Mayoral race Q&A: Tuerk touts different tax plan
The primary election is just weeks away, May 18, and Allentown voters will select the nominees for mayor.
This week we’re holding live Q&As with the candidates on The Morning Call’s Facebook page. Each day at 11 a.m., reporter Andrew Wagaman will interview a different candidate on why they want to lead Pennsylvania’s third-largest city through
2025.
On Tuesday it was Democrat Matt Tuerk’s turn. Here are a few highlights of the interview: Tuerk, 46, spent the last 12 years working for the Allentown Economic Development Corp. and the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp. At the AEDC, he focused on revitalizing manufacturing space in the city. LVEDC, he said, has been a leader in identifying workforce challenges and collaborating with other regional organizations and governments to make the Lehigh Valley a more attractive investment opportunity and ultimately create jobs. Allentown, he said, has lagged behind the rest of the region, and he chalks that up to poor leadership. The mayor must be a participant in attracting investment, working with small businesses to help them grow and inspiring entrepreneurs to start businesses.
Recent real estate development, particularly in the city’s Neighborhood Improvement Zone, has begun to address the city’s aging, stagnant housing stock and meet the increased demand for quality urban housing, Tuerk said. But that’s only a first step; city government must do more to foster an environment conducive to creating jobs and supporting small businesses, he said. The mayor should serve as a vocal ambassador for the city; better communication strategies can go a long way toward attracting business to the region, retaining businesses and helping residents develop valuable skills sought by businesses, he said. The city can do much better engaging with its Spanishspeaking residents to ensure they have access to training opportunities, said Tuerk, who speaks Spanish.
Tuerk, who hasn’t previously held elective office, noted that all of his Democratic opponents have voted for large tax hikes in recent years — Ce-Ce Gerlach as a school board member, Julio Guridy as a councilmember, and O’Connell as mayor (O’Connell raised city property taxes 27% in 2019, vetoing a budget Guridy voted for that would have raised taxes slightly less). Tuerk said his opponents didn’t adequately communicate the necessity for those tax hikes. He also argued that the tax hikes did not yield a significant increase of, or improvement to, city and school district services. Tuerk said he would achieve fiscal responsibility by broadening the tax base via economic and real estate development, and working with the finance department to come up with revenue-generating fees that don’t fall on the backs of taxpayers.
Tuerk commended
the
Allentown Police Department for being ahead of the curve in embracing training programs on deescalation and preventing officer misconduct and excessive use of force. He also applauded recruitment efforts to bring more diversity on the force. The next mayor should ensure the police department continues making smart investments rather than cutting police funding, he said. Tuerk said he would do a better job collaborating with Lehigh County officials, nonprofit health partners and Bethlehem officials to better address mental health and substance use disorder crises. And he said he’d invest further in the Allentown Health Bureau, the “cornerstone of safe, clean, healthy neighborhoods.”
Allentown is expected to receive nearly $60 million in general relief funds from the coronavirus relief package passed this year, and Tuerk said the city needs to spend the funds on investments that will pay off in the long run. He said he would create several revolving loan programs. One would help homeowners make energy-efficient improvements that are environmentally friendly and lower housing costs. Another would help city students obtain job training or community college education, with certain loans being forgivable. Yet another would help entrepreneurs with startup capital needs.