ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Mayor Matt Tuerk minced few words in a statement Monday night, one week after raising a slew of legal concerns about a supposedly ongoing investigation into Allentown City Hall.
“Council’s efforts to smear me and this administration — to advance their own political agendas — are hurting our ability to serve residents and distracting us from addressing more pressing issues,” he said.
Tuerk again hit out at City Council and urged members to “start fresh and move forward” by relaunching the process to hire an investigator.
“I’ve said it before, and I will say it again: I fully support an investigation into the City of Allentown's (human resources) practices, but I do not support the improper and unlawful process City Council used to select (an investigator),” Tuerk said in an emailed statement Monday night.
Tuerk sent a three-page memo June 17 to Allentown City Council members in which he declared a contract for the probe to be “defective” and “void.”
“Council’s efforts to smear me and this administration — to advance their own political agendas — are hurting our ability to serve residents and distracting us from addressing more pressing issues."Mayor Matt Tuerk
He told members last week he would not honor the $300,000-or-more contract for FLEO Investigations, run by former FBI special agent Scott Curtis.
Mayor Tuerk Statement by LehighValley Newsdotcom on Scribd
$300K 'gift'?
Curtis, who led the FBI’s investigation into former Mayor Ed Pawlowski, failed with a previous bid to land the contract for the investigation.
But he was hired months later by council’s three-member selection committee — Ed Zucal, Ce-Ce Gerlach and Daryl Hendricks — which shared no interview questions, transcripts or scoring criteria, Tuerk said.
Council’s “insistence on hiring and gifting Mr. Curtis $300,000 raises major concerns and suggests potential inappropriate relationships between Mr. Curtis and certain members of council," he said.
The investigation is earmarked to cost the city $300,000, but council could come back for more money after passing a one-word amendment to the funding measure in April.
The mayor also noted the initial request for proposals expired by the time council selected Curtis to complete that work, calling it a “legally flawed and ambiguous” move.
The lack of a spending cap and disclosure of rates “violate city and state law and make the contract invalid,” Tuerk wrote last week.
The contract gives FLEO “legal protection … if it negligently performs the services” and limits the company’s legal liabilities — measures Tuerk said are “counter to the public interest.”
Councilwoman Ce-Ce Gerlach said Curtis and FLEO Investigations started interviews after being hired June 5. And Curtis told The Morning Call last week that he’s already started to draw conclusions from his probe.
Those “troubling” claims show Curtis’ “bias and compromis(e) the integrity of the investigation,” Tuerk said Monday.
'Neutral and independent'
The back-and-forth between Tuerk and some council members “makes it challenging for the employees” at City Hall to know “what to expect” if they engage with the investigation, Curtis told LehighValleyNews.com on Tuesday.
But he has no worries that it will hurt the probe or its findings, though he said the rancor “could delay a resolution,” which would “not (be) good for morale” of city employees.
He denied that he’s drawn any conclusions about the investigation but said he’s already found “some evidence that seems to back up” some of the allegations first made public last summer in a letter from the NAACP’s Allentown branch.
Curtis also denied Tuerk’s claims that he is biased, saying Allentown City Council members hired him because they wanted “somebody neutral and independent” from city government.
“I am neutral and independent from anybody and everybody who could be involved in this investigation,” he said Tuesday.
Setting up a showdown?
Tuerk has yet to officially announce a formal campaign, but he told LehighValleyNews.com in February “there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind” that he will seek re-election next year.
Tuerk handily defeated Republican Tim Ramos in November 2021 after beating incumbent Mayor Ray O’Connell and Council members Gerlach and Julio Guridy in the Democratic primary that year.
No other candidates have announced their intention to challenge Tuerk, but Councilman Ed Zucal — who's spearheaded council’s push for the investigation — has discussed a potential campaign with residents.
He’s repeatedly refused to answer questions from LehighValleyNews.com about a potential mayoral run.
But he’s also refused to confirm he’s not interested in the mayor's job.
And there have been murmurings at City Hall about a potential mayoral run by Council President Cynthia Mota, who last year cast the deciding vote as the body passed a measure saying it had no confidence in Tuerk.
Mota’s signature on the contract with FLEO Investigations could end up sinking it as it violates the city’s home-rule charter, Tuerk said last week.
Only the mayor can sign contracts on behalf of the city.
