Poptech 2009 Mayor John Fetterman Gets a Standing ovation

Poptech 2009, originally uploaded by Network Solutions.

At Poptech 2009 in a session entitled American Stories the Mayor of Braddock PA John Fetterman got a standing ovation for his talk on a community that is getting destroyed and seems to be forgotten by mainstream America.

The town of Braddock is on the Monongahela River , 10 miles from downtown Pittsburgh.

In a New York times article in Jan 2009 DAVID STREITFELD http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/01/us/01braddock.html described the town as "Braddock is a mix of boarded-up storefronts, houses in advanced stages of collapse and vacant lots."

Andrew Carnegie started his first steel mill here and the population of the town has reduced from 20,000 people to less than 3000. John Fetterman studied master’s degree in public policy from Harvard and came to Braddock in 2001.

In his talk John Fetterman was very emotional as he told the story of the fight to save Braddock and ironically he was featured in Nov 2009 Atlantic Monthly and at the same time Braddock received the news that the UPMC Braddock to Close on January 31, 2010 - http://www.upmc.com/MediaRelations/NewsReleases/2009/Pages/UPMCBraddocktoClose.aspx

In the New York time article “Everyone in the country is asking, ‘Where’s the bottom?’ ” said the mayor, John Fetterman. “I think we’ve found it.”

How can we help ? Please send your ideas to John Fetterman at http://www.15104.cc/mayor