Schweyer stands out in Allentown Council race
October 30, 2007
Allentown voters are incredibly lucky in that we have outstanding candidates seeking office this year. However, one candidate stands apart from the rest. At various points during the past three years, Peter Schweyer has served as my co-worker, mentor and friend.
As a volunteer with Junior Achievement, Mayfair and youth baseball, Peter is active in the community. He also works as state Rep. Jennifer Mann's chief of staff. Voters will be hard-pressed to find a person who knows more about the workings of local and state government than him. It is Peter's community involvement and experience that set him apart from the other candidates.
On Nov. 6, I will be voting for Peter Schweyer for City Council. Allentown needs and deserves leaders like him.
Michael Schlossberg
Allentown
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Morning Call Endorsement
Choose 3 Democrats for Allentown council
October 28, 2007
Three seats are open on Allentown City Council and five people have offered their candidacies to fill the four-year terms. The Democrats have nominated three strong candidates, and the Republicans ... have not. It is unusual and a bit uncomfortable for The Morning Call to recommend electing only one party's slate. But with some reluctance, that is what we do here, and we urge the election of Jeanette Eichenwald, William Michael Donovan and Peter G. Schweyer to City Council.There are no reservations about the qualifications of the three Democrats, newcomers to this office. They bring diverse backgrounds and have prepared themselves well to sit on City Council.
However, at the same time, the Republican organization in this city has let voters down. The Republicans were unable to field a full slate for the three vacancies. Yes, the only Republican now on City Council, David K. Bausch, 75, is seeking another term, and we have supported him in the past. His name is a respected one in this town and he ''walks the walk'' of city leadership, having been a lifelong resident of the downtown. Republican Robert E. Smith Jr., 45, also is on the ballot. He also is seeking re-election to the Allentown School Board.However, the Democratic candidates have better ideas and are persuasive in making cases for what they would do to see Allentown to brighter days.
Jeanette Eichenwald, 63, just retired from six years on the Allentown School Board, where she learned a lot about how governments work together -- including sharing tax bases and resources, an insight that will serve City Council well. Mrs. Eichenwald and her husband successfully developed, ran and sold a computer business. She has been a teacher in the Salisbury School District and principal of the religious school at Congregation Keneseth Israel in Allentown. She also served as executive director of the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley. In explaining her desire to go from the school board to City Council, Mrs. Eichenwald says the problems of city schools overlap those of the municipality. Thinking of neighborhood and economic development and the need for public safety, she is right.
She also would bring to City Council a strength of character and a moral presence. As the elected body that represents all Allentonians, that is important. She has won numerous awards for leadership, including the Raoul Wallenberg Award, the Athena Award from the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Central Catholic High School Medal of Freedom. Furthermore, annually at Muhlenberg College, students who have done exemplary work toward religious understanding are given -- the Jeanette Eichenwald Interfaith Award.
William Michael Donovan, 54, teaches business and economics at Cedar Crest College. While many in government keep up by reading scholarly articles on public policy and finance, Professor Donovan has written many of those articles.
He is a relative newcomer to Allentown, but in three years here he has been involved in his West Park neighborhood and in city government. He served on Mayor Ed Pawlowski's transition team and on the police pension board. He and the Democratic mayor have supported each other, but we are persuaded that he would strike the right balance between supporting mayoral initiatives and fulfilling council's role as a sounding board for the public and a check on the executive.
Peter G. Schweyer, 29, is an Allentown native whose ''day job'' is chief of staff in the district office of state Rep. Jennifer Mann, the Democrat who represents the 132nd District. He also has worked for Rep. Steve Samuelson from Bethlehem and Sen. Lisa Boscola of Northampton County. He has not held elected office, but he served on Mayor Pawlowski's transition team in 2006.
Mr. Schweyer says the priority issues are public safety, public-private encouragement of home ownership and other basic public services. In addition, the key strength he would bring to council is a keen understanding of the respective roles of City Council and the executive and the need for municipal governments to think regionally and in concert with state government.
