Allentown's Administrative Code has an interesting little provision (Section 171.06) requiring that the city annually publish a list of everyone who does more than $500 worth of business with the city. But you sure as hell won't find that published on the city's web page. In fact, I'm uncertain whether Mayor Pawlowski has ever bothered to follow that little law.Today, I sent him an email asking where I can find this list. I don't expect to see an answer. But I also sent the same request to Allentown's new controller, Bill Hoffman. To my surprise, he answered me. What's more, he told me he had a hard copy vendor list that he was willing to mail to me. Unwilling to wait for snail mail, I conned fellow blogger Michael Molovinsky into picking it up for me, and he relayed the packet to me this evening at our secret bunker.
This 31 page, double sided, vendor list is a gold mine. It very clearly shows the connection between Pawlowski campaign donors and those who do business with the city. It will take me several days to digest it completely, but I intend to post this list online so you can see for yourself that "pay to play" is alive and well in Allentown.
For now, here's a little taste. Gross, McGinley, LaBarre & Eaton, LLP is one of those hot shot wannabe Philly law firms, bloated by 16 partners, 5 associates and 2 counsel. It brags about defending Allentown in personal injury litigation and The Morning Call in a defamation suit brought by Mark Mendelson. So basically, this firm represents both the city as well as the newspaper that watches over that city.
Very cozy, eh?
Well, just like its big brothers in Philly, this Allentown firm is now in the "pay to play" game. It's hard for me to track contributions from 23 different lawyers, but the lawyers in this firm have given Mayor Pawlowski's campaign at least $5,650 between 2005 and 2007. Here's the dirty details.
08/28/2006 $100.00 Gross, John and Stahl, Sandra M.
04/26/2007 $75.00 Gross, John and Stahl, Sandra M.
01/22/2007 $75.00 Gross, John and Stahl, Sandra M.
09/19/2005 $200.00 Gross, Malcolm J. and Janet L
07/27/2005$1000.00 Gross, Malcolm J. and Janet L
10/26/2005 $500.00 Gross, Malcolm J. and Janet L
11/04/2005 $500.00 Gross, Malcolm J. and Janet L
04/23/2007 $500.00 Gross, Malcolm J. and Janet L
04/26/2007 $200.00 Gross, Malcolm J. and Janet L
01/05/2007 $500.00 Gross, Malcolm J. and Janet L
12/13/2006 $500.00 Gross, Malcolm J. and Janet L
01/12/2007 $150.00 LaBarre, Donald
10/14/2005 $100.00 LaBarre, Donald
10/01/2005 $150.00 McGinley, Paul A. & Debroah C.
10/26/2005 $100.00 McGinley, Paul A.
01/12/2007 $150.00 McGinley, Paul
04/26/2007 $200.00 McGinley, Paul
12/22/2006 $100.00 (Servis, John P. & Harris, Judith)
01/09/2006 $350.00 (Servis, John P. & Harris, Judith)
08/23/2006 $200.00 (Servis, John P. & Harris, Judith)
And guess what? According to the city's vendor list, this firm was paid $88,647.88 in 2007 and $50,178.80 in 2006. That's a $138,826.68 return on a $5,650 investment over just two years.
And just think, there's two more years to go!
43 comments:
Bullseye! Bravo Bernardo! This is one story you won't see in the Morning Call! I guess this meand an end to the blogger outreach program, eh?!
... well well, I guarantee you there will be loads of locals either shaking their fists or quaking in their boots over this post, well done, Bernie.
It'll be interesting to see if it unleashes any anonymous commenters spilling "family secrets" ...
or (more likely) maybe nobody will have nuthin' to say (see, or hear), if'n they know what's good for them.
As Bob Dylan informs us, "Money doesn't talk, it swears."
Follow the money and the monied. Now we're getting somewhere ...
This is a nice piece of investigative journalism, Bernie. Keep it up.
Doesn't the city have a solicitor and staff? What exactly do they do?
