City, school officials rip Zogby study

HAZLETON – High expectations fell short Wednesday when officials said a study to address future social service needs that was presented to the Hazleton Chamber of Commerce used inaccurate data.

The study, commissioned by the Greater Hazleton Area Civic Partnership and conducted by pollster Zogby International, was presented to at two public meetings.

Officials from the city’s administration and school system took issue with the study’s validity, because it is based on census data and projections they claim are inaccurate.

For example, according to the report, arrest patterns show that overall reported crime is decreasing in the city.

Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta took issue with that assessment. Barletta said that the city’s police department is 150 percent over budget and that “violent crime is up 60 percent in the last two years.”

He offered up a personal anecdote from his youth, about growing up playing on the Pine Street Playground.

He addressed a member of the public at the meeting saying, “I want your children to be able to play on the playground because I don’t want gangs recruiting them or trying to sell drugs to them.”

“We’re losing the battle against crime,” Barletta said. “There are now 10 gangs in Hazleton.”

Hazleton Area School Board President Richard Morelli said at the public meeting that, “one of the biggest problems we have in the school district is overcrowding.”

The Zogby report predicted enrollment at the school district to reach 10,661 students by the 2014-15 school year. District officials said the information is based on out-of-date census data predictions.

The report also indicated that “the Pennsylvania Department of Education enrollment projections indicate a slow growth pattern in enrollments.”

But in the August school board meeting, Hazleton Area Superintendent Frank Victor announced that enrollment for the current school year stood at 10,466 students and that 40 to 50 new students were being added per day at the time.

Morelli asked, “How can we use this report in planning if the data here is so clearly wrong?”

John Zogby, the chief executive officer of Zogby International and a key architect of the study responded by saying, “I honestly don’t know” when asked about his outdated statistics.

“My only agenda is to try to get it right,” Zogby said. He didn’t elaborate further.

The Civic Partnership, an offshoot of the Hazleton Chamber of Commerce, paid $50,000 to have the study conducted. Study planning meetings began in 2005 and Zogby, who the chamber described previously as having “a track record of community visioning,” was awarded the contract in March 2006.

The Civic Partnership issued a press release distancing the organization from the report as it was being issued Wednesday.

In part, the release denouncing the study states that the partnership questions the accuracy of the population estimates in the report.

“We will continue to seek better information on that point,” the partnership’s release reads. “We had hoped that the report would include list of resources to make desired changes.”

Racial tensions exploded at the public meeting as members of the city’s Hispanic community voiced displeasure with the city administration’s response to the report.

“Racism is a critical local issue in Hazleton, and a massive community effort needs to be made to root out the disease of racism,” Zogby wrote in the report. “Residents fear racial profiling of sorts, where they might be denied a home or a job because they are perceived to be illegal.”

Zogby included an executive summary in the study that summed up his opinion of the issues facing the city.

“Now fear reigns supreme,” the study warns of, “national demagogues trying to accent the worst.”

The Civic Partnership refused to endorse or reject Zogby’s assertion – instead choosing to remain non-political.

Although saying he stands by that statement, Zogby refused to identify who the reference referred to.

“I guess that’s me,” Barletta said. “Where can I begin to describe how much I disagree? I was never interviewed. He never talked to any city officials. He never talked to the chief of police. He does not have the 2006 or 2007 statistics.”

Anna Arias, a member of the Hazleton Area Latino Association, agreed with the findings of the study in terms of race relations. She said the city’s actions, including an on-going court battle over the Illegal Immigration Relief Act, “makes it even harder for us to work and make the city a welcome city.”

“He has to stop and get the fact straight,” Arias said of Barletta. “He should be guiding the city properly. This isn’t politics. This is reality.”

John Madden, chair of the Civic Partnership committee that commissioned the study, said, “We are not going to deal with the polarizing aspects of the report.”

The study utilized data from the 2000 census. In addition, 177 intercept interviews were conducted with Hazleton residents and six focus groups with between 15 to 18 people in each group contributed to the qualitative data in the study.