Pawlowski - Smoke, But No Fire

For weeks, I've been hearing that both Allentown Mayor Edwin Pawlowski and his political consultant, Michael Fleck, are under scrutiny by federal authorities. Fleck's consulting business was supposedly raided a few weeks ago. I have heard this sort of thing before. Since nobody had any hard facts, I decided against writing about it. That changed with yesterday's disclosure, which first appeared in The Morning Call, that FBI agents were inside City Hall looking at contracts since 2005. That would be the entire time Pawlowski has been Mayor. So there's certainly smoke. But I don't know that there's fire.

An earlier version of the story, which mysteriously disappeared without comment, indicated that Pawlowski and his wife had actually been escorted to the federal courthouse. I have no idea whether that deleted statement is accurate.

Here's what I have heard. The feds have questions about professional services contracts with the city and the connection between them and political contributions made to Pawlowski. The reason his wife would be relevant is because she is his campaign treasurer.

For years, I have raised questions about his finance reports and he has sometimes been fined as a result. For years, I have made pay-to-play connections, which have also been suggested by The Morning Call.

I tried contacting Mike Fleck for his side of the story, but he has not responded. Although I was able to leave a message, others tell me that some of his numbers have been disconnected and that he is moving.

Readers of this blog know I am no fan of Pawlowski, his lack of transparency or his policies of shoving the poor under the rug. But I caution everyone that smoke is not fire. The fact that the feds have questions does not, by itself, suggest that the Mayor has done anything wrong.

Rumors have even made their way to Harrisburg, with reports that the Pawlowski situation is about to "implode." But how much of this is real and how much of it is politics from the Sestak camp? I don't know. If he is prosecuted, I shall shed no tears for Pawlowski. But everyone, including him, is entitled to a presumption of innocence. You're more than welcome to tell us what you know, but I caution readers to take everything with a grain of salt.

Updated 2 pm - Firm Cites Pawlowski Preessure: "We do work for a number of firms that are tightly tied to Pawlowski and the NIZ, such as Boyle, Jaindl, and Northstar. To say we’re getting pressure to contribute to his campaign would be a gross understatement. They are leaning on us like you would not believe, and if you don’t give to one, they want to know the $ amount of what you gave to someone else for Pawlowski’s campaign. It’s pay/play without a doubt, and I’m not sure it’s illegal because there’s no formal track. But the implied threat is we all made $$ on this and now it’s time to repay the favor. We’ll end up holding our noses and making a small contribution so as to not offend the people we work with, but this just sucks and is exactly the way Pawlowski conducts business."