Heidelberg mayor takes statewide honor in stride

Heidelberg Mayor Ken LaSota likes to walk. Often his destination is the Heidelberg Shop ‘n Save, where he buys the daily newspapers, then returns home to share the news with Rebecca Stanhope, whom he affectionately refers to as “the first lady.”

Recently though, his walks have come with a little added bonus.

“People have been congratulating me or coming out of the house to tell me, “Hi, Mayor of the Year,” he said.

Good news traveled fast in the small, close-knit community after Mr. LaSota was named Pennsylvania Mayor of the Year for 2020.

Mr. LaSota, who has served 22 years as mayor, received the honor from the Pennsylvania State Mayors Association during its 49th annual conference July 18 in Valley Forge, Pa. The meeting was held via Zoom.

Mr. LaSota estimates he has presided over two regularly scheduled borough council meetings a month for a total of 528 meetings. Add another dozen or so unscheduled meetings and 264 meetings for boards and commissions he serves on for a total of 792 meetings.

“Most of those meetings involve giving up an evening,” he wrote in a email. “No wonder Rebecca hardly recognizes me.”

Mr. LaSota has 18 more months in his current term and hasn’t decided if he will run again, since at age 64 he is nearing retirement age.

His diligence in attending meetings, however, extends beyond Heidelberg’s borders. During his tenure, he has been asked to serve on the boards of the Allegheny Land Trust, the South Hills Council of Governments, the Allegheny Boroughs Association and the Chartiers Valley Education Foundation.

“Serving on them was an opportunity to bring back information that would be helpful to Heidelberg,” he said.

Despite all of the work he puts in as mayor, he also has a day job as a full-time associate professor of geology and earth sciences at Robert Morris University.

He also officiates at weddings. “I have performed 74 weddings, which is always rewarding.” His salary as mayor is $85 per month, so obviously he isn’t in it for the money.

He said the highlight of his years of service was seeing the Tri-Community Streetscape project through to completion in 2014.

That multiyear effort used a $2.4 million federal transportation grant coupled with $250,000 from the Allegheny County Infrastructure and

Tourism Fund to rebuild Route 50 through Heidelberg with new crosswalks, sidewalks, decorative lighting and benches. As part of the project, similar improvements were made to Carothers Avenue in Scott and Third Street in Carnegie.

“The project took seven years to complete and involved multiple meetings with engineers, the federal government, PennDOT, Carnegie and Scott,” he said. “That’s one of the advantages of having served for so long. I was able to see the project through. It was transformational for the business district along Route 50.” While he said he was proud to receive the award, he looks on it more as an opportunity to promote Heidelberg. “A mayor is only as good as the people he serves. The award must mean that the people of Heidelberg are very good. If the award makes people want to know more about Heidelberg, they will find out it is a nice town to live in.”