About Me

My photo
Nazareth, Pa., United States

Friday, October 19, 2012

Five Allentown Residents Seek H2O Privatization Referendum

Five Allentown residents, including a former Controller and former City Council member, are spearheading an effort to have voters, and not City Council, decide whether to privatize Allentown's water and sewer systems. Former Controller Bill Hoffman and former City Council member Michael Donovan are part of a five-member petition committee that also includes Dan "Camera Dan" Poresky, Glenn Hunsicker and Glenn Scott Hunsicker.

They need three thousand signatures from registered Allentown voters in less than two months. To do that, they plan to hit voters at the polls this November.

Here's what they are saying:

We are circulating a petition to have a question placed on the Allentown election ballot in May 2013.

You don’t have to be an Allentown resident or registered voter to circulate the petition.

The ballot question will ask whether the city must come to the voters to approve any sale or lease of city land or assets valued in excess of Ten Million Dollars.

We need to collect three thousand signatures of registered Allentown voters in less than two months. Can you help collect signatures on election day at polling places? Do you attend neighborhood group meetings? What gathering places can you attend or recommend?

Meeting: Sunday October 21, 1:00 PM Allentown Patriots Community Building, 1027 Wyoming St., Allentown 18103 Map= Enter rear.
A second meeting will be held on Thursday October 25th at 7PM at The Allentown Brew Works second Floor 812 West Hamilton St.


You are not required to attend a meeting to obtain a petition to circulate. To get a petition to circulate or to sign a petition without attending a meeting, please contact Glenn Hunsicker ghunsicker@ptd.net Phone 484-515-3011 or Glenn S. Hunsicker gshunsicker@msn.com 484.707.8107.

Lawn Signs Available: Contact Dan Poresky dporesky@yahoo.com

Please distribute this announcement by all available means whether or not you can attend the meeting.

The ballot question is an initiative of a city registered petition committee consisting of five Allentown residents:
Glenn Hunsicker: ghunsicker@ptd.net 610-433-7365
Glenn Scott Hunsicker gshunsicker@msn.com 484-707-8107
Michael Donovan Michael.Donovan@cedarcrest.edu 610-428-8749
William Hoffman wjhoffman10@gmail.com 484-695-1157
Daniel Poresky dporesky@yahoo.com 610-434-1396
You may contact any of us for more information.

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't like the idea of selling the water and sewage to a private company. That being said what is their alternative plan to avoid the city from going over a financial cliff with legacy pension costs?

Any opposition to selling the water and sewage operations needs to also come with a plan to avoid financial ruin for the city.

Anonymous said...

Get a Mayor wiling to take the pensions to court. They are illegal. They can't include overtime.

Anonymous said...

Thank you gentlemen. Well done. Godspeed.

Anonymous said...

I didn't think Camera Dan had it in. Color me pleasantly surprised .Good luck allentown .
At 7:25
Yes the public of Allentown should all be concerned about the pension issue.
No the citizens of Allentown fighting the H2o scam do not have any greater responsiblty to solve the pension issue than any other resident of Allentown has.
The specific work of the Water Warriors is to prevent the short sighted sale( lease ) of Allentown's water assets. Period!
That is a stand-alone.

Anonymous said...

Never get it on the ballot.The next police pension buy out is going to be bad.

Anonymous said...

Yo, Camera Dan finally grew some. Cool dude,bout time.Good luck in stopping this pig headed idea.

Anonymous said...

This mayor has never seen a resource that he didn't want to sell.
FB

Anonymous said...

If you are able to get good people stationed at the poles, you should be able to get all the signatures you need in one day.
A hotly contested presidential election will bring out the voters.
This is a best case situation.

It is import that your people have a short, concise script to work from.
They should stick to this script. The message should not be "sign this petition to stop The Great Water BOONDOGGLE".
The message must be the narrow issue of citizens and taxpayers having a choice in a. democracy.
A signature on the petition is NOT a no for the water lease, but a yes for the democratic process .

Anonymous said...

What are some reasonable alternatives to solving this issue?

Anonymous said...

@ 11:22
This post is about preventing the short sighted-- quick fix strategy of privatizing the citizens most necessary and valuable asset.
The discussion on how to solve the pension issue is an important one. There are always options. The solution to that problem will be complex,
The responsibility to solve that critical issue does NOT rest with those citizens who are wisely looking for transparency and democrracy on the water/ sewer sell off.
It would not however,be unreasonable to suggest that Mr Gurity, who voted for the pension plan, and the mayor, who was the number two guy in the administration that instituted the pension , carry some additional responsablity in finding a reasonable solution,
Note well: a fire sale of the citizens most valuable assets is not a reasonable solution but a short sighted quick fix.

Anonymous said...

