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This is part 2 of the post on the candidate debate conducted by the Allentown Coalition for Economic Dignity. On Friday, in the first part, I tried to be somewhat objective about what transpired at the debate. Although I made it clear that this wasn't the Chamber Of Commerce crowd cheering Reilly's NIZ success, I limited my opinion to revealing that I declined to sign the inclusionary zoning petition. That document is meant to require developers (i.e. Reilly's Stratas) to set a portion of the new units (10-20%) aside for affordable housing. I wrote against the NIZ before the first building was demolished to make way for the arena. I defended the former merchants before anybody else. I do not believe that privately owned buildings should be financed with public tax dollars. Everybody else went along, hoping for their own little taste of the promised prosperity. That said, I do not believe that any developer needs to provide new apartments at anything less than market rate.
It was pointed out by both the moderator, Rev. Gregg Edwards, and the candidates, that Allentown is now a minority majority city, with a sizable portion of the residents hovering near the poverty line. This reality was the predominate theme of the evening. All the candidates, both for mayor and city council, told those attending at the inter city church, that they felt their pain about any inequalities in the city. That ranged from housing blight, to not enough minority officers on the police force. Read more here
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