Former Phoenixville CDC Director to Run for State House Seat

The former director of the Main Street Community Development Council (CDC) in Phoenixville is seeking a seat as a Democrat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

Barry Cassidy, 62, announced his desire to run for the 45th District seat on Monday. He’s currently working for developer Manny DeMutis and serves as the project manager for Parcel O and other parcels on the former Phoenix Steel site. Cassidy served as director of the CDC from 2003 until his resignation in 2010.

During his time he brought in more than $9 million in grant funding, according to his résumé, with grants covering crime prevention, streetscapes, open space preservation and housing. He also served as head of the Phoenixville Parking Authority.

“Cassidy’s efforts in Phoenixville earned him Keystone Laureate status from then Governor Rendell as an ‘Agent of Change,’” according to a press release announcing his candidacy. “During his time in Phoenixville assessed real estate value increased at a rate of 20.25 percent with the addition of approximately $150 million in increased assessed value. The increase helped Phoenixville amass the most assessed value of any borough or city in Chester County, passing county seat West Chester.”

The seat Cassidy plans to run for is one moved around in the redistricting plan approved by the Legislative Reapportionment Commission Monday afternoon. The house district was formerly west of Pittsburgh but was moved to include the city of Coatesville along with Caln, East Caln, East Fallowfield, Sadsbury and Valley townships and the boroughs of Downingtown, Modena, Parkesburg and South Coatesville.

“When I looked at the boundary of the 45th district I quickly realized that this district was the Route 30 corridor. I have worked corridors doing commercial and housing development for the last 40 years and it seemed to be a perfect fit. After discussions with my wife concerning the implications on our family we have decided move forward and start the formation of a committee to seek to represent the 45th district,” the press release states.

The statement goes on:

Cassidy stated that his intent was to create prosperity in the district by helping to create jobs, work to improve the business climate in the district and increase the assessed value of property in the district through real estate development. He would look to work with the business community to identify and eliminate regulatory constraints that hinder development and repositioning of the corridor. He also places a priority in improving transportation in the corridor. ‘Everyone should be able to get to work easily,’ he said.

The candidacy was announced at a Democratic rally in Coatesville on Monday. Cassidy lives in Downingtown.