Kim Bracey makes history in town with a troubled past
Sat 07 Nov 2009
York resident Zenon Herritt congratulates Kim Bracey on her election. The mayor-elect and the city face financial problems, including the possible closing of the nearby Harley-Davidson plant, which would eliminate 2,500 jobs from the area.
YORK, Pa.-- - Motorists honked and shouted congratulations to Kim Bracey as she crossed tree-lined South George Street one crisp morning this week.
Bracey made history Tuesday when voters elected her the first black mayor of York, a city with an ugly racial past. Forty years ago, a black woman and a white police officer were killed as riots convulsed the city, but it took decades for anyone to be brought to justice.
Now here was Bracey, officially mayor-elect, waving to well-wishers. Her walk Wednesday took her to a meeting with Robert Simpson, a mainstay of the black community and her mentor. They embraced, and he told her: "The whole of York is proud of you."
"Oh, my gosh," she said with a radiant smile, "it really is a good feeling."
"Enjoy this part," Simpson counseled. "The honeymoon is not going to last long."
Bracey, 45, knows he's right. York faces acute financial problems. The struggling city of 40,000 due north of Baltimore is in such a pinch that the departing mayor, John Brenner, has said he might ask Pennsylvania for emergency aid.
Worse news might be looming. Harley-Davidson, just outside the city, says it will decide by year's end whether to move 2,500 well-paying motorcycle manufacturing jobs to Kentucky.
Bracey made history Tuesday when voters elected her the first black mayor of York, a city with an ugly racial past. Forty years ago, a black woman and a white police officer were killed as riots convulsed the city, but it took decades for anyone to be brought to justice.
Now here was Bracey, officially mayor-elect, waving to well-wishers. Her walk Wednesday took her to a meeting with Robert Simpson, a mainstay of the black community and her mentor. They embraced, and he told her: "The whole of York is proud of you."
"Oh, my gosh," she said with a radiant smile, "it really is a good feeling."
"Enjoy this part," Simpson counseled. "The honeymoon is not going to last long."
Bracey, 45, knows he's right. York faces acute financial problems. The struggling city of 40,000 due north of Baltimore is in such a pinch that the departing mayor, John Brenner, has said he might ask Pennsylvania for emergency aid.
Worse news might be looming. Harley-Davidson, just outside the city, says it will decide by year's end whether to move 2,500 well-paying motorcycle manufacturing jobs to Kentucky.
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