Allentown City Council votes to sue mayor to stop ‘obstruction’ of investigation | State

ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The Allentown City Council voted 6-1 Wednesday to spend up to $20,000 to hire an attorney to pursue legal action against Mayor Matt Tuerk in an effort to force a settlement and stop obstruction of an administrative investigation.

Council Vice-President Santo Napoli voted against, saying he feared the cost of the investigation would have to be borne by taxpayers.

On June 5, the council voted to hire former FBI investigator Scott Curtis to investigate alleged discrimination at City Hall.

Curtis had previously worked for the FBI and conducted the pay-to-play investigation that led to a prison sentence for then-Mayor Ed Pawlowski.

But Tuerk has since informed the City Council that he has voided the contract with Curtis because, in his opinion, the City Council did not properly follow procurement law in hiring Curtis for $300,000.

Türk claimed that the tendering process normally used when contracting outsourced services had been ignored.

Tuerk did not attend the council meeting on Wednesday evening.

Last year, the Council adopted a regulation authorising an investigation to review procedures relating to the recruitment, dismissal and discipline of staff.

This action was a result of public statements by members of the city’s NAACP branch that they had discriminated against and harassed city employees.

Council member Ed Zucal said Wednesday that he wanted to make it clear to the public that the investigation was still ongoing and had not been closed because of Tuerk’s actions.

“Mr. Curtis has indicated that his interest is in the interest of the city and in the interest of the employees,” Zucal said. “He will deal with getting his money at a later date.”

Napoli said he was never satisfied with the process.

“I know we all agreed. We wanted this investigation to continue, myself included,” Napoli said. “I raised concerns. Of course I was not happy with the way we handled it. I think it set a bad precedent.”

“I’m really concerned about the taxpayer,” Napoli said. “I mean, we spent $300,000 on something that I think they deserved better.”

“And I’m going to continue to stand on the side of the taxpayer,” he continued. “I just believe that $20,000 is nowhere near enough, and it’s going to be more. I’m just going to say that now.”

Most of the six other council members who voted yes to sue the mayor said they did not want to go to court but felt at this point there was no other option.

“I don’t want to go to court,” said Council Member Ce-Ce Gerlach. “But we have to go to court because we said we are conducting an investigation. There have been some serious allegations made. We have to investigate those.”

“The fact is I don’t really want to go to court,” said Council President Cynthia Mota. “Because I’m worried about the taxpayers, you know, they don’t deserve this. But the reality is that there are some allegations that we did something wrong. And we didn’t. We followed our rules, our charter.”

“I don’t want us to go to court,” said Councilman Daryl Hendricks. “But we have no choice. We have no choice.”

Hendricks added that he still has hope that the mayor and city council can work together to move the investigation process forward without going to court.

Council member Candida Affa said she found it confusing that administration officials advocated for the investigation when the council hired Curtis.

“And now there’s a roadblock, and I, like all my colleagues, feel the same way; nobody wants to go to court,” Affa said. “I don’t even like the headlines. All of this is just a black eye for the city of Allentown.”

“I apologize to you (the taxpayers) that we have to take this to court because we don’t want to spend taxpayers’ money,” she said.

City resident Patrick Palmer criticized Tuerk for not showing up at Wednesday’s meeting.

“I wanted to make some statements, but someone didn’t show up, so I guess I can’t do that lest I look like a coward,” Palmer said. “It was voted on in front of someone, and then they took it upon themselves to make a situation out of it afterward.”

“It gets to the point where you ask yourself: If you have nothing to hide, why are you fighting it?” he continued.

“So it’s not your fault if this ends up in court,” he added. “The onus is not on you; the onus is on the individual who wasn’t even here to defend himself. So really think about this and make sure you do everything in your power to make sure this investigation continues.”

Palmer went on to say that the council owes it to taxpayers to take legal action because some worked for the city and had to file discrimination lawsuits.

Barbara Redmond, Allentown NAACP representative, said the matter has gone on too long and the City Council should allow the investigation to continue.

“We need to move forward on this issue and stop playing games,” Redmond said. “If the administration is doing its job and has not engaged in discrimination or anything like that, then there is no reason for them to be concerned. The investigation needs to continue.”

The mayor’s office responded to Wednesday’s vote in a statement to 69 News, saying the matter does not need to go to court. There is another option on the table, the office said, and it is asking the City Council to “start the process over and do it right.”