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Nazareth, Pa., United States

Monday, August 10, 2009

Allentown's War of the Roses

A local newspaper is at its best when it tells us what is going on in our own community. Blogs, I've often argued, complement that coverage. We might focus on aspects discounted by the MSM, or go into much more detail. True, most of us lack the objectivity of trained journalists, but because of our interactive nature, we are often an early indication of a hot button issue. Here in Blogistan, people, and not some detached newspaper editor or publisher or even the bloggers, set the agenda.

Who would have guessed that renovations to an aging Allentown park would set off such a raging firestorm? Not me. I don't live there. I would have predicted Peanutville's major budget deficit or its near daily gunfire might bother people more than the Cedar Creek Parkway project, which includes a playground and changes to Allentown's famous rose garden. Perhaps because that's all Allentown really has left, people are very upset.

Recent Morning Call coverage provides a glimpse into the growing grass roots opposition, but makes no attempt at editorializing the competing claims. Here are links to some of the most recent stories: Residents critical of Cedar Creek changes (Pawlowski and Parks Director MIA); Allentown council set to discuss Cedar Creek Park plans (citizens complain plan too ambitious); Mayor Pawlowski agrees to delay building playground at Cedar Creek Park (until August 20, according to City Council Prez Mike D'Amore, because Mayor still MIA); Handicap-accessible park is long overdue (and Parks Director Greg Weitzell is wunderbar); and Corrections & Clarifications (Cedar Creek Parkway calls for 290 new parking spots, but much of that will be accomplished by realigning existing parking).

This is where blogs come to the rescue, supplementing the MSM with more factual background and lots of perspective.

Blogger Michael Molovinsky would have to be the leader in the editorial perspective category. He once chided me for "bitch slapping" erstwhile congressional candidate Sam Bennett, but has had no difficulty taking pot shots at everyone else - from Council members Michael Donovan and Tony Phillips to Mayor Edwin Pawlowski - over planned Cedar Beach changes. Twelve of his last thirteen posts lament an "assault" on our "quality of life." "When a Mayor from Chicago, and a Recreation Director from Philadelphia, wish to remake Allentown's historic, iconic Park System, public notification must be more than a rendering taped on a wall." Molovinsky pointedly notes the absence of both Mayor and Parks Director Weitzel from most public discussion. He accuses Tony Phillips of being asleep at the switch when park changes breezed through one of his committees a year ago. Council Prez Mike D'Amore and VP Michael Donovan are supposedly participants in a conspiracy to prevent public comment at Allentown City Council's most recent meeting, even though nearly thirty citizens were allowed to speak. Molovinsky has even started calling himself the "Shadow Mayor." Obviously, he has a point of view. Unfortunately, much of what he has written is accurate.

Nor is Molovinsky some lone voice in the wilderness, howling at the moon. As Pam Varkony makes clear, "the neighborhood is mobilized and organized. Many of them were in the crowd at Wednesday nights City Council meeting. They are concerned about traffic, parking, noise, litter, and crime."

In response to Molovinsky and this growing public criticism from grassroots groups like "Save the Parks Alletnown," Pawlowski has done what he always does when one of his "visions" is challenged. He attacks his critics. His wife has launched a Facebook page in which park opposition, particularly to a "great, big, playground," is marginalized as a small group of about 20 men. Her Facebook group is infested by political nonresidents like anonymous robocaller Rob Hopkins and commissioner wannabe Hillary Kwiatek. Opponents are snarked as "the doom and gloom crowd." "[U]nfortunately, there is no easy way to deal with people like Mr. M."

In addition, Pawlowski has posted an undated letter on the city web page, complaining about the "misinformation" that has arisen. What Pawlowski fails to acknowledge, and what was abundantly clear at Wednesday night's council meeting, is that most of this comes from the city itself. The city distributed plans it had to know were inaccurate. Parks Director Weitzell refused to make a copy of his most recent plan available on Wednesday to two female opponents who were meeting with him at the Mayor's urging. Weitzell has refused to attend public meetings and actually walked out on Wednesday night. As a result of the administration's outright refusal to be transparent, council member Michael Donovan has been forced to post the city's most recent drawings on his own blog.

Last Wednesday, city council unanimously requested the Mayor to stop his Cedar Creek Parkway renovations until the public could be better informed about his actual intentions. Before the meeting had ever started, Pawlowski assured Council Prez Mike D'Amore that nothing would be happening until August 20th. Yet on Friday, LVCI reports that construction was still going on in the Rose Garden. It appears that Pawlowski not only has ignored the sentiments of city council, but has failed to keep his own word.

What do we know so far?

1) Plans being proudly distributed by the city at Mayfair and at its web page are inaccurate and have been changed.

