Allentown official resigns from boards after vowing to ban after-hours businesses

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — An Allentown City Council member recently gave up her seats on two city boards governing nuisance properties after publicly vowing this year to shut down after-hours businesses in the city.

Candida Affa is at the head of council's push to curb violence and crime at late-night businesses after a fatal stabbing June 18 outside Synergy Hookah Lounge on Allentown’s East Side.

• Candida Affa vacated her seats on the city’s nuisance abatement and disruptive conduct boards
• She said she resigned after promising to ban late-night business in Allentown, acknowledging concerns about her impartiality
• Affa made those comments after an early morning fatal stabbing in June at an East Side hookah lounge

Kevin Tarafa, 29, of Bethlehem, was stabbed multiple times just before 3 a.m., authorities said. He was pronounced dead less than two hours later about a block away from Synergy, Lehigh County Coroner Daniel Buglio said.

Isiah Yeager, 23, of Allentown, was arrested and charged with one count of criminal homicide. Yeager is in Lehigh County Jail without bail, court records show. He is scheduled to have a preliminary hearing Aug. 11.

Less than a week later, Affa co-sponsored a resolution that says members want to maintain the “safety of our residents” and protect them from “traffic, noise, loitering, and, often, drug sales that accompany the clubs.”

Speaking June 26 at a news conference outside the hookah lounge, Affa said she would “do anything and pass any legislation [city officials] want" to shut down late-night businesses operating illegally.

“We need to get rid of them, period,” she said.

“I promise you, we're going to fix this.”

‘I cannot be a judge’

Affa said Wednesday she stepped down from the city’s nuisance abatement and disruptive conduct boards because of those comments.

She likened her role on the boards to that of a judge and acknowledged concerns about her impartiality after publicly vowing to outlaw late-night businesses.

Affa said she’d likely have to recuse herself “almost every time” a case was brought in front of those boards.

“I made comments publicly — and I stick with them — that I would like to see our after-hours clubs shut down,” Affa said Wednesday. “Therefore, I cannot be a judge.”

Affa said she worried attorneys could challenge the boards’ rulings in court if she continued as a member.

“I wouldn't do anything to hurt our chances to win in every case,” she said. “Our lawyers, our police officers, administration, we're all working hard for that.”

“As legislators, [council members] make these laws, and it’s so important that they're not kicked to the curb, that they're done in a way that we can win, that we can get disruptive people out of our city,” she said.

Board members needed

Affa said she served on the nuisance abatement board “from the beginning eight years ago,” while the city’s website shows she started her tenure on the disruptive conduct board in August 2017.

Affa’s resignations drew praise from council members Daryl Hendricks and Ed Zucal, who commended Affa for taking “accountability for [her] comments.”

Allentown City Council on Wednesday appointed member Natalie Santos to replace Affa on the city’s Nuisance Abatement Board of Appeals.

Mayor Matt Tuerk urged Allentown residents to apply to fill “critically important positions” on city boards.

Those groups “need excellent representation from across the city of Allentown to make sure that we are conducting the most fair process possible,” he said.

Residents can apply through an online application; they must be nominated by the mayor and approved by council.