Local Government TV

Monday, March 12, 2018

Is Allentown Finally Ready For a Ray of Sunshine?

Dark clouds that have surrounded Allentown for the past two years are finally beginning to fade away. Disgraced Mayor Edwin "Fed Ed" Pawlowski has finally resigned. Roger MacLean, a well-respected former Police Chief, is Interim Mayor. Starting this past weekend, there's an extra hour of daylight. So it's time to ask whether the Queen City is finally ready for a Ray of Sunshine. That Ray is Ray O'Connell, who just stepped down as Council President a few short weeks ago. City Council will be making its choice soon. You never know what will happen, but it appears that Ray has four votes. That's all he needs.

There is no shortage of people who would like to be Mayor, including some of the several thousand candidates who ran and lost. It's rumored that one of them, Siobhan Sam Bennett, has already called several Council members. I haven't reached out to her to confirm if this is true, but know she already burned her red campaign blazer.

The serious names I've heard are Ray, Roger MacLean, Nat Hyman and Charlie Thiel.

If Roger MacLean wanted this position, he'd be a formidable candidate. But what I've heard is that he has no interest. He did not run for the position, and is already happily employed as a detective for the Lehigh County District Attorney

Nat Hyman, who did run for the job and captured the second highest vote total, is smart, energetic, innovative and reportedly interested. But I suspect Council is wary of this Democrat turned Republican turned Democrat. Although party affiliation means nothing to me, it matters a lot to many elected politicians

Republican turned Democrat Charlie Thiel bugs me. Not because he is a Republican turned Democrat. Because he's full of himself. After having endured 12 years with one narcissist, it's completely foolish to bring in another.

Dan McCarthy, who was named Solicitor by Fed Ed but has not been confirmed, dragged City Council into an executive session last week. On a matter as important as the City's next Mayor, McCarthy wanted to talk about it in the back room.

Though no one asked him, he then proceeded to give a "plainly clear" legal opinion that elected members of City Council like MacLean or O'Connell are ineligible to hold appointed paid positions for a year after they leave office. There is nothing "plainly clear" about that provision at all.In fact, the previous Solicitor, Susan Wild, thought it was "plainly clear" that Council members could be appointed to vacancies left by elected officials. Unlike McCarthy, she was actually confirmed by Council. Council should follow the last real legal opinion it received.

What's "plainly clear" to me is that McCarthy's opinion has Fed Ed's fingerprints all over it. The last thing Fed Ed wants is to see someone from Council appointed to his old job. They called on him to resign, so he'd rather see a former city vendor and contributor like Charlie Thiel in there, who could be controlled by him and lobbyist Jennifer Mann.

It's also "plainly clear" to me that McCarthy's appointment by the now guilty Mayor should be rejected by Council. Fed Ed's successor should be chosen from the ranks of the Council who stood up to him.

This means Ray O'Connell.

Ray's main message? It's the same one he's had since he first ran for City Council. "We, as a City, are only as strong as the School District, and the School District is only as strong as the City."  He said our children and their growth are "vital components" to the City's success. He claimed that 17,000 students in Allentown, or 89%, are from low income families. This is exacerbated by a transient rate of 40%. He described children who attend all four middle schools in the course of one year. "That is unacceptable, totally unacceptable," he said.

Though he believes the school district has made strides, "the city government has failed. We cannot let this continue."

O'Connell believes that the best way for the City and school district to turn things around is through "school-based community revitalization." His plan is to develop areas around the schools and the quality of life for people in those neighborhoods.

"Neighborhoods created this City. East Side. West End. South Side. Northeast. They created this City."

The school district plans to open two schools in 2020. "We need to work with developers to ensure that these schools are built to a healthy standard of living,." he said. Corner groceries.Mentor programs."We would work with the school district to ensure these needs are met. ... We need to come together"

At a school-based community revitalization program in Baltimore, O'Connell noted that state reading standards went from 19% to 78% in five years.

