City Councilmember P.G. Sittenfeld, with his wife Sara and son George to the right, announced his candidacy for Cincinnati mayor Sunday. Photo provided
By Dan Yount
The Cincinnati Herald
Cincinnati City Council Member P.G. Sittenfeld formally launched his campaign to be elected the city’s mayor in November 2021 at gathering of supporters at the Laborers 265 Hall in Evanston on Sunday.
The 35-year-old council member, who became the youngest person ever elected to City Council in 2011 at the age of 26, was surrounded by a diverse group of high-profile Democratic supporters.
They included African American leaders like Hamilton County Democractic Party Chair Gwen McFarlin, former Mayor Mark Mallory and State Sen. Cecil Thomas, four of his fellow Democratic council members, leaders of Cincinnati area labor unions, members of the Cincinnati Public Schools Board of Education and candidates for county offices this year in a show of support.
City Councilmember David Mann has already announced his mayoral candidacy. “We have come to save the future, to take Cincinnati’s tale of two cities and make it one so everyone has an opportunity to experience the best Cincinnati has to offer,” Sittenfeld said. “Cincinnati has been a city that worked for some, but not for all. Our city has had a boom in our economy, but we still use ZIP Codes to determine life expectancy, health and economic determinants. We must face this head-on. We have to shape the future and make the city a just one. We can do this. We can improve our health and economy, our quest for racial justice and equality for all.’’
Sittenfeld said every neighborhood in the city should be a safe and nurturing place where parents are glad to raise their children.
He pointed to initiatives he has taken while on the City Council to address issues such as increased funding for neighborhoods and affordable housing, bail reform, good wages, support for issues that would improve and expand the transit system, and efforts to reduce gun violence.
“I will be relentless in fighting for good, new jobs, in standing up for workers and their rights, in dismantling the racist system and the staggering discrepancies, in helping new Black and Brown businesses grow.
“This election about transforming and lifting up the city for the world to see. We have come to shape the future — to Cincinnati’s ‘tale of two cities’ and make us one.”
He added, “It is a daunting task. But we have faced serious crises before and we have rallied, we have bounced back and we’ve gotten back on our feet. We can do it again.”
Mark Mallory said that when Sittenfeld came on the council in 2011 while he was mayor, Sittenfeld “took the place by storm. He was full of energy and bursting with love for our great city.’’
Councilmember Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney, whom Sittenfeld recently appointed to fill a vacancy on the council, said that in these challenging and controversial times of COVID-19 and protests for racial justice, the city is still divided and needs a bridge builder. “That person is P.G. Sittenfeld,” she said. “He is passionate about our city and those who are underserved and in need. P.G. always is looking for ways to make our city better. In the midst of a difficult budget process, he found funding for affordable housing, jobs for youth, shelters for homeless families, and funds for struggling small businesses. he is the change we’ve been waiting for, and the time is now.”
Sittenfeld was a basketball star at Seven Hills High School. He graduated from Princeton University, and then attended graduate school in the United Kingdom on a Marshall Scholarship.