Parking, Iron Pigs, and Smart Growth in Allentown, PA

David Martin: This is the good government show.

Matthew Tuerk: Local government is really cool. And in local government you can evaluate a situation and understand the factors that contribute to that situation and then address them and hopefully see the results of the interventions that you make and then iterate from there. All in a very short space of time. The Lehigh Valley is the reason we operate in and at 62 different municipalities within two counties, and each of those municipalities can kind of do whatever the hell they want.

We have 440 miles of streets in Allentown. Your block is important to me, but it is also important to me that we serve the needs of every other block in the city.

They were just so excited to see that.

Hey, mayors, get parking tickets and they pay them and they’re.

Just like they are held to the same standards that everybody else is.

David Martin: The Good Government Show actually got its start in Allentown, Pennsylvania. That’s the home of our senior executive producer. So when we met Mayor Matt Tuerk at the Conference of Mayors, naturally we had to sit down and talk to him. Welcome to the Good Government show. I’m Dave Martin. Matt Tuerk is the mayor of the third largest city in Pennsylvania.

Allentown is behind only Philadelphia, with a population of 1.5 million and Pittsburgh’s over 300,000 residents with a population of over 125,000. It’s an important city in the Lehigh Valley, which really is the heart of Pennsylvania. That area is experiencing rapid growth, and we talked about how he manages that. We discussed how decisions made in the past affect some of the changes taking place now.

And we talked baseball. The local iron pigs are a triple A Phillies team, and their baseball stadium is a great place to catch a game. We recorded this last summer. At the time, Allentown City Hall was embroiled in, I guess, what you’d say, a kind of a small scandal. One worker filed a complaint against the city. We discussed how a mayor manages through something like that.

Well, here’s an update. That woman who made that charge. Well, eventually she was charged with filing a false report. Mayor Tuerk says one of the best aspects of local government is you get to see results and sometimes quickly. So coming up, Allentown, Pennsylvania mayor, not Turner.

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Welcome to the Good Government show. I’m happy to have with me. Allentown, Pennsylvania mayor Matt Tuerk, welcome to the show.

Matthew Tuerk: Thank you so much.

David Martin: And then, and the reason why you’re here is because, we are we are, the Good Government show is owned by Valley Park Productions, and one of our partners at Valley Park Productions is Jim Ludlow. Well, Allentown, Pennsylvania. And I would be remiss if we didn’t sit down to talk.

Matthew Tuerk: Absolutely. And the reason why we’re here.

Is where the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

David Martin: Correct? Yes, we are at the Conference of Mayors, and I read it to you. And I said, well, I got to talk to you. Now, I have been a visitor to Allentown many, many times, always to Jim’s offices. Our offices, actually. I know that Allentown is. And the whole that region of Pennsylvania is growing. Huge development.

How do you manage that so that you have smart growth?

Matthew Tuerk: That’s a good question.

David Martin: So I am the mayor.

Matthew Tuerk: You know, there’s I would say candidly that it.

Hasn’t always been manage that well over the past few decades. I think that the region has made efforts. As you might not know, the Lehigh Valley is the region that we operate in, and it’s 62 different municipalities within two counties. And each of those municipalities can kind of do whatever the hell they want. So the amount of coordination happens through a municipal planning organization, which does.

A pretty good job of trying to herd all those cats, but everybody gets to make their own decisions.

And so the work that we do with the city of Allentown.

We have,

We have, you know, we control our own fate within our 18mi².

But even.

That work, you know, the the feel, the planning has changed over the years and some of it’s gotten better in a lot of ways. But you live with the mistakes of the past. So a lot of what we do is, is, accommodating growth, trying to be smart about how we grow into the future. In collaboration with partners.

David Martin: Now, let’s talk sports.

Matthew Tuerk: That was quick.

David Martin: It was, I have my, iron pigs hat up in my room, actually. And you’ve got, you’ve got a hockey team and a basketball team. It’s a sports team.

Matthew Tuerk: So it’s very much a sports town.

So we have.

The we’re the home of the Philadelphia Phillies, minor league, Triple-A affiliate there. Do you have any iron pigs there? Awesome.

David Martin: They got a beautiful stadium.

Matthew Tuerk: One of the best.

David Martin: And we had a company this year.

Matthew Tuerk: It’s very cool. Coca Cola Stadium is awesome. And it’s in the city of Allentown. Prior to the east side, we are the also the HL home of, the show it off fliers affiliate. Then we have L.A. Phantoms, which is right in downtown Allentown. Right. In a beautiful arena.

