The Great Alan Jennings Responds to Toy Factory Story

The last time I spoke to the Great Alan Jennings was during the late Summer or early Fall of 2018. He made a point of telling me he was calling me from the beach, which I thought a tad odd for someone who proclaims himself as the voice of the voiceless. In our brief conversation, he churlishly berated me in a profane-ridden tirade over my coverage of Upside Allentown's corrupt facade grant program, in which insiders were awarding grants to themselves. Upside Allentown then operated under the rather large umbrella of Community Action LV, whose biggest accomplishment in recent years has been to change its name. Jennings, its former Executive Director, had responded to my inquiries and did have to amend one of his tax returns, but was nevertheless upset with me for giving a voice to two people who would otherwise have been voiceless. He got ugly in that call. 

Fast forward to the present. I recently wrote a story about Allentown's Toy Factory, in which Jennings plays a minor role as a member of Allentown's Redevelopment Authority (ARA). This vacant factory was purchased by the ARA in 2022 for $400,000. Hasshan Batts, a two-time convicted drug dealer who is nevertheless heralded by the increasingly irrelevant PBS as a hometown hero, proposed turning it into a mosque, and nearly succeeded. 

Nothing much happened since then until earlier this year, when the ARA finally got around to publishing a formal Request for Proposals (RFP), and the main purpose was to provide affordable or workforce housing. 

That's what Allentown developer Nat Hyman does, and without sticking his hand in the taxpayer's pocket for grants or LERTAs or TIFs. And he's been successful at it, having completed 41 projects with 1,480 apartments over the years. He submitted a plan to turn the defunct factory into 20 apartments with on-site parking. He also offered to pay $410,000 for the properties with no contingencies. 

Another developer, Warren Lim, gave the ARA two options. The first would be 6 apartments, a daycare and no on-sire parking. The second would be 12 apartments with no on-site parking. The ARA would lose between $50,000 to $100,000. And Lim's offer is contingent upon his ability to get a loan for $1.39 million. 

This seems like a no-brainer, right? But this is Allentown, land of pay-to-play, a former Mayor who went to jail for public corruption, and a city Council that very nearly ignored state law a few years ago to appoint hometown hero and convicted felon Hasshan Batts as Mayor. 

After a private meeting with LIM, the ARA has tentatively decided to go with him. Jennings actually insisted that Hyman should apologize to ARA. 

Allentown developer Nat Hyman has sued. That's another thing he does. 

This case is making its way through the legal jungle, but Jennings hates any form of criticism. He is more accustomed to adulation. He also occasionally pens condescending op-eds railing about numerous topics, including how to solve the affordable housing crisis. Hypocritically, when he had an opportunity to provide 20 affordable rental units in Allentown, he said No.  

His real schtick over the years has been to threaten banks and wealthy developers unless they give him money. When they do, he gives them cover like he has done with the NIZ. His approach has helped some people over the years, but there's no denying that his shakedowns are nothing short of legal extortion. 

He would have done well in the Mafia. 

In my Toy Factory story, Jennings was unable to take the public criticism. Like so many public figures, he is incredibly thin-skinned. 

Here's a few excerpts from that story, including what people said and how he reacted. 

Jennings once again proves he is the north end of a south bound jackass.

Jennings: Fuck you, coward.

This stinks and doesn't surprise me that Jennings was involved!

Jennings: Fuck you, coward.

All you have to say is “Alan Jennings” and you know the process is corrupt. That guy made a lifetime of fleecing people out of their money and doing nothing for the community. He thinks he’s important and that people admire him. Little does he know that everyone thinks he is do nothing asshole !

Jennings: Fuck you, coward.

Ok what the hell is Alan Jennings doing in that room? I swear, I have never seen someone try harder to remain relevant. Alan, you're retired. Enjoy it already.

Jennings: Fuck you, coward.

There’s no bigger blowhard in the world than Alan Jennings. If you ask him, he knows everything ! A legend in his own mind.

Jennings: Fuck you, coward.

Nat is a decent guy- on the other hand, Alan Jennings has been a scrubber his entire adult life- I wish he would just go away!

Jennings: Fuck you, coward.

Hasn’t the First presbyterian Church of Allentown already erected a monument for Alan?

Jennings: Fuck you, coward.

Jennings: Anonymity is cowardice.

Me: That is more often than not true but they could be cowards who are still telling the truth. You, on the other hand, have been behind nearly every major mistake in Allentown, from your rabid support of Fed Ed to your role in the facade grants, and don’t get me started on other communities. Yet you think every time you fart. People should applaud.

Jennings: Speaking of cowards, it's pretty pathetic that you won't publish my response to the paranoid schizophrenics. And you take cheap shots knowing we can't comment on the substance of the lawsuit.

I know you're too smart to believe your bull shit. You know damn well that my salary was among the lowest in the nonprofit sector. You know damn well that I declined raises. You know damn well how modest my home is. You know damn well that I received countless awards from groups throughout the Lehigh Valley, from the Conference of Churches to the Chambers of Commerce, from the US Marine Detachment to the CPA's. You may not know that my papers are in the archives of the Lehigh County Historical Society and that I was inducted into the National Community Action Foundation Hall of Fame. Surely you can''t believe that all of these people are members of Sinister Creeps and Satan Worshipers of America's Lehigh Valley Chapter.

Despite my retirement I continue to volunteer my time working on a range of groups' agendas, including housing, the arts, children and community development.

You, on the other hand, have, for decades, been a mean-spirited loser, a malicious liar who takes pleasure in trying to smear good people trying to do good things for their community, trashing their motives because you hate that people could care for others if for no better reason than that it makes them feel like decent human beings.

