As I sit here and think of more about this
disastrous borrowing that the city is considering tomorrow, I am reflecting on
how the out-of-control spending ride that these city “leaders” are taking us on
currently is going to hurt, if not send the city to bankruptcy. I am a
lifelong(58 years) Allentown resident, and I have seen bad leaders (e.g.
Dadonna, Afflerbach, O’Connell) but this current mayor and the cabinet he
assembled must be the worst. I fear that Allentown’s best days are
going to be behind us if the citizens keep voting for such failures into
office. This is not solely a reflection of the mayor, our council
members are just as ineffective and detached from reality. The thought
that the city would be entertaining a taking on of so much debt when just 5 years
ago, prior to the influx of CARES and ARPA money the city was handed a bankrupt
in 5 years report by the Novak Firm is concerning. The situation could not possibly
have improved. Our leaders gave money to the DaVinci Center who promised
the site at Cedar Crest was going nowhere – no sooner did the check cash and
they closed the site. They handed money to vocal community members who
were all about unfair treatment and discrimination of employees along with
their “concern” for funds going to the wrong places. Then they were
handed their check, and they disappeared. I am sure they will return
during this budget season crying about the injustices and discrimination in the
city. ARPA funds were then used to hire new staff but there was no
mention of a plan to end the positions at the end of the ARPA season. ARPA
funds must be spent by Dec 31, 2026 – there should be a plan to remove those
positions from the city roster and not by moving into another city fund.
These position should go completely. The $1million+ paid for the ARPA
positions is a drop in the spending bucket but as I review the debt payment
amortization on the city site, $9m-14m is no small number. That
would be $1million less to come up with – let’s face it, our clueless council
is going to pass this spending. When you have a business owner on the
dias who gives everyone a promotion because he knows how important it is to pay
top wages (I wonder if he pays his people so well?) and a "lame
duck do nothing" his entire career, Daryl Hendricks on council, it is
not rocket science to know we are in for a fun ride. Buckle up!
Along with cutting the ARPA positions next year the mayor should
be looking at all staffing and removing redundancy and waste. It is
my understanding that there are 20 clerks for 200 police officers. Is
that necessary? Imagine if the effect on our school if our school district was able to maintain such a student-to-educator ratio? I write this because I am concerned for my city and I
don’t think there is anyone in City Hall, including our Controller and Finance
Director, that cares much about the city.
The ARPA positions
Heres link
https://www.allentownpa.gov/Portals/0/adam/Content/vQSEOIJQJUiH1uNjTQE68g/Url/12-%202025%20ARPA%20Fund.pdf
Please copy and paste it to see.
1 comment:
Damn Abe. I had no idea about everything you wrote. Well about the mayor and city council being ineffective is obvious but the rest needs to get out there. The favors these council people must get if they vote for this should be investigated. I mean we all know Mr. Hendricks son got promoted recently in the parks department and ever since then Daryl has supported everything the mayor wants. The city is going no where fast.
I find it interesting the city was on track just 5 years ago to be bankrupt but now want to pass this bill. How can the finance director sign off on this as a good idea? I cant wait to hear the explanation by Tuerk and Patel.
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