Tuerk hands over keys to new Managing Director; Immediately added to snow emergency contact list

Council was scripted and predictable.  I watched the video playback so you didn’t have to waste YOUR time.  There was absolutely no one from the public there.  I felt like I was attending a Trenton City Council meeting—empty public seats, heavy scripting, and a lot of back-patting over the new managing director.  There was so much optimism coming from the Mayor and Council that even a Trump rally would pale in comparison.   The thought that a new managing director is the savior to the city is laughable.  

Affa thinks council is already great and the director will make the city so much better.  Yea okay??  Affa is 20 minutes past her 15 minutes in the spotlight.  She is irrelevant at this point.  

I am not sure why the city needs a mayor and a managing director.   Matt doesn’t “show up” for committee meetings or council meetings 90% of the time and really wasn’t missed.  

Oh boy Bina came up and said the city is doing financially great and they will just realign the budget to pay for the new director.  I am not sure how council was able to fully fund a position that has a $131,977 salary and the 2026 budget had it funded for $1.  Basic procedures would make you believe a transfer at a minimum to the position would be necessary.  This was not a fully funded position in 2026.  Bina sucks too…i feel somewhere she wanted to say “we are hiding our plan until after this passes so we can box council in to a decisions that you may not have made”

Mayor said they will not fill some positions so they can fulfill the managing director budget.  

I truly believe the M.D is a waste of money, but not more than the mayor’s position and the Civic Innovations Manager.   The mayor needs someone to blame for his own missteps.  Essentially, he will be Tuerk’s fall guy. 

Mota you choked.   You continue to grovel at the Mayor's tennis shoes. She stated the director will help support the mayor and he is in much need of support. Maybe if he had an effective and present staff?

Executive assistant is filled per the mayor, but wasn’t she just promoted to Civic Innovations Manager? Are my sources incorrect?  Say it ain't so. So when the mayor is absent the deputy mayor was Chief Roca? Too bad the mayor wasn't absent more often. I love watching Roca speak.   Now it will be the managing director.    I read the charter for the Deputy Mayor.  The actual wording is: 

“Upon taking office, the Mayor shall designate a department head or elected City official who shall serve as Deputy Mayor, in the event of the Mayor's temporary disability or absence from the City. The Mayor may change his designation from time to time. The Deputy Mayor shall exercise all the duties of the Mayor, except the power of appointment or removal from office.”

So I believe the city hierarchy now goes mayor, managing director, then whatever Boyer is, then directors.   

Does anyone know why this guy left the county? Josh Siegel is an astute and quality leader.  He is young but that is part of his appeal.  The city and the lehigh valley have an old regime problem where we see the same tired individuals in government.  Josh breaks that mold and I wouldn’t be surprised if he saw that in the Government Center and that is why Allentown has Frank. Could the county position be better than the city?  Mayor didn't answer why Mr. Kane left the county but bless him for keeping Frank employed. 

Napoli tried to explain who the best employees are and I stopped listening because....just because.  

Binder is really growing on me.  He wasnt kissing Kane's ass but instead trying to get him to answer questions.   I don’t think Kane did that great of a job. Remember when you hype up someone like I feel council did, you set an expectation.  Frank Kane didn’t meet the expectations in my opinion.  Which I'm sorry but he is stepping into a failing city with a failure of a mayor, so I wouldn’t expect a revolution to happen in Allentown with this appointment.   Most likely more of the same.

Napoli: any questions or comments from the public?? Lol.  Read the room!! No one was there. No one “showed up” because no one cares anymore. The city is a joke and residents are tired of beating their heads against a wall.  

As a parting comment - Mr Kane would definitely be able to sell a used car. 🚗

Promotion

Another set of congratulations are in order. My sources tell me that Michaela Boyer has been promoted in the Mayor’s Office to the Civic Innovation Manager position. I hope that Ms Boyer is truly interested in fulfilling the responsibilities tasked within the job description, and that this isn’t another misstep with our tax dollars by the Tuerk Administration. Or in normal words.  A WASTE OF MONEY!!! It almost seems this girl has something on Matt.  How does one get on the fast track to city leadership like she has? Is there an apprenticeship or internship available?

