Facing the next four years
Dear fellow Swarthmoreans,
I am excited to run for Swarthmore Borough Council, and am asking for your vote in the upcoming election on November 2. I moved to Swarthmore in 1992 with my daughter Andrea, who attended SRS, SHMS, and SHHS. We love our community and the people who live here. I’ve been fortunate to reside in four unique sections of town over time, and all of them have brought insights into a variety of neighbors’ perspectives and values.
During those same years, I progressed from my first professional love, serving as an oncology and ICU nurse, to national advocacy and leadership roles. In several executive positions, I oversaw multimillion dollar budgets where we tackled challenging financial, clinical, and operational performance simultaneously. I served on national non-profit boards, where we brought fiduciary oversight, strategic planning, best business practices, and a high ethical bar to all the work we did.
I’ve been an adjunct nursing professor, and also created my own consulting business where I provided educational services for doctors and nurses in hospital systems. I grew up in a family supported by a small business, and the challenges and rewards my parents experienced as small business owners informed my own consulting business as an adult. As a borough councilwoman, I will remain attuned to the particular needs of Swarthmore’s vital small businesses.
In 2020, some of the current and previous Swarthmore Borough Council members, as well as some civic leaders and engaged residents, reached out and asked me to run for an open borough council seat. I agreed to run now because decisions made in the next four years will affect our community for decades to come. I am reaching out to many citizens, small businesses, and other stakeholders to learn what issues they care about, and what values they want to inform local government decisions. It has been a pleasure to learn from many of you and I look forward to connecting with many more.
Many boroughs in Pennsylvania, including Swarthmore, are experiencing financial challenges and may face difficult budget decisions going forward. Federal money coming into our borough will be available for specific items, and must be carefully appropriated to remain compliant. Thoughtful fiscal stewardship will be needed, as well as mature decision-making processes for both the short and long run. Leaders cannot always make choices that please every person, and thoughtful, two-way communication between borough council and the community will be essential during this time. I believe creative resources for revitalizing and preserving the best of our town can be found if we keep working together. For these reasons, I hope to have an opportunity to serve as chair of the Finance Committee of Swarthmore Borough when that vacancy occurs in January.
As your councilwoman for the next four years, I hope to have the opportunity to provide skillful fiduciary oversight, ethical, and equitable decision-making, and inclusive processes that galvanize our community at this pivotal time.
Thank you,
Francie Halderman, MSN
Swarthmore
