It was not racist to say city needs fruitful people

Societies thrive as long as there are enough productive people to make things work. If parasites overwhelm the productive, societies collapse.

When I first visited Allentown in the 1970s, I thought it was one of the nicest cities I'd ever seen. It throbbed with vitality and charm, especially along its main drag, with cordial shops and restaurants and bustling department stores.

Other towns — Bethlehem and Doylestown, for example — have maintained their vitality, but blight has uglified downtown Allentown. No one in his or her right mind, who compares the Allentown of yore with the city of today, can deny that. It is distressing.

It has happened in other places and it has nothing to do with ethnicity. This city had the same minorities in the 1970s that it has now, except in number. It does not matter what color you are; it matters whether you contribute to the community or detract from it.

The current race for mayor promises only more of the same. The two major-party candidates represent more of the same stagnant philosophies that gutted Allentown over the last 12 years, and I believe the third, independent Michael Molovinsky, does not have a prayer of winning. So, come Nov. 8, it is certain that Allentown will pick either Tweedledum or Tweedledee.

That, as I argued on Friday, is partly because Molovinsky's campaign has been relegated to invisibility by established institutions, including my own newspaper. One of the only times he got a big headline was when he was attacked by David Bosket, president of the local NAACP. That's because Molovinsky frowns on the city's crusade to attract more low-income housing, which attracts unproductive people. Bosket, an Oct. 14 story said, ''challenged [Molovinsky] to prove that he is not a racist.''

To me, that represents mindless bigotry. Somebody says something about people who perform badly, and somebody else makes a knee-jerk assumption it must be about a particular ethnic group.

Anyway, I went to see Molovinsky, not to make him prove any negatives but to ask about his ''poverty magnet'' characterization of the city's efforts to get federal funding for ever more public housing.

''I'm not interested in social engineering,'' Molovinsky told me. ''It's easy for optimism to turn into delusion, and even deception, when you're using taxpayer money. ... I'm interested in attracting self-sufficient people to Allentown.''

He admitted he sometimes says ''politically incorrect'' things, but for Allentown to recover, it will require people who contribute, not those interested only in sucking the city dry. ''When the middle class is leaving, it's failure,'' he said. ''When the middle class is staying, you're holding your own. When the middle class is increasing, it's success. It has nothing to do with racism.''

We talked about a few other topics, such as the canopies (erected in 1971) that made the downtown unique until they were ripped out by former Mayor William Heydt, one of the major candidates in this year's race. (The results of that lunacy are obvious.)

''I felt that was a major mistake,'' Molovinsky said. He is also right about another of my pet peeves — Heydt's Lights in the Parkway, which corrupted the park system — but he feels the city is locked into that disgrace for now.

If you think he is wrong about his ''poverty magnet'' theme, take a walk through one of the city's big public housing projects. Better yet, do it late at night. For that matter, stroll down Hamilton Street (previously known as Hamilton Mall) late at night.

You may decide it would not be such a bad idea to try to attract fruitful middle-class people, of any race, instead.

Unfortunately, such an approach is as doomed as Molovinsky's election bid.

by Stephen Althouse

How much coverage does the press owe long-shot political candidates?

Is Mike Molovinsky just bitter? Angry? After all his bid to become the next mayor, AD Afflerbach, was DOA before it started. You doubt whether he has two nickels to rub together, has no party affiliation, and has acquired a legion of enemies in Allentown's bureaucratic structure who wouldn't mind seeing him crushed by a late-night street-sweeper on Linden Street. He's painfully blunt, fires diatribes at will, doesn't smile for photos, calls Allentown Parking Authority Executive Director Linda Kauffman a liar and zings zingers about Bill Heydt or Ed Pawlowski with a fervent rage that makes Zell Miller look like Santa Claus.

Last week I was face-to-face with the man who is the third-dog in a three-dog race to occupy the big fifth floor office at 435 Hamilton St. Once I got beyond the fact he resembles an international jewel thief on those '70s cop shows like "Beretta" and my personal fave "Hawaii Five-O," I began wondering why, why, would he run for mayor of Allentown as an independent candidate? I mean really. Didn't he have enough aggravation in his life without actually looking for it?

Evidently not. When you have a heart-to-heart with him, it seems as though it just dawned on him that politics is a nasty business. You get the feeling this cesspool known as government actually bothers him. That he actually thought he might become mayor or something like that. Maybe it's just an act to make you feel bad for him. Or maybe it's the reason he left a message with me a few weeks ago claiming that The Morning Call was doing everything they could to sabotage his candidacy. "I never envisioned the fact that my candidacy would be suppressed," he said on the message. "I'm a little nave politically, but I never expected to be excluded and have my candidacy suppressed."

Naive or cunning? Victim or perpetrator? During our conversation it dawns on me that this isn't really about Molovinsky, the mayoral race or even the city of Allentown, but it's about freedom of the press and our democracy. Mainly, what amount of coverage does the press owe an official political candidate, no matter how small their chances of victory?

