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.
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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. 🚗
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I wasnt impressed with Mr. Kane and I set the bar damn near on the floor. The way he sat in his chair and kept saying I wasnt approved yet was unprofessional to me. He didnt answer questions and council wouldnt call him out on it. News flash, the cabinet directors have a 5 mile radius residence requirement. Not the managing director. He has a specific Allentown residency requirements and has 1 year to move within the city. Tuerk hinted at getting rid of the managing director residency requirement and I am imagine he will be including that with his own no term limit request.
So now the mayor has someone to blame and city has another HIGH salary to pay!! I’m sure all cabinet members will SNOW ball him just like mayor!! I wonder if he will do bike rides and videos to get messages across??
You lost me on the Josh Siegel compliment. He is an arrogant wannabe that is not long for his current job. A career political hack, he will just be another Mark Pinder- worthless.
I'm glad someone else picked up on Kane lounging in the chair. It gives me arrogant vibes. It seems presumptuous that Tuerk will be asking Council to get rid of the residency requirements AFTER Kane was confirmed. The fact that people running our city do not LIVE in the city bothers me a lot. Tuerk, of course, spent a majority of the meeting mansplaining things, he said a lot of the same things about Shahzad before he eventually fired him so his words mean nothing to me.
Tuerk’s Managing Director will be a perfect addition to the circus freaks he has already assembled. The arrogance of the nominee to sit there like he is at poker night with the fellas during his confirmation shows everything I need to know about him. I truly feel bad for the city hall employees. They have a fifth floor overflowing with arrogance and entitlement.
Are you serious about Josh Siegel? Does an astute quality leader say this about half of the country's voters? He posted this on his Exec Facebook page, "The Republican Party is an anti-democratic, authoritarian party that relies on racism, zero sum politics and divide and conquer strategies to win power. It thoroughly rejects free and fair elections, corrupts the judicial system and uses the levers of government to enrich the Epstein class at our expense. They’re cutting healthcare, public education, food stamps, funding for seniors and veterans. They’re manically evil and cruel."
Correction, "county’s voters".
That guy hasn’t rode a bike a day in his life.
All of those people in the room last night were following a script written by Tuerk. They just needed to play their part, including Council. Affa was the only one who went off script and congratulated him before the vote. Not surprised, she had no clue if she was even awake.
💯 agree with the Siegel comment. Abe. I think you had a stroke while writing this post. Siegel is not qualified or quality. Maybe you were trying to say he’s a better politician than Tuerk or has more teeth and hair? You gotta redeem yourself man!
Abe: How could you??? Siegel called all Republicans maniacally evil and cruel...He is an unhinged radical who masqueraded around as a mainstream Democrat.
It is an irresponsible incitement to violence against Republicans.
He was a Defund The Police advocate
I hear the pushback, and that’s fair. My mention of Josh wasn’t meant as an endorsement. Far from it. It was simply an observation about generational contrast in local leadership. We have a long‑standing pattern of recycling the same politicians.
That’s all I meant—nothing more dramatic than that.
We can disagree on his qualities, but the larger point of the post still stands: Allentown keeps choosing the same old leadership mold, and residents are paying the price. My praise of Josh was that he appeals to Lehigh County residents and certainly not my endorsement of him at all.
Okay...that's ten Hail Mary's for penance
I have know Josh far too long. From this I have nothing positive to say about him. He is as radical as Ce-Ce, just as conniving, and as with Ce-Ce he will latch onto every trendy radical idea no matter how outlandish or destructive. He is now sufficiently full of himself to believe he is brillant in every regard and he can do no wrong. Such people are almost always extremely bad leaders, especially when there is no check or counter balance on them, which is the case now. Anyone hoping the board will act responsibly to say No when No needs to be said will quickly learn that won't happen. Okay, rant finished. Apologies.
We love your commentary, Scott. No apologies necessary.
Matt Tuerk and Josh Siegel are a destructive force in the Lehigh Valley. Many people in Allentown just don’t know how evil and arrogant Tuerk truly is at his core. He is the guy that put his hands on Cynthia Mota after a tirade at the City Golf Course talking about how “powerful he really is” and Human Resources and Legal ignored it.
I hope that both of them will be exposed in a very embarrassing and damaging matter sooner than later so the area can prosper.
Scott and ABE none have been chosen by those unearthed voters that are mail in's after voting is closed!
Josh will make sure everyone votes! You know what I mean.
There is no oversight, there is no accountability. Look how long it took an outside entity, the FBI to save us from Ed. I only comment now to relieve the frustration of decades of fighting against the corruption and dysfunction to no avail. We stay because we have a beautiful historic home and a wonderful community in West Park. This said, we have had one foot out the door several times in the past decades and the thought that we might have to leave is never distant.We wish it wasn't but it is what it is.
Scott, I hope that you make incredible bank on your home when you sell and leave the area. Allentown doesn't deserve you. Your comments here are very much appreciated.
Kane is Tuerk’s JD Vance. I knew Tuerk loved Trump and was just hiding it.
A Temu deputy for a Temu mayor.
Allentown real estate values are what they are unless you are in the deep west end. Even though we have a lovely historic home we won't get much for it. We realized that years ago and have made the necessary retirement adjustments. It is our hope to age out here in the city, but if the quality of life continues to decline it will become intolerable even to the tolerant.
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