The website promoting the gutted steel town of Braddock, Pa., in the spring of 2006 presented stark black-and-white photos of dilapidated housing, aging landmarks and brick facades marred with angry graffiti. The man promising change, Mayor John Fetterman, stood tall in front of a run-down building, arms crossed.
“DESTRUCTION BREEDS CREATION,” read the caption. “CREATE AMIDST DESTRUCTION.”
The Post’s Beth Reinhard and Colby Itkowitz write that the edgy campaign — which the newly elected mayor reportedly paid for himself without consulting the borough council — was an early sign of the unorthodox, go-it-alone strategy he would deploy to contend with a local government he viewed as inept. Per our colleagues:
