Boys' Hoops: Summer League at Cedar Beach Finally Here

This is my favorite time of year. School years are ending. The sun stays out longer every day. And Allentown Boys Summer League is finally in full swing at Cedar Beach Park. Just about every local high school participates. It's a great opportunity for younger players to showcase their skills. Coaches are more relaxed and willing to experiment. Games are played on Tuesdays and Thursdays with a running clock. If it rains, they play indoors. Otherwise, it's outside. Street ball, with four games every hour, starting at 6 pm. Games will continue until the end of July. Along the way, the Atown Throwdown will be played. I missed the earlier games this week, but finally got a chance to watch teams play tonight.

My grandson Dat is a graduating senior (I hope) and was studying for two finals, as were the rest of the departing seniors. So they were unable to watch Allentown Central Catholic (ACCHS) take on cross-town rival Allen. They missed a helluva' game. Allen is known for its tall and athletic players, while the Vikings combine fierce defense and an amazing ability to hit from downtown. But this year, Chad "X-Factor) Kratzer has added a new wrinkle, an ability to drive inside.

Allen jumped to an early lead, but thanks to aggressive defense, ACCHS soon turned things around and seemed to have the game in hand. Nick Filchner and Kratzer were both scoring at will, and Sammy Vaughan picked up right where his brother left off as the team's field general. But the Canaries made adjustments,and with just two minutes left in the second half, had a on-point lead and were tearing down the court with the ball.

But not for long. a Viking managed to knock the ball loose and both he and a Canary (I'm sorry but I never got his name) both dove right onto the macadam in a battle for possession. The Central appeared to have it when the Allen player swung his arm and appeared to punch the Central dude, though he was really going for the ball. By this time another Allen player dove onto the pile as well, and the Viking took a swing, too.

The refs were on top of this nearly immediately, although it may heave taken a second or two to separate the players.

Imagine that's your son on the ground and it looks as though he's getting pounded by two Allen players. What would you do?

As hard as it might be, the best thing to do is let the officials sort it out. That's why they're there. But the player's Dad, a former basketball standout who is himself about 18' tall, started yelling and ran onto the court. A Central player actually pushed him off. But it was too late. At this point, Allen and Central fans were upset and began yelling at each other. Fortunately, they were mostly old farts.

In case you are wondering, I declined to join in the festivities.

I was too busy laughing.

Both Allen and Central fans said some ugly things to each other, which I'm sure embarrassed both coaches. The Dad was really just concerned about his son's well being, and I'll give him credit for refusing to participate in some of the ugliness, which did not come from any of the parents on either team.

In any event, Central was hit with a foul and a double technical.

ACCHS Coach Dennis Csensits did the sensible thing and threw in the towel rather than witness what could have turned into a donnybrook. Both coaches made sure their players shook hands.

After the game, I watched as fighting Viking picked pieces of macadam out of his elbow. Then I saw his dad.

"You're 0-1," I said.

CCHS Shocks Parkland at Stellar Summer League

"Who Dat?" Lambert sinks three-pointer against Parkland.
Central won with balanced attack. 

Though high school baseball season is still going strong, Cedar Beach Basketball League began this week with games on Tuesday and Thursday night. If you like high school basketball, that's the place to be. The price is right (free) and you get to see the Lehigh Valley's top athletes play in a more relaxed setting than a regulation game. These kids all know each other, so if their game is over or has not started, you can find them cheering on their friends from other teams. Coaches are more willing to take chances and experiment, and it makes for very exciting games.

You never know who you'll see. I've seen Allentown City Council President Ray O'Connell several times at these events. He loves hoops, and as an Allen guy, has every right to be proud. Whatever problems William Allen High School might be having at the moment, basketball isn't one of them. This year, they are poised to take it all the way.

Of course, a few other teams like CCHS, Parkland, Liberty, Freedom, Easton, Whitehall, Becahi and Emmaus might have something to say about whether this is Allen's year. We'll find that out during regular season. For now, it's mostly fun.

Jay Vaughan pulls trigger in three-point territory. 

