Outside of Braddock, Mayor John Fetterman is frequently lauded as a post-industrial inspiration, a man with Ivy League credentials who has brought hundreds of thousands of grant dollars and much of his own money to the economically depressed steel town for public art projects, building restoration and youth summer employment.

But inside the town's borders, he's regarded by some members of the community with resentment and suspicion. He has been accused of grandstanding in the national media while neglecting some of his duties as mayor after he turned over administration of the police department, a duty typically held by the mayor, to the police chief.

And his relationship with much of council is poor, with members criticizing him for bringing "negative press" to Braddock by appearing in the media to talk about the town. At the last meeting, council members tried to have him thrown out and arrested after he started criticizing his mayoral opponent while delivering the mayor's report.

"With council, yes, it's been somewhat negative," said Councilwoman Tina Doose, the only member of council who responded to requests for comment. She said she may the be the only one on council who has a good relationship with the mayor and worries that the damaged relations have hindered progress in the town. "What I haven't seen is the agreeing to disagree and moving forward to work on the issues that need to be worked on."

At the beginning of this year, Mr. Fetterman was profiled by The New York Times and had subsequent appearances on "The Colbert Report" and Fox News' "Studio B w/Shepard Smith." More recently, he appeared as a part of the Environmental Defense Fund's "Carbon Caps = Hard Hats" campaign, which advocates capping carbon emissions and creating blue-collar jobs in green industries. He testified before Congress this month and appeared in television and full-page newspaper advertisements across the nation supporting that cause.

The media coverage in particular infuriated some council members and borough Manager Ella Jones, who all railed at him -- during a March council meeting at which he was absent -- for emphasizing the town's negative aspects.

"He needs to tone down his rhetoric about the community and the bad shape the community is in and the devastation of the housing," council President Jesse Brown said in an interview at the time. "If he feels that the community is bankrupt, then he needs to go somewhere where he'd like it."

Four years ago, Mr. Fetterman won the mayoral primary that split three ways by just one vote, edging out challenger Virginia Bunn 149 votes to 148 in a race where only 425 votes were cast. This time, given his lack of support from council, he stands a chance of losing to Braddock native Jayme Cox, a national accounts manager for AFA Protective Systems Inc., a fire alarm and security systems company.

With no one registered for the Republican primary, the May 19 election likely will produce the mayor-elect.

The candidates' platforms center around how to revitalize the town, which, in spite of having the only operating steel mill in the region, has suffered in many of the same ways as other former steel towns in the Mon Valley. At its peak, Braddock was a Mon Valley hub, with a dense business district and a population of about 30,000. The U.S. Census counted fewer than 3,000 people there in 2000. The businesses left with the people, leaving many of the storefronts on the town's main drag vacant. Its plummet from economic prosperity to distress has made it a poster child for post-industrial decline, a fact that many residents resent.

But Mr. Cox, who said he'd use his business savvy, managerial skills and national contacts to help bring a gas station to Braddock, has his own challenges to surmount. The mayor has criticized Mr. Cox for being unfit to lead the police department because he has a criminal past of his own.

Court and police records reveal that in 2004, he was arrested after his wife told police he slammed her head against a steering wheel and stole her purse after approaching the driver's side window of her car. After searching his van, police discovered a loaded 9 mm gun, which they said was "ready to fire."

Soon after, his license to possess a firearm was suspended after his wife obtained a temporary protection from abuse order against him, in which she said he threatened to kill her. He was ordered to take domestic abuse classes, and the criminal charges were dropped.

Though the two divorced, he said they are now reconciled and would not comment further on the matter, only to say that he contested "everything" in the police report.

Mr. Cox does not think it should disqualify him from being mayor and characterized it as a personal issue that has since been resolved.

Like others, Mr. Cox said Mr. Fetterman has not done enough to build consensus in the community and to work with council, and he believes the resentment comes from engaging only certain parts of the community. Mr. Cox said he would be sure to work to gain the council's support before moving forward on projects.

"It mainly stems from not being involved with the people and not being in tune with what's going on," he said. "So when you're trying to bring projects into the community, then it's a good idea to let people know what you're trying to do and let them help you."

Mr. Fetterman disagrees, and said that while he stepped back from administering the police department -- a job he said would be better done by the police chief -- he has improved relations between the police and community. He cited his invitation to police Chief Frank DeBartolo to speak to kids in the Braddock Youth Project and his working to resolve complaints about the police department by serving as mediator between residents and the department.

Mr. Fetterman also said Braddock has experienced a drop in call volume, something he attributed to providing youth with summer jobs through the project. He landed a $400,000 grant from the Heinz Foundation to employ about 100 Braddock Youth Project kids to build a green roof this summer, which will be the first in the Mon Valley, he said.

He pointed out that he has invited every member of the borough council to participate in the planning of the community center that is in the works in the old Presbyterian Church on Library Street, a building he has already invested thousands of dollars in.

Other community members said resentment was generated by the media coverage, which they said tended to give the mayor too much credit for Braddock's progress when generations of community leaders and politicians before him were cleaning up lots, building houses and providing youth summer employment without much fanfare.

"Things have been going on in the community quietly prior to the mayor getting here," said Jim Kidd, a retired counselor and longtime resident. "You never see anything in the paper about anything other than the mayor. ... That's the thing that people may be a little discontented about.

"He could just be a little more inclusive and acknowledge some of the positive things that are going on."

Still, Mr. Kidd said this won't necessarily keep him from voting for Mr. Fetterman and that he generally thinks the mayor's intentions are good. He is waiting to learn more about both candidates, he said.

Resentment might be a tepid term for what resident Lemuel Howell, one of the mayor's most vocal detractors, feels. Mr. Howell has put together a two-page pamphlet, all in capital letters, of sharp criticisms and accusations against the mayor. He's printed out hundreds of copies and walked them all over town.

Among the criticisms are his delinquent property taxes. Court records show that Mr. Fetterman owes thousands of dollars in taxes to North Braddock, Allegheny County and the Woodland Hills School District on two properties. The mayor said he purchased the homes outright with plans to give them to two young people who had been involved in the Out-of-School Youth Program he started after they rented the homes for three years. But one of the men, Riyaad Partlow, was shot and killed. The other left town. He said he's in the process of trying to sell the houses for back taxes.

Still, Mr. Howell is deeply suspicious of the mayor's investments in the area and his Ivy League credentials -- the mayor received a master's in public policy from Harvard University in 1999 -- and claims the mayor is simply trying to become Braddock's "landlord."

"If you'd have gone to Harvard why would you stop in Braddock? It ain't like we got a pretty sunset," he said.

Mostly, he said that Mr. Fetterman has a different vision for Braddock than most of the residents. He pointed out the murals, painted on the sides of some buildings, which he said residents don't like.

"Braddock is like Mayberry," he said, referring to the fictional small town in "The Andy Griffith Show." "And Mayberry is a little too small for them big ideas."