Why I Crashed a Pawlowski Presser

Walter Felton

When I heard last night that Lehigh County Democratic Chair Walt Felton had decided to host a presser at Mayor Edwin "Fed Ed" Pawlowski's campaign headquarters on N 8th St in Allentown, I decided to crash it.

I arrived late, but was there in time to hear Walter Felton hem and haw about how the party never endorsed him, but he is their candidate. If anything, Walter damned Pawlowski with faint praise.

I was there to ask two questions. First, if Fed Ed was truly innocent of these charges, why the hell was he hiding?

Second, if he refuses to resign, will he exercise the Speedy Trial Act and demand a quick trial? Don't the people of Allentown deserve this?

Under federal law, the Speedy Trial Act generally requires that a Defendant be tried within 70 days of indictment or his first court appearance, which in Fed Ed's case will likely be today. This Act also provides that a Defendant must have at east 30 days to prepare, unless he agrees in writing to an earlier date.That means that Fed Ed's trial could conceivably be scheduled between August 25 and October 3.

This is the approach that US District Court Judge Paul S Diamond took in the recent successful prosecution of Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams. Like Fed Ed, Williams refused to resign after being indicted.

Despite a motion to delay the case by both prosecutors and the defense, Judge Diamond insisted on a speedy trial. He noted that the Speedy Trial Act “was designed with the public interest firmly in mind” and that it exists "to vindicate the public interest in the swift administration of justice.”

"I am hard-pressed to think of a case where the public’s right to a speedy trial is more pressing than it is here: the largest prosecutors’ office in the Commonwealth is being run by someone who is not licensed to practice law and is himself charged with 23 federal crimes. Defense counsel—an experienced lawyer—surely understood the need for a prompt resolution of this matter when he agreed to represent Defendant."

In this case, the Mayor of Pennsylvania's third largest city stands accused of being the criminal mastermind of a scheme to deprive the public of their right to honest services through bribery, extortion, bid-rigging and obstructing federal investigators.

Since Fed Ed refuses to resign, it is in the public interest to insist on a swift trial, and one that will be over before the election.

A baker's dozen of Fed Ed supporters were at this news conference. But not Fed Ed.

They quickly identified me as an enemy of this banana republic dictator, and in typical Fed Ed fashion, began denouncing me as disbarred, a nonresident and a drunk. They also said I was "radicalized."

I plead guilty, unlike Fed Ed.

They also began picking on NBC10's reporter, who was asking tough questions, too.

Though I acted all badass, I really felt sorry for these people. He's using them. Most of them are Latinos, the very people described by a former Fed Ed supporter as a "cancer" during a Business Matters broadcast. They reminded me of the female manager of a thrift store on Hamilton Street, who Fed Ed essentially ran out of town in 2007.*

Hamilton St merchants and community activists 

He ignored her multiple calls to him for help concerning bus stops that had been removed, which decimated her foot traffic by 75%. He ignored my calls, too, and at that time I had every reason to support him.

"He's our father. He's the father of our house. He's supposed to take care of us. If he doesn't take care of his children, who can he take care of?"


Those were the words spoken by Bibi Hazra, who operated the Loco Dollar Store. She went under, as did other merchants,and this was long before the NIZ.

Fed Ed now pretends he is the friend of the very people he abandoned in 2007.

In case you've ever wondered what turned me off about Fed Ed, it was this episode. He ignored the people he is supposed to represent.
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* Though blogger Michael Molovinsky and I have some serious issues (which actually is a good thing), I have to credit him as the person who first raised public awareness about Fed Ed's attempt to gentrify Hamilton Street.