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. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, fifth-most populous city in Pennsylvania and the most populous in Northwestern Pen ...

. Schember previously served as a vice president of

PNC Bank The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. is an American bank holding company and financial services corporation based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its banking subsidiary, PNC Bank, operates in 27 U.S. state, states and the District of Columbia, ...

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 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 plasma (physics), plasmas) and the forces on them. Originally applied to water (hydromechanics), it found applications in a wide range of discipl ...

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 deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

. He left seminary to complete his degree at

Gannon University Gannon University is a private Catholic university with campuses in Erie, Pennsylvania, and Ruskin, Florida, United States. Established in 1925, Gannon University enrolls approximately 4,600 undergraduate and graduate students annually. Its i ...

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 university, private, Catholic research university in Dayton, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary (Marianists), Society of Mary, it is one of three Marianist universities in the U ...

and taught at Elk County Christian in St. Mary's, Pennsylvania.

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 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania encompassing the western half 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 eco ...

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 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 common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

named Randy Barnes, who was president of an

environmental group The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement) is a social movement that aims to protect the natural world from harmful environmental practices in order to create sustainable living. In its recognition of humanity a ...

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 wikt:interest#Noun, interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates t ...

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 whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

: 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 tota ...

. Persinger emphasized eliminating

blight Blight is 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 organs. A ...

with a campaign promise of "1,000 in 1,000 Days" initiative to remove 1,000 blighted 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, antisocial 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 overall complex system or framework of Process, processes, functions, structures, Social norm, rules, Law, laws and Norms (sociology), norms born out of the Interpersonal relationship, relationships, Social interaction, intera ...

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

technology Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...

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

digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, viewed, distributed, modified, listened to, an ...

coordinator to focus on getting the city up to date with

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

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 21st-century mayors of places in Pennsylvania Living people Mayors of Erie, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Democrats Gannon University alumni University of Dayton alumni