So, come after me, you pathetic SOB, remind us what a small, ugly antidote you are for all that is good in our world.

Me: Alan, I have published every comment you submitted, from you patting yourself on the back to the vulgarities. Aren't you special!

Tuerk Taps Jennings for A'town Revelopment Authority

According to a news release, Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk has nominated Alan Jennings, the retired Exec Director of Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley (CACLV), to serve on the City's redevelopment authority. Tuerk believes this appointment will foster more affordable (workforce) housing and sustainable growth. 

CACLV has a program called Community Action Homes, which purchases and rehabilitates housing stock throughout the Lehigh Valley. Unfortunately, the demand for services is so high that no applications are being accepted at this time. 

Development of more suitable workforce housing requires more than buying and fixing old homes. Zoning should be re-examined with an eye to increasing density with tiny homes. TFor most families, there's no need for large 3 BR homes.

Though he likes to portray himself as the champion for those who have no voice, my experience with Jennings is that he has really served a lifetime as a lackey to the rich and powerful. When he was on the NIZ board, he made no appeals for local neighborhoods. He supported two goofy new taxes proposed by Mark Pinsley and Joshua Siegel, including an increase in an already very regressive sales tax as well as a county earned income tax. He was one of lasdt few defenders of disgraced Allentown Mayor Edwin "Fed Ed" Pawlowski. 

I'm sure he'll do whatever the urban growth regime tells him to do. 

Jennings Gives Lehigh Valley Discourse an Enema

Moshe O'Hare

Earlier this month, I taped a program with Trump apologist Michael Molovinsky and host Alan Jennings for WDIY-88.1FM.The show is called Lehigh Valley Discourse and airs every Thursday at 6 pm. It touts itself as "[p]rovocative, informative and newsworthy," but is none of those things. It is instead a snooze-fest with boring hosts and terrible guests. The opening music is totally out-of-sync with the Lehigh Valley and sounds like something you'd hear on an elevator, not a radio station that prides itself, and for good reason, on excellent music. And who the hell calls conversation "discourse?" Snobs. Elitists. Me. The show needs an enema. After a four-year hiatus, CACLV's Alan Jennings was there to give one. He provided a CD containing his own musical selections and had two guests who pretty much despise each other.

Alan used to be a guest host, but quit the show in protest a few years ago when it refused to publish the first show he did with Molovinsky and myself. At that time, the big topic was Allentown corruption, and the show we broadcast was all about Allentown Mayor Edwin "Fed Ed" Pawlowski. The former station manager, like most of the mainstream media at that time, had no interest in doing anything that was provocative, informative or newsworthy. Though Alan completely disagreed with what we were saying and is still a friend of Fed Ed, he quit when the station tried to bury the truth.

He's funny that way. I heard it’s called integrity.

Michael Molovinsky, constipated

Now there's new management, but the show has still been the worst hour of radio in the Lehigh Valley. A one-hour infomercial about fish oil is better. That changed with the show that Alan Jennings hosted, which will air tonight.

For one thing, there's no love lost between myself and Michael Molovinsky. For years, he's been taking petty little shots at me. I did defend myself when he falsely accused me of impersonating reader Monkey Momma. She would later introduce herself to him and prove him wrong. Except for that, I've pretty much taken the high road and acted like Jesus Christ, turning the other cheek. Maybe I could convert a Jew, I thought, with all my Christianity.

But at the radio show, it was "eye for an eye," baby. I turned into a Jew, a Mossad, and even considered wearing an eyepatch like Moshe Dayan. Alan wanted to talk about the decline in civility, and I pointed to Molovinsky and his creepy hate blog in which one reader actually argued without contradiction that Ethiopian immigrants have low IQs. Since Trump's election, Molovinsky has become his biggest cheerleader in the Lehigh Valley. He denies this, but finds an excuse for every cruel and vicious thing that hedonist does.

producer jumps out window mid-show

I laid into Molovinsky, even catching him in a vulgar sexist remark. When a break in the show came up, Molovinsky headed to the can and was gone for some time.

I think he shit himself.

At least it smelled that way.

Molovinsky kept trying to steer the conversation away from Trump, saying he wanted to talk about local stuff like Wehr's Dam and choo-choo trains. I refused to let him. A man who wants LV kids to go hungry or supply them with boxes of moldy cheese has a direct impact on the Lehigh Valley. A man who supported ripping children out of the arms of their mothers, a policy that he quickly reversed when he realized this will cost him votes, should be condemned in the strongest possible terms. A demagogue who appeals to the dark nature in people, and not their better angels, should be called out. Molovinsky, like Trump, appeals to the dark side. His racist and xenophobic readers are proof. If anti-Muslim, so much the better.

At one point in the show, Molovinsky chided me for allowing anonymous commenters on my blog, and then attacking them as cowards. I do attack people who hide behind anonymity to engage in personal attacks. He knows that. He complained that I bully these poor cowards by demanding that they identify themselves so we all know who to sue. I do. If someone engages in defamation, I want his or her identity known so that the victims can take action.

The show was certainly provocative, informative and newsworthy. I was able to tell readers about the outrageous $810,000 in legal fees charged by Norris, Mclaughlin and Marcus in 2016 and 2017, which were improperly funneled to this firm by former Executive John Brown through the General Purpose Authority. Brown did an end-run around Northampton County Council, which has called for the resignation of that law firm as well as the General Purpose Authority Chair.

