Blogger's Note:Opinions Online is a regular Saturday feature. If you'd like to express your opinion on any topic, click on the Opinions Online button on my left sidebar. You can also call 385-325-2564. In addition to these submissions, I sometimes highlight comments from throughout the week and re-publish them here.
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Fred Windish: Many condemn Donald Trump for making incendiary statements. He does say things people have been willing to pounce on. What he says is essentially correct, but he knows his method of delivery, as a publicity strategy, is brilliant.
Every time he throws 'red meat' out there he gains millions of dollars in free media attention. Trump dominates the information stream and controls the narrative. All the while spending very little.
No one can resist the bait. He's working the media and beating them at their own game. I like that.
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PA Dog Licenses - Prior to this year there were many local merchants who sold these. Now this year we have three options: mail an application to the courthouse, drive the courthouse and apply in person, or do it online which involves a $2 fee (padoglicense.com).
It seems to me that the government is encouraging us to use the online option, which leads me to think that someone lobbied to eliminate the in-store option. The idea here being that if we take away one convenience and add another that has a fee someone gets to pocket that fee.
This is just one of the many reasons I cannot find myself able to trust the government.
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The City of Bethlehem's snow removal needs to be re-evaluated. First, the plowing operations are a joke. Why can't they plow to the pavement? Second, while I appreciate the effort to remove the snow from some streets, the coordination of this removal needs to be done much more effectively. Why are they closing major roads like Wyndotte, 3rd Street and 4th Street during rush hour? People were stuck for hours in traffic. Heads should roll for this mistakes.
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Really sick and tired of the fastest growing community in Pennsylvania....Lower Macungie Township with 30,000 residents relying exclusively ont he Pennsylvania State Police for Police protection. I think the citizenry of lower mac can afford their own Police Department, we all know they can afford it.
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I need help i am having all kinds of trouble in east allen twsp. Yesterday the lead home in spector admited that he altered my permit application with out consulting me and there is so much more like a twsp official that on first meeting said well someone like you. How would she know me if we never met. Did you know that those ugly dead stips down the side of the road twice a year is dbi services contracted by the state to spread residuail growth retardant every 6 months and they will zoray open bodies of water and your front yard.
(Blogger's Reply): I need to know who you are to do anything.
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Did anyone out there know that code masters inspectors are also Boyle construction.
(Blogger's Reply): I have no idea what you mean.
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How about that punk teacher that got all of the A-town kids to walk out of school? I hope he literally gets books thrown at him!
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Rumor has it that during the NORCO bomb scare lockdown, the dogs found no explosives but did locate the "Ten Commandments"......
Can you confirm or deny?
Black3car
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While helping a friend search for a site to build a small warehouse for his business, I noticed that the city of Allentown and the school district own a ridiculous amount of surplus properties...ranging from residential building lots to acres of woods. These aren't parks. Why is there no effort to market/monetize these? What the heck are they holding them for?
65 comments:
To answer the Bethlehem snow removal questions. You have ineffective administrators that are unable to make a quick decisions. Perhaps if one looked out one's window a snow emergency would have been called long before 7PM on Sunday. Major roads are being plowed during peak hours is nothing but sheer incompetence. When you don't have a real plan you just keep throwing things out there and hope something works.
The reason they don't plow to the surface is that they don't want to. The longer it takes the unions to clean up the more overtime they get.
The reality of the situation for this band of bunglers is that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Two tax increases in two years, fee increases, hidden taxes and free smoke detectors can not overcome a lack of leadership and management skills.
You have two choices: 1)Sit home, shut up and pay your taxes or 2) vote the ineptness out.
Fred,
And he's not a one term senator or a bush.
Yes, 6:03AM!
I am convinced our federal government needs a MAJOR shake-up. No one would make that happen more quickly and definitively than Donald Trump. Even if he only lasts in office one term, Trump will bring quite a bit out in the open and help to return some accountability.
Assuming several fakes now in Congress are run off and that body once again provides real checks and balances protection as a co-equal branch, there is nothing to fear in having Trump in the White House.
Cruz would greatly improve things in Washington, too. But, he lacks the charisma of Trump and, these days, that really matters. I could be happy with either man as next president.
Watch out for Joe Biden! I think he'll get back in and provide a better landing place for Democratic voters. Interesting year ahead.
Fred Windish
Big win for the Hornets last night!
