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PHOTOS PROVIDED
\nClockwise from top left are Carnegie Mayor Sam Bigham (left), Darby Mayor Joar Dahn (left), Westover Mayor Dylan Stevens (left), and Cleona Mayor Matt Zechman.\n<\/p>\n
Last fall, communities across Pennsylvania elected officials who have yet to turn 30 to one of the most visible local roles: mayor.<\/p>\n
This month, those mayors begin their first terms and their political careers, bringing new perspectives and concerns to local government.<\/p>\n
Spotlight PA spoke to four incoming young mayors \u2014 all of them members of Generation Z, by Pew Research Center\u2019s definition (though some noted they feel culturally closer to millennials) \u2014 about their ambitions, their platforms, and what drew them to the position.While they span the ideological spectrum and have jobs as disparate as coffee roaster and political operative, all want to improve their local governments, and share optimism about the future of their communities.<\/p>\n
Although it\u2019s not unheard of for Pennsylvanians to elect young local leaders, it\u2019s rare. Just 3% of the 866 local elected officials who answered a 2021 Pennsylvania Local Government Commission survey were under 35. The average age of a respondent was about 61.<\/p>\n
Cassandra Coleman, the former mayor of Exeter in Luzerne County who was appointed to her first term at 20, recommended the latest crop make sure they\u2019re \u201clistening and learning\u201d and not coming in too \u201cforceful.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut also,\u201d Coleman added, \u201cI think you have to also weigh that with not being overshadowed and not being kind of pushed to the side because of your age.\u201d<\/p>\n
New perspectives<\/p>\n
Now is an important time to get involved in government and run for office, said Sam Bigham, the new Democratic mayor of Carnegie in Allegheny County.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re seeing a lot of leaders at different levels not really delivering on their promises or keeping their constituents\u2019 best interest at heart, especially not for young people like me,\u201d he said, pointing to issues like unaffordability and climate change.<\/p>\n
In Pennsylvania, the roles and responsibilities of mayors vary by municipality type. In some cities, the job is powerful and wide-reaching. In boroughs, the mayor\u2019s primary responsibilities are to \u201cpreserve order\u201d (i.e., oversee police and respond to emergencies) and enforce local ordinances. They can also break ties among council members.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s often a part-time job, and state law caps salaries based on the size of the borough, though individual municipalities may set pay well below the mandated maximums.<\/p>\n
The mayors who spoke to PA Local all represent boroughs, and acknowledged the limited powers that come with their office. But they hope to lean into the position\u2019s more ceremonial role as a representative of their community \u2014 and use it to bring fresh points of view to government.<\/p>\n
Matt Zechman, a Libertarian who was sworn in as mayor of Cleona Borough in Lebanon County this week, said it\u2019s vital for young people to start running for local office and working their way up so they can \u201cchange their own future.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a much different time than it was 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd if we have the same mindset that today\u2019s problems are the same as they were 50 years ago, and we treat them the same way, we\u2019re just going to keep spiraling downward even more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Winning support<\/p>\n
As Bigham went door to door during his campaign, he found \u201ca whole lot of people were actually excited about a young person running for office,\u201d he told PA Local.<\/p>\n
While some were skeptical of his age and experience level, he said he responded by \u201crunning a very serious campaign,\u201d listening to people, speaking intelligently about local issues, and making sure all his paperwork was in order.<\/p>\n
Joar F. K. Dahn, the new mayor of the borough of Darby in Delaware County, also said he ran into a \u201ca handful of people that were kind of very against a young person running,\u201d and insisted he \u201cwait his turn.\u201d<\/p>\n
But he stressed that those folks were a vocal minority, and thanked the older adults who\u2019ve guided him and made it \u201ctheir mission to to mentor the next generation,\u201d which he sees as \u201ccontributing to our future.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe young people are going to come, you just got to invite them to the table,\u201d Dahn said. \u201cYou got to make them feel like they also belong here, and you got to make sure they understand that their opinions [are] valid.\u201d<\/p>\n
Several of the mayors hope to motivate their peers to run for office or get civically involved in another way.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just want to let everybody know regardless of their background, age, or affiliation, or anything like that, that they do matter,\u201d said Dylan Stevens, a member of the Liberal Party who was elected mayor of the borough of Westover in Clearfield County by a one-vote margin. \u201cIf they want to make a difference, just go for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s \u201creally not as difficult as some people might think\u201d to run for local office, Carnegie\u2019s Bigham pointed out. He collected 10 signatures to secure his place on the ballot, and raised a few thousand dollars \u2014 \u201cprobably more than what you need in a lot of places,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, you have to be comfortable putting yourself out there and talking to all different kinds of people,\u201d Bigham said. \u201cI\u2019m a bit more introverted, so sometimes it can get really tiring to have to do that, but it can also be really rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joar F. K. Dahn of Darby<\/p>\n
Dahn, 28, calls himself Darby\u2019s \u201cbiggest cheerleader.\u201d When he was at college, the Bloomsburg University alumnus didn\u2019t tell people he was \u201cfrom Philly,\u201d like other students from Delaware County would, he told PA Local. He\u2019d say \u201cDarby.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dahn, whose family fled the Liberian Civil War when he was a child, has called Darby home for 20 years. He describes the small borough of 10,749 as a \u201cvery close knit community,\u201d but one that \u201chas its struggles.\u201d<\/p>\n
His dissatisfaction with local leadership motivated him to run for mayor. Working as a political operative for several years, he was inspired by the campaigns he was hired by and felt the officials in Darby weren\u2019t as committed.<\/p>\n