I skipped last night's Council meeting so I could watch CCHS take on Parkland. When I heard that Morning Call columnist Bill White was in Easton, I felt relieved. There always needs to be at least one prick at a meeting, and Bill White is reportedly Lucifer in disguise. I'm only a minor demon. .

These were the first games played outside at Cedar Beach Park. Rain on Tuesday forced athletes to play indoors at Allen.  

What I loved about Tuesday is that Caden Giordano, a Freshman at Becahi and already 6'6", was given the nod to start in a tough game against Trevor Storm and the Easton Rovers. Caden, who wan't even sure he'd be allowed to play at all, ended up scoring the first point of the Summer League for Becahi. Beca went on to beat Easton, but only by a buzzer beater, in a very tight game in which the lead went back and forth.

Caden is Judge Emil Giordano's son, and he coached both Caden and my grandson Dat to the championship when they were in grade school.

Lambert sinks foul shot. 

Like Caden, Dat Lambert got to start in Central Catholic's game against Reading High School, which is among the top ranked teams in the state and includes Lonnie Walker, a 6'5" shooting guard being pursued by Arizona, Villanova, UConn and Kentucky..

Just as Caden scored the first point for Becahi, Dat managed to score the first three points for Central . Central played Reading tough in the first half, and the game was tied. But when the second half began, Reading ran away with the game.

After being speared by the Red Knights on Tuesday, CCHS played outside at Cedar Beach last night against Parkland, which has been the league champion for the last two years.

Not last night. Last year, CCHS relied heavily on the shooting of Zay Jennings. But now it is a more balanced attack that includes Shack Dezonie, Chris Ocasio, Jay Vaughan, Sammy Vaughan, Dat Lambert, Kevin Kern and AJ Dana. Ironically, one of the biggest cheerleaders for this new approach was Senior Zay Jennings, who told me he was itching to get into the game.

Whitehall PG Mikey Esquilin and friends enjoying the games. 

Parkland's Seniors are gone, but the team that faced CCHS is the team that will be playing this fall. It still includes exciting players like Jake Bartholomew, who is both strong under the boards and can burn you with a three-pointer.

Last night the Trojans bowed to the Vikings, 44-29. But don't write their obituary. They are too talented to give up.  

As Keith Groller's Corner blog reports, thirty high school teams participate in Cedar Beach's Summer League, including 19 big schools and ten small schools.

The season climaxes with the Sportsfest Tournament and then the Stellar Tournament, which are usually on the hottest days of the summer.

Frey Fries Pawlowski in Cedar Creek Park Interrogation

It's safe to say there's no love lost between Allentown Mayor Edwin Pawlowski and Geza Frey, whose Down Low nightclub has been shut down as a result of a city-sought injunction. Not surprisingly, Geza has contributed $1,000 to Tony Phillips' mayoral campaign.

At Thursday night's city council session, Geza was eventually shut down again, but not before making clear that (1) the misinformation concerning Cedar Creek comes from the city itself; (2) Pawlowski's administration missed three opportunities to meet with the public; and (3) the Mayor attempted to get some local churches to play the race card. You can see the full video here, and below is a transcript of the last three minutes.

Frey: Why was noting mailed to the residents of the close proximity of the park until recently, now that that the project is ready to begin in a few weeks?

King Edwin: I'm sorry, what was your question?

Frey: Why was nothing mailed to the residents that live right by the park until recently?

King Edwin: We had done an extensive planning process and it went out. We put out public ---

Frey: The first time I received any mailing was this week.

King Edwin: We apologize for that. It's not typical in the park process, but we try to engage the public the best way we possibly can. I've outlined for you all the things that we've done. It's not like it's hidden from anybody in any way, shape or form. We had two publicly publicized public meetings.

Frey: I've been to the last three meetings and I've seen nobody from the administration until now.

King Edwin: Well, let me address that. The last meeting was just a courtesy of the floor, I was on vacation. It's the first time I've taken vacation in ---

Frey: One of these meetings you were in the building.

King Edwin: Can I finish talking please?

Frey: Sure, sure!

King Edwin: One of the meetings I was on vacation. Greg was here for a certain portion of the meeting and then he had to go and watch his kids because his wife was out that particular evening. [Blogger's note: Actually, Weitzell had has daughters with him at the meeting in question, and left only once it became apparent the public would be allowed to speak.]

