By a 4-2 vote last night, Allentown City Council rejected a citizen initiative to limit police response to many 9-1-1 calls and replace them with a $4 million mobile community response team consisting of social workers and EMTs who were never asked to participate. Voting against the initiative were Daryl Hendricks, Ed Zucal, Cynthia Mota and Candida Affa. Voting Yes were Ce-Ce Gerlach and Natalie Santos.
Santo Napoli was absent.
This rejection fails to kill the initiative, which has the support of 3,800 registered voters. Instead, it will go the Lehigh County Board of Elections to be placed on the ballot for November's election.
Whether it gets there, however, is by no means a sure thing. Allentown Solicitor Charles F Smith, Jr., advised City Council that the expenditure of $4 million outside of the budget process contravenes the Home Rule Charter, In addition, he said Allentown has no authority over county-employed 9-1-1 dispatchers who are governed by state law.
Before the vote, Mayor Matt Tuerk told City Council that the initiative has a "host of problems" that include misleading statements by petition circulators, but its biggest problem is that "this contravenes our form of government. We have a strong Mayor form of government" in which the Mayor is charged with preparing a presenting an annual budget. "This takes $4 million off the top and says we shall spend it in a particular way. It's not how we normally do things." He also blasted the lack of collaboration. "Programs that are successful need to have buy-in from the program participants. ... We should work to serve the public safety needs of our community, but we should do it together. That's not what happened here." He called the initiaticve " a solution looking for a problem"
Among the numerous people who spoke against the initiative was Sgt Ben Iobst of Allentown Police Department (APD). He noted that APD already has crisis intervention teams (CIT) respond to mental health issues. He said every police officer receives 36 hours of de-escalation training, followed by 3 hours of A'town specific mental health training. Officers in CIT receive an additional 40 hours of training. Crisis negotiation team gets 80 hours of training plus 96 hours of annual training.
In contrast to what appears to be misinformation by initiative supporters, Iobst stated that APD made only 33 arrests last year of people with mental health issues. Nearly every one of those arrests was diverted by the DA for treatment.
Police responding to overdoses saved the lives of 146 people in 2020, 174 in 2021 and 143 in 2022. After reversing these overdoses, they go out with Treatment Trends and do follow ups, not to arrest people, but get them help.
SGT Iobst indicated that 1,268 serious mental health incidents called into police in 2022. Officers made 906 referrals to mental health services.
In addition, they stopped 22 people who were actively attempting suicide.
Iobst would know, He stopped one attempted suicide victim who had just learned he had a serious illness and was trying to jump off a roof. In contrast to Iobst, initiative supporter Ce-Ce Gerlach filmed a suicide aftermath, and the victim's family learned about it from her Facebook Live.
"Don't look at our officers like they're dangerous and can't respond to mental health issues," said Iobst. He instead called them "experts and heroes who do an amazing job and should be celebrated as community role models"
Vicki Kistler, Allentown DCED Director, said she was at a neighborhood watch meeting and heard the initiative presented as an APD, Allentown Health Department program. People who signed the initiative later told her, "I had no idea what I was signing." Incidentally, Kistler was a social worker. "I don't see a line of social workers saying this is a great program."
Mehmet Barzev, who directs EMS in Allentown, was surprised to learn that his department was included in the mobile community response team. "We were not asked for any input in this."
Something tells me this initiative will be rejected by Lehigh County's Election Board. It's illegal.
29 comments:
WFMZ identified non-resident (and Lehigh County Commissioner candidate) Jon Irons as a volunteer canvasser for Bill 47. This initiative seems to be driven by outsiders who are more concerned with their political agenda of de-funding police than by citizens of Allentown looking out for the safety of residents
Gerlach and Santos should be removed from office for voting for this nonsense! Are there any sane people left in Allentown? Vote those clowns out!
They claimed this was not part of the defund the police. IT WAS. They proposed to use $4 Million to fund the program without reducing the police budget and without raising taxes. Either these people failed math, or don't know how the City's budget works, or just lied.
I am very happy that this proposal was defeated last night in council. It is a terrible proposal and not needed. I am disappointed, however, that two members of council voted for it. It should have been unanimously rejected.
That said, I think that some of the arguments that this shouldn’t be on the ballot are wrong. The Charter gives citizens the right to participate in city government and put forth their own ideas. The process is not easy, and major hurdles have to be cleared just to get a proposal in front of council and then passed by the voters if council rejects it.
City Hall’s position always seems to be that a proposal can’t be placed on the ballot because of the City’s “strong mayor” form of government. That seems contrary to the intent of the charter, as the whole point of the initiative and referendum section of the charter is precisely to override the direction of city government. The people are above both council and the Mayor, and their will (assuming the proposal is approved by the voters) should not be superseded.
Please note that my thoughts on this do not include questions about whether citizens can force the Lehigh County call center to implement this proposal, or whether the Petitioner’s Committee was properly constituted. Those are separate issues that need to be addressed.
