Last week, I told you that - thanks to Allentown controller Bill Hoffman- I got my grubby little hands on Allentown's 31 page, double-sided, vendor list. I will soon link this list on the Internet, something that Allentown should do itself.From this list, I've learned that Gross, McGinley, LaBarre & Eaton, LLP, - a law firm that gave Mayor Ed Pawlowski $5,600 in campaign contributions between 2005 and 2007 - just happens to be the beneficiary of $138,826.68 in city legal work over the last two years.
Coincidence?
Let's look at another example, City Line Construction. Between 2005 and 2007, employees in that firm have given Mayor Ed Pawlowski at least $12,000.00. I have most (but not all) of Pawlowski's 2005 campaign finance reports. His 2006 and 2007 reports are online, and here's the date and amount of each contribution.
01/09/2006 $5,000.00 Williams, Thomas
12/22/2006 $1,000.00 Williams, Thomas
04/23/2007 $1,000.00 Williams, Thomas
08/26/2005 $5,000.00 Williams, Thomas
According to the city's vendor list, City Line Construction (Vendor #0007554) was paid $10,246.00 during 2006 and $52,130.74 during 2007. And guess what? As the city's contractor, it can pop in on a local Republican club without notice to fix a "problem" and bill for it, too.
Just think. Allentown Republicans are helping to fill Mayor Ed's coffers. Wheee!
Best of all, that corporate headquarters just happen to be located inside a Keystone Opportunity Zone, so it's exempt from nearly all taxes. Another happy corporate welfare queen.
You can be a corporate welfare queen, too. Using the site selector at the publicly funded LVEDC site, you'll see that City Line has "highly visible High End Luxury Office Spaces available for Lease!" Cost? $19.00/SF/Year. But no taxes! Not bad for an office with a fireplace. And thanks to Mayor Ed, those dirty bus people have been swept out of the way.
There will be many more "pay to play" examples to come. There are just too many to list in one or two posts. That's what happens when one city pays 23 different law firms nearly $750 thousand in just one year.
Update: A lot of Allentonians, including the Old Allentown Preservation Association, are upset by City Line's plans to convert Cannons, an old watering hole, into a two bedroom apartment. QCD, which considers itself a snarky blog, is all over that one like ham on rye.
Funny thing. I thought Mayor Ed was trying to discourage multi-family dwellings. Yet here's one of his pals, trying to do something that circumvents that policy. In fact, City Line can "harvest" Cannon's liquor licenses for resale in the suburbs - thanks to recent changes in PLCB laws that allow the intra-county transfer of such licenses - at a substantial profit.
I was always told that legal payments were the most secret of Allentown's paybacks. I know Tom Anewalt(Dan McCarthy's partner) has done much legal work for Allentown in the last 6 years.
ReplyDeleteReal World,
ReplyDeleteTo give you an idea of what's to come, let me tell you this. Payments to McCarthy & Anewalt:
2006 - $54,163.54.
2007 - $60,397.73.
Contributions between '05 and '07 -At least $925. That research is incomplete.
although pawlowski has cited the city line loft apartments being full, as showing demand for inter-city living, and justifying more subsidized projects, williams has occupied them with clients from his fire damage business, which need housing while repairs are made. almost the entire hamilton facade grant went into his project, leaving little to no money for existing merchants, worse still, drivet was used, corrupting the historical values.
ReplyDeletecannons is at least the second bar williams has bought to harvest the license and real estate.(also stoplight cafe 12th and allen). the yuppies and dinks have no claim against this, they were entitled to buy the location just as williams did. the owners sold it because their patrons and employees were being assaulted after hours leaving the bar. a man knocked to the ground last month on that very corner died last week.
Funny thing, The Morning Call didn't do a story on the closing of City Line Coffee Shop within this complex. I wonder why?
ReplyDeletealthough pawlowski has cited the city line loft apartments being full,
ReplyDeleteI don know that the LVEDC web page lists that site as having office space available for leasing, and with a KOZ, too.
Funny thing, The Morning Call didn't do a story on the closing of City Line Coffee Shop within this complex. I wonder why?
ReplyDeleteI believe this was covered in the QCD.
$54,163.54??? That's chump change to a law firm. That's one partner's daughter's Lexus for college.
ReplyDeleteI'd agree that paying outside counsel $54k in one year is a bargain. But 23 law firms? At least $750k in just one year?
ReplyDeleteDo not forget, Cityline also has a contact with the City to board up/seal condemed houses. They used this contract to acquire the homes destroyed in the gas explosion. Recovered proceeds under the City, contract and the homeowner's insurance policies. Maybe you can sniff around the deeds.
