Allentown City Council Meeting - January 21, 2026: Budget Correction, Grants, and Public Concerns
Allentown City Council Meeting – January 21, 2026
The Allentown City Council met on Wednesday, January 21, 2026, at 6:30 PM in Council Chambers. All seven council members were present (Cynthia Mota, Natalie Santos, Ce-Ce Gerlach, Candida Affa, Santo Napoli, Jeremy Binder, Cristian Pungo). The meeting covered contract amendments, grant applications, budget process reforms, and multiple public comments on parking, rent affordability, child safety, and code enforcement. All votes were unanimous (7-0).
Consent Calendar
- R3 – Certificate of Appropriateness for work in Historic Districts at 126-128 N 15th Street and 521 N 6th Street. Approved 7-0.
- R4 – Sewage Planning Module at 128 Hamilton Street Apartments. Approved 7-0.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Asia (no last name given) expressed that the city needs to do more for children, particularly with sports programs to keep them active. She also raised concerns about pedophilia in her neighborhood (around 2nd Street, near Harrison Morton and Sheridan schools), stating that many pedophiles are homeless and not registered. She asked for better enforcement and shelter for homeless individuals to keep children safe. She reported her daughter had been chased by a pedophile near Dieruff High School.
- Ms. Bell spoke about rising rent in a gentrifying Allentown. She cited a median income of $54,000 (after taxes $40,500), with low-end rent at $25,000 leaving $1,200 per month for health insurance, food, car, and parking tickets. She said she makes $32,500 at a city job but cannot afford rent. She noted that assistance programs reject her for making "too much," and the Parking Authority suggested she move out of Allentown. She opposed $2,500 rent for a four-bedroom and called for rent control.
- Glenda Mason described receiving a parking ticket after street cleaning passed. She appealed but received a court summons for February. She argued that the Parking Authority tickets after the sweeper, but residents park thinking it's safe. Council members (Affa, Gerlach, Napoli, Glazier) discussed that the Parking Authority may have changed its timing (sweeper first, then enforcement), causing confusion. Council President Napoli promised to connect Ms. Mason with customer service and refer the issue to the Public Works Committee for fact-finding.
- William Grecky (Pearl Avenue, South Side) requested a crosswalk at Oxford and Lehigh Streets to provide safe access to Alton Park. He noted speeding (40–50 mph in a 35 mph zone), lack of police enforcement, and that his street was plowed last (at 4 PM on the prior Saturday). He also cited increased traffic from a new Giant supermarket at the South Mall and asked for more walkability improvements on the South Side, similar to recent efforts on the North Side.
- Mr. Welsh spoke about health insurance and term limits for state legislators. He argued that term-limited states (Ohio, Michigan, South Dakota) do not require a 90-day uninsured waiting period for coverage, unlike Pennsylvania. He said the health insurance industry benefits from captive customers and opposes universal healthcare.
- Enrique Moreno (speaking partly in Spanish) raised three issues: a sweep ticket, a parking authority ticket, and a city code enforcement issue. He stated that city inspectors cited him for a "junk car" despite having proof it was in use and that his garage contained valuable items. He felt targeted and had previously left contact information but received no follow-up. Danny Negron supported Moreno, saying the issues were brought up a year ago without resolution.
Discussion Items
- R1 – Change Order with Tyler Technologies (ERP conversion): Administration representative Sarrah McNeil explained that the original September 2023 resolution only included implementation fees ($791,980). This change adds $445,356 for recurring annual maintenance fees (operational costs) that were erroneously omitted, bringing the total to $1,237,336. Finance Director Bina Patel confirmed the funds were already budgeted for 2026; the resolution corrects the clerical oversight. A public commenter questioned why maintenance wasn't anticipated; McNeil and Patel clarified it was an oversight in the resolution, not a budget increase. Approved 7-0 (Enactment No. 31192).
- R2 – Cooperative Contracts for various goods/services with Lobar Associates, American Rock Salt, Kimball Midwest, AutoZone, NAPA, General Code, and Dell Marketing (amounts > $40,000). Approved 7-0 (Enactment No. 31193).
