Joseph Mitchell

Joseph McDowell Mitchell (March 25, 1922 – March 26, 1993) was a local official who served as city manager of Newburgh, New York, from 1960 to 1963. During his tenure there—a period known as the "Battle of Newburgh"—he introduced a wide-ranging reform plan aiming to scale back and regulate the provision of welfare in the city. Though only a small part of his plan was implemented due to opposition from the state government and successive court injunctions against it, his efforts garnered him national fame, attracting the praise of conservative figures such as Barry Goldwater and the condemnation of moderates and liberals, and gave him a historical legacy as a pioneer of workfare policies. Mitchell was born in Maryland, and held office as a municipal administrator in California and Pennsylvania before coming to Newburgh. He resigned his position there in 1963 after an accusation of bribery, despite his acquittal of the charge, and went on to be associated with the White Citizens' Councils until 1966. He returned to his vocation as a city manager and ultimately retired in Florida, where he died in 1993. Education and early career Mitchell was born in Chevy Chase, Maryland, on March 25, 1922. He studied political science at the University of Maryland as an undergraduate, followed by postgraduate courses in municipal government at the American University and the University of Southern California. He began his career in city management as assistant city manager of Culver City, California, in 1957, and subsequently held office as township manager of Marple Township, Pennsylvania. His legacy in the latter position was controversial: historian Rick Perlstein labels his tenure at Marple Township "disastrous".