Mayor of Bankrupt City

00:00:00:04 – 00:00:03:14
David Martin
This is the good government show.

00:00:03:19 – 00:00:19:06
Stefan Roots
I’m the only bankrupt city in America. And then I get that strange look like. I don’t know if I want to talk to you, feel sorry for you, or like you asked, why did you even choose to be the mayor when you’re in a bankrupt city?

00:00:19:10 – 00:00:38:14
Stefan Roots
The messaging that we’re putting out this year, this is the year of good government that’s coming from our receiver, that’s coming from me. That’s one of our missions this year, is to demonstrate how good government can make a really quick change to a city that has a bad reputation on so many levels.

00:00:38:19 – 00:00:53:42
Stefan Roots
As an engineer, I deep in my DNA is solving problems. Chester has had a lot of problems. What I’d say to the last administration is if you don’t recognize something as a problem, you’re not even going to try to solution it.

00:00:53:47 – 00:01:01:44
Stefan Roots
And then it was you and the election, and then the light goes off in my head. Oh my God, now I got to leave this thing. Now I got to do this thing.

00:01:01:49 – 00:01:20:00
David Martin
This episode of The Good Government Show is all about corruption, greed, bad management, bad government, and finally some good government. Welcome to the good Government show. I’m Dave Martin. First, help us share the message of good government by liking us and sharing us where we are and all our social media and your favorite social media. Make sure of us and share us everywhere.

00:01:20:00 – 00:01:40:03
David Martin
We all need to talk about good government. Chester, Pennsylvania is bankrupt. The city is in receivership. It is, as Mayor Stefan Roots put it himself, quote, in the dumps, financially unquote. And it has been for a long time. That’s what he’s going to tell you. My conversation with Mayor Roots was an interesting look into how to manage a city that’s trying to claw its way out of its current predicament.

00:01:40:05 – 00:01:57:36
David Martin
Chester does have a few things going for it, as you’ll hear, and it’s a historic city to this small city just outside of Philadelphia. But there is good news and some good government. Mayor roots has a plan. He ran for office with his eyes wide open. He served on the city council and he knew what he was getting into and he welcomed the challenge.

00:01:57:36 – 00:02:07:42
David Martin
So coming up a lesson and turning around the city, or at least trying to with Chester, Pennsylvania mayor Stefan Roots.

00:02:07:47 – 00:02:34:29
David Martin
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00:02:34:31 – 00:02:58:54
David Martin
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00:02:58:56 – 00:03:07:55
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00:03:08:00 – 00:03:26:42
David Martin
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00:03:26:47 – 00:03:33:25
David Martin
Welcome to The Good Government Show. I’m happy to have with me Stefan Roots, who is the mayor of Chester, Pennsylvania. Welcome to the Good Government Show.

00:03:33:27 – 00:03:34:46
Stefan Roots
It’s a pleasure to be here.

00:03:34:47 – 00:03:42:01
David Martin
So I said, tell me about Chester. We’re here at the Conference of Mayors. As you walk by my table, I said, tell me about Chester. And you said, we’re the only bankrupt city in America.

00:03:42:03 – 00:04:00:16
Stefan Roots
It’s the attention getter. When I’m in a group of mayors, I said, I got something that none of you guys have. And they look at me like, what could it be? And I said, I’m the only bankrupt city in America. And then I get that strange look like, I don’t know if I want to talk to you, feel sorry for you, or like you asked, why did you even choose to be the mayor when you’re in a bankrupt city?

00:04:00:19 – 00:04:03:42
David Martin
Well, let’s start there. Why did you choose to be married when your of a bankrupt city?

00:04:03:45 – 00:04:27:53
Stefan Roots
Well, it wasn’t bankrupt when the choice was made. But I knew we were close so we were in state oversight. It’s called act 47. In the state of Pennsylvania for many years. And at 2020, the governor at the time was Governor Wolf. He looked at the City of Chester’s pension fund for its police officers and said, you guys only have six months of money left.

00:04:27:55 – 00:04:50:56
Stefan Roots
I’m throwing the flag. You’re going to be in receivership. So receiver was assigned to the city of Chester in 2020. I think it was August of 2020 or sometime in the mid-summer. Okay. Long before I was well, not long before, but when I made the decision to run for mayor after two years of receivership, which is usually the term of receivership, if it’s not settled by then, you re-up for another two years.

00:04:50:59 – 00:05:03:01
Stefan Roots
If the governor or the state determines that’s what’s needed. But right at the end they said, you know, Chester needs to go into bankruptcy. And it was the receiver on behalf of the city, put us in bankruptcy.

00:05:03:03 – 00:05:04:51
David Martin
Was it the right thing to do?

00:05:04:53 – 00:05:11:29
Stefan Roots
It was probably long overdue. Okay. Yeah, it was. It was overdue for sure. So yes, it was the right thing to do.

00:05:11:31 – 00:05:17:26
David Martin
How did Chester get in this condition of bankruptcy? What happened? What bad government happen to send you down this road?

00:05:17:28 – 00:05:32:54
Stefan Roots
Just poor fiscal management. But the the smoking gun, if you will, was the fact that the previous administration failed to keep up with the MMO, the minimum municipal obligation to contribute to the police pension fund.

00:05:32:56 – 00:05:41:29
David Martin
How did that happen? Was there no oversight? Was was everyone complicit and corrupt? Was it was it just horrible mismanagement?

00:05:41:29 – 00:06:05:11
Stefan Roots
It was horrible mismanagement. That’s the best way to put it. But there was also like fiscal problems. So when I say bankruptcy or some adjustments should have been made prior, especially if we were under state oversight for as long as I said we were in regular everyday terms, you could say we rob Peter to pay Paul. We just robbed the wrong Peter.