Molovinsky's candidacy dates back to April 6, 2004, when he announced his intention to run for mayor on the Bobby Gunther Walsh radio program. Since that time, he says, The Call has written exactly two articles about him. A check of The Morning Call's database reveals there were actually three articles, all by reporter Daryl Nerl, in which he received substantial ink.

None were particularly flattering, although you could say it's not exactly the job of the press to be anyone's public relations firm. The first, published Jan. 21, 2005, with the headline "Landlord swaps homes to run for Allentown mayor" reported that Molovinsky was planning on running for mayor, before noting that he had only established residency in Allentown the previous week, re-registering to vote from one of several properties he owns in the city on Chew Street. It was a theme that Molovinsky alleges was unfair and derogatory to his infancy candidacy.

The second, published Aug. 6, 2005, announced that he had officially become a candidate, before once again questioning whether Molovinsky actually lives in Allentown. Before the article was printed, he spoke with Nerl and learned about some of its contents.

He asked Nerl if anything in the article would focus on his platform. Very little, Molovinsky says. "So he wrote 'Molovinsky believes there is a poverty magnet'" Molovinsky says now. "...If the article contained 200 sentences, three of them related to my platform and the other 197 related to questioning my residency."

The final article appeared Aug. 25, 2005 and reported on a news conference Molovinsky held about the Allentown Parking Authority, which noted an exchange of verbal allegations fired off between Linda Kauffman and Molovinsky.

During the 15 months from when he announced he was running for mayor, to August of this year, the candidate says he questioned Nerl and the paper's editors, including state editor Pete Leffler, why, in his view, little was being written about him.

"The response was that I wasn't an official candidate," he says.

That's only the beginning of the angst of Mike Molovinsky's career as a candidate for mayor in Allentown.

"My first name apparently is landlord," Molovinsky says deadpan with more than a twinge of sarcasm about how The Call introduces him in their articles. "Now Heydt's first name isn't 'insurance man' and Pawlowski's first name is 'not unemployed.' But my first name seems to be 'landlord.'"

The implication in Molovinsky's mind is clear: The Call was intent on ignoring his long-shot candidacy by squeezing him out of the race or writing articles that were subtly or overtly disparaging.

Is this true? Won't people just think that Molovinsky is annoyed about his failed candidacy, one that will sputter to an end unsuccessfully Nov. 8? This is how he responded.

"I told Nerl that my message resonates quite well with the public, across all political lines," Molovinsky replies. "He said 'I don't doubt that at all.' They know my message resonates. It's not like I have nothing unique to say or that what I have to say is from Mars. What I say is politically incorrect, but besides that, they know it resonates quite well."

Molovinsky says he's conducted four news conferences, of which Channel 69 covered and reported on three of them. The Call covered three of them and reported just one, on Aug. 25. The candidate questioned Nerl at the last news conference if the reporter found its subject newsworthy. "He said it's actually very newsworthy," Molovinsky recalls him saying. "I said 'were you going to use it?' and he said 'I intend on using it.'"

At this point, Molovinsky turned sarcastic.

"Before the election?"

"Yeah, before the election," Nerl said while laughing.

Emphasizing that he's not into conspiracy theories, he notes how The Call covered a news conference by council candidate Charlie Thiel that City Council meetings should be televised. "I think the news conference I had is just as newsworthy," he says with a casual bluntness.

Of Thiel's conference he adds, "It's just a little cotton candy fluff-thing and they write an article."

It's enough to keep a candidate up at night counting sheep and reading the fine print of the Sewer Fund from the 2005 Budget.

His platform can be summed up in a paragraph: "The biggest problems facing Allentown are the poverty magnet, its consequences of crime and the arrogance of our appointed and elected officials. Although we have a responsibility to provide for the poorest among us, we likewise have an obligation to the existing homeowners to make sure those programs are not so generous that they keep attracting more and more needy to the area."

"I'm a loose cannon," Molovinsky says of himself when asked again why he thinks The Call has it out for him. "All I can do is rock the boat."

It's hard to trust almost any political candidate amid the feeding frenzy of a campaign, so whether he's a huckster or a victim is entirely opinion. Why don't you -- and not this or any other newspaper -- learn more about it and decide for yourself. He deserves that much.

The Morning Call - Transcript of Online Chat 

with Michael Molovinsky, Independent candidate for mayor of Allentown


Raul DJ: If elected Mayor would you take a pay cut to offset the city debt?

Michael Molovinsky: I would not take a pay cut, but rest assured that at the end of my term I will not be receiving contributions from contractors that I worked with, such as with my opponents.

Linas Ledebur: Do you feel being an independent gives you an advantage over the entrenched politics of the two party system?