Great post. I believe Mr. Gross is the mayor's former campaign chairman as well. Cozy?
I would like to see tan audit like this applied to Charlie Dent in a post Bernie. How about it?
... sure is spooky quiet up here ain't it ...
Nice bait and switch. I will look at Dent and Bennett finances in the near future, as i have done in the past.
more importantly, given events of the past couple days, (i thought a primary or two occurred, but it got lost in the clutter) WHAT ABOUT BRETT FAVRE?
Brett who?
As Casey mentioned, TMC (probably) won't want anything to do with this. The ET may be interested, but they usually don't stretch that far west.
Keep on track with this one, Bernie! Lock your doors and windows, too!
Bernie - I think the point that Anon 9:36 was trying to make was this. You consistently hold Democrats and Republicans to task. Everyone is fair game, right? It about being fair from your perspective. He means that you should hold everyone to the same standard because, quite frankly, you don't. I'll tell you right now that Dent is not the little angel you make him out to be. I know you've never called him an angel, but c'mon, your posts about him are very one-sided.
If the "mad poster" Villa and his groupie "mrs dottie" would expend their energy into something important like global warming,poverty,unemployment,taxes, terrorism, etc. and less on the newspaper and DA, this world has a shot at being a better place.
OK, I'll play devil's advocate. Would this business have been given to this firm without the $5K? The donations are small and generally spread out. The ones that red flag me are the ones that are within days of each other.
Bernie - I think the point that Anon 9:36 was trying to make was this. You consistently hold Democrats and Republicans to task. Everyone is fair game, right? It about being fair from your perspective. He means that you should hold everyone to the same standard because, quite frankly, you don't. I'll tell you right now that Dent is not the little angel you make him out to be. I know you've never called him an angel, but c'mon, your posts about him are very one-sided.
C'mon! He goes bowling for kids! Sam Bennett HATES kids. Despises them. And little lambs too.
How much money does Dent get from Air Products employees? I only ask, b/c i seem to remember significant checks coming from DC to help in R/D at Air Products. Isn't that the same thing that has happened in the example bernie gave us here.
I don't know the answers, only that pay to play is everywhere.
C'mon! He goes bowling for kids! Sam Bennett HATES kids. Despises them. And little lambs too.
Hayshaker, That post was all about the kinds. I even mentioned Bennett in a positive light. Some folks are so partisan they can't see anything good if an R or D is involved.
Anon 10:40,
Actually, it's not. Federal campaign finance laws impose limits that do not eist on the state level. Some candidates, like Stoffa, refuse to take moneyt from anyone seeking to do business with the county. Panto refused to take special interest money during the primary, and kept it to a minimum in the general.
What I see from Pawlowski is an obscene use of "pay to play," way over the top.
This is just a taste of what's to come.
Watch for a thinner than usual Morning Call tomorrow, all of their writers are working here today ...
Dent, a congressional candidate, will raise at least $2 MM, and I will cover it thoroughly, just as I did when he ran before. i will also be looking at his opponent.
But the focus of this post is Pawlowski.
oh, I found the answer to the Air Products question. $51,500 in 2004! $23,950 in 2006!
How much has Dent secured for Air Products? Hard to tell. There isn't a lot of transparency on this in Washington, but here are some examples:
-$14 million in 2005 (shared with Toomey, but we know that toomey hated earmarks)
- $12 million in 2006
- $19.8 million in 2007 (highest of all to receive money from Charlie--yes, even higher than the local non-profits and municipalities)
And here is an interesting observation, it appears that in 2/3years that Air Products pulls in, they are the only for-profit organization in the 15th district pulling in these appropriations.
So for $74,000 in contributions, Air Products is receiving $46 million in appropriations from earmarks submitted by our congressman.
Gross and Co.'s ROI= 24:1
Air Product's ROI= 621:1
Disclosure: I am in no way affiliated with any candidate for public office or elected official and will probably vote for Dent in the fall--yes, even with this info on hand. Additionally, I'm not decided on Pawlowski. Just providing research that I could find.