Good news to one of my blog followers-CHAT is coming back under Ms Boyer. I hope coffee is served.

Breaking News: Leadership is Now Important for Allentown.

I hear we may have a new director joining the ranks of this blog! This was a surprise for your humble blogger Abe. Thanks to Lehigh Valley Ramblings for breaking this news today.

I am surprised by this move by Matt Tuerk. He does not like to share the spotlight. Could this be further proof of what has been said on this blog and social media? That our Pee-Wee mayor is no longer having fun being mayor. By hiring this managing director, he can now push off all responsibility, and most importantly blame, for the operations of the city… or the failed operations of the city which have been more frequent lately. 

Tuerk can now focus on what he likes to do… turning into a silly jet-setting TikTok diva while billing it all to the city taxpayers.

From my dealings with the city, we are in desperate need of a strong managing director like Joe MacMahon, and I hope Mr. Kane can rise to the challenge. The city is out of control. Between mismanaged finances, crime through the roof, a downtown area that is more like a ghost town, and more people becoming homeless by the day, it is clear that the city is in need of leadership and management. 

What does this mean for the deadweight in the city. Let’s start with Michaela Boyer. 

 Is she no longer trying to get promoted? Is she leaving the city? Will she be able to survive under the careful eye of a managing director? Will she reduce her hours to 1 day every 6 months instead of the current 1 day per quarter?

The cabinet directors must be also shaking in their boots. They are finally going to have someone to hold them responsible for their lackluster and weak leadership.

 I am sure Vicky Kistler is currently researching retirement options because she can no longer pull the wool over her boss’s eyes. She will need to provide results and will be answering a seasoned community & economic development professional. 

Bina Patel will finally have to provide answers and not “I will have to get back to you on that.” 

Mark Shahda will have to be a present leader during snow clean-up operations. 

Freddy Agusto may just have to do an investigation to find out who in his department should be accountable for a traffic violation/” error in judgement.” It is a perfect opportunity to hold 

Chief Roca accountable for the noise and dirtbikes that plague the city.  

The job description passes the city management from the mayor to the new Managing Director. The notice on the agenda indicated that the salary will be $131,977. The mayor makes $95,000 per year.

Last comment: For what are we paying the mayor?

When you preach accountability but can't do it.

Here is an example of accountability the city leaders always talk about doing.  You only need to read the 2nd and 3rd pages.  But a brief summary.  A firefighter took a city fire vehicle out of the city and got a $300 ticket.  I am not sure what the ticket was for, but nevertheless the controller questions fire Chief Agosto and you can read his response.  Disgusting.

 

Why isnt the mayor stepping in?  The employee needs to pay the fine, not the tax payers.  Since said employee hasnt fessed up to the violation he/she should be fired. Can the firefighters commit crimes now and get away with them?  I thought that was reserved only for the police. Just because the union will file a grievance nothing will be done?  Who cares, file one.  Agosto should grow a backbone and control his men.  His excuse is lame.  His firefighters can just take vehicles wherever they want and no one  knows who or what they are using it for?  Yea okay.  This my friends is called corruption.

Have you hit a pothole in Allentown lately?

Obviously if anyone reading this has ever driven in Allentown they would know the streets are some of the worst.  

Potholes everywhere. Mayor Matt was out on his bike the other day riding around showing all the potholes in the street.

The mayor even rode around and showed how his bike transversed the potholes.

The Mayor stated "our crews are gearing up for pothole, they are excited to get out there and fix em." Did you really ask them if they are excited?

The mayor has encouraged people to call 610-437-8775 to report any potholes.   Please call!!!

I do thank you Matt for going out and pointing out the shitty roads.  I truly hope the streets department have funding to completely pave some streets this year, vs just patching them. 

"Now featuring Zero leadership, Unlimited Confusion":

Who is running the city? While the mayor is on his third, fourth or fifth trip of the year, at this point who’s counting. Washington DC, Los Angeles, Puerto Rico, NYC, Austin Texas… my question is who is running this city? 

My sources tell me Michaela Boyer is the deputy mayor, but I also don’t believe she “shows up” using the mayors overused catch phrase. So I’ll ask again… who is running the city? 

