Paul Riley Spitzfaden, Sr. (February 27, 1920 - November 5, 2000) was a federal employee who served from 1984 to 1996 as the Republican mayor of Mandeville in St. Tammany Parish, a part of suburban New Orleans, Louisiana.
In 1957, at the age of thirty-seven, Spitzfaden received a Bachelor degree in Political Science from Tulane University in New Orleans. He engaged in graduate studies in 1968 at the University of Oklahoma at Norman, Oklahoma, and the University of Ohio (at Toledo). He was a member of the Honors Fraternity Alpha Sigma chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha. He was a member of the National Association of Retired Federal Employees. He was also a vice chairman of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation. Mayor Spitzfaden directed the adoption of a new home rule municipal charter, oversaw the 150th celebration of the establishment of Mandeville, launched a recycling program, and during his terms of office improved hurricane protection including a new interlocking sheets "pile-driven and above-ground-topped" seawall, plus Lakeshore Drive concrete pavement. Then U.S. Representative Bob Livingston of Louisiana's 1st congressional district said that Spitzfaden "oversaw tremendous economic and population growth while making sure that Mandeville retained its charm and quaintness." Representative Livingston said upon Spitzfaden's retirement that the former mayor was known for an "indelible mark he continues to make on our minds as a man of true integrity, character, and kindness, a true gentleman who never speaks ill of a soul, and one whose friendship is of the highest quality and value."<ref name=blivingston/>
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