Is it Time For a Republican on Allentown City Council?

Six candidates - Joe Brudnak, Mike D'Amore, Julio Guridy, Lou Hershman, Ray O'Connell and Mike Schlossberg - are duking it out for four open seats on Allentown City Council. On my left sidebar, you will see links to information about each of these candidates, which I have updated throughout the course of this campaign. They include a revealing series of interviews with The Morning Call's Jarrett Renshaw at Valley 610.

The prevailing view is that all four Democrats will sweep, as they did four years ago. But I think Hershman just might knock Guridy off. He's running as a Republican, yet has lots of Democratic friends on Allentown's east side. Even Morning Call columnist Bill White, certainly no Hershman fan, acknowledges Hershman is a better choice than Guridy.

"I will say this for him. All things considered, I would prefer someone like Hershman, who at least has saved the city some money over the years with his dogged, micromanaging attention to detail -- except with the police contract -- to many of the sleepwalkers who have filled council seats over the years, including Guridy."

Pam Varkony, who served on City Council with Lou, knows him better than most. "I will tell you he drove us all insane with his endless complaining and flood of memos. But underneath the mumbling and frenetic stream of consciousness, I believe Lou is honorable and honest, and that he cares deeply for the city. Looking over the field of Council candidates, he is the only hope for a voice in the wilderness to cry out against the abuses of what has become the Pawlowski machine."

In contrast to Hershman, Guridy is described by Bill White as one "of the rubber-stampers who had helped Mayor Roy Afflerbach lead the city to the point of fiscal disaster." He adds that Guridy spent his second term "the same way he had spent the previous four years, providing no check and balance at all."

Guridy, incidentally, is the sole council candidate who amazingly objected to being filmed during a candidates' debate. White has an opinion about that, too. "[I]f I had his record as a toothless watchdog of the executive branch, I might be camera-shy, too."

My second choice is Ray O'Connell. I got to know him during the candidates' nights, where he delighted in teasing me. He exemplifies everything that is right about the Queen City. Like most Allentown people, he's friendly and down-to-earth. He plays down his advanced education, and laughed off my early criticism that he thought he was running for the school board. He is also the only city council candidate who was willing to admit publicly that the anonymous robo call campaign against Lou Hershman was wrong. That took moral courage, something badly needed on Allentown City Council.

I also like Mike Schlossberg. He's been kicked around quite a bit by the old farts, but is smart and energetic. Coming from the nonprofit sector, he already speaks two languages - English and Bureaucrat. He can actually understand what they're saying! I'd give him one term to see whether he is willing to provide independent oversight or whether he views city council as a stepping stone to something else.

It's hard to be enthusiastic about Mike D'Amore. He runs a good meeting and has challenged Pawlowski from time to time, especially if it involves a union issue. But as Council Prez, he has actively tried to supress public comment, both with respect to controversial Cedar Creek park improvements as well as a botched attempt to muzzle Hershman during courtesy of the floor. To make matters worse, he canceled a meeting last month without re-scheduling a second meeting as required by the city's Home Rule Charter. I was ready to suggest he be given a second term, but he has presided over a council that has allowed city finances to deteriorate without any meaningful oversight.

Joe Brudnak has been a breath of fresh air, but definitely needs more seasoning. he told The Morning Call's Jarrett Renshaw ''I am new at running, and I don't know all about the city's finances.'' With Allentown in fiscal crisis, I expect all candidates to have concrete suggestions.