"We can do it here. We do not have dumb children. We need to give them the resources.We need to be with them. We need to give the parents the resources. Every parent I met over the years - they want to do the best for their children. They love their children. They don't have the resources. We, the City and school district, need to bond to give them the resources"

He said that as important as the downtown revitalization is, "we cannot turn our backs" on the rest of the City. "We have to develop the South Side, East Side, Northeast."

"Too many children have not seen success. You grow and you learn from success."

Strong neighborhoods plus strong schools equals a strong city."

You will see Ray O'Connell, Luiz Garcia and Daryl Hendricks at athletic events for these kids like summer basketball and high school games. There is a corps of adults who already are hard at work as mentors. People like Toomey Anderson and Glenn Klein, the most interesting man in the world.

Whoever is appointed faces a tough job because city finances are a mess  Fed Ed actually ignored his most important responsibility as Mayor - public safety. The police and fire departments need to have the equipment they need to keep you safe.

The person best suited to be Mayor is the one who should have won the primary - Ray O'Connell.

72 comments:

  1. Despite your ongoing love affair with this guy, no one wants this Pawlowski era guy as Mayor. We want and need a break from the past and new energy and blood.

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  2. Palowski's henchmen fighting over the spoils now that the King is dead.

    More of the same is in the future.

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  3. Disagree. Ray was too closely allied with Pawlowski for too long. Ray was rejected by the voters twice last year. Im still convinced he duped 2,000 well meaning voters last year into thinking he could win a write-in just to keep Hyman from winning. Ray's a nice guy, but we need NEW leadership in Allentown, someone not previously allied with Pawlowski.

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  4. I read BOH's article and have some trepidation in some areas. First, his O'Connell/Hendricks plan on the write-in candidate failed miserably and caused "Fed Ed" to win. Second, for years he was a Pawlowski [like Hendricks] rubber stamp on council. Third, if he is so adamant about the problems in ASD, why didn't he run for school director.

    I do agree that public safety is a priority and has been ignored by the dishonorable one for years. The fire department's equipment and manpower is so low and must be replenished at an alarming rate. The police department is so mismanaged and stuck in that same old reactive policing concept that only provides basic response services.

    You are right, the crumbling neighborhoods have to be addressed through a revitalized proactive policing concept and a push to accept education over drugs and gangs. From a family of long time law enforcement in the city, I have advocated taking back the neighborhoods and it is a critical component in the survival of any new administration. Toy footballs, basketballs and fire pick-up trucks cannot and should not be justified as public safety tools. Carson S. Gable III.

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  5. Of all the names mentioned so far, Ray O'Connell is BY FAR the most capable of improving Allentown's current condition. One might not like his past effort to be elected Mayor, however, he was the best available choice back then.

    I have worked with Ray on many ASD initiatives. He's a true leader who meets any challenge straight up, rolls up his sleeves and GET'S IT DONE!

    Few professional positions are as difficult as Principal of a poor, urban Middle School. I'd characterize that job as even more pressing and stressful than actually being a Mayor of a municipality like Allentown.

    The City and its Public Schools are a mirror image. The good and the bad. Ray O'Connell has the strongest managerial skills, experience and temperament to get Allentown's house back in order.

    This is the time for a Ray O'Connell.

    Fred Windish


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  6. Comments 1,3 & 4 are written by nat Hyman.

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  7. I was always under the impression that Mr. O'Connell was Mr.Pawloski's biggest supporter.What happened ?

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  8. Wow, where do I start with this? Some reasons why O'Connell shouldn't be Mayor:

    Ray O'Connell was PRESIDENT of City Council when the corruption was going on, and initially defended FedEd after the FBI raid. Only later did he change his tune on Pawlowski. That makes him either a willing accomplice, or the most inept President of City Council in Allentown's history.

    I'm still not convinced he didn't collude with Pawlowski to jump (late) into the Democrat primary and then to run as a write-in in the general so that Pawlowski would win. At best, he colluded with others on council to take the decision out of the hands of the people and put it in the hands of the seven members of council.

    His platform is better suited to someone running for school board.

    If he's going to follow the last real legal opinion, that would be McCarthy's. Oddly enough, Susan Wild was so sure of her opinion that she didn't even put it in writing, despite being entrenched with Pawlowski for years.

