More puzzled because you then, in this comment and then on a follow up blog post, do go on to attack D’Amore for “clearly improper and possibly criminal” and call him a “union thug.”

Of course D’Amore should have answered MM or whoever else spoke up at council, but I have no problem with him fighting for a principle he believes in (and that I believe in), with or without his public office identified.

Of the “maroons” I never said anything in support of Barron’s case, which I haven’t followed. From what little I know, he threatened NC funds, which is out of line.

No, I defended D’Amore, and still do.

For Richard, yes T Mobile has willfully broken the law using illegal union-busting tactics that are quite common—rational decisions by corporations to take small fines in order to avoid unions. “Workers can do that at anytime.” Just not true; it’s the law, but not the reality.

Is T Mobile breaking any laws? Paying below minimum wage? Bad working conditions? There are laws already in place to deal with that.

I think the real questions are, what is this union going to bring to the table that will better the situation for either party, the workers or T Mobile. Why is ourr councilman supporting sonething that has already been proven to be outdated and very 1800’s.

We comment about big business being anti-union… when one of the biggest businesses we have in the valley is the union organizations themselves. Collecting dues off the backs of hard working people, just to say we have the right to organize.

This is nothing but theatrics from someone hoping to be Mayor. Oh…yet another big business….politics.

While obviously in today’s political climate, fair is a four letter word, assessments are 20 years old and many are way out of date.

You claim he is being criticized for merely for supporting workers’ right to form a union. That has nothing to do with the criticism. I support unions myself. I actuaklly organized one many years ago. He is being criticized because he and Barron both bargesd in there, without an appointment, and attempted to play on their official titles to intimidate a local business. What is worse, Barron actually threatens the company with official retaliation. This is extortion.

D’Amore was criticized last night for failing to distance himeself from conduct that was clearly improper, and possibly criminal. I’m not sure he had an obligation to speak out when Barron put his foot in his mouth, but did have an obligation to answer his constituents. That’s what a transparent and accountable council member would do.

After stonewalling his constituentsm, he tells Channel 69 that he was supporting his constituents. How about the ones who came to City Council? Did he support them?

D’Amore is actuallyy featured in several videos and is clearly playing on his official title to intimidate. Barron is far worse. He actually repeats his menacing remarks in a second video.

This is counterproductive behavior that results in businesses moving out of the LV. In Barron’s case, it is borderline criminal. And you support these maroons.

The problem with any American government that isn’t the federal (all municipalities and vast majorities of the states) is that they have to balance the budget each year, even in the midst of a depression. Rainy-day funds, yes. “Must-have” really refers to the revenue: you simply must have the revenue, and the business cycle guarantees that you’ll have revenue swings up and down.

General question: Why when times are good, do bunches of “must have” programs get created only to be cut or eliminated when times are bad?

These programs either are necessary or they aren’t regardless of the economic situation. If you can’t “afford them in the bad times, you shouldn’t have them at all.

Hey lets pass a new law that says no hacking in to Allentown’s computer.. oh right … thats already illegal…

It is already illegal to convert a house to apartments, or add to existing units without consent…. Why not close these houses down now? How will raising the fine help?

Making landlords evict drug dealers.. where are the police? Could you imagine the lawsuit I would have if I went to court and said to a judge… he is dealing drugs and the tenant says no I am not, prove it?

Mr Ed and the council need to grow a set of …. and take charge of this city and make the people who work for the city do their job. These type laws are such a waste of time and money, and are only being made so that the current administration can say they did something. But in fact, they are just ignoring the real problem.

That last council minutes posted were from June 16th! None of the supporting document links on the council meetings work either.

Every other city (Beth., Easton, Lehigh and Northampton Counties etc.) are up to date. Some are even streamed.

A kid can do better. In fact there’s something a college intern could work on. It ain’t rocket science. Everyone of us can do links.. even 7th graders can do it!

AND THEY CAN’T.. or is it because they don’t want to?

While I do believe that a city is more than the sum of its statistics, I like that people are finally comparing Allentown to other post-industrial cities, rather than the cities in its proximity – Philadelphia and New York.

Mostly, I hate those top ten lists. Top 100s can be ok, since they at least account for the fact that there’s a lot of candidates, but top ten? Always up for debate, and something always gets axed due to the whims of the editors.