Former Northside Councilperson Darlene Harris passes away

Former Pittsburgh City Council Member Darlene Harris, who represented the Northside on Council for more than a decade, passed away on March 6 at the age of 73.

Harris was a longtime Northside resident, born in Brighton Heights and living most of her life in Spring Hill. She spent much of her life supporting her community, including serving on the Spring Hill Civic League and representing the Northside on the Pittsburgh Public School Board, even managing to become president of both organizations during her service with them.

Harris is perhaps most remembered for her 13 years on Pittsburgh City Council as the District 1 representative, which represented much of the Northside. She was elected to the role in 2006 and was Council President from 2010 to 2014. She held her position until 2020 after she was defeated in the Democratic Primary for the seat by Bobby Wilson, who holds the seat to this day.

For those Northsiders formerly or currently involved in community leadership, Harris is remembered for both her bombastic personality and her fierce love for the Northside.

“She was really dialed in with the people of the city when you had requests or problems, or needed help with anything,” said Ben Soltesz, current president of the Spring Hill Civic League.

Soltesz said he first encountered Harris after he moved to the Northside in 2001 and watched meetings of the Pittsburgh Public School Board. He said he often saw her getting into arguments with her fellow board members, and was skeptical of her when she ran for City Council.

However, Soltesz said he found that Darelne had a deep knowledge of the Northside and was an active participant in community organization and improvement efforts, regularly attending Spring Hill Civic League meetings even while she was on City Council.

In particular, he said Harris had a lengthy knowledge of Spring Hill’s history.

“She would always let us know ‘We used to do this, we used to do that,” he said.

Former Northside Leadership Conference Executive Director Mark Fatla described Harris as always wanting “to know what her neighborhoods thought on issues that might affect them.” He said she was always seeking public opinion on matters from the introduction of liquor licenses into a community to thoughts on the sale of properties owned by the city.

“I wish every councilperson was like that,” Fatla said.

Both Fatla and Soltesz cited Harris’ fierce opposition to a 2010 plan by then-Mayor Luke Ravenstahl to privatize Pittsburgh’s parking meters and garages as among her top accomplishments. The plan, which was rejected by Council in October 2010, would have leased the city’s parking infrastructure to a JPMorgan investment group for $452 million. Harris was among the most fierce opponents to the deal.

“I think she probably saved the city from some ridiculousness down the road with some private company jacking the prices up,” Soltesz said.

Former Observatory Hill Inc. President Dorrie Smith-Richie had perhaps one of the closest relationships with Harris, having fostered a close friendship with her and even working on Harris’ election campaign for City Council.

Smith-Richie said Harris was “instrumental” in supporting many projects to improve the Northside. One such personal example is the Zenshine Community Garden in Riverview Park that Smith-Richie organizes.

“One thing about Darlene, she cared about the Northside, she truly did,” Smith-Richie said.

While the two didn’t always agree on every matter, Smith-Richie said Harris was able to separate work from life, and the pair could always go out for coffee and hang out as friends, even when they were bumping heads on policy matters.

But above all else, Smith-Richie remembers Harris for her powerful and lasting love for the Northside.

“One of her quotes was ‘There is the other side, and then there’s the Northside,’ which embodies everything about Darlene,” she said.

Harris’ funeral was held on March 11 at the Stephen M. Brady Funeral Home.