Former Pittsburgh City Council and Pittsburgh Public Schools board President Darlene Harris died Friday morning. Harris started her career as an advocate for North Side neighborhoods, then became president of the school board and later represented the North Side on city council.
Former school board colleague Theresa Colaizzi considered Harris a mentor who encouraged her to run for public office, saying she was encouraged by Harris’ often outspoken approach.
“She was very strong-willed. You couldn’t take her down,” Colaizzi said. “You wanted her on your side because you wouldn’t win if you were against her.”
Harris was born in Brighton Heights and spent the majority of her life on the city’s North Side, specifically in Spring Hill. She raised a son and two daughters, and Colaizzi said she was a dedicated daughter, mother and grandmother. That dedication, Colaizzi said, carried over to her time as a civil servant.
“She never missed a meeting, she never missed a trip, she never missed a piece of paper. Darlene could find stuff… that nobody else could ever see,” Colaizzi said.
Harris also encouraged more women in the community to run for office, taking many of them “under her wing,” according to Colaizzi.
Harris was elected in 2006 to represent District 1 on city council. There, she often butted heads with former Mayor Bill Peduto and other council members. Some notable moments during her tenure included her disputes about campaign finance rules, social media censorship and her run for mayor. She served as council president from 2010-2014.
Jim Burn, a lawyer and former state and county Democratic chair who represented Harris in her effort to overturn the city’s campaign finance law, said he’s known the former councilmember for many years.
“It was an honor to navigate Pittsburgh politics with her when she chaired the 26th Ward.
It was a privilege to be her attorney and a blessing to be her friend,” Burn said. “Darlene called it like she saw it; Wearing her passion for her family, her ward, her council district, and the City of Pittsburgh on her sleeve. She will be missed.”
Former City Councilor Bruce Kraus, who represented District 3, said that his relationship with Harris wasn’t always perfect, but they did align in their mission to make the city better.
”She was tenacious about what she believed in and what she fought for,” Kraus said. “And you know, there were times when we were in perfect harmony and in sync, and times that we were not.”
Kraus recalled that often during his early days on council, the pair would bring in a dog and a cat from the local animal shelter in an effort to find adoptive homes for the pets — with both councilmembers bonding over their shared love of animals.
“ Every one of those animals was adopted,” Kraus said. “I don’t know that anything like that had ever been done before, but we had a blast doing it.”
He said that while the two disagreed on a number of city-related issues, they both shared an appreciation for the way council discussed issues, even when it became a bit contentious.
“She was very much hands-on, on the ground and very much connected to [her] constituency,” Kraus said. “She and I shared that belief … If we had the choice of being at…some fancy function or sitting in a church basement eating macaroni salad with constituents, we would both find ourselves in the church basement eating macaroni salad with constituents.”
When Harris lost her council seat to current District 1 representative Bobby Wilson, she emphasized the importance of showing up, saying at the time: “You should work the hours, if not more, to get things done in the neighborhood.”
Speaking to WESA Friday afternoon, Wilson said he took that to heart in his own leadership style.
“She had a good leadership style of going directly to the community group, directly to the residents,” Wilson said. “She would talk to anyone on the phone about issues that they had. She had a good open-door policy.”
Mayor Corey O’Connor, who served on council with Harris, said in a statement that she “led a life of service to her community,” and he emphasized her work as an advocate.
“Nobody fought for their communities like Darlene Harris. Never forgetting her working-class roots, she was also a staunch supporter of local unions and building trades and was renowned for her commitment to animal rights,” he said in his statement.
Colaizzi said that while Harris didn’t finish high school, she later earned a General Educational Development certificate and never let her lack of traditional education stop her in her work.
“People underestimated how smart she was. She’s the one, I believe, who came up with the phrase for me … ‘Just because you’re more educated than me doesn’t mean you’re more intelligent,’” Colaizzi said. “That was Darlene.”
No information was immediately available Friday on funeral arrangements.