Mayor (1997 -2003)
Donald T. Cunningham Jr.

10 East Church Street
Bethlehem, PA 18018
(610) 865-7100

Don Cunningham was elected mayor of Bethlehem, the seventh largest city in Pennsylvania, in 1997 and was re-elected in 2001. In 2001, he was the first Bethlehem mayoral candidate to run unopposed in both the primary and general elections in more than 80 years.

Cunningham has received national recognition for his work in stabilizing Bethlehem's municipal finances and promoting an economic renaissance in a city hard hit by the loss of 20,000 steel industry jobs in the past two decades. In his first four years in office, Cunningham cut the city's total debt by 7.5 percent, saved nearly $5 million by rebidding and renegotiating city contracts, privatized the money-losing municipal landfill, and proposed four balanced budgets with no tax increases.

Cunningham has also served as a champion of the economic redevelopment of Bethlehem, supporting and securing projects that will retain or bring more than 3,000 jobs and nearly $1 billion in investment to the city. He has also served as a national spokesperson and supporter of the proposed redevelopment of Bethlehem Steel land that could bring up to 10,000 more jobs to the city.

In concert with these fiscally conservative, pro-growth policies, Cunningham has successfully reinvigorated the city's provision of basic services. He started Bethlehem's first customer service/community relations group in the mayor's office, expanded community policing programs, reorganized the public works department to promote efficiency, created pothole and graffiti-removal hotlines, and expanded the city's street paving program. His Strategic Neighborhood Action Plan, designed to strengthen Bethlehem's neighborhoods, has received state and national awards.

Before winning election as the youngest mayor in Bethlehem's history, Cunningham, 36, served as a senior information specialist at Pennsylvania Power & Light Co., a Fortune 500 utility company in Allentown, Pa. He served previously as media relations director of Moravian College in Bethlehem and as an award-winning newspaper writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer and the former Bethlehem Globe-Times.

The son of a steelworker and grandson of Bethlehem tradesmen, Cunningham graduated with honors from Villanova University with a master's degree in political science. He also has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Shippensburg University.

Cunningham was a member of Bethlehem City Council from 1995 to 1997. He and his wife, Laura, and their three children reside on Bethlehem's West Side, where five generations of the Cunningham family have lived.

Links