But I think the heart and soul of.

Sports in Allentown is, is, you know.

It’s high school.

Sports. That’s where our basketball action is, so. Right. We hosted our Juneteenth classic.

Last weekend.

With a huge number of high school athletes coming to play basketball and one of our parks and our, Cedar Beach Park, which is, you know, the parks of the jewel of the, in the crown in the city of Allentown.

So that level of activity. So it’s high school basketball and high school wrestling is huge in Allentown. Yes. But I think the other one that I think.

Maybe it isn’t often considered for its, or the region is considered for its sports background is cycling and running. So Rodale was, publisher that published Runner’s World magazine and bicycling magazine. They were founded and and headquartered. And then we have Ali. So we have this huge bicycling and running culture there, too.

So it’s a it’s a pro sports town.

It’s, amateur sports town, and it’s a sporting town.

David Martin: And it used to be this was the heart of steel country.

Matthew Tuerk: It’s it’s it’s still the heart.

Of the country.

David Martin: Yes, it was, but steel country.

Matthew Tuerk: Bethlehem Steel is.

David Martin: You know, your next door neighbor.

Matthew Tuerk: Yeah. They were. And, and the Bethlehem Steel campus. One of the cool things.

About when you, you know, flip it back to growth and planning and economic activity. Bethlehem Steel is one of the country’s largest brownfields that was redeveloped. Yes. And it’s just a beautiful campus now.

Hosts to.

David Martin: Show it steel stacks.

Matthew Tuerk: I have, I’ve seen, shows at Steel Stacks. I’ve. I’ve run.

David Martin: Stacks. If we could just explain. So where Bethlehem Steel was, they have converted it. There’s. Well, I went there because the local public television stations there. Yep. But they’ve they’ve got a section of the works there that you can walk. They’ve got steel taxes or performance space. There’s other stuff.

Matthew Tuerk: Performing arts, opportunities or space there. It’s the home of the National Museum of Industrial History.

But the other big piece, most people.

Always see the steel stacks and the performing arts stuff. The extension of the Bethlehem Steel redevelopment.

Includes a ton of.

Office park, a ton of industrial sites that host distribution centers and create a ton of jobs for people in the Lehigh Valley.

So it’s a really it’s it’s neat. So the it’s.

The heart of the former industrial economy. And the Lehigh Valley, but it’s also kind of the the heart and soul of the future of the Lehigh Valley.

David Martin: So since we’re on Bethlehem Steel, Billy Joel wrote a song called Alice who did? Did that help or hurt?

Matthew Tuerk: That’s your question? Yes. Yeah. The answer is yes. It’s it’s fascinating.

I did, I did an interview with our local NPR affiliate where they, they, my team actually, like, we pull out their piano and we sang Allentown.

In.

The mayor’s office.

And as I was singing along, you know.

The I don’t know how many people are familiar with the song, but it talks about, you know, it talks about people, you know, waiting to to watch the factories shut down. And, the, the Billy Joel says it’s getting mighty hard to stay.

And it’s so.

Discordant. That was written in 1982.

Yeah, it does it.

That was 40 years ago. It doesn’t make sense anymore, because it’s not a question of getting hard to stay. It’s it’s like people. It’s hard to leave. It is really attracting a lot of people.

David Martin: And as a result of that, you know, we talked a little bit about to start is that, you know, the tremendous growth in the region. I understand that you’ve done a lot of work renovating the waterfront.

Matthew Tuerk: Yeah. So the waterfront is part of our neighborhood improvement.

David Martin: This is the Lehigh River.

Matthew Tuerk: Yeah, exactly. So we’ve seen,

David Martin: And it’s cleaner.

Matthew Tuerk: You know, I don’t.

Know if it was dirty.

David Martin: Ever was about what I’m still was dumping way back.

Matthew Tuerk: Yeah. That was the.

Bethlehem side of the Lehigh. We’re. We’re upstream on the Lehigh.

We have, good.

Our Lehigh. We have a, boat club on our Lehigh. The Lehigh University rowing team has their their boathouse on our our section on the Lehigh and our town for sea. We saw, an office building built on our riverfront recently on the site of the, Lehigh Structural Steel, which is another former brownfield site about. It’s not as big as the, Bethlehem Steel site, but we’re seeing redevelopment continue there.

It’s it’s an.

