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Residents press council on East Side park neglect and a former city employee alleges wrongful termination
Summary
Multiple residents used the meeting's public-comment period to urge city attention to neglected East Side parks and services and to describe alleged mistreatment and termination of a long-serving city employee involved with the city's sweep program.
Several Allentown residents used the courtesy-of-the-floor public-comment period to raise concerns about East Side neighborhood maintenance, the absence of a city 311 reporting function, and one speaker’s recent termination from city employment after 19 years.
Paulette Pich, who said she has lived on Allentown’s East Side for 75 years and gave an address on East 2nd Street, criticized what she described as persistent neglect of a principal public park adjacent to Dieruff High School and other neighborhood recreational facilities. She urged the council to preserve tennis and pickleball courts at city facilities and to restore regular maintenance in East Side parks; she told council members that longtime middle-class residents are leaving the neighborhood because conditions have declined.
Jennifer Swan, who identified herself as an Allentown resident, urged council members to treat one another with respect in public meetings so that the city’s representation reflects well on the entire community.
An unidentified speaker described being fired after 19 years of city employment, saying she had been a whistleblower who reported alleged abuse and poor treatment in the city’s sweep program and that she had lost pension benefits as a result of the termination. The speaker said she had started working for the city in February 2007, described repeated disciplinary actions, and asked council to investigate alleged mistreatment and supervisory misconduct. She offered to provide names and evidence to council privately.
Why it matters: The comments highlight constituent frustration with neighborhood maintenance and municipal responsiveness, the value residents place on public recreation facilities, and concerns about workplace conduct, whistleblower protections and pension outcomes tied to personnel decisions.
Council response: Council President Hendricks told at least one speaker he would personally call to follow up. Staff and council did not take formal votes during the public-comment period; members directed that individual concerns be referred to the appropriate departments for follow-up, and clerks noted contact requests for follow-up action.
