Is Allentown Finally Ready For a Ray of Sunshine?

Dark clouds that have surrounded Allentown for the past two years are finally beginning to fade away. Disgraced Mayor Edwin "Fed Ed" Pawlowski has finally resigned. Roger MacLean, a well-respected former Police Chief, is Interim Mayor. Starting this past weekend, there's an extra hour of daylight. So it's time to ask whether the Queen City is finally ready for a Ray of Sunshine. That Ray is Ray O'Connell, who just stepped down as Council President a few short weeks ago. City Council will be making its choice soon. You never know what will happen, but it appears that Ray has four votes. That's all he needs.

There is no shortage of people who would like to be Mayor, including some of the several thousand candidates who ran and lost. It's rumored that one of them, Siobhan Sam Bennett, has already called several Council members. I haven't reached out to her to confirm if this is true, but know she already burned her red campaign blazer.

The serious names I've heard are Ray, Roger MacLean, Nat Hyman and Charlie Thiel.

If Roger MacLean wanted this position, he'd be a formidable candidate. But what I've heard is that he has no interest. He did not run for the position, and is already happily employed as a detective for the Lehigh County District Attorney

Nat Hyman, who did run for the job and captured the second highest vote total, is smart, energetic, innovative and reportedly interested. But I suspect Council is wary of this Democrat turned Republican turned Democrat. Although party affiliation means nothing to me, it matters a lot to many elected politicians

Republican turned Democrat Charlie Thiel bugs me. Not because he is a Republican turned Democrat. Because he's full of himself. After having endured 12 years with one narcissist, it's completely foolish to bring in another.

Dan McCarthy, who was named Solicitor by Fed Ed but has not been confirmed, dragged City Council into an executive session last week. On a matter as important as the City's next Mayor, McCarthy wanted to talk about it in the back room.

Though no one asked him, he then proceeded to give a "plainly clear" legal opinion that elected members of City Council like MacLean or O'Connell are ineligible to hold appointed paid positions for a year after they leave office. There is nothing "plainly clear" about that provision at all.In fact, the previous Solicitor, Susan Wild, thought it was "plainly clear" that Council members could be appointed to vacancies left by elected officials. Unlike McCarthy, she was actually confirmed by Council. Council should follow the last real legal opinion it received.

What's "plainly clear" to me is that McCarthy's opinion has Fed Ed's fingerprints all over it. The last thing Fed Ed wants is to see someone from Council appointed to his old job. They called on him to resign, so he'd rather see a former city vendor and contributor like Charlie Thiel in there, who could be controlled by him and lobbyist Jennifer Mann.

It's also "plainly clear" to me that McCarthy's appointment by the now guilty Mayor should be rejected by Council. Fed Ed's successor should be chosen from the ranks of the Council who stood up to him.

This means Ray O'Connell.

Ray's main message? It's the same one he's had since he first ran for City Council. "We, as a City, are only as strong as the School District, and the School District is only as strong as the City."  He said our children and their growth are "vital components" to the City's success. He claimed that 17,000 students in Allentown, or 89%, are from low income families. This is exacerbated by a transient rate of 40%. He described children who attend all four middle schools in the course of one year. "That is unacceptable, totally unacceptable," he said.

Though he believes the school district has made strides, "the city government has failed. We cannot let this continue."

O'Connell believes that the best way for the City and school district to turn things around is through "school-based community revitalization." His plan is to develop areas around the schools and the quality of life for people in those neighborhoods.

"Neighborhoods created this City. East Side. West End. South Side. Northeast. They created this City."

The school district plans to open two schools in 2020. "We need to work with developers to ensure that these schools are built to a healthy standard of living,." he said. Corner groceries.Mentor programs."We would work with the school district to ensure these needs are met. ... We need to come together"

At a school-based community revitalization program in Baltimore, O'Connell noted that state reading standards went from 19% to 78% in five years.