The Banker
Dog licenses. Very interesting perspective. Don't blame you for the mistrust, but one possible option is that younger people "live" on the Internet and perhaps this particular government entity is trying to appeal to them too? Given that thought, another government department IMHO does not fare as well. Pa. Department of Revenue. Many Seniors await the arrival of tax forms via US mail. These folks are often blindsided when they discover sometimes far past tax deadlines the forms are no longer mailed. Post Offices don't even offer federal forms and libraries that use to often do not either. This practice should be revoked. Senator Toomey should initiate legislation to do just that.
"The reason they don't plow to the surface is that they don't want to. The longer it takes the unions to clean up the more overtime they get."
As awful as this is, best it's true.
Re: surplus properties; while I don't know this to be true, I recently completed a search for a local facility and found a tight market with few available options in my size profile. I considered Allentown. But couldn't find anything there and opted for one of the townships. If A-town is holding additional properties, now would be a good time to market them.
The south side Allentown library facility was (legally?) transferred to the school district. Why? The school district doesn't have enough property. Where is the money transfer information?
Apparently Pawlowski heaped praise on Conference of Churches executive director. That's interesting since the director excused the staff's conduct of throwing homeless out in a blizzard.
If the ASD owns a lot of surplus property it is news to me. The old South Side branch of the Allentown Library has always been school property as the public library in the city falls under the purview of the school district. That building is now being renovated to serve as( if memory serves me correctly) some sort of tech center. It is all a fading memory now.
Scott Armstrong
No true American could ever consider what Donald Trump says to be "essentially correct".
8:59 check the maps of south mountain . The school district owns half the mountain. They then give it to the county as an animal sanctuary. They own vast amounts of property. Should I say we, the taxpayers own it. As a school board member does a subject like this ever come to the fore. This is non tax producing property.
In response to a comment above, the City of Allentown owns a couple hundred acres of South Mountain as a wooded preserve. Many of those areas are steep and not suitable for development. Part of the land is also an improved park around a water facility.
The School District owns about 20 acres south of Emaus Av. (southwest of Mack Bld.) that was originally intended for a new middle school, but which has not been proposed for anything in the last 30 years. There were attempts to get the School District to sell the land in the past, but I don't believe it was ever put up for sale.
The Allentown library is controlled by the School District, so it makes sense for the School District to control the former South Side branch building. I imagine the library would like to eventually reopen the south side branch if funding increases, so they are probably holding onto the building. They may also be using it for storage as an interim use.
I like to think of myself as a moderately conservative Republican. IMO, Trump is an embarrassment to the Republican Party. He's little more than a self-marketing loudmouth. But, that's what he's good at, so people take notice. If he's the R candidate, I'm voting for Martin Tower.
"Apparently Pawlowski heaped praise on Conference of Churches executive director. That's interesting since the director excused the staff's conduct of throwing homeless out in a blizzard."
That is correct.
I'll use other venues to get the word out.
"Big win for the Hornets last night!
The Banker"
Yes. Kudos to Emmaus. I let the air out of all the bus tires.
"To answer the Bethlehem snow removal questions. You have ineffective administrators that are unable to make a quick decisions. Perhaps if one looked out one's window a snow emergency would have been called long before 7PM on Sunday. "
You;re certainly entitled to your own opinion but not your own facts. In Bethlehem, the snow emergency was announced on January 22 (Friday) and became effective January 23 (Saturday) at 7 am. Beginning at 6 pm Friday, the municipal parking garages were made available to the public for free. Now I've hear other complaints that may or may not have merit, but this is not one of them.
Alarm bells.
Lisa pawlowski for mayor. If she is available ,she could be elected or appointed in Allentown. This could go on forever! He could run this sewer from the joint.
12:56
Nah, why would a wife be entitled to hold an office just because her husband had been in that office.
Nah, she's going down but this time it's not on her soon to be charged corrupt politician...
2:49 read again. She is the wife of a cult leader. This is Allentown they would ELECT a rock.
I still say the state needs to start charging property owners in Lower Mac (and all other municipalities that use PSP only) a yearly fee. Say $200 for residential property and $400 for commercial/industrial properties.
Hank_Hill
lower macungie blames every one else for their own problems, then has the nerve to require state police protection, how many times are the PA state police at the Wal Mart on Mill Creek dealing with petty shoplifters when they could use those resources for the greater good
When I read about the comments regarding electing King Edwin's wife to the Mayor or some other position in A-Town, the first thing that comes to mind, although not meant to be morbid, is Budd Dwyer. That was Dwyer's whole point - although he could not disprove the charges against, which I personally think he was innocent of, he wanted to make sure that his family was taken care of financially after he ofted himself. What a sad state of affairs, all around.
