Michael M. Dawida (born September 4, 1949) is a former Allegheny County Commissioner, member of the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

, and the

Pennsylvania State Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered ev ...

Education

A native of Carrick and a graduate of

Carrick High School Carrick High School is a public school in the Carrick neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Carrick is one of ten high schools in the Pittsburgh Public Schools, and one of the few to offer Business Technology and Health Technology programs. Feeder distric ...

, he earned a history degree from

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

in 1971. From 1969 until 1977, Dawida was a childcare worker, working especially with delinquent teens and drug addicts. In 1977, he earned a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

degree from

Hamline University School of Law Hamline University School of Law was a private law school affiliated with Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The School of Law was founded in 1972 as the Midwestern School of Law by a group of legal professionals. In 1976, Midwestern ...

Pennsylvania House of Representatives and Senate

He represented the 26th and 36th legislative districts in the

from 1979 to 1988. He represented the 43rd senatorial district in the

from 1989 to 1996.

Allegheny County Commissioner

He was an Allegheny County Commissioner, alongside

Bob Cranmer Robert Wesley "Bob" Cranmer (born 1956, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is a veteran, businessman, author, and politician, best known as a former Republican Party (United States), Republican County Commissioner of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Al ...

and Larry Dunn from 1996, until December 1999, when the Board of Commissioners was replaced with a County Executive as part of Allegheny County's

Home Rule Charter Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...

. Cranmer split with his Republican running mate Larry Dunn over major differences concerning the managing of the county government, and formed a close governing alliance with

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

commissioner Dawida. During their administration Mike Dawida and Bob Cranmer oversaw the rehabilitation and restoration of the famed

Henry Hobson Richardson Henry Hobson Richardson, FAIA (September 29, 1838 – April 27, 1886) was an American architect, best known for his work in a style that became known as Richardsonian Romanesque. Along with Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright, Richardson is one ...

Allegheny County Jail The old Allegheny County Jail in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is part of a complex (along with the Allegheny County Courthouse) designed by H. H. Richardson. The buildings are considered among the finest examples of the Romanesque Revival ...

designed in the late 1800s. The vacant and deteriorating structure was converted to house the new combined home of the juvenile and adult family sections of Allegheny County Common Pleas Court. The $46 million spent on the renovation project was nearly 23 times the original cost of both of the

Richardsonian Romanesque Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revival style incorporates 11th and 12th century southern French, Spanish, and Italian Romanesque ...

masterpieces, the jail and county courthouse. Cranmer and

Mike Dawida Michael M. Dawida (born September 4, 1949) is a former Allegheny County Commissioner, member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and the Pennsylvania State Senate. Education A native of Carrick and a graduate of Carrick High School, ...

worked cooperatively to achieve their city-county goals, and as the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette put it: "The partnership held strong through decisions that got county government back on track." The combined leadership of Cranmer, Dawida, and Mayor Tom Murphy (

Thomas J. Murphy, Jr. Thomas J. Murphy Jr. (born August 15, 1944) is an American former politician and city management consultant from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He served in state government in two capacities, from 1979 to 1982 representing the 17th district, and f ...

) led to a building boom in

Pittsburgh 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 ...

dubbed "Renaissance III" that was a catalyst for how the city would be viewed a decade later when it was selected to host the 2009

G-20 summit The following list of G20 summits summarizes all G20 conferences held at various different levels: summits of heads of state or heads of government, ministerial-level meetings, Engagement Group meetings and others. Summits of state leaders ...

, led by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

. The Post-Gazette commented in 1998 that, "Allegheny County Commissioners Bob Cranmer and Mike Dawida understand the importance of a strong urban core and, through their partnership, have helped the mayor find ways to do what lesser leadership would considerable unthinkable...It is a meeting of such focused minds and willing spirits that stands to take Pittsburgh into a new era. Call it Renaissance III or call it just a better place to live, this is the blueprint of a renewable city that more people will be proud to call home." In 1999 he ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for County Executive, losing to

Cyril Wecht Cyril Harrison Wecht (born March 20, 1931) is an American forensic pathologist. He has been the president of both the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and the American College of Legal Medicine, and headed the board of trustees of the Amer ...

, who subsequently lost to Republican

Jim Roddey James C. Roddey (born 1935) is a Pennsylvania businessman and politician best known as the former (and first) chief executive of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, from 2000 to 2004. He is a Republican and was the chair of the Republican Committee of ...

in the general election. He is a professor at

California University of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Western University, California (commonly known as PennWest California) is a public university campus in California, Pennsylvania and one of three campuses of Pennsylvania Western University, part of the Pennsylvania State System o ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawida, Michael Democratic Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Democratic Party Pennsylvania state senators County commissioners in Pennsylvania 1949 births Living people Hamline University School of Law alumni