Ongoing process, though, right. So it’s activating what we’re trying to do when you think about growth and planning. We’re trying to make sure that our neighborhoods have continued access to the river through that site. So as we see new residential developing along our riverfront, we want to make sure that it has a connection to the old neighborhoods.

David Martin: How do you manage? You talked a little bit about this, but you have growth. You have a lot of growth and a lot of growth quickly. How do you manage that from a, you know, government perspective to make sure that it’s the right growth, that it’s it’s still working for everyone.

Matthew Tuerk: I think you invest in your planning departments. I think you, make sure that the neighborhoods are considered as you consider these new development plans. You make sure that your zoning is protecting the form of the city while allowing for additional, housing units to be built and additional density.

You you navigate.

A conversation where I think one of the things that we haven’t been is maybe we’ll get to you in a second. But Allentown has changed in a lot of ways, but probably most significantly. 50 years ago, Allentown was a city of about 109,000 people, who had a long history of living in Allentown and was 98.2%, white.

Allentown today is a majority Latino city. I’m the first Latino mayor of the city of Allentown. A lot of that change happened just over the past 20 years. So there.

The city is.

Changing a lot. There are people who are mostly new arrivals to the city of Allentown, whether it’s through the Bronx or through San Juan, Puerto Rico, or coming more recently from a place like Venezuela or or Haiti. The city has changed a ton. And making sure that the, the, the new city is respectful of the older city, but also the older city can welcome new arrivals.

Has been one of the really interesting things about leading in Allentown. So when you go back to the growth, it is making sure that there’s the that there’s a healthy dialog that is healthy conversation between stakeholders.

David Martin: Well, that sounds like good government.

Matthew Tuerk: We try it.

David Martin: I understand you got a parking ticket recently.

Matthew Tuerk: I yes, I did.

David Martin: What happened? You know, I read a little bit about this. What happened? There seemed to be a lot of discussion, fallout.

Matthew Tuerk: From what was amazing. So I, I.

I got a parking ticket.

For you deserve it. Yes. Okay. We may.

So we do, opposite side street cleaning in Allentown.

David Martin: Brooklyn?

Matthew Tuerk: Yeah, we do. And we our parking authority helps out. They they they follow along. And I left my car on the wrong side of the street. At the street, sweeping time. And I got a $20 parking ticket.

I went and paid.

It, at the window, and I just, I captured I documented on social media. I shared, I said, hey, bears get and pay parking tickets. Yes. And it showed the amazing customer service representative that where I paid my ticket and, and talked about why it’s important for us to do parking regulations to promote your safe streets. Post it online.

Got a little bit of a media flurry in Allentown, but more importantly, the media was seen by. So we have a large Syrian community in Allentown, too. And I was at a Syrian community festival later that weekend, and everybody pulled me aside and they’re like.

Hey, it was so awesomely polite. You pay your parking ticket, and when you consider that you in a community.

Like Allentown, we have a lot of people coming from places like Syria or the Dominican Republic.

That have a.

History with bad government, that have history with people who play.

Who don’t.

Play by the rules and.

Are above the law. They were.

Just so excited to see that.

Hey, mayors, get parking tickets and they pay them and.

They’re just like they are held to the same standards that everybody else is.

David Martin: Almost a silver lining to getting a parking ticket.

Matthew Tuerk: I mean, you know, the I got a text.

From the director of the parking Authority later that day. He’s like, hey, you know, thanks for contributing.

To the the funded everybody. I also got.

I ran into the guy who gave me the ticket, and.

He was like, oh my God, mayor. So sorry. I didn’t know that was your car. But, you know, it’s it is it’s it’s good for.

Everybody to see that, you know, for parking for our officers to to know that their work is supported. Right. Like that, that, you know, that the even the mayor has your back and is willing to, to pay the ticket. I wish I had the $20 back, but.

David Martin: So I was just going to ask about that. It’s a $20 parking ticket in Allentown.

Matthew Tuerk: 20.

Dollars for a street sweeping. It’s. We just, our city council just voted to, increase parking fees for parking violations.

It was a ten.

Dollar ticket for an expired meter, which was completely upside down. This is a place where a city council actually did what they supposed to do, which is like legislate to improve the situation in.

David Martin: New York City for $10 for a fight. I’d parked there all day.

Matthew Tuerk: Well, that’s what happened in.

