John Fetterman and the quiet town he brags about revitalizing are both sick.
On the weekend, I went for a walk around the quiet streets of Braddock, Pennsylvania, a little town not far from Pittsburgh, where the Democratic candidate served as mayor for nearly ten years and was much admired for his progressive policies. While in town, I spoke with a few residents and government officials about Fetterman, the self-proclaimed savior of the steel town who is currently vying for a Senate seat.
The first thing I saw as I traveled through Braddock was the scarcity of Fetterman signage.
After Fetterman left his $150/month job as mayor of Braddock to become Pennsylvania’s well-paid lieutenant governor, the new mayor, Chardaé Jones, remarked that “you will not ride around and see a bunch of Fetterman posters.” I asked Jones in a recent video interview why Fetterman doesn’t appear to have many supporters. Jones added, “Fetterman lives in the area. However, we don’t actually see Fetterman.”
In response to my query as to how frequently Fetterman visits Braddock’s workplaces and projects, Jones said, “It happens very infrequently, if at all. When I’m not in Braddock, I see him most often around the Waterfront.” For those unfamiliar with the region, the posh Waterfront in nearby Homestead is an outdoor shopping mall where you can have a pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks, peruse the shelves at Barnes & Noble, watch a film at an AMC cinema, and play some Skee-Ball at Dave & Buster’s.
As Jones put it, “he nominally resides in Braddock, but he never shows up to local activities.” “Some folks don’t even know who he is. Everybody in Braddock seems to know each other, and that’s one of the town’s best features.”
There is no depiction of Fetterman in any of the Braddock area’s historical figures’ murals. A newcomer to Braddock stopped Jones and said, “What’s up with the town?” as we walked by the art show.
“A whole two years have passed since my initial arrival. I must now leave, “The comments of the organ donor from Braddock. To you and everyone else, “As an answer, Jones said. “No convenient grocery store is in the area. That ain’t no place to save your money,” Someone from the community chimed in. The First National Bank’s smashed glass doors can be seen down the road, not far from the fenced-off “#BraddockBeautiful” graffiti.
We struggled to set up a meeting in Braddock after I initially called Jones.
“There’s virtually anything open in Braddock today,” Jones lamented.
We arrived at Civic Plaza, a dazzling and picturesque public space that is a dramatic contrast to the rest of Braddock. A few low-income locals waited in line at a generic white car parked in parallel along the park’s border on the stormy Friday afternoon when we conducted our outdoor interview, where a casually dressed salesperson was handing out government-subsidized cellular phones.
It’s one of Fetterman’s favorite talking points when he’s out canvassing for votes in the Senate that Braddock has been revived. Jones informed me that in reaction to Fetterman’s evocation of the borough’s alleged resurrection under his 13-year rule, some residents of the Braddock region embrace the national attention, while others desire the focus might be turned into much-needed resources for the suffering town.
Jones told Townhall that Fetterman’s efforts to capitalize on his tenure as mayor had caused “a divide” in the community. ” As it turns out, several people had the opinion that Fetterman exploited Braddock. Some of the comments were, “Oh, he made the neighborhood famous. It’s nice to be famous, but you should put that attention to good use.
“Businesses have a crucial role in society. Those people need jobs badly, “Jones said, “insist.” And if Fetterman says anything like, “Oh, I helped produce jobs in Braddock,” to which I always reply, “Where?” Most people living in Braddock do not really have jobs inside the city limits, “declared his replacement, who backed his Democratic primary opponent in Pennsylvania, State Representative Malcolm Kenyatta, in May.
Jones claims that “a fourth” of Braddock’s gradual improvement may be attributed to Fetterman. Though I agree that some of these council efforts need support, I think he gives themselves too much credit in general “- Jones -.
Documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon indicate that Fetterman frequently failed to show up for council meetings. During his stint as mayor, Fetterman was a habitual absentee, missing more than a third of the monthly council sessions when he was running for the Senate. “His administration was marked by the marginalization and exclusion of several notable personalities. “I don’t want to say he doesn’t know how to work on a team, but he didn’t display his ability to work on a team,” Jones said of Fetterman, referring to his “do-it-by-myself” attitude “attitude. We never managed to get him to sit down with us.
According to Jones, the council members had made it obvious that “they didn’t want him there” because they were mostly elderly and lifelong inhabitants. “The fact that you are receiving a salary from the public should not be used as an excuse to miss a council meeting if you are an elected official. You should go to the council meeting even if you feel it is a waste of your time. You must have the people skills to collaborate with people who love you and others who hate you.”
If you ask the older generation, they will tell you that “Fetterman is obviously perceived as an outsider,” as Jones put it. Originally from West Reading and later reared in York, Fetterman moved to Braddock in 2001, four years before he was elected mayor. By a solitary vote, he was elected mayor for the first time.