Here are some links about the long debated Lower Mac police issue:
The latest study was done in 2014 by Gary Cordner Mayor of Macungie and KU criminology professor along with his wife.
http://articles.mcall.com/2014-02-07/news/mc-lower-macungie-police-department-vote-20140207_1_police-force-annmarie-cordner-state-police-coverage
Outline of the study:
http://www.ronbeitler.com/2013/11/09/police-services-study-preliminary-report/
The state police stance "Lower Mac has a local PD and it's us"
“We are the local police department; I am the police chief,” said Nederostek.
http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-lehighvalley/Local/who-says-lower-macungie-doesnt-have-its-own-police-department/31647912
@anon 6:03 the answer to your petty shoplifter question.. Specifically Wal-Mart. Yes, Wal-Mart is a HUGE problem.
http://articles.mcall.com/2013-10-12/news/mc-lower-macungie-walmart-shoplifters-20131012_1_lower-macungie-walmart-mill-creek-road-store-shoplifters
My opinion:
Right now there is no data driven reason to move away from status quo. First, Is it fair? That's not my question to answer. I represent Lower Macungie residents. Second, PSP provides outstanding service. Basically we have the option, the state police WANT to provide it (see above) and according to data (take emotion out of it) they are extremely effective. Folks who have issues with that need to take it up with their State Representatives in Harrisburg. There have been efforts in the past to charge municipalities.
Personally, I do however believe that will chance in the short term. The reason is proliferation of warehouses. I do not want to have to move away from the PSP BUT one only needs to look to Upper Macungie to see why we might be forced to. I've been attending Upper Mac's "good neighbor coalition meetings" and it's been a real eye opener. Freight traffic will be the driver. And I think it happens sooner rather than later. The warehouses will force our hand.
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/parkland/mc-upper-macungie-truck-traffic-coalition-20150930-story.html
As always love to talk to folks with questions about this or any issue on here or feel free to email me ronbeitler@gmail.com
As for Bethlehem. the extremely low energy mayor was elected to serve the interests of labor unions first, and the citizens of Bethlehem second. In fact, trying to find a politician in Pennsylvania who isn't owned by labor unions is only less slightly difficult than finding a virgin in Las Vegas.
You are right,the longer it takes to remove snow the more overtime to collect. For example one day after the snow fell two plows came up Eastman Ave 1st plow pushed snow the second followed right behind with plow up about twelve inches. One the return trip first plow widend the first pass by about two feet, the second with the plow down, followed right directly behind the first. Since no cars were parked on the street from one end to the other, there is no reason the street could not be plowed from curb to curb. As I read in the newspaper the department head said for the amount of snow we had they did a good job. Since he does not live in the city, he may have been talking about the township he lives in. With such a remark I can see why us STUPID TAXPAYERS are paying him $ 104.000 and supply him with a vehicle for his personal use. He better not make a statement like that at a neighbor block watch meeting.
Stupid taxpayer shut up.It's been a mild winter up to last Saturday , Now we party. Do you want us to wear the bottom of the plow blade . Then there is the asphalt that will need replacement if we bring the plow down to meet the road. Just shut up and pay up or we'll sell your house.
There is a more henious arena agenda in this real property flipp flopp and paint the taint what it ain't, than there is the facts of ASD being the biggest leassor to the lesser of the two evils all that are under the watchfull eyes of the innocent indigent childrens children of Allentowns future¿!($ Qwick capitol fund start-upZ epicentralized, Hedge funds set aside for gender specific paticular grants stips and leins miZZapropreated in its allocations¿!($Most of thpirates today set sail for nue nue nue ReNue ventures in the three muddholeZ that they describe as belts around there gut as the public walks the political parasites plank into there abyss to follow there godZ of this sinking ship set to sea with the illusionary dullusionary collusionary pension propogated proCUREment administrationally solved¿!($ NOT
No sigNUTure needed
In the end Lower Macungie gonna Lower Macungie.
Its always someone else's fault with that township. Its somehow Penndot's problem 222 is a mess. Don't mind all the shopping and warehouses the township wants on that road. Its the state police's problem to be the law at all the retail the township permits too.
Biggest bunch of freeloaders in the Valley.
@9:22... previous boards wanted. Yes, prior boards are absolutely to blame. 100%. Totally and completely deviated from comprehensive planning. Had no backbone. And now.. we pay for it. 100%
Warehouses are not beneficial to local municipal tax bases. School districts? Sure. Because we have a totally broken funding system that relies on local tax bases. Rob Peter to pay Paul. If someday Harrisburg reforms that system then warehouses provide almost no local benefit. Very few jobs per acre of land. Very little revenue and very high municipal liability.
