Two candidates no one great

 

So, council will take to picking a new City Controller this Wednesday, and honestly… the choices are not super exciting. The Controller, which is basically the person who makes sure the money doesn’t disappear into a black hole. Sounds important, right? I don’t think Council is taking it seriously.

EVETTE D’AMORE 

She is basically a friend of the mayor, so it is easy to see who he is probably pushing behind the scenes. They worked together previously and seem to have many similarities. 

Some grown‑ups say this means they “have” experience, but other people say it’s kind of weird because the Controller is supposed to check the mayor’s work. I don’t see either of these candidates, based on their short qualifications sheet on the city website, to be the right candidate at this time.

It’s like if your teacher said you need a hall monitor but then picked their favorite kid who always gets special jobs. You just wonder if they’ll tell the teacher when something is wrong. Her qualifications for the job are not what is needed for a Controller. Like Talarico, she is probably a plant for the mayor, so he isn’t held accountable.

PATRICK PALMER

This person is fine. Just… fine. He doesn't have big ideas or big problems. Palmer is generally seen as a well‑intentioned community figure who has been active in local issues and supportive of underserved groups. He has prior political involvement, including unsuccessful attempts to join Council. While he is respected for his advocacy, his qualifications are thin for a position like the city's Controller.

--- Who remembers when Patrick Palmer called out the mayor for using race as a steppingstone during his campaign? “Why do you need to highlight her race?” “What value comes from that?”

He probably won’t mess anything up, but he also won’t fix anything big or make the city better in cool ways.

Both candidates appear to lack the depth of experience typically expected for the Allentown Controller role. One raises concerns about independence due to close ties with the mayor, while the other is seen as competent but not particularly transformative. The selection process feels less like a search for the strongest financial watchdog and more like settling for two modestly qualified options. 

What we do not need is another individual that will greenlight the wasteful spending and support any tax increase in the next budget.

Also, I can only see Palmer doing the requested audit of the Mayors travels.  A real audit.  Not a Frank Kane bullshit special.