ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Debates over a proposed alternative first-response program in Allentown are set to continue for several months after Allentown City Council voted down the measure Thursday.
Thousands of residents signed petitions this year in support of a one-year pilot program for "mobile community response teams” to be dispatched to complaints that “should not and cannot be adequately addressed by police.”
- Allentown City Council rejected an alternative first-response program Thursday night
- That means the proposal will be decided by voters in the fall
- Council voted the measure down 4-2
Each team would have an EMT and a mental health professional, and would respond without armed police.
Allentown City Council rejected the proposal by a 4-2 vote Thursday, several days before the end of the 60-day window to act.
Council members Daryl Hendricks, Cynthia Mota, Ed Zucal and Candida Affa voted against the proposal; Ce-Ce Gerlach and Natalie Santos voted for it.
Council member Santo Napoli was not present for Thursday's meeting or vote.
Sending it to voters
Imogen Wirth, a Pennsylvania Working Families Party organizer who helped lead the signature-gathering effort, said supporters submitted more than 3,800 signatures — almost double the city’s requirement for putting an initiative or referendum on the ballot.
That means council’s rejection is not the end of the measure, which a proposed ordinance says would cost about $4 million.
"My hope is that (voters) reject the proposal, and that we can put things into a budget that begin to address some of the issues that were raised here."Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk
Allentown ordinances allow any five voters to form a committee to circulate and file signed petitions. Committees must collect at least 2,000 signatures to put a proposed initiative or referendum on ballots.
Those initiatives are first considered by Allentown City Council. They become ballot questions if council members do not approve them within 60 days.
Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk and Police Chief Charles Roca urged council in May to vote against the alternative first-response program.
Next steps
Lehigh County election officials will now work to craft the ballot question, while supporters will "continue to engage with the people of Allentown" about the proposal, Wirth said.
Allentown residents can expect to see supporters at many community events, including Monday's Juneteenth celebration, Wirth said.
The group of about 30 canvassers is also hoping to host several town hall-type events to help residents learn more about the alternative first-response program before voting, she said.
Allentown officials said the proposal will appear on November general election ballots unless the petitioners' committee withdraw its petitions.
Tuerk said he hoped the committee would do that before Thursday's vote, but he welcomes further debates over the proposal.
"I think that when voters have an opportunity to clearly think through the issue in front of them, they will vote accordingly," Tuerk said.
"My hope is that they'll reject the proposal, and that we can put things into a budget that begin to address some of the issues that were raised here."
