Allentown council, mayor have a court date over City Hall investigation

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — The legal fight between Allentown’s top officials is set to drag into 2025, with the courts to take a first look at the case more than three months from now.

City Council sued Mayor Matt Tuerk and Finance Director Bina Patel on Sept. 6, saying they are obstructing its investigation of racism and discrimination in city government.

Attorney Gretchen Petersen a week later filed documents accepting the lawsuit and stating her intent to defend the administrative officials from it.

Petersen had not filed an official response to the litigation as of late this week.

But court documents show lawyers for both sides are due in virtual court at 10 a.m. Jan. 27 for a status conference to discuss next steps with the litigation with Lehigh County Judge Thomas A. Capehart.

Capehart has ordered Petersen and council’s attorney, Mary Kay Brown, to provide a statement of the legal facts of their case, as well as their demands, during the Zoom conference, according to court documents filed last week.

Disputed hiring process

Council’s lawsuit centers on Tuerk’s refusal to honor its hiring of former FBI agent Scott Curtis to lead the investigation prompted by an Allentown NAACP letter that alleged numerous instances of racism and workplace discrimination by and against city employees.

Council hired Curtis and his company — FLEO Investigations — in June, months after breaking with the city’s routine contracting process.

The city issued a request for proposals last year after Tuerk signed off on council's investigation, a request to which several companies responded.

But council later formed its own selection committee, a move that skirted proper contracting processes, according to the mayor.

Curtis is not being paid for his work as the mayor has not signed off on his contract.

Curtis and his company are tasked with investigating all firings, resignations and salary adjustments within city government since the start of 2022 — which coincides with the start of Tuerk’s term as mayor.

Though council unanimously approved the investigation, at least two members do not support the lawsuit filed against Tuerk.

Candida Affa said she wants “nothing to do with it” and called the situation between council and the mayor a “debacle.”

She said she supported the investigation because she thought it would determine whether city officials were condoning racism and discrimination.

But the noise around the investigation “has gotten so out of hand, and this is costing taxpayers so much money,” Affa said last month.

Council Vice President Santo Napoli said he’s been left out of the loop by his colleagues and called the investigation “an enormous waste of tax money.”

“Taxpayers should be up in arms over this,” he said.