- Minutes of Previous Meetings (December 3, 2025 Special Council; December 17, 2025 Budget Amendments; December 17, 2025 Council) all approved 7-0.
- Committee Reports: No meetings held for Budget & Finance (next Jan 28), Community & Economic Development (tentative Feb 4), Human Resources (tentative Jan 28), Public Works (Feb 4), Rules (no future). Parks & Recreation and Public Safety met earlier that evening.
- Controller's Report (Jeffrey Glazier): Presented P-Card review for August 2025 (708 documents, $222,000 total). Found 11 incorrect expense accounts, 2 convenience fees (now policy allows up to $3), 3 instances of sales tax paid (city exempt), 20 late payments (60-day window), and 7 instances of missing documentation (subsequently provided). Bank reconciliation review for October 2025: 35 reconciliations totaling $116 million, with 3 non-city controlled ($1.2 million). One issue: an unexplained difference on accounts payable of ~$1,700; administration advised to contact the bank.
- R5 – Local Share Account Grant for Civic Theatre of Allentown (structural/safety renovations). Approved 7-0 (Enactment No. 31196).
- R6 – Local Share Account Grant for Planned Parenthood Keystone (repairs at 29 N 9th St). Approved 7-0 (Enactment No. 31197).
- R7 – Local Share Account Grant for Lehigh Valley Health Network (purchase/installation of specialized equipment). Approved 7-0 (Enactment No. 31198). A public commenter asked about the grant; Grants Manager Terri Dakuginow explained the city acts as a pass-through for PA DCED funds.
- R8 – Berkheimer Confidentiality Liaison to share confidential tax information for official purposes. Approved 7-0 (Enactment No. 31199). A public commenter asked if the governing board would address per capita tax issues; Finance Director Patel clarified it is about earned income tax collection, not per capita tax.
- R9 – Transfer Approvals (multiple departmental transfers including EMS, Fire, Police, Accounting, Recycling, Liquid Fuels, Stormwater; one treasury transfer removed as a mistake). Approved 7-0 (Enactment No. 31200).
- R10 – Budget Process Review establishing clear, transparent procedures for developing and adopting the city budget, assigned to the Budget and Finance Committee. Approved 7-0 (Enactment No. 31201).
- R11 – Sewage Planning Module Correction at 424-434 N 11th Street (housekeeping measure to fix a minor error in a previously passed module). Council suspended rules to add to the agenda (motion by Pungo, seconded by Mota, passed 7-0). Then R11 approved 7-0 (Enactment No. 31202).
Key Outcomes
- All resolutions (R1–R11) passed unanimously (7-0).
- Ordinance (Bills) Introduced:
- Bill 3: Accept $50,000 from Bloomberg Philanthropies/Johns Hopkins for Love Your Block Grant. Referred to Human Resources, Administration and Appointments Committee (Chair Binder).
- Bill 4: Supplemental appropriation of $3,124.20 from H&P Construction for Bogert’s Bridge electrical hookup. Referred to Parks and Recreation Committee (Chair Santos).
- Bill 5: Supplemental appropriation of $2,000 from DLNHC for trail water fountain upgrade at Jordan Meadows Park. Referred to Parks and Recreation Committee (Chair Santos).
- Public Works Committee will investigate Parking Authority timing issues (street sweeper vs. enforcement) and report back.
- Council President Napoli will arrange for Parking Authority customer service to contact Glenda Mason regarding her ticket and court case.
- Council will follow up with Enrique Moreno and Danny Negron on code enforcement and parking issues.
- Crosswalk request at Oxford and Lehigh will be addressed via email follow-up.
- Meeting adjourned at 7:26 PM.