Candidates not recommended are invited to respond. Send a letter to Glenn Kranzley, editor of the opinion pages, 101 N. Sixth St., Allentown, Pa. 18105; to kranzley@mcall.com; or by fax to 610-770-3720
October 28, 2007
Three seats are open on Allentown City Council and five people have offered their candidacies to fill the four-year terms. The Democrats have nominated three strong candidates, and the Republicans ... have not. It is unusual and a bit uncomfortable for The Morning Call to recommend electing only one party's slate. But with some reluctance, that is what we do here, and we urge the election of Jeanette Eichenwald, William Michael Donovan and Peter G. Schweyer to City Council.There are no reservations about the qualifications of the three Democrats, newcomers to this office. They bring diverse backgrounds and have prepared themselves well to sit on City Council.
However, at the same time, the Republican organization in this city has let voters down. The Republicans were unable to field a full slate for the three vacancies. Yes, the only Republican now on City Council, David K. Bausch, 75, is seeking another term, and we have supported him in the past. His name is a respected one in this town and he ''walks the walk'' of city leadership, having been a lifelong resident of the downtown. Republican Robert E. Smith Jr., 45, also is on the ballot. He also is seeking re-election to the Allentown School Board.However, the Democratic candidates have better ideas and are persuasive in making cases for what they would do to see Allentown to brighter days.
Jeanette Eichenwald, 63, just retired from six years on the Allentown School Board, where she learned a lot about how governments work together -- including sharing tax bases and resources, an insight that will serve City Council well. Mrs. Eichenwald and her husband successfully developed, ran and sold a computer business. She has been a teacher in the Salisbury School District and principal of the religious school at Congregation Keneseth Israel in Allentown. She also served as executive director of the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley. In explaining her desire to go from the school board to City Council, Mrs. Eichenwald says the problems of city schools overlap those of the municipality. Thinking of neighborhood and economic development and the need for public safety, she is right.
She also would bring to City Council a strength of character and a moral presence. As the elected body that represents all Allentonians, that is important. She has won numerous awards for leadership, including the Raoul Wallenberg Award, the Athena Award from the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Central Catholic High School Medal of Freedom. Furthermore, annually at Muhlenberg College, students who have done exemplary work toward religious understanding are given -- the Jeanette Eichenwald Interfaith Award.
William Michael Donovan, 54, teaches business and economics at Cedar Crest College. While many in government keep up by reading scholarly articles on public policy and finance, Professor Donovan has written many of those articles.
He is a relative newcomer to Allentown, but in three years here he has been involved in his West Park neighborhood and in city government. He served on Mayor Ed Pawlowski's transition team and on the police pension board. He and the Democratic mayor have supported each other, but we are persuaded that he would strike the right balance between supporting mayoral initiatives and fulfilling council's role as a sounding board for the public and a check on the executive.
Peter G. Schweyer, 29, is an Allentown native whose ''day job'' is chief of staff in the district office of state Rep. Jennifer Mann, the Democrat who represents the 132nd District. He also has worked for Rep. Steve Samuelson from Bethlehem and Sen. Lisa Boscola of Northampton County. He has not held elected office, but he served on Mayor Pawlowski's transition team in 2006.
Mr. Schweyer says the priority issues are public safety, public-private encouragement of home ownership and other basic public services. In addition, the key strength he would bring to council is a keen understanding of the respective roles of City Council and the executive and the need for municipal governments to think regionally and in concert with state government.
Candidates not recommended are invited to respond. Send a letter to Glenn Kranzley, editor of the opinion pages, 101 N. Sixth St., Allentown, Pa. 18105; to kranzley@mcall.com; or by fax to 610-770-3720
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Violent Street Gangs
With only a few days left in the campaign and a deluge outside preventing me from knocking on doors right now, I decided to use this time to write about something that is a growing concern among all Lehigh Valley residents: Violent Street Gangs.
In my professional life as Chief of Staff to State Representative Jennifer L. Mann, I have spent countless hours working to address the gang problem from the legislative side. I have learned quite a lot about the gang phenomenon that I would like to share:
First, we must understand that gangs are not just a “city” problem. Gangs are growing fastest in suburban and rural areas, with the fastest growing region in the Commonwealth being in the Poconos. We cannot address gangs in a vacuum and assume their territory stops at Allentown’s boarders.