00:06:05:16 – 00:06:06:54
David Martin
Was anyone sounding the alarm?

00:06:06:57 – 00:06:09:48
Stefan Roots
Yes, the state auditor general was.

00:06:09:52 – 00:06:13:30
David Martin
Know anyone in anyone in Chester where any of the citizens watch groups.

00:06:13:30 – 00:06:34:48
Stefan Roots
Or unfortunately he said, smart watch groups aren’t aren’t very strong. But what was fooling so many people was at the beginning of every year, the mayor for five years in a row, the same mayor was saying that we have a balanced budget, we have a balanced budget. I’m presenting a balanced budget, and you and I can both balance our budget if we’re not paying our electric bill, if we’re not paying our car.

00:06:34:48 – 00:06:58:06
Stefan Roots
Note and, you know, people just weren’t digging enough into what was going on on the budget, except some former people in the administration who saw that state pension obligations weren’t being met and was calling the alarm, but pretty much to a body of people who just didn’t understand what was going on or what was going to occur if the can just kept being kicked down the road.

00:06:58:08 – 00:07:11:43
David Martin
So before we turn on the microphones, you said you were with the city council for two years, so you knew what was going on. You saw the bankruptcy, you saw the fiscal problems. You saw that. Yeah.

00:07:11:58 – 00:07:32:18
Stefan Roots
Well, I was reporting on it even before that as a community journalist. Okay. So I started a community newspaper back in 2006, and eventually it just got around to just covering news stories that was in the mainstream press and dissecting it down in a fashion in which my community could understand. So I saw these things. It wasn’t a secret, okay.

00:07:32:20 – 00:07:36:54
David Martin
You just said it wasn’t a secret. Did everybody know what was going on? Everyone knew there.

00:07:36:54 – 00:07:56:31
Stefan Roots
Was a problem. It was so complicated that most people, you know, with so many issues going on in our city, it’s just a lot. So people just weren’t receiving the messages, absorbing the message, or even responding to the fact that the fiscal people are just concerned. In my town of day to day situations, you know, can they put food on the table?

00:07:56:31 – 00:08:12:28
Stefan Roots
Where will their son come home at night? You know, can we keep the lights on? Can we put food on the table? So they just trust that the government leaders that are running the city, not that they may have voted for them, but that are running the city are are doing the right thing.

00:08:12:30 – 00:08:24:36
David Martin
Were there any signs, outward signs, streets weren’t being plowed, traffic lights weren’t being repaired, streetlights weren’t being repaired, police cars weren’t being serviced. Were there outward signs of problems?

00:08:24:36 – 00:08:29:00
Stefan Roots
Probably, yes. But people had come to accept.

00:08:29:05 – 00:08:29:33
David Martin
Okay.

00:08:29:41 – 00:08:38:40
Stefan Roots
The things that weren’t up to par with communities, just maybe three, 4 or 5 miles away from our city.

00:08:38:43 – 00:08:43:09
David Martin
So let’s just explain to folks, Chester, Pennsylvania is a Philadelphia suburb.

00:08:43:11 – 00:09:16:38
Stefan Roots
It’s considered a Philadelphia suburb. We’re really close to the Philadelphia airport ten minutes away, where all town of well, depending on how you consider small. 35,000 residents, 70% of the residents are in rental units. So it’s a 7330 split between, you know, renters and homeowners. Poverty rates about 30%, bachelor’s degrees, maybe 8 to 10% racially, about 75% black, 10 to 15% Hispanic and growing pretty fast.

00:09:16:38 – 00:09:37:01
Stefan Roots
The number is probably bigger than what’s reported and, you know, about 10% white. A lot of assets, though it’s a great city if you’re an urban planner, if you look at it for its assets like I-95, a major highway runs right through us. We’re right between Wilmington, Delaware and Philadelphia. Like I said, Philadelphia airports ten minutes away. That’s an international airport.

00:09:37:01 – 00:09:39:37
Stefan Roots
The Delaware River runs right through us.

00:09:39:42 – 00:09:43:17
David Martin
And if I’m not mistaken, isn’t Chester sort of a very old, historic city?

00:09:43:32 – 00:10:09:13
Stefan Roots
It is the first city of Pennsylvania. It is where William Penn landed, and it was settled in 1644, became a city in 1682. Chester has the court. There’s a courthouse right outside of City Hall called the 1724 courthouse. That’s not the address. That’s the year it was founded. It’s the longest continuously use public building in America, really. And we’re sitting in Washington, D.C. to be.

00:10:09:16 – 00:10:16:54
Stefan Roots
So to be able to say that with confidence in a town with all the historic buildings, it’s it still exists.

00:10:16:56 – 00:10:22:08
David Martin
Do you have an office in City Hall that you step into and look around and go, wow, look at this.

00:10:22:17 – 00:10:23:51
Stefan Roots
I do, I do.

00:10:23:58 – 00:10:25:44
David Martin
Benjamin Franklin sat right here in this office.

00:10:25:53 – 00:10:44:21
Stefan Roots
What’s well, maybe Ben, I don’t know if Ben came down, but certainly William Penn. And it was a frequent spot of George Washington. So with the Revolutionary War battles of Brandywine being really close by, Washington met with Rochambeau and and Lafayette, and there’s trails that run right, right through our historic city.

00:10:44:23 – 00:10:44:50
David Martin
Okay.