The meeting before that, we were told by city council, and President D'Amore and I had talked, that two of three council people were not going to be there and the committee did not constitute a quorum and thus the committee could not have met. Councilman Phillips, to my understanding, did the meeting anyways. I was in the building for an interview with Channel 69. I had a prior commitment. I left the building because of that prior commitment, so it wasn't like we were trying to avoid. Had we known that the meeting was actually going to be taking place, we would have had somebody there from the administration, to start answering some of these questions.

We have tried our very best to do what we can to get this information out to the general public. I think we've gone - quite honestly - above and beyond, in many cases. You look at other planning processes that we've had in the city, this plan has probably been out there longer, has gotten more scrutiny, has gotten more input, has ... uh, we've had it on the web site, it was in city hall right here for at least a year ...

Frey: I know, but the pictures keep changing.

King Edwin: No, the pictures don't keep changing. That's part of the ... the exact plan that was out out there, if you look at the plan itself, it says possible proposed, you know, skate park. Possible, proposed. It doesn't say it's gonna actually be part of the plan. It was just the initial vision. We took in comments on that vision. It hasn't changed since the very beginning. There's been no bait 'n switch here in any way, shape or form. We have tried to give the most detailed information that we possibly can to the general public.

Now, realizing that there were concerns by people who live around the park, we sent out that letter. We also made sure that we worked with council and Council President D'Amore and I had talked, we set up this special meeting specifically to go through this time and express to you - the residents - what exactly is

Now, realizing that there were concerns by people who live around the park, we sent out that letter. We also made sure that we worked with council and Council President D'Amore and I had talked, we set up this special meeting specifically to go through this time and express to residents what exactly is happening because, as you saw, there's a lot of misinformation ...

Frey: Well, that's the thing with misinformation I wanted to ask you about. There was a lot of misinformation given this past weekend and I wanted to ask you why did you reach out to the churches and ask them - tell them - this is a race issue and a discriminatory issue.

D'Amore: Hold on. Mr. Mayor, you can answer that if you want to, but your time is up, sir.

King Edwin: I'm not even going to dignify that with a response.

Eichenwald: A Teachable Moment

When Allentown council member Jeanette Eichenwald speaks, it's as though someone just threw open a window to let a fresh breeze soar through the room. I've seen her in action four times now, and she is one of very few local government officials who really believes in transparency.

To give you some perspective, just look at how some of her colleagues acted on Thursday night. As soon as Parks Director Greg Weitzel had finished his presentation, council members Julio Guridy and Davie Howells broke out the pom poms.

Julio Guridy immediately declared that Weitzel had answered his concerns about park security. And as Pawlowski had played the religion card, Guridy played the race card with this mean-spirited jab. "The park does not belong to just a few people." When the audience groaned, he snapped "I'd like to have a little respect from the public." Really? Then how about giving it?

Howells was even worse. Without having listened to a word from the public, he droned on with condescending comments like "Take Davie's word for it, this is not going to cause any trouble" and "If you trust in Davie Howells, trust in this plan." Davie, you lost in a primary. I think it's safe to say voters no longer trust you. Howells also had a nasty habit of turning his back on speakers, especially if they went over their allotted three minutes.

Eichenwald, in well-chosen words, put her finger on the problem, and this was after listening to the public. A link to her video is here, and this is some of what she said.

"To me, the issue is absolutely not at the playground. I look forward to bringing my children, my grandchildren, to play with all your children and grandchildren. I am sure it all adds to the enjoyment of living here. But I do think, recently on a national level we had a discussion about teachable moments, and on a local level, this, too is a teachable moment. It tells us the difficulty rises not from the issue, but from our lack of a dissemination of information in a timely and correct manner.

"When people are given the opportunity to ask questions, such as there are this evening, and are given the opportunity to have with us members of the administration, then the questions are answered and we can move forward.

"I'm still concerned about several issues - security, flooding, parking, safety, noise - and I hope that our administration will continue to disseminate information, to keep us informed and to make sure we are in receipt of as much information as possible.

