3344 Churchview Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15227
412.882.9600
www.baldwinborough.org
Baldwin Mayor Proud to Leave
Borough in Good Hands
By Mark Berton
aldwin
BAL DWI N BO R OU G H News
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Photos by Primetime Shots
t’s hard to find a life, place or event in the six square miles making up Baldwin
that hasn’t been touched by Alexander R. Bennett Jr., or more fondly known
as “Sandy”, during his 16 years as the borough’s beloved Mayor. A life-long
resident of the borough, Sandy and his wife Betty raised their two children and
have enjoyed watching their four grandchildren grow. Bennett, 72, decided not
to run for reelection because he said he sees the borough is in “good hands, with
good people.” While he’s been instrumental in serving the community as mayor for
nearly two decades, his service to Baldwin was inculcated in him at an early age.
“My father was the first treasurer of the little league and served on borough
council,” Bennett said. “I saw the political side of things for a number of years and
learned that, to get anything done, you had to be a team player. The right people on
the right team can get a lot done in the community.”
After graduating Baldwin High School, Bennett joined the state survey bridge
crew, taking measurements for bridges in the region. In 1964, his service to the
state’s bridges was waylaid and his life course altered when his military career began
in the US Army, where he said he learned discipline and “not to be a picky eater.”
After he was discharged, Bennett came home to his bridge surveyor’s job, but
saw that Baldwin was conducting police officer testing. He took the test and was
hired. “We got a direction book and a badge. The chief asked me if I had a gun, and
I said that I didn’t. He gave me a .38 special to borrow until I got my own gun,”
Bennett said. “When you look back at it, it’s kind of funny that all they felt you
needed to be a police officer in Baldwin back then was a direction book, badge and
borrowed gun.” The police department was much different in those days in that
they also served as the borough’s paramedics, a situation unique to Baldwin until
the Baldwin EMS was established several years later in 1973. “We ran our own
ambulance out of the police department,” Bennett said. “I can remember picking up
five DOA’s in one day. I couldn’t eat dinner that night. So when my father, who was
on council at the time, asked me what I thought about the concept of the Baldwin
EMS, I said it would be a great thing. We could do the police work and get away
from the medical trips.”
For all the work the Baldwin police did back then, Bennett only made $4,800
a year – minus the cost of his own gun – and sought out other work to boost his
salary to support his family. He worked with a moving company at first, but soon
got into excavating when it came time to build his house. “I didn’t know anything
about building a house. Elmwood Drive was developing with hundreds of houses
going up and I’d stop by daily and see how the workers put up a part of the house
and go and try to replicate that at my house,” he said. “It took a while, but we did it
and the tree was up in time for Christmas.” After 11 years, when the opportunity
came to buy out the excavation company he’d been working for, Bennett retired
from the police force and moved dirt for the next 20 years.
His thoughts never strayed far from his old police department, where he saw
a force ill-equipped to transition into the new millennium. “We had antiquated
equipment and antiquated thinking,” Bennett said. “My dad was a hardliner [