Just as it slept through most of the political corruption in Allentown, waking up only after the feds raided City Hall, the mainstream press is napping again. Aside from this blog and one story at WFMZ-TV69, there has been no coverage during the war between Northampton County and its General Purpose Authority. Newspapers are mere shadows of what they once were. They no longer have the staff to cover the inside stories. This is nobody watching the hen house.

That's where Lehigh Valley Discourse could provide a real public service. Right now, it is nothing more than a vanity show. My suggestions: Change the name; get rid of the stupid music; have one or two hosts who will ask hard questions; allow call-ins; and feature weekly guests.

Slate Belt Gets Nod For Neighborhood Partnership Program

Back in September, I told you CACLV Executive Director Alan Jennings had proposed a Neighborhood Partnership Program (NPP) that will include Slate Belt boroughs Pen Argyl, Bangor, Portland and Wind Gap. If approved,it would be the first intermunicipal neighborhood partnership program in the state.

Jennings had received the blessing of Pennsylvania's Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED),and Secretary Dennis Davin will make it official in a news conference on Thursday, 1:30 pm, at Bangor Trust Brewing.    

Though we commonly associate poverty in the Lehigh Valley with the cities, this is also a serious problem in our older boroughs, where the rag mills and quarries are extinct.  In Pen Argyl (population 3,500), 12.2% of the population lives below the poverty level. It's pretty much the same with the populations in Bangor (10.4% of 5,200), Portland (13.7% of 500) and Wind Gap (9% of 2,700). 

How will a Neighborhood Partnership Program (NPP) help? It is a tax credit program offered by the state DCED.

Here's how it works. A business making a contribution of at least $50,000 per year for five years can get a state tax credit of up to 80%. This, coupled with a federal charitable deduction, means that it only loses 13 cents on every dollar contributed.

A Portland hot tub

Corporate partners Merchants Bank of Bangor, Waste Management, ESSA Bank & Trust, and Lafayette Ambassador Bank have pledged a total of $775,000 to this project. In addition, the Northampton County Department of Community and Economic Development has committed $20,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant funding and $50,000 in Community Investment Partnership Program funding in the first year of the project.

Money would be spent on facades in central business districts. It will also be allocated to housing rehab projects and municipal park improvements. Focus in the first year will be Bangor. In the second, it will be Portland, the Cancun of the Lehigh Valley. 

Prominent Community Organizer Alan Jennings Injured in Auto Accident

Alan Jennings, outspoken Executive Director at Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley (CACLV), was injured in an automobile accident in Bethlehem yesterday. The accident occurred on Center Street in Bethlehem when the driver of another car lost control of his vehicle and Jennings hit him.

Jennings suffered a broken sternum and thumb. The driver of the other vehicle was removed using the "Jaws of Life." The extent of his injuries are unknown and hopefully not too severe. .

Though he and I have been on the opposite sides of many issues over the years, and as recently as Wednesday night, I really admire and respect Alan. He is one of the Lehigh Valley's pioneers, along with Jeff Parks and Tony Hanna.

Alan Jennings referred to Ed Pawlowski as a "fighter" in his remarks on Wednesday night to Allentown City Council. I view Fed Ed as more of a bully. Jennings is a fighter. Though he's forced to raise money from the rich and powerful, which drives me nuts, he really has been a tireless advocate for those with no friends on the inside. He's made himself that friend, and we are that much better with people like him around.

Get well, Alan.

Blogger's Note: Comments to this story are disabled.

Updated 3:30 pm: Details on the accident itself are at Lehigh Valley Live, though Alan is unnamed. Based on the pictures, he's very lucky to be alive. As readers can finally see for themselves, he does not drive a red Porsche.

Jennings: "The Slate Belt Has Been Long Neglected by All of Us"

When we talk about poverty in the Lehigh Valley, most people immediately think of Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton. But the decaying infrastructure and lack of decent jobs is also a serious problem in our older boroughs, where the rag mills and quarries are extinct. In Pen Argyl (population 3,500), 12.2% of the population lives below the poverty level. It's pretty much the same with the populations in Bangor (10.4% of 5,200), Portland(13.7% of 500) and Wind Gap (9% of 2,700). Alan Jennings, the CACLV ExecutiveDirector who will tell you himself that he's been fighting a losing battle against poverty for decades, wants that to change. He's proposing a Neighborhood Partnership Program (NPP) that will include all four boroughs.

"The Slate Belt has been long neglected by all of us," Jennings admitted to NorCo Council last week. He thinks that a NPP is the "best tool that's available for economic development in lower income neighborhoods. This is not a traditional economic development tool. This is a neighborhood development tool. It is a tax credit program offered by the [state DCED]."

What prompted Jennings to make this proposal?

Two words.

Alicia Karner, who lives in Bangor. Jennings said that, when she was employed by Northampton County, she badgered him incessantly. "You can't fight her for very long without getting bloodied and bruised." Karner eventually departed the County for greener pastures in Bethlehem, but Jennings continued seeking financial commitments from area businesses.

He finally succeeded.

Here's how it works. A business making a contribution of at least $50,000 per year for five years can get a state tax credit of up to 80%. This, coupled with a federal charitable deduction, means that it only loses 13 cents on every dollar contributed.

The businesses pledging to contribute to a Slate Belt NPP are as follows: Merchants National Bank ($50,000 per year for five years); Waste Management ($50,000 per year for five years), ESSA Bank ($25,000 per year for five years); and Lafayette Ambassador Bank ($10,000 in Year 1, $5000 in Years 2-5).

How will the money be used?