Now of course it was always in the cards for the LV. Geography. Availability of (relatively) cheap greenfield along major highways. But unfortunately, I think we're losing balance. In Lower Macungie certainly we have. Now we try to triage and repair.
Ron, I admire your efforts to try and stop the bleeding, but it is too late. Thanks to Air Products selling all their land for warehouses, I think that was the last dagger. Leonard Poole turned over in his grave
West of Rt. 100 was the tragedy. West of Spring creek was borderline criminal. (figuratively speaking)
Along Rt. 222? Was always going to develop. My argument is we are losing opportunities to have MORE PRODUCTIVE development. The corridor should in theory be the townships bread basket.
Chris about Leonard pool. Agree.
MC reports council is trying to cancel contract with tax collection outfit. Council you cannot unsee something, you said YES!!!
Go FBI
If our Mayor would have called for the snow emergency Friday night when it started snowing all the cars would have been off the streets so we could plow. There was a foot of snow on the ground at 7AM and cars were stuck and could not move causing problems for plowing. This mayor cannot make decisions. Also check and see what trucks were hired for snow removal and see if they gave money to Donchez for his election. The game goes on.
I supported May6or Donchez but the response to this snowstorm was the worst in many, many years. What a poor effort. Most of the streets in the north side neighborhoods are still one lane. The plowed areas aren't even straight, it is like driving through rubble.
In some of the neighborhoods the plows went through once and never returned.
Many of the old timers said they never saw such a terrible response to a storm.
Shame on the Donchez administration. One week after the storm and a week of mild weather and many people still have one lane and snow ten feet out from the curbs. That is just incompetence. I doubt the man could win re-election.
Scott,
The new building constructed from the former South Side Library is brick and does not have a single window. What kind of tech building is it? Secret Tech?
Anonymous Anonymous said...
If the ASD owns a lot of surplus property it is news to me. The old South Side branch of the Allentown Library has always been school property as the public library in the city falls under the purview of the school district. That building is now being renovated to serve as( if memory serves me correctly) some sort of tech center. It is all a fading memory now.
Scott Armstrong
8:59 AM
Ah, the blame game!
Blame the snowplow drivers, they are the ones plowing, most with 15+ years of experience!
Let me get back to you on that, honestly I can't remember. It was all presented and discussed at public meetings about a year ago. Scott Armstrong
Attention Dog Lovers,
Just heard. Dog licenses are available at the Lehigh County Humane Society,
Dixon Street, Allentown.
You don't plow to pavement because that can damage the pavement, plow and truck.
Another consideration is that even if we could, it'd leave a very thin layer of ice which would turn into a glaze quickly, even with treatment.
Sunday.
A certain community activist guest editorialist is getting "old." Not by age but topic. Affordable Allentown housing is a must, he says. Affordable housing across the country is a must. While he writes of Allentown's needs, a 14-year-old boy
fights for his life after being shot at dinner time in south Bethlehem, a block from guest editorialist very own offices.
Do you know why I don't live in Manhatten. Ready, ready-Because I can't afford it. As long as government cheese is being handed out , you will have what we have in Allentown, a third world sewer supported by us.
Madame X was fired on January14, 2016 for falsifying her employment application and her hatred towards minorities.
W
Thinking about Ron Beitler's Lower Macungie Township and his quest to cure the past transgressions of previous people like him, have at it I say and good luck. Glad you have the energy and where with all to try, again. The only gripe about the fast growing Township in the State and the most populous Township in the Valley is the lack of municipal police. Lower Macungie Township, with all of its uncontrolled growth, has really figured out a way to work the system. Maybe in the guise of so called regionalism, all Townships and Boroughs should eliminate their local police and subscribe to the Lower Macungie model? The study Ron mentions glean the same results in all the local municipalities. Just take out Lower Macungie and replace with any other Township and there you have it, no need for local police. Think of the millions of tax money saved that could be used for snow removal!
Boyle launched CodeMaster inspection sevice in 2003 and is co-owner. CodeMaster seeks contracts with municipalities.
10:13,
Any excuse, union puke.
Are there no real men or women in Bethlehem to replace the inbred administration and council?
2:48 well maybe you should run, oh wait you don't live in Bethlehem.
3:13,
You are right. I do not live in bedlum. I just hate seeing what is happening in what use to be the shinning light of the valley with the indecision and ineptness of the weak puppet mayor and his state appointed department heads.
"Madame X was fired on January14, 2016 for falsifying her employment application and her hatred towards minorities.
W"
I will confirm this so I can report it. Thanks.
Tax certs. Are again being issued in A town.
So I've heard.
