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Thursday, September 17, 2015

Allentown City Council Votes For More Oversight Over City Contracts

Allentown City Council has unanimously approved legislation that will give it final say over professional services contracts in excess of $40,000. The Morning Call's Paul Muschick has what I would agree is a "thorough" and "fair" account of the meeting. Because I was with my grandson, I missed the meeting. But good government activist Robert Trotner also has a running account of the standing-room only meeting, which I will excerpt below.

Joe Hilliard suggested we investigate a paranoid freakazoid out- of-control mayor. ...

Lou Hershman said he wanted an investigation of how much money city is spending on Pawlowski's defence because the city can't afford it. He also wants a city council investigation of the mayor's pay to play. ... He also said from his experience the city had spent at least $600 on no bid, probable illegal contracts and that the council should hire a forensic analyst to discover all the fraud. ...

One person praised the mayor and said there was no proof yet that he was guilty. ...

Kristian Andersen spoke about how the case of Mr. Ochse and how if the police just practiced a little love everything would be better. ...

Rich Fegley stated the need for investigation because of the disgrace that has happened in our city and no one on council speaks up fir ethics. ...

[Jeanette] Eichenwald says we have the right to call ethics committee against the mayor as well as an investigation into his corruption. She will talk to the solicitor this week to discuss options. The crowd erupted in applause. ...
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24 comments:

  1. Lou ShupeSeptember 17, 2015 at 12:24 AM

    Video now working properly, http://www.ustream.tv/channel/lehigh-valley-caffeinated

    ReplyDelete
  2. Robert TrotnerSeptember 17, 2015 at 12:26 AM

    I apologize for the poor quality of my running commentary. For instance, I meant $600 million instead of $600, bit I'm quite sure there were plenty of other mistakes. But the victory tonight was quite unexpected and very gratifying. Our group can now think about moving forward successfully on several fronts and we intend to have some major announcements next week. Breaking developments and leaks last week have shifted the dynamics of the struggle tremendously, and it appears we will soon see the demise of Ed Pawlowski. The only question is how, and I can now envision several scenarios any one of which wI'll push him over the edge. But council is still very much on probation and the future of the so called Pawlowski ticket is potentially very shajy.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Robert TrotnerSeptember 17, 2015 at 12:27 AM

    I apologize for the poor quality of my running commentary. For instance, I meant $600 million instead of $600, bit I'm quite sure there were plenty of other mistakes. But the victory tonight was quite unexpected and very gratifying. Our group can now think about moving forward successfully on several fronts and we intend to have some major announcements next week. Breaking developments and leaks last week have shifted the dynamics of the struggle tremendously, and it appears we will soon see the demise of Ed Pawlowski. The only question is how, and I can now envision several scenarios any one of which wI'll push him over the edge. But council is still very much on probation and the future of the so called Pawlowski ticket is potentially very shajy.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousSeptember 17, 2015 at 12:27 AM

    God grant us an end to this sordid ordeal.
    Have some honor, Mr. Pawlowski,
    step aside.

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownSeptember 17, 2015 at 12:55 AM

    FYI...

    Allentown City meetings are now archived here: https://allentownpa.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx

    Tonight's City Council Meeting can be viewed here: http://allentownpa.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=1&clip_id=54

    It's nice to see this working. Citizens can view the entire meeting online. Joe Hilliard starts it off with a bang!

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousSeptember 17, 2015 at 12:56 AM

    Every council person except one MUST GO!

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousSeptember 17, 2015 at 1:20 AM

    WTF JUST HAPPENED IN HELLERTOWN?

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousSeptember 17, 2015 at 1:56 AM

    Lets be fair. Robert Trotner is the head of the Lehigh Valley Coffee Party. A small group of people who have very local if any support from Allentoians.

    ReplyDelete
  9. UnknownSeptember 17, 2015 at 2:06 AM

    Let's be honest...you all have your heads buried in the sand and/or your name is Anonymous.