    The City needs Council, and former members of Council, to put aside their egos and start doing what's best for the city. That means putting aside their schemes of putting one of their own in the Mayor's office, and instead picking someone that has the skill sets for the job.

    Council needs to stand up for the City Charter. Pawlowski and Council routinely trampled on it over the last 15 years with illegal tax increases, and illegal appointments. And look where it's gotten the city. Why don't we try following the document for a change?

    City Hall needs someone from the outside who can look at things, question why they're being done a certain way, and change them ruthlessly where needed. That's not Ray. He's the ultimate insider. If you like the status quo that brought us pay-to-play, cronyism, and nepotism, then he's your man. If you want things to change, then it's time for someone else. It really doesn't matter that Pawlowski is gone if City Hall doesn't change the way it does business. We're just replacing one set of cronies for another.

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    1. I agree 100% with you!! And it should NOT BE O'CONNELL.He will be picking up where the Mayor left off. And if he wants to do so much with ASD then he should join them.I think he's not correctly telling the truth. He is trying to sell himself so he can pick up and continue the corruption. He wasn't worried about the surrounding neighborhoods until now. He doesn't help residents with issues before why would he do it now. He's not correctly telling the truth about what he's gonna or would like to do! I think we need a real leader. Someone that will make sure the chapter is enforced on ALL!!Everyone in the counsel supported the Mayor for how many years they already know what the mayor was doing and how. The same with Hyman. He would Not be a good candidate either. Common sense. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure things out.

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  9. So many comments here that duplicate my thoughts on why O'Connell shouldn't be Mayor. Let's get a professional, competent and baggage-free manager/caretaker for the year it takes until we have an election. As for Dan McCarthy, Bernie, get rid of your hard-on for anybody remotely connected to Pawlowski. Doesn't the Sunshine Law make a discussion about personnel (an appointment for mayor) appropriate for an executive session (or as you spin it, the back room)?

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  10. Thief...I mean Thiel will be the next FBI target based upon lucrative CSI contracts that Charles and Fed Ed pushed through the city for over a decade. Thiel is Fed Ed 2.0, he is not to be trusted and Thief is even more of a narcissist than Fed Ed, well more like a sociopath.....

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  11. Ray was part of Pawlowski's rubber stamp enablers club and should not be considered. All current council members who served during the pre-indictment Pawlowski years should resign after apologizing for their dereliction of oversight duty.

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  12. O'Connell was never part of the rat pack.
    He distanced himself from Pawlowski in 2013 when he ran for his second term for council.
    Yes, he was a rubber stamper for years,but he was never part of the PAC.
    He is an honest guy,who has given his entire adult life serving Allentown.
    He might be the manager/care taker that Allentown needs right now.
    Also, rumor has it that the 2 S's were under investigation.



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  13. Maclean sued the city.
    Thiel made lots of money from contracts with the city.(CSI).
    Mccarthy is a Pawlowski minion.All of a sudden Pawlowski nominates him for solicitor,when he wanted him gone from
    the Parking Authority as solicitor.
    Hyman doesn't know what party he wants to be in.Party of the month.
    Pawlowski gave Muller $20,000 campaign contribution when he ran for county executive.
    Now it is pay back time.
    You figure it out???????

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  14. O'Connell at one time supported Fed Ed but so did every Dem in A-town. He woke up, stoof up tp the guy, and began saying No.

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  15. Another good rumor is that Joe Hanna wants to be Mayor????
    Joe is a great guy, but doesn't live in Allentown.
    He made Roger Maclean look good when Roger checked out as Chief long before he retired.
    Roger never wore a Police uniform the last several years of his tenure???
    Also, Roger doesn't even own a home in the city.
    Great example as future Mayor.

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  16. Roger Maclean seemingly lives in a free city house....Trexler Park

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  17. Talk about rubber stampers.
    Martin and MacLean are attached at the hip.
    MacLean has a county job via Martin.
    Maclean would do whatever Martin wants him to do?????
    MacLean has it made, why would he want to have to go to work everyday and be accountable.
    He sure is not accountable to anyone right now except Jim Martin (that is a joke).
    The biggest decision he makes now is where are they going to lunch ????????