00:10:44:52 – 00:10:49:23
Stefan Roots
And you know that Washington came up the Delaware River. So he probably went right past the town on his way up to.

00:10:49:37 – 00:10:55:42
David Martin
Probably did. So we painted a little bit of a picture of Chester. What made you decide to say, I can fix this?

00:10:55:47 – 00:11:19:43
Stefan Roots
I knew what was going on. Did I know I could fix it? I, I didn’t know if I could fix it, but I did know I had help. So coming in, I had the training wheels of the receivership and all the resources that the governors could give us. So Governor Wolf was just moving out. Governor Shapiro was coming in the Department of Community and Economic Development, DC.

00:11:19:48 – 00:11:43:22
Stefan Roots
That’s where our receivers come out of, and they were really committed to fixing the problems that they had long seen from a state perspective in the city of Chester. But what they needed was a participating government. They got a lot of resistance from our last administration. So if nothing else, once I got on, council, saw what was going on in two years, became mayor in that same city.

00:11:43:29 – 00:11:57:42
Stefan Roots
The first thing that the receiver and I both knew was going to happen was a cooperative government. There wouldn’t be resistance. Why was the last administration so resistant to free help? Millions of dollars of free help of experts, I guess.

00:11:57:49 – 00:11:59:33
David Martin
Was looking under the under the hood.

00:11:59:36 – 00:12:18:22
Stefan Roots
That was it. It was the exposure. So much was exposed. But some of it was historic too. So it wasn’t all the last administration’s fault, it was just that the last administration came in seeing the issues. They weren’t committed to fixing any of them, but they were quick to say, hey, we’re not to blame for everything that’s going on.

00:12:18:25 – 00:12:30:48
Stefan Roots
This is this is the can had been kicked down the road for a long time. So really happy to be the mayor right now where things are turning around in a different direction. We’re kicking the can back. We’re kicking it, you know, not down the road, but off the road.

00:12:30:50 – 00:12:35:38
David Martin
All right. So this is a good government show. You are turning trying to turn the city around.

00:12:35:41 – 00:12:59:34
Stefan Roots
You know what? I’m going to stop you there because you said good government show and it clicked. This is the year of good government good. It’s one of the the the messaging that we’re putting out this year. This is the year of good government that’s coming from our receiver. That’s coming from me. That’s one of our missions this year, is to demonstrate how good government can make a really quick change to a city that has a bad reputation on so many levels.

00:12:59:34 – 00:13:18:14
Stefan Roots
It’s been distracting to investors and developers coming in. They just haven’t wanted to to join Chester in our growth. What I’m trying to do is get people to join the fight for Chester, just to bring it back to the economic engine that it was in our county and being so close to Philadelphia.

00:13:18:14 – 00:13:24:18
David Martin
So what good government are you implementing? Where do you start? Where does one start?

00:13:24:23 – 00:13:49:10
Stefan Roots
I had this conversation last night to unbelievable ears of mayors who we were talking about forms of government. And Chester has what is called the commission form of government. I am a mayor, which means I’m the chief executive officer of the city. So I’m on the executive side, but I’m also president of city council. So when we have a city council meeting, I’m right up there voting along with my four council members.

00:13:49:24 – 00:14:19:13
Stefan Roots
It’s a confusing form of government. As my receiver would say. It really is a city charter that that supports machine politics. As mayor. Traditionally, the mayor would, amongst his four council members, assign them to be department heads in city business. And it wasn’t working. We did not have qualified people in finance or streets or recreation or public safety.

00:14:19:20 – 00:14:32:07
Stefan Roots
So as we knew we were going into bankruptcy very smartly. The receiver the year prior, as he’s making a budget for the year that I’m coming in as mayor, budgeted for real directors to take over.

00:14:32:10 – 00:14:32:34
David Martin
Okay.

00:14:32:36 – 00:14:58:06
Stefan Roots
But we couldn’t just kick council out of their roles. And they thought very hard because they wanted to be directors, three of them being very new. It went all the way to the state Supreme Court for them to decide in favor of the receiver. And as long as we’re in receivership and their plans of adjustment, that Chester will will allow the mayor not to assign council people to there.

00:14:58:10 – 00:14:59:30
David Martin
So you got your directors.

00:14:59:30 – 00:15:17:55
Stefan Roots
We got our directives. There was a fight in the beginning and very disappointing council members. But we’re two years in now, and most of them are looking at the reality of the situation. They really don’t want to be directors of departments. We hire very well in year one of my administration, and it was.

00:15:17:57 – 00:15:18:45
David Martin
So it’s working.

00:15:18:52 – 00:15:36:39
Stefan Roots
It’s working. But it’s also surprising because who wants to come? Like you said, why would I want to be a mayor of a bankrupt city? Why would you want to work for a bankrupt city as a department head? Well, where I thought we’d be struggling to find real talent. It was a real challenge to choose amongst the people who wanted to take on these roles.

00:15:36:42 – 00:15:49:29
David Martin
Because, you know, pick a pick a topic. Transportation. If you get an opportunity to come into a city and revitalize it, I mean that that’s got to be a great feather in your cap. And not to mention a great professional challenge.

00:15:49:29 – 00:16:06:30
Stefan Roots
I took that for granted. I really didn’t, and you hit it right on the head. The people wanted to take that challenge. They’re a little older, and they’re also not looking at it as a career, but they’re looking at it as an opportunity to fix something with a group of other people. Right. That can have an impact, pretty immediate look good on their resume.

00:16:06:30 – 00:16:16:11
Stefan Roots
So when they move on or if I move on, I know they’re going to come either with me, but they’re certainly not going to stay in an environment in which it was in the past.

