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Date Posted: 02:32:01 12/17/03 Wed
Author: mad gonz
Subject: Re: why the rock hard killer is ILLmatic
In reply to: Rock Hard Bearder 's message, "Re: why the TA is HOORAA" on 02:28:54 12/17/03 Wed




Youth will serve, candidate hopes
Tommy Avallone, 20, aspiring filmmaker, is counting on fellow students to elect him mayor of Haddon Heights.
By Kristen A. Graham
Inquirer Staff Writer

He digs pro wrestling. He made a movie called Views From a Fatman 1000 Pounds and Over. He was student council president in high school.

With a resume like that, how could Tommy Avallone miss being elected mayor of Haddon Heights, a quiet borough with a population of 7,600 and a budget of $5.7 million?

Never mind that he's not quite sure who he is running against, has never been to a Borough Council meeting, and won't raise money because "that's a whole bunch of paperwork - and I'm scared of that."

Joined by four pals in suits and dark glasses who planted themselves in front of him and declared themselves his "bodyguards," Avallone, a 20-year-old Camden County College student, announced his candidacy yesterday with a short, earnest statement of his goals.

Afterward, he poured milk and pulled chocolate chip cookies from plastic sleeves for the sparse audience.

Avallone earned a few shouts of "Yo, Tommy!" and quizzical glances from people driving slowly past the commotion at the Haddon Heights Library on Station Avenue.

It's big news in this little town, even if some folks don't know what to make of it.

Spiffed up in a suit, white sneakers and black baseball cap worn slightly askew, Avallone, running as an independent, said he was confident of a November victory.

The secret, he said, is that he has something the major political parties would give their eyeteeth for - young, motivated voters.

"I know enough people who graduated with me, graduated before me, after me - so maybe they'll all vote and I'll win," said Avallone, Haddon Heights High School Class of 2001.

In the last mayoral election, the winner got 109 votes.

Avallone said that he had cooked up the idea of a mayoral run after his high school political success, and that this year seemed as good as any.

"I was just, like: 'Hey, that sounds like fun,' " Avallone said. "My goal is really to be a filmmaker. This mayor thing is something I'm doing right now."

Despite his distaste for paperwork, Avallone and his friends collected 80 signatures on his petition to become a candidate - 20 more than he needed.

Avallone's knowledge of what mayors do is a bit hazy. He said he would make it up as he went along, going door to door to talk to voters.

"You don't get paid, and you don't have to put too much time into it," he said of the job.

Republican Mayor Susan Griffith said she wished her challenger well but took some exception to his remark.

"I can assure you that it is not a job that you take very lightly," she said. "It's like having another full-time job."

Griffith said she did not know much about Avallone. But he doesn't know much about her, either.

"I know I'm running against Griffith," he said. "I don't know who the other guy is."

For the record, the "other guy" is Bill Kenney, a Democrat and former borough councilman.

How does Avallone plan to overcome his gaps in governmental know-how?

"The young people definitely get me," he said. "And older people think my generation's cute, so I can pull the 'cute card.' "

"Yeah," said Albert DiGiacomo, one of the bodyguards and a friend who has been involved in Avallone's film projects, "Tommy's not just some old-guy politician."

Avallone said his campaign was not a stunt but a chance to learn what it took to hold a real and important job. To date, he said, his resume consists of occasional work at an Audubon video store.

There were glimpses yesterday of the respectful young man he is, such as when he waved to his mother's friends during a pre-conference interview and took off his baseball cap as he chatted with an old family friend.

But then, after his brief announcement speech - written at 3 a.m. the night before - Avallone shifted back into full campaign mode.

"I got milk and cookies - enjoy," he said. "Vote for Tommy! Woooooooo!"



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