Michael Molovinsky: Particularly for Allentown's problems, being a poverty magnet and the victim of political correctness, I will have to make changes which would upset politicians in Harrisburg and Washington, who are preoccupied with big tent issues.

Diane Snow: Why do you think the Morning Call let you be in this candidate chat session, yet does not think you are worthy of being included in their debate?

Michael Molovinsky: The Morning Call actively suppressed my campaign. This is a token illusion to fairness.

Jon Fox: I strongly agree with your stance that many of the city's current problems (primarily crime) stem from the city's image of being a "welfare haven" for freeloaders, many of whom are moving to here from NY and NJ. If elected, what are some things you would do to change this situation?

Michael Molovinsky: I would remove city support and grants from all the housing agencies and try to influence the housing authority not to replace Hanover Acres and Riverview Terrace. Their plan to build the newest housing project in the United States is the last thing Allentown needs.

Rich: What do you propose to get us to where 18 homicides is not the norm?

Michael Molovinsky: I believe one of the consequences of the poverty magnet is crime. We must continue emphasizing the police department but with Indians and not chiefs. We must resist federal plans and slogans such as Weed and Seed which just produce crab grass and concentrate on customized solutions to our unique problems.

Dale: I know you think that Heydt and Pawlowski are being given an unfair advantage because you feel that The Morning Call is suppressing your campaign. Do you think that your opponents have an unfair advantage because they actually reside in the City of Allentown?

Michael Molovinsky: The Morning Call short-changed the voters by using more ink questioning my residency then presenting my ideas. Allentown's problem with transients is with low income from New York and New Jersey, not middle class from South Whitehall.

Tom Reed: Mr. Molovinsky, If elected Mayor, would you privatize any departments. If so, how much can the city save and what departments would you privatize?

Michael Molovinsky: I would certainly downsize certain departments, such as community development. I believe until which time we upgrade the clientele, improved buildings provide little bang for the taxpayers' buck.

Rich: You have my vote already, based on some of your prior comments. But let me ask you where you stand on the two tax questions on the ballot. Thanks.

Michael Molovinsky: I favor approval of the municipal service fee but am against increasing the deed transfer tax. When the real estate bubble bursts, which it will, Allentown would be less competitive with the increase.

Daryl Nerl: Don't you believe that your opposition to the landlord licensing law, which received a whopping 80 percent of support from voters, has been the real reason why your campaign isn't getting much support?

Michael Molovinsky: One of the reasons the building stock really has not improved is because you cannot legislate pride of ownership, but you can stigmatize a business and drive away conscientious owners. My familiarity with property management would be an enormous asset in addressing Allentown's major problems.

Damien C. Brown: What are some specific measures you would take as mayor to make Allentown 1) A more attractive place to higher-income residents and 2) A less attractive place to low-income residents while not unjustly targeting the low-income residents who are currently part of our community

Michael Molovinsky: I'm leery of all the loft apartments being approved on Hamilton Street because I do not believe they will hit their target demographic and at the end of the day we will have sanctified 150 more apartments. Instead, I favor the gentrification of existing dwellings.

Daryl Nerl: Landlord licensing has been in effect for five years now. Do you have any evidence that this law has driven away conscientious property owners?

Michael Molovinsky: Many buildings have changed hands from local owners to out-of-state owners. This can be confirmed through code enforcement.

Art: What types of people will make up your Administration and where will they come from? Within or new blood from the outside?

Michael Molovinsky: I would look to hire away a hot-shot from the commercial real estate industry for community development. Otherwise, I will institute a hiring freeze and try to best utilize existing employees, probably involving transfers.

Sven: What do you consider as the biggest challenge being mayor in Allentown?

Michael Molovinsky: Retaining the middle class homeowner. Between the crime reports and deficit reports he already has one foot out the door. We must freeze the taxes and at the same time improve both the reality and perception of public safety.

Daryl Nerl: Yes, but Michael, the fact remains that while the deterioration you decry has taken place over the last 15 years, you moved to the suburbs, only reregistering to vote in Allentown early this year. How can you truly represent them?

Michael Molovinsky: Daryl, my past, present, and future is invested in Allentown. For the last 35 years I'm in the city from early in the morning till late at night.

My house in south Whitehall was only three blocks over the border. Please try to get past it and let the voters know that there are new ideas besides the retreaded Republican and the verbose Democrat.

Rich L: How will you tackle the ever-present and rapidly growing gang problem in Allentown?

Michael Molovinsky: There's a fellow who lives in Allentown and works in Easton who is a youth gang specialist. He predicted the current murder spat after drug busts during the winter. We need him or someone like him because, you're correct, gangs are our biggest potential problem.

Tom Smith: Recommend the Allentown Police staff the bars like they use to in the past.

Michael Molovinsky: Well in theory I would rather see police moonlighting then retiring with enormous bonuses. I would have to inquire into the insurance ramifications concerning the city's liability before making a specific answer.