Thaddeus Kirkland


Thaddeus Kirkland is an American politician from Pennsylvania currently serving as mayor of Chester, Pennsylvania since 2016. He served as a Democratic member of the 159th Pennsylvania House of Representatives District from 1993 to 2016.

Early life and education

Kirkland was born in Chester, Pennsylvania and graduated from Chester High School in 1973, Cheyney University in 1990 with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Kirkland is a graduate of the Widener University Leadership Academy and is a member of Wine Psi Phi and Omega Psi Phi fraternities.
Kirkland was a community service coordinator at Crozer Chester Medical Center, where he directed outreach and educational programs for teenagers.

Career

Pennsylvania House of Representatives

In 1993, Kirkland was elected as a Democratic member to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives 159th district and was reelected to serve 11 consecutive terms.
Kirkland served as the Democratic Chairman of the House Tourism and Recreational Development Committee and as a member of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus. In 2002, he was named to the PoliticsPA list of Best Dressed Legislators.
He was not a candidate for reelection in 2016 and was succeeded by his nephew, Brian Joseph Kirkland.

Sponsored legislation

In the 2015-2016 session, Kirkland was the primary sponsor of several bills some examples of which are: HB 418 concerning human-shaped targets at shooting ranges, HB 419 concerning crimes that could not be expunged from a criminal record, and HB 420 concerning body cameras to be worn by police officers. None of these bills have yet to be voted on. Additionally, Rep. Kirkland has been involved in areas of prayer in school, video surveillance, technical training, and Head Start programs.

Chester-Upland School District controversies

In June 2011, Kirkland announced that if $20 million worth of cuts were not restored to the Chester-Upland school district, he planned to file a federal lawsuit against Pennsylvania to close the three public high schools in Chester. However, the school board did not support Kirkland's plan, calling a press conference where they stated that they were "fully capable of speaking for" themselves and "totally disagree" with what Kirkland wanted to do. In August 2017, Kirkland welcomed the opening of the Chester Charter School for the Arts, a $25 million public, non-profit charter school on an 11-acre campus on Highland Avenue with kindergarten through 11th grade classes with a focus on music, dance, theater and visual arts.

Mayor of Chester

In the 2015 Democratic mayoral primary, Kirkland defeated incumbent Mayor John Linder 1,818 to 721.
Kirkland has expressed support for reducing violence in the city by improving the police force and using body cameras and improving the school district. Kirkland assumed office as Mayor of Chester on January 4, 2016.
Kirkland decided to stay on as the representative of Chester, as well as serving as mayor of the Delaware County community. He is the first representative who has resigned and then rescinded his resignation. The House Democratic spokesman stated that because of this action he will not be taking a mayoral salary until he departs from the House, and instead will take his legislative pay and continue to count toward his pension credits.

Personal life

Kirkland is the pastor of the Community Baptist Church in Chester, Pennsylvania.
Kirkland is also the Vice President of the West End Ministerial Fellowship of Chester and Vicinity and is a former Board of Trustee member of Lincoln University.
Kirkland is married to Susie and together they have five daughters.
Kirkland is the younger brother of former professional basketball player Wilbur Kirkland.