State Rep. Tony Payton: A Light Shining Bright In Frankford by Van Stone vspfoundation@yahoo.com (215) 747-8746

State Rep. Tony Payton: A Light Shining Bright In Frankford by Van Stone vspfoundation@yahoo.com (215) 747-8746



Above: State Representative Tony Payton Jr., 179th District. Rep Payton works with Woman Against Abuse, WOAR, to ascertain safe and stable housing for woman who have become homeless due to domestic violence.State Rep.Tony Payton Jr. helped write the "REACH Scholarship", which would grant a full scholarship to any student with at least a 3.0 GPA and 90% school attendance.

Philadelphia - The Frankford section of Philadelphia is truly fortunate to have a State Representative such as Tony Payton Jr. I'm truly accepting this from one of my good friends, who is also one of the newest associate newspaper reporters at the Philadelphia Front Page News, Darryl T. Nutter Sr. Darryl Nutter, a first cousin of the Mayor of Philadelphia, Michael Nutter, is a contributing writer online found at www.frontpagenews.us, Nuttter, has known Tony for quite some time now. And Nutter shares some pointers about Rep Payton's work ethics with us by commenting that each year Tony surprises me with new, innovative initiatives to keep his constituents educated, safe, and well represented in Harrisburg.

Yet, some Philadelphian's may not be fully aware of what State Representative Payton has done, is doing, and is planning to do in the future. First, lets get a little History on Tony Payton Jr.

Sworn in to his first term in 2007, state representative Tony Payton Jr. is a legislator from Pennsylvania. Before Rep. Payton was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, he worked as a housing counselor at United Communities in South Philadelphia where he educated low-income families on personal finance to help them achieve home-ownership. It was through this work that Rep. Payton realized his desire for public service, and consequently, pursued and won a seat in the Pennsylvania General Assembly.

In 2007, Rep. Payton was elected president of the Pennsylvania Young Democrats, a statewide organization with 47 chapters throughout the Commonwealth. As president of PYD, Rep. Payton has led a campaign to engage young professionals throughout Pennsylvania to join the democratic process. Since being elected to the General Assembly in 2006 Rep. Payton has been in the forefront of education reform in Pennsylvania. He introduced legislation to create the Pennsylvania Youth Commission and authored the REACH Scholarship Initiative. The REACH Scholarship, which would provide free tuition and fees to any State System university to all high school students who maintain a 3.0 grade point average and a 90 percent attendance record. Economist and educational leaders throughout the commonwealth have touted it as a groundbreaking initiative.

The REACH Scholarship exemplifies Rep. Payton's eagerness to reform Pennsylvania's educational climate. Remarkably, as Rep, Payton pushes for the REACH scholarship to be passed; he is still working toward a degree at the Community College of Philadelphia. At a relatively young age Rep. Payton's service in the house has allowed him to bring a unique perspective to the General Assembly. Rep. Payton was a 2005-06 fellow with the Center for Progressive Leadership. He was actively involved with Philadelphia's Young Non-profit Leaders. He also is a big brother with Big Brothers Big Sisters of southeastern Pennsylvania. In 2007 he was awarded the leadership award as one of the most influential African Americans by the Philadelphia Tribune.

This is the type of young leadership the State of Pennsylvania and the city of Philadelphia needs. A light is shining in Philadelphia. Can you see it? It's State Representative Tony Payton Jr. And we look for much more light guiding us politically in PA. Lets look for Payton to be involved in the needed change for a better Philadelphia in 2008. (Darryl Nutter, whose ideas communities in West Philly can use to advantage, contributed to this article.)