GranolaBox

John Fetterman is the mayor of tiny Braddock Pennsylvania. He doesn’t look or act like a typical small town mayor, which is exactly what Braddock needs since it’s a case study for the decline of the small town in America. He’d look more appropriate as a security guard for Metallica than at a City Hall.

Fetterman is a giant both physically and politically. He stands 6′ 8″ tall and weights a hefty 300 pounds. He wears his love for Braddock under his sleeve rather than on it. One tattoo is Braddock’s zip code, and three more tattoos represent the dates of the three murders that have occurred in his town since he took office.

A Harvard degree in Public Policy could surely have landed Fetterman a more lucrative job elsewhere, but he chose to work first with at-risk kids in a GED program, then, in 2005, running for mayor and winning by only one vote.

Braddock is an old steel town. During World War II and the post-war boom, Braddock was a lively, crowded town of 20,000. It’s a ghost town now with only about 2,900. The fire-belching steel mills are gone and there are hundreds of vacant houses and business store fronts.

Fetterman is working to change all that though. He’s aggressively selling Braddock’s abandoned shell as a place for new businesses to establish their roots for a rock bottom price. While some businesses have moved in, Braddock remains an economic disaster.

Fetterman isn’t making any exorbitant promises; it’s going to take more than one person to rebuild this town. It’s an uphill battle that few until Fetterman have been willing to take on with complete abandon.

John Fetterman inspires me because he’s represents two schools of progressives; those that roll up their sleeves and work hard from within the problem and those that pursue a path of public service to make changes on a political level.

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Filed under: Citizen of the Week on September 26th, 2007