Today's one-liner: "The shortest way to the distinguishing excellence of any writer is through his hostile critics." Richard LeGallienne
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Sunday, July 11, 2010
Pawlowski Disregards Ordinance Banning Business Loans If There Are City Liens
City Council Prez Mike D'Amore: "Not only did the mayor blatantly disregard an ordinance prohibiting the awarding of public funds to a property owner with an active lien, but he seemingly overruled the established protocol which initially denied this loan."
13 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.
"It's good to be the king"
ReplyDeleteEven if the loan went to folks who didn't have a lien against their building, it still doesn't make any business sense.
ReplyDeleteRead this in the call: "During 2007 and 2008, the business generated less than $8,000 in net profits..."
OK, so they get a loan worth more than 6X their yearly demonstrated profit???? WTF? I mean, I know I went to business school, but any graduate of 1st Grade could figure out that $30,000 is a bit outrageous, given the business potential here.
I am all for the city helping businesses - as long as it's reasonable. This is unreasonable on a variety of levels.
Finally - what did the city do to fix the building? Having seen the side of that building before they "fixed" it, I can tell you that it looked like it was ready to crumble. Now there's siding over the wall. Methinks the city perhaps just covered up the problem. But, that is just speculation.
Allentown citizens must begin a "recall" petition on all their councilmen and the Mayor. It is time to clean the hen house!
ReplyDeletePax
Pax,
ReplyDeleteRecall provisions in HRC governments have been deter,mined to be in violaton of the state constitution.
Why couldn't we get Jon Hammer to run for Mayor! The guy lives here in Allentown and is now taped to be the South Whitehall commissioner. Pawloski is not qualified and should never have been elected. We have great talent in Allentown that can correct the mess. Why arent they running?
ReplyDeleteJon Hammer and Tony Hanna are two Allentonians who know how to run Allentown.
ReplyDelete"Jon Hammer and Tony Hanna are two Allentonians who know how to run Allentown."
ReplyDeleteAnd both know enough to stay out of the way and let the beast fall apart. the system is broken. better management won't fix the problems.
Monkey Momma,
ReplyDeleteYes, it's irresponsible, even without the city lien, which was ignored in violation of a City ordinance. Also, of the 16 loans, 3 are really in default. The fact that the City says it's OK that 2 are in default does not change the reality. That's a 19% default rate, horrible by any standard.
Kudos to Jarrett, who must have had to spend months to put together the pieces of this puzzle.
Again, where is the city controller? Being just another team player doesn't serve the best interests of Allentown's residents. Someone needs to explain that to Mr. Hoffman.
ReplyDeleteScott Armstrong
The City is the pass through for millions of dollars for so many projects and programs.
ReplyDeleteYou've got to wonder if any of the decisions in administering the loan program are illegal.
I can't imagine the books being even remotely legit. If you assume that the Morning Call has exposed the tip of the iceberg, what else lies below the surface?
Pawlowski likes to place himself above Callahan and Panto and gets upset when positive things are reported in their respective cities. HMMMM, Ed maybe there is a reason. Two of the three cities are doing well. The problem you have is that one of them isn't Allentown. All cities have fiscal challenges and promote economic development but Callahan and Panto follow rules, they don't make their own.
ReplyDeleteBernie,
ReplyDeleteThe following is the job disciption and Duties of the city controller.
Scott Armstrong
City Controller
The City Controller is one of nine elected offices in the City of Allentown. The term of the office is four years and is not subject to term limitation. The City Controller is independent of the Mayor and City Council.
The City Controller performs the following functions per the City Home Rule Charter and City Ordinances:
● Have financial oversight of City finances, independent of the Executive and Legislative branches and shall review all expenditures of all City departments, the Mayor, City Council and City boards, commissions, agencies and authorities for whom the City provides financial guarantees;
● Review the Annual Budget before approval by City Council, and make nonbinding recommendations to the Mayor and to City Council for consideration, if he or she deems it necessary;
● Be present or represented at all City Council meetings;
● Perform specific audits of City finances from time to time as requested by the Mayor or by City Council;
● Report, to the Mayor and to City Council, on the progress of the implementation of any recommendations as found in the Annual Audit and Management Letter;
● Assist in all audits conducted by independent auditors;
● Assure the accurate and timely completion and submittal of audit reports along with appropriate follow-up recommendations;
● Furnish to City Council, the Mayor, and others, as appropriate, periodic reports of audits conducted;
● Interpret and communicate audit policies and procedures to all City management and staff;
Bethlehem has its own problems. some brainiac let a drug rehab locate right near the corner of New and Broad. Its disgusting, people don't even want to park there.
ReplyDeleteThe guys are hanging out on the sidewalk and in the streets smoking, cursing and doing deals with guys double parked.
Nice going Johnny boy. You really are letting Center city go to Hell big time.