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  18. Any news on Lou Herschman? I think he would make a good mayor and a great fiscal watchdog. I hope he put his name in the running.

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  19. Sam "The Scam" Bennett. Don't laugh. It could happen.

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  20. Hendricks and Thiel are both ambitious glad handing snakes.
    Two hollow peas in a pod.

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  21. Allentown really needs a caretaker, someone that can make the right decisions for the city without being subject to the pressures of a future election. Anyone in that position that runs for Mayor in the future, will make political decisions to get elected. County Board of Commissioners assigned a caretaker when Don C. left as Executive they put Hansel as caretaker. But If the LSR supports former solicitor Susan Wild's decision both Rs(Ray & Rodger) are back in competition but knowing Ray, he has 4 votes.

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  22. What about Ken Heffenfarter? Julian Kern? Mike Kaminski? Don Ringerless? Glen Hunsicker? Tom Hahn? Cynthia Mota?
    ROC is a good guy but his time has come and gone. We need some young blood who is forward looking and not living in the past.

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  23. I think everybody is missing the most obvious and qualified choice. I’m sure he would be interested.

    Dennis Pearson....with Nathan Woodring assisting him.

    Beam me up Scottie.

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  24. I vote for Emily Opilo.

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  25. 8:44, I can think of no decision to hat should be handled more publicly than the next Mayor. We are not talking about a city clerk, but the man who will wield the executive power in the state’s third largest city for the next two years. All discussions concerning the mayor need to take place very publicly.

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  26. I saw Hyman speak during the primary. A republican asked him about switching parties and whether he was a true republican. He said that he was a lifelong democrat and only switched because he thought that the democrats were going to split the vote and let Fed Ed through and if he ran as a Democrat, he would just help Fed Ed get elected but he added that he was a fiscal conservative. I respected him for his honesty, especially in a Republican crowd! And he won the Republican primary by a huge margin! Turns out he was right because the Dems did split the vote. It would be really hypocritical for Council to hold his party change against him when just about everyone has switched parties...MacLean, Thiel, Muller...the list goes on!

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  27. Ray's main message is about making the school district better...too bad the Mayor has absolutely zero control over the school district! Ray should run for the school board if he is so passionate about helping the district!

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  28. Thiel ran 2 phony not for profits that he NEVER REGISTERED WITH THE STATE! Then he listed them as his employer on bank applications...that is bank fraud! He is just another Jen Mann puppet.

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  29. I have known Dan McCarthy for 20 years. He is a VERY ethical man and has been a loyal public servant! BOH, you have no right to question his integrity, just because you have a love affair with Ray! In addition, wouldn't logic dictate that if he wants the solicitor job he would rule in favor of Roger Mclean (and Ray)???! Pawlowski is going to jail, he wouldn't do his bidding. Finally, we just got done with a Mayor who would pick and choose the laws he chose to follow. Do we really want City Council to ignore the opinion of the City Solicitor because they don't like that opinion???! BOH, I normally agree with you but you are outrageous in suggesting that City Council ignore McCarthy's ruling because you want Ray to win.

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    1. I have been in counsel chambers were he was the board chair. The people that were there were not the names slated on the agenda?

      That said there was no legal representation for the slated chacters just cardboard cut outs representing the circus carnival sideshow trix. Ethical, I think not as favoritizm and cronieizm was slated before the slated supposed hearing!

      The next level of hell, going down?

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  30. ray worked in an administrative position in the schools of allentown for over 35 years---how do you like the results???

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  31. Ray is a fundamentally good man.
    Hendricks (another historic Republican) shows up, smiles, slaps people on the back and pretends to give a shit.
    Thiel is Hendricks plus a Jen Mann problem.

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  32. 2:34, you could not be more wrong. A Mayor and City Council can have a direct influence on a school District. Allentown’s failing schools are why no one wants to raise their children there. By improving the schools, you necessarily improve the city and make it more attractive to people who want to sink roots there instead of moving on. Ray has had ample opportunity to see the problem first hand in his capacity as a school administrator. He knows what works and what does not. Believe it or not, there already is a very strong nucleus of adults who care and are just waiting for the right opportunity. Moreover, this is a problem that took years to develop and will take years to fix. But it can be fixed with strong schools and strong neighborhoods.