00:16:16:13 – 00:16:22:38
David Martin
Of your new good government programs and initiatives, which is the one that’s done the best. Oh.

00:16:22:43 – 00:16:28:05
Stefan Roots
Oh boy, oh boy, that’s a good one. Finance has to be it though, because that.

00:16:28:10 – 00:16:30:14
David Martin
Well, everything stems from do we have the money?

00:16:30:17 – 00:16:45:35
Stefan Roots
Yeah. So we’ve had two chief financial officers in the two years I’ve been mayor. The first one was good. The second one is better. Okay. That’s all I can say. So that’s but that was that was the core of what we needed to get done.

00:16:45:38 – 00:16:46:40
David Martin
Let’s get your financial house.

00:16:46:40 – 00:17:09:58
Stefan Roots
In order. The second one was our I guess we would call it license and inspection department. We put it under the umbrella of our community and economic development. But our city has changed so much over the years. Like I said, we’re we’re 70% rentals, 30% residential. It wasn’t always that way. It used to be a, you know, a small community with everybody on the homes.

00:17:10:07 – 00:17:36:44
Stefan Roots
But the department that inspects these buildings never changed. And when you talk about, I hate to say the word corruption, and I’m not going to say corruption because I don’t have facts. But as far as getting that job done properly by doing inspections, by, you know, people who are now renovating a lot of homes that were left blighted and abandoned, getting the proper permits, you know, for doing this work safely.

00:17:36:49 – 00:17:38:15
Stefan Roots
We we were.

00:17:38:20 – 00:17:40:50
David Martin
Probably a few envelopes sliding across desks. Well.

00:17:40:53 – 00:18:03:35
Stefan Roots
I, I don’t have any of it. And so that but what I do have evidence of is that a lot of people who are working for the department who aren’t licensed to be inspectors, okay, you know, unfortunately, we were one of the few cities where these guys are in a union, so it made it a little difficult for us to say, hey, you, you, you know, you’ve been here a few years now and you continue to fail these tests.

00:18:03:38 – 00:18:05:21
Stefan Roots
That’s that’s not what we want to see.

00:18:05:23 – 00:18:07:45
David Martin
So is there now good government in Chester, Pennsylvania?

00:18:07:47 – 00:18:18:30
Stefan Roots
It is, it is. People are really starting to look at Chester now is something that they would invest in. Whereas before it was throwing good money after bad. We have some super assets.

00:18:18:34 – 00:18:19:18
David Martin
Such as.

00:18:19:20 – 00:18:38:36
Stefan Roots
The Philadelphia Union Major League Soccer team. Their stadium is in the city of Chester. So for the past 15 years they’ve had the stadium. Unfortunately, they were built in 2008 when the banks just went crazy. They couldn’t develop everything that we thought would be on that campus, like residential and commercial on the waterfront. But the stadium did get built.

00:18:38:38 – 00:18:51:06
Stefan Roots
They’ve continued to commit, evidenced by the fact that he’d been with us for 15 years. This past June, we cut the ribbon on a $100 million sportsplex. So it’s a practice facility.

00:18:51:08 – 00:18:52:37
David Martin
For that, all part of that same field.

00:18:52:44 – 00:18:58:32
Stefan Roots
It’s all in that same 25, 30 acre area.

00:18:58:34 – 00:19:01:34
David Martin
They used to, or still do host the collegiate rugby tournament there.

00:19:01:37 – 00:19:04:12
Stefan Roots
Oh, wow. You remember that? I was talking to somebody about that.

00:19:04:15 – 00:19:08:17
David Martin
Yes I played. Did you play. No, no no I did not play. I did not play I went, I went I didn’t play.

00:19:08:19 – 00:19:10:19
Stefan Roots
No they don’t. They did a seven straight years though.

00:19:10:22 – 00:19:10:31
David Martin
Yeah.

00:19:10:31 – 00:19:10:45
Stefan Roots
Yeah.

00:19:10:48 – 00:19:19:31
David Martin
And that’s but that’s the area we’re talking about. That’s the same. Right. In the shadow of the airport. Just just passed a little bit. Yeah. Yeah a huge athletics complex.

00:19:19:33 – 00:19:23:45
Stefan Roots
Yeah. But the new place is is just outstanding. So with Philadelphia.

00:19:23:47 – 00:19:25:35
David Martin
You get the CRC back and I’ll come back.

00:19:25:38 – 00:19:43:46
Stefan Roots
I wish they would. Yeah yeah I loved it. But World Cup is coming. Yes. There’s going to be games played in Philadelphia okay. One of the teams in that grouping is the the Chester located Philadelphia Union Sportsplex will be one of the practice facilities for one of the teams.

00:19:43:48 – 00:19:46:39
David Martin
Okay. So there’ll be some soccer out there.

00:19:46:41 – 00:19:53:14
Stefan Roots
Yeah. So this year they had Club World Cup. Chelsea was the team that practiced there and they ended up winning the Club World Cup. So we were excited about that.

00:19:53:17 – 00:19:56:26
David Martin
So what else is going on. Give me some more good government and Chester.

00:19:56:33 – 00:20:22:46
Stefan Roots
Good government really is right now working with our governor, Governor Shapiro. I like to tease him sometimes, you know, and being in receivership gives me a direct line to the governor’s office, which is unique for the city of Chester. He’s helping out a lot, like he’s really famous for when I-95, there was a fire, the portion of I-95 just broke, and in two weeks he got it fixed.

