Скачать или смотреть Introduction to Neil McDevitt - Candidate for Mayor in North Wales Borough

E-Mail: [email protected]
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Neil4Mayor
Twitter: www.twitter.com/Neil4Mayor

MOVIE DESCRIPTION: Neil is wearing a dark green shirt in a backyard setting as the sun sets. He signs for the first part of the video then speaks for the remainder.

"Hi! My name is Neil McDevitt and I’m the Democratic candidate for Mayor here in North Wales. I wanted to take a moment to tell you a little bit about myself.

You may notice I’m signing and using my voice. I’m Deaf and I use American Sign Language in my home and at my job. Let me tell you a bit about myself here. If you need subtitles or captions, hit the button below!

My wife Sarah and I have been married for 19 years and have lived in the area for 21 years. We have two wonderful teenage sons who fill our home with laughter and eye-rolls.

I was born and raised in North New Jersey in the shadow of New York City. The town I lived in was a small one, very much Iike North Wales - with a Main Street full of vibrant small businesses and kids riding their bikes through town. This is one of the reasons my wife and I fell in love with North Wales.

I went to Gallaudet University in Washington, DC and graduated with a BA in Government. I started out after college working at Prudential Insurance here in PA in their Compliance and IT departments.

In 2003, days after my second son was born, I made the decision to join the Fire Department of Montgomery Township. It was a fateful decision that changed the direction of my life.

In the years since, I’ve traveled across the country providing training to firefighters, police officers, EMTs, and other emergency responders on how they can bring people with disabilities into their preparedness and response activities as part of federal grant programs.

I spent a year working at the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters representing people who are typically left out of emergency management activities.

These days, I continue to work with emergency managers throughout the region focusing on how they can become truly inclusive organizations.

Since 2013, I’ve been the Executive Director of the Deaf-Hearing Communication Centre in Swarthmore. In the 4 years I’ve been Executive Director, our annual revenue has grown from $4.4mil to over $5.5mil, a 25% increase over that timeframe. I also serve on the board of Signs of Sobriety, an organization focusing on ending drug and alcohol dependence for people who have hearing loss.

I’m not running against Mayor Greg D’Angelo. A lot of politics today seems to be personal. I do believe Mayor D’Angelo has done good work in the Borough with the veterans and service programs. If elected, I want to maintain those programs.

Rather, I’m running for the position itself. After the November election, I knew I wanted to become constructively involved in the community I live in. So I looked through PA Borough Code at the various positions that many of us are running for today.

The role of the Mayor is clearly defined: In everyday settings, they sign the ordinances passed by the Council, they oversee the Police force, and they are an integral part of the team that oversees the daily operations of the Borough. But in emergencies and disasters, the Mayor acts essentially as the emergency manager for the borough. With the experience I’ve had in my career, I felt this was the best match for my skills and experience.

I look forward to your vote on November 7th and if elected, serving as your Mayor. I’ll be publishing more short videos over the next two weeks focusing on specific aspects of my platform and qualifications for North Wales Mayor.

Also, join me on this page for a Facebook Live conversation event on Sunday, November 5th at 7pm! Look for the event announcement! Thank you!"