Hundreds of volunteers gathered at Carmella Playground this past weekend to help revitalize the park. City Year, a nationwide nonprofit, headed the event. Volunteers worked together, repainting rusted fences, covering graffiti with colorful murals, planting trees and shrubs and picking up litter. Among the supporters was Rep. Tony Payton Jr., who offered inspiring words and a helping hand to the volunteers.
Payton, sporting a 76ers baseball cap, blue jeans and sneakers, shouted out to the volunteers from the small stage, “We’re gonna beautify Carmella for the kids and our city!” City Year leaders soon dispersed the crowd to the jobs. The representative from the 179th District was right along side them, tossing a football with some of the younger volunteers.
City Year Greater Philadelphia has over 200 members and has been in the city for 14 years. It deploys 17- to 24-year-olds in schools, who work as tutors and aim to improve the learning environment for students. “City Year has specific emphasis on students who are at risk for dropping out,” said Rex Carney, City Year’s department director of external affairs. “We also do events like this because we want to show that our leaders can bring the community together,” he explained.
Payton recognizes the importance of community service. “Through service we can solve a lot of the issues that affect us,” he said. Payton is a regular volunteer in the area. “I’ve dedicated my life to service,” he said.
“He [Payton] understands the power and impact of community service,” explained Carney. “We are really fortunate to have him.”
In addition to volunteer work, Payton is active at City Hall and in Harrisburg. “If you go to Harrisburg, it’s harder to find anyone working harder than Tony Payton,” said Carney. Payton introduced the Pennsylvania Youth Commission, which is designed to engage youth in local politics; he also authored a scholarship initiative, which, if passed, would allow any student with a GPA of 3.0 or higher to attend any of the state colleges for free.
Payton is also an advocate of green technology. He introduced the Pennsylvania Green Jobs Act, which is designed to stimulate expansion of clean energy research and increase jobs in the green sector. “I’ve introduced a number of bills around energy efficiency and the green economy,” he said. “Everybody pays an electric bill. We can set up the framework for people to become more energy efficient.” The city loses money to energy assistance programs. If citizens were better educated, Payton feels they would benefit both the city and environment.
On a local level, Payton offers multiple solutions to the ongoing Logan Triangle issue, which is a 35-acre section of the neighborhood that has sat vacant for over 25 years. “Logan is ready,” he said, “The city is lagging behind… it’s an opportunity to spur job growth.” Payton said the empty land could easily be turned into a large urban greenhouse, a shopping center or manufacturing plant.
“People have lost confidence in leadership,” added Payton. “What I’ve done is restored that confidence by being out there, being active and taking on these problems.”
Payton is running for his third term. He feels that he transcends opponents because of his ability to lead by example. “Everything that I do and work for is about empowering the community,” said Payton. His ideas for college affordability and plans to address the nearly 40,000 vacant and or abandoned homes in the city are what people care about. He knows what the people want because of his involvement in the community.
Payton is young; he was named one of the most influential African Americans under 40 by the Philadelphia Tribune. It’s more than his age that allows him to connect to his district so well. Payton works alongside City Year in local schools. He knows the students and parents that he serves. “He’s a really great guy. He knows the community well. That’s what we really want,” said Brandon Chaderton, a City Year leader at Cooke Elementary.
As the sun rose higher above Carmella Playground, Payton painted a swing-set alongside community members. He didn’t speak of elections or his beneficial work in the community. He was at his office, busy working.
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