The Mayors of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh was incorporated as a borough on April 22, 1794. Since then,
there have been many mayors, and even a number of chief burgesses before
Pittsburgh became a city.
In this section we’ll list all who have held those titles over the years
and introduce you to many of them.
Let’s begin with our current Mayor, Luke Ravenstahl.
Luke Ravenstahl (2006 - Present) - Democrat
Just one hundred minutes after the death of Bob O’Connor on September 1,
2006, City Council President Luke Ravenstahl was sworn in as the 59th mayor
of Pittsburgh.
Mayor Ravenstahl took office at age 26 making him the youngest man to
hold the office of Pittsburgh mayor and also one of the youngest mayors of
any major city in the United States.
Much to the delight of state overseers, Mayor Ravenstahl has taken the
city that was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy to accrue almost $100
million in savings, resulting in the city’s bond rating being upgraded four
times. Mayor Ravenstahl has been working to keep Pittsburgh on the cutting
edge of being a “green” city and to be a national leader in green building
initiatives and clean energy businesses.
Mayor Ravenstahl was a co-creator of the Pittsburgh Promise. The premise
of Pittsburgh Promise is to invest in the future of children that graduate
from the city of Pittsburgh public schools by providing some funds to help
with their college education. In addition, Mayor Ravenstahl continued the “Redd
Up” campaign started by Mayor O’Connor and installed a 311 Response Line for
the city.
One of the fun jobs as mayor of a major city is getting to congratulate
professional sports teams when they win championships. In 2009, Mayor
Ravenstahl had the pleasure of celebrating with the Pittsburgh Steelers and
the Pittsburgh Penguins when they both won their championships that year,
making Pittsburgh the “City of Champions” once again.
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