Mayor O'Connor

[cellio]

(This is a test of posting by email. LJ is blocked at work.)

Pittsburgh's mayor, Bob O'Connor, has been fighting brain cancer for a couple months. (It seemed to come on suddenly.) The news is now reporting that the end is nearing. That's a real pity; he's a good person and seems to be a good mayor. I wasn't happy about him becoming mayor, figuring that he would just continue the abuses and incompetencies of his predecessor Tom Murphy (who probably belongs in jail), but his short time in office has brought pleasant surprises.

I was surprised to read that when Mayor O'Connor dies the president of city council will become mayor. We have a deputy mayor; I always assumed that was like a vice-mayor. I'm curious about how this system came about. (Also curious about how our past deputy mayors have fared. Do they ever go on to get elected mayor? Is it perhaps indicative that I can't name a single one other than the current one?)

Comments

Mayor O'Connor

[(Anonymous)]

There is, officially, no such office as a Deputy Mayor. The order of succession is set by the City Charter and passes from the Mayor to the President of Council, as when Mayor Caliguiri died and Sophie Masloff took his place.

The reason you haven't heard of previous Deputy Mayors is because they did not exist. The current one was only put into place when O'Connor went into the hospital to ensure that there was someone to make sure the executive offices were running.

Re: Mayor O'Connor

[cellio]

Thanks! I hadn't realized this was such a recent thing; I just assumed that I'd somehow missed a second name on the tickets last year. Though now that I mention it, it would be unusual for a vice-mayor candidate to escape commentary in the press...