Where is Allentown Mayoral Candidate Dick Nepon?

As most of you know, I'm no fan of Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski. But young Bryan Kleiner, who publishes A Voice in the Valley, has been won over by King Edwin's "passion" for the city. Bryan helped organize a young voters' forum with Hizzoner, and emerged a fan.

I completely disagree with Bryan. But he did his homework and came to his decision honestly, and should be commended for caring enough to inform himself and others. He may even be right.
In the meantime, where is Democratic challenger Dick Nepon?

He has no money, but offers a stinging rebuttal to the tunes Pawlowski is spinning on his web page. On his campaign blog, he argues that "[i]f you believe Allentown is in good shape, and better than when Pawlowski took office, you might as well skip this. If you believe borrowed money is a surplus, skip this. If you believe that you can make a statement true by repeating it often enough, especially with a power point to back it up, you can skip this."

Interestingly, Pawlowski met young voters at Muhlenberg College, whose young Dems endorsed King Edwin without bothering to hear from Nepon.

It's pretty hard to get your message out when nobody wants to hear it.

Allentown Mayoral Candidate Dick Nepon Ejected From Muhlenberg Campus

"I've been tossed out of better places than that," quipped Allentown Mayoral candidate Dick Nepon. Yesterday afternoon, he was ignominiously ejected from Muhlenberg College's campus. He had been standing outside the Student Union building, collecting signatures for his nomination petition, along with the phone numbers and email addresses of several students who agreed to be part of his grass roots effort.

He was wearing no raincoat. But someone horrified by the notion of political activity at a college campus complained. We'll have no free speech here! An embarrassed security officer came by to ask Nepon to leave. "If it were up to me, I'd let you alone," said the lawman.

Last night, Nepon told his Facebook Group "You would think that Muhlenberg would support civic involvement, instead of shooing me off-campus." He was able to pick up about sixty extra signatures before being tossed.

Interestingly, as Nepon was being confronted by security, the very next person to walk out of the Student Union building just happened to be Adrian Shanker. Until last night, he was copresident of Muhlenberg College Democrats. Adrian denies anything to do with Nepon's ouster, but defended it. After all, Muhlenberg is private property.

So much for political speech on a college campus, where freedom of expression should be cultivated.

This ouster, incidentally, is illegal. In 1981, Pennsylvania's Supreme Court reversed trespassing convictions against an antiwar group distributing fliers at a private college. The Court reasoned that the college had made itself a public forum by permitting the public to "walk its campus freely and use many of its facilities" and by "encouraging the public to attend the symposium."

After defending this suppression of free speech, Shanker acknowledged his group does plan to make an endorsement in Allentown's mayoral race and will select someone who "best represents the voice of young voters." I asked whether he had offered Nepon an opportunity to present his views, and the Shankman conceded there had been no contact.

"You're going to endorse Pawlowski," I concluded. Shanker denied that, but his group has made no effort to contact the only other Democrat running for mayor. Seriously, who do you think they are going to endorse - Tinkerbell?

To cinch things, Shanker also acknowledged he's got a brand new job - field director for Ed Pawlowski. Sound impressive, doesn't it? He's resigning as co-president or whatever he is and someone else will take over. I'm sure his group will still give Nepon a fair shake. Muhlenberg was so fair in 2005 it excluded then mayoral candidate Michael Molovinsky from participating in a debate with the major party candidates.

While Muhlenberg tossed Nepon, city officials are expected to try to use their "ethics commission" to force him to choose between his candidacy and city job. But apparently, since everyone in Allentown government is so ethical, the terms of most commissioners have expired.

Oopsie!

Update: After making sure that Dick Nepon was safely ejected from Muhlenberg's campus, nonresident bluebloods who call themselves Democrats endorsed former Chicago resident Edwin Pawlowski for Allentown mayor. Shanker stepped down as president and walked right into the Pawlowski campaign as field director. Looks like this outfit is learning machine politics, pay to play and how to stomp all over the First Amendment.

City Worker Dick Nepon to Challenge Allentown Mayor Pawlowski

Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski conducts fundraisers in which city workers and contractors regularly bow and pay fealty. But one of his servants, instead of paying homage, is considering regicide.

I speak of Dick Nepon, who actually served as Operations Manager during King Edwin's 2005 Crusade. He thereafter managed to get a position in the King's household, working his way up to Special Programs Manager. Now, he revolts against his liege lord.

Why?

As Nepon explains, "[S]omeone needs to challenge Ed, and someone needs to change the direction of Allentown, and I guess I am the only one willing to do it."

What's wrong with the direction of Allentown? According to Nepon, plenty. "Ed thinks if you bring business downtown, you bring the city back. I think we have to bring the city back first. We have to stop making Hamilton Street a Renaissance Plaza that pays no taxes." Nepon went on to explain that, as a member of the Allentown school board, he voted against the tax breaks currently enjoyed by PPL, Butz & Allentown Brew Works.

You wouldn't know it from his distinguished resume, but Nepon has had his share of financial reverses. He even considers that an asset. "My kids ate and wore clothes, and went to college, so I had my priorities. And beside, who has more experience at operating without money?"

Dick, that would be me.

Nepon has plenty of experience as a community organizer. "I have 30 years of volunteering as a firefighter, was president of the local blackbox theatre, on the board of numerous art orgs, and was an elected school board member whose ideas either have been shown right or are still ahead of the curve."

Is he a pay to play dude like King Edwin?

"I plan to spend under $100. And I don't want anyone to send me any money. I still get my name out in public through the Morning Call Letters and Sounding Board, and get a lot of feedback from the public, or at least recognition. People still seem to remember me from my column in the now defunct Allentown Times.

"I am asking that anyone who supports me finds a piece of green ribbon or string and ties it to something. There will be no Nepon yard signs, Radio and TV spots, or Mailers. I hope that every dollar Ed spends makes him look foolish for not donating that money to the City to purchase policeman."

"And I know where Ed's bodies are buried."

Asked whether he might get in trouble as a city employee for running against his own boss, Nepon concedes that Pawlowski is vindictive, but this is something Dick must do. He picked up his nomination papers today and will formally announce when he files them.

He can be reached at richnepon@gmail.com