2) The city refused to supply a copy of its most recent plan to two West End residents.

3) Parks Director Greg Weitzel has refused to participate in public meetings, even walking out of one of them.

4) Whether for 200 or 567 kids, the city plans to build a 19,000 sq. ft. playground somewhere in Cedar Creek Parkway. By Pawlowski's own admission, the city has made no provision to address increased trash, noise and other issues at the park, to say nothing of supervision.

5) Most of the confusion surrounding the parkway appears to be the city's own doing, and it is questionable whether Pawlowski has stopped construction as promised.

5) No new parking will be added to Cedar Creek Parkway in the initial phase. In other words, there will be new parking later, which adds an impervious surface and contributes to flooding in a flood-prone area.

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's the war of the House of Pawlowski and the House of Ott (St.)

As an auslander, it amazes me that Allentown is having a war over a playground when the Queen City has turned into an abandoned blighted shell of itself and there are so many other stronger causes to rally around closer to 7th St. Similarly, following your analogy, other European monarchies shook their heads in disbelief as they watched the Houses of Lancaster and York basically slowly exterminate each other and ravage the countryside over a period of a number of decades; a bloody dispute which ended in a new branch, the Tudors, taking control and neither side winning.

Anonymous said...

Can you say "injunction"? Sure, you can.

Anonymous said...

Bernie, Just Love You!

Longtime city resident just spoke of the damage to the Rose Garden's roses as we suspect longtime park employee/care tender/ was fired under Pawlowski
latest mandate. Wonderful, dedicated city worker seen tending to all the flowers around town. Now gone. No wonder the roses are suffering.

Anonymous said...

Bernie,
As for the safety of special needs children, doesn't city need to supply "Daily Safety Officer" to be onsite at all times trained in first aid and pediatric safety issues?
No hospital nor school setting in our region would invite 550 children onto a site and not provide same. How can Pawlowski and his Mrs. ignore these critical issues and why aren't special needs spokepersons demanding answers?

Anonymous said...

From the MCall comments today (re: charity fundraiser hosted by the mayor for the LC senior center):

"at least the golf coarse like the good old days of allentown...99 percent white golfers, with the only knee gers and wtt bcks in attendance are the ones serving drinks or cleaning up the vomit."

Perhaps its time to admit that for some people, the prospect for more "knee gers" and "wtt bcks" in the swanky park frightens some people.

Hopefully the comment gets deleted from the comment section but I thought it appropriate to preserve it for posterity.

Anonymous said...

The above comment perfectly illustrates the sentiment of these folks.

Anonymous said...

The word is that the Mayor has once again used one of his favorite tactics again. He sent a message out to his misguided friends again.

Two local pastors, one at Life church, The other at 3rd Day Worship Center announced during their Sunday services that the Mayor needs their help this Thursday at the big meeting about Destination playground!


"That the West end people are against minorities and physically challenged people having a playground in their neighborhood".
I cannot believe they would fall for such a deceiving trick. Clearly no-one is against this at all. What they are against is the grand scope of the project.

This is the same tactic he uses to get votes (people need to wake up and sit back and look at all the lies and deception this man continues to demonstrate!
You would think that the smart people of the churches would have that gut feeling on just how fake and not trust worthy Edwin Pawlowski is!

The Pastors should also be ashamed of themselves if they haven't done their homework on the current situation in regards to the Playground plans.
To simply ask their church members to support The Mayor in this issue is ludacris and foolish.

All they have to do is get the transcripts from the past three meetings in council chambers and they will see that absolutely no-one ever used "race or physically challenged" in their concerns about the Destination Playground.

So the Mayor once again Lied to all of them! Wake up!

Bernie O'Hare said...

Anon 10:35,

Can you substantiate this in some way? I'd like names of people I can contact.

Anonymous said...

bernie how can i contact you so i can confirm this. I posted the thing about the churches. Do you have a email and i will send you my phone number

Bernie O'Hare said...

My email addy is BOHare5948@aol.com. Thankx.

michael molovinsky said...

anon 8:14, a playground which in any way promotes itself as a destination for children with special needs does indeed have a huge responsibility in many regards. i made a more elaborate presentation to city council on that subject, the next meeting a mother of a child with autism asked who i was to challenge the input from her group. it's a touchy subject, and although we can purchase the equipment, we have neither the expertise, supervision or capacity to provide the maintenance to meet their expectations.

Bernie O'Hare said...

More to the point, the mayor's most recent letter indicates NO provision will be made for supervision. That's irresponsible.

Anonymous said...

Folks, what we need to remember is Pawlowski is running for a second term in just three months.
If he is lying and distorting issues now, what is in store for city residents later?

Andrew Kleiner said...