Allentown, is that we had we have a federal courthouse in Allentown. We have lawyers from Philadelphia Drive up, and instead of the inconvenience of parking their garage for, you know, $10, they just get a street ticket, they park on the street, not even pay the meter, pay the $10 ticket and parked there all day. So it was creating havoc in our downtown parking.

David Martin: And, how is your message going that, you know, parking tickets are good. It ensure safety. How is that going over with the population?

Matthew Tuerk: You know, I I’m going to tie.

Everything back to safety. The park part of what we talk about with roadway safety is daylighting. So it’s making sure that people are not parked so close to the corner that the pedestrians can’t see oncoming traffic. Okay.

So I’m going to keep tying this things back.

It’s residents know where I’m coming from when I’m talking about like why we have parking regulations. Why are we invest in our streets. I want to make sure that we have safe streets for everybody.

David Martin: I understand that there is, currently an investigation going on in city government. How do you manage through that? And how do you deal with, you know, the it’s no secret that there’s a great just trust in government and things like this don’t help. Is it warranted and how do you manage through it?

Matthew Tuerk: There’s a lot that I probably can’t comment on.

David Martin: That’s okay.

Matthew Tuerk: But I think that when you when you you.

Have work to do, like, the work doesn’t.

Stop, you know? Okay. Particularly in.

City government. So I’m a full time mayor. I’m a I’m in a strong mayor system. I’m the CEO. I manage a team of 870 people that are tasked with creating a safe, clean, and healthy environment that promotes the well-being of our residents and stakeholders. And just because, city council is upset about the way that you administer government doesn’t mean that you have to stop.

You can’t stop doing it. So we continue to work through it.

David Martin: We make it harder to work through it.

Matthew Tuerk: It becomes a little bit.

Of a distraction, but the biggest distraction is just trying to get your city council to focus on the task that is really built into the charter for them, which is legislate.

David Martin: Like.

Matthew Tuerk: Pass laws that improve outcomes for our residents.

Let us handle the administrative work as was, you know.

David Martin: I we stop by and watch what you’re doing. Well.

Matthew Tuerk: You know, what’s funny is that I think that I, my belief from.

I talked to a lot of mayors and, you know, mayors spent a lot of time kind of commiserating.

With the conditions that they face at home. And I think that city.

Councils around the country are actually.

Taking their.

Cues from Congress. And that’s not a good thing.

No, that’s that’s that’s no excuse.

They should at this moment.

No. And I think that they.

They get wrapped up with that. You know, we have like a historically dysfunctional Congress right now. I hope that city councils don’t continue to take cues from Congress, because we don’t need that level of dysfunction in city councils.

David Martin: All right. We’re going to hear more about your thoughts on government. After a break.

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David Martin: We have our good government show questionnaire. We’re going to get to the heart now. The heart of your philosophy of government. Are you prepared for this?

Matthew Tuerk: I think so.

David Martin: I think so I think you’re going to be okay. All right. The first question. You said on the Economic Development Board for years now, you’ve been mayor for two years. Define good government.

Matthew Tuerk: Gosh, I think good government. Good morning. Put me on the spot. I think good government is serving.

Serving people is being present for the people that you serve. Listening intently and, and keeping that mission in front of you at all times, making sure that you are you are a servant of the people. You’re there because they want you there, and they’re there because you, they they need you to help them advance to, to do better.

So that to me is is good. Government is the government is listening and good government is thinking through the challenges, and good government is listening to the heart as well, and making sure that you meet the needs of the people.

David Martin: Once you got going, you did find some. So how do you judge your success? How do you know if you’re providing good government?

Matthew Tuerk: I think, you know.

Our elections are pretty great for doing that.

Yes. Elections? Well, they don’t come around very often, but, you know.

David Martin: They in the meantime.

Matthew Tuerk: It the meantime it is sometimes it’s a bit of a vibe.

It’s, you know, the, the people who, you know, get in the street and say you’re a busy guy and they’re there. They say, God bless you. And they stop you in the supermarket and they say, thank you. They,

It’s the folks that are.

Letting you know that you do a good job every day that are in City Hall.

To day.

Government employees are, I think, really good at.

Gauges of good government. So the those employees who have.

Have been doing this for a long time.

They it’s a lot of the they, they know what they’re doing and.

So they’ll let you know as well.

And, you know, there’s objective.

Measures as well. I think the, the seeing tax revenue increase because property values are increasing is good. I think there’s there’s other objective measures, but.

But I, I, I think you kind.

