Kudos to businessman Jeff Brown for possibly the worst answer to a debate question I’ve heard in a long time. In a question about sending waste from Philadelphia to Chester, one of the most polluted areas in the United States and home to one of the largest incinerators in the country (and naturally a 70% black low-income community) , Jeff Brown doesn’t care (although he said he does). It’s not his problem.
Source: Philadelphia Investigator
Mayoral candidate Jeff Brown came under fire from his Democratic rivals during a televised debate on Tuesday for a dismissive comment about the city of Chester.
A Fox29 debate moderator asked Brown, a businessman who has not held elected office, how he would handle complaints of pollution and environmental racism in Chester, where some of Philadelphia’s trash is dumped. Philadelphia has a long-standing waste disposal contract with Covanta, a company whose waste incinerators in Chester have drawn decades of rebuke from residents and activists and punishment from environmental regulators.
Asked if he would change existing contracts with vendors who deal with trash removal in the city, Brown – whose campaign slogan is “Pick up the fucking trash” – said that he was unsure and seemed to dismiss the neighboring town’s fight against pollution.
“Chester is Chester,” he said. “I worry about Philadelphians and how their lives are.”
The moderator asked, “So you don’t care about Chester?”
“I care, but I don’t work for them if I’m mayor,” Brown said. “I work for Philadelphia, and the garbage has to go somewhere, and whoever gets it will be unhappy.”