NEW CASTLE MAYOR CHRIS FRYE
In New Castle, the “fireworks capital of America,” Chris Frye made an explosive entrance into politics.
Frye, who is African American, moved to New Castle from his birthplace of Richmond, Va., before the age of 12. There he continued to be raised by a single mother who would always tell Frye and his three siblings, “you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.”
All things, like becoming the town’s first Black mayor in its roughly 150-year history.
“The folks in New Castle get frustrated with the fact that the same people continuously get in office,” Frye told the New Pittsburgh Courier in an exclusive interview, March 14.
Thus, Frye, a 2006 Kennedy Catholic High School graduate with two post-secondary degrees, decided to run for mayor of the city of 20,000 residents, and, as a Republican, defeated longtime Democratic incumbent Anthony Mastrangelo. Mastrangelo had served as mayor since 2008.
Frye officially took office on Jan. 1, 2020. “The mix between a fresh new person and a new type of leadership, in addition to my skill set and background, being able to make decisions and work for the betterment of the people, that’s what really got me over the line,” Frye told the Courier.
CHRIS FRYE WITH HIS FAMILY.
Being a leader wasn’t new to Frye. After attaining his bachelor’s in social work from Gannon University in 2010, he earned his master’s degree in social work with a concentration in community organizing and social administration from the University of Pittsburgh in 2012. His professional career track seemed to include “coordinator” or “manager” in his title. Frye spent time as a neighborhood development coordinator at Cray Youth and Family Services in New Castle, and worked at Lawrence County Social Services Inc., where he managed four grant programs that totaled at least $1 million in grants.
“I was working in the community, helping people with workforce development, education and criminal justice,” Frye said. “And being involved in the community, I began to see the impacts that local government had on a lot of decision-makings and the quality of life people had. A lot of the decisions that were being made weren’t getting addressed on that macro-level.”
If local government was the key to helping New Castle’s residents, 26 percent of whom live in poverty according to the U.S. Census Bureau, then Frye felt he was the man needed to get the ball rolling.
“I have three kids and my wife, raising my family here,” Frye told the Courier, “And I felt New Castle was lacking quality leadership so I decided to do something about it. I ran and ultimately was successful.”
In the two years that Frye’s been in office, he said there’s been some tangible improvements in New Castle, primarily that the city’s on track to get out of “Act 47.” Act 47 is a designation from the state of Pennsylvania classifying a municipality as “financially distressed,” which then allows the Department of Community and Economic Development to step in and lend a hand. New Castle first became an Act 47 city in 2007, with multiple extensions over the years. But in 2020, with Frye’s signature, the city filed an official “Exit Plan” to get out of the Act 47 classification. The city could be out of the classification by February 2024.
“We’re beating the state’s projections in terms of being in Act 47 where we haven’t run a deficit in two years,” Frye told the Courier. “I haven’t raised taxes since I’ve taken office, was able to cut our business tax, sold a stormwater system, and we’re fixing big infrastructure problems.”
Frye said he’s worked to inspire New Castle residents to become entrepreneurs and opened up the local government office “in terms of receptiveness.” He wants to build up the social capital in New Castle and assists people who are looking at moving into the city or opening a business in town.
Looking to further his political career, Frye in December 2021 announced that he would be running for Pa. Lieutenant Governor. He told the Courier that the role gives him the “ability to still impact local governments from an executive position within the state,” which he felt was a better fit for him than, say, being a state representative. The battle for Lieutenant Governor is fierce for the upcoming May 17 primary, with at least eight contenders on the Republican side. For the Democrats, there are three candidates, including another African American from the Pittsburgh area, Austin Davis. Nicole Shultz is running as a Libertarian Party candidate.
Frye’s decision to run for a statewide office was partially influenced by New Castle’s “Home Rule,” a referendum that was passed in July 2021 by the city’s residents in a vote. It’s allowing the city to add a sixth council member in 2023 and turn the mayoral position into a seventh council member and the council president. The role of the “mayor” would be greatly lessened.
“I didn’t run (for mayor) to be a council member,” Frye told the Courier, “and I’m not upset about it.”
Frye, 33, is currently entrenched in bettering New Castle, while campaigning for second-in-command in the state as Lt. Governor. He said his humble upbringing will serve him well if he wins the Republican nomination on May 17.
“Having quality leadership in these offices is important,” Frye said. “My background was not in politics before, but seeing how poor mismanagement, poor decision-making really impacts our daily lives is very important to me.”
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