Wilkinsburg Mayor Marita Garrett receives 2020 Governor’s Award

by Rob Taylor Jr.
Courier Staff Writer

The New Pittsburgh Courier has learned that Wilkinsburg Mayor Marita Garrett was a recipient of Governor Tom Wolf’s annual “Governor’s Awards for Local Government Excellence.”

Mayor Garrett was recognized for her efforts the past five years working with her colleagues, community members and officials from all government levels to spur economic development and community revitalization to create positive change, according to a news release from the state dated Oct. 26.

Examples of Mayor Garrett’s vision for Wilkinsburg, the release said, include the Hunter Building Redevelopment Project, the largest commercial property in the business district, the creation of a Blight & Capital Planning Committee, and founding Civically Inc., a nonprofit that focuses on civic and social literacy to install self-reliance.

WILKINSBURG MAYOR MARITA GARRETT was named a New Pittsburgh Courier “Woman of Excellence” in 2018.

Mayor Garrett told the Courier in an article published in January 2018 that she decided to get into politics after not “seeing any progress or anything happening in the borough” of Wilkinsburg. She had lived in Wilkinsburg for three years at the time, and decided to run for a seat on the Wilkinsburg Borough Council. She was elected, officially taking office in 2014.

In 2017, she defeated three Democratic contenders to capture the Democratic nomination for mayor. And in Democratic-heavy Allegheny County, she easily cruised to victory in the November 2017 election.

Mayor Garrett is part of the new wave of Black women winning political races in the region. Summer Lee, a Woodland Hills High School graduate, became state House member of the 34th District in 2018, while Chardae Jones took the Braddock mayoral seat in 2019.

“Her zeal for finding allies outside Wilkinsburg to partner with, her dexterity, her command of a room, and to keep everybody on target when we’re communicating so we don’t digress into other things, that’s what I think we’re going to gain from her,” said Wilkinsburg Council member Michael Rose about Mayor Garrett at her Jan. 2018 swearing-in.

Of the 10 individuals honored by the Governor’s office for the awards, Mayor Garrett was the only political figure recognized from Allegheny County. No one was recognized from any other county in Western Pennsylvania except Lawrence County, where commissioner Dan Vogler was recognized for his dedication to public service.

 

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