"In knowledge there is power and in knowledge there is understanding. I look forward to continue to walk in the beauty of our parks, and I hope, Mr. Weitzel and administration, that you are willing to respond to the citizens at large as well as council and provide us with information. And I, too, look forward, whether it's by computer or in my hand, to have the construction plans and to follow them as they proceed along."

The People Speak to Pawlowski

Instead of posting actual video, which will slow this blog down, I'm providing links to specific concerns expressed by ten of the thirty-three speakers during Thursday's Allentown City Council meeting concerning Cedar Beach. Every person who spoke, both pro and con, was excellent. In fact, I'd like to rent a few of you for Northampton County Council.

* Was an Impact Study Done on the Neighborhood?

* Not Against Playground, Am Against Poor Information

* Joe Hilliard: There Will Be Costs

* Mother of Disabled Child Lauds Playground

* No Communication

* Cedar Creek Park Will Be Economic Benefit

* Michael Molovinsky: Size of Crowd Indicates People Not Informed

* Misinformation comes from Allentown itself. Those of you who brought your children and plastered them with stickers and signs, congratulations.

* Free Money Funds Cedar Creek Park Changes

* Disability Services Agency Lauds Changes at Cedar Creek Park

* Outraged that Neighbors of Park Knew So Little

* It's Not a Master Plan - It's Nothing!

Allentown Parks Director Details Cedar Creek Park Improvements

Parks Director Greg Weitzel considers his park plan something like the the English Constitution, a living document that can change as circumstances warrant. Below are segments of his detailed presentation to Allentown residents on Thursday night, which does answer many of the concerns.

I also have links to several video clips: Part One, Two, Three, Four and Five.

The Plan is a Living Document

"The Plan. We have four guiding principles in regards to this improvement project. One was highlighting and enhancing the park's unique features, including Cedar Creek, Muhlenberg lake and the Rose Garden. We also understood that we needed to provide a diverse variety of recreational opportunities to serve people of all ages, interests and abilities. We have protected and enhanced the natural resources of the site, as part of this project, and we wanted to provide trails for recreation and fitness throughout the park and beyond to nearby recreation sites. And lastly, consider and improve the park for special events.

"We started with a preliminary plan. We looked at our site opportunities and concerns and we came up with a Master Plan. I want to make this very clear. This is a vision, a living document that changes over time. ...

"While this idea of a skate park is proposed, we understand that there's other areas where a skate park may be built. ...

"This is a vision, this is an idea of what the park could be. It doesn't mean it will be the end result."

The Nitty Gritty

"So we have our Phase 1 plan and I've outlined what exactly we're doing as part of that plan. So here's a summary.

"We are replacing three deteriorated pedestrian bridges.

"We are replacing and renovating our picnic pavilion area.

"We are introducing a vegetative buffer along the Cedar Creek.

"We are expanding and enhancing our trail system.

"We are restoring and renovating the Rose and Old Fashioned Garden.

"We're installing a new playground.

"We're upgrading the existing parking lots.

"We're renovating four existing rest rooms and installing one new restroom.

"We're upgrading the electrical and lighting system.

"And we're going to introduce new signage and a link finding system.

"There will be a youth fitness trail and climbing boulders.

"There'll be a pavilion and family rest room. This will be very aesthetic with a decorative fence and stone pillars."

The Playground

"The playground is 19,900 square feet. The playground is less than half an acre. The park as a whole is 109 acres. I've done a lot of work in comparisons over the last several weeks. Our pool, for example, is 30,000 square feet. This playground will be slightly over the size of two basketball courts.

"We need to talk about this estimating the capacity of a playground. Research indicates that the greater number of square feet allotted per child, there's a corresponding decrease in the number of injuries. Seventy-five square feet is considered ideal, so that equals to about two hundred and sixty-five kids. Now do we anticipate 567 kids in this playground at one time? No. Will there be 200 plus kids in the playground? Most likely during July 4th, Mayfair, Sportsfest and maybe other special events.

"Now one of the other concerns we have is this is going to change the character of our park system. That when you're driving down Hamilton Street, this huge monstrosity of a playground is going to stand out right at you. So we did a comparison to show people from eye level on Hamilton Street exactly how the playground will look. You will see this will not be sticking out as people are concerned."

