Lehigh Valley
‘No other alternatives’: Allentown approves trash contract with 4-3 vote in spite of increasing the number of homeless in the city
Allentown, PA – There was a 4-3 vote to approve a trash contract with J.P Mascaro & Sons for $34.85 per unit, per month after being shut down just 2 weeks ago.
This will increase trash fees by 46% next year and a total of 78% in 2026, currently, homeowners are paying $415/year, and next year they are expecting to pay up to $605 and $740 in 2026.
“We gave you the absolute best number that we could give you,” Mascaro claims. “I can assure you of two things: If you want public sanitation, public health, and public safety, you got an excellent program. And the second is, are you getting value? I would suggest you are if you look at the comparables.”
A few council members and residents have had enough with increasing costs and the increasing number of homeless people in the city of Allentown.
“This is going to be a big burden to our residents,” Mota said. “What’s going to happen with people with really low income, and what’s going to happen with poor people in our community? You know the community is already struggling, and that’s my concern.”
“We were elected to make tough decisions, and I don’t see an alternative,” Councilmember Santo Napoli said Wednesday night.
Gerlach said the council cannot continue to say the problem of homelessness is important and then make decisions like this.
“I cannot say yes to something that I know is going to have dire consequences financially on people who are already struggling in the city of Allentown,” Gerlach said.
Councilmembers Ce-Ce Gerlach, Natalie Santos, and Ed Zucal voted against the contract Wednesday night.
Karen Ocasio, an Allentown resident, said the council did not consider the Latino population in making the decision.
“This is just pretty much like gentrification,” Ocasio said. “This is the same thing that they did to the African American community in the 1990s.”
“We’re going to be homeless,” she continued. “You can’t just concern yourself with what happens to the Hispanic community during election, say three words in Spanish, and then be like, ‘Hey, give me your vote.’ You have got to worry about us all the time.”