Of know it when you see it, you know, when you’re doing it.

David Martin: Okay. If people don’t think they’re getting good government, if they don’t like what they’re seeing and what they’re hearing. What should they do?

Matthew Tuerk: Go to city.

Council. I think that.

David Martin: The.

Matthew Tuerk: City council and the city council. No. I think if people.

David Martin: What do you mean by that? Really?

Matthew Tuerk: No. So every city council has a public forum, right? So let people let let the council.

Know what’s going on. And I think that also take it up with your elected leaders in, by their getting in contact with their offices.

Be heard, I think. But but take it.

Directly to the people who are involved, I think don’t bitch about it on Facebook.

So, you know, there’s like, don’t sub tweet.

The leaders, like, go to the leaders. And, and I think I can speak for Allentown in the Lehigh Valley, I think broadly, but I can try to speak for the rest of the country. I think leaders are more open and accessible than they’ve ever been before.

But I think the there’s ways.

Of doing it too. Right? So take it directly to.

The leaders, but do it with kindness and respect and do it with an awareness.

That the the folks like, particularly mayors, are doing everything that they can to improve outcomes for the residents that they serve. And the balancing a lot of stuff. Right. That that.

Yes, everybody gets.

To see.

Everybody knows, like.

Their particular issue on their particular street, and they often don’t understand that this is, you know, that once we have 440 miles of streets and Allentown, your block is important to me. But, it is also important to me that we serve the needs of every other block of the city. And that is something that I ask people to consider is that it’s a it’s a big city, and we’re working to serve everyone’s needs.

David Martin: What would you like people to know about government.

Matthew Tuerk: That is fun? It is.

David Martin: Okay.

Matthew Tuerk: It’s really I think that,

Particularly leadership at the.

Local level is the it can be exhausting because it.

Takes a lot of work.

But it’s because you, like, you can pour yourself into it. It is, there’s a real connection between.

The work that you do and the outcomes. And I think that’s really important.

So it is, it’s you and I can only.

Speak at the local level. It’s government sometimes gets squishy and there’s federal government, state government. But local government is really cool. And in local government you can evaluate a situation, understand the factors that contribute to that situation and then address them and hopefully see the results of the interventions that you make and then iterate from there, all in a very short space of time.

But your working environment sometimes that has other factors that are beyond your control that are controlled by the state or federal level.

But you get to you get to make a difference.

And I think that’s that’s kind of cool.

David Martin: You are the first person who said local government is pretty cool. So thanks for that. So it’s it’s good to be a groundbreaker. So what’s the best part of this cool job.

Matthew Tuerk: The best part of it. Honestly, like the best part of.

The job is for me in Allentown. And it’s it’s somewhat conditioned on the situation that I face in the city, is engaging with residents and talking to and, and a particular type of resident, which is like fifth graders.

Fifth graders are totally awesome.

Like, they are they’re they’re.

Smart enough to ask.

Really into questions. And but they’re also not, like beat down enough.

To like to.

Not have that hope. Right.

David Martin: Do you have any other questions asked you?

Matthew Tuerk: They ask. So the one.

My one of my favorite fifth grader questions was, if I could do anything for the school district, what would I do to improve outcomes at the school district?

David Martin: And your answer was.

Matthew Tuerk: I said.

I if you if you’re offering me a magic wand, I’ll take it.

But, you know.

My answer to that was just make sure that they are never wanting for resources that that they have everything that they need.

It is the.

The particularly in a district like the city of Allentown. So I don’t have I don’t have control over my school district.

But making sure that they get whatever they need to be successful, that they’re not in facilities that are rundown, etc..

And but so that’s about the best charter.

Part of the job is.

Engaging with them in the classroom. But then also later on seeing them at the pool or in the street. And those young people.

Saying, that’s my mayor.

David Martin: Okay.

Matthew Tuerk: Right. That’s really the best.

David Martin: What’s the hardest part of the job you found?

Matthew Tuerk: Hardest part of the job is, probably the same.

David Martin: As talking to fifth graders.

Matthew Tuerk: Yeah. Well, because you it’s it’s trying to the I think the hardest part.

Of the job is trying to have an honest conversation with our residents about the environment that we face and that there is there there are challenges that that affect them in their daily lives that I can’t affect. Right, that I can’t directly address, that it will take multiple years of effort to to improve. So whether it’s housing or economic opportunity, I can’t just snap my fingers and make it make it all better.

All immediately.

