John Last talks about the past Mayors of Erie.
It’s time to go to the polls again. This year, voters in the City of Erie will be electing a new mayor. The new mayor will be joining a long list of interesting people who have held that job over the last 174 years.
The history of Erie mayoral elections has brought me to the fifth floor of City Hall. I’m standing before a wall that has photographs of all the mayors who served the City of Erie. I’m sure there are a lot of stories about these mayors that describe their honor and distinction. However, I want to tell a few stories that are a little unusual and fun.
I’m finding those stories in a book titled Erie, Pennsylvania Mayors, 150 Years of Political History written by Dr. William P. Garvey. Let’s start with William L. Scott, a millionaire, first elected to a one-year term in 1866. He owned a racehorse farm that stretched to the entrance of Presque Isle. The city decided to build a streetcar line from downtown to Presque Isle. However, Mayor Scott believed the streetcars would spook his horses. So, the section of line onto the park was not built. Passengers had to exit the streetcar on 8th Street and Pittsburgh Avenue and walk almost four miles to the peninsula.
James Rossiter, elected mayor in 1932, supported a plan to build a drawbridge at the foot of Ash Street to Presque Isle. He also suggested a plan to state officials that Presque Isle be made the official summer home of the Pennsylvania Governor and that a house for the governor be built on the peninsula.
Here’s one of my favorite Lou Tullio stories. Mayor Tullio rode an elephant up State Street to promote the Barnum and Bailey Circus being in town. It’s highlighted in a book titled Lou Tullio: A Real Erie Guy written by Cory Vaillancourt.
Joyce Savocchio succeeded the legendary Tullio as mayor. I think I will arrange a visit with the former mayor to ask her about her first days in office in 1990.
“If you’re saying what is difficult in replacing Lou Tullio, I certainly did not want to ride an elephant! And thank God I was never asked to do that,” Mayor Savocchio tells me.
Mayor Savocchio did invite Sesame Street characters to her office when that show came to town.
She tells me the story of the first time she drove a car after receiving her license. She drove to the Public Dock. She saw decay and rotting towers. She was 16 years old.
“And I don’t know why but I said to myself, I said, “Someday I’m going to do something about that,” recalls Mayor Savocchio.
Most of the newer structures on the bayfront, including the iconic Bicentennial Tower, were built during Mayor Savocchio’s administration.
Mayor Savocchio served three terms from 1990 to 2002. Erie’s new mayor will be the 49th mayor elected to the post. A mayor can serve three consecutive four-years terms. A person who has served three terms may run again after a break in service of 24 months.