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Monday, July 20, 2020

Josh Siegel Doxes Mayor Ray O'Connell at Police Protest

"Visionary" Josh Siegel
Several Allentown opportunists, from "visionary" Josh Siegel to "life coach" and twice convicted drug felon Dr. Hasshan Batts have been doing their best to stir the pot after a 23-second video appeared to show an Allentown police officer placing his knee on the neck of a vomiting and disoriented drunk who was stumbling his way to Sacred Heart (St. Luke's) Hospital for medical treatment on July 11. "Defund the police!" screamed an instant mob. "I can't breathe," they yelled as they pounded on the doors of the police department. Headline grabbers gave speeches making themselves, of course, the center of attention.  Allentown police would later produce a nine-minute video completely refuting the George Floyd chokehold comparisons being made. There was no brutality. Officers were actually trying to help this drunk as well as medical personnel who would be treating him. That made no difference to the mob or Mayoral wannabes Josh Siegel and Ce-Ce Gerlach, both of whom are members of City Council. They marched with them, chanting

"F... the Police

"F... the who? The Police!"

Quite eloquent. Vulgarities aside, Siegel also did something far more repulsive. During the initial protest on Saturday night, he provided Mayor O'Connell's personal phone number to protest leaders. They immediately bullhorned this personal information to everyone there. It made no difference that O'Connell was actually there that night. Siegel's actions are more akin to those of a snake than a visionary.

Am ethics complaint has been filed against Siegel. From what I have been able to gather, there are several witnesses to what Siegel did. This includes a few of those police officers that everyone wants to f... .

I contacted Mayor O'Connell, who confirmed he was deluged with calls for a few days after being doxed, although that has tapered off.

When he appeared at the initial protest, most of those who greeted him were former students and very civil. But there were also a few ugly people whose hats and bandanas made it impossible to determine identity.

"We know where you live!" shouted one. "We like flames."

Siegel also wants the names of the officers involved released. He apparently wants to dox them, too.

With visionaries like Josh Siegel on Allentown City Council, it is little wonder the City is going ti hell in a handbag. He is telling everyone he will be Allentown's next Mayor. Other names, like Julio Guridy and Ce-Ce Gerlach, have also been mentioned.

Is any adult interested? I'll have an answer to that question tomorrow.

Updated 10 am: Playing Politics with Public Safety


35 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ray must be crazy if he wants 4 more years.

michael molovinsky said...

Another agitator stirring the pot is the Morning Call. They have been featuring a story and profile on the "leaders" at these protests. I doubt that any of their remaining paid subscribers appreciate the glorification or share the paper's sentiments.

Anonymous said...

No way Julio give up his ultra-delux, no show bridge job.

Anonymous said...

White liberals have delivered so much misery to blacks. Josh is a perfect example.

Anonymous said...

I voted for Siegel and will never make that mistake again. He is a child and what he did O'Connell is an outrage. Ray is a 71 year old feeble old man and his wife is sickly. Siegel put their lives in danger by giving out their home information. He should be kicked off City Council. If he runs for Mayor he has no chance of winning.

Anonymous said...

Bernie: Did this kid actually refer to himself as a visionary?! Does he really believe he will be the next Mayor?! The only thing bigger than his ego are his delusions!

Anonymous said...

These are the two types of humans that America has in its future running inner cities like terrorists. Bernies readers had thought Allentowns indicted former mayor was bad, but even his crimes are barely comparable to the future ones inflicted by these types!

Anonymous said...

Allentown missed its chance when Hyman wasn't elected. Instead of wasting a write in vote for Ray they should have voted for him. Now it's a bigger mess than when Fed Ed left.

Anonymous said...

If Seigel ever had a chance of being Mayor , which I think is ludicrous, He destroyed it with his proposing 3 new taxes and this stunt of giving out O'Connell's phone number to a mob.

Anonymous said...

Siegel is an arrogant little snot.And Gerlach is a moron.

Bernie O'Hare said...

"Bernie: Did this kid actually refer to himself as a visionary?! Does he really believe he will be the next Mayor?! The only thing bigger than his ego are his delusions!"

Yes. On Twitter, that is how he refers to himself. "Allentown Councilman, Visionary, Progressive, Strategist, Fitness lover, creating progress for all, making Allentown a laboratory of democracy."

Bernie O'Hare said...

