Dague throws hat in ring for mayor

Councilman is a lifelong borough resident

DOWNINGTOWN >> Councilman Phil Dague is looking for a promotion. He wants to be mayor.

The mayoral vacancy opened up in Downingtown following the resignation of Josh Maxwell, who was elected to the Chester County Board of Commissioners in November.

Dague made his intentions known that he is applying to fill Maxwell’s vacancy at the last borough council meeting on Feb. 5.

A lifelong resident of Downingtown, Dague raised three sons in the borough alongside his wife, Francine, in their home located on Whiteland Avenue.

“I grew up here,” Dague told the Daily Local News. He graduated from Downingtown High School in 1979.

Dague joined the Downingtown Borough Council in 2014 and recently won election for another four-year term during the last general election this past fall.

“I love Downingtown. I think it’s a great community. It didn’t get as great as it is by accident. It got the way it is because people cared and put in the time and effort to make it what it is today,” he said.

He is also council liaison on the Downingtown Planning Commission and Downingtown Historic Commission.

If appointed to the vacant mayoral position by his peers on borough council, he said a lot of what he would do if he sat in the mayor’s seat, as opposed to his present council seat, would remain the same.

One of the present goals of council, according to Dague, is to work with PennDOT to revitalize the Downingtown Station for traveling train commuters and to benefit of the community as a whole.

“Our train station is woefully outdated,” Dague stated. “More importantly is it not ADA compliant.” ADA stands for the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

He also cited traffic congestion as another ongoing concern facing current council members.

“If you were to talk to the average Downingtown resident today and asked them what their No. 1 concerned with, I guarantee that nine out of 10 of them would say, ‘traffic in Downingtown.’ Traffic is a big issue. And it’s really more related to the growth that’s been going on around Downingtown in our neighboring communities than it is with anything we have done,” Dague said. “And yet, we have to deal with it.”

He added that the municipality is awaiting a traffic study from Chester County that will outline recommended solutions.

His community-based experience is expansive. Dague sat on the Downingtown Sesquicentennial Planning Committee from 2008 to 2009 and on the Downingtown Main Street Association from 2012 to 2014.

He also served as president of Downingtown Area Historical Society from 2017 to 2019. Today, he is an active board member of the organization where he presently serves as its vice president.

The borough native also sits on the Downingtown Good Neighbor Christmas Parade Committee, a role he’s undertaken since 2010.

“We always have great events here in Downingtown,” said Dague, adding that the 9th Annual Chester County Mac & Cheese Cookoff is returning on May 17 and sells out every year.

“We have great parks,” he said. “We’re very proud of them.”

Dague said the heart of Downingtown is any place that is connected by its trail system that people can walk to.

Additionally, Dague created and curates Mr. Downingtown, a popular local Facebook page that touts more than 9,000 followers.

Regardless of the upcoming mayoral appointment by borough council, Dague told the Daily Local News that he plans to formally run for mayor when the seat is next up for election in two years.

The mayor’s seat is next up for public election in November 2020, according to Stephen Sullins, borough manager.

“Any citizen can put in their name to run for mayor,” said Anthony Gazzerro, board president, during the borough’s monthly council meeting earlier this month. Gazzerro withdrew his own name from consideration.

Local residents may submit letters of interest to the borough now until Feb. 20. To qualify for consideration, a candidate must be a current borough resident who has continuously resided in Downingtown for at least one year.

The mayoral appointment is due to be on the top of the agenda at the next borough council meeting scheduled for March 4.

For more, visit: https://www.downingtown.org.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Councilman Phil Dague is seeking borough appointment to become Downingtown’s next mayor.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Councilman Phil Dague stands outside the historic Downingtown “Log House” built, prior to the American Revolution, in the early 1700s. The historic structure sits on Lancaster Avenue across from Borough Hall on the banks of the Brandywine River.