Know Your Mayors (21 of 21)- Jerry Abramson of Louisville, Ky.

Those who follow college basketball religiously may think that University of Louisville men's basketball coach Rick Pitino (pictured here) is the mayor of Derby Town, but that distinction actually belongs to Mayor Jerry Abramson (also pictured here).

The Democratic-mayor is the longest serving mayor in Louisville, Ky.'s 252-year history according to the mayor's web site.

Abramson initially served as mayor from 1986-1999, but he came back to office in 2003, and he has been an incumbent ever since.

Among his major accomplishments is unifying city and county government, overseeing a dramatic transformation of the community in the sectors of public safety, and expanding the city's airport, waterfront and downtown area (according to the mayor's web site).

In 2003, Abrahamson was named local public official of the year by "Governing" magazine.

He has been nicknamed "Mayor for Life."

Abrahamson will be running for lt. gov. along with incumbent Democratic Governor Steve Beshear, who is seeking reelection in 2011.

As for the Louisville Cardinals, they face the University of California in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Ironically, that school is the alma mater of our last entry in this series Kevin Johnson of Sacramento, Calif., who played for the Phoenix Suns in the NBA.

Know Your Mayors (19 of 21)- Stephanie Rawlings-Blake of Baltimore

Today, I am profiling Baltimore's newest mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake who is the same age as me as we are both 39 (alas, I turn 40 tomorrow). The mayor herself turns 40 on St. Patrick's Day.

Rawlings-Blake became the the 49th mayor of Baltimore on Feb. 4, replacing Sheila Dixon who was forced to resign due to embezzlement allegations.

According to "The Washington Post," the new mayor emphasized the need for a disciplined budget as the city faces a $120 million deficit during her first address to the citizens of Baltimore. She also said it was time for the community to act together:

"Our city is in a time of healing," Mayor Rawlings-Blake said. "Now more than ever we are challenged to come together, rededicate ourselves to a common cause and make needed reforms."

Rawlings-Blake also recognized city firefighters who came through during the recent the snow storms which affected both Baltimore and Washington DC and put local constraints on both cities' municipal budgets.

The new mayor's father was Maryland House of Delegates member Howard "Pete" Rawlings. She is a 1988 graduate of Western High School in Baltimore.

Dixon's predecessor, former Baltimore mayor Martin O'Malley is now the governor of Maryland.

Know Your Mayors (18 of 21) - Tom Leppert of Dallas, Texas

We are continuing our public service series "Know Your Mayors," which seems as popular as classroom biology films from the '70s, with a profile of Tom Lepppert, the mayor of Dallas, Texas, the city hosting this weekend's NBA All-Star Game (the game is actually being played in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, TX). The Dallas Mavericks have been struggling, but they remain in playoff contention.

Leppert, born on June 15, 1954, was elected mayor in June, 2007. He won a run-off election with city councilman Ed Oakley. Leppert condemned anti-gay robocalls aimed at the openly gay Oakley which were run by the the Heritage Alliance PAC. Leppert got 58 percent of the vote in the election.

Even though the mayor's office is non-paritsan, Leppert is believed to be a Republican, according to Wikipedia, but he has emphasized a growth in city government and supported indoor smoking ordinances which have been opposed by traditional conservatives in Dallas. Leppert is also considered moderate to liberal in the areas of education and homelessness.

In the web site for the mayor's office, Leppert said that he has worked to improve the quality of life in Dallas by reducing the crime rate and luring big companies, like AT & T, to the downtown area.

Leppert has also lead trade delegations to China, Taiwan and Mexico.

Before entering civic life, Leppert was the CEO of Turner Construction where he helped the company earn more profits in seven years than it had in the previous 97 years combined.

During his tenure, Dallas has made friendship city pacts with two Chinese cities.

He was preceded in office by former mayor Laura Miller.

Leppert also has college degrees from Claremont McKenna College and Harvard University.

SIDEBAR_ The Washington, DC, area was hit with yet another major snowstorm yesterday. As a result, the City of Rockville, Md., has postponed its Town Hall meeting scheduled for 8:00 p.m. tonight. The city is also asking residents to stay home while road crews clean up the freaking mess....well, that wasn't exactly how they worded it on their web page!

Know Your Mayors- Greg Ballard of Indianapolis (Entry 17 of 21)

Since the Indianapolis Colts are facing the New Orleans Saints for the Super Bowl game in Miami, Fla, on Sunday, we thought we'd profiled Indianapolis, Ind., mayor Greg Ballard. Since I posted an entry last week professing that I am rooting for the Saints, it only seems objective that I profile Mayor Ballard.

Ballard is the second Republican (we know of) who we have profiled. A few entries ago in this series, we profiled Charlotte, NC, mayor Pat McCrory, who is also a Republican. He stepped down, and was replaced by Anthony Foxx (D).

The Indy mayor was born in 1954, and he was elected to office on Nov. 6, 2007, in a huge upset victory over previous mayor Bart Peterson (D) by a 51-47 percent margin. According to Wikipedia, Ballard's victory was considered one of the greatest political upset in the Hoosier State's modern history.

Ballard served with the Marines Corps in the Persian Gulf War before returning to Indianapolis to work for the Bayer Corporation. He went on to write the management book: "The Ballard Rules: Small Unit Leadership."

As mayor, Ballard favored a substantial tax increase in April of 2009 to help bail the city's interests out. The move was criticized by political opponents as corporate welfare for the Colts and the city's pro basketball team the Indiana Pacers.

In October of 2009, Ballard contributed to the political defeat of a civic initiative to ban smoking in the workplace.

Ballard, an avid golfer, is the city's 48th mayor. He is also an alumnus of Indiana University. Ballard also founded the Indianapolis Writer's Group.

Recently, he declared the Jan. 31-Feb. 6 to be 'Devour Downtown Indianapolis Week.'

I happen to follow many municipal mayors from both political parties on Twitter, including Ballard and previous entry subject Sam Adams of Portland, Ore. Ballard's Twitter page is twitter.com/mayorballard

Indianapolis is America's 14th largest city.

We take it that Ballard is rooting for the Colts!

SIDENOTE: We made a mistake by identifying our previous entry on Salt Lake City, Utah's mayor as our 17th entry. This entry is in fact the 17th entry. In addition to McCrory, Yvonne Johnson (Greensboro, NC) and our very first entry Kevin Foy (Chapel Hill, NC) are no longer in office. There may also be other changes that we are not aware of.

Here are the other 16 cities we have profiled:

Chapel Hill, NC
Greensboro, NC
Durham, NC
Charlotte, NC
Roanoke, Va.
Richmond, Va.
Washington, DC.
Philadelphia, Pa.
Newark, NJ.
Boston, Mass.
Minneapolis, Minn.
Charleston, SC.
Salt Lake City, Utah
Portland, Ore.
North Pole, Alaska
Denver, Colo.

Know Your Mayors (8 of 12)_Mayor of Philly

The man pictured here happens to be the mayor of the City of Brotherly Love, which is (of course) Philadelphia.

Is his name (all of these choices are big city mayors):



A) Dave Bing

B) Adrian Fenty

C) Michael Nutter

D) Michael Bloomberg*


*-We couldn't resist!

UPDATE: 6/7-The answer is.............C) Michael Nutter