"We are very Main Street-oriented in the sense that we think central business districts are critically important," said Jennings. He added that money would be spent on facades in central business districts. It will also be allocated to housing rehab projects and municipal park improvements. He said the focus in the first year will be Bangor. In the second, it will be Portland. He believes this tiny river town is an excellent venue for eco-tourism by boaters who can take a break from kayaking and stop in a shop or restaurant.

Jennings has experience, too. He already administers three NPPs in Allentown, South Bethlehem and in Easton's West Ward. What's different about this one, if approved by the state, is that it will be the first to cover several municipalities.

The state will decide in November.

Pen Argyl Borough Manager Robin Szmoda was with Jennings as he spoke to Council. She said borough efforts to attract private investment were unsuccessful.   

Molovinsky and LVR on WDIY, 6 PM

When Mayor Pawlowski finds this out, somebody is gonna' have to throw him on a lift. He's gonna' blow a head gasket. Two of his biggest critics, Allentown's Michael Molovinsky and yours truly, will be on Alan Jennings WDIY at 6 pm tonight.

Alan Jennings don't care. He doesn't give a shit. He's a bad ass honey badger.

Lamont McClure Shows His Mean Streak

Lamont McClure and Ken Kraft have been telling everyone that their amendment to Northampton County's revolving door ordinance (see my story here) really has no application to county employees who serve on the boards of nonprofits like CACLV, which receive county funds. They deny it is an attempt to punish CACLV Executive Director Alan Jennings or the two County employees who serve on his board. They claim this ordinance only applies to entities that do business or provide paid services with the County.

But let me clue them in. CACLV does business with the County. It does provide paid services. Their attempt to pretend it has no application to nonprofits is completely contrary to the plain language of the ordinance as well as the Council discussion on Thursday night. Moreover, it is completely contrary to what McClure himself said to Jennings in an email exchange on Friday.

I filed a RTK request with Jennings, figuring he would ask McClure what was going on. Sure enough, he did.

Below is Jennings' email to McClure, followed by McClure's insincere reply, in which he demonstrates pretty clearly that he is punishing Jennings over the Marcus hire and is kicking around two County workers who look out for our money on his board while the Controller does union organizing.

Jennings to McClure:

Hi, Lamont –

I had no idea that Council was considering the ordinance it adopted last night regarding County employees’ service on boards of directors. I was away on vacation when the first reading occurred and never learned of the proposal until someone told me about the post on Bernie's blog this morning.

I didn't realize how much our hiring of Ross Marcus disturbed Council members. I sent President Cusick an apology but got no response.

The federal law that authorizes the existence of Community Action Agencies like ours requires us to include elected officials or their appointed representatives on our boards. In fact, at least one-third of our board must represent that public sector.

For more than 40 years, we have had designated seats for representatives of the two counties and the three cities. For 30 years we have also included representatives of the communities with the next highest poverty rates; that means the Slatington area, Fountain Hill, and the Slate Belt, particularly Bangor.

The concept behind the federal law is that anti-poverty work should grow out of collaborative discussion involving all sectors of the community, which means the public sector, the private sector and low-income people themselves. I believe that process has served this region very well. You know from your own experience, for example, that it was CACLV that stepped up to take on the foreclosure crisis. I hope you know that we have many, many other examples of CACLV agility in taking on new community challenges.

It would be very unfortunate if Northampton County removed itself from that process. For that reason I will be encouraging the County executive to veto the ordinance.

As an aside, I had no idea that you had such disdain for this agency or me. If there is anything I can do to heal that relationship I hope you will give me that opportunity.

Best –

Alan

McClure's Reply to Jennings:

Frank Flisser [Council Clerk] forwarded your email to me. It’s always unfortunate, when people personalize an issue. Indeed, while the genesis for this Ordinance was the Ross Marcus hiring, this issue has little, to nothing to do with CACLV, in my mind. I don’t have any personal disdain for you or your organization. As you correctly noted, I’ve worked successfully with your CACLV in the past to help folks threatened by foreclosure. As you may remember, I was the author of the Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion Program in Northampton County and I fought to get it passed. I will work with CACLV again when it is in the best interests of the people of Northampton County.

With respect to the substance of the issues you raise in your email, Northampton County law was violated when you hired Ross Marcus. That violation of the law will not be addressed in the short term as CACLV is essentially a sole source provider for certain of the human services that it provides to the County. I understood you to have said that you had no fear of the contracts being put out to bid as you would mostly likely be the only bidder or the lowest bidder. That tells me you understood what the law in Northampton County was, but due to your leverage, you chose to hire Mr. Marcus anyway.

As for the provision that was passed last night, it is your right to advocate for a veto. In many ways, after the issues Mr. Stoffa raised last night, and that you reiterated today in your email, I look forward to the opportunity to attempt to override the veto as I don’t believe the manner in which Mr. Marcus came to be employed at CACLV in violation of Northampton County law, has been adequately vetted. Heretofore, the role, in the hiring of Mr. Marcus, of the board members who are also employees of Northampton County, has not been thoroughly explored.

We have also recently just passed through a situation where the County Controller was forced to resign a teaching position at the Community College. I certainly think teaching the leaders of tomorrow at a community college is a public good. However, the classes were during the regular work day, and while the Controller did not violate any law, he wisely chose to give up the post. In the override fight, it would probably also be important to review how much time Northampton County employees spend on CACLV business during regular county working hours.

