Mayor's Ethics Nominee

Named to fill

4 month vacancy

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl has picked his nominee to fill the vacancy on Pittsburgh's Ethics Hearing Board.

She's attorney Penny E. Zacharias, an associate at Buchanan Ingersoll and Rooney. The mayor's office says Zacharias is a 2002 graduate of Pitt's law school and lives on the North Side.

The city clerk's office confirms it's received her nomination and says it could be introduced in city council this week.

The Mayor also repeated again today that the long-dormant ethics board will hold its first meeting soon, perhaps this week or next. His office said later that a meeting this week could be problematic because two of the current four members are out of town. Mayor Ravenstahl indicated last week that the criminal charges filed against Councilwoman Twanda Carlisle prompted him to act on the ethics panel.

Some of you have e-mailed lately, asking about the long-delayed ethics board. If you click this link, you'll see all of my blog posts on the topic. Read them from oldest to newest and check out the links provided in them, if you're curious about how things developed.


The Buchanan Ingersoll biography for Zacharias notes that the primary focus of her work is financial transactions, "including syndicated loan transactions, asset-based, acquisition and merger and real estate financing".


Her recent work includes:

• "Assisting with the first securitization of a portfolio of loans to microfinance institutions in Latin America and Asia."
• "As agent's counsel, assisting with an $85 million secured credit facility for a borrower in the trucking industry."
• "Representing the U.S. Virgin Islands as bond counsel, in the issuance of its $268,020,000 revenue bonds."

The law firm notes her other civic and charitable work includes:

• "YMCA of Downtown Pittsburgh, Board of Management"
• Career Literacy for African American Youth, former mentor".