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The Downtowner
Newsletter of the Kiwanis Club of Allentown
February 14, 2009
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HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!
Don't
forget your sweetheart today, and make every day Valentine's Day in your
special relationship!
The State of Our City
At our February 2 meeting
Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski
provided us with his annual "State of the City" address. There was a nice turn
out for the meeting, with 14 members in attendance and guests from three clubs
in the Division, including Lt. Governor Ed Fahrman and former member of our club
now representing Allentown NE, Jim Snyder.
The Mayor began his talk
with some light humor, mentioning that his 7 year old son asked if he had today
off from school in observance of "Groundhog Day." He also mentioned that today
was his 20th wedding anniversary, which drew a round of applause from the
audience. Despite our nation's economic crisis and the sluggish economy the
Mayor felt that the City of Allentown was making tremendous progress. He
outlined a series of "foundations" that have been built by his administration
over the years. The first is in public safety. When he took office in 2006, 1/3
of the police force had retired due to a lucrative pension plan. Since then ,
over 80 new officers have been trained, and the force has gone from 150 in 2006
to 205 officers today. With federal grants the city has installed 80
surveillance cameras in critical locations. In an effort to better connect with
the community, walking patrols by officers have increased 550% under his
administration. Crime has dropped 60% since 2006. "Nuisance crimes"- loud music
and litter have been targeted. Using the "Weed & Seed" program, resources have
been directed towards neighborhoods that are 11% of the city's population, yet
where 22% of crimes are committed. The Mayor felt that all trends in public
safety were headed in the right direction.
However, the Mayor quickly
pointed out that police officers alone are not the key to restoring the city's
image. "We cannot just arrest ourselves out of the problem" he stated. The cost
of building and operating prisons in the United States is six times more than we
spend on education. So we must develop programs that break the cycle of
lawlessness and despair among young people in our cities. The Mayor cited a very
successful program the city has in Cumberland Gardens where over 300 kids are
tutored and mentored by adults. Students of Central Elementary School are
mentored from pre-school through high school, all the way through college. For
these children to succeed though, parents need to play a bigger role in raising
their children. "Everyone needs to step up" he advised, "this is everyone's
problem."
Under his administration,
Mayor Pawlowski has reduced the city work force from 1000 to 920 employees. Debt
levels are lower than neighboring cities. Allentown's $120 million in debt
compares to $500 million in Bethlehem. In the area of cost savings the city
installed LED lights in all of its traffic signals, saving considerable money in
electricity and replacement costs. The city has improved to a BBB+ bond rating.
The city has not increased taxes for five straight years. The Mayor stated that
despite rumors to the contrary, the city will not be bankrupt. The projected
deficit is running higher, and surpluses will be needed to balance the budget
this year. However, this computes to only a 1/7% variance in the budget. The
city has a five year budget plan to address these challenges.
Another key "foundation"
for the city is economic development. The Mayor cited the success of Coca Cola
Park and minor league baseball. The final touches are being worked out to bring
minor league hockey to Allentown by building an arena along the Lehigh River on
a 40 acre TIF site. The Mayor expects a half-billion dollar investment in the
waterfront area. The "Main Street" program on 7th Street has been very
successful, attracting 21 new businesses to 7th Street in the past two years.
The city plans to extend the "Main Street" program to Hamilton Street. On
Allentown's East Side, the former Hanover Acres housing development was torn
down and Overlook Park was built, with 250 low income mixed housing with renters
and home owners. Crime has gone down dramatically in that area. The city has
been courting "green jobs", and solar panels are being installed at the
Bridgeworks business center operated by the Allentown Economic Development
Corporation.
In summation, Mayor
Pawlowski described the "State of the City" as "promising." He gave full credit
to volunteer organizations like Kiwanis as partners in improving the quality of
life for Allentown's citizens. THANK YOU
Mayor Pawlowski for
the inspiring talk, and your continuing support for the Kiwanis Club of
Allentown!
Foundation Dinner
Our Foundation Dinner Planning Committee has met and details are being worked
out for the March 23 event! The Community Music School Silver Winds Flute
Choir will be performing during a reception from 6-7 PM at the Brookside
Country Club. Northampton County Executive John Stoffa will be our
Master of Ceremonies, and Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski has agreed to
offer our invocation. And we expect a fascinating program by local historian
Frank Whelan about the history of our club and how our young club was able to
help children orphaned by the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918. A dozen agencies
will receive grant awards from our Foundation, and 8 members of our club's
"Legion of Honor" will be recognized in a special ceremony. There will be a
silent auction to raise funds for our Foundation. It will certainly be an
evening to remember! A flyer will be forwarded to members by tomorrow which we
ask they forward to everyone on their e-mail distribution lists. Our goal is to
have 100 guests at the event. We hope that members bring their husbands/wives
and friends to join them. Don't miss this exciting event!
Division 18 News
The Parkland Area
Kiwanis Club will be hosting an interclub on Wednesday, February 24 for
breakfast at Morgan's Restaurant on N. Cedar Crest Blvd. Also, The Kiwanis
Club of Emmaus is hosting an interclub next month, on March 24. They meet
for dinner beginning at 6:30 PM at the Perkins Restaurant on Lehigh Street,
Allentown. The speaker will be Doug Harbach of the Pa. Gaming Control Board.
Cost of the meal is $15.00. Call Don Club at 610-282-1897 by March 23 with
reservations. Let's support our local clubs by attending their interclub
meetings!
Personalized Books for Children
The Personalized Books for Children schedule is going full speed ahead in
February.
·
February 18 - Ritter Elementary School, 89 students
·
February 24 & 25 - Mosser Elementary School, 165 students
If you would like to help out, meet in the school office at 9:00 AM on these
dates. It is a very rewarding experience!
Kiwanis Night at the IronPigs
Region 6 of Pa. District Kiwanis will be hosting the 3rd Annual "Kiwanis Night
at the IronPigs" on Friday, June 11. The 'Pigs will be playing the Toledo Mud
Hens that night, and there will be fireworks after the game. Tickets are $25,
which includes a two hour all-you-can-eat picnic buffet. A flyer was just
e-mailed to our membership. Hope that you can join us!
Upcoming Programs
February 16 –
Rob Narayana, Key Club
Lt. Governor.
Invocation: Don Knapp
March 2 –
LV IronPigs Speaker.
Invocation:
Young Chang
Next Board Meeting:
February 22, 5:30 PM at the Allentown Brew Works.
February
Birthdays
7
- Todd Siegfried
21 - Bruce Reimer
28 - Keith Reynolds
-Tom Harp, Editor
