The message I delivered to Darby Residents……but just didn’t work…
Experienced…Knowledgeable….PERSISTENT!
BRING BACK PAULA BROWN – FOR MAYOR OF DARBY!
VOTE – TUESDAY November 7, 2017
Why I am running for Mayor of Darby and need your vote:
As many of you know, I was the first female elected to the Office of Mayor in Darby in 1998. I held on to the seat for 8 years. Before that time, I was elected to Borough Council and was the youngest female ever elected at the age of 24. Darby Borough is in my blood. Always was and always will be. I was born and raised here and plan to stay here. My family has been here since 1903.
I’ve been out of office for quite some time now. I’ve sat back and watched our once beautiful hometown slowly deteriorate. Our streets are filled with trash and debris. Homes are abandoned and crumbling. Businesses have left. Crime has risen and our police department staffing has reached a critical low as many officers have left for better full time positions in other towns.
In the past few years, our government, instead of becoming more transparent, like it should be, has become secretive. Important discussions about our finances, crime and future are held behind closed doors. If you go to a council meeting and want to voice your opinion, you are given only 3 minutes to speak and for 2 minutes, you are interrupted consistently because they don’t like the content of your comments or questions. This is America, we have a right to address and redress our government.
For the last 12 years, I’ve waited for someone to step up to the plate and run for office. Someone we can depend on to be OUR voice, who will be OUR WATCHDOG. It hasn’t happened. Our town has declined rapidly. This year, once again, most of our current officials have no opposition. They will only need 1 vote and they will be re-elected. However, for 2 positions there are candidates who are challenging the “establishment”. The other, is a good, honest elected official with integrity to get the job done, but behind her back, the “establishment” has decided they want one of their own in this position. In every government, you need a system of “checks and balances”. But in Darby, we’ve had one party control for over twenty years. That’s not good no matter what party it is. Here, the fox is guarding the henhouse and that’s not good.
Because I plan to live here for the rest of my life, I cannot sit back and watch our town spiral downward. Therefore I have decided to once again, run for the Office of Mayor. I have learned much through trial and error. I was never perfect but my heart was in the right place. You may not agree with me or my positions, but one thing you can be sure of is my priority lies with the residents and our concerns. I won’t make promises and I can’t fix everything. However, I will try my best to correct what I can, get answers for questions and follow through on all matters.
I am an Independent Democrat which means I am not owned or bought by any political party. Political registration means nothing to me. If you need help, I try to assist. If you want to vent, I listen. If you want answers, I give them to the best of my ability. If you want a leader with experience and knowledge to get the job done, then I will work tirelessly until it is complete. It also means, I am running my campaign out of my own pocket. You won’t see fancy political signs or literature like my opponent has. She is funded by people who want to control her (have controlled her). I am funded by myself and donations from supporters who want to see justice, integrity and transparency returned to Darby Borough. Please consider making a contribution to my campaign by visiting the link above.
On May 16, 2017, I ran on the Democrat Ballot against my opponent who has been the Mayor for 12 years. When the machines were counted at the end of the night, I won by a slim margin. Yes….every vote counts. However, amazingly, 34 absentee ballots came in from St. Francis Nursing Home from many patients who were in hospice, and or incoherent which then caused me to lose by 18 votes.
In 37 states in this country, there are laws prohibiting nursing home staff from assisting patients to vote. It is mandatory the County election board assist the patients therefore no chance of influencing persons not mentally stable, can occur. Pennsylvania is not one of these states who have laws prohibiting this.
However, even though I lost by 18 votes on the Democrat Ballot, on May 16, 31 Republicans wrote me in as their candidate. The Republican party did not have a candidate to run for Mayor. Because of this, republicans could write someone in and if enough votes were cast, that person would run against the person who won the Democrat Ballot. So……I am still able to run as a DEMOCRAT but on the REPUBLICAN ballot.
I am asking you to please SPLIT YOUR TICKET and vote for the person, NOT the party on November 3, 2017. If you vote straight Democrat, you will not be casting a vote for me. But if you look for my name, on the “B” Column, you can press the box next to my name and your vote will count as long as you do NOT hit the straight democrat button.
This is a clear example of why EVERY vote counts!
This is WHY I am running and seek your support. Please check back frequently as I will be posting important information for YOU the residents. I believe in 100% transparency and feel NOTHING should be kept from us.
| Biographical Highlights |
- Party: Independent Democrat
- Occupation: Delaware County Community Corrections Supervisor-Coordinator
- Employment: County of Delaware – Current
- Borough of Colwyn – Borough Manager
- NORC at the University of Chicago – Social Science Research Field Manager
- UPS – Retention Supervisor
- Who’s Who of Elected Officials
- Pennsylvania Progressive Leaders – Fellowship
- Temple University – Criminal Justice
- Darby Area NAACP
Experience:
- Thirty-eight Years of Experience in local Municipal issues
- Former Mayor of Darby
- Former Darby Borough Councilperson
| Top Priorities if Elected |
- Transparency within Darby Borough Government
- Open line of communication to the residents
- Restructuring and staffing the Darby Police Department. Implementing a Community oriented policing policy where the RESIDENTS are priority.
- Philosophical – Community Input is imperative
- Strategic – Specific patrols, case screening, prevention methods
- Tactical – Neighborhood meetings, school based policing, partnership and problem solving
- Organizational – Management, planning, information, analysis, assessment
ISSUES AND ANSWERS
Issues:
- Our streets are filled with trash and debris. Homes are abandoned and crumbling
- High real estate taxes residents can’t afford which causes them to move to other towns with lower taxes and better service.
- Businesses have left, homeownership has declined drastically, replaced by rental units
- Crime has risen; Police department and Highway Department staffing has reached a critical low which makes it difficult to give adequate service to our residents. Part time officers are hired frequently and leave when they are hired full time elsewhere. Full time officers are rarely hired. This creates a void between the residents and the police.
- Lack of transparency – important discussions about our finances, crime and future – held behind closed doors.
- Lack of communication between borough officials and the residents.
Broken Window Theory – when a house on a block has broken windows, high weeds, trash etc., and it is not fixed, it causes residents to lose pride and let their properties deteriorate. When it’s fixed and clean, the incentive to neighbors increases and gives them a reason to take care of their own properties. When minor complaints of residents are addressed, it prevents more serious issues from happening. Together, we CAN fix our “broken windows” and once again, have a wonderful community.
Answers:
- Staff the highway department with the proper amount of employees which will enable them to perform all of their duties in maintaining our streets, sewers, borough owned properties etc.
- Staff the police department with full time officers which will increase retention. This saves money by eliminating the revolving door of training new part time officers who leave in a year or two for full time positions elsewhere. It also strengthens the bond between the police and the community as residents will get to know our police and police will get to know our residents.
- With a full time staff of police, restructure the department to have a specific squad of officers who constantly patrol our streets – separate from those who answer calls. A highly visible police department is the best prevention for crime.
- Aggressively collect the 1% Earned income tax from employees in businesses who do not live here, but work in our town and use our services which will enable the borough to REDUCE real estate taxes for our residents and help them keep their homes instead of abandoning them.
- Offer tax incentives to professionals to relocate here such as faculty from local universities, police and emergency personnel. Encourage them to move here and be our neighbor! Rehabilitate homes that were once abandoned, putting them back on the tax rolls.
- Offer tax incentives to various businesses to relocate to Main Street, the heart of our community.
- COMMUNICATE – COMMUNICATE – open the doors to government – encourage residents to participate
Please click the links below for more information: