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| Fleck in Hanover, where he orchestrated union invasion |
Unless you've been living on Neptune, you probably know the NIZ is Allentown's 130-acre Neighborhood Improvement Zone, the only one of its kind in the country. All state taxes and EIT generated by businesses inside that zone can be used to fund improvements like a hockey arena, luxury hotel, office space and parking garages.
Created by a 2009 law that could only ever apply to Allentown, the NIZ is unpopular with surrounding communities because they will lose the EIT generated by their residents working inside the NIZ. It's also unpopular with office building developers because it creates an uneven playing field in which their tenants can be poached to move into the NIZ, where the rents are cheaper.
Yesterday afternoon for WFMZ's Business Matters taped the Great NIZ Debate. The show airs Monday night, 8 PM.
As a disinvited panelist, I thought it would be bad form for me to show up and cover the event. But The Morning Call's Bill White and Matt Assad were both there.
Dr. Steven Thode, director of the Murray H. Goodman Center for Real Estate Studies, teamed up with Allentown blogger Michael Molovinsky. They both oppose the NIZ in its current form. Thode and Molovinsky tangled with three NIZ cheerleaders: Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski's campaign consulant and paid trade unions consultant Michael Fleck; Allentown Neighborhood Improvement Zone Development Authority (ANIZDA) Chairman Sy Traub; and NIZ realtor and financial maven Jeff Barber. Tony Iannelli, who hosted the debate, is pro-arena and a regular Edwin Pawlowski campaign contributor.
Traub claimed that Pawlowski had sent him because Hizzoner wanted someone with more knowledge about the NIZ than the Fleckster or Fleck.
On Monday night, we'll see for ourselves who won this debate. But her's what I've been able to gather, which is strictly second hand.
Mike Fleck constantly interrupted other people, called Thode "insane", and said "he could care less" if Trexlertown becomes a ghost town.
Fleck tried to compare the NIZ to the casino, at which point Thode responded, "You are comparing apples to hand grenades."
The casino is actually the anti-NIZ. Bethlehem shares revenue with numerous other municipalities, including an annual $4.5 million payment to Allentown. But the NIZ, in contrasts sucks money and businesses from other municipalities.
Sy Traub left after the first half of the taping. Everyone I have spoken to tell me that Tony Iannelli's fast-paced style was too much for Traub, who came off like a deer caught in the headlights. His heart was clearly not in it. When Dr. Thode held up a carton of cigarettes to illustrate what a windfall the cigarette tax would be for the NIZ, all Traub could say was, "That's not true." He had nothing to back it up.
Jeff Barber replaced Traub after "halftime." After his "God, I love Allentown" speech, Molovinsky challenged him on the tenants displaced from the NIZ. Barber came off like a racist (something about "those people" not maintaining their properties) and Molovinsky called him on it.
Molovinsky was low key, and from what I'm told, came across as the voice of reason.
Go figure!
Bernie
ReplyDeletePlease write about another tax bill for Allentown downtown small businesses mentioned in papers yesterday.
Allentown is a shit hole run by shitheads. It will always be a disaster area. no amount of scheming will change that. Look at Easton and Reading.
ReplyDeletelook at the picture. you can tell who the union thugs are.
ReplyDeleteThis show should be mandatory viewing before the voter enters the voting booth in the next election.
ReplyDeleteNot the taxpayers!!!
ReplyDeletepulpudski and his fesynes thought this would be a showcase for his contorted scheme.
ReplyDeleteMany citizens still know VERY little about the pending fiasco.
They are all learning now.
A dirt pit over a geologic region of limestone spires will be this administrations legacy.
Walking away 1/2 way through the taping, RETREAT!
ReplyDelete"How are you gonna call Jeff Barber a racist when you didn't see the tape?"
ReplyDeleteBecause he's been unflinching in his desire to rid the area of "those people" and fully supported using Eminent Domain to ethnically cleanse the neighborhood. First they came for the Chinese and Puerto Ricans. Who knows when they'll come for the gays or some other marginalized group, Jon? While you may be accustomed to strange bedfellows, your defense of a bigot is really out there.
Your initial information may be accurate, but...
ReplyDeleteThe edit may spin it the way the Chambermaid wants it to play. The "Those people" comment will likely not see the light of day.
-Clem
"How are you gonna call Jeff Barber a racist when you didn't see the tape?"
ReplyDeleteBased on the accounts of several people, that's how he "came off." I'll reserve judgment. The exact words were "came off like a racist." That's not the same as calling him a racist. Learn to read, Jonathan.
jon, barber referred to the 700 block as a cancer which had to be cut out thode and I asked him if he was referring to the merchants or their customers? I don't recall his reply, watch the show monday night. i'm not judging barber on his one remark, but the process the city used in removing the former merchants had elements of both classism and racism.
ReplyDeleteClem has a very good point about who has the ability to edit, etc.
ReplyDeleteJUST SAY NO TO THE NIZ
@9:16, i took host ianelli to task for complicity by the chamber itself, for this arena outrage. if that survives, he does no editing. i do not believe that he does edit; i think he relishes controversy on his show.
ReplyDeleteIannelli needs to remember where the majority of the Chamber members come from.
ReplyDeleteHe can't afford to make the NIZ his demise.
Subsidized gentrification.
ReplyDeleteGeeting has shown his own brand of racism many times. It's funny he's wondering if there are others like him who relish ethnic cleansing of Allentown.
ReplyDeleteThe one time I was on the show, it seemed to air exactly as recorded. The only editing was selecting which camera to use. I don't think there is any editing of content, since they tape with breaks for commercials and tape for exactly as long as the show airs, with no retakes or extra material.
ReplyDeleteThey gave me a DVD of the show. It included blank screens during the commercial breaks, and I could hear Tony's comments to the producer/director (he was listening through an earphone, so I could only hear one side of the conversation).
Well, we will see how many underhanded, dishonest games were or were not played when the show finally airs, won't we?
ReplyDeleteConsidering the all the shenanigins that have gone on from the very outset with this NIZ thing, it would not be shocking to see more underhanded, dishonest tactics from the jokers trying to ram this crap down my throat.
P.S. --- If you are a well-connected developer who donates to the right campaigns (like Chairman Pawlowski, for example) and are prepared to give my wife a high-paying job that involves little or no actual work, I am prepared to re-evaluate my position.
JUST SAY NO TO THE NIZ