    Silence is what got us here. NON-LOCAL public officials have brainwashed the local citizens of Allentown. Awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  10. AnonymousSeptember 17, 2015 at 5:02 AM

    Too little
    Too late
    They gotta go

    ReplyDelete
  11. AnonymousSeptember 17, 2015 at 6:27 AM

    Bravo, council, NOT. Where were they the past 8 years. Julio Guiridy, Glaser - now you want to be heroes, when you took the mayors cash raised through corruption of pay and play, nice try. TO me it looks like rats jumping off a sinking ship, or a bunch of Brutuses insuring they get their dagger red before they go before the voters - council needs some new faces, and we for sure need a new city controller (do we even have a city controller?)

    ReplyDelete
  12. AnonymousSeptember 17, 2015 at 7:26 AM

    Bernie
    Drove past Allentown's Recycling Center and saw a 3 tier digital billboard.
    So gross. Can you look into that digital contract. It went from one person to another and yet another.

    ReplyDelete
  13. AnonymousSeptember 17, 2015 at 7:52 AM

    Is Dat playing football again this year?

    ReplyDelete
  14. AnonymousSeptember 17, 2015 at 8:09 AM

    Does this mean that Charlie Thiel won't get any more nobid contracts with the city?

    ReplyDelete
  15. AnonymousSeptember 17, 2015 at 8:10 AM

    @2:17 Sounds like you might be losing your meal ticket when the Chicago Eddy gang is run out of town on rails? A little bitter 'bout that?

    Jeffrey Anthony

    ReplyDelete
  16. AnonymousSeptember 17, 2015 at 9:32 AM

    Am I the only one horrified that the Iron Lady is not on the ballot again? God Bless Jeannette Eichenwald!!! THANK YOU

    ReplyDelete
  17. AnonymousSeptember 17, 2015 at 11:08 AM

    Good news , now CSI and Charlie Thiel and stop fleecing the city.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Bernie O'HareSeptember 17, 2015 at 11:20 AM

    "Is Dat playing football again this year?"

    No, he wants to start or be #6 or #7 off the bench at Central's basketball program, and is doing basketball drills every night so that he is on the top of his game when they get going. The team is stacked. So he opted against football this year. I love to watch him play, but he has to make his own decisions when it comes to sports.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Bernie O'HareSeptember 17, 2015 at 11:24 AM

    "Bernie
    Drove past Allentown's Recycling Center and saw a 3 tier digital billboard.
    So gross. Can you look into that digital contract. It went from one person to another and yet another."

    Why can't you submit an OT comment like this to Opinions Online? That's really not fair to me, when I take the time to go to a meeting and write about something, to have someone else come in and post a question about something completely different. Plus, you want me to look into the contract. Why can't you? Democracy is not a spectator sport, you know.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Bernie O'HareSeptember 17, 2015 at 11:29 AM

    Rich, Thanks for the link to the video of meetings. I was unaware.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Bernie O'HareSeptember 17, 2015 at 11:33 AM

    Lou, Your video is good, but as Rich Fegley notes, the City does a videocast. I am happy to see this bc you obviously can't be at every meeting.

    ReplyDelete
  22. AnonymousSeptember 17, 2015 at 12:08 PM

    Thank you Jeannette Eichenwald for being the only council person who questioned everything. The rest, should hang their head in shame and get off the dashboard.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Lou ShupeSeptember 17, 2015 at 2:20 PM

    I was unaware the city video feed was working, and you are correct in saying I will not be able to attend every meeting. But as always, I will do my best with what I have.

    ReplyDelete
  24. AnonymousSeptember 17, 2015 at 3:09 PM

    There has to be an independent solicitor for council. Didn't
    Solicitor Wild use Fleck for her campaign when she ran for County Commissioner?
    A separation of powers between council and mayor is what is needed, and independent solicitors would be a good start.

    ReplyDelete

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