Politics in Pittsburgh: A Female Free Zone?

Today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has an article on the dearth of elected women in the city of Pittsburgh. It notes that there is just one woman (Twanda Carlisle) among 11 elected officials and goes on to say:

Before Irma D'Ascenzo ascended to council in 1956, city governance was entirely a man's game. For 49 years since, women have held one or two council seats. One served as mayor -- Sophie Masloff, who held the post from 1988 through 1993. There has never been a female controller.

So can we expect it to get any better any time soon?

Tonya Payne is certainly expected to win a seat on city council in District 6.

There's a rumor afloat that Eileen Conroy may run for District 3. That may offer some poetic justice as outgoing councilman Gene Ricciardi took her job as district justice.

And this past June saw a press conference by Pennsylvanians for Fair Representation questioning the all male appointed members of the Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority.

The article also mentions Gloria Forouzan's upcoming Run, Baby, Run workshop (9/17/05), which gives women the information they need to run for office. (2PJ wrote about it here.)

The article states that 32 percent of all council members in the US are women. Surely Pittsburgh can do better than we have up to now.