I try my best to keep my head above the fray as a local blogger(rememberkleiner.blogspot.com) who focuses solely on parks and natural areas. But, if the MM crowd is right about one thing it is that the mayor, the parks department, and city council have to be more forthcoming with things right now. A letter that says the same thing again is not going to reassure anyone. It is beginning to feel forced and that is not the way they should be doing things.

Bernie O'Hare said...

"I try my best to keep my head above the fray as a local blogger"

Actually, Andrew, the person who snarked MM and Cedar Creek opposition as from a "doom and gloom" crowd, is your father.

But as they say at Life Church, the sins of the father shall not be visited on the son.

Anonymous said...

MM and BO- NO municipal playground in the area provides supervision. Why should this be different? You could argue that the size of the facility requires supervision, but we often took our kids to one of the largest playgrounds in the area, Timbertown in So. Whitehall Twp. and there were no township staff on site. Kids with disabilities enjoy equal access to many municipal parks and playgrounds and have not demanded supervison or paramedics on stand-by. This stereotype is only being used to make a case against the facility.

Also, Anon 10:35 "ludicris" is a rapper. Don't bring HIM into this debate.

Bernie O'Hare said...

I'm not suggesting an ambulance needs to be sitting next to the playground. But it is irresposnible to plan a 19,000 sq ft playground for children of all abilities, install special equipmemnt and musical games, and not insist on supervision. In my opinion, this is negliegence per se. You can wait for the lawesuits if you like.

Bernie O'Hare said...

From the city's own impact study on visitor behaviors.

"Cedar Creek Parkway received lower ratings than Trexler Park for park cleanliness, overall facility maintenance, condition of trails/paths, restroom cleanliness, parking availability, and drinking water availability."

Instead of providing for more maintenance, the city is adding a large playground with no supervision or maintenance. This is irresponsible.

michael molovinsky said...

the destination playground, as planned,is to have it's own restroom and changing room. the expectation for cleanliness will exceed anything the city has thus achieved

Anonymous said...

To 2:58:
" the area, Timbertown in So. Whitehall Twp. and there were no township staff on site. Kids with disabilities enjoy equal access to many municipal parks and playgrounds and have not demanded supervison or paramedics on stand-by. This stereotype is only being used to make a case against the facility. "

How many children attend Timbertown? No where near 550, we suspect.

Anonymous said...

Bern, Mikey, and Andy, plus the usual anon suspects. Yawn. Bla Blah, Pawlowski is an evil King.
Blah Blah, his wife is an Evil Queen.

So which one of you is johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter?

Wingnuts in Wonderland!

Bernie O'Hare said...

Well, Cleanliness IS next to Godliness, and given the recent involvement of two evangelical churches, I could understand the need for a lot of shitters.

Anonymous said...

Timbertown is gone. It was constructed of pressure treated wiood that was cracked and splintered. It was replaced by modern equipment that is designed to be much safer. That is what this park will have. There needs to be some close monitoring of the site though. The picnic pavillions down there are regularly trashed by picnickers with no regard for city property. the same will be true of the destination playground unless parks workers or the police conduct regular drive-bys during the day.

Anonymous said...

I would never want my kids to play with 567 other kids at a playgroud. That's too many. Sounds dangerous. I also don't like the idea that a playground is so big that people would have to drive to it, creating pollution and traffic. Playgrounds should be near enough so that parents can walk to it with their kids. Why doesn't anyone walk anymore? It's one of the reasons we're all so fat!

Anonymous said...

The Pastors should also be ashamed of themselves if they haven't done their homework on the current situation in regards to the Playground plans.
To simply ask their church members to support The Mayor in this issue is ludacris and foolish.

Wonder if anyone will turn them over the IRS.

Anonymous said...

afaik, anon at 7:52am was not correct about the rose garden employee and should not spread rumors about someone losing a job if they aren't sure - it sure caused a lot of distress to this reader!

Anonymous said...

Anon 9:36- are you suggesting that the mayor is a rapper?

Anonymous said...

Some economists say the economic rebound is around the corner. Would you pull your money out of your 401K? Chances are you would moderate your spending to get by until the market rebounds to maximize your earnings. So why would this be an opportune time to raid the Trexler Trust for an extravagant playground. Maybe it is just not the right time to pull large sums from the Trust.

I'd like to know what long term effects, if any, this has on the growth potential of the Trust.

Anonymous said...

Many people that are hollering about the improvements to Cedar Beach Park are probably people that never use it but only live near it. The park has been there for many many years and if they did not want to live by a park why did they buy a home near one?
Allentown needs the improvements that are proposed there for the betterment of all of Allentown's citizens to enjoy,handicapped or not.

Bernie O'Hare said...

Almost every person who has voiced concerns over the changes proposed at Cedar Creek Park are daily users of that park, so you are off base.