While this Ordinance, was not meant to be personalized, you and Mr. Stoffa have done so, which is very unfortunate. This Ordinance was inspired by your actions in breach of your contracts with the county, but what it is meant to do is prevent county employees from serving two competing interests. The intent of the law is to ensure that county employees have the taxpayers best interests in mind at all times. I also believe you are technically mistaken regarding one point. Elected officials are not impacted by this Ordinance. Therefore, the County Executive, any of the 9 members of County Council, the Controller or even the DA could sit on CACLV’s board. Therefore, Northampton County will not disengage from the process.

Should you wish to discuss this matter further, please do not hesitate to call.

CACLV's Alan Jennings: We Are a Nation Divided

Alan Jennings

When his lecture was over, Alan Jennings expressed some surprise that nobody had tried to kill him. He needn't have worried. A few conservative thinkers like Hotel Bethlehem managing partner Bruce Haines and activist Al Bernotas delivered gentle jabs. But most of the seventy or so people who attended the first of the South Side Initiative 2012-12 Town Hall Lecture Series on September 24 were very supportive. Liberals trend to attract other liberals and conservatives tend to attract conservatives. But this increasing polarization was the whole point of Jennings' lecture - we are a nation divided.

Jennings is the Executive Director of the Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley (CACLV), an organization that combats poverty in local communities. His career has spanned 32 years. South Side Initiative's Seth Moglen, who introduced Jennings at Bethlehem's town hall, called him an "enormous force for good" and "untiring advocate for social justice." His critics, however, deride him as a "poverty pimp" and "Price of the Poor."

According to Jennings, who just became a grandfather this weekend, we've become a nation of confused, frustrated and cynical people.

"We are polarized along geographic lines, political lines, racial lines, class lines, cultural, ethnic, religious, generational and gender lines," he posited.

"I'm sure that if someone claimed the Sun rises in the East, his or her antagonist along any of those dividing lines would strenuously argue otherwise, and the argument would include a mean-spirited, personal attack."

The problem, as he sees it, is a "small but virulent and loud industry of radicals whose sense of how the world should work is mired in the nineteenth century's social Darwinism." He includes the tea party in this group, although he later conceded there are radicals on the other side of the spectrum, too.

To those who espouse less government, his retort is that "well-financed radicals" have been very effective at "depriving government of the necessary resources" that would make it work, so it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Using welfare as an example, Jennings calls it the "tried and true default wedge issue dug up by those who hate government." But he points out that, of the 647,232 people who live in the Lehigh Valley, only 7,000 of them (1%) receive any form of cash assistance. A family of three will get just $403 per month. There's been no increase in that amount since 1985. But there have been three recessions.

Jennings conceded that there are times when he feels like a failure, especially since the poverty rate has gone up in his 32-year battle against it. "But while I do let the bastards get me down, anger has been the fuel of my hell-bent, frenzied drive to fight back," he said.

"I just can't give up."

How would Jennings solve this increasing polarization? That, he admitted is where he falls short. He made a few suggestions like increased civic engagement, publicly funded campaigns, permitting people to own guns but not ammo.

"People call it a nanny state, but maybe we need to do a better job of being nannies," he said.

Roger Hudak and Alan Jennings

In response to questions about the gentrification occurring in South Bethlehem and predicted in downtown Allentown, Jennings states he's seen no evidence of displacement. He did suggest a change to the Municipal Planning Code that would require all municipalities, both cities and suburbs, to zone some areas for affordable housing.

When the lecture was over, South Side Task Force Manager Roger Hudak proudly showed Jennings his Democratic T-shirt, claiming that is the answer. As Jennings is a tireless advocate for the poor, Hudak is a tireless advocate for Bethlehem's South Side. But unwittingly, Hudak proved Jennings' point.

The next Town Hall lecture, on October 30 at 7 PM, will feature James Peterson, Lehigh University's Director of the Africana Studies Program.

CACLV Whistleblower Backed By LC Controller

Back in June, as reported in The Morning Call, a former homeless shelter employee, Elisa Castillo, sued Community Action Center of the Lehigh Valley (CACLV). She contends her termination is a retaliation for reporting that Allentown's Sixth Street Shelter was padding the caseworker hours for one of its supervisors. What I've just discovered is that Castillo has an unlikely ally, the Lehigh County Controller.

Before Castillo's lawsuit was filed, Lehigh County Controller Glenn Eckhart audited the Sixth Street Shelter to see if it had, in fact, inflated caseworker hours charged to Lehigh County in 2011. (You can find the audit here under General Reports for 2012, #12-03). Using four different tests, the Controller concludes that the caseworker hours submitted are "inconsistent" with the actual documented client contact.

That's a polite way of saying that Sixth Street Shelter, an arm of the CACLV, was padding its hours.

Eckhart's audit includes a strident response from the Sixth Street Shelter's Director, Marsha Eichelberger. She claims the County was actually under-billed, so there. She also takes a shot at Castillo, referring to her as a "disgruntled former employee who was terminated for just cause." She never bothers to address the finding that caseworker hours were submitted for one employee that were not actually worked.

Where I come from, that's called stealing.

Alan Jennings, CACLV's Executive Director, was a lot more conciliatory. "It's embarrassing," he told me. "I'll be the first to say it." Jennings added that his administrative costs are only 8% of CACLV's entire budget. He also offered to compensate Lehigh County.

Allentown's Controller passed on auditing the Sixth Street Shelter, by the way.

Jennings is obviously unable to discuss the lawsuit filed by Castillo, but questioned whether one had really been filed. "I haven't seen it," he told me, noting that CACLV has yet to be served.

