Pete Buttigieg

Pete Buttigieg
32nd Mayor of South Bend
Assumed office
January 1, 2012
Preceded by Steve Luecke
Personal details
Born Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg
(1982-01-19) January 19, 1982
South Bend, Indiana, U.S.
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Chasten Glezman[1][2]
Education Harvard University (BA)
Pembroke College, Oxford (BA)
Website Government website
Campaign website
Military service
Allegiance  United States
Service/branch  United States Navy
Rank Lieutenant
Battles/wars War in Afghanistan

Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg[3] ( /ˈbuːtɪdʒɛdʒ/; born January 19, 1982) is an American politician serving as the 32nd and current Mayor of South Bend, Indiana since 2012.[4] A member of the Democratic Party, Buttigieg is a graduate of Harvard University, a Rhodes Scholar, and a veteran of the War in Afghanistan. He has been mentioned as a possible candidate for President of the United States in the 2020 election.[5] If elected, Buttigieg would be the first openly gay U.S. President.[6]

Early life and education

Buttigieg was born in South Bend, Indiana, to Joseph Buttigieg and Jennifer Ann (née Montgomery). He is of Maltese and Scottish descent.[7]

Buttigieg graduated from St. Joseph High School in 2000, where he was president and valedictorian of his senior class.[8] In his senior year at St. Joseph's High School, he was honored by Caroline Kennedy and other members of President Kennedy's family during a May 22, 2000, ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Library for his prize-winning essay for the JFK Profiles in Courage Essay Contest. Buttigieg’s winning essay centered on the integrity and political courage demonstrated by U.S. Congressman Bernie Sanders of Vermont, one of nation's only Independent members of Congress. He was also selected as one of two Indiana delegates to the United States Senate Youth Program.

He attended Harvard College, where he was president of the Harvard Institute of Politics Student Advisory Committee and worked on the Institute's annual study of youth attitudes on politics.[9][10] Buttigieg was also a member of Phi Beta Kappa.[11]

Buttigieg graduated magna cum laude from Harvard in 2004, receiving his Bachelor of Arts in History and Literature and writing his thesis on the influence of puritanism on U.S. foreign policy as reflected in the Graham Greene novel The Quiet American.[12] Buttigieg received a first class honors degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics in 2007 from Pembroke College, Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.[13]

Early career and candidacy for Indiana State Treasurer

Before graduating from college Buttigieg worked as an investigative intern at WMAQ-TV, Chicago's NBC news affiliate. Buttigieg also worked as an intern for Jill Long Thompson's 2002 congressional campaign, and later served as an adviser to her 2008 gubernatorial campaign.[14]

From 2004 to 2005 Buttigieg worked in Washington, D.C., as conference director for former U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen's international strategic consulting firm, The Cohen Group. He also spent several months working on Senator John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign, where he was a policy and research specialist.[15]

After graduating from Oxford, he worked as a consultant at McKinsey and Company, a management strategy consulting firm, for three years, from 2007 through 2010.[16][17]

He was the Democratic Party candidate in 2010 for State Treasurer of Indiana. Buttigieg lost to incumbent Richard Mourdock, garnering 37.5% of the vote.[18]

Military service

Buttigieg was commissioned as a Naval intelligence officer in the Naval Reserves in 2009, and deployed to Afghanistan in 2013.[19] After a seven-month deployment, Buttigieg returned to South Bend.[20] He remains a lieutenant in the Naval Reserve.[21]

Mayor of South Bend

Pictured is the County-City Building in downtown South Bend. The County-City Building houses the Office of the Mayor, as well as many other municipal and public offices.
The County-City Building in downtown South Bend, which houses the Office of the Mayor.