Parking

"Another factor in our renovation is upgrading our existing parking lots. We're going to refigure and restripe our existing lots. There are no new parking lots being proposed as part of this project. We can fit 120 spaces in the existing pool parking lot. We also have 60 overflow spots next to the basketball courts. We're going to have 24 spots north of the pool, which is often referred to as the bake oven grove. There'll be 45 spaces at the Rose Garden pavilion area and 50 at the park and rec office. That's equalling 299 spaces as a whole."

Flooding

"What's the city going to do to address this problem? The proposed improvements respect existing flood prone areas within the park. The new natural vegetation and flowers along Cedar Creek will help to reduce these flood impacts. Improving the park trails will lessen the damage to the trails and reduce the sediment reaching Cedar Creek and Lake Muhlenberg. ... No new facilities are proposed in the park's flood plain."

Increased Maintenance and Supervision

"We believe this investment in the park will promote increased appreciation and stewardship. ... [Audience starts laughing and even Weitzell starts to smile at this obvious bullshit burger, and Council Prez D'Amore chides them] ... The proposed improvements such as the natural vegetative buffer along the Cedar Creek will reduce long-term maintenance and improve the appearance of the park. City crews will continue to operate and maintain the park in a first class manner."

Funding

"Phase 1 being funded through $1.8 million from grants provided by the Harry C. Trexler Trust, the Pa DCNR and the Lehigh County Green Future Fund. No city tax dollars will be used to complete any of the above-mentioned renovations and also, it's very important to understand this funding is project specific and cannot be used for other city parks or operational expenses."

Incremental Ongoing Costs

"The city anticipates no new costs as a result of these renovations. In fact, we believe the maintenance will decrease. Proposed improvements such as the renovation of the trails will reduce our long-term maintenance and improve the appearance of the park."

Disabilities

"It is estimated that over four thousand children in Lehigh County have a disability."

Why Not Make All Parks Handicapped-Accessible?

"Obviously, we would love to make all of our parks completely accessible and we'll work towards that effort."

What do you mean by destination park?

"This is a term used across the country. We want all our parks to be destinations."

Noisy Games at Playground

"Yes, the playground will have NEOS and it does have some noises, but we can adjust the volume and even turn it off if we want to."

Playground and Park Security

"We have the police reserves and the Allentown Police Department and we also hope the parents of these children will protect them. [Crowd starts mumbling again]. We have maintenance monitoring the park seven days a week. We just had an accident at the pool a couple of weeks ago and it took them less than four minutes to arrive on site."

Allentown Details Cedar Beach Communication Efforts

Allentown Parks Director Greg Weitzel last night detailed an admittedly exhaustive effort at outreach by city officials. But what he and Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski still fail to grasp is that they created most of the misinformation themselves by publishing a plan that had been changed and, in some cases, discontinued. That created lots of confusion, which continued well into last night. Moreover, Weitzell acknowledges that no effort was made to notify residents who actually live near the park and would be most affected by changes. No study was conducted to determine the impact of these renovations in their neighborhoods. Yet, Pawlowski later claimed that the city went "above and beyond" in its efforts to supply notice.

"Number one, it's the city's most heavily used park in our system. The park infrastructure has deteriorated, like the rest rooms and the pavilions. The park is also not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. And the Cedar Creek and Lake Muhlenberg ecological health is in dire need of attention.

"I want to walk through quickly a summary of the park planning process. In June 2007, we started a master plan ... . We set goals, we did field work and site analysis, we did key person interviews, public meetings, a cost analysis, and we came up with a final development plan. We did the typical flyers and postcards, we encouraged as many people as we could to get out and get involved in this process. We distributed these to more than forty media outlets, we posted the flyers in the park, in city hall, we put it on our web site and in various locations around the city. We mailed postcards to over 300 individuals and organizations, asking them to come out and get involved in the project.

"Our project team met with over forty key persons and conducted over forty key person interviews. More than twenty different organizations submitted comments or held meetings with the project team. Numerous comments were received via walk-in, email and phone.