David Martin: What is surprised you the most about, you know, taking on the mayor’s job? You’ve only been at it for two years.

Matthew Tuerk: The biggest surprise that I’ve had was I went into it thinking.

That it was really a cognitive exercise, and that it was really just engineering and tried to, you know, solve a problem.

But I in two.

Years, I’ve realized that it’s largely emotional work, that.

It is, you know, because you I think that you go in and.

You think that, like, I’m going to, you know, fix this problem or that or whatever, and often it is just being asked to be present in the lesson as somebody who’s somebody struggling with something and they don’t necessarily want you to fix it, they want you to listen, okay?

And that is that kid. That’s that means talking to.

Mother whose child has just been murdered and just being there for them. And they don’t want you to fix everything immediately, but they just need you to be a good listener. And somebody who’s who can can be there.

That’s I think.

That was the biggest surprise is how much emotional work is involved.

David Martin: With your newsmaker in Allentown, where do you get your news? What do you read? What do you what do you check out?

Matthew Tuerk: I do usually.

Talking to people on the street.

David Martin: Okay.

Matthew Tuerk: I think sometimes, I, I.

David Martin: What is this? A morning call is the local paper.

Matthew Tuerk: The morning call? It is a paper? Yes. Okay. There’s a paper there. A paper.

David Martin: There’s local television.

Matthew Tuerk: There’s a local TV.

There is, local digital media as well.

I think that, you know, as a, as a mayor, usually you hear about it before anybody else does. Okay. So when we’re talking local news, I tend to, I tend to sometimes, you know, a few that news maker, usually you can just.

You know the.

Story better than anybody else does. For national stuff, I got, host different sources, but.

David Martin: Okay. Who’s your political hero? Who inspired you to, run for office.

Matthew Tuerk: By political, you know, so I don’t have, like, this traditional.

History. I think sometimes you’ll you’ll have people like.

You know, I, I loved, you know, Bobby Kennedy or I.

You know, it was inspired by whatever, mayor, I do.

So I lived in.

Charleston, South.

Carolina.

I went to college there, and Joe Riley was the mayor when I was there, and I knew of his existence. And he was kind of like.

He’s like, synonymous to the city of Charleston.

So. Right. That was he was kind of cool, but but.

I did I mean, my,

My political mentor is a guy named Don Cunningham. Don was the mayor of Bethlehem, and he was the guy who got the call when Bethlehem Steel closed down.

David Martin: Okay.

Matthew Tuerk: He was later, and, at Randall’s cabinet as a, Secretary General services. And then he was a county executive in Lehigh County, and he was my boss. And then we have our economic Television Corporation, and he would just tell me often about, like, life as a policy, like life as a as a political, as a local leader.

And I just got intrigued. And he’s somebody that I go to often for guidance.

David Martin: Well, it’s good to have someone like that close by. Growing up, were you president of your class? We should I.

Matthew Tuerk: Said I was.

David Martin: I was did you did you ever aspire to be, an elected official? Governor, Senator? President?

Matthew Tuerk: No, not at all. I was I was, like on the.

Steering committee of that in high school, felt like it was basically student government, but I was kind of like, jumped into it.

I didn’t have political aspirations. I just wanted to. I love cities, that’s what it was like. I love cities, and my mom taught.

Me that it was important to have empathy for people. And when I found that, you know, being a mayor is like the way to do that.

David Martin: Okay. I have been to Allentown, as I mentioned a few times, there are some great local specialties. What are your favorite dishes?

Matthew Tuerk: Hovis from the, well, actually, Baba ganoush from, Zaire. My.

David Martin: Friend’s not a traditional, central Pennsylvania dish, but. Okay.

Matthew Tuerk: So we are eastern Pennsylvania. Allentown is a huge Syrian population.

Okay. And so Hovis is like that. You got to have your favorites. You got to everything’s.

We’re also.

We have a huge, Puerto Rican Dominican population. And like, all of our restaurants are all of our Latino restaurants are Dominican. So I’m like, particularly fond of, mofongo from okay.

From great. And keep it going. Yeah. Great dish. But I’m also I’m a mayor, and I like my city hall.

There’s like a cheap, you know, $2 and 25 cent pizza slice right around the corner from City Hall. And it’s like. So that’s where you’re right.

That’s right, that’s it man. I’ve got like three.

Minutes and I’m in Scott.

At Pizza mart too.

David Martin: Okay.

