More Political Corruption Charges

On Friday, former Philadelphia Sheriff John Green was charged with bribery for virtually abdicating control over Sheriff Sales to a business associate who returned the favor with campaign donations, gifts and interest-free loans.He's just the latest high-profile Democrat to be snared by federal prosecutors. Others caught in a web of political corruption include former State Treasurer Rob McCord (extortion), US Congressman Chaka Fattah (racketeering), former Harrisburg Mayor Stephen Reed (public corruption), Reading City Council President Francisco Acosta (bribery) and Allentown Assistant City Solicitor Dale Wiles (bid-rigging). Allentown Mayor Edwin "Fed Ed" Pawlowski and Reading Mayor are obvious targets. Pawlowski, in particular, has been identified using burner phones and sweeping his office for electronic bugs.

As if this was not bad enough, we have an Attorney General with a suspended law license who is facing perjury charges.

What do these folks have in common?

All of them - every single one - is a Democrat.

Not good.

This little coincidence has surely been noticed by Republicans, and they are certain to make it a campaign issue in the races next year.

Against this backdrop, Governor Tom Wolf 's choice for state Democratic chair is himself a man who himself is in the federal spotlight - Marcel Groen. It's what I'd expect from a Governor who was willing to shackle Pennsylvania's poorest citizens with a regressive sales tax hike. It's what I'd expect from a Governor whose intransigence during budget talks has become so ridiculous that several schools may have to shut down.

An Open Letter to Marcel Groen,

Dear Marcel Groen,

I am writing to you as a good Democrat who is disturbed at how many good Democrats are leaving the party because of Democrats like you. Your name has been added to the growing list of Democrats caught up in what increasingly appears to be bribery and outright shakedowns.

This list started with former Gubernatorial candidate Rob McCord, who pleaded guilty to extortion earlier this year for the way he threatened possible campaign donors.He is awaiting sentencing as the feds have used former Democratic campaign consultant Mike Fleck to snare City officials in Reading and Allentown in a gigantic pay-to-play scheme involving Democratic Mayors, a Democratic City Council President in Reading and a Democratic committeeman who was rigging bids while employed as an Assistant City Solicitor.

We have a Democratic Attorney General who has been caught up in perjury and who refuses to resign, even after her law license has been suspended.

And we have you.

You're no Democrat. You're a crony capitalist who pimped for a $28 million waste-to-energy plant at Kline's Island with no emission monitors for air quality in the heavily polluted Lehigh Valley.

And now, the feds are looking at you.

Do you honestly think that Republicans are going to let this slide in the state and presidential elections next year? If you really are a Democrat who wants your party to win at least some races, you need to step aside for Democrats who act more like Democrats.

Do the right thing.

Resign.

Groen a Poor Choice For Dem Party Chair

According to PoliticsPA, Governor Tom Wolf is seriously considering Democratic power broker Marcel Groen as the next state Democratic party chair. If anyone epitomizes the dangers of pay-to-play, it's Groen. If anyone is capable of dragging the state Democratic party into an ethical quagmire that already includes three Democratic Mayors and one former state treasurer, it's Grown. This is a bad choice by someone who spent his own money to get elected and seems a bit naive about the dirty world of politics.

Earlier this month, I told you the federal investigation into Allentown Mayor Edwin Pawlowski, aka Fed Ed, is no witch hunt. One if the many reasons for this is Fed Ed's s connections to political power broker Marcel Groen. Their relationship was detailed by Morning Call investigative reporter Jarrett Renshaw.

At that time, Democrats Groen and Pawlowski were both pushing a $28 million waste-to-energy plant at Kline's Island. Despite a complete lack of emission monitors for air quality in a heavily polluted Lehigh Valley, Pawlowski's rubber stamps on City Council approved the deal.

Fracking bad, air pollution good.

The only green that Groen and Fed Ed were interested in was the kind they could use to buy elections.

According to Renshaw, this poorly advised scheme arose from "Groen's personal and professional relationship with Pawlowski, who has enjoyed Groen's financial support during his two mayoral campaigns. Groen hadn't considered the city as a possible site for the plant until a chance lunch in 2009 with the mayor, whom Groen calls a friend and a 'visionary.'"

Pawlowski is so "visionary" that he had Allentown pay Groen's firm $350,000 between 2006 and 2010 for legal work that Fed Ed's legal team in the Solicitor's office was somehow unable to handle.

Might help him in the governor's race.

Fortunately, this project, like Pawlowski's gubernatorial campaign, never got off the ground because no bank was idiotic enough to front $49 million for a business idea that made little sense.

Then Lehigh County Exec Don Cunningham bluntly stated that with Green, "it's about money and business." He does not stop there, but added this. "So anyone that wants to run statewide must go through Montgomery County if they want to advance themselves. ... Clearly Pawlowski has developed that type of business and political relationship with Marcel."