00:20:22:46 – 00:20:41:09
Stefan Roots
So my thing to Governor Shapiro in a in a fun way, but in a serious way. If you can fix a highway in two weeks, you can fix my city in four years. And he is really committed to our recovery as a city from where we are fiscally now to priorities that I’ve that he’s asked me to share with them.

00:20:41:09 – 00:21:03:13
Stefan Roots
And some of it is recreating our downtown areas. So, you know, downtown revitalization and former industrial towns around the state is being invested in. So I’m looking at things he’s investing in that we need. We have a college in our town, a university, Weidner University, and it’s been in the city for a lot of decades. But we’re not a college town.

00:21:03:13 – 00:21:23:09
Stefan Roots
I, I have to believe we one of the few cities in America that has a university, but we’re not considered a college town. So to connect the front door of City Hall up the same street that three quarters of a mile you’re on a university campus, is the corridor in which we’re going to liven up so that we can make that connection.

00:21:23:11 – 00:21:24:54
David Martin
So you’re getting your financial house in order.

00:21:24:54 – 00:21:26:23
Stefan Roots
Financial. That’s number one.

00:21:26:26 – 00:21:31:08
David Martin
Right. And as a result of that you’re seeing more investment. Yeah.

00:21:31:11 – 00:21:49:07
Stefan Roots
We’re going to be real honest. Not yet. But I need I need housing that isn’t just affordable housing okay. When I sit in conferences like we are today the US Conference of Mayors, a lot of it is, oh, we want affordable housing. We need affordable housing. But not in our backyard, not in our backyard. In my city, it’s in our front yard.

00:21:49:19 – 00:22:11:42
Stefan Roots
There’s too much affordable housing. There’s too much public housing. There’s too much section eight going on. But I have industry on the waterfront. I’m so close to Philadelphia. It could be a town that could support working class homes and even a luxury housing. But again, Chester has been in the dumps for so long financially. The investors, the developers are like it.

00:22:11:44 – 00:22:29:05
Stefan Roots
You can’t support $2,000 rents in Chester, and every time that local developer or a local business owner takes his storefront and puts a 1518 $2,000 apartment with all the new amenities, it doesn’t even go on the market. They get snapped up.

00:22:29:07 – 00:22:33:21
David Martin
All right, well, you sounds like you’ve got your work cut out for you, but you’re on the.

00:22:33:21 – 00:22:38:09
Stefan Roots
Right back. You know what? I can get a win every day. And most days I do.

00:22:38:12 – 00:22:45:57
David Martin
All right, we’re going to come back. We’re going to talk a little bit about something else. Okay, governor.

00:22:46:02 – 00:23:09:48
David Martin
The Good Government Show is sponsored by our. That’s over for our community. Get involved. We hear that all the time from government leaders, our co brands with your government’s name and logo, your staff and the people you serve are connected and part of your community. From any device. Your members provide reliable data and meaningful feedback. Ask a question like do we want more parkland or better homeless services?

00:23:09:48 – 00:23:21:33
David Martin
More engaged conversations come through the our app. Visit our code that’s and book a demonstration.

00:23:21:38 – 00:23:46:57
David Martin
After you get done with this episode, hear more good government stories with our friends at How to Really Run a City for memories, Kasim Reed of Atlanta and Michael Nutter of Philadelphia, and their co-host, journalist and author Larry Platt talk with guests and other mayors about how to really get stuff done in cities around the nation. Check them out where you’re listening now or through their nonprofit news site, The Philadelphia Citizen.

00:23:47:02 – 00:23:51:02
David Martin
It’s.

00:23:51:07 – 00:23:55:36
David Martin
That was the hard part. This is the easy part to find good government. What is good government?

00:23:55:38 – 00:24:18:34
Stefan Roots
Good government is what everybody talks about. Everyone’s accountable for what they’re doing. I got to say, fiscally responsible. I don’t like the word transparent, but in a way, there’s got to be a way that the people of the city can see how government works for them. And the most important thing is for the government to be working for the people in the city.

00:24:18:34 – 00:24:43:54
Stefan Roots
So listening to them, understanding what they need, and sometimes convincing my residents, my citizens that we might know a little better than you as to how we can bring resources to your city. So it’s a two way conversation that we have to be on board with and accepting. That’s hard. That is very difficult, but it’s a city that’s been stomped on for so long from so many forces.

00:24:43:57 – 00:25:08:55
Stefan Roots
You know, the county hasn’t supported us. Businesses have left us. The white flight has occurred. It’s a shallow out city that, population wise, is half the population that it was at its peak. Our biggest industry was shipbuilding on the Delaware River, sonship building, which was part of the pew situation that ended in the 40s. You know, it kind of it was at its peak in the 40s.

00:25:08:55 – 00:25:20:59
Stefan Roots
35,000 people in my city worked for that one employer. Wow. Right now there’s only 35,000 people in the city. That’s like every man, woman and child waking up every day and going to the same employer. It’s hard to believe.

00:25:21:02 – 00:25:26:47
David Martin
So if people are frustrated with government, especially in Chester, especially with your administration, what should they do?

00:25:26:49 – 00:25:45:12
Stefan Roots
Let us know that they’re frustrated and they have no problems telling us, okay, I just went to a session on how to deal with the media, and it was interesting to see the different outlets that and we talked about a little bit the various ways we have to use. But Facebook is the water cooler in my town. Okay.

00:25:45:15 – 00:26:04:23
Stefan Roots
And as many things that we put out there at all comes back to Facebook. Chester is a town that’s perfect for Facebook because we’re only one zip code. The zip code is the whole town. Okay. So you know, for if you want to reach the people in my city, you go on Facebook. If you want to know what they feel, you go on Facebook if you want to.

