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Pittsburgh's new mayor, Luke Ravenstahl, hopes to spread the good news to youth about making a difference in our city.

by Christine O'Toole

The hushed corridors, vaulted ceilings and gilt lettering on the door bespeak such a lofty office with grand tradition that it's easy to picture the mayor of Pittsburgh wielding a quill pen. But when the door opens, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl isn't scratching out a signature. He's checking one last e-mail before extending a handshake and a grin. E-mail is an almost-revolutionary act in this chamber. Ravenstahl's newly installed PC is the first to be used in the office by any of Pittsburgh's mayors. This computer, the new mayor's first requisition, wasn't the only history that's been made since Ravenstahl took office: He's also the youngest mayor in that long line of Pittsburgh mayors, beginning with Ebenezer Denny in 1816. During an early whirl of media attention following the death of Mayor Bob O'Connor in September, Ravenstahl presented a fresh face for the city to the rest of the country.

However, the name Ravenstahl is not new in local politics. The trim, 26-year-old mayor can boast a political lineage that comprises his grandfather, North Side's former state representative, Robert Ravenstahl, and his father, a North Side district magistrate of the same name. The surname Ravenstahl, of German origin, might be translated as "steadfast raven" or "steel raven." Luke Ravenstahl (who also claims some Irish and Slovak heritage) is one of only a few German-American mayors in Pittsburgh's history, although German-Americans were the city's largest ethnic group as of the 2000 Census.

Luke Ravenstahl received his grade school, high school and political educations in the same neighborhood - Observatory Hill. "I went to grade school at Incarnation Academy, which recently closed, right down the street from our house," he says. "We walked to school and came home for lunch." Not far away, at North Catholic High School on Troy Hill, Ravenstahl experienced his first taste of the political process - and victory - when he was elected president of student council. At the school, Ravenstahl also demonstrated his leadership abilities as captain of the baseball and football teams (his father still coaches the latter). As quarterback, he passed for more than 1,000 yards his senior year, despite a broken left hand.

Mayor Ravenstahl and his wife, Erin During that senior year, he started dating Erin Lynn Feith, whom he'd known since grade school, and they "have remained together since then," he says. The pair married in 2004, six months after his election to City Council from District 1. They live in Summer Hill, not far from his old neighborhood.

(Right: Mayor Ravenstahl and his wife, Erin, at a friend's wedding this summer.)

One of the first political campaigns Ravenstahl can remember was the 1992 City Council race of fellow North Sider Dan Onorato, a family friend who's now his downtown neighbor at the Allegheny County Courthouse, right across the street from Ravenstahl's office in the City-County Building.

He reaches back to those roots - particularly family - almost daily. Brothers Brad and Adam Ravenstahl, 25 and 21, "are able to take me back to who I am outside of politics," he says fondly. "Ninety-five percent of the conversation has nothing to do with what I'm doing on a daily basis." His father, he says, provides more support than parental advice: "He basically tells me, 'Trust your instincts.' "

Ravenstahl has been in city politics since age 18, when he first ran for the local Democratic committeeman's seat in the 26th Ward. During his years studying at Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, Pa., he spent election days working at his district's polling precinct. In December 2005, Ravenstahl was elected president of Pittsburgh's City Council. Following the Sept. 1 death of Mayor O'Connor, Ravenstahl became the new mayor, a transition of power stipulated in the city charter.

Now governing a major American city, Ravenstahl is aware that many people his age aren't even registered to vote. He wants to encourage their participation. "You lead by example," he says. "When I ran for council a few years back, a lot of my friends and my younger brothers' friends really got involved (in the campaign) at the local level. Now, hopefully, as mayor, I'll have the opportunity to do the same city-wide. I want to reach out, to tell young people: You can make a difference. Your vote does matter."

The mayor's conversation is peppered with phrases such as "opportunity," "respect" and "accountability." With a quick chuckle and a trademark tug at his collar, Ravenstahl admits, "I used to be a shy guy. Obviously, now, I've found my passion and have, therefore, been a little bit more vocal." He credits his experience at W & J with helping him find his voice. "It's a small, intimate college that really helped me develop my personal skills, develop the ability to speak with people, and be prepared every single day." Majoring in business administration "gave me a sense of how an organization functions. I can certainly translate and use some of those qualities in this role of governing."

Although active in sports in high school and college (he holds the field-goal record at W & J as team kicker), Ravenstahl says he has little time for sports these days. "I'm in relatively good shape, although I don't exercise as much as I should. I'm actually a decent golfer - my handicap is about a 12. Now, as mayor, I'm sure that my handicap will go up," he jokes. Classic sports shrines such as Notre Dame Stadium in Indiana, Fenway Park in Boston and Wrigley Field in Chicago have been destinations for recent Ravenstahl vacations.

With wife Erin, Ravenstahl says he's found "a good balance. We're opposites in a lot of ways, but we're both easy-going." Time off, even at home on Cerise Street, will be elusive as Ravenstahl crisscrosses the city in his new post. Luckily, the Ravenstahls have the perfect pets for a peripatetic lifestyle: an aquarium full of fish.

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