Second, children who join gangs obviously do so for a sense of belonging or to substitute for a lack of a family. They find not only companionship within a gang, but structure, a type of discipline and responsibility: the same things that are often missing in a dysfunctional family.
Third, I have been told by some retired and veteran members of the Allentown Police Department that we’ve had a gang problem for 20+ years, but other administrations were reluctant to acknowledge it because of concerns of a loss of business and residents. If this is in fact true, it is quite disconcerting.
Although gang violence has become a hot topic as of late, far too many people in our City have yet to grasp the very real threat they pose. Just as worrisome, many of those who do understand that gangs are real cannot identify warning signs of street gangs (signs, colors, tags, etc).
Representative Mann and I have focused on three major state initiatives to fight gangs: 1) Criminalizing street gangs, 2) Creating a dedicated source of funding to combat them, and 3) Allowing law enforcement to seize money and items that were acquired through gang activities.
If elected, I will continue my work on the local level to combat these criminal organizations. First and foremost, I will help develop a plan to disseminate information to the public to help educate people about the warning signs of gangs including symbols, colors, tags, etc.
In addition, I will encourage partnerships with other municipalities to track gang activities across municipal boards. Along those lines, at the recommendation of a veteran police officer, I will support the hiring of an intelligence clerk – someone who can maintain a database of known gang members, regions, activities, and gang identifiers so our officers can have the best and most up to date information possible.
Lastly, I will work with community partners – non-profits, the faith-based community, youth organizations, etc – to help break up gangs and save as many children as possible from a life of crime. I have already been in contact with a well known non-profit who is interested in being the “go-to” organization for gang membership rehabilitation.
With the right plan, I have no doubt that we can break this cycle of criminal activity.
In my professional life as Chief of Staff to State Representative Jennifer L. Mann, I have spent countless hours working to address the gang problem from the legislative side. I have learned quite a lot about the gang phenomenon that I would like to share:
First, we must understand that gangs are not just a “city” problem. Gangs are growing fastest in suburban and rural areas, with the fastest growing region in the Commonwealth being in the Poconos. We cannot address gangs in a vacuum and assume their territory stops at Allentown’s boarders.
Second, children who join gangs obviously do so for a sense of belonging or to substitute for a lack of a family. They find not only companionship within a gang, but structure, a type of discipline and responsibility: the same things that are often missing in a dysfunctional family.
Third, I have been told by some retired and veteran members of the Allentown Police Department that we’ve had a gang problem for 20+ years, but other administrations were reluctant to acknowledge it because of concerns of a loss of business and residents. If this is in fact true, it is quite disconcerting.
Although gang violence has become a hot topic as of late, far too many people in our City have yet to grasp the very real threat they pose. Just as worrisome, many of those who do understand that gangs are real cannot identify warning signs of street gangs (signs, colors, tags, etc).
Representative Mann and I have focused on three major state initiatives to fight gangs: 1) Criminalizing street gangs, 2) Creating a dedicated source of funding to combat them, and 3) Allowing law enforcement to seize money and items that were acquired through gang activities.
If elected, I will continue my work on the local level to combat these criminal organizations. First and foremost, I will help develop a plan to disseminate information to the public to help educate people about the warning signs of gangs including symbols, colors, tags, etc.
In addition, I will encourage partnerships with other municipalities to track gang activities across municipal boards. Along those lines, at the recommendation of a veteran police officer, I will support the hiring of an intelligence clerk – someone who can maintain a database of known gang members, regions, activities, and gang identifiers so our officers can have the best and most up to date information possible.
Lastly, I will work with community partners – non-profits, the faith-based community, youth organizations, etc – to help break up gangs and save as many children as possible from a life of crime. I have already been in contact with a well known non-profit who is interested in being the “go-to” organization for gang membership rehabilitation.
With the right plan, I have no doubt that we can break this cycle of criminal activity.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Mountainville 30 Crime Watch Turns 50
Last week, I had the great experience to join South Side residents at the 50th Anniversary Celebration Dinner for one of the oldest and most venerable crime watch in the City: Mountainville 30. The head of this organization is none other than Ben Gress, who also doubles as the leader of Presidents’ Council for the City’s neighborhood watch groups.