The lawsuit, which has been filed, is below.
Whistleblower Complaint v. CACLV

Parsons, Mazziotti to Appear on Jennings' Radio Show

Scott Parsons 

CACLV's Alan Jennings is the occasional host of WDIY's Lehigh Valley Discourse, which airs every Thursday, 6 PM, at 88.1 PM. It's a great show, devoid of the partisan rants and name-calling that has become standard fare in political dialogue today.

This week, his guests are Northampton County Council member Scott Parsons and Lehigh County Commissioner Vic Mazziotti. Both are newcomers elected last November. Vic is a conservative Republican who shocked the established order by suggesting, perhaps not so seriously, that federal CDBG grants be returned. Scott is a blue-collar union Democrat who still opposed Allentown's NIZ.

Vic and Scott replaced two of the Lehigh Valley's best county legislators, Dean Browning and Ron Angle. But both Parsons and Vic are their own men. I wish all four could serve.

Reassessment. Regional Health Department. Act 111 Arbitration reform. Decreases in human services. An inevitable tax hike. Gracedale and Cedarbrook. These are just some of the issues facing our County government. I'll be tuned in.

Jennings Singing For His Supper

Governor Corbett's revised budget, which appears likely to be his final budget, will reduce funding for seven human services programs by 10%, or $84 million. Those programs provide support for the mentally challenged, the homeless, the disabled, the weakest and most vulnerable segment of our society. Those who have no lobbyists clamoring for them in the land of midnight payraises.

For years, CACLV's Alan Jennings has boasted that he is their voice. He sure has a strange way of showing it in his latest polemic - A Revelation.

Instead of uttering a peep for them at this crucial time, Jennings instead complains about municipal opposition to Allentown's controversial Neighborhood Improvement Zone (NIZ). Never mind that it's an unconstitutional law that diverts local tax revenue from townships and small boroughs and into the hands of greedy developers. Never mind that the state is suffering from dwindling revenue. Never mind that $15 million in hijacked cigarette and state income taxes would go a long way to helping restore those cuts.

Jennings would rather complain about the use of his state taxes to pay for interstates, forgetting that he has a voice in electing the people who make those decisions. He never bothers to point out that townships and small boroughs have no say in the election of Allentown officials.

Taxation without representation. I thought we fought a Revolutionary War over that little principle.

Playing the race card, Jennings goes on to claim that "most of us in Allentown look different than our suburban neighbors."

Really?

Gee Alan, I'm a white male, well past the age of fifty, with thinning hair, and I don't live in Center City. I look a helluva' lot like you!

The only real transformation in Allentown will be in the collective net worth of a few well connected real estate developers and hockey team owners. The poor will remain poor.

And voiceless.

But as white guy Michael Molovinsky observes, LV bluebloods will throw Jennings a bone or two if he continues waving the pom poms.

Does Jennings Speak For the Poor or His Budget?

CACLV's Alan Jennings likes to claim he's the voice for those who would otherwise never be heard - our poor, our sick, our hungry. But he's also been a voice for the Lehigh Valley Partnership, an unelected aristocracy that thinks it knows what's est for us. Now he's a cheerleader on the NIZ team, which is diverting badly needed state tax revenues from the very people he champions.

Appointed to the newly formed and rubber-stamped NIZ Board as their token bleeding heart, Jennings is already doing the bidding of his corporate masters and waving pom poms. In an Express Times Op-Ed, he portrays himself as a suburbanite turned urbanite who "walks the walk," and implores us all to give the NIZ a chance.

Yep. Give the NIZ a chance, even though it was authored by its principal beneficiary. Even though Allentown has repeatedly stonewalled requests for information. Even though it creates an uneven playing field that will turn J.B Reilly from millionaire to billionaire while impoverishing everyone else. Even though it ignores other urban cores in the Lehigh Valley. Even though it imposes no living wage requirement for the voiceless people hired to work there. Even though there's no radius of exclusion for new tenants. Even though it diverts state tax revenue from the very people hurt by Corbett's proposed budget cuts.

As Blogger Michael Molovinsky so aptly observes,

[Jennings] now ignores the fact that J.B. Reilly will be using over $7 million in cigarette tax to fund his speculative office buildings. Those millions would normally be going to fund CHIP, providing health insurance for low income children. I understand that Jennings is motivated to use his prestige to curry favor with grantmeisters, such as Pawlowski and Browne; But, when he promotes a program which has forsaken the poor, especially the children, he's putting his organization's budget ahead of it's mission.

Jennings' CACLV sent me a news release yesterday, telling me that a loose collective of nonprofits and local governments will host a forum about Governor Corbett's proposed budget. It's this Friday, 1 PM at Northampton Community College’s Fowler Family Southside Center, located at 511 East Third Street in Bethlehem.

What I like about this forum, which I attended last year, is that you do hear from the otherwise voiceless people who are directly impacted by budget cuts. So do state lawmakers, who attend these forums.

Jennings told me a few weeks ago that not one Republican state lawmaker is willing to face them. Some never even returned calls.

Shame on them. But shame on Jennings, too!

DocRock, at Jennings' blog, asks,

Will you be discussing the millions and millions of dollars being diverted from your programs to your multi-millionaire friends in the NIZ, Alan? Will you discuss the lost money for children’s health programs from the tobacco tax that Joe Topper and JB Reilly will be receiving instead, Alan?

Just how much money, in total, is being diverted to the NIZ multi-millionaire pals of Alan Jennings? And for how long?

Just curious.

Alan has hitched his wagon to the NIZ multimillionaires because he believes he's going to be able to extort money from them while they divert state tax revenues, appealing to their "white guilt."