Buttigieg was elected Mayor of South Bend on November 8, 2011, with 74% of the vote[22] and took office on January 1 as the youngest mayor of a U.S. city with at least 100,000 residents.[22][23]

He was named mayor of the year for 2013 by GovFresh.com, tying with former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg.[24][25] In 2014, The Washington Post called Buttigieg "the most interesting mayor you've never heard of", citing his age, education, and military background.[22] In 2016, The New York Times published an op-ed praising Buttigieg's work as mayor and boldly asking in the headline if he could eventually be elected as "the first gay president."[26]

Buttigieg has made redevelopment a top priority of his administration. One of the signature programs has been the Vacant and Abandoned Properties Initiative, known locally as "1,000 Properties in 1,000 Days", which is a project to repair or demolish targeted properties across the city.[27][28] The city had addressed 991 properties as of August 2015.[27] The goal was completed by the scheduled end date for the program, November 24, 2015.[29]

Buttigieg served for seven months in Afghanistan as a lieutenant in the Navy Reserves, returning to the United States on September 23, 2014.[30] In his absence, Deputy Mayor Mark Neal, the City Controller for South Bend, served in the role of executive commencing in February 2014. Buttigieg returned to his role as mayor in October 2014.

Buttigieg announced that he would seek a second term on November 18, 2014.[31] The Democratic Party primary was held on May 5, 2015, and Buttigieg won with 78% of the vote.[32] On November 3, 2015, Buttigieg was elected to his second term as mayor of South Bend with over 80% of the vote.[33]

Buttigieg was named a 2014 Aspen Institute Rodel Fellow.[34] He was named a recipient of the John F. Kennedy New Frontier Fenn Award in 2015.[35]

On December 19, 2016, Reuters reported that South Bend had neighborhoods in which 31% of tested children were diagnosed with elevated lead levels in the blood: a rate six times higher than Flint, Michigan reported the same year.[36] Buttigieg declared in his 2017 State of the City address that "the City has no specific officer, staff, or funding for health, [but] we will continue to actively support other health authorities in ensuring we live in a safe environment, especially for children." [37]

In 2016, Buttigieg authorized the city's first officer of diversity and inclusion, with direction to produce a strategic report on diversity and inclusion in city government.[38] The report was issued on July 15, 2016.[39]

On June 16, 2017, the Mayor's "Smart Streets" construction project concluded. The multi-year $25 million initiative converted many downtown one-way streets to two way use, and added pedestrian and bike friendly amenities.[40]

Controversies

In 2012, Buttigieg demoted the first African American police chief of South Bend, Darryl Boykins, and fired police communications director Karen DePaepe, following the revelation of taped telephone conversations between four white South Bend police officers and the spouse of an officer. The tapes were alleged to contain "racist content".[41] Buttigieg elected to settle suits brought by Boykins, DePaepe, and the four officers out of court.[42] The Common Council of South Bend sued the Mayor to release at least some of the tapes; this suit is still pending in state court.[43]

In 2013, Buttigieg's replacement for Boykins as police chief, Ron Teachman, was subject to investigation for allegedly not supporting a fellow police officer during an nearby fight. Local advocates expressed concern that the officer Teachman allegedly failed to assist was African American. After a report by the Indiana State Police on the incident, Buttigieg concluded there was no discipline required of Chief Teachman, a decision that caused the head of the Board of Public Safety, Pat Cottrell, to resign in protest.[44] Cottrell and the officer Chief Teachman allegedly failed to assist, Lt. David Newton, requested that the report be released, which Mayor Buttigieg declined to do.[45]

In 2016, Buttigieg drew national attention for the city's handling of an excessive force and civil rights case involving three South Bend police officers and an innocent African American teen, DeShawn Franklin. Suspected of a crime he did not commit, Franklin's home was entered at night by the officers without a warrant, and he was punched and Tasered during the encounter, but was ultimately not arrested. Buttigieg's administration offered the teen's family $15,000 in settlement. The family rejected this offer, and the case went to trial. A jury found that the officers had violated Franklin's civil rights, and he was awarded $18.[46][47][48]

2017 DNC chair election

On January 5, 2017, Buttigieg announced his candidacy for Chair of the Democratic National Committee in its 2017 chairmanship election.[49] He "built a national profile as an emerging dark horse in the race for the chairmanship with the backing of former DNC Chairman Howard Dean."[50] Buttigieg "campaigned on the idea that the aging Democratic Party needed to empower its millennial members."[50] He withdrew from the race on the day of the election, in his nomination speech.[50]