Holy Crap! Can't believe all the excuses for the crappie snow removal job in Bethlehem.. Mayor Donchez/Boscola/Morganelli needs to step up the administrating part of the job. This is different than just being elected,you must produce measurable results as an Executive officer.
The excuses fro the lack of snow removal is nonsense. Snow left over fifteen foot from curbs, one land=e streets a week after the snowstorm, trucks sitting idling and guys talking and smoking is not getting rid of snow.
The Mayors' need to drive around the neighborhoods and actually look at the horrible conditions. Of course fortunately the sun and milder temperatures have helped a great deal. People have said Thank God it had not stayed cold or snowed again.
The plowing in Bethlehem's neighborhood's is worst than a third world nation.
Sorry folks the excuses don't cut it. Worst job ever in Bethlehem.
Now, now. I am sure booby d is forming a citizens committee to review procedures. The report should be done by 3 July 2017. Morganelli/Boscola will then review it and pull the proper stings.
Everyone is invited to city council Monday at 6 to object to the coronation of Jeff Glazier fir controller and also to call for action against Pawlowski's illegal contract for delinquent tax collection. Also to object tl the ilkegal contract Wrddnesday, February 3.thcouncil and solicitor Wild are set for a showdown with Pawlowski because they have Pawlowski dead to rights and Pawlowski is caught in a trap from which he has no escape.
One small disagreement with Ron Beitler just for clarity. He says "Right now there is no data driven reason to move away from status quo. First, Is it fair? That's not my question to answer. I represent Lower Macungie residents. Second, PSP provides outstanding service." Regarding data-driven, when we did the most recent study, PSP refused to provide data on response times or level of patrol coverage -- i.e., no data. Regarding outstanding service, PSP refused to cooperate with a survey of LMT residents who had recent contact with their personnel, to determine "customer satisfaction" with service delivered -- i.e., no data. Like others here, I admire Ron's vision and leadership in LMT, and I'm not slamming PSP either. Just wanted to clarify some facts.
Thanks Gary. I think we have good leadership in place across the board in Southwest Lehigh now including all three Boroughs Macungie, Alburtis, Emmaus & Upper/Lower Milford.
I relied on this from your study: "LMT has a low crime rate. The 2012 estimated Part 1 crime rate of 1083.8 per 100,000 residents is about 1/3 the rate for Lehigh County and is 7th lowest among Pennsylvania’s 35 largest townships." That's the data I look at. The bottom line.
Determining customer satisfaction you are correct, disappointing PSP didn't give more data. I can speak to customer service in terms of Lower Mac admin/PSP relations. A trooper attends most all public safety meetings and the response from township staff is always excellent. That I see first hand.
Like I've talked about with folks from both Macungie & Alburtis. Snapshot in time 2014 last study didn't make sense to aggressively move away from PSP then. Crime-rate is low and we save $4-5 million per year.
Again, I think it's coming. The convo should be ongoing. I think freight will be the driver. This is the only area where I see PSP deficient. We will need dedicated officers to deal with truck traffic like UMT already has.
When that time comes if we have the choices of regional, contracted or standalone I am totally against a standalone LMTPD. Regional makes a lot of sense to me since geographically Alburtis is a donut hole Borough and Macungie is surrounded by Lower Mac on 3 sides. I look at the % of budget Alburtis and Macungie devote to PD's and I see it rising every year. I think regional benefits us all. Meantime every muni leader should be advocating for Act 111 reform like HB 1845. Would love to hear how you feel about that bill.
Lower Mac's other elephant in the room is this... http://www.lowermac.com/docs/safety/FireProtectionStudy.pdf
Which also relates to our growth issues. Specifically some really terrible decisions made in 2010.
The Allentown police should be processing the shoplifters at the Lower Macungie Walmart because it is their residents being arrested.
Dog Licenses: Note the original complaint was about Northampton Co., which you must either purchase on line, or go the the Human Services building. For Lehigh Co. you can still get them as certain locations such as the shelter on Dixon or Pet Supplies Plus in Whitehall. Need to check Lehigh Co website for more information about additonal sites.
I actually write about this issue last year:
"In Northampton County, you can get a license at the courthouse, centalized human services building, Center For Animal Health and Welfare, Sandy King's Pet Supplies in Easton, Affordable Pet Center in Northampton, AVH Veterinary Group in Pen Argyl, Neighbors Home and Garden Center in Hellertown, Super Petz and Canine Grooming Shoppe in Bethlehem, and Mike's Bait and Sport Shop in Nazareth.
"Because there is no online capability, the Revenue Division at the courthouse has been swamped with applications."
http://lehighvalleyramblings.blogspot.com/2015/04/state-dog-warden-may-be-knocking-at.html
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