A NUMBER OF MAYORS, SUCH AS NORTH BRADDOCK’S CLETUS LEE, CENTER, AND EAST PITTSBURGH’S MARKUS ADAMS (BACK ROW, SECOND FROM RIGHT) HAVE COME TOGETHER TO FORM THE MAYORS’ CHARITABLE FUND. (PHOTO BY CHIEF IKHANA–HAL-MAKINA)
Mayors being locked out of borough buildings.
Mayors being silenced.
Mayors just flat out being “hated on.”
Head to the Mon Valley, whether it’s North Braddock, Braddock, Rankin, or Swissvale, among others, and they’ll tell you that yes, they’re the mayor, but they don’t have as much “clout” or “ability” to produce change as you may think.
But one mayor, Cletus Lee of North Braddock, has come up with a way to make change.
He is the founder of the Mayors’ Charitable Fund, an official 501(c)(3) non-profit organization which will allow participating mayors to use grants and donations to the fund for the betterment of their municipalities.
THE MAYORS’ CHARITABLE FUND IS AN OFFICIAL 501(c)(3) ORGANIZATION.
“I got tired of saying that the mayors were in weak seats,” Mayor Lee told the New Pittsburgh Courier. “Every time I try to do things for my community, I usually have to come out of pocket.”
Mayor Lee said if he wanted legislation to pass for some type of funding for, say, increased access to food or medicine for North Braddock residents, North Braddock Council would put him through the ringer. Sometimes it would get approved, but sometimes not.
“We don’t want to keep waiting for approval, we want to go after our own grants,” Mayor Lee said. “It’s empowering us as mayors. This is why I formed this, because it’s going to give us equal weight.”
Similar to how other non-profits can apply for grants from organizations like The Heinz Endowments, McAuley Ministries, The Pittsburgh Foundation and more, that’s what the Mayors’ Charitable Fund will do. Already, the fund has partnered with 412 Food Rescue to address food insecurities in North Braddock and neighboring communities. Mayor Lee told the Courier they want to bring on the Pittsburgh Food Bank next.
“We are servants, we were elected to serve our communities, and I don’t want to be just a figurehead and a face. We want to actually be active for our communities,” Mayor Lee told the Courier.
MANY OF THE MAYORS IN THE NEW MAYORS’ CHARITABLE FUND. (PHOTOS BY CHIEF IKHANA-HAL-MAKINA)
Markus Adams, who is also Black, has joined Mayor Lee and others in the fund. Adams is mayor of East Pittsburgh. He told the Courier he has not faced as many problems as other mayors have, particularly because it was hard for East Pittsburgh to find a mayor following the murder of 17-year-old Antwon Rose II in 2018. But he wanted to join the fund anyway.
Mayor Adams said he’s in it for the “solidarity among mayors, because what this does is, it allows the mayors to function with a full range of motion within the scope of their authority,” he said.
THE MAYORS ARE COMING TOGETHER, FOR THEIR COMMUNITIES.
Other mayors involved include Delia Lennon-Winstead of Braddock, Joelisa McDonald of Rankin (both are Black women), and the mayors of Clairton, Bellevue, White Oak, Pitcairn, Mt. Oliver, Braddock Hills, Munhall, Chalfant, West Mifflin, Turtle Creek, Homestead, McKees Rocks, Swissvale and Crafton. More mayors are joining at this moment.
The Mayors’ Charitable Fund has the opportunity to assist all demographics, but African Americans are well-represented in the Mon Valley communities. In Allegheny County, more Blacks live outside of the Pittsburgh than the city proper, and are well-represented in Braddock, North Braddock, Homestead, Swissvale, East Pittsburgh, Mt. Oliver, Clairton, Rankin, Turtle Creek and McKees Rocks.
And some Beaver County mayors are joining, too, the Courier has learned.
Mayor Lee said he’s ready to take on everything; medicine costs for residents, food shortages, even ridding of blight in the community.
The 20 or so mayors who are part of the fund have said that they’re all not experiencing problems with their borough councils. But the fund just gives them another outlet to get things done. After all, as the faces of their communities, residents usually don’t go to council when they have problems; they go to the very accessible mayor.
“I heard about mayors being locked out of the borough building, they weren’t told that meetings were taking place,” Mayor Adams of East Pittsburgh told the Courier. “I’ve never heard so many stories where people have tried to be silenced…and I don’t understand why.”
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