Personal life

On June 16, 2015, Buttigieg announced in an essay that he is gay.[51] He is the first openly gay executive in Indiana.[52] On December 28, 2017, Buttigieg announced his engagement to Chasten Glezman.[1] On June 16, 2018, they were married in a private ceremony at the Cathedral of St. James' Episcopal Church in downtown South Bend.[53] He is a member of The Episcopal Church.[54]

References

  1. 1 2 http://www.wndu.com/content/news/South-Bend-Mayor-Pete-Buttigieg-announces-engagement-467023153.html
  2. ↑ Flores, Santiago. "PETE BUTTIGIEG: CHASTEN GLEZMAN: OLIVER DAVIS". Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  3. ↑ "Phi Beta Kappa elects 92 seniors to Harvard chapter". Harvard Gazette. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
  4. ↑ "Secretary of State : Elections Division: Election Foundation Wide". In.gov. Retrieved January 10, 2012.
  5. ↑ CNN, Eric Bradner,. "#2020Vision: Kander and Buttigieg make moves". Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  6. ↑ https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/03/27/buttigieg-2020-president-off-message-217712
  7. ↑ Tom McNaught; John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum (May 2, 2000). "2000 Winning Essay by Peter Buttigieg". jfklibrary.org.
  8. ↑ South Bend Tribune (October 24, 2010). "Indiana State Treasurer Name: Pete Buttigieg". southbendtribune.com.
  9. ↑ Harvard Institute of Politics (January 2012). "Public Service Fast Track Former IOP Student Advisory Committee member Peter Buttigieg '04 elected mayor of South Bend" (PDF). harvard.edu.
  10. ↑ "American Rhodes Scholars-Elect for 2005" (PDF). Americanrhodes.org. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  11. ↑ Harvard University Gazette (2007). "Phi Beta Kappa elects 92 seniors to Harvard chapter". harvard.edu.
  12. ↑ Ken Gewertz; Harvard University Gazette (2007). "Rhodes Scholars announced Six talented students are Oxford-bound". harvard.edu.
  13. ↑ University of Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business (March 30, 2012). "TEN YEARS HENCE: Pete Buttigieg, Mayor, City of South Bend". nd.edu.
  14. ↑ Project Vote Smart (January 13, 2014). "Pete Buttigieg's Biography". votesmart.org.
  15. ↑ Arthur Foulkes (April 8, 2010). "Candidate for state office brings campaign to city". Terre Haute Tribune-Star.
  16. ↑ "Learn About Pete Buttigieg for South Bend Mayor". Peteforsouthbend.com. January 1, 2012. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Buttigieg Enters South Bend Mayoral Race - Pete Buttigieg". Peteforsouthbend.com. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
  18. ↑ "Indiana General Election November 2, 2010". Indiana Secretary of State. February 8, 2011.
  19. ↑ Erin Blasko (September 13, 2013). "Navy Reserve to deploy Buttigieg to Afghanistan". South Bend Tribune.
  20. ↑ South Bend mayor back from Afghanistan deployment, Navy Times (September 26, 2014).
  21. ↑ Bruni, Frank (June 11, 2016). "The First Gay President?". New York Times. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
  22. 1 2 3 Fuller, Jaime (March 10, 2014). "The most interesting mayor you've never heard of". Washington Post. Retrieved June 19, 2015.
  23. ↑ "Mayor Pete Buttigieg". City of South Bend. Retrieved June 19, 2015.
  24. ↑ "GovFresh names Buttigieg mayor of the year". Wndu.com. January 24, 2014. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  25. ↑ "2013 GovFresh Awards". Govfresh.com. 2013. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  26. ↑ Bruni, Frank (June 11, 2016). "The First Gay President?". The New York Times. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  27. 1 2 "Vacant & Abandoned Properties Initiative". City of South Bend. Retrieved June 24, 2014.
  28. ↑ Blasko, Erin (February 28, 2013). "'1,000 properties in 1,000 days'". South Bend Tribune. Retrieved September 24, 2014.
  29. ↑ "Progress Update". City of South Bend. July 10, 2017. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  30. ↑ Bell, Kyle. "Mayor Buttigieg Reports Being Back on US Soil". South Bend Voice. Retrieved September 24, 2014.
