Thomas P. Ryan Jr. (December 3, 1928 – March 14, 2003) was the 63rd

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located i ...

Biography

Ryan was born in 1928 in Rochester. He served in the Marine Corps and later graduated from

St. Bonaventure University St. Bonaventure University is a private Franciscan university in St. Bonaventure, New York. It has 2,381 undergraduate and graduate students. The Franciscan Brothers established the university in 1858. In athletics, the St. Bonaventure Bonn ...

and Syracuse Law School. In 1961, he was elected county supervisor of Monroe County. He was then elected to the Rochester city council. On January 9, 1973, the city council passed a resolution introduced by Ryan that condemned the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, making Rochester one of the only American cities to formally take an anti-war position. Ryan was first appointed mayor in 1974 after the Democratic Party won a majority of seats on the city council. He began his tenure as Mayor under the old council-manager government, in which the mayor was selected from among members of city council to be that body's presiding officer. A city manager appointed by city council and accountable to that body handled the day to day administrative duties of government. This system had been in place since 1928 as a result of government reforms championed by the late industrial magnate

George Eastman George Eastman (July 12, 1854March 14, 1932) was an American entrepreneur who founded the Eastman Kodak Company and helped to bring the photographic use of roll film into the mainstream. He was a major philanthropist, establishing the East ...

. Ryan, who had exercised greater de facto influence over city policy than most of his predecessors under this system and functioned in many respects like a chief executive in policy matters, championed a change in the city charter to abolish the post of city manager and return to a "strong mayor" system like that in other major cities of New York State, in which the mayor was directly elected, directly accountable to voters, and served as chief executive of city government. The charter change was approved by city voters in 1984. Ryan was elected to two more terms as mayor in 1985 and 1989. In addition to the revision in city government structure which began during his terms of office and continues in force today, Ryan became known for helping the city overcome a fiscal crisis in the 1970s to avoid bankruptcy and overseeing several revitalization projects in the city center. These included a new convention center, parks along the

Genesee Genesee, derived from the Seneca word for "pleasant valley", may refer to: Geographic features Canada * Genesee, Alberta, an unincorporated community United States * Genesee, California *Genesee, Colorado *Genesee County, Michigan *Genesee C ...

riverfront, and a new baseball stadium, which became

Frontier Field Innovative Field (originally known as Frontier Field) is a baseball stadium located at One Morrie Silver Way in downtown Rochester, New York. It has been the home of the Rochester Red Wings of the International League since 1997. The park opened ...

. Despite his strong interest in city affairs and long tenure in office, Ryan was known for shyness and avoided public speeches or interviews. In 1993, Ryan declined to run for another term and announced his retirement from politics. He died in Rochester in 2003.

References

External links

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Press Release for Groundbreaking of the "Mayor Thomas P. Ryan Jr. Community Center and Library & Audubon School No. 33 Addition and Reconstruction"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Thomas P. Jr. Mayors of Rochester, New York New York (state) Democrats 1928 births 2003 deaths 20th-century American politicians