This is all so predictable. Alan is on the board as "furniture" as far as everyone else is concerned. Alan thinks he'll be able to persuade this group of overly greedy individuals to support Alan's causes. At first, they'll politely nod. And do nothing. After a while, Alan will come to realize he's been co-opted. He'll make a final desperate pitch. The greedies will toss him a bone or two to shut him up. Sometime later, Alan will resign in a huff and write an op-ed expressing his "disappointment."

Nobody will give a shit.

And the voiceless will still be voiceless.

CACLV To Train Merchants Who Will Never Qualify For NIZ

Just the other day, CACLV's Alan Jennings defended his appointment to the NIZ Board. "There is a fine line between challenging the system and getting things done and challenging the system and getting ignored," he says. He's right, you know. He has good experience with the former while miserable bastards like me are used to being slapped around.

I kinda' like it.

To his credit, Alan has often been the sole advocate for those who would otherwise have no voice. Back in 2009, when a young family that included a 3-year old girl, were locked out of their apartment at the old Linden Bar Hotel in the dead of Winter, an infuriated Jennings went there with a sledge hammer, fully intending to break into the place and risk arrest. Fortunately, a passerby had a key.

After retrieving their belongings, he found them a place.

The world is a better place with Alan Jennings in it.

But I was still blown away today when CACLV announced its 28th “Start Your Business” program, which starts on Monday, February 6, 2012.

It's a comprehensive, 20-week program is held on Monday evenings from 6:30 to 8:30 PM. It's d for people of low- to moderate-income who are thinking about starting a business or expanding their current business in the neighborhoods of center city Allentown. The course begins with a three-week preparatory segment called ‘Getting Ready for Business’, in which participants will have the opportunity to assess their entrepreneurial skills, the soundness of their business idea, and their readiness to start a business within six months to one year after completing the program. There is a $99 enrollment fee, payable the third week.

Why would this blow me away?

It's at 702 Hamilton Street, where State Senator Pat Browne, his lobbyist wife, NIZ tenant Joe Topper are all located, a building owned by NIZ Overlord J. B. Reilly.

Blogger Michael Molovinsky picked up on this right away, noting that the entrepreneurs Allan will be training are the very people shoved out of the way for the NIZ project. "You have been appointed to serve on the new NIZ Authority, and you're conducting your class in J. B. Reilly's building; The biggest private beneficiary of the NIZ, who intends to apply for even more loans. Ain't that rich!"

This is where I think Alan is tone deaf.

CACLV's Alan Jennings Steps Down From State Planning Board

You can read his letter of resignation here.

Dent Receives Accolade From CACLV's Jennings?

CACLV Executive Director Alan Jennings, the LV's defender of those who have no voice, has issued a statement thanking LV Congressman Charlie Dent for his vote on a continuing resolution that only cuts six percent of CDBG funding, instead of the draconian measure originally proposed. CACLV will still lose $50,000, but earlier proposals had Jennings wondering whether the agency could even continue.

Jennings' statement:

“The tens of thousands of people whose lives are made whole, whose neighborhoods are made more viable and whose ability to have hope is boosted by CACLV owe our congressman a round of applause for speaking up on their behalf. While the CR cuts too much funding for low-income programs, Charlie Dent played an important role in protecting those programs from a far worse fate, saving the day for CACLV, Head Start, and other programs for low-income people seeking little more than a level playing field. His new position on the House Appropriations Committee is a vehicle for moderation in the face of extremism and for advancing the needs of the district in the face of cynical attacks on the poor. Charlie, we thank you for your service.”

Congressman Dent, recognizing that governments need to go on a diet, released this statement:

“The Fiscal Year 2012 budget resolution passed by the House today is a responsible approach to reducing our burdensome deficit, controlling excessive government spending, ensuring the longevity of important federal safety net programs and supporting economic growth. For too long, Washington was making promises to the American people without taking the necessary and sometimes politically difficult steps to keep them. In contrast, H.Con.Res. 34 establishes a fact-based budget that addresses our nation’s troubling fiscal situation in an honest and trustworthy manner.

“First and foremost, this budget reduces the growing deficit by $4.4 trillion over the next 10 years by cutting $6.2 trillion in federal spending. Since 2008, federal non-defense discretionary funding has increased by an astounding 80%. Understanding the record-breaking spending levels of the recent past are simply unsustainable, H.Con.Res. 34 freezes discretionary spending below pre-Stimulus levels for the next five years. I recognize the impact of these cuts will be felt across the country, but difficult steps must be taken today to guarantee a prosperous and secure tomorrow.

“This budget also reforms federal safety net programs to ensure promises made to older Americans are kept and coverage is available for the next generation of beneficiaries. Without modernization, there is no doubt these programs would eventually bankrupt the federal government. I am pleased the House has recognized its responsibility to develop solvent and sustainable safety net programs by implementing smart, gradual reforms.

“Rather than raising taxes to solve our budget predicament, as the President recommended in his FY12 budget proposal, H.Con.Res. 34 closes tax loopholes and eliminates special deals to guarantee federal revenue remains consistent and dependable. Washington’s problem is not a lack of revenue, but an insatiable desire to spend. However, reforming our tax code will promote fairness and support greater economic growth.

“I am disappointed President Obama has shown a troubling and prolonged lack of seriousness when discussing our nation’s growing budget problems. Like many Americans, I was hopeful the President would at the very least acknowledge the work of his own bipartisan fiscal commission. Instead, he proposed a budget that raises taxes, perpetuates reckless federal spending and fails to offer any solutions to reform entitlement programs. Earlier this week, the President suggested the creation of yet another fiscal commission, again delegating his responsibility to lead. Unfortunately, the President has done enough punting on budget issues to make Sav Rocca nervous about his job security.”