"We can do it here. We do not have dumb children. We need to give them the resources.We need to be with them. We need to give the parents the resources. Every parent I met over the years - they want to do the best for their children. They love their children. They don't have the resources. We, the City and school district, need to bond to give them the resources"

He said that as important as the downtown revitalization is, "we cannot turn our backs" on the rest of the City. "We have to develop the South Side, East Side, Northeast."

"Too many children have not seen success. You grow and you learn from success."

Strong neighborhoods plus strong schools equals a strong city."

You will see Ray O'Connell, Luiz Garcia and Daryl Hendricks at athletic events for these kids like summer basketball and high school games. There is a corps of adults who already are hard at work as mentors. People like Toomey Anderson and Glenn Klein, the most interesting man in the world.

Whoever is appointed faces a tough job because city finances are a mess  Fed Ed actually ignored his most important responsibility as Mayor - public safety. The police and fire departments need to have the equipment they need to keep you safe.

The person best suited to be Mayor is the one who should have won the primary - Ray O'Connell.

Cartwright Gets Homeland Security Grant For Lower Mount Bethel Firefighters

Maybe someone should ask U.S. Congressmen Matt Cartwright and Charlie Dent to team up with Allentown firefighters. Cartwright has just secured a  $118,096 Operations and Safety grant for the  Lower Mount Bethel Township Sandt’s Eddy Fire Company .

The funds will allow the fire company to purchase Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) units. Each unit will include: harness/backpack, face piece, and two cylinders. This type of equipment is worn by rescue workers, firefighters, and others to provide breathable air in an immediate dangerous-to-life or health atmosphere.

“Our firefighters work tirelessly every day to protect our communities and keep our families safe,” said Rep. Cartwright, a member of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus. “I will continue to support this federal program which helps to ensure safety of our communities.”

The purpose of the AFG is to award competitive grants directly to fire departments to enhance their ability to protect the health and safety of the public, as well as that of first-responder personnel. Since 2001, the AFG program has provided approximately $6.7 billion in grants to first-responder organizations to obtain much-needed emergency response equipment, personal protective equipment, firefighting and emergency vehicles, and training.

I wonder whether Allentown Mayor Edwin "Fed Ed" Pawlowski ever bothered to apply.

During the current funding cycle, the AFG program will award another $310.5 million to first-responder organizations that need support to improve their capability to respond to fires and emergencies of all types.

In Allentown, It's Who You Know

My Nazareth Estate

Back in 2009, Allentown blogger Michael Molovinsky and I both visited with Joanne, proud owner of a home on the 300 block of Tilghman Street. After years of hard work at menial jobs, she finally was a homeowner. She installed carpets, ceramic tile in the bathroom and kitchen and mentioned several times that she has a finished basement. Even Molovinsky, who has a critical eye when it comes to ... everything, called it the "gem of the block."

None of that made any difference to Allentown housing inspectors, who scheduled it for one of their "systematic home inspections," something never done in Bethlehem or Easton. In order to accommodate them, she was required to take a day off from work. She also was required to produce her latest bank statement and mortgage payment, although that has nothing to do with her home.

Now, Allentown would never dare try a "systematic home inspection" on the West end. Too many campaign contributors. So they pretty much target the downtown peasants, who never vote. They certainly conducted no inspection when King Edwin installed his mancave last Summer. And Molovinsky has just published the second installment of a three-part series about the uneven enforcement of housing code violations in the Queen City.

In Part One, City Hall Insults the Neighborhood, Molovinsky chronicles a housing inspector's refusal to do anything about a squatter (the bank foreclosed on the property) whose south side property is plagued by noise, police calls and garbage. Instead, the City cleaned the property and cut the grass.

In his second installment, Molovinsky identifies the housing inspector who is playing favorites - Lonnie Glase. Ironically, Glase is considered one of the City's toughest housing inspectors.

Molovinsky promises a Part 3, in which he'll include his correspondence with what he calls the "chain of command."