Bruce A. Kraus (born April 13, 1954) is an American politician and businessman from
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
. He has served on the
Pittsburgh City Council
The Pittsburgh City Council serves as the legislative body in the City of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city ...
since 2008, representing the 3rd district. He was the president of the council from 2014 to 2020.
Early life
Prior to becoming a Councilman, Kraus worked as an
interior design
Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordina ...
consultant and also served as president of the South Side
Chamber of Commerce
A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to ad ...
.
He was a member of Mayor
Tom Murphy's Graffiti Task Force and Clean Pittsburgh Commission.
Political career
Kraus first ran for the seat vacated by
Gene Ricciardi, who resigned to become a district judge, in the 2006 special election. Though he was endorsed by the ''
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the All ...
'', his bid was unsuccessful.
In 2007, he ran again against incumbent Jeff Koch and won the primary. Kraus, a Democrat, faced only a Libertarian opponent, Mark Rauterkus, who was running simultaneously for Pittsburgh City Controller. Kraus won and was sworn in on January 7, 2008, as part of a trio of new Council members (including
Patrick Dowd
Patrick Dowd (born 1968) is a Democratic Party politician in the United States. From 2008 until 2013, he served as a member of the Pittsburgh City Council from District 7, which includes the neighborhoods of Bloomfield, East Liberty, Friendshi ...
and Ricky Burgess). He sought re-election in 2011, facing another Democratic primary against Jeff Koch, who had the support of Mayor
Luke Ravenstahl. Kraus won 54% of the vote to Koch's 38%, with two other candidates each receiving 4%. No Republican or third-party candidate filed for the seat so Kraus ran unopposed in the general election in November 2011.
As a city councilman, Kraus drafted the city's first
domestic partnership
A domestic partnership is a legal relationship, usually between couples, who live together and share a common domestic life, but are not married (to each other or to anyone else). People in domestic partnerships receive benefits that guarantee r ...
registry which passed in 2009. In 2014, he sponsored legislation to add gender identity and expression as an explicitly protected class with regard to housing, employment and public accommodation in the city.
He has also been involved in trying to curb public drunkenness and overcrowding in South Side bars. In September 2009, City Council passed his ordinance banning public urination, creating the first such ban in Pittsburgh. He has authored ordinances increasing open-container fines and regulating the installation of sidewalk cafes. He introduced the Responsible Hospitality Institute’s ("RHI") Sociable City Plan, which has worked to develop a comprehensive strategy to regulate the nighttime economy on Pittsburgh's South Side and elsewhere in the metropolitan area.
Personal life
Kraus is the city’s first openly gay elected official.
He lives in Pittsburgh's
South Side Flats
The South Side Flats is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's South Side area. It is located just south of the Monongahela River. The neighborhood has one of the City of Pittsburgh's largest concentrations of 19th-century homes, which ha ...
neighborhood.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kraus, Bruce
Pittsburgh City Council members
Gay politicians
Living people
1954 births
LGBT city councillors from the United States
LGBT people from Pennsylvania
Businesspeople from Pittsburgh
21st-century LGBT people