State Rep. Karen Beyer Against Education

Back in May, State Rep. Karen Beyer introduced HB446, a bill that would cut funding and cap enrollment at Pennsylvania cyber schools, among other things. A biased summary can be read here.

The House Education Committee has scheduled hearings in the Pittsburgh area today and tomorrow to discuss this bill.

Pennsylvania Families for Cyber Schools has stated that this bill will close cyber schools in Pennsylvania. They have even taken a full page ad in this mornings The Morning Call, directed at Karen Beyer, urging her to really listen to the people at the hearings.

Cyber schools are a great alternative for many students who want a better education and for those who have trouble in the brick and mortar schools. The scores of these schools are amongst the highest in the state.

Letting these schools go would be a terrible idea.

Who is behind this: Rep. Karen Beyer is the sponser of the bill. There are many co-sponsors, including two local democrats, State Rep. Jennifer Mann and State Rep. Rich Grucela. They are just representing their special interests, however. The real culprit here is the PSEA and the PSBA. A simple search of the campaign contribution records indicates that Beyer received $3,500 in a single period last year from PSEA-PACE and over $4,500 in the last year! They have also made contributions to Mann.

Seems to me that Rep. Karen Beyer's real interest is in serving the special interests that contribute to her campaign.

City Council Meeting Reminder

Just a reminder to those 8 people who attend City Council meetings (Dana Grubb and friends I am looking in your direction) that the first Council meeting of August has been rescheduled for tomorrow evening at the usual time and place. Council did not want their crowds to have to worry about parking next week with Musikfest going on.

It is a hot agenda, too. Those amendments to SALDO will have that placed packed.

State Senator Lisa Boscola a DINO?

If you read my blog long enough, you will find out sooner or later I am not a Lisa Boscola fan.

I have always thought of her as a DINO (Democrat In Name Only).

Recently she has more than admitted it.

During the Kieklak fiasco, Boscola took to the airwaves as a caller to Ken Matthews radio show on WGPA. During her flustered call, she claimed she was more conservative than most Republicans. A commenter (Anon 11:25) to Bernie O'hare's blog gave a fairly good summary of the call.

Then last week, during the budget debate, Boscola gave a speech on the Senate floor calling out the administration for furloughing workers and not passing the budget. During her speech, she said it was a sham and a disgrace that welfare recipients will continue to get checks and workers won't. John Micek's Capitol Ideas blog had the quote and a comment. Boscola is so proud of her comments, that she has posted the video on her website. It is viewable here.

Now last time I checked, Democrats did not brag about being more conservative than Republicans and did not criticize people for receiving welfare.

So today I will be starting a new feature here at Down and Out in Bethlehem, the DINO Club.

Congratulations State Senator Lisa Boscola you are a charter member of the DINO club.

Please feel free to email me or leave a comment for nominations for future members.

Lehigh Little League Not Being Good Sports, Again!

At Tuesday's Bethlehem City Council Meeting, Council was addressed by Shawn Bogert, an announcer from the Bethlehem Cardinals, an adults baseball team in the Blue Mountain League. Mr. Bogert wanted council to enforce its lease with Lehigh Little League. Apparently Lehigh Little League President Eugene Ashner and Bogert were in a pushing match on Sunday at the field over the use of the PA system.

Councilwoman Karen Dolan stated that she had recieved numerous complaints about Lehigh Little League and it not allowing other teams to use the leased fields.

The Morning Call and Express Times each have account of the meeting.

Dolan continued that she was not even sure if Lehigh Little League was a non-profit organization. A check of the PA Department of States records indicate it is a registered non-profit organization. The record can be viewed here.

Dolan's error aside. I agree with her that something needs to be done with Lehigh Little League.

I have a problem with a non-profit making money off of city public property when it is in violation of the lease. I especially have a problem when that non-profit is a little league with the majority of its members being residents of Hanover Township, Northampton County. This league is so connected with Hanover Township that it had a parade to honor one of its teams in Hanover Township.

It is time for the City to terminate its lease with Lehigh Little League and take back control of the fields.

Sam Bennett's Spin Machine in Action

I know this topic is a little off my focus, however I could not resist after I read this email today. It was forwarded to me from a Democratic Committee person. The email is actually 2 emails. The first is from Walter Ludwig, a former Howard Dean campaign member and executive director of Project 90, a PAC. The second email from Vincent J Zoppi, secretary of the Allentown City Democratic Committee, who forwarded the email from Ludwig to the Committee person.


