Betty Esper ran for mayor of Homestead 17 years ago because she wanted to be able to walk her dog in the park near her home.
"There were gangs in there smoking marijuana," she said. "I told the police, and they said, 'Walk somewhere else.' "
She took her complaints to council and got a similar response.
"My philosophy is, if you want something done, get involved," said Esper, 77, who won her first term as mayor in 1990. After losing re-election in 1994, she returned in 1998 and has been mayor since.
Eileen Miller said she ran for mayor of Springdale on a dare.
When someone told her she "would never win," she took that as a challenge. She wound up beating a long-term Democrat after getting on the ballot as a Republican write-in. She is the first woman to occupy the Springdale mayor's office.
Miller and Esper are among a half-dozen female mayors in Allegheny County.
Voters in smaller towns are more likely to elect a woman as mayor, said Susan Hansen, a professor of political science at the University of Pittsburgh. Of the 1,156 mayors of U.S. cities with populations of more than 30,000 as of August, 202 were women, or 17.5 percent, according to the Center for American Women in Politics.
"I love my job. I wouldn't be in it this long if I didn't," said Esper, who bucked the traditional old boys' network to win her job. She plans to continue in office as long as her health is good.
Like many Mon Valley mill towns, Homestead went through a painful transformation during Esper's terms.
When she began working at U.S. Steel's Homestead Works in 1951, Homestead was "a vibrant town with people on the avenue. It was busy all the time."
By the time she left her job in January 1987, "there was nobody left to say good-bye to." The massive mill where she spent three decades -- the foundation of the borough's tax base -- had closed.
Within three years of her election, the borough was placed under state oversight through the Municipalities Financial Recovery Act program, called Act 47. It left the program 14 years later, because of the booming commercial, business and residential development at The Waterfront.
Miller, 59, is used to breaking gender barriers.
She was the first woman inducted into the Cheswick-Springdale Lions Club in 2001 and was president of the local chapter from 2007-09.
A Democrat, she lost the primary vote but won enough Republican write-in votes to get on the GOP ballot in the November election -- and won. Now, she said, party lines don't matter. She just wants to do a good job for the borough.
"It's been a whirlwind," Miller said. Within days of her swearing-in last year, she had to declare a state of emergency because of the Feb. 6 snowstorm that buried Western Pennsylvania in almost 2 feet of snowfall.
She has a wish list of items the borough needs but can't afford. She's seeking donations to try to raise the $1,300 needed to buy two computers for the police cruisers.
She's not ready yet to sign on for another term.
"I'll let you know at the end of the four years," Miller said.
Dorothy "Dee" Quinn decided to run for mayor to try to make a difference in the borough of Emsworth.
"I felt that the borough in which I live needed a little bit of fresh blood," said Quinn, 71.
The incumbent she beat was 78 years old, she said.
The political atmosphere changed since she served on borough council in the early part of the decade.
"People are so angry about everything that is going on, they lash out at everybody," Quinn said. "I can't understand the anger."
Although she likes the job, she isn't ready to commit to a second term.
"It's a learning experience. It's a shame younger people aren't getting interested in it," she said.
Being the mother of two daughters helped Swissvale Mayor Deneen Swartzwelder's political career, she said.
"The mother instinct helps. ... When you deal with kids, it's always compromise," she said. "You're always in the middle. I'm a good moderator."
Swartzwelder, 46, is in the second year of her second term.
"I love it. It is very fulfilling," she said. "I feel like I'm helping the community."
She, too, bucked traditional political circles to get elected.
"The old boys' network is not as strong as it used to be," she said. "There's also an old girls' network. It was definitely a challenge to over come that."
Ina Jean Marton, mayor of White Oak since 2004, got her first taste of politics at age 16 when someone asked her to help out at a polling place.
"I thought that was the greatest thing I could do for my country. I was just so proud," said Marton, a Republican who spent 11 years on borough council but did not expect to become mayor.
Marton knocked on most doors in the borough when she decided to seek the mayor's post seven years ago, and will do it all again in 2014.
"I'll put on my walking shoes and go out again," she said.
Over the past 14 years, Pennsbury Village Mayor Lucy Harper performed 33 weddings.
"A lot of times, the bride likes having a woman officiate instead of a man," said Harper, 63, who spent a term on council before running for mayor.
The unique borough -- which consists of 700 residents in 500 condominiums -- seceded from Robinson 35 years ago.
Although there was one murder during the past 14 years, Harper said enforcing the borough's leash laws and getting dog owners to clean up after their pets is among the borough's chief concerns.
"Pets are our biggest problem," Harper said.
By Craig Smith, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEWThursday, February 10, 2011
