming it was economic development. I see. Are the two related? Please enlghten me. Is there a quid pro guo, as many of us think? Is it true that to benefit from economic development grants, you must first give the mayor's campaign a little sugar??? Is that what this is about, plain old bribery? If so, then that little shindig was itself just more criminal activity and you yourselves are thugs. You just have white collars and wear ties. But please enlighten me. I really would like to know. I'm sure the DA will be interested, too. What promises were made?
6) Is there something wrong with taking care of the needy? I thought that was why government exists. If you roll down the electric window of your Mercedes or Volvo and turn down Vivaldi, you might see that some people are really poor and some kids are really hungry. Do you think that might have something to do with crime?
7) When an elitist like you tries to be sarcastic, it doesn't work. It just pisses people off and makes you appear more smug. I'm thinling seriously of turning your snide comment into a post so people see what Pawlowski puppewts are really like. You don't give a shit about the poor, equate a campaign fundraiser with economic development, claim campaign fundraisers are really just another crime fighting tool, and think it's perfectly OK that the city of Allentown pay for the mayor to attend a Fleck fundraiser in Easton.
8) As far as where Pawlowski lives, it seems to me his heart is in Chicago and the Mayor Daley style of politics. oday it's 11th and Linden, yesterday it was 12th and Turner. I don't give a rat's ass if he lives in Hotel Traylor - he has no regard for A-town's working poor.
First off, I am not affiliated with the mayor or any of the participants of any campaign fuundraiser. I'm a normal working stiff reading your alarmist blog.
1. Sure. Its technically illegal. Is using the SUV to pick up a pizza for the kids on the way home illegal? Probably. I just saw some dude drop his kids off at my kid's school with a New Jersey state vehicle. So what.
2. "Using it to campaign?" I guess so. But you make it sound like he's driving it like the Pope-mobile with ELECTION swag plastered on it. Please.
3. You have got to be kidding me. So as long as there are criminals in Allentown, the mayor is not permitted to attend ANY social event at any time for any reason. Think.
4. As I noted from the start, you are delusional (its not the first time you've had delusions of grandeur). BOH, do you volunteer with APD when not working because surely your agenda is not more important than people dying. What a steaming pile of crap you are laying out today.
5. Forgive me for not noting the event in question as a campaign event. I don't really give a rat's ass. The point is that you bemoan this mayor for meeting with rich assholes and not going Charles Bronson on the downtown. Give it a rest...it makes you sound ridiculous.
6. Who said the poor were not in need of assistance? You really tend to extrapolate a lot. You are the master of the STRAW MAN.
7. Please. You are ranting red-faced and not saying anything. And no, I don't give a rats ass that the mayor used 2 gallons of gas to drive to Easton. Only red-faced alarmists with a team of blog-sycophants do things like that.
8. And finally, you dodge the facts (you apparently think 11th street is the West End) and then make the other guy look like the idiot. 11th St might have been the west end - before you were born.
"I suppose BOH wants the mayor to drive in a Kia Rio and sled to city hall in the winter."
You truly are an idiot.
Funny stuff.
Everyone that posts anonymously on Mr. O'Hare's blog is a political operative. There are no normal citizens posting. They're watching you Mr. O'Hare. Hahahaha
1 -2) OK. So we're agreed that it's illegal for the city of Allentown to fund political activity by the Mayor of Allentown for a mayoral candidate in Easton. I believe that's a lot different from someone who stops off somewhere to drop off the kids on his way to work or who picks up a pizza on his way home. Using the public purse for political activity is both OUTRAGEOUS and criminal. The $20 in gas consumed to and from Easton could pay for other municipal services. I'm not making it "sound" like anything. I'm noting it for what it is. Allentown should not have to pay for Pawlowski's attempt to electioneer in Easton or anywhere else. If you don't think this is serious, shame on you.
3-5) You yourself earlier stated this meeting at JM was all about economic development and that the mayor was generating "REVENUE (that is cash flow) for the city so it CAN do things like escalate the fight on crime." You called it "economic development." On another blog, the claim was and that the "leaders of the downtown renaissance" were there. Once again, the implication is that this little shindig was about economic development. Were you there? Did you kick in the $75 entrance fee? or did you forget the $5,000 golden taco? I'd like to know since you seem to know so much about this shindig.
This was a Pawlowski fundraiser and was touted as such at the QCD blog. Your attempt to portray it as something else is disingenuous. And while we're at it, why is everyone connecting economic development to a campaign fundraiser? It really makes me question whether there is a quid pro quo. Are you one of the "rich assholes" who kicked in? Perhaps a wannabe rich asshole?