The dinner and birthday celebration brought out civic leaders from across the City from every level of government along with a few other candidates for a variety of offices. But what was much more impressive was seeing nearly 100 residents eating, chatting, laughing and enjoying the simple pleasures of living in a community.
The best part about living in Allentown is just that: a sense of neighborhood and a sense of community. It’s having 100 neighbors get together for dinner on a Friday night instead of going their separate ways. The clear success is a testament to the good work that Ben does for his neighborhood and our City.
And these community events are citywide. Just this year, I visited block parties and community gatherings at Midway Manor (as posted below), the Old Town Neighborhood Watch/OAPA, 19th Street Theatre District, supported an Easter egg hunt in my neighborhood (Lil’ Lehigh Parkway), National Night Out at Steven’s Park and countless others. This does not include all of the block watches, union meetings and other community forums I have attended – these are just some of the neighborhood parties I’ve experienced.
The sense of community in Allentown is what has kept us afloat during our recent struggles, and it is one of the top reasons why we are rebounding now. I would like to publically thank Ben and all of our community leaders for their role in keeping Allentown together.
Congratulations Mountainville 30 on this impressive anniversary, and best wishes on 50 more years!
The dinner and birthday celebration brought out civic leaders from across the City from every level of government along with a few other candidates for a variety of offices. But what was much more impressive was seeing nearly 100 residents eating, chatting, laughing and enjoying the simple pleasures of living in a community.
The best part about living in Allentown is just that: a sense of neighborhood and a sense of community. It’s having 100 neighbors get together for dinner on a Friday night instead of going their separate ways. The clear success is a testament to the good work that Ben does for his neighborhood and our City.
And these community events are citywide. Just this year, I visited block parties and community gatherings at Midway Manor (as posted below), the Old Town Neighborhood Watch/OAPA, 19th Street Theatre District, supported an Easter egg hunt in my neighborhood (Lil’ Lehigh Parkway), National Night Out at Steven’s Park and countless others. This does not include all of the block watches, union meetings and other community forums I have attended – these are just some of the neighborhood parties I’ve experienced.
The sense of community in Allentown is what has kept us afloat during our recent struggles, and it is one of the top reasons why we are rebounding now. I would like to publically thank Ben and all of our community leaders for their role in keeping Allentown together.
Congratulations Mountainville 30 on this impressive anniversary, and best wishes on 50 more years!
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
LANTA
First a little background. Early this spring, I was asked by Lehigh County Executive Don Cunningham to serve as a member of the LANTA Board of Directors. As someone who periodically rides LANTA buses and who has seen what quality public transportation can do to for a metropolitan region, I was quick to accept. I was unanimously approved by the Lehigh County Board of Directors and began serving in the early summer.
The timing was quite fortunate as LANTA was about ready to kick off a new era in public transportation in Lehigh County. As you no doubt are aware, the new Allentown Transportation Center (ATC) was close to completion. Through the prior decade (yes, this project took nearly 10 years to plan, fund and construct), LANTA worked with elected officials (including federal, state, county and municipal), the business community and most importantly our riders in designing the ATC and redesigning our routes.
The results have been nothing short of astounding. The ATC has helped us achieve our goals of 1) creating a convenient facility where people coming into Allentown or leaving the city can transfer buses, purchase tickets and park their vehicles (for park and ride purposes) in a clean and safe atmosphere; 2) reduce bus delays caused by traffic by rerouting routes, eliminating redundant stops and centralizing operations; and 3) serving as a “field HQ” for our drivers. According to both our riders and drivers, things have never been smoother.
Recently, the Morning Call noted the loss of business suffered by a few companies located between 7th and 8th Streets on Hamilton Street, who blame their decreasing revenue on LANTA’s decision to remove a bus stop on this road. Please realize that the biggest obstacle to buses arriving on time is traffic, and as someone who drives in Center City every day (remember, I work there), I can attest to the intense volume of traffic on Hamilton Street. Having buses travel on Hamilton Street caused major delays, inconvenienced passenger vehicle traffic, caused a possibly unsafe condition for pedestrians (because of how narrow the street is) and increased idling times (and as such increased the amount of emissions our buses would release). Therefore, the easiest decision LANTA had to make was to cut out a few blocks of Hamilton Street for our buses and reroute that traffic to Walnut and Linden Streets (one block north and south, respectively).
