What: Allentown Council Meeting
Date: May 5th, 2021 at 7:00pm
A good portion of the proceedings at the May 5th Allentown City Council Meeting might fall under the general heading of a demonstration and celebration of the political ascendancy of Hispanic Allentownians, who, as Council President Julio Guridy pointed out, are now 55% of the city’s population. A measure (R61) renaming the small park at 2nd and Hamilton as “La Placita” passed by a unanimous 7-0 vote. Guridy translated La Placita literally as “little plaza”, although Victor Martinez, President/CEO of VP Broadcasting (Mega Radio, Allentown) and initiator of the proposal said that “The Center” conveyed its sense. Martinez, along with various community members expressing support for the proposal, appeared in a video shown to Council and pledged that Mega Radio would absorb the cost of the park renovations. Plans include the park’s use as a site for a farmer’s market and cultural events, domino tables and the solicitation of mural proposals from Allentown high school students. Guridy noted that, with the exception of Ramos Elementary School, La Placita would be the first public facility in Allentown with a Hispanic name. By a vote of 6-0 (Daryl Hendricks abstaining), Council also passed a bill (B38) to place a referendum question on the November ballot on whether to amend the city’s 1996 Home Rule Charter to eliminate a section designating English as “the official language of the City of Allentown and the language in which City business shall be conducted, unless otherwise required by applicable state and/or federal law or regulation”. While the latter clause about state and federal law has, in practice, deprived that Charter provision of most of its power, Guridy has called the section unnecessary, anachronistic and arguably mean-spirited. The “official language” designation originated in a resolution passed by Council in 1994. That resolution was introduced by Emma Tropiano (see section of linked pdf entitled “La Emma”, p. 34), a Council Member in the ‘80s and ‘90s known for making ludicrous and racist remarks, such as those blaming Hispanics for 99% of the crime in the city.
Certainly the action to initiate removal of a xenophobic and insulting provision from the City Charter is a good thing and long overdue. And the La Placita project will provide a material benefit to the citizens of Allentown, although one would note that it has been accomplished via that favorite neoliberal mechanism, the public-private partnership, rather than simply being done by the city. However, a third measure passed by Council (R60), which approved the hiring of three police officers, illustrates the kind of jujitsu the powers that be will engage in to leverage the laudable general desires for inclusivity and reversal of past discrimination toward the specific aim of maintaining the power and resources of a brutal and oppressive institution, the police. The three new officers, Pedro Bautista, Cody Gonzalez and Steven Gonazalez, are all Hispanic men and all were police elsewhere in Pennsylvania--Hazelton, Bethlehem and Philadelphia respectively. In response to a question from Council Member Candida Affa about police academy training, Assistant Police Chief Bill Lake said, “Hiring officers from other places is very beneficial for us because they already have the basic training and experience.” It is noteworthy that this contrasts with the desire to hire Allentown residents expressed by Council Members Ce-Ce Gerlach and Cynthia Mota at the last round of police hiring, which came before Council at the March 3rd meeting. Council Member Daryl Hendricks commended the police administration and Mayor for continuing to seek diversity in the department. Council President Guridy seconded Hendricks’ commendation and noted that this is the first time three Hispanic people have been hired by the Allentown police at the same time, calling it “an historical moment for us.” Council Vice President Mota agreed with Guridy saying, “We’ve been asking for more diversity and also more females.” At the March 3rd meeting, Ce-Ce Gerlach questioned the need to hire more police and Council Member Josh Siegel spoke about the opportunity costs of spending on police (~$40 million annually, ~⅓ of the budget) as opposed to say violence prevention. Although Gerlach and Siegel again voted no on the hiring resolution, this time neither spoke. One wonders if they were loath to intrude on the general air of self-congratulation among their colleagues and the police administration.
Other actions taken by Council included: the 7-0 approval of a resolution (R62) recommending that Lehigh County and Allentown officials explore the establishment of a housing court; the introduction, for later vote, of a resolution (R65) supporting proposed state legislation (HB626) to make police body camera recordings fall under the state’s Right To Know laws; and the unanimous passage of a resolution (R64) recommending that the state General Assembly enact Governor Wolf’s proposed 2021 budget for K-12 education. Pennsylvania currently ranks 47th out of 50 when it comes to the share of investment in public education coming from the state. The outline of the education budget proposal on Gov. Wolf’s website specifically cites Allentown as “an example of a community that has been underfunded for years and would benefit from putting all basic education funding through the fair funding formula for the first time in state history.” Allentown would receive an additional $109 million in funding if all of the state funding towards public education went through this formula.
The blindness of some council members to real issues is overwhelming. The bottom line is the budget and how the funds are spent: to support the community, or police the community. It is incumbent upon us as DSA members and members of the larger community to find ways to voice the real needs of the people who are so governed, to shed a light publicly on unjust actions and hypocritical statements made by our public officials and to create means by which our fellow chapter and community members will use our power to pressure for change.