Title
Honoring and Commending Pedro A. Ramos, Esquire.
Body
WHEREAS, Pedro A. Ramos received his law degree, cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania; and
WHEREAS, From 1995 to 2001, Pedro served on the Board of Education of the School District of Philadelphia and was the youngest person to be elected Vice President and President; and
WHEREAS, Pedro also served as one of the City’s negotiators with the offices of Governors Ridge and Schweiker regarding school funding, and ultimately helped to forge a new state-city partnership structure and secured an increase in school funding; and
WHEREAS, From 2002 until 2004, Pedro served as Vice President and Chief of Staff to then University of Pennsylvania President Judith Rodin; and
WHEREAS, Pedro advised the President and was responsible, but not limited to; administrative oversight of independent university functions, liaison to the standing Trustee Committee on Neighborhood Initiatives, the ad hoc Committee of Diversity, the Social Investment Subcommittee of the Investment Committee, drove an effort to revamp Penn’s housing assistance program, chaired the group of vice presidents charged with implementing the Presidents Neighborhood Initiatives and also chaired the Education Transition Team for Governor Ed Rendell; and
WHEREAS, Pedro joined Philadelphia City government as City Solicitor in 2004 and is credited with making significant improvements in the collection of delinquent taxes, with helping to resolve a labor dispute involving a high profile show visiting the City, and led the legal challenge to proposed SEPTA fare and service reductions in 2004; and
WHEREAS, In April 2005, Pedro was appointed Managing Director by Mayor John F. Street and as a hands-on manager, he directed City resources for numerous highly complex national and regional events including Live 8 benefit concert, supervised the City’s emergency response to Hurricane Katrina, the urgent repatriation of 4,200 Americans from Beirut, Lebanon through Philadelphia International Airport; and
WHEREAS, Mayor John F. Street, in recognition of Pedro’s extensive experience in managing challenging situations, appointed him to co-chair the nationally recognized Emergency Preparedness Review Committee (EPRC) and since then, Pedro has led a marked transformation in the City’s emergency preparedness, planning, and response capabilities; and
WHEREAS, Pedro has held several board positions and currently serves on the boards of directors of the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC), the African American History Museum, the Police Athletic League; and
WHEREAS, Pedro has given his time to help nonprofits by serving on the boards of the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation; the Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial; Congreso de Latinos Unidos, Inc.; University City District Special Services District; the Philadelphia Award; Philadelphia Futures; the Hispanic Bar Association of PA Legal Education Fund; and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Philadelphia; and
WHEREAS, Pedro has received and been recognized with various civic awards, including the Leon J. Obermayer Award of 2000, the annual Puerto Rican Festival’s Citizen of the Year Award for 2000, the Philadelphia Education Fund Giving Forward Award for 2002 and a survey by Leadership Philadelphia of 4,800 Philadelphians recently identified Pedro as one of the area’s top “connectors,” defined as leaders who connect for the common good; now therefore
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby commend, Pedro A. Ramos, Esquire for his work as the Managing Director of the City of Philadelphia and further honor one of Philadelphia’s truly dedicated public servants for his tireless and unwavering dedication to betterment not only to the City of Philadelphia but its citizens as well.
FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to Pedro A. Ramos, Esquire further evidencing the sincere admiration and gratitude of this legislative body.
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