Issues

Chelsas drive to run for office, introduce legislation, and support initiatives comes from her belief that government and the issues faced by legislators can make a concrete and positive impact on peoples lives.  The issues she believes in and that affect her constituents drive Representative Wagner in all she does. 

A Passion for Community
Chelsa's foremost passion is in the area of urban and community development.  She advocates diligently for job development, transportation and education planning that supports people, families, business owners and communities, over special interests. Since being elected, she has founded and championed cooperative efforts that cross neighborhood borders and are driven by community members they serve, not outside, unattached special interests.  Accordingly, she has been a strong opponent of pay-to-play politics, and has fought against the corruption and its effects on our residents, taxpayers and neighborhoods.

Bringing Broad Perspective to Deep Community Roots
Chelsa began contemplating a run for office after moving back to her native Pittsburgh to attend Law School.  Prior to her return, Chelsa had lived, studied and worked in Chicago, Barcelona, Columbus, Washington, D.C., New York & Richmond.  Chelsa's unique perspective of having studied, advised & experienced other models of government first hand, coupled with her Pittsburgh roots, instills her with an intrinsic understanding community development, transportation & local infrastructure planning.  Chelsa easily identifies and challenges the broken parts of our government, and offers forward thinking, workable solutions that protect community and taxpayer interests.  Anytime she hears, "We've never done things that way," she interprets it as a call to action. 

Community Interests over Special Interests
As a law student who had just returned to Pittsburgh, Chelsa was outraged to witness the destruction of her own neighborhood, Beechview, after having been gone for nearly ten years.  Most disturbing was the fact that elected officials had in-part caused that destruction by favoring special interests over community interests.  After the State and City ushered in a suspicious "real estate developer" who had lofty and grandoise plans to "rebuild the neighborhood," Chelsa joined with other concerned residents to get to the bottom of the scheme.  The developer's background revealed some large political contributions, but no track record of development.  His backroom deals with corrupt politicians and bureaucrats secured him nearly $1 million dollars of taxpayer money, without the community members and business owners ever being informed or consulted.  Upon graduating law school and beginning to work as an attorney in private practice, Chelsa's concern for the neighborhood remained & she decided to take action & run for public office.  As a public official she has continued to call on the City and the Urban Redevelopment Authority to listen and prioritize the concerns of the community.

Chelsas Priorities for her Community
Chelsa now applies that same passion for community-driven development across her own legislative district and beyond, as she works with the many diverse communities, in order to empower them to accomplish goals that best serve their needs, and other important legislative and community concerns.  As a representative, Chelsa's work & priorities includes the following:


Community Driven Development

• Transit-development bringing together Beechview, Mt. Washington, Beltzhoover, Allentown (also mentioned below)
• Community mural(s)
• Supported CBAs Hill + Northside

Transportation is the key to Economic Development

• Public Transit- Chelsa fought against service cuts at Port Authority, and instead introduced legislation that would bring more responsible spending by reforming the governance structure. 
• Maglev - Chelsa is a strong supporter of the Pittsburgh Maglev project, which will bring cutting edge rail technology to Pittsburgh, creating a 6-minute commute from the Airport to Downtown, and linking Monroeville and Greensburg.
• Extend Rail Transportation to Oakland - Chelsa strongly supports extending rail service to Oakland, to revolutionize transportation access and interconnectivity in the region.
• Improve Existing Infrastructure - Chelsa has initiated efforts within her own district in both public transit and with roads and bridges.  Examples include her successful efforts to bring transit-oriented-development funds to plan for South Hills Junction area, as well as cross-municipal planning around the Route-51 stretch.  
• Local Solutions - Chelsa has worked with local neighborhoods and schools to find ways in which local roadways and public transit can be better planned in order to meet the needs of the communities. 

Good Government Does Not Tolerate Corruption

• Transparency - Made expense records public
• Accountability - Enacted internal accountability measures
• Frugality - Limit taxpayer-funded mailings
• Streamlining Process - On the horizon, Chelsa is working on efforts to further streamline legislative process and cut waste out of schedule
• Ending Pay to Play Campaign finance reform provides the foundation of fair, efficient governance and Chelsa is looking for ways to end pay-to-play politics at all levels of governance.  

 

Jobs + Investment to our Region

• Job Growth In order to ensure long term vibrancy and growth, Chelsa sees it as essential to bring good jobs to the region, which will both attract & retain young persons and their families
• Regional Attractions Brining and maintaining attractions like the Pittsburgh Marathon help ensure regional vitality and encourage corporate investment in our region
• Regional Equity - As Secretary/Treasurer of the Allegheny County Democratic Delegation, Chelsa fights to bring equitable funding back to the Pittsburgh-area and fights measures that would harm business and growth such as the Allegheny County Drink Tax.
• Securing Regional Economic Foundation Through measures like HR 789 Chelsa continues to fight to make financial institutions accountable by requiring that institutions doing business with local residents are held to the federal standards of the Community Reinvestment Act.