Is Jenn Mann Really "For the People"?

I've heard former State Representative Jenn Mann's name mentioned yesterday as a possible successor to Mayor Ed Pawlowski. As one of the NIZ architects, the urban growth regime that really is control would probably love to see her named. The mainstream media love her, too. But for those interested in helping Allentown's working poor, her appointment would be a disaster. She's never really been in their corner. But since leaving office, she started a PAC so she can continue to snag contributions and blow money, kinda' like Ed Pawlowski has done himself for years. She hypocritically calls it "For the People."

I first realized what she's all about when she ignored Allentown's minority kids, who really could use a few more basketball courts, in favor of a $10,000 state DCED grant for the Parkland Trojan Ice Hockey Club. As someone who believes in $54 million corporate welfare handouts to J.B. Reilly, this is a no-brainer.

In the state house, any lobbyist could tell you, off the record, that she always had her hand out. If you needed to talk to her, you could get her tickets to the latest baseball, basketball or football game, like the Superbowl. She though there was nothing improper with moonlighting as a consultant with a company doing all kinds of business with the state. No conflict there, she insisted.

It's always been about her, as evidenced by her dual campaigns for her own office as well as State Auditor in 2004 and State Treasurer in 2008. In the state house, any lobbyist could tell you, off the record, that she always had her hand out. If you needed to talk to her, you could get her tickets to the latest baseball, basketball or football game, like the Superbowl. She had an affair with one lobbyist, and thought there was nothing improper with moonlighting as a consultant with a company doing all kinds of business with the state. No conflict there, she insisted.

When her career as a State Representative ended in 2012, she became a business consultant, using all the contacts she had developed in the state house. What did she do with her own campaign funds? Did she donate it to the Democratic party,or better yet, to the people in her district? Nah. In January 2013, she quietly formed a PAC called "For the People." That way she can continue hitting people up for money and spending it.

I wonder why the state police never investigate this kind of prostitution.

Mann funded her PAC with the $57,768.60 left in her own campaign treasury, and added another $5,000 she got from Matthew McTish (McTish, Kunkel and Assoc.), who is one of her business clients. She has gone on to pick up $6,000 from Susan Biggica, who lives in Hershey. She got $2,000 from Ramzi Haddad, a former Abe Atiyeh partner. And Mike Schlossbuerg, who represents her old district, is giving her $250 a year. Maybe it's dues.

She has used some of her campaign cash to help candidates seeking office. especially people in Allentown who can return the favor down the road.

But some of her expenditures are just plain goofy. On one report, she claimed $400 in "event expenses," without bothering to identify the event in question or itemize the expenses. She spent $561 for a "dinner meeting" at the Lehigh Country Club on 7/16/14. A few months later, she spent $221.05 for a PAC dinner meeting, but does not bother to tell us where. The whopper is $8,127.00 for "PAC expenses" on 7/8/14, with no itemization of just what those expenses are. Given that the whole point of campaign finance reports is to enable the public to follow the money, it's safe to say she failed.

That's because Jenn Mann is not really "For the People." She's for Jenn Mann.