  31. ↑ Bell, Kyle (November 18, 2014). "Mayor Buttigieg Announces Re-Election Bid". South Bend Voice. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  32. ↑ Diane Daniels Annie Chang (May 20, 2015). "Pete Buttigieg winner of Democratic primary for South Bend mayor race". WSBT.com. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  33. ↑ Peterson, Mark (November 3, 2015). "South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg wins re-election". WNDU-TV. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  34. ↑ South Bend, City of. "BUTTIGIEG ESTABLISHES CITY DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION INITIATIVE". www.southbend.gov. The City of South Bend. Retrieved 8.1.17. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  35. ↑ "November 13, 2015 – 2015 New Frontier Award Release" (Press release). Harvard Institute of Politics. October 28, 2015. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  36. ↑ Pell, M.B.; Schneyer, Joshua (December 19, 2016). "Thousands of US locales where lead poisioning is worse than Flint". Reuters. Reuters. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
  37. ↑ Buttigieg, Pete. "MAYOR PETE BUTTIGIEG'S REMARKS AS PREPARED FOR THE 2017 STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS". southbendin.gov. City of South Bend. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
  38. ↑ South Bend, City of. "BUTTIGIEG ESTABLISHES CITY DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION INITIATIVE". www.southbendin.gov. The City of South Bend. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
  39. ↑ South Bend, City of. "BUTTIGIEG ESTABLISHES CITY DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION INITIATIVE". southbendin.gov. The City of South Bend. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
  40. ↑ Torie, Caroline (June 16, 2017). "Smart Streets grand opening Friday". WSBT. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
  41. ↑ Buckley, Madeline; Wright, Lincoln. "Judge's ruling on police wiretap tapes leaves questions unanswered". The South Bend Tribune. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
  42. ↑ Peterson, Mark. "Largest settlement yet on SB police tapes case". www.wndu.com. WNDU. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
  43. ↑ Parrott, Jeff (August 2, 2017). "U.S. appeals court rules South Bend police wiretap case belongs in state court". The South Bend Tribune. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
  44. ↑ Schekler, Christian (September 25, 2013). "UPDATED: Mayor: No discipline for police chief". The South Bend Tribune. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
  45. ↑ Schekler, Christian (October 15, 2013). "UPDATED: Mayor under fire in police incident". The South Bend Tribune. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
  46. ↑ Phillips, Kristine. "An innocent black man was punched, Tasered and arrested by police officers. A jury awarded him $18". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
  47. ↑ Hackney, Suzette. "Hackney: A case where civil rights are worth $1". www.indystar.com. The Indy Star. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
  48. ↑ Bult, Laura. "Innocent black man was assaulted by Indiana officers and arrested in mistaken identity case — his family was awarded $1 in civil rights settlement". The New York Daily News. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
  49. ↑ Jonathan Martin, Indiana Mayor Running for D.N.C. Chairman, New York Times(January 5, 2017).
  50. 1 2 3 Alex Seitz-Wald, DNC Race: Democrats Elect New Leader Saturday, NBC News (February 25, 2017).
  51. ↑ "'South Bend Mayor: Why coming out matters'". South Bend Tribune. Retrieved June 19, 2015.
  52. ↑ "'Pete Butigieg's announcement creates a buzz'". South Bend Tribune. Retrieved June 19, 2015.
  53. ↑ Tribune, Mary Shown South Bend. "Mayor Pete Buttigieg marries partner Chasten Glezman in downtown South Bend". South Bend Tribune. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
  54. ↑ "Opinion | The First Gay President?". Retrieved 2018-08-21.
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