If this is so, the feds should be quite interested in Grown. Since former political consultant was reportedly wired for 90 days before suddenly leaving town, it is entirely conceivable that one of the persons he spoke to was Pawlowski ally Marcel Groen.

Tom Wolf is trying to inject a new brand of ethics into politics. No gifts. He refuses to even live in the Executive Mansion. If he really wants to reform our broken system, Groen is the last person he should select.

Pawlowski Campaign Manager a Player in Allentown Water Deal

Mike Fleck

While Allentown is certainly the poorest municipality in the Lehigh Valley, a few politically connected people are getting rich. Thanks to the NIZ, a millionaire like J.B. Reilly can become a billionaire by diverting state taxes that should be funding programs for our children. But Marcel "Trash to Cash" Groen has one-upped J.B. He sold the Queen City on a goofy plan to convert trash and shit into energy pellets. If that project fails, the City will be stuck holding the colostomy bag, not Groen. Either way, he gets richer.

Don't get me wrong. Groen is an expert when it comes to shit. After all, he's not only a lawyer, but a party boss to boot. In fact, if you're a Democrat and want to run statewide, the magic door is inside Groen's Montgomery County office.

Maybe that's why he and Allentown Mayor Edwin Pawlowski are so chummy. After all, King Edwin won't be Mayor forever. King Edwin's campaign manager, failed newspaper boy Mike Fleck, is friendly with Groen, too.

Although Allentown is full of it, Groen is by no means content to sit on a pile of shit. No siree! As I told you earlier this week, he's also involved in one of the outfits interested in a 50-year lease for the City's water and sewer.

According to one informed source, it's already a done deal. Groen is allied with National Development Council, and they'll be getting the deal. The argument will be that, as a nonprofit, this outfit will be committed to keeping rates down. Everyone will make pious speeches, Then they'll all go home to drink Perrier and sit on their Allentown hoppers.

All the hearings and studies are, of course, bullshit. Pawlowski already has the votes he needs to make this happen. His City Council, incidentally, will soon have three appointed, instead of elected, members.

As smelly as all this shit is, hold your noses because it's about to get worse. Pawlowski campaign manager Michael Fleck is also involved in this deal. Now Fleck, who is also a member of Easton City Council, is no City employee. But he's paid by the Mayor, goes on vacations with him, and very obviously is trading on inside information to make himself a wealthy man.

Although Fleck is trying to steer the biz to Groen, his real interest is a
program giving ratepayers the option to purchase insurance for protection against leaking water and sewer pipes. Fleck would get a piece of that pie.

This program, incidentally, was first presented to Mayor Pawlowski over a year ago by a consultant who backed off completely when the City decided to sell or lease its water and sewer. Fleck wants this insurance clause inserted in the agreement of sale, but this consultant tells me you can't "front end" it like that. Another tells me it's actually illegal to force a ratepayer to purchase insurance. It would have to be an option.

Who Fleck is working for is a mystery even to the consultant who first proposed this idea to Allentown.

One thing is certain. Fleck is not working for the people of Allentown. He's in it for himself.

This alone should be a reason for City Council to kill the deal. But democracy is dead in Allentown.

Updated 11:20 AM: Just learned my sources are split over Groen's involvement with DNC. Suffice it to say that whatever group he is with is the one getting the deal. I was told it is the "nonproft," although one of the for-profit companies like Aqua could form a nonprofit venture to make it look good.

Updated 7:00 PM: Fleck Denies Current Involvement! -  Mike Fleck called me today to deny that he is involved in any way with any of the companies seeking a 50-year lease with the City's water and sewer. I also learned that Groen definitely is NOT involved with DNC. I am continuing to speak with people, will have a more detailed conversation with Fleck and will have a new post on Monday on this topic.

I'm entitled to my opinion, but not to my own facts. I think I got some of them wrong, and will post again when I am more certain. I apologize for the factual errors, but not for the post. I think it's important that people know who is involved in this matter, behind the curtains. I also am relatively certain that this is a done deal.

"Trash-to-Cash" Marcel Groen Involved in Allentown Water Sale

Democratic heavyweight Marcel Grown is known as the lawyer you must have on your side if you want to run for office statewide. It's not just his money, but the money he can raise from others that makes him attractive to candidates. And isn't it odd how all of his business interests have something to do with the government?

Locally, he's the alchemist who persuaded Allentown to approve a trash-to-cash plant that will turn lead into gold. I'm sure Mayor Edwin Pawlowski's enthusiasm for the project has nothing to do with a steady stream of campaign contributions from Groen and company.

Now comes word that Groen is also involved in the sale or lease of the Queen City's water and sewer. I don't know which outfit it is, but I expect to see it soon.