During the NOPE campaign, when we were collecting thousands of petition signatures, people immediately understood what privatization meant in concrete terms: higher rates, less accountability, and the loss of public oversight over an essential service. There was nothing abstract about it. People recognized that if a community has an essential need, the most sensible approach is to pool our resources and provide that service ourselves, at cost.
Clarity is what made the campaign so successful, and it’s also what makes it a powerful starting point for broader conversations. People could see the same dynamic at work in the proposed sale of our sewer system to Aqua Pennsylvania. They see how we’re being ripped off more generally whenever essential needs are handed over to private corporations that prioritize shareholders over residents. Once that connection is made, it opens up real, grounded discussions about health care, childcare, housing, and public education, other areas where we’ve seen aggressive efforts to privatize public services or block public options altogether.
As I step into office, one of my earliest priorities is housing. Norristown is a majority-tenant community — about 60 percent of residents rent — and that shapes everything. Some steps can happen relatively quickly, like creating a publicly accessible landlord registry or strengthening basic tenant protections. Other efforts will take longer, like establishing a land bank, supporting the development of community land trusts, and pursuing other permanently affordable or social housing models.
While some of this work extends beyond the formal powers of municipal government, I also hope to help catalyze conversations that lead to the formation of a tenant union in Norristown. The lesson of NOPE is that when people understand how privatization and deregulation affect their daily lives — and when they organize collectively — they can win. I want to carry that approach…
Auteur: David McMahon