He started looking for someone to throw his support behind \u2014 and that person turned out to be himself, Dahn told PA Local. Several residents encouraged him. So he challenged the incumbent mayor in the Democratic primary and ended up winning by 20 points. Dahn ran unopposed in November.<\/p>\n
In his first 100 days, he wants to motivate community members to get more involved in local government and \u201cfeel like they\u2019re part of the process.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes, we\u2019ll have council meetings, and I\u2019m the only resident in the room,\u201d Dahn said. \u201cWe have council meetings and there\u2019s literally nobody there. \u2026 I want people to understand now that this is a new leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n
Public safety is a big priority for Dahn, who on the campaign trail heard from concerned grandmothers. He hopes to promote a positive relationship between residents and police, and work to reduce gun violence.<\/p>\n
\u201cI need every single grandmom to feel comfortable to walk any single street in Darby,\u201d Dahn said.<\/p>\n
Sam Bigham of Carnegie<\/p>\n
Carnegie\u2019s \u201cold-style\u201d Main Street and strong community connections drew Bigham \u2014 a resident since age 10 with deep family roots in the area \u2014 back to the borough of about 8,000 after he graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2024.<\/p>\n
Now the commonwealth\u2019s youngest active mayor, the 23-year-old had known for years that he wanted to work in government or public service, and his resume proves it. A former junior councilperson, Bigham also interned for a state representative and a congressman, and worked as a Democratic organizer ahead of last year\u2019s election.<\/p>\n
Early last year, Bigham landed the position of executive director of the Carnegie Community Development Corporation, a nonprofit that aims to support local businesses and boost the area\u2019s attractiveness. He plans to continue in that role alongside his part-time mayoral duties.<\/p>\n
He told PA Local he decided to run after talking with the incumbent, who was planning to step down. A friend from college helped Bigham campaign, and after lots of door-knocking and securing endorsements from several local politicians, he won the Democratic primary with 661 primary votes to his opponent\u2019s 204. (He also won enough write-in Republican votes to be listed under both parties on the November ballot.)<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to run on a message of community development and optimism and looking forward to the future,\u201d he told PA Local.<\/p>\n
Bigham\u2019s first-term goals include revitalizing Main Street, improving local infrastructure, updating the borough\u2019s branding, facilitating events between police and residents, and working on sustainability initiatives.<\/p>\n
Matt Zechman of Cleona<\/p>\n
Zechman has worn many hats in his 27 years: volunteer firefighter, EMT, combat medic in Afghanistan, coffee roaster, and father. His latest is mayor of Cleona, a 2,000-person borough he describes as a quiet place with \u201ctwo traffic lights,\u201d a \u201creally nice playground,\u201d and \u201ca lot of hometown spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although he didn\u2019t see a glaring need for major changes in his community, the lifelong resident ran to bring his skills and a \u201cnew perspective\u201d to the role.<\/p>\n
Zechman did much of his campaigning via social media, he told PA Local. Running on the Libertarian ticket, he beat the Republican incumbent by a nearly 2-to-1 margin in the November election.<\/p>\n
As mayor, Zechman wants to implement what he calls \u201cwindows-down policing,\u201d a practice he said remembers from his childhood.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would see the police chief and the mayor \u2014 they would drive in their vehicle, windows down, going slow, talking to residents, engaging,\u201d Zechman explained. \u201cI knew their names, they knew my name, they knew everyone\u2019s name. And in a town this small, that is very well possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
And even though it\u2019s not part of his job description on paper, he said he also wants to use his bully pulpit to find local business sponsors, seek grant funding, or crowdfund to install flashing pedestrian crossing signs, which he called an \u201cabsolute must\u201d for local road safety.<\/p>\n
Dylan Stevens of Westover<\/p>\n
Stevens made a \u201cspontaneous decision\u201d to run for mayor of Westover, a roughly 350-person borough in Clearfield County, just four days before the November election, he told PA Local.<\/p>\n
Raised in a conservative Republican household, Stevens began exploring third parties when he \u201cbecame disillusioned with the whole political situation\u201d in 2020. He landed on the Liberal Party of Pennsylvania, which was formed as the \u201cKeystone Party\u201d in 2022 by a group of people who believed the Libertarian Party was moving too far right.<\/p>\n
When Stevens, a 26-year-old who\u2019s lived in Westover for 11 years and works at a gas station in another town, realized there wasn\u2019t anyone on the ballot for mayor, he decided to give it a go. He wanted to \u201cdo more\u201d in his community and bring more exposure to the Liberal Party, he said.<\/p>\n
Stevens had mostly kept to himself before, so he took a \u201ckids\u2019-lemonade-stand-type-of-approach\u201d to drum up support, he told PA Local. With help from Liberal Party members from out of town, he introduced himself to people outside a general store a few days before the election and did the same on Election Day outside Westover\u2019s polling place. He said reactions ranged from neutral to \u201cOK, well, good luck.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stevens ended up getting 13 write-in votes, a single vote more than the next most popular write-in. According to a Liberal Party news release, his election marked the party\u2019s first mayoral victory in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though I was kind of an unknown, I guess I had the gift of the gab enough to let people know that I wanted to make a difference in my community and I wanted to give it my best effort,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cAnd for a lot of them, it seemed to be enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stevens hopes to work with the borough council to attract businesses and explore alternative water sources. He also wants to poll residents on local issues, revive the borough\u2019s Facebook page, and livestream public meetings to improve access for people who aren\u2019t able to attend in person.<\/p>\n
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Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
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