"Another agitator stirring the pot is the Morning Call. They have been featuring a story and profile on the "leaders" at these protests. I doubt that any of their remaining paid subscribers appreciate the glorification or share the paper's sentiments"

Hate to say, but I am simply unable to read TMC. I subscribed again, but it still keeps throwing me off. Your comment is a reminder that I need to cancel.

Anonymous said...

If you're unable to read the paper, all you're missing is glorification of the "correct" type of protests and the obligatory "white people are stupid" cartoons on the editorial page.

The only reason I still subscribe is for the puzzles and comics, and the hope the sports page will be meaningful again.

Anonymous said...

I don't subscribe to TMC, because I'm lucky to read two articles at best. They don't have enough stories of interest. If i do need to read more there is a way around that. So I can read as many as I want. But seriously, not enough that interests me. Unsubscribe all. (I didn't read the article of those behind the local Burn Loot Murder.)

Anonymous said...

I think you should post the scumbag s phone number and address so other people can pay him a visit.

Bernie O'Hare said...

Then I would be as bad as he. I may be a bottom-feeding blogger, but I have standards, damn it!

Anonymous said...

"Making Allentown a laboratory for democracy" has to be one of the more nonsensical things I have ever read. It is amazing how one has such a grandiose opinion of oneself when one has accomplished absolutely nothing Visionary? I think not, but may have cracked a rib laughing at that one.

Here is the Twitter profile he should have:

Bridge-burning, smarmy opportunist who is adept at pot stirring and little else. Doofus extraordinaire.

Bernie O'Hare said...

I refuse tro host comments in violation of my comment policy. Comments that attack "Democrats" or "Republicans" will be deleted. Stop the tribalism.

Anonymous said...

9:30 AM is exactly right! What the hell does that mean...."Making Allentown a laboratory for democracy"?. This kid is 25 years old and thinks he is the smartest thing to come to Allentown. He went to Seton Hall, not that there is anything wrong with that, but it's not like he is some brilliant ivy school grad. He is pompous, immature, and egotistical. He has no business on City Council. And now he thinks he should be Mayor???

Anonymous said...

Anonymous (6:36 am) said...

White liberals have delivered so much misery to blacks. Josh is a perfect example.


Josh is just doing the bidding of his party leaders.

Trump approval in the black community had been approaching 40%.

Something had to be done to get them back on the party plantation.

Anonymous said...

Anon @ 7:13 : The only chance Allentown has is if Hyman runs, which I doubt he will do. If he runs, he will win hands down. Otherwise, the city is a goner.

Anonymous said...

My Morning Call subscription just expired and I simply can't bring myself to renew. Between their lopsided political slant and the maddening pop-up ads, I've had enough. Two weeks without and I don't miss it a bit. I see LVL now has a paywall, also. For a fee, you can subscribe to zero coverage of county government.

Anonymous said...

Anon 11:00 AM said: "The only chance Allentown has is if Hyman runs, which I doubt he will do. If he runs, he will win hands down. Otherwise, the city is a goner."


Allentown had their chance with Hyman and blew it.

Quite honestly, the voters in Allentown don't deserve to have someone as qualified as Hyman for Mayor.

Allentown voters have chosen poorly in election after election, and still are too stupid to realize what the problem is.

Even if Hyman would run, he'd be saddled with a City Council with mental midgets like Siegel and Gerlach. Even the best we have can't overcome that kind of stupid.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of City Council, where are the others calling out Siegel and Gerlach for their actions and efforts to defund the police? Any response I've seen so far to their extremist positions has been timid at best.

Are they too afraid to stand up to the mob, or do they feel the same way as Siegel and Gerlach?

Similarly, what has Mayor Invisible (O'Connell) been up to? He only seems to come out to pander to protesters. Why doesn't he stand up for HIS police force and tell the protesters that they're wrong?

Anonymous said...

This guy Seigel and CeCe Gerlach are humiliating the City. You have thousands of good, solid working class families trying to stay in the City and they just make it so hard to stay. Siegel is a millenial who nobody has ever seen or heard of before, Gerlach runs in front of the cameras looking like she lives in a homeless encampment under a bridge. How can decent, working class families stay in Allentown? Ray O'Connell? Who's he? I haven't seen or heard a peep from him in months. I used to be optimistic about Allentown's future but I just don't know anymore how the City can make ends meet and if any still viable neighborhoods can survive. One thing is for sure, the working class property tax paying public desperately need the Police more than ever. Maybe those residents, who pay most of the bills are no longer welcome by City Council.

