Battle rages for control of Upper Darby government
UPPER DARBY >> Two titans of Upper Darby politics are taking their disagreements from the township council bench to the ballot box.
Republican Mayor Tom Micozzie and Democratic Councilwoman Barbarann Keffer will face off on Nov.
5 as they seek a third term and first term, respectively, as mayor of one of the largest municipalities in the state. With over 80,000 residents who represent all levels of socioeconomic status and nationalities, the battle to lead rests on a diverse electorate that has fashioned its own identities into distinct neighborhoods from Drexel Hill to Bywood.
Touting plans that will support all residents of the township is part of the campaign.
“I feel really prepared to hit the ground running and get things on track for us in terms of transparency and tackling the issues,” said Keffer about her candidacy.
Keffer has long made transparency a talking point when it comes to Upper Darby’s governance. Before her election to council she was almost ejected from a township council meeting in 2010 when she was video recording from a seat in the audience gallery of council chambers. In 2014 she rallied support from council to post meeting agendas and minutes on the township’s website. Just last month during a council meeting she questioned the supposed override of rules for the public comment portion of the meeting.
She also finds fault in the elected position that would normal have oversight over the financials: The treasurer. This position had its powers revoked in the early
‘90s and the oversight now falls to non-elected township employees.
“The oversight duties of the elected treasures should be returned to the treasurer,” said Keffer. “Over $200,000 walked out of the township building from the tax collector’s office.”
Keffer was referring to Jessica McCusker, a tax office clerk who stole $216,000 from township coffers over six years who was sentenced in the spring to intermediate punishment any ordered to pay restitution.
“I want to have an open dialogue with people because things come up all of the time. You have 84,000 people who live here and I just want to use the available technologies of 2019 to reach out and to make them feel like they’re part of a community,” she said.
Keffer moved to Drexel Hill in 2001 with her husband and they have raised two daughters here. Since then she has been involved with the community by creating a single-stream recycling program in the township (named a 2008 Bank of America Neighborhood Excellence Initiative Award honoree for the effort), serving on the Darby Creek Valley Association and being a basketball coach for a number of local organizations. She said she wanted to move to the township to raise a family and complimented the great accessibility the township provides for commerce and public transportation. Because of that it shouldn’t be a “starter-home” community.
In addition to serving as an elected official, she is also the borough manager for Rutledge and held the same position in neighboring Millbourne Borough before that.
By serving two municipalities as an administrator or an elected official, she has that distinct perception about how a local government should work.
“All municipalities have to file with the state the same audits, paperwork, same forms. Every municipality has to be accountable for taxpayer dollars and I feel prepared to be able to come to this job with my eyes wide open,” she said.
But Micozzie, too, has that same unique perspective.
Micozzie, in addition to being an elected official for 30 years, is currently the county’s director of labor relations and risk management and was an administrator at Fair Acres Geriatric Center. He gave his perception about working for one local government and elected to serve in another.
“My entire career has been in government,” said Micozzie. “Understanding government budgets, how government operates, policies and procedures, understanding benefits packages, dedication of govern
“My entire career has been in government. Understanding government budgets, how government operates, policies and procedures, understanding benefits packages, dedication of government employees … I’ve lived in that world my entire life.” — Republican Mayor Tom Micozzie
“I want to have an open dialogue with people because things come up all of the time. You have 84,000 people who live here and I just want to use the available technologies of 2019 to reach out and to make them feel like they’re part of a community,” — Democratic Councilwoman Barbarann Keffer
ment employees … I’ve lived in that world my entire life.”
Before serving as mayor he was a chief of the Primos-Secane Westbrook Park Fire Co. No. 5, and in working during all sorts of hazardous weather conditions while others stayed home, he can relate to the dedication a government employment makes to their community.
Fighting the elements as a public servant, Micozzie used his pull as a township councilman to create emergency snow routes in the township back in the
mid-1990s after an infamous blizzard locked down the Northeast corridor. Micozzie also worked to increase the police department’s size from 90 to 130 sworn officers and helped coordinate the merger of Upper Darby’s dispatch center with the county’s, both of these initiatives unfolding in the ‘90s. He also helped with the development of the Primos-Secane Fire Co. complex in the
2000s.
