According to public records, Senate candidate John Fetterman (D., Pa.), a former mayor who is positioning himself as the person who worked to restore the town of Braddock, Pa., missed more than one-third of the borough’s monthly meetings while in office.
According to records obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, throughout his time as mayor of the Pittsburgh suburb from 2006 to 2018, Fetterman missed at least 53 meetings. In his first three years in government, the progressive Democrat missed just four meetings, but his absence rate peaked in 2011 at 11 and in 2015 at 9. The number may be greater, but the records for 2016, when Fetterman ran for the Senate for the first time, are unreadable.
For years, Fetterman has faced criticism for his erratic employment history. Former Braddock borough council president Jesse Brown claimed in 2015 that Fetterman ought to have attended every council meeting but ceased doing so following many disputes on his obligations as mayor.
Mayor-elect Chardaé Jones said that Fetterman’s poor attendance at city council sessions damaged his ties with council members.
Similar criticisms of Fetterman as lieutenant governor have been made. State Senator Tony Williams, the Democratic whip, said to Politico that Fetterman frequently neglected to show up to preside over Senate proceedings, which made it difficult for him to build relationships with decision-makers.
In one area, Fetterman’s work ethic as lieutenant governor might work against him in the upcoming election. Fetterman’s sole responsibility as lieutenant governor is to preside over the Board of Pardons. A number of Pennsylvania sheriffs have criticized Fetterman for his record of voting to release many killers from jail due to his endorsement of the position.
Even before he had an almost deadly stroke that has kept him out of the public eye since May, his truancy had attracted attention on the campaign trail. Black clergy members blasted Fetterman for skipping a candidate forum in February, with some guessing that he did so to dodge inquiries about a 2013 incident in which he drew a shotgun on a black jogger who was not armed.