A few thousand years ago, a group of Romans became mightily pissed at the image of Nero fiddling while Rome burns. In Allentown, Mayor Nero is hobnobbing with the elite while people shoot each other. How are these two situations different?
6)You care about the poor? How nice of you! You're defending a mayor who wants to sweep them under the rug, where people like you don't have to look at them.
7-8) Like I said, you're going to have to try a lot harder. Only elitists will buy your bull. I don't care where the hell the mayor lives bc it is increasingly obvious he is blind to Allentown's very real problems. Yesterday, I was told 12th & Turner. Now you're saying 11th & Linden. I don't know and I don't care. I leave the mayor's exact address to people like you, who I am certain are more familiar with his residence while pretending to be disinterested.
1-2) $20 in gas to drive to Easton? Yes, BOH, you are a master of hyperbole. I never said anything was illegal, I said it MAY be illegal. I don't really care. Give me real issues to worry about.
3-5) I have no idea what the shindig was all about. I'm some shmo reading your blog. I'm not the one decrying it as illegal or that it was insensitive for the mayor to attend. You are. If the mayor is networking with the rich and powerful (the ones who still pay taxes in the city) be it for campaigning or ED, it makes little difference to me. You sound infantile when you think rich contributors don't often times see a return on their investment. QPQ is another matter and one that you should attempt to prove rather than insinuate.
Further, you bring up Nero in dramatic fashion. I'm still not sure what you expect. Answer the question, BOH. Do you expect the mayor to forgo ALL social engagements so as not to appear insensitive? What a pile of shit.
6. Sweep the poor under the rug? Again, hyperbole and extrapolation. You could make your points without resorting to poor debating technique. You should childish. Allentown haters on your blog would like to sweep the entire downtown under the rug. They don't see poor. They see crime.
7. "Only elitists will buy your bull" says the man who heartily supports a Bush rubber stamp for Congress. A poster called you out on your complete inaccuracy and your obvious ignorance of the geography of Allentown. Admit it.
Anon 1:07 claims Mayor Nero "lives on 12th street about 2 blocks north of hamilton." My response is that is "close to the west end." It is, three blocks away.
Keep playing the fiddle while A-town burns and defend a mayor who hobnobs with the rich while refusing to meet, even once, with even one Hamilton Street merchant adversely impacted by the LANTA changes.
Oh yeah, and bring up Dent, like that has something to do with this.
Using municipal funds for political purposes is illegal. It's stealing. It's also a breach of the public trust. If he did it in Easton, he's done it elsewhere. I remember someone else making a stink about this and am going to look into it. I can only prove Easton, but that's enough for me. I'll never support a pol who takes from the public purse like that. Period.
My questions to you are very simple. 1) Were you at JM? 2) Did you participate. You see, I am trying to prove the quid pro quo. You're the one who claims it's about economic development. On the West End blog, some stiffed shirt huffs that the "leaders of the downtown renaissance" were there. Why? Is it a quid pro quo? It is your own remarks that make me wonder. That's why you should answer the question.
As far as sweeping the poor under the rug is concerned, that's precisely what is happening. Realtors for those fancy condos off hamilton told prospective tenants they would not have to worry about seeing those poor people much longer. I can post comment after comment on this blog of people who just don't want to see the poor on hamilton. Look what the Mayor did to Zee Weikel! That's not poor debating technique. That's fact.
I believe his actions over the past summer and fall have cost him about three thousand votes. And I know ewight voters in my extended family who will be voting for anyopne but him. You can add them as well.
In the meantime, his goofy website says, "Hello world!!!"
Anon 11:42 said:
"Sure. Its technically illegal..."
So first you understand that it IS illegal, but then you think that it MAY be illegal. Do you even know what you're talking about anymore?
No, I was not there. No, I did not participate. I have never met the mayor, given money to the mayor or benefited from his office. I thought I made that clear?
No, it was unclear, at least to me. That's why I had to keep asking the question.
There is little doubt in my mind that the mayor's tactics will cost him dearly at the polls. I believe he's already a loser.
To the (most active) anonymous poster,
You seem too busy defending someone (Mayor Ed) who has no presence in this entire discussion.
Oh. . .I know, Mayor Ed cannot be expected to post here, but Mayor Ed can, and should, be an active participant in a crisis that most Allentown residents seem to recognize.
Right now, Allentown IS all about crime. What is Mayor Ed's assessment of this statement?
I'm thinking Mayor Ed needs to put 'glad-handing' aside for a while and deal with a perception that is destroying (according to most citizens) the city he represents.
The man has NO identification with a problem most people seem to recognize.
Am I nuts to feel this way?
I agree with you. The mayor should be doing both - raising much needed revenue AND fight the crime sweeping the city. My perception is that the city doesn't have the resources to do the latter.
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