Ray O'Connell Gets Mayoral Appointment on 12th Ballot

After three days of interviews, followed by 12 suspenseful ballots, former City Council President Ray O'Connell received the four votes he needed to be appointed Allentown's 43rd Mayor last night before a large and sometimes very vocal audience at City Hall. Julio Guridy, Ed Zucal and Daryl Hendricks consistently voted for O'Connell in all 12 ballots. Roger MacLean, Candida Affa and Courtney Robinson just as consistently voted for Allentown School Board President Charlie Thiel. The wildcard was Cynthia Mota.  She voted 11 times in a row for Dr. Hasheem Batts, a candidate whose past criminal record might make him ineligible. Having made her point,she finally switched her vote to Ray. After getting the appointment, O'Connell immediately came from the back of the room to shake hands with Dr. Batts. He also shook hands with every Council member, including those who voted against him.

On Tuesday and Wednesday nights, I watched the candidate interviews online. But nothing beats being there in person. City Council had previously decided to deny Batts an interview because of his criminal record, but reversed course last night. Most of the audience was pro-Batts. They carried signs until Council President Roger MacLean ordered them removed. They also burst into applause when ever anyone slammed white people.

The white male vilified

Over the years, I've seen  Allentown's problems blamed on minorities rather frequently. But last night, the white man was cast as the villain. 

Erin Keller, a candidate who herself is white, called Allentown's current government "boys in the hood. White guys are making money; everyone else is floundering."

That resulted in applause from the pro-Batts crowd, and MacLean had to remind the audience that no applause would be permitted. So they started snapping their fingers whenever someone suggested that Allentown suffers from systemic prejudice.

This theme continued when citizens were allowed to give one-minute speeches. Ashley Strange complained that every Mayor in Allentown's history has been white and male.

Batts and hope

Dr. Batts himself gave an eloquent speech. He "came up from Hell," starting at age 11. That's when he saw his first murder. That's when he saw his grandmother die. That's when he was arrested for the first time.

"I had been treated like garbage for most of my young life, and as a result, began to treat the world around me as garbage," he said. "Hopelessness and despair were my every day reality."

At age 15, he and a friend were arrested for stealing socks. Because they wised off to the cops,they were given "the treatment," which consisted of being placed handcuffed in a cell with sexual predators. "That night changed my life," he asserted. He said he was a "black boy in a world that does not value me," but made his situation worse by selling drugs.

He did turn his life around. He knows "the pain of poverty and the power of education." He wants "to heal the City he once damaged. I love Allentown."

As Mayor, he said the first thing he would do is sit down with all the key stakeholders to re-establish trust. But he believes "the City works best when you are white and a male." (Fingers begin snapping).

He also reminded everyone of the 2015 tragedy in which Johnesha Monae Perry, a 19 year old girl, hurled herself and her baby off the Hamilton Street bridge. She survived. Her 20-month old son died. "I lost hope," she later explained. She was herself a victim of sexual abuse, a foster child and her health insurance had lapsed.

He said the next Mayor should be a person who thinks about the Johneshas as well as the homeless.

Mann Mob Gets Nasty 

Though the Mann mob had three votes lined up for Thiel, they just couldn't get a fourth. Courtney Robinson misrepresented himself as following the solicitor opinions. "[W]e are just coming out of a situation in which rules that an elected official didn't like were ignored." He complained that Council was making the same mistake as Fed Ed by ignoring an opinion from the Solicitor.

Fed Ed committed crimes. City Council voted to ignore a bad and politically inspired legal opinion submitted by someone who was never confirmed as Solicitor. It is a misinterpretation of the "revolving door" rule in the Home Rule Charter, which is designed to prevent Council members from giving themselves high-paying cabinet positions when they leave office.It has no application to appointments to elected office. Courtney Robinson, who answers to Jennifer Mann and not the people, wanted to keep O'Connell and MacLean out of contention.

As it became more apparent that O'Connell had four votes, things got ugly. In addition to the increasingly histrionic attacks on O'Connell here, one city resident named James Whitney got up and complained that people have lost faith in the City. He attacked Rick Orloski, the prominent Allentown attorney who said that the pretend solicitor's opinion is wrong. He pointed out that Orloski contributed to Ray's campaign.

After it was all over, I saw Whitney chumming it up with Robinson.     

Candida Affa pretended that she had spent many "sleepless nights" wrestling wih a decision she had made all along.

Mota and hope 

Mota was very moved by Dr. Batts' message. "We need to give people hope," she argued. She said Council has voted to ban the box and allow people with criminal records to apply for city jobs and is employing a "double standard" by refusing to look past Batts' criminal record. "Look at all the people,"she said, referring to the audience. "Please don't give up," she implored them. "This City is yours."

In what appeared to be a symbolic message, she voted for Batts 11 times before relenting and voting for Ray O'Connell. She could have sent this to the courts had she wanted. He was sweating it out in the back of the room.

O'Connell immediately takes oath

After shaking hands with Batts, Ray wasted no time taking the oath. I think he took it about four or five times. I stole the picture you see from Ed White. I was unable to get one of my own. The president of some Syrian group had a nice shot, but he wanted to charge me.

"Damn Syrians," I groused. He laughed and said, "Damn white males."

For his part, O'Connell said everyone will be heard. "No one will be shut out," he said.