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William Heyd to stand for Allentown Mayor again |
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In a reaction to Allentown's current budget crisis, William L. Heydt made his official return to politics Thursday, announcing he would run for mayor in 2005, reports the Allentown Morning Call.
 When he left office as Allentown mayor after two consecutive terms in 2002, the now 66-year-old Republican saw more than three-quarters of city taxpayers were paying less real estate tax than they were when he had taken office in 1994. Yet the city had a $7.9 million surplus.
The general fund is now more than $4 million in the red. When he announced that he would once again stand for mayor, he delivered a scathing critique of Allentown's current mayor, Roy C. Afflerbach: ''I can no longer stand by and watch our city fall deeper and deeper into financial ruins,'' said Heydt, who spoke at the Barristers Club on Walnut Street, behind a podium with a sign bearing his campaign slogan: ''Proven performance.''
''I can no longer stand by and watch programs affecting our seniors and physically challenged family members and neighbors lose programs that have made a difference in their lives. I can no longer stand by and watch our children be told they can only swim every other day in our city's pools. "
''I can no longer stand by and watch our taxes go out of sight. I can no longer stand by and watch crime rise while offenders spread their cancer of crime block by city block. "
"And I will not stand by wondering what this current, clueless administration will cut next or into which black hole this mishap of a mayor will pitch Allentown's tax dollars, Allentown's future, Allentown's dignity."
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