Wheres Waldo Tuerk?

Because no-one can even say for sure who Is even up in the mayor’s office anyways? I hear he hasn’t replaced Laura Ballek Cole or Genesis Ortega yet. That much is clear. Maybe Tuerk is going back to the basics. We all know it was ridiculous for him to be traipsing around the city with his little entourage of young, pretty girls. Part of me wonder if he just can't get anyone to want to work for the mayor’s office? Would you? It is the equivalent of being in steerage on the Titanic at this point. Long ago it used to be an honor, nowadays, you wear it like a scarlet letter. 

 That should tell you everything you need to know.

Eddie could have been running it lolololol

Snow disaster explanation

Each of you know there is no chance that Abe wouldn’t listen to the Public Works Committee meeting last night and not provide my comments to this crazy propaganda filled meeting. The attendance was low but there was some good public comment. Mark Shahda, Director of Public Works, presented an overview of how the city should respond. The response to this storm could be summarized by the words of the SEIU President: “poorly managed effort”. 

The argument that it is easier to work overnight is weak at best. During the day the cars that would normally be parked on the streets are likely moved due to the occupant leaving the residence to go to work. Working overnights is a way to maximize overtime payments.

Thanking the staff for a job well done is predictable. There is no doubt that the staff worked tirelessly but it was due to poor management and execution of operations related to this most recent snow event. As Mr. Hunsicker said the snow emergency plan has been around since the 70s, it wasn’t followed. Crews may have worked long hours and missed holidays – although there were no holidays missed during the Feb storm, Valentines Day? Presidents Day? – but that is the job they were hired to perform.

That deserves a big wahhhhhh!

Challenging storm? This was 12 inches and the freezing temps did not let up. However, you have a snow plan and largely use equipment to remove snow. There was no reason that snow operations would be hindered due to cold temperatures. 3rd biggest city in Pa and we can’t handle 12 inches?

My sources tell me that there was no coordination in advance with the Parks Dept or APA until a day prior. The choice to house staff in hotels wasn’t made until the day prior. It is interesting that the City would put employees in hotels. You can’t mandate an employee stay in a hotel. There is a snow operations center, and I have been told that there are beds and facilities for staff to use. How sad to hear that the city had to put employees in hotels when the city has ample space to house during such events. The city owns homes at Cedar Beach and they weren’t thought of to house staff? It is troubling to hear that the city may not have a plan other than using taxpayer dollars for hotel rooms.

A troubling year? There was one storm that had 12 inches and the other two were far less and completely manageable. The snowstorm that crippled the Public Works Department netted far less snow than originally predicted, and they still couldn’t get it done.

                            Vs

The city failed this year with communications related to snow operations. The message from the mayor’s office was to refer to CodeRed. There wasn’t a single message that was received by CodeRed. The social media was hit or miss – small videos were uploaded that addressed what the city wanted the residents to do but not much on the city's operations.  

Signs were not posted to announce the street closures or the snow emergencies. The operations at midnight with blaring sirens and APD screaming instructions through the vehicle loudspeaker. The few postings that indicated snow clearing were open ended and did not offer a reasonable time frame. The posting said “until snow cleared” – that is not how work is done. The truth of the matter is that they did not plan properly between posting and cleanup execution. 

 Mark Shahda mentioned that “we were behind a learning curve on this one. We hadn’t had a snowstorm for 5 years”. Seriously Mark? You have bigger issues if staff forget how to perform essential duties because we haven’t had a significant snow event. You need the learning curve my man. 

I agree with President Napoli – we need to do better. The information is in many different places, and it leads to confusion and misinformation. Again, Coder Red was brought online to handle these situations as a single point of information for residents, and it was never used during the storm. The city website was updated during the snowstorm when the community started complaining about the city response. That was a failure.

I find it weak to blame the lack of equipment. The city has plenty of equipment to clear the streets, and Mark Shahda said the same. He stated, “the city has enough resources to clear the streets with 12 inches of snow”, yet they were unable to meet these clearing needs for this storm.   

