Pittsburgh - Government

Government

Main article: Government of Pittsburgh See also: List of mayors of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Police Chief, and Allegheny County District Attorney

Prior to the Civil War, Pittsburgh was largely in opposition to slavery. This sentiment culminated in Pittsburgh being selected as the birthplace of the national Republican Party, when the party held its first convention in February 1856. From the American Civil War to the 1930s, Pittsburgh was a Republican stronghold. However, national economic turmoil combined with entrenched local GOP scandals by the 1930s brought to an end Republican rule. In 1933, William N. McNair became the first Democrat to be elected mayor. With the exception of the 1973 and 1977 elections (where lifelong Democrats ran off the party ticket), Democratic candidates have been elected consecutively to the mayor's office since the Great Depression. Today, the ratio of Democratic to Republican registrations within the city is 5 to 1.

The mayor and the nine-member council serve a four-year term. The government's official offices are located in the Pittsburgh City-County Building. After the death of Mayor Bob O'Connor in September 2006, City Council President Luke Ravenstahl was sworn in as the mayor of Pittsburgh at age 26, becoming the youngest mayor in the history of any major American city. He served until a special mayoral election was held in November 2007, when he was re-elected.

City council members are chosen by plurality elections in each of nine districts. The members of the city council are: Darlene Harris (1), Theresa Kail-Smith (2), Bruce Kraus (3), Natalia Rudiak (4), Cory O'Conner (5), R. Daniel Lavelle (6), Patrick Dowd (7), Bill Peduto (8), and Rev. Ricky Burgess (9). The president of city council is Darlene Harris, who was elected to the position on January 4, 2010.

Pittsburgh is represented in the Pennsylvania General Assembly by three Senate Districts and nine House Districts. Pittsburgh's State Senators include Jim Ferlo (38th District), Wayne D. Fontana (42), and Jay Costa (43). Representatives in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives include Jake Wheatley (19th District), Adam Ravenstahl (20), Dominic Costa (21), Chelsa Wagner (22), Dan Frankel (23), Ed Gainey (24), Dan Deasy (27), Paul Costa (34), and Harry Readshaw (36).

Federally, Pittsburgh is part of Pennsylvania's 14th congressional district, represented by Democrat Mike Doyle, elected in 1994. The Pittsburgh Police Bureau is the law enforcement arm of the city and the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire is a major emergency response unit in Western Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh EMS provides emergency medical, heavy rescue and river rescue services to the city.

By April 2008, the city and Allegheny County were discussing a plan to merge as early as 2009 in the interests of consolidating government and enhancing the status of the region. If approved, the city of Pittsburgh would annex all of surrounding Allegheny County in a Metropolitan Government, and the population would stand at 1.2 million, making Pittsburgh the 10th largest city in the United States. However, opposition to this plan is concerned of added bureaucracy of proposed "big government", inefficiencies and possible corruption will be extended to the newly annexed communities resulting in a loss of services and an increase in taxes due to higher debt service costs of the city.