Joseph Schember (born November 13, 1950) is an American banker and politician and serving as the 48th mayor of

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 ...

. Schember previously served as a vice president of

PNC Bank The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (stylized as PNC) is an American bank holding company and financial services corporation based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its banking subsidiary, PNC Bank, operates in 27 states and the District ...

and as a member of the Erie City Council between 2006 and 2012. On November 7, 2017, the people of Erie voted for the next Mayor and Schember won 53% of the vote to his

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

challenger John Persinger who gained 47% of the vote. The previous Mayor, Joseph E. Sinnott, served for 3 consecutive terms from 2006 to 2018 and ran unopposed in the latest election. Erie was at a decisive moment in its history as under Sinnott, Erie was kept out of Act 47 which is reserved for financially distressed cities.

Early life and education

Joseph Schember was born on November 13, 1950, to the parents of Joseph and Helene Flatley Schember. He has two sisters, Mary Anne and Helene who is a Rocket Scientist with a Ph.D. in

Fluid Mechanics Fluid mechanics is the branch of physics concerned with the mechanics of fluids ( liquids, gases, and plasmas) and the forces on them. It has applications in a wide range of disciplines, including mechanical, aerospace, civil, chemical and ...

from Cal Tech. In his youth, he attended Catholic School and studied to become a

Priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

. He left seminary to complete his degree at

Gannon University Gannon University is a private Catholic university in Erie, Pennsylvania. Gannon University has approximately 4,500 students and 46,000 alumni. Its intercollegiate athletics include 18 athletic programs for men and women competing at the NCAA ...

where he met his wife, Rhonda Mahoney. Schember then received a Master's Degree in English at the

University of Dayton The University of Dayton (UD) is a private, Catholic research university in Dayton, Ohio. Founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary, it is one of three Marianist universities in the nation and the second-largest private university in Ohio. The univ ...

and taught at Elk County Christian in

St. Mary's, Pennsylvania St. Marys is a city in Elk County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population is 12,429 as of 2019. Originally a small town inhabited by mostly Bavarian Roman Catholics, it was founded December 8, 1842. It is home to Straub Brewery and the first ...

Career

He worked for

for 40 years, starting as a teller and rising up to the level of Regional Manager of 51 branches for PNC in

Northwestern Pennsylvania Western Pennsylvania is a region in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, covering the western third of the state. Pittsburgh is the region's principal city, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic ...

Erie city council, 2006–2012

Schember served on City Council for six years, and was appointed as chairman of the Finance Committee in 2007. During his tenure, he oversaw the city of Erie move from a bleak financial state of a $12.7 million deficit in the General Fund in late 2005 to a $5 million surplus by 2012. In 2009 and in 2010, the City Council appointed Schember to be president of the City Council. During the Citizens To Be Heard segment of the City Council Meetings, a local

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

named Randy Barnes, who was president of an

environmental group The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement), also including conservation and green politics, is a diverse philosophical, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues. Environmentalists ad ...

called Keep Erie's Environment Protected (K.E.E.P.), would continually lodge a

conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations i ...

complaint against Schember because he had employment with PNC Bank which was doing business with the city of Erie. In response to Randy Barnes complaints that he would lodge at each City Council meeting, Schember resigned May 8, 2012 with a letter that stated that he was "troubled by the lack of civility and unprofessionalism that has infected the Citizens To Be Heard segment of City Council Meetings."

Erie mayoral election, 2017

Out of nine candidates running in the primary race for mayor, two remained in the run-up to the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operat ...

: Democrat Joe Schember and Republican John Persinger. Republican nominee John Persinger eventually garnering 47% of the

popular vote Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group. Popular may also refer to: In sociology * Popular culture * Popular fiction * Popular music * Popular science * Populace, the total ...

. Persinger emphasized eliminating

blight Blight refers to a specific symptom affecting plants in response to infection by a pathogenic organism. Description Blight is a rapid and complete chlorosis, browning, then death of plant tissues such as leaves, branches, twigs, or floral orga ...

with a campaign promise of "1,000 in 1,000 Days" initiative to remove 1,000 blightened properties in his first 1,000 days in office. He emphasized the role of

broken windows theory In criminology, the broken windows theory states that visible signs of crime, anti-social behavior and civil disorder create an urban environment that encourages further crime and disorder, including serious crimes. The theory suggests that po ...

, and said that if Erie is to prosper, Erie would need to address blight quickly.

Mayor of Erie

Schember has initiated many changes to the mayoral

governance Governance is the process of interactions through the laws, norms, power or language of an organized society over a social system ( family, tribe, formal or informal organization, a territory or across territories). It is done by the g ...

of Erie since being elected into office. He wants to upgrade the

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, scien ...

of Erie, redesign the city of Erie's website, and hire a new

digital media Digital media is any communication media that operate in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital media can be created, viewed, distributed, modified, listened to, and preserved on a digital electronics device. ...

coordinator to focus on getting the city up to date with

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social me ...

which under Sinnott's long mayoralty it lagged behind. Schember hired Erie's first full-time grant writer, Abby Skinner, to work on helping Erie access grant funding from the local, state and federal level. One of Schember's priorities is Erie Refocused, which is part of Erie's Comprehensive Plan to improve the city's economy and society. Skinner will focus on writing grants that will help Erie Refocused move forward.

References

External links

City of Erie Official WebsiteCity of Erie: Biography of Joseph SchemberJoe Schember
on Facebook
Joe Schember
on Twitter {{DEFAULTSORT:Schember, Joe 1950 births Living people Mayors of Erie, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Democrats Gannon University alumni University of Dayton alumni