ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A steady stream of people went to bat Wednesday night for Allentown City Councilwoman Candida Affa, while a few others backed the woman who said Affa created a “racially hostile environment” at City Hall.
Six people spoke in support of Affa, with each sharing their confidence that she would not have done what she's accused of in a recently filed federal lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges the councilwoman, who is White, made repeated racially motivated comments against Deputy City Clerk Tawanna Whitehead, who is Black, in recent years.
Whitehead’s lawsuit names the city as the defendant, alleging council members, Mayor Matt Tuerk and officials from several administrations “did shamefully little” to protect her after she on several occasions reported racial harassment by Affa.
Claims in the suit date to 2015, though allegations about Affa started about five years ago.
Ed Pawlowski served as mayor from 2006 until March 2018. Ray O'Connell then served as mayor until Tuerk was inaugurated in January 2022.
Residents back Affa
City solicitor Maria Montero told residents they could speak about the lawsuit during the public-comment period of Wednesday's meeting but would not get a response from members or the body as a whole.
“I don’t think there’s a racist bone in her body."Allentown resident Don Ringer
Carol Gallagher said she’s known Affa for about 40 years. She called her former boss “a very kind woman, a very decent woman.”
“Not once have I ever heard her say any racial slurs at all,” Gallagher said.
Don Ringer, another four-decade friend of Affa, asked residents and council members to “give her the benefit of the doubt” in the wake of the lawsuit’s allegations.
“I don’t think there’s a racist bone in her body,” Ringer said.
And a tenant of Affa said he loves her after recalling a list of challenges the three-term councilwoman helped him through.
Others back Whitehead
But Phyllis Alexander cautioned that those anecdotes and character references have little to do with the allegations against her.
“Being nice has nothing to do with whether or not you behave in a way that is discriminatory,” Alexander said.
“You can double-down, you can get defensive. Or you can decide to be curious and thoughtful and to really examine all of the points that are being made” in the suit."Allentown resident Phyllis Alexander
Whitehead “is meticulous, thoughtful, cautious, careful and would not file a complaint that is frivolous,” she said.
She urged members to seize the “opportunity to model to the city what you should do when there are allegations of discrimination.”
“You can double-down, you can get defensive," Alexander said. "Or you can decide to be curious and thoughtful and to really examine all of the points that are being made” in the suit.
Robin Riley-Casey credited Whitehead for working to improve the city equitably for all residents and implored council members to support the deputy clerk.
“You don’t tuck your tail and run” when a friend or colleague “calls for you to stand with them,” she said.
Affa did not address the lawsuit Wednesday. She told LehighValleyNews.com the day before that she had no comment about the litigation.
