Northampton County Council Prez Ann McHale warned fellow council members last night that, sometime in June, they will be meeting with Lehigh County Commissioners as the Lehigh Valley Health Commssion. You own views are appreciated, especially if they differ from mine. But remember, commenting is a privilege, not a right. I will delete personal attacks or off-topic remarks at my discretion. Comments that play into the tribalism that has consumed this nation will be declined. So will comments alleging voter fraud unless backed up by concrete evidence. If you attack someone personally, I expect you to identify yourself. I will delete criticisms of my comment policy, vulgarities, cut-and-paste jobs from other sources and any suggestion of violence towards anyone. I will also delete sweeping generalizations about mainstream parties or ideologies, i.e. identity politics. My decisions on these matters are made on a case by case basis, and may be affected by my mood that day, my access to the blog at the time the comment was made or other information that isn’t readily apparent.
Everything is under control here in the city. All the complaings are gone. Problems solved right?
ReplyDeleteWe say come and have a good time, remember Allentown is moving forward.
Allentown Democrat Voter
I'll take my chances at night in Allentown before going into Easton's West Ward during the day.
ReplyDeleteHey let us know the date.
ReplyDeleteAnother insulting demeaning comment by Angle.
ReplyDeleteQuestion is: Will Snow White and Doc, Grumpy, Sleepy, Bashful, Sneezy, Dopey, and Happy be able to find their way to Center City Allentown without GPS? Better go in a caravan following the one Councilmember that has mastered Mapquest.
ReplyDeleteLehigh County Lover
A rather juvenile comment by Angle. Fat f*ck.
ReplyDeleteQueen Ann's coming in her golden coronation coach pulled by four white horses that she had made for Wednesday. no hubcap issues there.
ReplyDeleteWith gang shootings in broad daylight just blocks from NorCo's fancy council chambers, Angle should not be so quick to throw stones from his glass house.
ReplyDeleteOnce again Ron Angle proves what a jerk he is.
ReplyDeleteNo secret, Ron Angle is a racist A**hole.
ReplyDeleteThis was clearly a cheapshot he was throwing at the mostly minority residents and merchants of the area. It would be great to see someone serve him justice on his visit into town.
Are they taking a Lanta bus over? or driving?
ReplyDeleteHey Allentown Folks, Lighten up. Angle was joking ... I think. I was in A-town w/ him 2 weeks ago and he didn't take off his hubcaps or anything.
ReplyDeleteTHAT would be the best. Stoffa and the whole Council should meet in Easton and take a LANTA bus to Allentown.
ReplyDeleteWhy not ride a bike? Then Dertinger and McClure might understand why I have to freshen up in a men's room when i ride a bike to work.
ReplyDeleteGuess how long it took Mrs Ms Mchail to get a meeting set up ? Ask the frustrated new Health Board
ReplyDeleteLighten up Bernie? He is a prominent elected official who has insulted the host of the next meeting of the health commission. His "jokes" are always at the expense of others. He should apologize to Lehigh County and the citizens of Allentown.
ReplyDeleteIf Council's coming, tell the Allentownians to look for the short bus.
ReplyDelete"You people" think you're offended now? Wait until you hear the really good jokes we're working on for the meeting. Ron's considering delivering them in black face and doing a cute little minstrel show. Lighten up! We can be governed and entertained at the same time!
ReplyDeleteP.S. Don't even think of getting "backwater" NorCo jokes by Bernie without criticism. As we've learned from our arbitrarily aggrieved blogmeister in this space, those are offensive.
NorCo council in Allentown? Now the area is really declining.
ReplyDelete" He should apologize to Lehigh County and the citizens of Allentown." -
ReplyDeleteI'm sure he'll jump right on that. Lighten up.
Your condescending "lighten up" remark shows how hypocritical you are Bernie. I'm not sure what Angle would say in public that would offend you. What he said was stupid. Period.
ReplyDeletepersonally I see the humor in the joke and reality is probably nobody commenting would have known about it if Bernie hadn't highlighted it. yet, agree not always appropriate for public officials to make. I recall attending a big "special" council meeting in the courtroom following some comments that Angle made about on the radio several years ago. Courtroom was packed and made for an interesting evening. But I suspect that everyone who gets all worked up is probably the punch line to the joke that I'm sure he enjoys immensely. I've found over time that if I ingore the bluster, he actually makes a lot of good points.
ReplyDeleteHere comes the Norcos down Hamilton St. COuncil in their retard bus, Stoffa on his tractor and MchAle in her Lexus surrounde by Bethlehem police courtesy of Callahan.
