Kimberly Reed Photography

john fetterman, the mayor of braddock, took some time out of his schedule on sunday to show a group of us around his town. we started out with breakfast at the elk’s club, where they only had one thing in the menu -three eggs over easy, three pieces of bacon and toast. it was one of the tastiest breakfasts’ i’ve had.
he’s young- as far as mayors tend to go- and i was struck by how committed he is to really make a difference here. he’s humble and quiet and laid back, and definitely didn’t like having his picture taken, but he put up with a whole afternoon of it, in the hopes that any attention it brings his town - and it’s plight- is worth it.

he took us all over braddock. you could tell he knows it well. we went back to this little courtyard squeezed behind these buildings, where he said this was the best backyard in braddock. it was an overgrown mess- all weeds and brambles and in need of a huge overhaul. but he saw the potential. that’s what i liked about john- he sees through what it was, and what it is now- to what it could be.

we were here about two weeks ago, and saw this abandoned winnebago in an overgrown lot. this time, the thing had been completely stripped of anything worth any money. inside. outside. just the shell left. not a small task on a winnebago.

this struck john as funny. “that’s a lot of work. i mean, if you’re going to put that much effort into something, why not just go out and get a job?”

for more on the story of braddock, go to www.15104.cc/