"the focus of this post is Pawlowski." -Bernie
... AND our area's most powerful and most politically connected law firm, Gross, McGinley, LaBarre, and Eaton, too, yes?
I've been really enjoying this aspect of today's post as one so rarely reads anything about these GML&E folks in, say, The Morning Call.
It's almost as if they operate under the radar and I'd like to know more about them ...
Don't forget, Malcolm Gross is also on the board of the parking authority, and there are some fascinating land transactions taking place downtown at his behest.
Hayshaker, That post was all about the kinds. I even mentioned Bennett in a positive light. Some folks are so partisan they can't see anything good if an R or D is involved.
Yet the title specifically mentioned Dent and there was a pic of a guy who looked like a gee-willikers Dent type with a kid. It's all about perception. Instead of hearing what your readers are saying, you lash out at them. You might not intend to give favorable treatment to Dent but you appear to do so.
Watch for a thinner than usual Morning Call tomorrow, all of their writers are working here today ...
Seriously, do you wear tin foil hats?
Hey here's something interesting from the GML&E web site:
GML&E attorney Susan Ellis Wild was Chairperson of the successful 2003 campaign of Kelly (Banach) Waldron for election to the Court of Common Pleas of Lehigh County.
Not satisfied with merely contributing CASH, GML&E had to commandeer Judge Banach's campaign too?
Is this pushing the envelope of cozy?
Hey superfly,
I guess standing up for your daughter, victim's rights, justice, and rights of grieving families is not important. That would be true only for a callous, disrespectful moron like you. Get a life. And put your energies into minding your own business.
"Malcolm Gross is also on the board of the parking authority, and there are some fascinating land transactions taking place downtown at his behest." -Chris Casey
Now see I did not know this, thank you Chris. Wow, GML&E lawyer folks represent our town's monopoly newspaper The Morning Call, they campaign-chair mayors, and judges, they're on the Parking Authority ... boy oh boy, where else do these GML&E folks turn up? They sure are civic minded.
From the GMLE web site:
"Partner Jack Gross Received Approval from Allentown Zoning Board for Two Clients
Jack Gross recently helped two clients who appeared before the City of Allentown Zoning Hearing Board...."
Hmm...Let's see, who appoints their friends and political cronies to the ZHB?
Again, I would like to know exactly why the solicitor and his staff (already paid for by the taxpayers) are not able to handle the work given to GML&E.
Also, on what basis is the work being given to GML&E over other firms? I'm sure there are many law firms in Allentown that could probably be used without even giving the appearance of "pay-to-play", even more if you'd expand the search to the entire Lehigh Valley.
Like a previous poster, I find it odd that Malcolm Gross was the Mayor's campaign chairperson.
I think all the issues being raised here are legitimate. Remember, it was Ed Pawlowksi who decided to run a financially unprecedented (nearly a $1/4 million) campaign for Allentown Mayor. I think the citizens of Allentown deserve to know if they can trust the City Administration.
The big question? Where did the Mayors recently raised $100,000+ go? Has he yet filed the appropriate paperwork?
Guess who The Morning Call will ring up if any of us in the blog world gets, um, too close for comfort ...
"Gross, McGinley, LaBarre & Eaton provides substantial breadth and depth of experience across all practice areas, including expanding interdisciplinary practices in such evolving areas as intellectual property, tele- communications, Internet ..." -www.gmle.com
I betcha we could clobber 'em in court.
Ok, Bernie, you did some digging. Don't hurt yourself patting your back just yet. You just scratched the surface and you don't provide any perspective.
To do it properly, you have to find all of the outside law firms that work for the city and what they have been paid and/or donated. Then you have to compare these names against lawyers/donors for past mayors and other elected officials -- including the counties. For instance, did Gross, et al, do any work for Afflerbach or Heydt? Or Ervin or Cunningham? Odds are they did and there is nothing unusual here.