ReplyDeleteTop vote getter Charles! Dertinger will be leading Northampton County Council to Allentown - not Rong Angle. Angle should stay home. Dertinger is a friend to working men and women and is on the forefront of fighting to protect environmentally sentitive farmlands and grasslands.
ReplyDeleteAs usual the usual "good governemnt" people say ah shucks just look past Angles bigoted, racist, anti-semite remarks. He is really a swell guy just mis-understood.
ReplyDeleteThe "good govenment New Democrats" love Angle and why not. Angle and O'Hare are the standard bearers of everything they stand for. Twisted logic. Double standards.
Why Hell they will tell you that Hitler wasn't a bad chap, he gave out free bread to starving Germans. You all really need to lighten up as O'Hare said. You never saw O'Hare go off half-cocked on some wild witch hunt, now have you?
Ron's remark, intended as a jab at Allentown's failure to control its crime problem, might piss off downtown A-town residents. Angle doesn't give a shit about that.
ReplyDeleteThe shrieks of bigotry, racism and anti-Semiticism are a bit of an overkill. But knock yourselves out. I'll send this to Ron and he'll just laugh harder.
Dirtyinger does not support farm land preservation .He is a lying fraud.
ReplyDeleteAllentown's crime problem has nothing to do with its police force and you know it. It is gangs, gangs, gangs. The same issue that Easton suffers from. Ron ridicules inner cities from his Slate Belt sanctuary. We are ALL part of the Lehigh Valley. Ron should show more respect for those of us who are trying to improve the condition of the inner cities. He is a classless act.
ReplyDeleteNice to see you find bigotry as funny.
ReplyDeletehow is a rather harmless joke about the very real crime of Allentown bigotry? He didn't say black, white, brown, yellow, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, etc. Bigot: "a person who holds blindly and intolerantly to a particular creed, optinion, etc. 2. a narrow-minded, prejudiced person." I guess if saying crime is bad, count most of us as bigots.
ReplyDeleteGet over yourselves.
Another Brownshirt to march in Angles tutonic parade.
ReplyDeleteCharles Dertinger has consistently fought to cut taxes in Northampton County.
ReplyDeleteWow what a lowbrow exchange.
ReplyDeleteScott Armstrong
Hey Scott you can march with Angle.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who was born in Atwon nad lived in Center City in the 90s when there were shootings at either end of my block, I have to admit that I did laugh at this.
ReplyDeletejust checking the weather on Ch 69 online. Top story: "Man shot at pizzeria in Allentown."
ReplyDeleteSupposedly the man shot said, "thank goodness, I read that Charles Dertinger has consistently fought to cut taxes in Northampton County. It is so relevant to crime in Allentown."
I believe the first person to write about this issue was Mike Molovinsky. The Banker
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 302,
ReplyDeleteWow that was clever.
Scott Armstrong
Villa's already been convicted of harassent once. What happened once may have to happen three or four times before he realizes that impersonating one person to belittle another is wrong. It serves no legitimate purpose and is being done to harass, annoy or alarm.
ReplyDeleteIs Villa considered a convicted criminal at this point? We've already resolved the asshole question. I'm looking for a legal clarification. Please advise; thank you.
ReplyDelete"Allentown's crime problem has nothing to do with its police force and you know it. It is gangs, gangs, gangs. The same issue that Easton suffers from."
ReplyDeleteAll the more reason to have an open dialogue with the ACTUAL gang members and see what the problem is and how we can stop the violence. At the last meeting with a grassroots group called, ALLENTOWN UNITED, we had 5-8 actual gang members who attended and expressed their desire to want to change Allentown for the better. They weren't the vile, hardcore, thuggish, people that many envision, but they were young adults that were wooed by a culture that has been their ONLY alternative or "family" that supported them. Now, they are older and see that the gang lifestyle may not have been all that they thought it would be. Unfortunatley, many are mothers and fathers with felony convictions and no options. They told me, when I asked them point blank, "What it would take for them to stop the drug sales and violent incidents in A-town before it gets crazier this summer?" They replied that they NEED opportunity, not a hand out. They are willing to work. One young man stated he knew 50 guys who would willingly put down their guns if they knew they could obtain honest employment to support their families. But, on the other hand, he stated, the Lehigh Valley needs to stop wasting money on the Anti-Gang programs where they hope to run him and the hundreds or thousands of others who inhabit area communities out of town, Because it is not happening and they aren't going anywhere.
- J. BLACK
www.5minutes2shine.blogspot.com
J Black..
ReplyDeleteI feel like a broken record spouting my time worn mantra.. JOBS, JOBS, JOBS!
If there are no jobs, what do we expect blue collar HS graduates do? For mere HS degrees it is nearly hopeless. For many, they piss away their HS years knowing they never will see college for academic or financial reasons. We need to fix that!
