Pittsburgh City Council, District 8, Special Election When Pittsburgh City Councilor Dan Gilman (D-Squirrel Hill) announced he would take over as Mayor Bill Peduto’s chief of staff in 2018, it wasn’t a shock to many. Gilman was Peduto’s chief of staff during the mayor’s years on city council; their ties in city government are strong. But after Gilman’s announcement, some excitement was quickly injected into the race to replace him. Sonja Finn, the chef and owner of Dinette in East Liberty, threw her name into the race and was quickly followed by Gilman’s chief of staff, Erika Strassburger. With Finn’s name recognition and status (she was featured on the Pittsburgh episode of Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown) and Strassburger’s experience working in council, along with an endorsement by Gilman, the race for Pittsburgh’s next city councilor is sure to be lively. Finn, of Point Breeze, says she was compelled to run because she feels she’s “really rooted in District 8.” The Pittsburgh native moved back home more than a decade ago after working as a chef in San Francisco. Since then, she opened Dinette, has been involved at her son’s school, Linden K-5 in Point Breeze, and has advocated in Washington, D.C., for food-justice programs. If she’s elected, Finn says she will focus on equitable development, so that the growth in the East End is experienced by all its residents. Finn says she can bring outside experience that can benefit council, particularly in its push to provide paid sick days to employees in the city, which received criticism from restaurant-industry lobbying groups and was eventually blocked in the courts. “There has to be someone there who actu-
State Rep. Rick Saccone (left) and former U.S. Attorney Conor Lamb (right) will face off in a March special election for a U.S. House seat.
ally has an idea on how these businesses actually work,” says Finn, citing her success owning and operating Dinette for 10 years, while paying her employees fair wages and offering them benefits. “With expertise, [council] might not get the push-back from the industry.” Strassburger, of Squirrel Hill, says she has wanted to be a leader since she moved to Pittsburgh in 2009. After Trump’s elec-
tion, and participating in the Women’s March in Washington, she jumped at the chance to fill the District 8 seat. She’s been dismayed at Trump’s policies and the sexual-assault allegations made against him. She’s also been awoken to the comparatively tiny role women have in all levels of Pennsylvania government. “I vowed to myself that if I had the opportunity to run, I would take that
chance,” says Strassburger. She believes her role as Gilman’s chief of staff can easily transition into a successful term on city council. “I excel at working with the community directly and getting them the resources they need,” says Strassburger. “That might seem difficult for people, but I absolutely love it, that is not a job for me.” But Strassburger touts more than her CONTINUES ON PG. 08
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