May 23, 2005

Outgoing Pittsburgh Mayor Murphy Honored by American Society of Landscape Architects

The Board of Trustees of the American Society of Landscape Architects May 16 selected Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy to receive honorary membership. Honorary membership is one of the highest honors ASLA may bestow upon non-landscape architects, and since its founding in 1899, the Society has conferred honorary membership upon only 90 individuals. Certificates were given May 13 at a dinner in Washington (DC). Murphy was the keynote speaker.

Murphy was credited with transforming the physical environment of the city of Pittsburgh in his three terms as mayor. The fruits of his labor can be seen in the redevelopment of the riverfront, in the expansion of the city's recreational facilities and trails, in the newly upgraded and much safer city playgrounds, in the economic development of the city's industrial brownfield sites, and in the master planning effort for the four large regional parks in the city. Throughout his tenure, he has been a stalwart supporter of landscape architecture and the profession.

Bob O'Connor, the onetime fast food executive won the Democratic primary May 17, putting him well on his way to becoming Pittsburgh's 56th mayor.

O'Connor, 60, beat back challenges from two younger Democrats — William Peduto and Michael Lamb — to win the party's nod and is therefore the favorite to win the mayor's job in November, when he is set to face lesser-known Republican Joe Weinroth.

O'Connor, who left Pappan/Roy Rogers restaurants in 1992 to begin a career in government, finally caught the job that has eluded him since 1997, when he first challenged Murphy, who was elected to the first of three terms in 1993.

Murphy will leave office as Pittsburgh's second-longest serving mayor, after David L. Lawrence. The general election is November 8. Pittsburgh has an estimated population with a 5 to 1 Democratic margin.