While a post yesterday exposed the spokesperson for this initiative as a suburban hypocrite from Lower Macungie Township masquerading as "one of us", WFMZ has now also identified non-resident, Jon Irons as a volunteer canvasser for Bill 47. How can non-residents circulate these petitions? This entire initiative is beginning to look like the work of outside agitators with disguised motives trying to use Allentown to pursue their own personal political objectives.
This scheme was stopped and it shows the importance of paying attention. Woke hates you, wants you victimized, and never sleeps. A couple of dangerous wokesters got this far with a disastrously dangerous plot. They will try again. Pay attention.
Speaking of Jon Irons, I think he's they guy running for Lehigh County Commissioner. He handed me a card when I voted indicating he was part of the "Peoples United Front" slate that included Rodney Bushe & Ce Ce Gerlach for Allentown City Council and himself for Lehigh County Commissioner. I do recall him being identified on the ballot as being from maybe Salisbury or possibly Bethlehem? Now he is circulating Bill 47 petitions in Allentown?? County wide voters might want to steer clear of this guy come the general election.
"While a post yesterday exposed the spokesperson for this initiative as a suburban hypocrite from Lower Macungie Township masquerading as "one of us", WFMZ has now also identified non-resident, Jon Irons as a volunteer canvasser for Bill 47."
I identified him as a Bethlehem resident when the initiative was first presented. Non-residents are permitted by law to circulate petitions. Irons, incidentally, is a Dem nominee for Lehigh County Comm'r. I am unaware whether he misled anyone - he denies it - but several people have stated, on the record, that circulators had misrepresented the petition.
And the WFMZ article quoted CeCe as saying that the county and city would have to change. She should know, as a council
member, that the city has ZERO authority to make changes to the county 911 center. Not to mention the several legal issues brought up by the solicitor.
"That seems contrary to the intent of the charter, as the whole point of the initiative and referendum section of the charter is precisely to override the direction of city government"
Home rule charters do provide for direct democracy in the initiative and referendum process, but tend to specifically exclude budgetary matters. I'm not sure whether Allentown's HRC is clear on that process. NorCo's HRC is similarly vague. But what is clear is that Allentown citizens have no right to bind the county. The petitioners' committee could have amended the ordinance to respond to this concern, but failed to do so.
I believe the petitioners' committee is probably properly constituted. Imogen Wirth may be a member, but there were at least five registered voters from Allentown as I recall.
Irons, who is actually from the Chicago area, is part of Lehigh Valley Stands Up.
Bernie O'Hare 9:26 said:
"But what is clear is that Allentown citizens have no right to bind the county."
Absolutely agree on that, but I don't think it disqualifies the initiative from going on the ballot.
If approved, the county would have to refuse to implement it. If so, supporters could use the initiative and referendum process in the county charter to try to pass it.
They're obviously already trying to put members on the Board of Commissioners, so it's not a stretch to think that they've already considered this and that is their plan.
So I think you could have a situation where if the referendum passes at the city level, it can't be implemented until changes are made later at the county level. That's likely what Gerlach is alluding to. It would always be a two-step process, and Allentown's where they decided to start.
Bottom line is that this referendum needs to be stopped by the voters, and politicians who support it (like Gerlach and Irons) need to be defeated at the ballot box.
I'd love to see the actual petition wording that was on the page that was signed by residents, along with the script that was used to describe it to them. Many people support having social workers assist police, and many police support that concept (including in Allentown). However, I don't think most of the residents understood that police would be forbidden from responding to many types of calls under this referendum.
On the subject of Gerlach, I think there's an opportunity here to get her out of office.
To do that, you need a democrat who is willing to run a write-in campaign for the general election like Ray O'Connell did for Mayor a few years ago.
Ideally, that candidate would team up with Affa and Napoli (the two other council primary winners) and the three of them would campaign hard for both the write-in candidate and the ballot measure.
Gerlach has benefitted from having name recognition without necessarily being tied to her policies (or results). I would think that tying Gerlach to a measure that is strongly opposed by the DA, the Mayor and what seems like all the first responders in the city would drag her down, especially with republican and independent voters who would now have a vote in the general election.
Of course, this would require Affa and Napoli (who wasn't there last night and didn't vote) to 1) come out strongly against the measure and 2) run the slim risk of losing a seat they currently have locked up by having to run again in a four-person race where one of them could be left out.
Whether they'd be willing to selflessly put aside their personal aspirations for the greater good of defeating Gerlach isn't clear. But the opportunity is there.
Also on the county front, it was encouraging to see DA Martin weigh in and make a statement against the proposal.
More concerning is the silence of DA-to-be Gavin Holihan, who was unopposed in the Republican primary and may have garnered enough write-ins on the democrat side to virtually lock up the election in Fall.
I think many have assumed that because he had Martin's endorsement that he'd be similar on policy, but I don't know anyone that actually knows the guy.
