Michelle Madoff
| Michelle Madoff | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Pittsburgh City Council from the 2nd District | |
|
In office May 30, 1978 – January 3, 1994 |
|
| Preceded by | Richard Caliguiri |
| Succeeded by | Alan Hertzberg |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Pauline Radzinzki August 2, 1928 Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | October 12, 2013 (aged 85) Peoria, Arizona, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| a.^ Madoff was originally elected to Caliguiri's at-large seat, but won re-election after a voter-approved referendum divided City Council seats into districts. | |
Michelle Madoff (/ˈmædɒf/; August 2, 1928 – October 12, 2013) was a Canadian-born American municipal politician who served on the Pittsburgh City Council from 1978 to 1994.
Born as Pauline Radzinski in Toronto, Canada, she attended Central Commerce High School and Brown's Business College. Because her birth name was difficult for teachers to pronounce, she legally changed it to Micki Rodin. She moved to the United States in 1952, where she married Dr. Henry R. Madoff in 1958. She settled in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh in 1961.
Before entering politics Madoff was a community and environmental activist. The polluted air of Pittsburgh adversely affected her asthma, inspiring her to start Group Against Smog and Pollution (GASP) in 1969. Madoff co-founded and was the first president of the Pittsburgh-based organization, a local group with a long history of environmental activism. Madoff worked with Jones and Laughlin Steel Company to keep steel-working jobs in Pittsburgh. She was unsuccessful in runs for Pittsburgh City Council in 1973 and Allegheny County Commissioner in 1975.
Madoff was first elected in 1978 to fill the unexpired term of Richard Caliguiri. Caliguiri was serving as President of Pittsburgh City Council and became mayor when Peter Flaherty was appointed Deputy Attorney General of the United States in the Jimmy Carter Presidential Administration. When the Pittsburgh City Council switched from one being elected at-large to a by-district format in 1989, she was the first person elected to represent Council District 2, winning 26.5% of the vote.
In October 1979 she picketed in front of Mayor Caliguri's office every day for greater minority representation in city government.
She famously led a years long fight to have the one restroom that was available to City Council at the Pittsburgh City Hall redesigned to be used in a uni-sex fashion, hosting a "toilet party" for her supporters in April 1980 to celebrate her success. Future mayor Sophie Masloff, the only other female on council at the time, did not attend, and later commented to the press: "What the hell do I care about her toilet? I got more important things to do."
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