Thomas J. D’Alesandro III, a former Baltimore mayor, City Council president and the brother of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has died. He was 90.
Ms. Pelosi’s office confirmed the death in a statement on Sunday.
Mr. D’Alesandro was elected president of the Baltimore City Council in 1963 before serving as mayor from 1967 to 1971.
Under his leadership, civil rights laws were enacted in the city, neighborhood centers were opened and a housing and community development department was created, according to a city website.
Mr. D’Alesandro was born on July 24, 1929, in Baltimore into a political family.
He attended Loyola High School and Loyola College, now known as Loyola University Maryland and the University of Maryland School of Law, before serving in the United States Army from 1952 to 1955.
After his military service, Mr. D’Alesandro entered Baltimore politics as the administrative floor leader under Mayor J. Harold Grady. He went on to serve in the City Council and as mayor.
His father, Thomas D’Alesandro Jr., was a congressman and three-term mayor of Baltimore, and his sister, Ms. Pelosi, went on to become a congresswoman and the first female speaker of the House.
Mr. D’Alesandro, a Democrat, was elected mayor at a time when Baltimore’s public housing law enforcement had deteriorated, crime was on the rise and the middle class was retreating to the suburbs.
His tenure was marked by a sensitivity to the needs of poor people, a city biography said. During his first four months, he appointed more black people to posts than any predecessor had over an entire term.
“Tommy dedicated his life to our city,” Ms. Pelosi said. “A champion for civil rights, he worked tirelessly for all who called Baltimore home.”