Re: No-Show: Dem Senate Candidate Skipped Dozens of City Council Meetings As Mayor

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> Add Fetterman to the cull list.
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Senate hopeful John Fetterman (D., Pa.), a former mayor who is 
casting himself as the man who "worked to rebuild" the town of 
Braddock, Pa., missed more than a third of the borough’s monthly 
meetings during his time in office, according to public records.

Fetterman skipped at least 53 meetings during his tenure as 
mayor of the Pittsburgh suburb from 2006 to 2018, according to 
documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. The 
progressive Democrat missed just 4 meetings in his first three 
years in office, but peaked at 11 no-shows in 2011 and 9 in 
2015. The tally may be higher, but records for the year 2016, 
when Fetterman first ran for Senate, are illegible.

Fetterman has been dogged for years by criticism of his spotty 
work history. Jesse Brown, a former Braddock borough council 
president, said in 2015 that Fetterman "should have been at all 
council meetings," but stopped showing up after several 
confrontations over his duties as mayor.

"He first come in thinking he was in charge of everything," said 
Brown, who also criticized Fetterman for taking credit for 
Braddock’s economic revitalization. "Everything that’s happened 
in this community, he’s gotten credit for it. The people believe 
that all this has come about through John Fetterman, but it’s 
not true."

Chardaé Jones, who succeeded Fetterman as mayor, said 
Fetterman’s failure to show up to city council meetings eroded 
his relationships with councilmembers. "When you’re not present 
at council meetings, there’s not much of a relationship there," 
she told Politico.

Fetterman has faced similar complaints as lieutenant governor. 
State Sen. Tony Williams, the Democratic whip, told Politico 
that Fetterman often failed to show up to preside over Senate 
sessions, hampering his ability to forge ties with policymakers.

One area where Fetterman has shown up to work as lieutenant 
governor could hurt him come November. As lieutenant governor, 
Fetterman’s only official duty is to oversee the Board of 
Pardons. Fetterman has embraced the role, voting to free 
multiple murderers from prison, a record that has drawn 
criticism from a group of Pennsylvania sheriffs.

Fetterman’s Republican opponent Mehmet Oz seized on Fetterman’s 
work ethic with the release of a campaign website this month 
that portrays Fetterman as a slovenly layabout who works from 
his basement. The Oz campaign launched the site following a 
report that Fetterman lived off his wealthy father until his 
late 40s, when he was elected lieutenant governor in 2019.

Fetterman’s truancy has drawn notice on the campaign trail, even 
before he suffered a near-fatal stroke that has kept him out of 
public view since May. Black clergy members criticized Fetterman 
for missing a candidate forum in February, with some speculating 
he skipped the event to avoid questions about a 2013 incident in 
which he pulled a shotgun on an unarmed black jogger.

"If there is already suspicion on the part of the community that 
race may be an issue and he may not be in touch with the 
community the way he thinks he is, then this only reinforces 
that by not showing up," Rev. Mark Tyler, who leads South 
Philadelphia’s Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, 
told the Philadelphia Tribune.

Fetterman, who cast only one vote during his stint as mayor, has 
defended his record in Braddock, claiming borough council 
members were "absolute obstructionists" who were "committed to 
my failure."

Published under: Feature, John Fetterman, Mehmet Oz, 
Pennsylvania Senate

https://freebeacon.com/democrats/no-show-dem-senate-candidate-
skipped-dozens-of-city-council-meetings-as-mayor/