00:26:04:26 – 00:26:07:37
David Martin
More so than Instagram or TikTok.

00:26:07:47 – 00:26:12:06
Stefan Roots
Look, don’t even mention those others, okay? It is a Facebook town.

00:26:12:08 – 00:26:18:25
David Martin
All right. Well that’s that’s good. You know, you have had that forum. What drew you to public service? What made you run first for city council and then mayor?

00:26:18:27 – 00:26:40:52
Stefan Roots
It really took a friend to tap me on the shoulder to really convince me that I’d be good. In this line of work, my background is friends, my background is engineering. I was working for a wastewater treatment company. The county wastewater treatment facility is in my hometown of Chester. I was very happy with my job. I was getting paid very well, but I also knew I was coming close to the end of my career.

00:26:40:52 – 00:26:53:18
Stefan Roots
I just had my 65th birthday. I was 60 when he tapped me on the shoulder and I said, do I want to be out on cold days like this, dealing with water or what? I like to sit in a cushy office and make decisions.

00:26:53:20 – 00:26:54:11
David Martin
Oh, I’m sure it’s a cushy.

00:26:54:20 – 00:27:19:36
Stefan Roots
As an engineer, I deep in my DNA, is solving problems. Chester has had a lot of problems. What I’d say to the last administration is if you don’t recognize something as a problem, you’re not even going to try to solution it. I saw the problems as a community journalist, as a council man, and now as the mayor, with the help of the receiver and a good city manager, we’re just tackling problems all day long, every day.

00:27:19:36 – 00:27:33:39
Stefan Roots
And it’s it’s fun to be with a group of people who are data driven, who have, you know, the resources that we have, have done this type of work all across the country. So it couldn’t be a perfect time to have a perfect guy like me as mayor.

00:27:33:42 – 00:27:35:06
David Martin
Is it a full time job? City mayor?

00:27:35:08 – 00:27:52:26
Stefan Roots
I’m giving it a full time effort, so not considered a full time job. And, you know, they were I was going to give it two years to decide, is this right for me? Like it doesn’t fit the lifestyle? Am I making a difference? Do I like the work? Can I afford to live off the salary? I’ll accept the last one.

00:27:52:38 – 00:27:56:38
Stefan Roots
Check check check check check. You know I can make other moves.

00:27:56:52 – 00:28:01:23
David Martin
You’re not the first Baron heard say that. Yeah, yeah. Did you see yourself running for office? Did you always.

00:28:01:35 – 00:28:21:46
Stefan Roots
Tell you what it was? It was my community journalism. Yeah. Are you familiar with Swarthmore College or the community of Swarthmore? Very rich community. Literally seven minutes from Chester. Okay. A guy bought the local paper in Swarthmore and decided that he wanted his readers to have a more of a perspective in their reading than just Swarthmore itself. He talked to a sophomore professor.

00:28:21:46 – 00:28:51:20
Stefan Roots
The professor said, hey, at Chester content to the Swarthmore, which is the name of the paper. He thought his buddy was crazy. Like, why would Swarthmore people be interested in Chester issues? Well, the professor knew that my blog was a favorite amongst the Swarthmore community. They just are bleeding hearts. They they want to help when they can. Okay, so there was so much good content on my blog that the guy reached out to me and we became partners, kind of on a journalistic level.

00:28:51:28 – 00:29:08:19
Stefan Roots
He’s very wealthy, but he was the one who kept saying, you should run for mayor, you should run for mayor. I thought it was a joke until one day he invited me over his house. I thought it was going to be me and him enjoying some of the libations that he collects. Yes. And there was another guy in the room, and I was like, oh, this isn’t about having fun.

00:29:08:19 – 00:29:30:30
Stefan Roots
On January 4th, 2020, he’s having a meeting. And it was a political consultant, and the two of them did their best to convince me why I would be a good candidate for 2020 for four years in the future. Yeah, shot at mayor. And I said, you know what? If I say yes today, and tacitly I did. I got four years to get out of this or three years to get out of this.

00:29:30:30 – 00:29:46:17
Stefan Roots
Right. And then they dropped this on me like five weeks later. Well, you know, there’s a council seat coming up or a council election coming up. Maybe we should put a campaign together. Maybe we should run and see if we can beat this machine, or at least challenge the machine to see if it’s even worth the effort of becoming mayor.

00:29:46:17 – 00:30:04:54
Stefan Roots
And we, in a landslide, won the council election, which pretty much let us know that, you know, running for mayor, although against a very established incumbent, we had a good shot at going and doing it. And then it was, you win the election and then the light goes off in my head, oh my God, now I got to lead this thing.

00:30:04:54 – 00:30:06:16
Stefan Roots
Now I got to do this thing.

00:30:06:16 – 00:30:15:03
David Martin
So two years in city council, two years as mayor. That makes you a government insider. What would you like people to know about government, especially about what’s going on in Chester?

00:30:15:06 – 00:30:37:02
Stefan Roots
Wow, I can say this. This is a new industry for me, government and some people. A lot of people confuse politics with government. And I’ll tell people all the time, I’m really good at politics. I’ve been in the corporate world for a long time. It’s a lot more vicious. It’s a lot more, you know, the stakes in the corporate life politically prepared me for the politics of being a politician.

00:30:37:02 – 00:30:58:32
Stefan Roots
But government is new and I’m learning every day. I’m learning in a city that has just about every problem that big and small cities have around the country. So when it comes to government and governing, number one, having an eye and ear and a penchant for solving problems is number one. But I’m working with a cooperative group right now that’s turning a city around.