"Sam has made the ultra sacrifice by cutting her Salary in half. This take a
very big person and lot of courage--
Let start by reading the e.mail from Walter and going out and telling
everyone what in the body of this message
-----Original Message-------
From: Walter Ludwig
Date: 07/13/07 7:25:35 PM
To: @teamblue.org,
Subject: Pushing Back on Dent
Forward to your lists as you see fit.
It is already clear that Charlie Dent is running scared this time, because
he faces a formidable opponent who will be well-funded and articulate. His
political people are trying hard already to get Sam Bennett out of the race,
so he can get a free pass. These efforts will include using the press to
plant embarassing and misleading stories, such as the one last week. (And
whatever the reporter's motivations in writing the story, the quick
involvement of Sen. Pat Browne shows there was a political component.)
It is important for us to remember, and to remind others, that this is
politics-as-usual for Republicans in general and Charlie Dent in particular,
a so-called "nice guy" who nevertheless doesn't vote "nice" and is
surrounded by some pretty nasty political advisors. We only have to go back
to the last election to recall that Dent and Shawn Millen spent over a
million dollars bludgeoning Charles Dertinger.
We have to be prepared to defend against these tactics whenever and however
they occur. All of you have significant "spheres of influence," both in and
out of politics. We ask that you take every opportunity to remind them of
the following:
Dent is scared; Karl Rove and he both know he is one of the most vulnerable
Republicans in the House. He will do anything, say anything to win
re-election.
He may be a "nice guy," but his people are nasty politcal hacks.
He may be a "nice guy," but his votes on the war, on health care, on the
environment and almost ever other issue are straight down the line with
Bush.
The national Republican party has already promised Dent millions in extra
help with his race; we need to make sure our side has the financial
resources to fight back."

Quick Hits for Wednesday

Back from a few days at the beach with a few quick hits for Wednesday.

1. The July 5th Morning Call tells us Council quietly enacted the new recreation fee at the July 3rd meeting.

2. The July 5th Morning Call also tells us that Council President Schweder and Councilman Leeson criticized Mayor Callahan for swapping his older Chevy Impala for the a new one that was approved in the budget, but was designated for the city inspector. The problem, according to Leeson, was that City Council did not authorize the Mayor to get a new car.

My view: City Council authorized a new car, after that it is up to the director of public property to decide who gets it. Who knows who needs a new car better than the man in charge of the cars. This is just overly critical of Leeson and Schweder.

3. District Attorney John Morganelli prematurely announced his intention to run for Attorney General, again.

My view: He is running for Attorney General, again. Move over Lou Barletta, Morganelli will be running on the immigration reform platform.

4. I hate getting into school board business, but the Bethlehem Area SD School Board has decided to continue a policy of not allowing students at Freedom and Liberty receive credit for volunteering at Musikfest.

My View: This stinks. The whole idea of mandatory community service stinks. Bethlehem needs to reevaluate the whole program and establish better definitions, according to Director Charlene Koch. I agree. I also think that volunteering at a community festival that brings lots to the city is community service.

5. Councilman Leeson already has a plan to spend the new recreation fee money. He wants to keep one of the City's pools open year round. I like the idea, but think the money should first be used to modernize and clean up the parks and pools in the city currently. This idea coming from the fiscally conservative Leeson surprises me, I guess someone in the Leeson household likes to swim.

6. Finally, new Morning Call Blog, Bethlehem Daily Star, informs us today that Councilman Robert Donchez has retired from the Allentown School District and is working in State Rep. Steve Samuelson's office, alongside council candidate J. William Reynolds. Word on the street is that Donchez is actually working in State Rep. Joe Brennan's southside office.
UPDATE: The article has been corrected to state that Donchez is working for Brennan and not Samuelson.

My view: Donchez is a good public servant and his working for one of the State Reps can only help Bethlehem and the surrounding communities.

First Look: 2009 Mayoral Race

Is it ever too early to look ahead to the 2009 Bethlehem Mayoral Election? I did not think so.

Yes, believe it or not, Mayor John Callahan is able to run for another term as mayor of Bethlehem. Callahan was elected in a special election to serve the remainder of Don Cunningham's 2nd term, and was later elected to serve his first term, the current term of his adminsitration.

This blogger believes that Callahan will seek re-election and will face a challenge in the primary.

Here are the list of potential primary challengers:

J. Michael Schweder- rumor has it that he will be retiring from his post at AT&T soon, and is looking at a 2009 run. Schweder is the current council president and one of the strongest critics of the Callahan administration. Mr. Schweder could receive the backing of some very influential Democrats like TJ Rooney.

Joseph Leeson, Esquire- current member of City Council, local attorney and puppet of Schweder. If Schweder does not run, expect that Leeson will, with Schweder's strong support. Leeson was the top vote getter as a candidate for council in 2005 and could a tough opponent for Callahan.

Dana Grubb- former city employee and candidate for city council. Frequent critic of the current administration. Probably does not have the support to win, but may run just to cause trouble for Callahan. Probabaly would not run if Schweder or Leeson ran.

Anthony Rybak, Esq.- local attorney and former mayoral candidate. He does not like Callahan and that may be motivation enough for him to run, again.


There it is folks, my short list of challengers to Callahan in the 2009 Mayoral Election.

Second Vote On New Recreation Fee Set for Tuesday

Bethlehem City Council is set to vote on the second reading of the Recreation Fee Ordinance on Tuesday evening at Town Hall. Council previously voted 5-0 in favor of the ordinance, which increases the current recreation fees that developers pay when building in the city as much at 650%.

Why it is good- With the development of the Steel on the horizon and other residential developments in the works, developers will be paying a fee that will ensure that parks and recreation facilities in the City will be maintained and expanded upon.

Why it is bad- Council rushed this ordinance to the agenda at its last meeting, so that the changes in the fees would include the Martin Tower Redevelopment. Since it was rushed, the council failed to get public input on the new ordinance, and even failed to consult the Bethlehem Recreation Commission.

While I understand the need for the fee change, I am disappointed that Council failed to get public input before voting on the ordinance.