"At every presentation I conducted, as well as the mayor, this plan was displayed. We also had an extensive open public comment period. We also put the plan in Adventure Allentown last Fall, the Cedar Creek Parkway Master Plan and Phase 1 Renovation was in the centerfold. We distributed this city-wide through the Morning Call. We sent it home to over 14,500 students, and it was placed in over fifty locations, including parks, libraries and county offices.

...

"We also (with the cooperation of DCNR, the Pa. Recreation Park Society and PSU) conducted a park survey, a pre-renovation survey. There is a need to evaluate the impact of park renovations and park visitor behaviors and physical activity. We surveyed over 400 park visitors and we hope to do a post-renovation survey once we're done with Phase 1 construction.

"We also created a Rediscovery of the Park brochure to help get the word out even more.

"We underwent an exstensive approval process. Our approval process with city council was lengthy. It involves various meetings on our capital project improvements. The Director and myself attended over ten city council meetings and committee meetings. We created a city-wide parks capital improvements plan with the leadership of city council. All of these passed unanimously.

"We also had to undergo an extensive environmental impact and permitting process. Where there is stormwater or wetlands studies, sedimentation and erosion control, or what's called a MPEDS permit. It's one of the most extensive permits you have to get for any construction. We also have to get a DEP joint permit that pertains to the federal Clean Water Act. Innovative storm water management is one of the keys to this proposal. We're using what is today's best management practices. We're creating a subsurface infiltration bed, which is really a stormwater retention underneath the playground. We're not going to be piping water into the Cedar Creek."

Pawlowski to Move Forward With Cedar Creek Park Improvements

On my way up the hill to Allentown City Council yesterday, I knew it was going to be a long night. At the top of the hill, right outside city hall, people had signs advocating a playground at Cedar Beach Park and condemning opposition as racist. And once I walked inside, there were little girls in pretty dresses everywhere. Lisa Pawlowski's Children Crusade was in full operation. In a letter and on her Facebook page, Lisa had previously instructed her disciples to bring signs and kids because they "play well for any media." Last night, they obeyed. As I moved through the crowd to find a seat in the front, a very attractive woman walked up and introduced herself. "Hi Bernie. I'm Lady MacBeth."

Uh oh. Fortunately, she was very nice.

The place was packed by the time the meeting got underway. I stopped counting at 140. People stood in the rear and along the walls at the side of the room. One of Allentown's finest was on hand in case anyone went berserk. And that was a distinct possibility because the place was full of politicos and bloggers. There were even a few dogs in the building, who were either guide dogs or there to demand a bark park. Pawlowski campaign manager Mike Fleck was there, looking as befuddled as ever, and so was LC Dem Chair Rich Daugherty. All three of Allentown's Republicans showed up, too.

You see, this has become a political issue that has probably cost Hizzoner a few votes. King Edwin can screw around with budgets. He can accept excessive donations form city vendors and workers. He can let crime run rampant in Allentown. He can even lay off thirty-nine workers. But, as I've come to realize, you don't mess lightly with Allentown's parks. And if you do tinker, you better let everyone know exactly what you're doing. That's where King Edwin screwed up. He and Parks Director Greg Weitzel misled the community about what was happening, and Allentown residents are rightfully upset.

Last night, the Parks Director described exactly what the city has planned for the Cedar Creek Park. That was followed by some questions and comments from the public. By my count, fourteen people advocated full speed ahead while nineteen people urged caution. Not a single soul objected to the concept of a playground for differently-abled children.

Because the city has still failed to produce its latest plan and supporting construction documents, Councilman Michael Donovan asked the mayor to delay further construction at Cedar Creek Park for another six days, when the next City Council meeting is scheduled. Council members Jeanette Eichenwald and Tony Phillips joined that request. But Council members Julio Guridy, Peter Schweyer and Davie Howells felt Hizzoner had already done enough, and Pawlowski explained there were open holes in the ground that might present a liability issue. He did promise to post the latest plan and construction documents. He also tried to claim that he had already given everyone ample notice of his intentions, without bothering to pint out that the information was all wrong. He did end up apologizing to one Cedar Creek neighbor who was never told anything.

Despite the concerns expressed by a majority of last night's speakers at last night's four hour meeting, King Edwin's jackhammers will replace the sounds of woodpeckers at Cedar Creek Park today.

