spreadsheet. Until they do, it is a commitment to make it a better tool. He will report
on the other audits when they become available.
Mayor Matt Tuerk stated that Dieruff went down from a team from Stroudsburg. The
next day Central Catholic gutted out a victory. The best part of all those things is
seeing a huge number of people out engaging with each other in the city of
Allentown and building community and engaging with both their cities and their
neighbors. He would like to focus on the recent announcement of a grant to the city
of Allentown for parks planning by the Department of Conservation and Natural
Resources and funds for our Phase II of our Jordan Skate Park that is going to allow
us to begin construction on that project. He stated that today he had to speak at a
Press Conference in front of Dieruff High School on the death of a member of the
Dieruff Community, a member of our Syrian American Community, and a member of
the Eastside Community due to a fatal automobile accident. A pedestrian was struck
on Irving and for him for a week in which they hosted the Great Allentown Fair and
saw thousands of people from across the Lehigh Valley come to the City of
Allentown and enjoy each others company. It had him thinking about the awful
things that happened in this city over the past week. That includes losing a life. A
man was shot dead on the southside last Thursday night. There was another near
fatal shooting at Fifth and Cedar. On Monday, on Labor Day, the city responded to a
fire on Mohawk Street on the Southside that left 15 people without shelter. He
thanked God for the Red Cross coming to help them. He stated that they responded
to that fire with fewer firefighters than they should have. In order to respond to a
fire like that you would want to see much more firefighters. We just don't have the
same firefighter force presence in the city of Allentown to respond to these types of
challenges. Thankfully the city's firefighters are imminently capable and well trained
and was able to knocked down that fire with no loss of life. The effort to slow traffic
down in the city of Allentown that would result in fewer deaths of pedestrians is
going to be possible by investing further in our police department who is responsible
for enforcement. One thing that they heard overwhelming over the past couple of
days has been the need to further enforce traffic laws in the city of Allentown to
make sure our streets are safe. We can't do that. We are trying other things. We
are pushing for legislation at the state level that would allow for local use of radar
that would improve our ability to enforce traffic regulations. They are investigating
investments like Mr. Reilly spoke about on Parkway Boulevard to create speed timing
indication just to let people know how fast they are going. They are investigating the
installation of red light traffic cameras to cite people who run red lights. More than
anything else, man power is at the core of it. He knows that they had an ongoing
discussion here at City Council about the need to continue to invest in manpower.
There are a few things on the agenda tonight that address the need to hire more
police officers to serve the needs of our community. He stated that his heart is
heavy today in Allentown as we see this continued decline in public safety in our city.
He took a minute to speak, not just to Council. He hopes that they will speak to
members of our community, but to two members of our community. He encouraged
everybody to just slow down. There is nothing so important that you have to speed
down Irving Street and take a life. Respect the traffic signals. Respect the speed