ACCOUNTABILITY IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE, 365 DAYS A YEAR. We cannot look away from injustice. We must speak on it and work together until that injustice ceases.
ABOUT MARIO CIMINO
I am a lifelong resident of Morton and Delco and have been involved in civic issues most of my life. I give credit to many people for fostering this work. First, my parents - children of immigrants who have been constant examples of dedication to community and concern for our neighbors. My grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins who shared their experiences growing up poor in the early 20th Century and worked hard to improve the lives of their families and neighbors. My Third Grade teacher Mrs. McFadden who sparked my interest in civics with our textbook “On the Go in Pennsylvania”, and my 11th Grade History teacher Sr. Lucy, who honed my understanding of both the injustice and justice that is the ongoing thread of American democracy.
In high school my first community activism began with my interest in environmental conservation, working with groups including Friends of Smedley Park and Darby Creek Valley Association. This led to my studying Environmental Science and Economics in college at Susquehanna University. I then worked in that field on environmental site assessments and cleanups with a local engineering firm, and later for a decade as Eastern Regional Director of Pennsylvania Resources Council in Ridley Creek State Park. In that role I developed many local conservation initiatives, particularly in the areas of recycling and stormwater management. Having fought several environmentally damaging development proposals over many years, in 2015 I was an initiator of the efforts that led to the preservation of the Delco Woods park in Marple, where I had hiked since high school at Cardinal O'Hara.
My work in Democratic politics came together in the nexus of several interests in the early 2000's. My frustration with the one-party Delco Republican machine and desire to build effective opposition led me to volunteer on campaigns, first when Sara Lynn Petrosky ran for the 161st in 2002 and then with the local Kerry campaign in 2004. When a candidate for Congress with a strong plan to win, Joe Sestak, entered the ring in 2006, I became an early volunteer and later signed on as a full time Field Organizer (i.e. in Sestak terms 24-7, and I have no regrets because that's how Democrats win.) After we sent Joe to Washington, I worked on county races in 2007 and then returned to volunteering as local liaison to the 2008 and 2012 Obama campaigns.
In the meantime my interest in local historic preservation led me to found the Morton Station Preservation Committee to preserve the historic complex that was then under threat. With many local supporters, we successfully raised funds, negotiated with SEPTA, and oversaw the restoration of the westbound passenger shelter at the station. With ARPA funds secured during the Obama administration, we then worked productively with SEPTA to restore the main portions of the station complex as the historic centerpiece of the Morton community.
Through this work, I found myself deeply involved in local government affairs in Morton. This led me to run for Morton Borough Council successfully in 2007. I served three terms from 2008 - 2020, as Vice President for 2 years and Council President for 8 years. I am proud to say, emulating a no-drama-Obama style. During that time I worked to build the Democratic Party in Morton, I organized local campaigns, and went from being the first Democrat elected in Morton in decades to an all Democratic council and Mayor. I am proud to have worked with many colleagues to provide steady, fiscally sound leadership to the residents of Morton as we brought borough operations up to 21st Century standards.
From 2010, I served as Vice Chair of Delco Dems, focusing on grassroots organizing of county campaigns, strategy, and support for local candidates as we made unprecedented gains in local municipalities where Democrats were elected often for the first time.
As I left elected office in 2020, events across the country intervened and I began focusing my organizing and activism skills to support Human and Civil Rights efforts during the first horrific Trump administration and the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd. After an all-too-common series of law enforcement abuses in Delco and the region, including beatings and killings of innocent citizens, worst a 7 year old girl named Fanta Bility (we must keep saying their names) when police fired over a dozen rounds into a crowd of students and parents leaving an Academy Park football game in 2021, I have been deeply involved in constructive law enforcement accountability initiatives.
It was through this work that I met Ashley Dolceamore, Colleen Kennedy, Catherine Coll, and many others who stepped up to say these things cannot continue. Today we are running to bring our collective organizing skills to the important work of the State Democratic Committee and the Delco Dems Leaders Council. We seek this office because we each believe that we as a party must consistently hold ourselves accountable to the values we profess to uphold, just as we hold our opponents accountable for their morally indefensible policies threatening the fabric of our American democracy.
