Braddock Mayor Speaks at Commitment to Community Meeting, State Budget Discussed

Local leaders came together Thursday morning at the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf’s Commitment to Community meeting, discussing the recent proposed state budget, collaboration on crime and the state of Braddock.

Police chiefs from Wilkinsburg and Edgewood, along with the mayors from Swissvale and Edgewood were among the officials present for the conversation. Braddock Mayor John Fetterman was the special guest and speaker, who discussed the possibility of a UPMC Urgent Care center in the borough.

Barb Goodman, director of WPSD, opened the meeting with a presentation on the accreditation process the school is currently working on.

“We want to make sure we are continuously improving as a school,” Goodman said.

The voluntary accreditation is through the Conference of Educational Administrators of Schools for the Deaf. This is the third time the school is going through the process. In 2006, WPSD was named one of the best schools of its kind in the nation, with comments from the board including, “a highly respected organization in the field of education,” and “strong, highly committed leadership, faculty and staff.”

“Now, it is my responsibility that we get this kind of report again,” Goodman said. “We want you to know what we are doing and want you to help us get better.”

Goodman said she may reach out to some of the leaders to be a part of a panel involving those from outside of WPSD to showcase the school’s involvement in the community.

said the core of the monthly Commitment to Community meetings is an opportunity for both WPSD leadership and others to connect.

“The whole idea of Commitment to Community was to give us a chance to reach out to the community and get to know you better, and so far we think it’s been a success,” Bowers said.

Braddock Hospital's Closing and the Way Forward

Fetterman spoke after the presentation about the recent closing of Braddock Hospital and his efforts to move forward in a community that has once again been devastated by loss.

“I think they’re greedy,” Fetterman said of UPMC. “About 23,000 people used the emergency room in Braddock before it left. The real tragedy is where do those folks go now?”

With continuing cuts in public transportation, access to immediate medical care has become a big problem for the people of Braddock, he said.

“An Urgent Care center is the basic minimum for need in this area,” Fetterman said. “They demolished the Braddock Hospital, sent people scurrying to other areas for care, leaving a huge gap.”

Fetterman said after the hospital was closed and the “chaos” calmed down, he began to have a new conversation with UPMC in the hopes of gaining an Urgent Care center for Braddock, similar to the facility on Baum Boulevard in Shadyside. Those conversations are continuing.

“There’s no reason the people in Braddock or Swissvale don’t have a right to the same care as a child in Shadyside,” Fetterman said.

Edgewood Police Chief Robert Payne shared his own sentiments regarding Braddock’s current obstacles.

and God bless people like him who are taking up the fight,” Payne said. “It’s a sad state of affairs.”

Police Collaboration Across Municipalities

Payne gave the leaders an update about local crimes and from the different municipalities in the area, most recently during a shooting that occurred in Point Breeze this week.

“When I came to Edgewood, I brought friends and that includes Cookie and Greg Geppert,” Payne said of Wilkinsburg Police Chief Ophelia Coleman and Swissvale Police Chief Greg Geppert. “The criminals who commit crimes in Swissvale are the ones who commit crimes in Edgewood.”

Payne said collaboration allowed the police to in the Regent Square area that hit Edgewood, Swissvale, Wilkinsburg and the City of Pittsburgh.

After arrests were made in the robbery cases,

“Our collaborative efforts have paid off in the long run,” Payne said.

Bowers applauded the local police forces for their efforts and recent success.

“This is how it all gets done,” Bowers said. “We know each other, we can pick up the phone and ask for help. I am really proud and it hasn’t always been this way. We really appreciate all you do and thank you.”

Gov. Tom Corbett’s Proposed State Budget

State Sen. Jay Costa, D-Forest Hills’ legislative assistant, Jamie Glasser, attended the meeting Thursday to discuss the governor’s proposed budget, which was announced Tuesday.

“In real terms, it is a spending cut of $866 million,” Glasser said. “We are coming out of stimulus funds and the governor is reducing spending. That has impact across a lot of areas.”

One of the hardest hit areas is education – both public education funding and state colleges.

“Essentially, all state funding for higher education was cut by 50 percent, which takes them back to spending in 1985,” Glasser said. “That will be an impact felt by families across the state.”

, Glasser said the burden falls on the school districts.

“There is a distinct possibility that ,” she said. It’s a pretty substantial shift in educational policy.”

The Commitment to Community meeting is a monthly gathering of local officials at the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf.