Michael Lamb

He served as the elected Controller of the City of Pittsburgh from 2008 to 2023 and as the Prothonotary of Allegheny County from 2000 to 2008.

Michael attended Penn State University for his undergraduate degree in Political Science and continued his education by earning a Master’s of Public Management Degree from the H. John Heinz College of Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University and a Juris Doctorate from the Duquesne University School of Law.

As Controller, Michael put a focus on making Pittsburgh government more transparent. Lamb created Open Book Pittsburgh, a website that allows citizens to search and view all City contracts and campaign contributions and expenses of all candidates running for office in the City of Pittsburgh.

He also released Pittsburgh’s first Popular Annual Financial Report (PAFR), a user-friendly version of the City’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (Annual Report), that provides a clearer picture of the state of Pittsburgh’s finances and information on Pittsburgh’s demographics and government.

Michael worked to make the Controller’s Office more effective and the City more efficient. Audits by the City Controller’s Office under Lamb exposed waste and abuse of taxpayer dollars in many City departments and authorities.

Working with officials from neighboring municipalities, Michael was instrumental in the creation of CONNECT, The Congress of Neighboring Communities where he was
An aggressive political organizer, Michael has managed successful political campaigns in Allegheny County and in the City of Pittsburgh, including the Allegheny 2000 Citizens Committee which advocated for the County Home Rule Charter.

Putting the interests of Allegheny County’s citizens before his own, Michael was an outspoken supporter of row office consolidation. He even advocated for the elimination of the Prothonotary’s Office, his own elected position. In 2005, the citizens of Allegheny County voted to consolidate the County’s row offices. As a result, Michael became the last Prothonotary of Allegheny County.

Michael was a founding co-chair of A Plus Schools, the community alliance for Pittsburgh Public education. In addition, Lamb serves on the boards of the Kane Foundation, the Catholic Youth Association, and the 3 Rivers Wet Weather Demonstration Project. He is also a Fellow at the University of Pittsburgh Institute of Politics.

Michael and his wife Jill reside in the Mount Washington neighborhood of Pittsburgh.