On Monday, I published East Allentown activist Dennis Pearson's remarks to DPW concerning the closure of Allentown State Hospital, which should occur by year's end. I doubt anyone at yesterday's hearing paid very much attention, but Dennis' remarks drew a lot of interest here.
State rep. Joe Brennan is paying attention, too. When Joe first ran for the state house, one of his primary opponents was Dennis. But a few weeks ago, in a letter to General Services Secretary James Creedon, Brennan specifically asked that Pearson be kept in the loop.
"I respectfully request that Dennis Pearson, President of the East Allentown Rittersville Neighborhood Association, be included in any and all correspondence pertaining to the use of this property."
Today's one-liner: "The shortest way to the distinguishing excellence of any writer is through his hostile critics." Richard LeGallienne
Local Government TV
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Tuesday, February 23, 2010
10 comments:
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.
Pearson is nuts and I'm sure Brennan recognizes that. However Kudos to him for reaching out for the crazies!!!
ReplyDeleteYou know back in the old days of the Allentown Community of Neighborhood Organizations we who voiced our opinions against certain proposals were always proclaimed to be nuts and proclaimed to be crazy ... Sometimes we we were called NIMBY's .. But oft-times we were proven correct in our judgement and they were proven wrong and these same individuals proved to be NIMBY's as well when the situation was reversed ... I see that the maturity of certain individuals in their political speak has not improved. They resort to names and slurs without voicing the facts.
ReplyDeleteI thank Anonymous 8:58 AM for your comment.
What would you do if your mother called you at work and asked you to come home immediately because of a family issue... The problem was that on the job I worked I could not leave until the Company had an individual present to replace me ... Well I went home anyway .... And I found my mom outside and police waiting outside the door ... My dad was in the house threatening to commit suicide. I told the police not to go into the house in case my father made a wrong move and the would respond causing harm to my father... So I went into the house alone not expecting what I might find and what would occur ... My father was at the sink holding a big butcher knife against his chest .... I managed to calm him abd have him put down the knife ... Then we did what we had to help him.
Believe me Anonymous 8:58 AM I am a strong individual emotionally and possess wisdom in my thought processes ... You may think of me as being nuts or crazy ... But that is your own wishful and inaccurate thinking...
Dennis Pearson
Dennis, You keep on keepin' on. Joe gave you high praise. He usually asks government officials to keep me out of the loop.
ReplyDeleteI have learned that sometimes you have to be crazy to care about your community b/c at the end of the day, somebody is going to slam you for something totally unrelated rather than sticking to the argument.
ReplyDeleteKeep being crazy Dennis. After dealing with all the crap that gets tossed out by local gov't, you'd have to be crazy to keep up your fight.
Dennis,
ReplyDeleteIt was nice to see you last week. My reason for informing Bernie about this was that I agree with you!!! You have done a great job advocating for your community in East Allentown. Anyone that takes a shot at you is either jealous or miss-led. When you and I ran against each other in 2006, many of your neighbors in East Allentown told me that they would vote for you in the primary because of all that you did for the East Side Community. You won East Allentown and you deserved to win over there. Please ignore the negative comments on any blog. Keep up the good work,
Joe Brennan
Hello Smilin' Joe:
ReplyDeleteWhen are you going to get to work on reducing spending, outlawing teacher strikes, and doing away with outrageous public employee pensions and benefits, the funds for which are confisated from a public which enjoys nowhere near the same?
Anon 3:23,
ReplyDeletePleaee don't ask Joe to debate you on a post that focuses on Dennis.
It was rhetorical. Didn't expect an answer.
ReplyDeleteI've never been around a thread at exactly the time an elected official was around. Lucky or unlucky timing, I guess, depending on your perspective.
FWIW, I hope they keep the hospital open, as I've said on another thread about it. It is a worthwhile expense benefitting both the patients and the community. And I'm all for local control, responsibility and/or influence on anything. So, good on Mr. Pearson as well.
Dennis, public leadership is often a thankless job. I think Joe Brennan's thumbs up should speak for itself. I hope other state officials, county and local gov't officials take the same approach.
ReplyDeleteAs far as being crazy, it's more fun over here where the odds are always stacked against us.
Thanks for being a model for other people who care about their community.
Geoff
"So, good on Mr. Pearson as well."
ReplyDeleteI like that expession. Good on Dennis and thanks to you for letting this post be about him.