Former City Councilwoman Dies At 85
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Former Pittsburgh City Councilwoman Michelle Madoff has died.
Our news partners at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette report that the 85-year-old died Saturday in Peoria, Ariz.
Madoff served on council between 1978 and 1993.
Madoff was known as a fighter -- first doing battle with corporate polluters, then serving on city council. It was on council where she fought for, among other things, a ban on assault weapons, long before it became a national issue.
"If it was you kid, your family or yourself in the line of fire, you'd say "Why didn't I get that gun off the street?'" Madoff once said.
When her Mt. Washington neighborhood couldn't take the noise from a concert at Station Square, Madoff fought for lower decibels.
Judge Tom Flaherty served with Madoff on city council. They were both allies and adversaries.
"She was the original Maverick, certainly in local politics here," he said. "She was a fighter. At the end of the fight though, she always had a good sense of humor."
Bud Madoff's battles with then City Council President Jeep DePasquale were legendary. She once informed him she was suing him during an interview with KDKA.
"I hope he hears me," she said, "My attorney's waiting to really take his house."
She once challenged DePasquale to do something unpleasant under the landmark Kaufmann Clock. DePasquale didn't show up. But that was Madoff -- a fighter -- and she didn't care about what other people thought.
"She'd often times talk about people in earshot away, and I might say, 'Hey Michelle, you know he's standing there,'" Flaherty said. "And she'd say, 'I don't give a damn.'"
A memorial service has not yet been planned.
Stay with KDKA for more information.
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