00:30:58:44 – 00:30:59:44
David Martin
The people know that.

00:30:59:46 – 00:31:08:27
Stefan Roots
People don’t really pay attention to receivership, even all the big issues that are going on that they’re handling.

00:31:08:29 – 00:31:10:22
David Martin
Do they understand what’s going on to the people.

00:31:10:36 – 00:31:23:02
Stefan Roots
Saying, no, it’s too complicated. It really is too complicated. I mean, we’re dealing with monetizing our our water utilities. We’re dealing with environmental pollution, environmental racism. Do you.

00:31:23:07 – 00:31:27:35
David Martin
Do you make an effort to explain this at city council meetings or town, you know, city meetings?

00:31:27:45 – 00:31:55:12
Stefan Roots
Not at city meetings, no. But we do a lot of communication with regard to the issues. We’ve had bad authorities get formed, like stormwater authorities that have us $40 million in debt. Beside the pension problem, it’s too much for a regular person to to comprehend. There’s too many court cases that are pending or stayed because of bankruptcy. But what they do see is a mayor that’s out there that’s dealing with their problems.

00:31:55:12 – 00:32:05:35
Stefan Roots
We’ve just had a massive snowstorm. Never, never in the history of Chester have people in the city of Chester said, oh my God, you guys are doing a fantastic job. It’s always.

00:32:05:38 – 00:32:06:35
David Martin
It’s gotta be nice to hear.

00:32:06:35 – 00:32:17:08
Stefan Roots
It is nice to hear, but it’s it’s effort. And that’s what we are showing people. We’re showing people how much resources it took, how much our guys are out there, how many hours.

00:32:17:08 – 00:32:21:08
David Martin
What are you doing to restore people’s face in government in Chester?

00:32:21:10 – 00:32:50:16
Stefan Roots
Showing up and communicating. That was one thing that I saw that was drastically missing in the former administrations. There wasn’t a direct line of communication with the people. I’m helped by the fact that I’ve got a younger staff, I’ve dedicated my chief of staff and I have a communications director. I mean, they’re constantly out there on that platform of Facebook, but all the others, yes, communicating little things to people in small, bite sized messages of what’s going on in city government.

00:32:50:16 – 00:33:04:15
Stefan Roots
I get those distractors that sometimes say, I’m so tired of seeing pictures of you, but the picture you see of me is at some event at some school, working with my own staff doing the work. Are you.

00:33:04:20 – 00:33:08:17
David Martin
Are you in the grocery store? Are you pumping gas in the barbershop?

00:33:08:17 – 00:33:27:45
Stefan Roots
I think my biggest personal joke to myself is it used to be a time I can go get a loaf of bread and come home. Yes. You know, a loaf of bread now is like a 20 minute, 30 minute for a deal. Honey, I’m talking to. It could be somebody who’s a drug addicted person. It could be a former classmate.

00:33:27:47 – 00:33:38:30
Stefan Roots
Somebody I played sports with, somebody from out of town. Like everybody knows. The mayor. Okay? In my small town. Because we all know each other, right? They know where you live. They know your phone number.

00:33:38:30 – 00:33:40:29
David Martin
What’s the best thing about being married, Chester?

00:33:40:32 – 00:34:02:35
Stefan Roots
It’s personal. And it’s. And it’s for the city. The best thing for me is to know that I grow up in that town. Childhood for me in the city of Chester, was phenomenal. The kids now don’t have the same opportunities, don’t have the same fun that I had. So to try to bring some of that back to the young people, the young people love seeing the mayor coming to their their classrooms.

00:34:02:35 – 00:34:22:34
Stefan Roots
So to get that connection, which I never had as a kid, is great, but to be the center of what we started with, the only bankrupt city in America, I get help from the people here at this conference. They’re telling me, oh, you should have did this. You should have did that. And I listened to him. I says, no, I don’t say no.

00:34:22:44 – 00:34:40:40
Stefan Roots
But I’m like, I’m the guy you need to come to. I’m the cautionary tale here. The answers are coming here. And believe it or not, there’s a book coming out. There’s a guy out of San Diego who saw that we were in bankruptcy, asked if he could come to our city. He was going to do another book. But there’s a book coming out called mayor.

00:34:40:55 – 00:34:57:08
David Martin
Mayor. That’ll be that’ll be about you. So I have I have been to Chester, it turns out. But if I’m coming back and meeting up with you. Where are you taking me? What’s the one thing I have to try? And, Chester, what is the. What is the cuisine of Chester? What are you famous for? Where are we going?

00:34:57:10 – 00:35:17:50
Stefan Roots
Yeah. I’m glad I have a place to take you now. Okay. Because Chester has not been known for its sit down eateries. All right. But most recently, two restaurants have opened right out right outside the front door of Chester City Hall. Okay. One’s from a local, the other from a group in Philadelphia. So I’m really happy. Chester is, like I said, mostly a black town with southern roots.

00:35:17:52 – 00:35:36:42
Stefan Roots
You know, migration folks are still there. So soul food is is the answer. Some of the best food, yes, is in the bars in the city of Chester. Okay. Yeah. So we’re going to eat. All right. But I’ve got to take you down to that sportsplex, though. That thing will blow your mind in the office building next to it is class A office space that that people would love.

00:35:36:44 – 00:35:45:36
Stefan Roots
And it’s not just about the city of Chester, though. We’re part of a bigger region. So more than likely we’re going to go to Philadelphia and have fun. That’s that’s the place where you have fun.

00:35:45:39 – 00:35:46:22
David Martin
Cheesecake.

00:35:46:24 – 00:35:47:36
Stefan Roots
She’s steak.

