Pittsburgh Mayor William Peduto is skeptical of mandatory assault weapon buyback policies. He also thinks hot dogs are, indeed, sandwiches.
These and more were some of the takeaways from the Mayor’s Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on Reddit which took place yesterday afternoon.
It was Peduto’s second AMA as Mayor, and third overall. For more than an hour, the Mayor and his staff fielded a wide variety of queries, ranging from the minutiae of local politics to issues of national importance.
Highlights included:
-Asked by user anuncommontruth for his response to President Trump’s plans to visit the city for the Shale Insight Conference on Oct. 23, Peduto wrote: “Welcome to Pittsburgh. Enjoy your visit. I’ll be working.”
-User namakius inquired about the possibility of creating a regional public transit system. The Mayor replied: “It would take a concerted effort of the people of our region to pass a referendum on raising taxes in order to create the local funding necessary to build a modern transit system.”
He added, “I would prefer a ‘spine-line’ which would be a light rail system that extends North to Cranberry, South to Peters, East to Monroeville and West to the Airport.”
–recruit00 asked about the possibility of the Mayor seeking higher office. “Nope. I want to run again for Mayor and then get a dog,” wrote Peduto.
-The Mayor also fielded two different questions on the sad state of the Pirates.
Asked by Steelerspizza for his honest opinion on the baseball team’s ownership, Peduto wrote: “As a fan — I am greatly disappointed. I don’t expect they will constantly be in the hunt, but the acceptance of below-mediocre is unacceptable.”
Then pechinburger asked about the chances of getting the Nutting family to sell the team.
“If he would be interested in selling, I would work to find the investors to meet his required amount,” wrote the Mayor.
–Povilitus asked for restaurant recommendations in the South Hills, to which the Mayor replied, “Alla Famiglia in Allentown or Dish in South Side.”
-The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy’s controversial trust fund plan also came up for debate, with user 6545666444699 writing, “Why should Pittsburghers who do not live near Frick and Schenley vote for a new tax to fund our parks, when recent history suggests most attention will be focused on those two?”
The Mayor assured his Reddit audience that the funds would be evenly distributed between all of Pittsburgh’s 165 neighborhood parks, and would be used to secure matching funds from outside entities.
“Our goal is to have a park within a 10-minute walk for every Pittsburgher, no matter where you live,” he wrote. “These funds will help us to reach our goal.”
To view the thread, and the many questions the Mayor didn’t get to, click here.
