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Sometimes district judges positions all about politics

First Posted: 1/12/2015 PLYMOUTH &#8212; Some 35 years ago, Bill Dixon married his girlfriend and moved to her hometown.
And for the last three decades-plus, Dixon and his wife have been involved in community projects and organizations, showing a dedication to their town and its people.
Dixon ran for Plymouth Borough Council in 2007 &#8212; and lost. He ran again in 2011 &#8212; and won.
Dixon, now 64 years old, is president of borough council and he is running for re-election this year.
He is the only person of African-American descent serving as an elected public official in Luzerne County.
The significance of that fact &#8212; note that the Rev. Shawn Walker was appointed to the Wilkes-Barre School Board and not (yet) elected &#8212; is a topic of conversation, and not just today, as the country pauses to remember slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
But Dixon said he has never seen his accomplishment as an issue of race.
&#8220;I never really wanted to run for council, but people kept asking me to,&#8221; Dixon said. &#8220;I lost the first time. I guess people felt there were better candidates than me.&#8221;
Dixon, a veteran of the U.S. Army who served in Vietnam, has devoted time to the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Plymouth Alive, soccer leagues and he served as president of Plymouth Little League. He and his wife, the former Janet Lee Flynn, have two children and two grandchildren.
Now retired, Dixon spends much of his time in the borough building, tackling issues head on and working to improve the borough.
&#8220;I&#8217;ve always tried to do what I could to make a difference,&#8221; Dixon said. &#8220;I am very grateful that the people of Plymouth have given me this opportunity to serve them. I want to help Plymouth as much as I can. We have hard-working, blue collar people here.&#8221;
Not long after taking office, Dixon was taken to task for issues from his past. Dixon doesn&#8217;t like to talk about it, but he was eventually pardoned for all of his indiscretions.
Dixon said that after returning from Vietnam in 1970 he got himself into trouble and was arrested on drug charges in 1971 and a federal drug charge in 1976. He also was arrested for burglary in 1975. Dixon said all of this happened at time when he was &#8220;a mess.&#8221;
&#8220;I&#8217;d just come back from Vietnam and I was bitter, stupid and didn&#8217;t care,&#8221; said Dixon. &#8220;People change.&#8221;
The Pennsylvania State Board of Pardons voted 5-0 to recommend Dixon&#8217;s pardon to Gov. Tom Corbett, allowing him to hold office.
&#8216;Civic minded&#8217;
Frank Coughlin has been on Plymouth Borough Council since 1996 and he has known Dixon since 1990, having played on the same softball team.
&#8220;Bill Dixon is very civic minded,&#8221; Coughlin said. &#8220;There&#8217;s nobody he wouldn&#8217;t help or try to help. We couldn&#8217;t ask for a better person on council.&#8221;
And that&#8217;s what the measure of any candidate or human being should be, said Ron Felton, past president of the Wilkes-Barre Chapter of the NAACP.
&#8220;There are definitely qualified individuals out there,&#8221; Felton said of the minority population in Luzerne County. &#8220;But it&#8217;s a decision each person has to make. Unfortunately, it&#8217;s like being Jackie Robinson all over again. People just don&#8217;t want to be subjected to pressures. It&#8217;s very difficult to go out there and take on that task &#8212; to break that glass ceiling.&#8221;
Felton said a person has to have the confidence to run for political office. Even Felton recently decided to not enter this yer&#8217;s race for the Wilkes-Barre Area School Board or City Council.
&#8220;People have to be comfortable in running,&#8221; he said.
Stigma remains
Felton said certain stigmas and biases remain in 2015. He said minorities are often unfairly judged because of the actions of a few.
Even with President Barack Obama&#8217;s election and re-election, minorities in Luzerne County at least, have not entered many political contests.
&#8220;It seems that when a black person commits a crime, then people think all black people are criminals,&#8221; Felton said. &#8220;That&#8217;s the wrong perception and to change that, African Americans have to become more engaged in the political process. They have to get a true sensitivity to the issues affecting them.&#8221;
To that end, Felton said qualified candidates have to be found and then motivated to run for elective office.
&#8220;They have to get their names out there,&#8221; Felton said. &#8220;It&#8217;s essential for the betterment of our community. Obama&#8217;s election should serve as that motivation.&#8221;
Felton said minority kids now know that they can grow up to be president of the U.S. &#8212; that it is more than possible.
&#8220;We just have to convince people to run,&#8221; he said.
Rev. Walker said being appointed to the school board was a proud moment for him and his family. He said for far too long, minorities of all sorts have not thought politics or political office was a place to make change.
&#8220;However, today we know that political office is a place to make change,&#8221; Walker said. We have got to seek offices or at least get off our couches and vote.&#8221;
Walker said he thinks politics is so broken and too many politicians lately have become distrusted.
Walker said Obama inspired him to get involved. He said he has encouraged others to do the same.
&#8220;Minority leadership needs to increase the discussion and see who is willing to get involved in the political process and lead politically as well,&#8221; Walker said.
One of those leaders, local NAACP president Larry Singleton, said he will start the discussion in the organization.
&#8220;We have got to be involved,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We need to do more positive things in the community. It&#8217;s about taking ownership. Nobody will give it to you.&#8221;
Singleton said he will sit down with his board and discuss it and maybe more will get involved in the political process.
Darlene Duggins Magdalinski, 46, has sought seats on Wilkes-Barre City Council and Luzerne County Council and lost both times.
&#8220;We need representation,&#8221; she said of the minority community. &#8220;But too many people here just think they won&#8217;t get elected. We have to change the way people think.&#8221;
Duggins said she has never been intimidated by the political machines in the county and she will make an announcement soon on another possible run for office.
&#8220;I&#8217;m not afraid to challenge the system,&#8221; she said. &#8220;How can we have an effective government if we don&#8217;t have all parts of the community represented&#8221; How can they understand issues and problems and find solutions?&#8221;

Plymouth’s Bill Dixon stands alone, Luzerne County’s only African-American elected official