00:35:47:46 – 00:35:48:48
David Martin
That’s what.

00:35:48:53 – 00:35:56:14
Stefan Roots
Was invented in the city of Chester. I could take you to show you where that was, but cheesesteaks, you have to know where to go. Just don’t go anywhere.

00:35:56:17 – 00:36:07:23
David Martin
Pastor Gino’s or better neither. You’ve heard that before. All right. This is the good government show. We always try to bring it back to a good government. Tell me about a good government project that you’re excited about that you’ve been able to implement?

00:36:07:25 – 00:36:32:31
Stefan Roots
Sure. So this guy named Alfred de Jong was an art collector. He had a 22 acre plot right there on the in the city of Chester. He left a will for the city of Chester to maintain his his property. The people in the past and the city of Chester did not do a good job with the endowment that was left in the county, took over this property maybe close to 40 years ago.

00:36:32:34 – 00:36:53:13
Stefan Roots
Yeah, and the county really didn’t care about it. So it became the old Deshon. They call it the park because there’s a lot of open space. Finally, finally, finally that’s going to be a highlight of our city. It’s it’s one of the few places that we have that much contiguous land that you can build on. 60% of it still has to remain open space.

00:36:53:16 – 00:37:15:29
Stefan Roots
We talked earlier about connecting the front door of City Hall to Weidner University. That’s right in the middle. That’s going to be the linchpin right on the drive. It will have some housing. It’s surrounded by senior living facilities. So there’ll be like a tranquil space for people to hang out. It will be the symbol to everybody who comes through Chester, because you can’t get through Chester without going down this town that.

00:37:15:29 – 00:37:34:37
Stefan Roots
Oh, finally, they’ve done something to that space. So we’re really deliberate in prioritizing places that you can see, places you can feel. We don’t want to be in the back on some back road, you know, fixing things unless it’s broke and developing market rate housing is really important to us. And some of that is we need help on the infrastructure side.

00:37:34:37 – 00:38:13:47
Stefan Roots
We need water lines that you can tap into when you have wooden water lines from the late 1800s or just, you know, the clay pipes. We still have wood, we still have old clay. As the city has depopulated, blight has meant knocking down homes. What is left are just big plots that developers look at and say, hey, I would love to build their a multi-family unit or new row houses or new modular houses, but if they’re burdened with the cost of having to pay for that main that needs to be replaced in order to support, you know, small commercial business, strip malls or housing, it’s not working well.

00:38:13:47 – 00:38:32:36
David Martin
You have certainly got your work cut out for you. I love that. I love that you came by the table here at the Conference of Mayors and said, I’m the only city that’s bankrupt. I said, well, let’s talk about that. So good luck. Congratulations on stepping forward and appreciate your time. Stefan roots, you are the mayor of Chester, Pennsylvania, and you are emerging from bankruptcy.

00:38:32:36 – 00:38:34:38
David Martin
And that’s good government.

00:38:34:41 – 00:38:38:50
Stefan Roots
Thank you, thank you. It’s been a pleasure.

00:38:38:55 – 00:39:00:22
David Martin
The Good Government Institute has a new partner, the Charles F Kettering Foundation. I really like their podcast, The Context, and I bet you will too. They have a new series called Democracy Under Construction. The show is hosted by historian Alex Lovett, and he looks back at the first 250 years of U.S. history. Alex digs into the moments that have pushed us towards an inclusive democracy.

00:39:00:25 – 00:39:08:55
David Martin
You can find it where you’re listening right now, or visit Kettering and give them a follow.

00:39:09:00 – 00:39:26:54
David Martin
Want to hear more about good government? Check out another show I host Leading Iowa Good Government in Iowa cities. I host the show with Brad Kavanagh, mayor of Dubuque, Iowa, and the immediate past president of the Iowa League of Cities. Together, we talked to leaders in Iowa cities. We talk about what works and what good government looks like in Iowa.

00:39:26:57 – 00:39:34:59
David Martin
Join us right here. We’re listening. Now that’s leading Iowa. Good government in Iowa cities.

00:39:35:03 – 00:39:53:24
David Martin
First, let’s talk about the fact that a community news reporter is now mayor of a city. We like that here on the Good Government Show. Mayor Steffen Roots seems like the right guy with the right ideas. Chester is on the move. A new sports facility is a good first step. But what’s important here is the mayor knows what the problems are and he’s addressing them.

00:39:53:24 – 00:40:10:49
David Martin
And that’s the foundation of good government. This is the year of good government. That’s what the mayor said. Good luck. We’d like to hear about good government in all its many forms, especially in places like Chester, Pennsylvania, that really need good government. Well, that’s our show. Thanks for listening. Please like us and shares with your friends and review us right here where you’re listening.

00:40:10:52 – 00:40:27:55
David Martin
Check out our website. Good government show for extras. Help us keep telling stories of good government in action everywhere. Join us again for another episode right here. I’m Dave Martin and this is the Good Government show.

00:40:28:00 – 00:41:06:51
David Martin
The Good Government Joe is produced by the Good Government Institute, a nonprofit organization promoting civic engagement and civic education. All donations to the show help promote trust in government. You can donate at Good Govt Institute. That’s good govt institute. Executive producers are Jim Ludlow, Dave Martin that’s me and David Snyder. Jason Stern is our editor and producer. Join us again to hear good stories about our government right here on The Good Government Show.

00:41:06:55 – 00:41:10:00
Narrator
This podcast is part of the democracy Group.

**This transcription was created using digital tools and has not been edited by a live person. We apologize for any discrepancies or errors.