For the record, LANTA removed exactly ONE stop (yup, just one) in that section of Hamilton Street. What the Morning Call failed to mention is that we added three stops in the 700 Block of Walnut Street (just one block south), retained a stop in the Unit Hundred Block of North 8th Street and added a bunch at the ATC, just 2 blocks away.
However as a candidate and a truly concerned citizen, at a public LANTA committee meeting on Tuesday, I suggested that we discuss this situation with leaders from the Allentown Economic Development Corporation and Lehigh Carbon Community College to see if we can better address their needs. Our Executive Director, Armando Greco agreed to this, and we will proceed to discuss this topic with those interested parties.
Let me be clear: since the move off Hamilton Street has been extremely successful for our riders, I will not advocate for the reinstatement of the one stop on Hamilton Street. We will look at stops on the nearby North/South roads and other more creative options, but we must continue to operate in the best interest of our customers.
I am truly excited about the future for LANTA and by extension, the future of public transportation in the Lehigh Valley. Furthermore, I am proud to be a part of this important Authority. For more information, please check out our website at www.lantabus.com.
The timing was quite fortunate as LANTA was about ready to kick off a new era in public transportation in Lehigh County. As you no doubt are aware, the new Allentown Transportation Center (ATC) was close to completion. Through the prior decade (yes, this project took nearly 10 years to plan, fund and construct), LANTA worked with elected officials (including federal, state, county and municipal), the business community and most importantly our riders in designing the ATC and redesigning our routes.
The results have been nothing short of astounding. The ATC has helped us achieve our goals of 1) creating a convenient facility where people coming into Allentown or leaving the city can transfer buses, purchase tickets and park their vehicles (for park and ride purposes) in a clean and safe atmosphere; 2) reduce bus delays caused by traffic by rerouting routes, eliminating redundant stops and centralizing operations; and 3) serving as a “field HQ” for our drivers. According to both our riders and drivers, things have never been smoother.
Recently, the Morning Call noted the loss of business suffered by a few companies located between 7th and 8th Streets on Hamilton Street, who blame their decreasing revenue on LANTA’s decision to remove a bus stop on this road. Please realize that the biggest obstacle to buses arriving on time is traffic, and as someone who drives in Center City every day (remember, I work there), I can attest to the intense volume of traffic on Hamilton Street. Having buses travel on Hamilton Street caused major delays, inconvenienced passenger vehicle traffic, caused a possibly unsafe condition for pedestrians (because of how narrow the street is) and increased idling times (and as such increased the amount of emissions our buses would release). Therefore, the easiest decision LANTA had to make was to cut out a few blocks of Hamilton Street for our buses and reroute that traffic to Walnut and Linden Streets (one block north and south, respectively).
For the record, LANTA removed exactly ONE stop (yup, just one) in that section of Hamilton Street. What the Morning Call failed to mention is that we added three stops in the 700 Block of Walnut Street (just one block south), retained a stop in the Unit Hundred Block of North 8th Street and added a bunch at the ATC, just 2 blocks away.
However as a candidate and a truly concerned citizen, at a public LANTA committee meeting on Tuesday, I suggested that we discuss this situation with leaders from the Allentown Economic Development Corporation and Lehigh Carbon Community College to see if we can better address their needs. Our Executive Director, Armando Greco agreed to this, and we will proceed to discuss this topic with those interested parties.
Let me be clear: since the move off Hamilton Street has been extremely successful for our riders, I will not advocate for the reinstatement of the one stop on Hamilton Street. We will look at stops on the nearby North/South roads and other more creative options, but we must continue to operate in the best interest of our customers.
I am truly excited about the future for LANTA and by extension, the future of public transportation in the Lehigh Valley. Furthermore, I am proud to be a part of this important Authority. For more information, please check out our website at www.lantabus.com.
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