Get 1 felony and it is beyond hopeless. You can't even start your own handyman business without get bonded. To get bonded you cannot have a felony. To get any job whatsoever you can have no felonies. Force a person into a corner and what happens? At one time some employers would chance a felony employee... NOT ANYMORE!
Perhaps if there were hope for a job with only a HS diploma, there wouldn't be 1/2 as many felonies.
"Free Trade" is not "Fair Trade".
AJ,
ReplyDeleteExcellent post. I give you and others credit for meeting gang members and opening up a dialogue.
The truth is gangs are generally criminal enterprises and will recruit when necessary to meet manpower needs. They thrive in blighted areas such as Allentown’s downtown because of the large pool of available and willing members and a ready market for their wares.
To end the gang problem in any specific area this dynamic needs to be addressed. I give the current chief of police in Allentown credit for his efforts but I blame Ed and Roy for making only token and misdirected efforts of neighborhood improvement.
Scott Armstrong
Allentown is a troubled city, but I don't see it beset with any troubles that similar sized communities all over the U.S. have to deal with. Allentown still has some wonderful residential neighborhoods and is full of hard working law abiding tax paying citizens.
ReplyDeleteanonymous10:53,
ReplyDeleteThen move in and see the difference for yourself.
Scott Armstrong
Like Britney Spears, Hillary Clinton, and the South, Allentown will rise again.
ReplyDeletePerhaps, but not in our lifetimes.
ReplyDeleteScott Armstrong
Unlike Bethlehem and Easton, Allentown was abandoned by its original inhabitants, who now sit in their comfy split levels in their suburban sprawl criticizing everything that goes on within the city which is facing any of the expected challenges when all your merchants move to Macarthur Rd and your middle class flees to the townships and nothing is being preserved.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous11:55,
ReplyDeleteRather than blame those who “abandoned” the city why not point the finger where it belongs, at those who stayed and voted repeatedly for proven incompetents just because of party affiliation.
Allentown’s residents and leaders had their chance to turn the city around. They chose instead a narrower partisan objective. Don’t blame homeowners and merchants who flee machine politics and the resulting calamities.
Would you put your children in Allentown’s public schools? Would you allow your children to play on the streets in the downtown neighborhoods? Would you open a business in the city and bravely wait to see a gun in your face? Would you feel confident leaving your family in a home east of 17th street day or night?.
Although I still live in the city I don’t blame anyone for getting out. It just makes sense.
Scott Armstrong
Dear Anonymous 11:55 PM,
ReplyDeleteEaston's history strikes very closely to my heart. How the City of Easton's government handled the residents of downtown Easton is down right shameful. In the 1960's Easton wanted to move in a different direction. They condemmed most of the properties around Fourth and Lehigh Streets. They forced all of the residents (honest, hardworking, taxpaying citizens) to relocate. Thus tearing out the heart of downtown Easton. Easton lost that tax base to the suburbs. They lost all of the residents that would support all of the downtown businesses. These people lived, worked, and shopped downtown. They had no need for cars. Everything was in a few blocks of their homes. When the residents lived there, people from the outskirts (Bangor, Pen Argyl, and etc.) would travel to Easton for their goods. They would travel to Easton (Syrian Town) to get speciality foods and my great uncle's famous lemon ice. Residents knew their neighbors names and would watch after each others' children.
My family lived there. Along with many minority groups - people of color, Jews, Lebanese, Greeks, Italian, Irish, poor, middle class, and well to do. I feel cheated because I missed out on this. All I have are my parents' memories and a few pictures and movies.
What resides now in these former neighborhoods. An empty restaurant (Perkins,) a failed movie house two times over (Eric theatre and Cinema Paradiso,) the former site of the circus, a parking lot, a hotel that is less than desirable, and a surrounding of many failed businesses.
I have to hope nothing on the ones that made $$$ off of this disheartening and shameful exploitation of a transaction. They got their just due by a failing and continuous uphill battle to revitalize a once safe and beautiful place to live, raise a family, work, and shop. I have to look no further than the local newspaper to see all of the names that I do not recognize and see all off the crimes they commit throughout this once storied city.
Peace be with you, ~~Alex
"... Allentown was abandoned by its original inhabitants ..."
ReplyDeleteWhat a moronic statement. The city was gradually handed over to liberal politics. The social experiments were gradually, but soundly rejected by those who voted with their feet. You act as if they were supposed to load the weapons and bar the door and slug it out with leaders who were telling them the "change" was good. Sound familiar? Allentown is the manifestation of every tenet of liberal social policy. You got everything you wanted. Now live in your "paradise" and stop blaming those who choose not to.