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Braddock's mayor John Fetterman declared his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in October.
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Fetterman’s finances attract attention

Pam Panchak/Post-Gazette

Fetterman’s finances attract attention

Braddock Mayor and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman is taking heat for not having filed a financial disclosure statement that was due two months ago. That’s not the only financial consideration that distinguishes him from the other candidates running.

Mr. Fetterman has given away homes essentially for free, though in the past he has sometimes struggled to pay their tax bills. And although he has previously reported receiving no income himself, he has drawn on family money to help constituents with their own financial problems.

“My guiding principle is that I will never make a dime off the plight of my community,” Mr. Fetterman said.

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Senate ethics rules require candidates to file financial disclosure statements — which list income sources, investments and other assets — within 30 days of announcing their candidacy. Mr. Fetterman launched his Senate bid in September but still hadn’t filed a disclosure by late November, when the Associated Press reported him calling the lapse an “oversight” that would be remedied “in the coming days.”

Standing on the rooftop of his home, Braddock's mayor John Fetterman declares his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate.
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That hasn’t happened, and the Washington Free Beacon, a conservative online news site, seized on the delay, quoting a Republican Party spokeswoman saying, “Either Fetterman believes the rules don’t apply to him or there is something he’s trying to keep from Pennsylvania voters.”

Mr. Fetterman, who called such attacks “the best compliment a campaign could get,” said his disclosure would be filed before year’s end. “You won’t see anything out of the ordinary,” he said. He attributed the delay to the campaign’s “breakneck pace” since a comparatively late launch. “Some things got overlooked.”

“If I had something to hide, I’d be going about it in the absolutely worst way,” he added

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Mr. Fetterman faces two Democratic rivals: Katie McGinty, the former chief of staff for Gov. Tom Wolf, and retired Adm. Joe Sestak, who ran for the seat in 2010 but lost to the incumbent, Republican Pat Toomey.

Adam Bonin, a Philadelphia attorney working for the Fetterman campaign, said federal disclosure forms are “much more thorough than what’s required at the state level.” And indeed, the state-required form Mr. Fetterman filed this year as Braddock’s mayor could scarcely be simpler: It indicates he had no direct or indirect sources of income.

As Braddock’s mayor, Mr. Fetterman earns $150 a month but said “I don’t take the money myself.” Instead, he directs it to community needs. Robert Caruso, who directs the state Ethics Commission, said Mr. Fetterman’s mayoral earnings should still be disclosed but added “we see frequent deficiencies” in filings by local officials, and such errors require only an amended filing.

Mr. Fetterman said that support from his family, which owns a York, Pa. insurance company, “allows us to live at a frugal middle-class level. We’re not vacationing in the Hamptons.” (Mr. Fetterman’s state filing also doesn’t disclose that family support, which Mr. Caruso said is exempt from disclosure.) And although Mr. Fetterman has made numerous investments in the community, the process hasn’t always been smooth.

In 2005, Mr. Fetterman bought three properties in nearby North Braddock for a total of $61,000. Between 2006 and 2012, court records shows, those properties, and one he owned in Braddock, were the subject of more than $11,000 in liens for county and school district property taxes, as well as North Braddock garbage fees.

Many of those liens were satisfied by 2012, and the last were cleared in 2014. North Braddock Mayor Thomas Whyel said he had “no complaints” about the properties. As for Mr. Fetterman, “We get along well.”

Mr. Fetterman said he bought the North Braddock properties “to help people with home ownership,” which he said is desperately needed in lower-income communities. But “plans floundered because of circumstances that were beyond my control,” including the murder of a resident he hoped would take one of the homes.

Mr. Fetterman said he has never charged rent to occupants, and county real estate records show he has given away two of the three North Braddock homes. He transferred one in 2010, and last month gave a second, a two-bedroom house he bought for $15,000, to Anthony Bell for $1.

Mr. Bell said he and Mr. Fetterman met some 15 years ago, when Mr. Bell, now 32, was obtaining a GED through a program Mr. Fetterman coordinated. He credits Mr. Fetterman with helping him turn around his life: “If it wasn’t for him, I would have been a lost kid in the streets. A lot of kids in Braddock would have been lost.” He hasn’t moved in yet — the roof needs work, for one thing — but said Mr. Fetterman “blessed me by giving me this house, and I plan on doing something with it.”

“There’s a lot of rich and flashy politicians, but he’s not one of them,” said Myasia Cherry, a Braddock resident to whom Mr. Fetterman recently gave nearly $500 to help cover next semester’s tuition at Slippery Rock University. “He’s an angel.”

Chris Potter: cpotter@post-gazette.com or 412-263-2533.

First Published: December 18, 2015, 5:00 a.m.

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Braddock's mayor John Fetterman declared his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in October.  (Pam Panchak/Post-Gazette)
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