Anonymous said...

Anon 1:12 you are 100% correct on all points but it is even worse than that! The pinhead Siegel has been on Council a year and has already proposed 3 New taxes on the people of Allentown!!! 3!! And on top of that, He wants to defund the police, play to the basest instincts of a mob, call himself a visionary and give out O'Connell's phone number to an angry crowd....oh yeah, and run for Mayor.

Ed Zucal Candidate for Allentown City Council said...

Regarding 1:05. Things will be happening in the near future with regards to CeCe GERLACH and Mr. Seigel. I cannot reveal now what that will be. I can assure you that, we are not quiet. We have your back and the backs of the police and the citizens that we serve. Councilman Zucal.

Anonymous said...

DISCOVER LEHIGH VALLEY BLOGSPOT

Anonymous said...

Mr. Seigel is the current Controller of Lehigh County and is privy to all kinds of confidential information from people and businesses who do business with the county.

If he cannot be trusted to keep confidential the phone number of the mayor (if the accusation is correct) how can he be trusted to keep confidential the items he sees in due course of his job.

Anonymous said...

If you have not left Allentown yet do so ASAP!

Bernie O'Hare said...

"Mr. Seigel is the current Controller of Lehigh County"

He is an Allentown City Councilman who works in a patronage job for the Controller of Lehigh County. That's Mark Pinsley. This duo contrived a double tax to impose on everyone in the middle of a pandemic. I've told you Siegel has Mayoral ambitions. Pinsley wants to be Exec.

Anonymous said...

Once again, Bernie for the win. Haven't read a word of any of this in The Morning Call. (And it still grinds my gears that the meth found in Courtroom One was only reported on here.)

Anonymous said...

What a lot of vitriol some of you commenters have toward two young members of Council trying to get something done around here and tackle the bloated police budget! The barely veiled racism jumps out in these comments about Gerlach; to anon 1:12, to say a woman of color looks like she's "from a homeless encampment" is...... wow.
As for Siegel, I was at the rally and it was important the mayor got there quickly so that the people could hear from him about an instance of police brutality in our own city, and so Siegel gave out O'Connell's number to an event organizer. The number was perhaps broadcasted too widely out to other attendees, but ultimately O'Connell got to the rally at multiple constituents' urging.
More generally I also fail to see how being young and introducing new ideas on Council is a worthy line of attack. I suggest you all spend some time reflecting on why change in Allentown is so terrifying to you-- is it because Siegel and Gerlach's proposals won't exclusively benefit wealthy, white West End residents? Think it over.

Bernie O'Hare said...

If they are stupid ideas, they deserve an attack. But that is not the point of this post. Siegel is being taken to task, not for his stupidity, but for releasing the personal phone number of Ray O'Connell. That's a shitty thing to do. As for Gerlach, nothing in the comments about her were remotely racist. She does not dress well and someone pointed it out. I am white and neither do I. People have pointed out how I dress and no one could ever conclude that is racist. So you are attempting to create an issue where there is none. O'Connell's appearance had NOTHING to do with the fact that he was doxed, which was entirely inappropriate. Finally, I do not consider Gerlach young. As for the merits of their proposals, they will hurt the people who can least afford it - the working poor. An increased sales tax is regressive and hurts the working poor far more than wealthy west enders. You obviously have no idea what you're talking about.

Anonymous said...

10:06PM, It amazes me that otherwise educated and seemingly intelligent people think that they can let everyone out of jail, and at the same time cut police departments budgets and expect no consequences. What we see in many cities across America today are increases in crime as a result of policies that do not allow people to do their jobs, and are compounded by the fact that people are not held accountable for their actions. This experiment is being tried in NYC, Philadelphia, Baltimore and others and look at the results! Record crime rates! Continuing on this path will be disastrous for cities who implement these policies, but will also hurt the most vulnerable inner city poor people the most.

Policing isn't perfect in this country, but cutting police budgets in cities that have already high crime rates is a bad idea that even my 10 year old understands. The police are not the criminals, and criminals are not victims!

As far as Siegel goes, cutting the police budget and implementing regressive taxes will hurt the very people he professes to help! It's complete insanity!