In early June, Jeffrey Browne swore in for the departing Abington Township Ward 6 commissioner Michael Thompson, who stepped down this spring.
On Tuesday, November 7, commissioner Browne was chosen to stay in that role and continue serving his ward.
“It’s been an interesting five months. I’ve been getting acclimated to the role,” Browne said. “Michael had a good knowledge of policy as it pertains to development, including environmental policy. That was his lane.”
Browne’s background involves years of community work in various roles. He coached the Abington Raiders youth football program and served on the Abington Human Rights Committee and police chief Patrick Molloy’s NAACP Advisory Board, among other volunteer appointments.
“I try to go to meetings and take advantage of opportunities to help. I see it as a calling, and I’d like to make the community a better place. It’s an exercise in my faith to show love to my neighbor. I find that community work is an excellent way to do that,” Browne said.
“He is a person of faith and vision, an absolutely brilliant orator, a true community leader, and also a really, really good guy,” Commissioner John Spiegelman said in a June statement. “I am thrilled to work with him for the greater good of the community we love.”
In his teenage years, the Cheltenham High School graduate served as a youth mentor before going on to a Masters of Science in Marketing from Penn State Abington in 2001 and a Masters of Divinity from Missioh (formerly Biblical Theological Seminary) in Hatfield in 2016.
“My passion for community work was borne out of my church and my parents. My father, Dr. Craig Browne, did a lot of community work in Cheltenham. He was on the school board, and was the first African-American school president for the Cheltenham School District. I had a good example of how to affect positive change for my neighbors. I’ve always been local,” he said.
A marketing manager by trade and training, Browne plans on using his communications experience to facilitate the sharing of information.
“I want to help the way in which we communicate with community members. We want our residents to be able to pull information easily so that everyone’s involved,” he said. “Through the use of multimedia, we can increase the way in which people digest information put out by the Township.”
His main foci for his term: Community and safety.
“I want to create opportunities for us to ‘do community.’ I mean actually commune as neighbors. As I was observing all of the diversity on Election Day, it solidified the idea to get together more frequently. I’m looking for ways to do that. I’d like it to be intentional, whether that be block parties, town hall meetings, whatever makes sense. Bringing back a sense of community is vital where people of different ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds are working with each other and being neighborly. It doesn’t happen overnight.”
Browne has considered ways to improve pedestrian safety in and around Ward 6, starting with Limekiln Pike.
“I think Limekiln Pike is a physical barrier, and I’d like to work with leaders to make it a safer road by reducing speed and making it easier to cross on foot,” he said. “That includes well-lit crosswalks, reflective paint, traffic control devices, and the best people at the table. This is a highland residential neighborhood without a lot of sidewalks.”
“I have two years until I run again, and this will be a lot to accomplish. It may sound cheesy, but it really is a privilege to serve people. For me, it’s about a true servant leadership,” he said.
If you’d like to be added to Browne’s monthly newsletter list, you can email jbrowne@AbingtonPA.gov. For more on Ward 6 commissioner Jeffrey Browne, you can visit his Facebook page.
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Photos: Jeffrey Browne