Since stepping up as mayor, Micozzie channeled his focus to economic development, starting not long after getting into office to address improvements at the 69th Street Transportation Center (he announced a major step to building a parking garage at the center on Oct. 18) and building up the various business areas in the township. He pushed for the Drexeline Shopping Center renovation project and promptly pointed the finger at Democrats, and especially Keffer, for bringing a legal challenge last summer to the approved plans that have stalled construction almost a year after a settlement was made. If elected to a third term, Micozzie wants to see that project completed after that “disastrous lawsuit.”
“It was the most tragic thing to happen politically in this township and I want to finish that,” he said.
Time, even if just another four years as mayor, is what Micozzie wants to see this through and a number of other projects (including renovation of the old Sears building on 69th Street) during the whole of what would be a 14-year mayoral tenure.
“I believe in finishing what I started when I made the first commitment to be mayor,” said Micozzie. “I made the commitment to myself and my family that I’m going to finish this thing through because it’s going to take that long to put some of the things that I wanted to do. What I’ve done with the redevelopment of the township, the finances of the township and public safety have provided for people who want to live here and raise their families.”
But Keffer says Micozzie and the Republican Party have had enough time as the majority-ruling party to have done what they needed to do already.
“Change takes time and vision, and the current leadership has definitely had the time to implement things, really good programs to move forward, but they lack the vision,” she said. “I believe I have the vision and I have the time to lead Upper Darby into the future.”
One of the biggest things at stake in the mayoral race is how it will shape the political landscape of the township.
In recent municipal election cycles (including county council races), Democrats have made mention of breaking up the Republican stronghold that has ruled the county for decades.
Micozzie is a political institution in its own right.
Tom’s father, Nicholas Micozzie, served as a state representative for the
163rd Legislative District for 35 years before stepping down for the 2014 election. Tom Micozzie had served on township council starting in 1989 before he was appointed mayor in 2009. He was elected to four-year terms in 2011 and 2015. The township’s home rule charter sets mayoral term limits to three terms.
Micozzie is not alone on the campaign trail this year as his sister, Kelly Micozzie Aguirre, looks for another term to serve as magisterial district judge for Aldan, Clifton Heights and a portion of Upper Darby Township.
At present, Democrats hold five of the 11 council seats, increasing the number of seats won in elections since 2011 when one party member won a seat that was previously held by a Republican. In 2013, when Keffer was first elected to an at-large seat, the party secured three seats including a seat flipped from Republican control. Democrats won their fifth seat in
2017 and almost won a majority-leading sixth council seat when Republican Don Bonnett beat challenger Don Fields by 10 votes.
The Democrat-leaning edge of voter turnout in the township in recent years is what Keffer says gives her an edge so long as the voters get out to vote.
“We have been knocking on doors since March because we want to connect to the community. We want them to see us, to see that we have the same vision for a better Upper Darby and we’ve been executing our plan,” she said. “It’s not going to end with the election. It’s about putting yourself out and trying to create community that is strong and wants to move forward.”
“I believe in finishing what I started when I made the first commitment to be mayor. I made the commitment to myself and my family that I’m going to finish this thing through because it’s going to take that long to put some of the things that I wanted to do. What I’ve done with the redevelopment of the township, the finances of the township and public safety have provided for people who want to live here and raise their families.” — Republican Mayor Tom Micozzie
“Change takes time and vision, and the current leadership has definitely had the time to implement things, really good programs to move forward, but they lack the vision. I believe I have the vision and I have the time to lead Upper Darby into the future.” — Democratic Councilwoman Barbarann Keffer
Micozzie knows very well the community where he was born and raised, and particularly harped on his experience as a public safety official, working with agency departments, and understanding of government to give him the edge in next month’s election.
“You have to have strong leadership and the leadership that people will follow you and are sure,” he said. “This isn’t a small borough. You have the same responsibilities and types of incidents in this size of a town as you would a Philadelphia or Pittsburgh. I do it from experience and confidence. There isn’t too much that I haven’t experienced and a great leadership team.
“I have a team in place that has a success record and is providing great services, great financial stats. Every stat that I have, what’s the negative?”