Above: From left to right, Jack Wagner, Jake Wheatley and Bill Peduto answered questions on Thursday April 4.

by Kelsey Shea

A crowd of about 40 Northside business owners and residents met and listened to three mayoral candidates last Thursday at the National Aviary.

The event was hosted by The North Side/North Shore Chamber of Commerce to give Northsiders a chance to interact with candidates Jack Wagner, Bill Peduto and Jake Wheatley one-on-one in a casual environment.

“It had sort of a mixer feel to it,” said organizer John Graf, who is a co-owner of The Priory Hotel.

In addition to chatting with attendees, the candidates each gave a short pitch about their vision for the city and what they would do as mayor.

Wagner confidently referred to his experience in city and state government, while Peduto talked about his vision for development and growth, citing the development projects he worked in the East End neighborhoods. Jake Wheatley noted that the was new to Pittsburgh city politics, having worked as a state representative, but noted that he was not held to city-wide forces and was an advocate of reform in the mayor’s office.

“I think it went pretty well,” said Robin Miller, executive director of the chamber of commerce.

Read Northside-focused Q&As here.