Michelle Madoff (; August 2, 1928 – October 12, 2013) was a Canadian-born American municipal politician who served on the

Pittsburgh City Council The Pittsburgh City Council serves as the legislative body in the City of Pittsburgh. It consists of nine members. City council members are chosen by plurality elections in each of nine districts. The city operates under a mayor-council syst ...

from 1978 to 1994.

Early life and education

Born as Pauline Radzinski in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, she attended Central Commerce High School and

Brown's Business College Brown's Business College was a chain of business colleges located in the midwestern United States, started in Illinois in the 1870s by George W. Brown (1845-1918) of Jacksonville, Illinois.Kemp, Bill (29 November 2008)Brown's delivered white-collar ...

. 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.

Early career

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 The Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation began as the American Iron Company, founded in 1852 by Bernard Lauth and Benjamin Franklin Jones, a few miles (c 4 km) south of Pittsburgh along the Monongahela River. Lauth's interest was bought in ...

to keep steel-working jobs in Pittsburgh. She was unsuccessful in runs for

in 1973 and Allegheny County Commissioner in 1975.

Pittsburgh city council

Madoff was first elected in 1978 to fill the unexpired term of

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. Caliguiri was serving as President of Pittsburgh City Council and became mayor when

Peter Flaherty Peter Francis Flaherty (June 25, 1924 – April 18, 2005) was an American politician and attorney. He served as assistant district attorney of Allegheny County from 1957 to 1964, a member of the Pittsburgh City Council from 1966 to 1970, the 54th ...

was appointed Deputy Attorney General of the United States in the

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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 Sophie Masloff (née Friedman; December 23, 1917 – August 17, 2014) was an American politician. A long-time member of the Democratic Party and civil servant, she was elected to the Pittsburgh City Council and later served as the mayor of Pitts ...

, 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." Madoff and sometimes council president Eugene "Jeep" DePasquale were regular rivals on council through the 1980s. In 1983, DePasquale's dismissal of a tax she proposed when he joked at a council meeting that he would "kiss eryou-know-what" if it ever raised just $20. After the tax raised $1,542.15 ($ today) in a short time, she challenged DePasquale to make good on his promise by waiting for him under the Kaufmann's Clock with a dozen reporters and 100 on-lookers on January 24, 1983. DePasquale, however, was a no-show, later telling reporters that "I thought it would be undignified". In 1984 she loudly excoriated councilman Steve Grabowski after he was the lone vote against a law increasing parking garage safety in the city, by exclaiming "Shame on you!" During the March, 1986 council vote to have the city sell bonds worth $21 million to save the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

, Madoff claimed she was "threatened with impeachment". In a 1991 run for city controller, Madoff finished third, with 28.3% of votes. Madoff lost her council seat after being defeated in the 1993 Democratic primary.

Retirement

Madoff later lived in South Carolina and Las Vegas. She married Fred Scheske in 2001 and settled in Arizona. They had originally met on the online dating service Match.com. She died at a retirement community in

Peoria, Arizona Peoria is a city in Maricopa and Yavapai counties in the state of Arizona. Most of the city is located in Maricopa County, while a portion in the north is in Yavapai County. It is a major suburb of Phoenix. As of the 2020 census, the popul ...

on October 12, 2013, aged 85, from leukemia.

References

External links

Pittsburgh City Council District 2Michelle Madoff Papers (Finding Aid, University of Pittsburgh Library System Archives Service Center)1983 story on Madoff
{{DEFAULTSORT:Madoff, Michelle 1928 births 2013 deaths American environmentalists American women environmentalists Canadian emigrants to the United States Deaths from cancer in Arizona Deaths from leukemia Pennsylvania Democrats Pittsburgh City Council members Politicians from Pittsburgh Politicians from Toronto Women city councillors in Pennsylvania 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century American women