The best one-liner of the night was delivered by Council member Davie Howells as the clock ticked towards ten o'clock. "My mind can only absorb as much as my rear end can endure."

I did take a lot of video and will upload and post links over the weekend. I will also transcribe the Psrk Firector's presentation and a fiery exchange between Geza Frey and Mayor Pawlowski.

Update: I will be posting the Park Director's presentation, word for word, and links to videos of several of the citizens who voiced concerns. The Morning Call has a detailed news account, Molovinsky brands City Council as a rubber stamp and LVCI laments we still have no final plan.

Pawlowski Playground Provides For No Maintenance or Supervision

Allentown Parks Director Greg Weitzell was confirmed in February '08. Prior to that, he was executive director at Lewisburg Area Recreation Authority for seven years, starting a "destination" park.

Smaller then the 19,000 sq.ft. playground planned in A-town, it attracts 1,000 visitors per day on weekends. But guess what? "[P]ark officials still face years of hard work to maintain the facilities and natural environment. "

So what provisions have been made for maintenance in Allentown? None. According to Pawlowski, the "investment in the park will promote increased appreciation and stewardship." Alrighty then. Basically, he just serves up a big bullshit burger.

In addition to failing to provide for maintenance, neither Weitzell nor Pawlowski has considered that a playground of that size, designed as it is for differently-abled children, will require supervision, too.

From the dirty dozen, here's a few facts about municipal playgrounds:

* In the time it takes you to read this post, a child will be severely injured and admitted to an emergency room as a result of a playground-related accident.

* Every year, over 170,000 children are injured at municipal playgrounds.

* Approximately twenty children die each year from playground-related injuries.

* Over 40% of all playground injuries are the result of unsupervised activity.

* Inadequate maintenance of playground equipment, especially when damage is caused by the corrosion or rot that is common in a wet environment, will result in additional injury.

A 19,000 sq. ft. playground for differently abled children, with no provision for maintenance or supervision, is negligence per se.

Allentown City Council: Public Needs More Time For Cedar Park Plans

A few short days ago, former Lehigh County Democratic treasurer Jacob Oberholtzer was urging us all to just trust the "pros" in King Edwin's administration. But last night, during a packed and lengthy Allentown City Council meeting, we learned that all the King's Horses and all the King's Men have been misleading us. What they've been circulating as their master plan of renovations at Cedar Beach, and what they actually intend to do, are two different things. It's pretty clear nobody has a frickin' idea what the hell is going on at Cedar Beach. If you think you know, you're wrong.

At least seventy people, most opposed to different aspects of the Cedar Park plan, were on hand. So were a dozen uniformed boy scouts from Troop 29 in Cetronia, who were obviously being punished for some reason. Seated in front of these scouts was Park Director Greg Weitzel, accompanied by his two grade school daughters.

He's the only person who actually followed First Lady Pawlowski's instructions to bring little kids because they "play well for any media that would be there." Lady P also ordered her minions to bring signs, but the only one I saw was one opposed to the megaplayground. Council Prez Mike D'Amore ordered it removed.

At first, it was unclear whether the public would even be allowed to speak on this item. D'Amore refused all public comment during "courtesy of the floor" because Cedar Beach was an agenda item. He said it would be discussed under Communications. So we all got to listen to some dude talk about pigeon shit from one of his neighbors, who must be Big Bird.

Once courtesy of the floor was over, D'Amore and Donovan suddenly suggested that the Cedar Beach item be referred to a committee of the whole on August 13. That way, King Edwin, currently on holiday with Lady P, could explain things to the unwashed masses. But that would also remove Cedar Beach from the agenda, and with it, the public's right to speak.

Council member Jeanette Eichenwald was having none of that, and forcefully demanded that courtesy of the floor be re-opened. "I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that the good citizens who are here have an opportunity to speak this evening."