Fetterman has settled atop one of his failed redevelopment projects. Superior Motors is a high-end restaurant located in the former Chevrolet showroom of a building that was bought by Fetterman in 2013. When the Superior Motors Kickstarter campaign successfully raised a record $310,000, the team celebrated by hosting a five-course dinner in Fetterman’s spacious, renovated loft for donors who pledged $5,000 or more.
Despite being in the works for quite some time, Superior Motors didn’t launch until the middle of 2017. Despite an early period of success, the firm closed in the spring of 2020 due to the pandemic and hasn’t reopened since. Meanwhile, Superior Motors received a $191,000 relief loan from the government’s Paycheck Protection Program during the initial wave of bailouts, and the company’s management launched a GoFundMe effort that garnered nearly $25,000. The restaurant has been closed for two years, but the Fetterman family has kept the tables, chairs, and centerpieces in their basement, along with the hours of the business placard.
Fetterman thought he could “reimagine” the neighborhood around Superior Motors by recruiting celebrity chef Kevin Sousa to prepare expensive delicacies like steak tartare, sushi, and foie. Customers came from out of town to shop at Superior Motors, but most Braddock locals couldn’t afford the costs. “People around here seem to agree on one thing: “I can’t afford to dine there.” Jones claims that customers were put off by the unfamiliarity of some of the menu items and the “pricey” prices for the “small quantity” offered.”
It “was not on the top of the list of things that folks from Braddock desired,” Jones said of a high-quality restaurant. It was great that so many people from nearby areas came to see it. According to Jones, “becoming weary with the concept” was the major reason Sousa “simply up and deserted” his creation Superior Motors.
One of Braddock’s oldest businesses is Club Elegance, originally known as Club 804. On one occasion, Fetterman tried to put an end to it. “Somehow, they did not set well with Fetterman. In order to survive, he needed to go.” Finally, Jones managed to smile. Jones responded to Fetterman’s claims that the bar is a public nuisance by saying that it frequently distributes free coats and has even organized a peace-raising event. The club’s marquee sign was vandalized by Fetterman, who rearranged the letters to say “We will not be reopening soon,” as shown on the security tape. When asked about the mayor’s role in the vandalism seen on camera, he gave no evasive answers. “People of color were unimpressed by this. To top it all off, the vast majority of us are people of color “- Jones -.
Fetterman, mayor of the city with a majority of black residents, was also attacked for an incident in which he pursued and arrested at gunpoint an unarmed black jogger whom he mistakenly believed of being engaged in a crime. According to Jones, he “never apologized for it.” People would feel better if he took responsibility and apologized, but I fear it’s too late for that now.
On his campaign website, Fetterman says he worked with the chief of police, the police department, and the community to decrease violent crime in Braddock when he was the city’s “highest law enforcement officer.” However, a City-Data.com analysis revealed that the rate of violent crime in Braddock skyrocketed under Fetterman’s tenure.
After Fetterman’s departure, the new leader, Jones, made the following observation “Over the course of many years, piles of paperwork that needed to be filed with the police gathered, but they never were. Absolutely no one cared about it. This is why I decided to participate.”
For his part, Jones had to order the Braddock police to ticket drivers who had been accused of obstructing sidewalks and making it impossible for the elderly to use wheelchairs.”
As a response, “The thing is, we weren’t told to issue tickets. Unfortunately, we don’t even know where these individuals are. Our former mayor told us to stop issuing citations, so we did. To rephrase, I had the idea that. “So, in order to enforce the rules, I need you to give out tickets. There’s no reason to choose meaningless targets, “Jones is sure he responded with the correct information.
The inability to keep officers on the force was something Jones bemoaned.
At the second annual Coffee with a Cop event in Braddock, where I met the city’s new police chief, Brian Bradford, the day after. According to the chief, Braddock requires 13 full-time police officers but only has six. In the meanwhile, the Pennsylvania State Police have been assisting with calls since the borough publicly sought their help in the middle of July. Bradford said, “Sometimes we race from phone to telephone.”
Overstretch is occurring now because not enough people are working to cover a big area. Bradford said, “I may be the only one in town today.” You must prioritize incoming calls.
During a recent town hall meeting, Delores Scales, a councilwoman for the borough at large, said that many children in Braddock had experienced a death in the family or among acquaintances that was caused by a handgun.
A gun safety and intervention event was conducted in front of the municipal administration building, and students as young as fourth graders signed the “No Cap” Pledge and verbally promised to prevent gun violence.
An unarmed child was shot and murdered late one night in July of last year, according to a North Braddock woman who gave birth at the now-demolished UPMC Braddock hospital, which stood where the present-day Civic Plaza is currently located. (The crime scene in North Braddock is really nearer Fetterman’s house than Civic Plaza).
