RANKIN MAYOR JOELISA L. MCDONALD (PHOTO BY CHIEF IKHANA-HAL-MAKINA)
Joelisa McDonald was overwhelmingly re-elected as Rankin’s mayor on Election Day 2025, Nov. 4. In a Mon Valley borough that is home to about 1,700 people, she received 263 of the 273 mayoral votes cast.
But she’s the first to tell you that it’s not all wine and roses.
In an exclusive interview with the Courier, Jan. 29, she said she fights hard for her town. Some people like the way she does business, some people don’t (she didn’t name names). She called herself an “over-worker” for Rankin.
Obviously, the residents of Rankin through their votes have approved of her work from her first term, and have given her a second term. McDonald was appointed Rankin mayor in March 2021, elected in November 2021, took office in January 2022, and is in her third month into her second term.
So, what are the people saying about the improvements they want to see in Rankin?
“A lot of people are interested in seeing our roads get paved, and just investing into our community,” McDonald told the Courier exclusively. “We don’t have as big as a blight problem as the other communities, but we do want to see our blight issue taken care of. It would be nice if the county (Allegheny) could really just deal with it once and for all because ours is not so much, it would really propel us forward.”
RANKIN MAYOR JOELISA L. MCDONALD is sworn-in by Judge Richard D. Olasz Jr. on Jan. 5, 2026. (Photos by Chief Ikhana-Hal-Makina)
McDonald said for years, residents had hoped that the area near the Carrie Furnaces site could be transformed into a more usable location complete with tenants, bringing more tax revenue and people to the Rankin/Swissvale area in general. At first, the Regional Industrial Development Corporation, or RIDC, together with Allegheny County had marketed a building on the site as a 60,000-square-foot “Tech/Flex” building.
“The development will be home to technology, biotech, R&D, light industrial, and other commercial enterprises,” its official brochure read, obtained by the Courier.
However, McDonald said, there hasn’t been much movement on the transformation.
“I don’t know the intricate details of what’s really happening, it’s a county project; it’s just that Rankin benefits from it. But it’s been talked about for years. It truly is a long time coming,” McDonald told the Courier. “To see the building physically standing down there and it’s just empty, and conversations were so slow…I just feel like if it were another community, it would have already happened.”
Rankin is 64 percent Black, or about 1,100 residents, 20 percent White and 10 percent Hispanic, according to the U.S. Census.
McDonald said Rankin is also trying to create an “overlook” near Rankin Boulevard and Harriet Street that would be on par with a “tourist attraction,” with some small businesses…maybe an ice cream parlor, pizza shop or so, Mayor McDonald said. There is some talk in Rankin Borough Council meetings, though, that the overlook could be placed in another part of town.
Mayor McDonald told the Courier the borough has asked for $1.5 million in grant funding to make the overlook come to fruition.
Also, Mayor McDonald told the Courier she “put it out there” a thought about having a grocery store within Rankin. At first it was met with mixed reaction.
“Why shouldn’t we have one in our community?” Mayor McDonald asked. “I think it would serve the community well.”
As of now, the only grocery-style market coming into Rankin is the Giant Eagle Mobile Market, Sundays between 10:30 and 11:30 a.m., at 320 Hawkins Avenue.
Mayor McDonald, 35, together with the interim borough manager, Shane Muzina, and the Rankin Borough Council, including its president, William Price III, are tasked with moving Rankin forward. If not, they’re sure to hear it from their residents.
“I remain committed to doing the work for the community that I was elected to do,” Mayor McDonald said. “You have to show up for your residents and listen to them. Be open-minded. Stay grounded in the responsibility and make sure you’re putting Rankin first every time, above self.”
RANKIN MAYOR JOELISA L. MCDONALD assisted in the swearing-in ceremony of her friend, newly-elected Homestead Mayor Mary Nesby, far left, on Jan. 5, 2026.