It would have been nice to see him state his position on the proposal to help voters know who he is. Hopefully, he's not a stealth candidate for Lehigh Valley Stands Up or others like them.
If he's not, I'd say this was an opportunity missed for him to define who he is, before others do it for him.
Speaking of Allentown's "mayor" and the budget, the slippery little Tuerk *claims* to have conducted a Zero Based Budget exercise, but adamantly refuses to release the generally accepted outputs of such an activity -- even going so far as to refuse a Right-to-Know request on the matter.
Can you turn up the heat on him, Bernie?
"More concerning is the silence of DA-to-be Gavin Holihan, who was unopposed in the Republican primary and may have garnered enough write-ins on the democrat side to virtually lock up the election in Fall."
I think you're looking for a reason to be critical of Holihan before he even takes office. He works directly under Martin as his top assistant. Martin would never select a "defund the police" advocate as his successor.
You don't know him because he's relatively apolitical. He does most of his talking in a courtroom, not at rallies.
I did interview Holihan, and a link to that interview is below. I am sure his views on this initiative parallel Martin's. Don't get me wrong. They both are very proactive when it comes to crime. Jim Martin was actually instrumental in many of the programs that have recently been implemented, like after visits to overdose victims in an effort to get them help. Holihan is certainly his own person with his own views. But there is no need for him to weigh in. The DA has spoken.
https://lehighvalleyramblings.blogspot.com/2023/04/gavin-holihan-lehigh-county-da-jim.html
"On the subject of Gerlach, I think there's an opportunity here to get her out of office.
To do that, you need a democrat who is willing to run a write-in campaign for the general election like Ray O'Connell did for Mayor a few years ago."
And what happened to Ray is that he lost. It is very difficult to win a general election via a write-in campaign.
10:57, First, your comment is completely OT. This is about a citizen initiative to limit police response to 9-1-1 calls. It is not about Tuerk. Second, I find your reference to Allentown's Mayor as "slippery" and "little" to be mean-spirited and unnecessarily negative. Third, if you claim a RTK request was denied, you should provide details, including your own identity. The only person I find to be "slippery" and "little" is you.
This issue is receiving the scrutiny and condemnation it deserves.
It’s also being pushed by radical left wingers in the area.
Bernie O’Hare 11:09 said:
“ And what happened to Ray is that he lost.”
Did he? If my memory serves me correctly, he garnered enough votes to prevent Nat Hyman (a far better candidate) from winning, which allowed Pawlowski to win that year and remain in office. Then, when Pawlowski was subsequently convicted, O’Connell was appointed Mayor by Council.
I guess Ray got over that “loss” pretty quickly.
That aside, I do agree that it’s difficult to win as a write-in.
However, this is a race for three seats and I still maintain that tying Gerlach to a potentially very unpopular ballot question would make her vulnerable in the general election - which is certainly more vulnerable than she is in the primaries. I’m not saying it would work, but the opportunity is there.
The alternative is to do nothing and Gerlach remains in office without any opposition.
Not looking to be critical of the incoming DA. It’s just Martin has been there so long and has done a very good job, so Holihan has a lot to live up to.
Plus, he’ll be the guy that we need to speak out against this proposal if it’s approved in Allentown, since he’ll either be (or be very close to being) the DA when they attempt to put it into action at the county level (assuming it passes)
I do appreciate the link, and I’ll check it out.
Your graphic is regrettable. Saying "fuck the police" hardly is constructive, but you are suggesting that those who are critical of the police are lawbreakers. Not even close. I'm quite law-abiding, but I also have plenty criticisms of police behavior.
"Your graphic is regrettable. Saying "fuck the police" hardly is constructive, but you are suggesting that those who are critical of the police are lawbreakers. Not even close. I'm quite law-abiding, but I also have plenty criticisms of police behavior."
It is factually accurate. Many of those involved in this movement participated in rallies in which "Fuck the Police!" was the mantra. This includes Ce-Ce Gerlach, Rodney Bushe and Hasshan Batts. In fact, that convicted felon is the one who led others in the chant. Bushe was one of the petition circulators and Gerlach voted for this measure and has voted No to police at every opportunity. Unfortunately, the graphic is entirely appropriate.
Affa would have lost her seat with one less contender in the primary, but I don’t know anything about the runner-up’s view on this subject.
Another Chicago crook!
Don’t even tell me Irons is a ……Community Organizer lol.
No, he works in IT. I have nothing against him, but I strongly disagree with an initiative that will in my opinion make the community far less safe.
"No, he works in IT. I have nothing against him, but I strongly disagree with an initiative that will in my opinion make the community far less safe."
Police presented misleading data to imply that Eugene, OR is more dangerous than Allentown due to a higher absolute number of violent crimes. In fact, the violent crime rate is quite similar (about 4 incidents per 1,000 residents in 2021) and addressing violent crime is completely outside the scope of the proposed program.
Post a Comment