Thomas P. Ryan, Jr.

Who was Thomas P. Ryan, Jr.?

Thomas P. Ryan, Jr. was the 63rd Mayor of Rochester, New York. Ryan began his tenure as Mayor under the old council/city manager system of government, in which the mayor was selected from among members of City Council to be that body's presiding officer. He first was voted to the post by his Council peers after the 1973 election which returned a Democratic majority to office. For his first decade as Mayor, a city manager appointed by City Council and accountable to that body handled the day to day administrative duties of government. This system had been in place since the late 1920s as a result of government reforms championed by the late industrial magnate George Eastman. However Ryan, who had exercised greater de facto influence over city policy than most of his predecessors under this system and functioned in many respects like a chief executive in policy matters, championed a change in the city charter to abolish the post of city manager and return to a "strong mayor" system like that in other major cities of New York State, in which the mayor was directly elected, directly accountable to voters and served as chief executive of city government. The charter change was approved by city voters and Ryan served as a "strong mayor" for two terms from 1985 through 1993 before retiring from public life. In addition to the revision in city government structure which began during his terms of office and continues in force today, Ryan became known for helping lead significant downtown redevelopment, and operating government on a fiscally conservative basis.