The truth is that the city administration failed with this snow season. They did not “open” the city as Mr. Shahda claimed. It is sad to hear him sit there and claim that the city was cleared within days. That is not reality and shame on him for trying to rewrite reality.   

The Allentown Parking Authority and the City Council did an impressive job getting out information; that cannot be said about the Public Works department. 

I heard a common theme in Mr. Shahda’s presentation – “that is a tall order”, “we can’t do that”, “we aren’t staffed or equipped”, “we tried that and it didn’t work”, “I am willing to have a discussion, but…” To me, this is nothing more than a power hold and basic reluctance to make any changes because it requires investment in change. I am not surprised at all by these comments, they are typical of someone who is not capable of handling their duties and prefers to hold on to what they know (what is easy) vice a potential process improvement (something requiring effort and thought).

And what the hell was Miss Canales talking about….?

Snow is “your thing” but you made me want to bury my head in a mountain of snow.      

 

One last comment on the attempts by council to silence community members from speaking truth and calling out the mayor, cabinet, and council. It is violation of our First Amendment to make any attempt to control or silence a community member from speaking their mind or expressing themselves (including wearing a hat). 

The First Amendment protects the right to speak at public meetings, which includes the right to criticize the government and offer viewpoints. Council members cannot silence or shut down speakers simply because they offer a disfavored viewpoint or criticize government officials. The government cannot discriminate against viewpoints, and any restrictions on speech must be necessary to serve a compelling state interest and must be narrowly tailored to achieve that goal. The council and mayor need to realize that they are elected officials and the very seat they sit in and the building they operate is funded and provided by the taxpayers of the city.

Billy Joel

I thought a nice sing-a-long would be fun

Allentown- Billy Joel/ Honest Abe

Well we're living here in Allentown

And they voted for a mayor who is a clown 

Out in Bethlehem they're drinking wine

Doing the norms

Their leaders are fine

Well our leaders think that we should spend more

Raise our taxes so we cant go to the Jersey Shore

Lost our parking spots in the snow

Probably cause of finance

Attendance at the Archer is low

And we're giving Union raises here in Allentown

But the restlessness was handed down

And it's getting very hard to staaaaaay

Well we're waiting here in Allentown

For the crime rate to go down

For the promises our mayor gave

If we voted for him 

We shouldve voted for Abe

So all the debt hangs on the city hall walls

Now we know council will never help us at all

No they never taught us what was real

The Arch is a joke

The Curtis report will be unsealed

And there is more homelessness here in Allentown

Now that the dirt bikers have taken over the town

So I won't be getting any sleep todaaaaay

Every citizen has a good chance to get shot

Or steal from your neighbor and not get caught 

But something happened on the way to that place

They threw a Pride flag in our face

Well I'm living here in Allentown

Tuerk and Siegel think they can take ICE down

But my road wont be getting plowed todaaaaaaaay

And it's getting very hard to stay

And we're living here in Allentown

Is the summer bullshit here already

 

Summer isnt even close but the past two days are bringing out the best in the city.

I had to drive across town this evening and to my surprise I heard more loud music and saw more dirt bikes than ever.   There were groups of those little douche scooters that people buy because they can't afford a real motorcycle everywhere.  Isn't there helmet laws and required lights for those things?  

I saw dirt bikes driven by the tough boys who have to cover their faces.  They are so cool. And their bikes are so great.  Its rare I ever see any girls on the back of these things.  Wonder why.  Losers.

Then I see the real cool guys with the 3 wheel Spyders blasting spanish music for the whole city to hear.  Why do people spend their childrens college fund to mount speakers all of these machines?  Its outright obnoxious. 

Now of course who is going to curb this 3rd world behavior.  Do do do..  Chief Roca?  I'm waiting for his yearly Facebook or news article explaining how APD is doing zero tolerance with illegal dirt bikes and YOU WILL BE CITED. Same bullshit every summer.  Yet the problem is always here. 

We could always ask this guy what he is going to do about the dirt bikes.

I do have to say, if yesterday and today is a taste of this summer in Allentown.  Holy shit be prepared for your quality of life to be at an all time low.  The loud music, the loud cars,  the reckless driving, its all back.  

Soon enough the out of staters will be here to invade and ruin our parks.