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  33. Let me add here that I have a great deal of respect for Daryl Hendricks. He has never failed to return a call and is one of the people I routinely see around the city. Most of the people he talks to have no idea who he is or that he is a former police captain. Same goes for Ed Zucal. Cynthia Mota was overwhelmingly re-elected and obviously has the ear of Allentown’s growing Latino population. Julio Guridy must be proud of her. I have no idea whether Roger MacLean wants to be Mayor or backs Thiel, but I have very high regard for him, too. He is a former police chief and s man of integrity. Whatever this group decides, I think that the primary motivation of most of them is what they consider the best interest of the city.

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  34. Bernie, you could not be more wrong! The Mayor and City Council have absolutely no direct control or impact on the school district. The rest of your comment is off topic. Of course the quality of a school district directly impacts the city, no family wants to move their family to a city with a failing school district. But their is absolutely no authority for The Mayor or City Council to change or better the school district. The school board is autonomous. Your shameless campaigning for Ray is offensive. You pretend that Ray can impact the school district as Mayor (which he absolutely cannot!) and you disparage Dan McCarthy.

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  35. Anyone who thinks that Ray didn't run to make sure Hyman didn't win is delusional or lying. I heard him say it with my own ears! He knew that a write-in couldn't win. He specifically stated that he wanted to take enough votes from Hyman so that Fed Ed would win so when Pawlowski went to jail he would get appointed by City Council. This is the same guy who railed against Fed Ed when he campaigned and then he tried to get him elected! If they make him Mayor, they will all will go down as part of the same corrupt good ole boy network. And Bernie you should be ashamed of yourself for pretending Ray ran to win, when Ray said himself he knew he couldn't win. At least be honest and say that you know what he did but you still want him.

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  36. Anyone, AND EVERYONE, associated with the criminal must go.
    Operative word, MUST.

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  37. Bring back Sam Bennett -- for a whole new drama.

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  38. Why of course Hendricks is responsive to your phone calls, BOH, he’s happy to respond to the concerns of anyone who can advance his ambition to be mayor — if you can’t help him he looks the other way and pretends not to see you.
    The guy had been a professional yes-man since he put on the white shirt of a Lieutenant in the APD.
    Daryl has a warm smile and a glad hand for anyone who might be useful in his quest to be mayor.

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  39. McCarthy is a POS.

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  40. 2:56, I have known him a bit longer. He is a political operative who injected himself into s legal matter already resolved by the previous solicitor. What he did has Fed Ed’s fingerprints all over it, and is only one of many times that Dan has done this.

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  41. 4:00, “I’m in this to win” were Ray’s exact words to me when i asked him about this. If he said the e act opposite to you, why not tell us who you are, or are you ashamed? I’m not.

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  42. bernie@4:33, i usually dialogue with people off the record. I do so not functioning as a reporter, but rather to gather insight. although it may sound like a contradiction, but anon 4:00 and you at 4:33 are both correct. I will elaborate after city council makes the appointment within 30 days. Michael Molovinsky

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  43. I’ll stand by what Ray told me and not what you heard Don Ringer tell Bobby Gunther Walsh.

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  44. Very interesting thoughts, Bernie. I appreciate your insight that the Solicitor in apparently unsolicited manner offered an opinion. Solicitors are there as a resource, when someone asks a question. Not to do things on their own. I assumed incorrectly that he had done that by request. Interesting that the other Solicitor had the opposite opinion. I'd be suspicious too.

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  45. Hendricks is a transparent opportunist.
    This qualification alone hardly makes him stand out in this field.

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  46. Sorry I forgot to sign my long winded work.

    republican redd no party favor
    humanist by design

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  47. Did ya’ hear the one going around City Hall?
    “So three excops and Ray walk into a bar....”