Meeting Transcript
Okay, we're gonna kick start this uh city council meeting and uh we'll get started um with uh with a roll call we can do it we can start there too um we'll start with an invitation of the United States here present here's here okay thank you uh we'll start off with uh courtesy of the floor and um if there are courtesy the floor members of the public and we don't if three minutes is not enough uh we ask that you leave your name or email address with our city clerk so that the appropriate department or council person can reach out to you um to finish that conversation so uh do we have any any courtesy floor requests yeah the first one uh like Asha's pronouncing your name and and also to be clear this is courtesy the floor for anything that's not on the agenda this is where someone wants to speak on schools kids and city I'm reading it as uh J Jo. Okay. Um welcome I thought this was a meeting for the school board but I guess it wasn't so it was for the city my name is Aisha um I think the city needs to do a lot more for the children and keep them more active with like sports everybody's talking about all these recreational parks and stuff and I think they need more sports to stay active by the city from the city so that way you know they don't get in trouble or anything I also want to just about to make awareness about pedophilia we have a lot of pedophiles living in the city why hasn't nothing been done about the pedophiles living in the city I live in a neighborhood maybe three blocks down from here second street and around our neighborhood there are a lot of pedophiles and I just want to know why hasn't anything been done and why aren't these pedophiles registered we have a school down there we have two schools down that way everything we're in Sheridan and there's a lot of kids that walk home most of the parents don't pick them up because either they're working or they're too busy taking care of another kid so I just want to know if there can be a better way that you guys can like you know some of these pedophiles are homeless you guys heard about the camps and um if we can do a better something better for us to provide the homeless with shelter if the city can do something about it and try to keep the pedophiles away from the children because living there for a couple of years now I've been here since 1997 and it's the same thing over and over and over it hasn't changed and the city needs to do something about that so I have five girls and they're all in ranging between the age of 15 14 13 and 11 and 12 and I worried every day about my kids being around the city walking alone I work two jobs so it's hard for me to pick up my child from school my daughter has been chased by a pedophile a couple of times coming from school dear Ralph um I just think they need to do something better put more enforcement on it if that would be the case okay is there anything else tonight or no no I just want to bring awareness to that okay we appreciate that and uh thank you for your comments you're welcome to miss bell hi and good afternoon it's been a while since I've been here so a little bit nervous but I apologize so my issue that I wanted to bring for the council Okay, is there anything else tonight? Or no, no, I just want to bring awareness to that. Okay. We appreciate that. And uh thank you for your comments. You're welcome. You miss Bell. Hi, good afternoon. It's been a while since I've been here, so a little bit nervous, but I apologize. So my issue that I wanted to bring forward with the council is rent. As you know, Allentown is becoming very gentrified, and rent is becoming an increasing problem. In a recent post that I put on land on Facebook, I said, how do landlords expect a single parent or a guardian to afford rent nowadays, especially in Allentown? If you look at the median income in Allentown, it's $54,000 after taxes, that's $40,500. Minus $5,000 on a low ed in rent is $15,500 left over for the parent. That's $1,200 a month. That includes you have to pay for health insurance, you have to pay for food, you have to pay for your car payment, car insurance, gas, any tickets that you get because you know you're gonna get tickets parking on the street because there's not enough street parking. Um with that, I just don't understand how we are supposed to afford anything. Um I've been in the city for 38 years, and since then I have been doing as much as I can to get back up on track and do what I'm supposed to. This last July is just lost my sister, and with that, uh, they lost their father as well. I have seven kids now. With that, I'm trying my best working a city job to afford rent, and to tell you the truth, I can't. I live in a slum house, my fleet, my baseboards don't work, my roof is leaking, my kitchen sink is leaking. But guess what? The rent's cheap. So I'm gonna stay there. What I read you is 54,000 median income. I work at a city job, I've been for three and a half years, I make 32,500. That's the normal uh amount that people make. What I read you was 54,000. That's 20,000 more. So if they can't make it off of 1200 a month, how can I make it? When I go to welfare, you know what they tell me? You make too much. You may not. When I go to HAL for help, you make too much. I need help with my electricity. You make too much. You know what I told the city one time I called in and was like, listen, parking authority is getting crazy. I can't afford the tickets. You know what they said? Move out of Allentown. I've been here 38 years. Why should I have to move out of somewhere? I called home to try to figure out something else to go. And that's a great idea, move. But how? Let's say if I don't pay rent for two months, that's what's on my uh record, an eviction.
openpublica.com