ReplyDeleteBernie -
ReplyDeleteFollow the liqour license issue, not just in this case with this contributor but in other cases as well.
You're on to something with the intra-county resale issue, particularly with the changes coming in the Bethlehem portion of Lehigh County.
Great! Yet another reason to go to LC. Can't I just stay in NC where everyone already hates me?
ReplyDeleteYes, its just that we dont have as big balls as you do. My attempt to gain insight on the Williams thing was met with a very dry response. Best of luck
ReplyDeleteCannons - I did not think there was any crime in Allentown?
ReplyDeleteAm I mistaken? The QCB says it is safe.
No Bernie, you cannot 'go back' to NC. We need you here. Allentown and Lehigh County are floating around on a cesspool of incompetence and corruption.
ReplyDeleteGees According to rumor the illegal alien himself Fran Dougherty lives there but funny as it may seem he has never been seen coming or going in the neighborhood , and gees i heard in the backromm the other day that he too is at odds with Ed and leaving even though he too has never legally resided in this Beautiful Downtown.
ReplyDelete900 bucks for 120k? if that's pay to play, the mayor needs to step it up a bit. 900 is chump change.
ReplyDeleteAnon 7:38, Dude, Like I said, my research on that one is incomplete.
ReplyDeletesilly rabbit,
ReplyDeletenothing has ever been written about the park st properties that are still in dissary because of are freinds at cityline! JUST GO ASK THE RESIDENTS OF 620 1/2,622 AND 622 1/2PARK ST WERE THERE MONEY FROM THERE INSURANCE COMPANIES WENT!
Clue me in.
ReplyDeleteSILLY RABBIT,
ReplyDeletethe 2006 fire that the city is saying was electrical accident that five people died in. than cityline cam in and misappropreated the funds that were supposed to go to fixing these particular houses went to flopping two properties on park st that couldn't even be auctioned off both for 50k just a month pryor to the fire. ONE IS FIXED PROPERLY BUT THIS PERSON PAINTED THE PORCH PASTEL COLURS. the one next to it has paint slopped over the burn and the next to that is still never had the porch touched after are freinds at city line worked on them all
I am new to this site and just saw this blog. I can tell you for a fact that Williams does buy blighted commecial properties and re-sell the liqour licenses for a profit. One can't blame the guy for making money. A recent example of this is the old Castle Hill Ballroom in Fountain Hill Borough. The property is currently listed for sale however with NO license. Those licenses are worth about
ReplyDelete$200k in Lehigh County!
Someone needs to contact me for the real truth about what Williams is really about
ReplyDeleteAsk Williams what he is doing with the water front properties. Big plans!!! Big Money for him!!!
ReplyDeleteAgain he throws others under the bus to get what he wants. MORE MONEY!! MORE MONEY!!
When will this guy stop walking on others just to pad his pockets????
I have read all your comments regarding Mr. Williams and CityLine Construction. I am not a resident of Allentown but I am a little confused so maybe you can enlighten me. Mr. Williams does not claim to be a non profit or never has as far as I Can tell by researching the PA Corporate website. I would then assume and you do know what they say about assuming but, that he is in business to make a profit? In that case he has purchased buildings in the City and turned a profit. Is this what is not called business? If he has misappropriated grant money then shame on the government or the regulating authority for that, so I guess my question is do you expect business people to invest there money and time in the city or would you prefer them to take their money, time, and resources elsewhere!!
ReplyDeleteI am new to Cityline and have been approached about them doing some work on my house after a fire we just had. I am trying to do some research before we make a final decision on a contractor. We have been approached by many different companies but not many people have heard of Cityline. I have been googling each company and other then their website this is the first thing i seen people commenting on recently about Cityline. What are your suggestions?
ReplyDeleteSo far as I know, they are very reputable.
ReplyDeleteNON REPUTABLE
ReplyDeleteWas doing some research on City Line, and came across this post. While it is almost 10 years old, I wouldn't be surprised if T. Williams was part Pawlowski's pay to play scheme. I hope he gets indicted too.
ReplyDeleteHere's my experience with T. Williams and his company. They don't care what kind of people they rent their properties to. Lived next to their tenants for a few years, and they were all horrible. Noisy, rude, inconsiderate, and constantly trespassing on my property. Complained several times to both T. Williams and property manager, and they did nothing. I even reported their property to the city, and nothing was done. I posted a negative review on Google, and T. Williams showed up at my house and bullied me into removing it, hence me posting anonymously here. Thought he would try to actually do something, but he deferred to his property manager instead, who is useless. It took me selling my house and moving to finally get some peace and quiet. So BEWARE if you ever see their trucks in your neighborhood, because it could mean their tenants are going to ruin it like he did my old one.