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  48. bernie@5:00, my sources are the same as yours, ray O'Connell and daryl hendricks. your comment that my sources are ringer and walsh is a dishonest attempt to prove that you're always correct. you call your anonymous commenters cowards, and those who sign liars, unless they support your promotions, which you represent as news.

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  49. I call anonymous commenters who engage in personal attacks cowards. I at least allow them. I am sure that neither Ray nor Daryl said what you claim, but am just as certain that you’ve twisted it.

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  50. I don't like disparaging any of those who aspire to serve. I want to believe that all those applying will have the best interests of the Queen city overall at heart. To that end, If for some reason City Council can't reach a consensus on a replacement, It may not be a bad thing if the Common Pleas judges end up picking a suitable caretaker candidate. The clean Break might be just what the City needs after 12 years a slave to Ed. Having thrown that out there, I do realize that Judges are some of the most subtle but merciless animals lurking in the political jungle. So God knows how the positives and negatives of that would play out.
    But back to the reality, Susan Wild as Solicitor never put an opinion on paper, she merely answered a question in a meeting concerning Jeff Glazier moving from sitting City Council bobble head over to Controller. In contrast, Dan McCarthy submitted a written opinion on the record in ab executive session of City Council. I abhor private meetings like this, but I think if Council ignores that opinion and picks Ray over a candidate with stellar qualifications who we haven't met yet, I think that opens the process up to a legal challenge, would it not? I have never played a Lawyer on TV, nor attended Law school, so I am just thinking out loud. I believe it was Justice Brandeis who coined the phrase, "Sunshine is the best disinfectant." Allentown needs an extra heavy dose of cronyism roach killer. I hope that the City Gets it.

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  51. “So, three excops and a city solicitor walk into a bar.....”

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  52. Chris, If Council is unable to agree, this will go to the judges, the most political animals on the planet. You say that McCarthy provided a written opinion? That's quite interesting, especially since no one on Council asked for one. It's even more "plainly clear" to me now that this was a Fed Ed or Jenn Mann put up. Take your pick. McCarthy serves them both.

    You ask what will happen if Council thumbs its nose at McCarthy's politically motivated opinion, as it should. In all likelihood, nothing. The "stellar" candidate ignored would have no standing. The DA could file a quo warranto action, or deputize someone to do so on his Behalf. But that seems unlikely bc Susan's opinion, though oral, is very sound. The evil sought to be remedied is the appointment of cronies to high-paying administrative positions, not interim appointments to elected office. A legal challenge would likely fail.

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  53. Bernie, I believe Ray is one of the more decent people in the Valley, but many people believe, rightly or wrongly, that he cooked up a plan to enable Pawlowski to get reelected and then he would get appointed. I see no proof of that, but many think it, and he has burned a few bridges. I don't feel goo about Thiel either. I am not hiding my feelings, I believe it would serve a greater good if a complete unknown got the job. Shake things up and make them start over.

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  54. McCarthy and Muller are money mercenaries. They will follow the devil himself an do his bidding for a paycheck and a pension. O'Connell is an old man who enjoys basketball with O'Hare, so of course O'Hare loves him.

    The problem is he is part of the problem. So the guy was a principal in a middle school in a shitty school district, a sales manger at Boscov's has more management experience than that. He was in a shitty district that is still a shitty district, nice resume, not.


    Other than O'Hare and himself no one wants him. He threw the mayor's race for his own benefit.

    Time to think outside the box. Hell Jenn Mann would be better.

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  55. I read all of the comments and I can’t beleive, in most cases, what I am reading. I was very close to the Fed Ed case, knew most of what went on as it was happening and was aware of all of the players. All of you that have left negative remarks about O’connell and Hendricks obviously are missing your brains. I know both of them personally for many many years. Maybe even more years than most of you have been alive. We raised our kids together, we’ve hung out together, we’ve been through think and thin through good times and bad together. The people who questioned their integrity, shame on you! You don’t even know these guys and you question their motives. You all have no clue! We should be so lucky as to have Ray O’connell as Mayor or to have Mr. Hendricks continue his roll as city council member. The comments left above are obviously left by very unintelligent idiots who are clueless about both of them or how the city works and how the city charter works even though most people fell for the change in charter in an earlier election while not being properly educated. So, with all that said, you people who talked stupidly and out of school should GO SUCK AN EGG!! YOU ARE ASS’s and you have no clue what or whom you are talking about!

