Retired FBI Agent: Pay to Play in LV Had Gone On For Years

"Pay to play in the Lehigh Valley had been going on for years." That's what retired FBI Agent Scott Curtis told Morning Call reporters in a podcast yesterday. "There's always going to corruption going on."

I'll say this. Lehigh Valley politicians are boy scouts compared to what you'll find in the coal regions. Scranton's Mayor entered into a deal yesterday to plead guilty to flat out old school bribery.

Nobody batted an eye.

Fed Ed Investigation: Cedar Beach Pool and Possible Bid Rigging

If you think the federal investigation into political corruption is over, better think again. The Grand Jury is still gathering information, as some employees in the city's Public Works department can tell you. "It was the worst day of my life," says one of them.

According to three different sources I'm unwilling to name, I hear the following:  

• A new round of indictments is coming. I hear it is "soon." That could mean tomorrow, or next month.
       
• Feds are looking into the $1.8 million renovation project at Cedar Beach pool. That project was supposed to be completed by June of this year. Then it was July. The project was still unfinished on August 29. "Unforeseen conditions" claimed City spokesperson "Mike Moore," who lacks the honesty to use his real name.  (Maybe they found Jimmy Hoffa).
   
•  Believe it or not, there are allegations that federal investigators have honed in on bid-rigging, something that happened for the City's tax collection contract with Northeast Revenue. According to these sources, the ties to Allentown Mayor Edwin "Fed Ed" Pawlowski are much more clear. "They have him dead to rights," says one of them. 

Lady Pawlowski Lawyered Up?

Inside word is that Lisa Pawlowski, who likes to refer to herself as the First lady of Allentown, has lawyered up.  Pretty strange behavior when her husband's mouthpiece, who just got a client convicted in Northampton County, is claiming he doesn't expect to see Fed Ed indicted at all. That's after he said he does expect to see him indicted. I don't know who this attorney might be, but that's what lawyers in Allentown say.