Dear Democratic Committee Member:
I am Mario Cimino. I am a lifelong resident of Morton and Delco and an activist in our Democratic Party for most of my adult life. I've worked with many of you on advocacy organizing and campaign work over the past two decades, engaging with voters in nearly every municipality, most often knocking on doors.
As we took Morton Democratic, I served 12 years on Borough Council with 2 terms as President of Council. Since I left elected office I have worked in civil and human rights advocacy and law enforcement accountability, particularly with Ashley Dolceamore, Colleen Kennedy, and Catherine Coll as well as other fellow candidates.
Taken together that brings me to why I am running for State Committee. My platform is this:
To hold our opponents accountable and save our democracy, we first must be accountable to ourselves.
We cannot avert our eyes from the indefensible. We are rightly condemning what we are seeing in Minneapolis and across the country with the illegal abuses by Federal officers solemnly sworn to uphold all of our Constitutional rights.
Frankly we have also seen too many horrific cases in our own backyard just in the last decade that disturbingly resemble the abuse we are seeing by ICE. Most tragically, 8 year old Fanta Bility was killed when police fired over a dozen shot into a crowd leaving a high school football game. And Eddie Irizarry was killed by police while sitting in his car in Philadelphia. BaHIR Green was brutally beaten by police in Chester. Christopher Ricciuti was similarly pummeled by Haverford Police. In each case some of our Democratic elected officials and leaders tried to sweep these tragedies away because it was politically inconvenient. And too many of us dutifully saw no evil and heard no evil.
Called now to be the protectors of our Constitutional Republic, we must hold ourselves to the standard that existential responsibility requires. Our local, county and state committees are the forum for that. They must be platforms for frank and constructive discussion, debate and accountability on all our shared values, not simply a rubber stamp on the politically convenient, as is too often the case. Our moment in history calls us to do better.
Thank you for your consideration of my bid to continue this work by representing you on State Committee and the County Leaders Council. I look forward to talking to many of you further in coming weeks. You can reach me at mlcimino@gmail.com.
Mario Cimino (he/him/his)
Candidate for Democratic State Committee Member representing Delaware County
We are bearing witness to atrocities being committed by our government, but we must imagine a future that supports and defends all people, no matter who they are, who they love, how they worship, where they came from, or what they need. This isn’t my wish. It’s our duty.
PLATFORM
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Our oppression isn’t left versus right. It’s top versus bottom. The public narratives around a myriad of policy issues are controlled by the wealthy interests and those who most benefit from them. I believe in organizing that believes in the whole person. We need to challenge institutions that were created to cause harm, and we need to make sure that we’re negotiating powerfully as progressives and leftists. Housing is a human right. No one should ever be hungry. No war but class war. Medicare for all. No human is illegal.
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Whether I am endorsed for another term by the Delaware County Democratic Party or not, I am running through the primary, because I see the role of a state committee person to be accountable to all voters and all residents, regardless of the ability to vote or their party registration. Voters deserve choices and access to their prospective representation. I also won’t go along to get along. If our Democratically endorsed elected officials are pursuing policies that leave our neighbors behind, I will tell them, every time.
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Every person should have the opportunity to earn a comfortable, living wage. Every person deserves high quality healthcare and the ability to take time to go to the doctor or care for a loved one. Every person deserves the choice whether to start a family and the ability to live comfortably while doing so, if they choose. Every person should have a safe way to travel.
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Disability is the one identity all of us will share at some point in our lives. Every person deserves care, safety, dignity, inclusion, and respect. I will continue my work to increase access to quality, affordable healthcare for all, including mental health care, mobility aids, services at school, and services in one’s home. We must further invest in public transit, and more disabled people need to hold power in our party and our government.
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Incarceration creates social problems and hides human beings. Our criminal legal system does not deter crime, but public investment does. I will not support increases in funding for police departments, and I will always support investment in public defender offices, direct services to people and their families, and programs and organizing that aim our collective frustration where it belongs, on federal policies that make life more difficult and violence more likely.