Peter Ujvagi
{{Short description|American politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name=Peter Ujvagi
| image name=Peter Ujvagi 01.jpg
| state_house=Ohio
| state=Ohio
| district=47th
| term=January 3, 2003 – March 19, 2010
| preceded=Teresa Fedor
| succeeded=Joe Walter
| birth_date= {{Birth date and age|1949|03|31}}
| birth_place=Budapest, Hungary
| death_date=
| death_place=
| alma_mater=
| profession=Manufacturing, Field Coordinator
| residence= Toledo, Ohio
| party=Democratic
}}
Peter Sandor Ujvagi (Hungarian Újvági Péter Sándor; 31 March 1949) is a retired Hungarian-born Democratic politician in Toledo and Lucas County, Ohio. He has been a Toledo city council member, a representative in the Ohio House of Representatives, and the Lucas County administrator.
Life and career
His nickname is "Mayor of East Toledo", a part of the city with a strong Hungarian-American and other Eastern European-descended population.[http://www.toledocitypaper.com/view_article.php?id=66 The Mayor of East Toledo] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071015130939/http://www.toledocitypaper.com/view_article.php?id=66 |date=2007-10-15 }}
Ujvagi was born in Budapest, Hungary on 31 March 1949 as son of Ede and Magda Újvági. When he was 7 years old, he emigrated with his parents to the United States, after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. He has two brothers, Ed and Charles. After a short stay in an Austrian refugee camp, the family arrived in Toledo, Ohio.
He is a founding member and executive committee member of the Hungarian-American Coalition. He is active in the Hungarian Club of Greater Toledo, the Birmingham Cultural Center, and he is on the Board of Directors for the Art Commission of Greater Toledo. He was a member of the American delegation to the state funeral of Hungarian Prime Minister József Antall (1993).
Politics
In the 1970s, Ujvagi began working in neighborhood development, both in Toledo and at a national level with the National Center for Urban Ethnic Affairs and the National Campaign for Human Development. President Jimmy Carter appointed him to the National Commission on Neighborhoods.{{cite web |last1=Kitchen |first1=Marlo A. |title=Peter Ujvagi Toledo City Council Papers, 1979-1989, MSS-160 |url=https://www.utoledo.edu/library/canaday/HTML_findingaids/MSS-160.html |website=University of Toledo |access-date=8 August 2022}}
He was first elected to Toledo city council in 1981 and served continuously until 2002, elected first from his East Toledo district and later to an at-large seat.{{cite news |title=Peter Ujvagi won't seek re-election for Toledo City Council District 3 |url=https://www.toledoblade.com/local/city/2019/06/17/peter-ujvagi-will-not-seek-reelection-for-toledo-city-council-district-3/stories/20190617184 |access-date=8 August 2022 |work=The Blade |language=en}} He was council president from 1998 to 2002.
After Teresa Fedor ran for the Ohio Senate in 2002, Ujvagi ran for the vacant 47th District seat in the Ohio House of Representatives, and won with 67.76% of the vote.{{cite web | url=http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/elections/electResultsMain/2002Results/ohrep.aspx | title=2002 election results | accessdate=September 13, 2011}} He would win reelection in 2004 with 71.22%, again in 2006 with 73.85%, and in 2008 as an unopposed candidate.
While in the legislature, Ujvagi was very influential on budgetary issues, and for a time served as Chairman of the House Finance Committee's Transportation Subcommittee.
On 17 March 2010, Ujvagi resigned his seat in the Ohio House of Representatives to become the new Lucas County Administrator.[http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100303/NEWS09/3030330/-1/RSS Lucas County will pay Ujvagi $105,684] He was succeeded by Joe Walter.
He later returned to Toledo city council, where he again represented East Toledo from 2016 to 2020, when he retired from politics.
Sources
- [http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=45416 Peter Ujvagi's biography]
- [http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061022/NEWS08/610220305 "Toledo area offered haven for refugees of crushed revolt"]
References
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Category:Democratic Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives
Category:21st-century members of the Ohio General Assembly
Category:Hungarian emigrants to the United States
Category:University of Toledo alumni