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  56. Anonymous common are often not accepted as facts etched in stone here at this particular blog, a policy with which all regulars are thoroughly familiar.

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  57. Allentown thought pay to play was ok. So watch them violate the Home Rule Charter. Why would that specific language be in the Charter if it was to be ignored? What was the Home Rule Charter intent?

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  58. What Council members sided with Pawlowski to give him supreme authority to supercede any zoning with a stroke of the mayors pen?

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  59. 11:51, what you don’t get, probably intentionally, is that this entire HRC argument is a fiction.

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  60. McCarthy and Muller are both Pawlowski puppets they need to be shown the door. they cannot be trusted. Muller was known to be an arrogant ass in Lehigh County and was a gift hire from big republicans backing Cunningham and Pawlowski.

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  61. If city council puts this old Pawlowski chum in as mayor they are reinforcing the belief that they have learned nothing form this entire sordid affair. Sad!!

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  62. Maybe council should appoint Susan Wild. She is going to lose the primary race for congress anyway. Should be available very soon.

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  63. Hendricks is a glad hander to the core.
    The Prince of Fake Sincerity.
    Spare us the bullshit.

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  64. roger Maclean for the time-being holds the duel role of acting Mayor and President of the Allentown City Council for thirty days ... And Candice Affa for the time being now holds the duel role of Acting President of City Council and Vice President of City Council for thirty days. ..
    Former Mayor Ed Pawlowski now holds the role as private citizen ... But awaits Sentencing in Federal Court for being found guilty by a jury on 47 counts ... His lawyer says he will appeal these convictions.
    SECTION 209 of the Allentown Home Rule Charter prohibits 1) Council Members from holding any compensated appointive City office or City employment while on Council.
    It also prohibits 2) Council Members from serving as a compensated elected official in any other office in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or political subdivision thereof.
    And more important , no Council member shall hold 3) any compensated appointive City office or City employment until one year after his or her resignation or one year after the expiration of the term for which the member was elected to the Council.
    and finally, No Council Member shall serve 4) as an employee of any municipal authority which is created solely or jointly by the City with one or more political subdivisions until one (1) year after the expiration of the term for which the Member was elected to Council.

    Provision number 3 being the most important provision whether a Council member on council or with a recently expired term can seek an appointive position as Mayor , Controller or any other appointive position with the city. This position does not forbid a current City Council person or a retired city council person under a year to seek an elective position for Mayor or Controller in 2019 ... But the current situation is appointive not elective.

    Does that mean that Roger Maclean and Ray O'Connell are ineligible to apply for the Office of Mayor ... Acting City Solicitor Dan McCarthy said by his interpretation of the Charter they are ... But former Allentown Solicitor Susan Wlld allowed former Allentown City Councilman Jeff Glazier to be appointed City Controller despite still being a member of City Council. Was Wild's decision in accords with the Charter ....
    So whom is right according to the Charter ... Or is the Charter super-ceded by Pennsylvania law.

    So will either Roger Maclean or Ray O'Connell or both go to Lehigh County and /or other higher PA courts to challenge the Acting Solicitor's ruling ... McCarthy being one of the former Mayor's last attempted appointments.
    Also said to be interested in being appointed Mayor of Allentown are Democrats Charles Thiel, Siobhon (Sam) Bennet and Nat Hyman. And maybe David Jones too.
    ...

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  65. Please no Jen Mann

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  66. Thiel is a phoney of the Come to Jesus variety.
    Hendricks is a plain vanilla phony, never had an original idea in his life.
    Granted, I’ve only known Hendricks 30 years.

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  67. You get Thiel, Schyer, Schloss and Lil’ Courtney, you get Mann.

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  68. The shithole won’t hit bottom for years and years.

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  69. Ripply biceps? Please. Blog Mentor couldn't punch his way out of a paper bag.

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  70. allentown must clean out the cesspool it has become with all these so called political leaders---they all must go..

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