Council weighs how to spend $28M

City has large pool of American Rescue Plan funds

Allentown City Council will decide how $28 million in remaining American Rescue Plan money will be spent, and members are still deliberating where the money should go.

The council held its first American Rescue Plan hearing Wednesday evening, as experts on housing and youth services testified how that money should be spent.

Last year Allentown received a total of $57 million from the American Rescue Plan Act, a $2 trillion economic stimulus bill that aims to bolster the country’s recovery from the pandemic.

The hearing, the first of several council plans to hold, comes two weeks after a public meeting, at which council invited Allentown residents to suggest where the money should go. This time, only experts invited by council spoke publicly.

Here’s how those three experts suggested the remaining money should be spent.

A multi-pronged approach to housing

Two experts proposed ways the city could use the money to improve affordable housing. Average rents in the Lehigh Valley have soared in recent months, much of the city’s housing stock is in poor condition, and the city lacks a homeless shelter that is open all year.

Alan Jennings, retired director of anti-poverty nonprofit Community Action Lehigh Valley, said the city’s priority should be improving the city’s housing conditions, which he called an “embarrassment,” and incentivizing home ownership.

He said the city cannot solve its homelessness problem because it “cannot help people who don’t want to help themselves.” He recommended the city revamp its housing inspection program, enforce its disruptive conduct ordinance to punish irresponsible tenants and landlords, invest in a homeownership program near the center city, and fund housing rehabilitation.

Brian McShane, an associate director with the Corporation for Supportive Housing, urged council to take a multi-pronged approach to the city’s housing problem. He said the city should prioritize funding supportive housing programs, which provide vulnerable residents with affordable housing, coupled with services such as addiction treatment and job placement help.

A ‘transformative’ youth center

Dawn Godshall, executive director of Community Action Lehigh Valley, said access to a youth center saved her life when she was growing up, and could save the lives of today’s children in Allentown.

Community Action and other city advocates have pushed the city to use American Rescue Plan dollars for a youth center near Center City. Access to a youth center would help youths stay out of trouble after school and would provide them with resources they cannot get anywhere else, advocates say.

The center would have more than just sports: there would be a recording studio for budding musicians, studio space for dancers and actors, and trade workshops to introduce youngsters to future careers.

Community Action wants to buy one of the Allentown school district’s vacant buildings — the former McKinley or Cleveland schools — but the district has not yet agreed to sell either one. The center would cost just over $12 million to build and equip.

MORE: These two Allentown schools are no longer in use. They soon could find new life.

Even though Community Action has not secured a location for the center, it has secured corporate benefactors for the project and solicited three architects’ proposals. Godshall said the city should support a youth center to give Allentown students better opportunities: around 90% of school district families are considered low income.

“A youth center saved my life,” Godshall said. “I was an orphan by the time I was 12 years old, and just bounced around many, many, many foster homes. It was a local youth center that allowed me to do my homework and play basketball and do archery. And I was safe, I had fun and it changed the trajectory of my life.”

Other ARPA expenditures; what’s next?

Council will hold another hearing in two weeks, where experts on homelessness will testify on how the money should be used. Council plans to hold more hearings on topics such as public safety and tourism and recreation, but has not yet scheduled them.

Council will present a spending plan to the city administration based on the hearings and public input, but it is unclear when that will happen. Council has split with Mayor Matt Tuerk on the American Rescue Plan spending: Tuerk wanted council to begin voting on expenditures immediately, but council delayed his plan to solicit more community feedback.

“The more we hear from the experts, the better informed decisions we will make,” council President Cynthia Mota said.

The city has already spent around $20 million on infrastructure and $9 million on revenue replacement, but has not spent any money on community reinvestment.