All these people saying that the citizens opposed to selling the water don't have to talk about the underlying issue of why the water is being sold are missing the issue and not acting like grown-ups. They are as bad as the democrats and republicans in congress who scream bloody murder the minute you say you want to cut spending or raise taxes and are happy to borrow money from China.

Allentown is broke. A city cannot legally in PA default on its pension debt.

You have a big budget hole and you need to fill it.

You are either going to raise taxes drastically, cut spending drastically or you are going to sell the water. No Skittle Shitting Unicorn is going to save you from one of those 3 options.

Anonymous said...

The referendum is too late. Also there is no legal way to void the pensions. Come up with a solution. Big tax increases or sell the utilities and pay over time.

Anonymous said...

1:22 & 2:38
Hey Ed, is that you? Mike,you? Julio?
Most likely not, one of your hired guns.
So this is the responce---- there is no other possible option. This is the only way left.
An astounding lack of imagination and creativity. Not to mention lack of transparency.
Don't buy this line. When they couldn't ram it thru on the fast track they had to resort to shifting responsibility to citizens opposed to the fix to sell the farm plan.
Have any other combination of options been considered? Of course not. The mayor picked this quick-fix and thought council would roll over. He didn't anticipate the degree of outrage.

Anonymous said...

Look---- you got a group of people who just can not except the facts. The mayor is a very bright fellow. He has the facts on his side. He has already done the hard work and come up with the best plan. You think he is stupid? Hardly.
You should follow the very able leader you elected.
Goofy tree huggers and professional nay-sayers have nothing reasonable to bring to the table.
Grow up, except reality and move on boys and girls.

Anonymous said...

Funny, I'm constantly hearing from the Mayor how Allentown is being transformed. If that's true, then why the need for such an extreme LONG TERM measure like selling the water and sewer operations?

It seems to me the Mayor is talking out of both sides of his mouth.

If Allentown is being transformed, shouldn't there be something in it for the taxpayers? Or are the benefits only for a select few? If the latter, why should our elected officials be pursuing it?

Bernie O'Hare said...

The referendum is too late if City Council will be voting soon. And this is why Schlossberg stepped down, despite his claim the vote would not occur until later.

I think it's fair to say come up with a solution. ere it is The city's debt rating is in the tank, according to Moody's, so nothing would be lost by seeking state protection. At the same time, I'd be after the rocket scientists in Harrisburg to reform pension laws so this never happens again. I would ask for immediate state assistance, and would ask for legislation to divert some of the 100-year old Johnston flood money to pay for this MMO in distressed municipalities like A-town.

Harrisburg helped create this mess, just like it did with pensions. It is only fair that the state help out.

Bernie O'Hare said...

"Allentown is broke. A city cannot legally in PA default on its pension debt."

Sure it can. It has happened twice in Bethlehem. Harrisburg has received state help after its default.

Another thing you could do is get a second opinion from an actuary on a MMO. The figure set forth might be too high. There might be other ways of doing it with a much lower MMO. I have seen municipalities play this game both ways, depending on what it wants to do. Clearly, not enough thought has gone into this.

Anonymous said...

"The mayor is a very bright fellow. He has the facts on his side. He has already done the hard work and come up with the best plan."
Show your work, son.
Document the proof that this statement is true.

Bernie O'Hare said...

Allentown's pension system can also reduce its measured liabilities & MMO by by simply shifting from a portfolio with higher expected return. I have not hear that option even mentioned, let alone considered.

Anonymous said...

The mayor doesn't owe those green creeps and tree huggers anything.
Shutup and let him run the city.

Bernie O'Hare said...

I don't think it's "green creeps" ot "tree huggers." I think most Allentown homeowners would think this is a bad idea, but A-town is no longer a democracy, as your comment illustrates.

Anonymous said...

Camera Dan is the king of Too Little Too Late.
He should stay with putting little stickers in Rest Rooms.
Last middle class person to leave Allentown please turn out the lights.
One with the earth,asshole.

Anonymous said...

" I am not a crook"
Richard Nixon

" the Allentown EAC is not a joke,"
Dan Poresky.

June 1, the Allentown EAC has just three members.
Not enough for quorum.
Oct. 20. The Allentown EAC has just three members including Poresky and his significant other,not enough for a quorum.
The Allentown EAC is not a joke?

Anonymous said...

The water deal should not happen, must not happen and will not happen.

Good for the citizens of Allentown who are rising up to stop this bad idea.

In the process, Allentown will come closer to being that democracy you speak of, Bernie. Funny thing is, you don't get a democracy from the couch. You get it from going door to door, talking to your neighbors, stirring people up.

Water privatization will not hold up under scrutiny. It does not matter how badly the Mayor and Council want the money, it is not good for the community and they must find another way.

Anonymous said...

Last Spring Poresky told a local blog the mayor was "scouting for new members for the EAC ."

Still not enough members for an active group months and months later.

I guess Poresky and the mayor are still scouting?