Alan Jennings v. Ron Angle on WDIY

You're not going to believe this, but Alan Jenning's guest tonight on WDIY-FM Lehigh Valley Discourse is none other than the Northampton County Bulldog himself, Ron Angle. What will hgappen when these two, diametrically opposed, type "A", personalities get together? If they touch each other, the universe may end.

The show starts at 6 PM at 88.1, 93.9 and 93.7. You can listen to it live.

Will CACLV Funding Be Cut in Half?

In a moving essay, Alan Jennings appears stunned by President Obama's proposed reductions in CDBG funding, which will affect nearly half of his funding at CACLV. As Jeff Pooley observes, "This will hurt poor people all over the country, but it will hit hardest here in the Valley, where CACLV is far and away the most important advocate for the poor."

Although LV Congressman Charlie Dent has previously stated there are no "sacred cows," his office reports that he and two other Congressmen were expected to propose a measure to preserve funding for valued and effective programs in 15th District, including Assistant for Firefighters Grants (AFG), Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), Community Services Block Grants (CSBG), hydrogen and fuel cell technology programs, Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grants, the Weed and Seed program, and more.

When I get more detail, I'll share it.

A Strident CACLV Joins the Blogoshere

Alan Jennings, Executive Director at CACLV, gets right to the point in his new blog, Poverty's Edge:

"Humanity has made a mess of things. Let’s clean it up. Stand up for what is right. So what if you can’t figure it all out? You know what is right and what is wrong.

"Don’t be patient. Patience is not a virtue. It is the luxury of the powerful, the comfortable, the affluent. Too many people who are none of those things need you.

"So we’re joining the fray of the blogosphere. Count on us to weigh in. Count on being exposed to CACLV attitude. Strap yourself in – this is sure to be a wild ride."

I am really looking forward to insights from a committed activist who cares.

Jennings: LV Nonprofits Have Failed With Affordable Housing

If the recession and foreclosure crisis have achieved anything positive, I guess you could say they've made homes more affordable. So a $30,000 grant proposed for a housing development coordinator at CACLV was all the rage at last week's meeting of Lehigh County's Board of Commissioners. Blogger Michael Molovinsky argues, "One only need look at the endless migration of low-income to the valley, to realize that there is an abundance of affordable housing. Positions like this only help create the poverty magnet." So is this really necessary?

Yes, said Cindy Feinberg, who directs LC's DCED. Yes, says Northampton County, which has already agreed to help fund this regional position. And yes, says CACLV Executive Director Alan Jennings, who points to failures by two of the three LV nonprofits that.

"Understand that the way we had this set up for many years was a very collaborative approach, where we had several nonprofits that each had - kinda' - their own turf to avoid overlap or duplication.

"We had an organization called Valley Housing Development Corporation, that did the multi-family rental housing development. They're a subsidiary of Lehigh County Housing Authority.

"We had the Alliance for Building Communities, the organization that Ed Pawlowski once ran. That was doing acquisition, rehab and resale of single family homes.

"And then we had Neighborhood Housing Service, which was doing the financing for first time homebuyers. Down payment, closing costs assistance kinds of programs.

"What happened independent of each other was ABC was overextended and struggled for several years and, as a result, that leg of that stool pretty much came apart.

"Valley Housing Development Corporation, as you may know, also overextended itself, found itself for several years basically re-working the entire portfolio. As a result, no affordable rental housing was being developed.

"So the only leg that was left was the first-time homebuyer financing piece that Neighborhood Housing Service ran.

"So in looking at the housing needs of the region, we felt that what needed to happen was to rebuild the capacity of the Lehigh Valley to address affordable housing. And that's what this position does."

Lehigh County Commissioners grumbled, but went along with funding a housing development coordinator after listening to Jennings. Before that, there was quite an interesting exchange about affordable housing between Commissioners and Jennings.

Percy Dougherty: "I would prefer to see our housing money, in the long run, go out to individuals who are going to fix up their homes, make the City of Allentown and the rest of Lehigh County a better looking place."

Bill Hansell: "We're doing nothing about housing. In this list of grants, as Comm'r McCarthy pointed out, most of them are physical infrastructure. If we delete this position, there's a tiny, little bit of money for legal services for legal aid on hosing. That's the only place we're doing anything on housing."

Dougherty: "The first thing I'd like to say is some people shouldn't own a home. Not everybody in this country should own a home. The banking crisis that we just went through was primarily because we tried to give everybody a home, and then they couldn't pay for those homes. So we really got in way over our heads ..."

Alan Jennings: "Nobody talked about predatory lending more than I did. In our home ownership counseling programs, we would tell people that if you need a sub prime loan to buy a house, that's God's way of telling you you're not ready to buy a house. And we would tell them, 'Stop! Save money. Improve your credit score. Buy a house you can afford.' And the result is that very few of the people who went through our home ownership counseling program, have ended up in the foreclosure mitigation work that we're doing.

"So this is not a home ownership entitlement program. This is home ownership for those who can afford it, that can justify a responsible level of subsidy, and keep in mind, everybody who pays a mortgage gets some form of subsidy on their housing because we deduct our interest deductions from our federal income taxes. That's an indirect subsidy. So that subsidy needs to be protected. We have to be responsible stewards of that subsidy. And i think we've done that with incredible results.

Dougherty: "And I don't think we should be paying these large developers, many of whom are not from the Lehigh Valley, to come in here and build large projects and take a large proportion of the money as their fee."