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.