She did, too. Everyone on council ended up agreeing with her. She is a forceful and persuasive advocate of public participation. Thanks to jeanette and an open-minded council, around twenty-five people did speak. The mother of an autistic and retarded child spoke eloquently about a specially designed playground, and no one disagreed with her. But most of the talkers last night oppose different aspects of the Cedar Park plan. For some, it's runoff. For others, it's the destruction of part of the passive features of the park. Interestingly, as citizens lined up behind the podium, Greg Weitzel left the bilding, arrogantly demonstrating how he really feels about citizen input.

Joanne Graves, one of last night's procession of orators, is the person who discovered we've been misled. She learned just today that the plan made available to the public is different from the plan city officials are using. That's some other plan, which is kept undr lock and key. City council members then acknowledged that these new plans are only being submitted to them now.

Here's some of what Graves, who I videotaped, had to say.

"I had a chance to meet with Mr. Weitzel today, for a couple of hours, and I did see the 'new' plan. It still has its issues, that's true. But the misrepresentation actually came from the people who are ... and that's the park and recreation and administration. That's what is out there, that's what was posted, big-time, at Mayfair, and that's what you see, coming across your desks, at this point. It's very, very unfortunate that this miscommunication came about, not from the good people of Allentown. The information that was to the paper, for a 567-person park, they claim that that's not going to happen and the administration has called and said, 'Where did that information come from?'"

"I have the minutes of the Rose Garden in May, and Mr. Weitzel himself gave the information to the public at that point, no matter what was said. So this 'destination park' has been over-exaggerated, that is true, but still all the wiz bangs are in place that make it kind of a nuisance.

"It's not the little park that was on the map for the west part of the park. That little park is in a flood zone and it was flooded this past weekend. There is no way anything on that park could be manageable for the children to play in. They love to play in the water, that's true, but the playground would be floating away. So that just can't happen anyway. So it's going to be moved over. Today, he said it was going to be 19,000 square feet.

"I think the problem really is administration and parks and recreation have given improper information to the public. So I seek the guidance of council to really find what is the true scoop and then, to follow the money."

Freida Camber (sp?), who followed Joanne, noted that neither Pawlowski nor Weitzel attended the first council meeting in which they expressed their concerns. At a second meeting, "It was noted, by a lot of people, that the mayor was here, but did not choose to enter. Mr. Weitzel wasn't here. This week, they are not present. ... The mayor called me, 9 o'clock at night, to urge us to recognize how misguided our information was, and asked me if I could meet with Mr. Weitzel. I did that with Joanne today for two hours. I think it is somewhat subject to misinterpretation to say we saw the plan. We did not see the plan. Mr. Weitzell had it on his computer, would not give us a copy, would not give us a copy of any of the information that he claimed to be relying on, the court case involving the Trexler Trust. So we came away, knowledgeable about two things. One was that this plan essentially is working very well in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, and is being contracted by Lewisburg Contractors. Secondly, what we have all been looking at and spending a lot of money to copy, is not the 'final' plan, but something in limbo land.

"The Mayor told me the council has approved this plan, whatever that might be, five separate times."

Audience member: "He's a liar."

Amazingly, one woman who was never was notified about this master plan was surprised to learn that it shows a walkway across her property. One of her neighbors noticed a similar encroachment on his property.

At this point, Council members were just shaking their heads. Michael Donovan noted he had only been provided with a revised plan the previous day. Mike D'Amore indicated that Council had told Pawlowski to scale back the plans and to make all parks handicapped-accessible. Julio Guridy said administration officials told him "people will be surprised" when they see Powlowski's latest power point on August 13. But if people were being provided with the facts, why would there be any surprises?

Council took three steps last night. First, they unanimously adopted a nonbinding resolution requesting that construction be delayed until there's a new plan that accommodates all interests. Second, they will meet as a committee of the whole on August 13, and both the Mayor and Greg Weitzel have agreed to make a presentation. Third, a Donovan-sponsored ordinance, which requires city council approval for any significant changes to city parks, was introduced.

Most people left as soon as the Cedar Park discussion had concluded, but Donovan mentioned something later that night that is far more troubling than Cedar Beach. He has concerns about another plan - the one from a "blue ribbon panel" that will solve Allentown's fiscal woes for the next thousand years. He believes the deficit may actually be larger than projected.

What we have here is a failure to communicate, Pawlowski's biggest flaw as mayor.