The Braddock mother told the local press that everything was “senseless…for no reason.” “The current count of his offspring is six. Now everyone in this town, city, neighborhood, and state is responsible for these six children. There must be a resolution to this problem. Period.”
Bradford referred to Braddock as a “dismal town” because “businesses merely have fled and not come back.”
Peppers N’AT, owned by the resilient Robert “Bob” Portogallo, has weathered difficult times on the formerly bustling Braddock Ave, where the town’s dwindling population of roughly 1,700 residents now has few options for shopping and dining. I had a pleasant chat with Portogallo, the outspoken owner/operator of Braddock’s one and only Italian restaurant, a veteran, on that chilly Friday evening before the dinner rush. Cooking by himself at Peppers N’AT, Portogallo mused, “I think the growing business is the dollar shop, which I call the Braddock mall playfully.”
It’s tough to locate fellow [Fetterman] fans in this area…” According to Portogallo.” The campaign slogan, “Big John Fetterman constructed Braddock; working man generated jobs,” was based on his life story. I mean that not a single part of it is true.”
According to a 2009 piece in The New York Times Magazine, Levi Strauss & Co. went straight to Fetterman rather than through the council in an effort to market their range of workwear. That Levi’s paid $1.5 million for an advertising blitz aimed at the working class. “Instead of going to the city government, the money went to John’s Nonprofit, which helps fund the John’s Church and Community Center. It was a closed loop, which irked some of the mayor’s voters, “a recent piece in the New York Times Magazine claims.
During our conversation, Portogallo said, “From what I understand, he utilized Levi’s commercials to appear like a hero safeguarding a town.” Even though Levi’s gave Mr. Fetterman a sizable quantity of money to help the neighborhood, “I heard the money never did make it out to the community,” he said.
He doesn’t work,” the Air Force veteran of 22 years chimed in. “Only on the waterfront boardwalk have I ever seen him ‘working.’ I only ever saw him once, in his car, on Braddock Avenue. He was probably taking his kids to school (not a public school, but a private school). Instead of helping out the state and local businesses during the outbreak, you’re out enjoying yourself on the Waterfront. Is there anything pressing that needs your attention? You appear to be standing still.”
According to Portogallo, “I think they recognize that what he did here is nothing, and that’s why a lot of people are against Fetterman.”
The owner of a screen printing company who is moving to Braddock and a supporter of Portogallo’s said, “The town has grown more famous since it has been used as a shooting site.” Braddock was a stand-in for a post-apocalyptic wasteland in the 2009 Hollywood film The Road because of how impoverished and broken down it is.
Following the demise of his former “cushy employment,” Fetterman is now on the hunt for a new position in which “you don’t actually work, but you get rewarded.”
The status quo led him to the conclusion that he didn’t like the present political structure. “How long have we been subjected to Clinton, Clinton? They have been utilizing the same employees over and over again. Why were only Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton obtainable? Hey, you need to mix things up every once in a while.” I asked if he thought of Fetterman as a regular employee, Someone they could recycle, or a unique option. As he drained his beer glass, he mused, “Who picks a person like that?” “He isn’t quite John F. Kennedy when it comes to fame. He’s not exactly a natural in front of the camera, either. Is that so?”
The next day, I saw Fetterman followers standing in line across the street from where I had interviewed Jones to get money from his wife’s Free Store. When two black cars carrying separate groups of Fetterman supporters pulled into the parking lot of the Free Store in Braddock, they unloaded a number of pro-Fetterman signs.
Delia Lennon-Winstead, the current Mayor of Braddock, backs Fetterman 100%. Lennon-Winstead wore campaign swag for all three Democratic candidates in the swing state, including a Summer Lee for Congress t-shirt, a Josh Shapiro pin, and a button that said, “Please remember to pray for John Fetterman and family.” The balances agree with Fetterman’s reasoning. “As the adult in charge, it was his responsibility to round up the youngsters. A slushie or ice cream truck probably isn’t too far away. I’d see him buy ice cream cones for all the local kids out of his own pocket. “There was a clear indication of magnitude with these scales. “That guy has a heart of gold… My judgment is that he would make a great senator from Pennsylvania.”
Even though Jones disagrees with Fetterman, he plans to vote for him. “I prefer to criticize those that I’m voting for whenever feasible.”
The Dr. Oz campaign paid for an anti-Fetterman billboard that compares the Democratic nominee’s record on crime to toilet paper that is “soft on bottoms.” On my third day there, while many Braddock residents were away at the Steelers game against the Miami Dolphins in Florida, I found several Fetterman signs that had been placed sometime on Saturday underneath the billboard. Meanwhile, several Doug Mastriano signs can be seen strewn around the lawn in front of the massive “Welcome to Historic Braddock” mosaic monument.