The Valley is still a pretty small legal pond, and certain law firms typically pick up the bulk of municipal/government work because that is a specialty. Dig back a-ways for a great MCall package of old headlined "Strong Solicitors" or something like that (early '90s, maybe?).
Finally, most municipalities contract out a lot of specialized legal work, i.e. labor cases, because the in-house staff is usually up to its eyeballs in the everyday stuff like reviewing ordinances, handling the routine ambulance chaser suits, contract reviews and other daily legal biz.
Now, I'm not telling you anything you don't already know, right? So if your goal is to be an investigative journalist, then you have to do it right. It's a rich mine, trust me on that. If you do, then -- and only then -- can you draw some conclusions.
But if your goal is just to embarrass Pawlowski -- or any other politician you don't like -- then I don't blame them for not responding to your e-mails.
Anon 3:14,
I have all the outside law firms who do work for the city, and nearly all of them are Pawlowski contributors.
Like I said, you're just getting a taste of what's to come.
Gross, incidentally, gave nothing to Cunningham or Stoffa or Callahan. So much for the municipal law "expert" theory.
Bernie-
That's cool that you also have a SECRET BUNKER
Ken, it's not really a bunker, I believe it's a janitorial closet over the army Navy Store in Nazareth!
Bernie,
It's funny that the law firm doesn't brag about the EMS case. Three regular citizens beat this law firm in court by having the first EMS ordinance declared "unlawful".
It was an interesting experience.
That's cool that you also have a SECRET BUNKER
Don't believe casey. We really do have a secret bunker and a few safe houses all over the place.
We need campaign finance reform in Allentown per our Home Rule Charter.
Composed of at least two elements:
1) Anyone associated with a business entity who donated to an elected official in Allentown government is prohibited from submitting bids or obtaining any work from the City.
2) Anyone who is awarded any 'no bid' work or any other work must have any political contributions returned by all Allentown elected officials who received contributions.
These would include any other tangible benefits like zoning changes, board/Commission appointments, etc.
(This would save Abe Atiyeh a ton of money in Allentown!)
There are other things that could be added but these two changes would eliminate pay to play and a lot of city corruption.
There will be those who scream, but I have a right to support candidates I want to! Yes, you do. This would not deny that right. It would only deny the ability to conduct business with the city - which is NOT a right.
Ken Matthews, you have sort of a "Lyle Waggoner" thing going on there eh, that's a good look for you ...
"It's funny that the law firm doesn't brag about the EMS case. Three regular citizens beat this law firm in court by having the first EMS ordinance declared "unlawful".
But Joe, GML&E only has 16 partners, 5 associates, and 2 counsel. Against three (3) regular citizens? They were grossly (sorry) overmatched and didn't have a chance.
The records cited contain two errors: the two donations that I made in August and December of 2006 were made by me individually and not jointly with Judith Harris. In addition, I donated to Mayor Pawlowski because I believed that he was doing a good job as mayor under very challenging circumstances. I continue to support Mayor Pawlowski even though I have not been affiliated with GML&E since January of 2007. My donations were made voluntarily and not as the result of any pressure, firm policy or tacit expectation that attorneys would make donations. I was expressing my First Amendment right to support an officeholder I respect. The vast majority of attorneys at GML&E did not make any donations to Mayor Pawlowski. The donations were matters of individual choice and not the implementation of a firm-wide policy.
DemConvert06, aka Mr. Servis,
Thank you for your reply. Your calrification is noted. As you have the right to express yourself under the First Amendment, so do I. And I'll express myself by drawing attention to donors who just happen to get city work. It is legal bribery and needs to stop. Individuals weh contribute to people ruinning for city office should be banned from any work for that city for two years, unless that work is the result of a competitive bid.
I would like to find out how much the Brew Works people had to give Fast Eddie to get that 4.5 million grant to open their restaurant in the war zone that is 9th and Hamilton. I see that they suddenly got the concession at the municipal golf course as well.
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