Matthew Tuerk: It’s like that’s that ends up being my favorite dish.

David Martin: I talked with County Executive Phil Armstrong of Lehigh, Lehigh County, and we had a long chat about scrapple.

Matthew Tuerk: Yeah, he fills. A Scranton guy, so he’s going to eat that scrapple.

David Martin: Okay. All right. You’re two years in. Give me an example of something that you’re really proud of, that you’ve done, or tell me what you’re going to do. What are your big plans?

Matthew Tuerk: You let me give you a can. I give you a couple? Absolutely. Yeah. So one that I thought.

Was really.

So Allentown was reportedly had.

The oldest Halloween parade in America.

And when I came.

Into office, it was kind of dying. Not a lot of attendance. We turned it on, and here we turned it into a block party.

And we focused it on kids.

So instead of being a parade where, like, you know, the kids are hanging out and people are throwing candy at the kids on the sidelines. We just made it into a block party, and we invited the community to get involved and focus it.

On the kids. And it was it’s huge.

Like thousands of kids come out, they’re involved with it.

So that’s one.

Thing I was really proud of.

David Martin: Now that’s a fun, good government, right?

Matthew Tuerk: Yeah. The one that I’m even more.

Proud of is that the work that we’ve done to do, like tactical improvements to roadway safety. So just.

Adding paint.

To some of the most dangerous streets in the city to slow traffic down.

David Martin: You’re really leading into this parking ticket.

Matthew Tuerk: Program is that’s it is I so I am I feel like people.

Have the right to move through cities safely. And I want to make sure that we.

Could do that. And that means slowing.

Traffic down, building a city that is scaled toward roadway. Users of all types, pedestrians, people who are rolling in wheelchairs, bicycles, and and people are driving.

David Martin: Well, mayor Matt Tuerk of Allentown, thank you very much. When you return, if you run into Jim before I do, please, pass along my hellos and, let him know that that I did a good job.

Matthew Tuerk: I will happily do that. You got to ask.

David Martin: Yes, yes, yes, yes. Mayor Tuerk, thanks for doing this. Thanks for coming. It was a pleasure talking to you as well.

Matthew Tuerk: Approximately.

David Martin: Gracias. The Good Government show is sponsored by our. That’s. Oh, you are for our community. Get involved. We hear that all the time from government leaders. Our co-branded with your governments name and logo. Your staff and the people you serve are connected and part of your community. From any device. Your members provide reliable data and meaningful feedback. Ask a question like, do we want more parkland or better homeless services?

More engaged conversations come through the our app, visit our co that’s ou rco.com and book a demonstration.

After you get done with this episode, hear more good government stories with our friends at How to Really Run a City for mayors. Kasim Reed of Atlanta and Michael Nutter, a Philadelphia, and their co-host, journalist and author Larry Platt. Talk with guests and other mayors about how to really get stuff done in cities around the nation. Check them out where you’re listening now or through their nonprofit news site, The Philadelphia Citizen.

Org slash podcasts.

Local government is cool. Well, that’s cool, but I know what he means. When you’re the mayor of a city or anyone really involved in local government, you get to start programs, create projects, fix problems, and you get to see the results. A mayor gets to see the results that are sometimes right in their own neighborhoods. And that’s cool.

And that’s good government. I’m sure I’m headed to Allentown this summer, and I’m already looking forward to my next Iron Pigs game. Nothing like a summer night at the ballpark, a beer, hot dog, or maybe even a scrapple sandwich. Okay, a pierogi bowl. Well, they’re local specialties. See, I did get scrapple into another story out of Pennsylvania. Sorry to say, I can’t root for the Phillies, but I can get behind the Iron Pigs.

So that’s my conversation with Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk. No scrapple from Mayor Matt, but good local food. Well, that’s our show. Thanks for listening and thanks for listening to another example of how government does work for all of us. Please like us and share this with your friends and reviewers right here where you’re listening, and check out our website good Government show.com for extras.

Help us keep telling stories of good government and action everywhere. Join us for another episode right here. I’m Dave Martin and this is the Good Government show.

The Good Government show is a Valley Park production. Jim Ludlow, Dave Martin, that’s me and David Snyder are the executive producers. Our show is edited and produced by Jason Stershic. Please subscribe, then share and like us and review us. That’s the best way to make sure we’re able to keep telling these stories of our government working for all of us.

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**This transcription was created using digital tools and has not been edited by a live person. We apologize for any discrepancies or errors.