Bobby Wilson
(click the photo for candidate’s website)
Steven Oberst
(no candidate website)
There is a contested primary election race for Pittsburgh City Council District 1 between incumbent Bobby Wilson and his Democratic challenger, tax accountant Steven Oberst.
There are no Republican candidates for this seat.
Pittsburgh District 1 comprises the neighborhoods of Allegheny Center, Allegheny City Central, Allegheny West, Brighton Heights, East Allegheny, Fineview, Northview Heights, Observatory Hill, Spring Garden, Spring Hill-City View, Strip District (part), Summer Hill, and Troy Hill & Washington’s Landing.
Bobby Wilson’s answers to our voter guide questions for the Primary Election on May 16 are below. Steven Oberst did not respond to our questionnaire. You can also learn more about these two candidates in the WESA 2023 Primary Election Voter Guide.
2023 Voter Guide Questions:
Roughly 1 in 5 Pittsburgh residents are food insecure, and large sections of the city, especially many predominantly Black neighborhoods, do not have access to healthy affordable food.
1) What would your priorities be as City Councilmember for the deployment of the Pittsburgh Food Justice Fund that the council passed in December?
Oberst:
No response.
Wilson:
We should prioritize the most apparent issues that exist around the topic of food insecurity. I believe these issues are affordability, accessibility, underutilization of existing programs, and awareness of food insecurity. By making healthier foods more affordable will increase the likelihood that low-income communities will take advantage of healthier food options. We have to make these foods more accessible by improving transportation options to healthy food and decreasing the distance to it as well. Evaluating our existing programs, like our Summer Food Service program, on their current effectiveness will help us understand if they should be reorganized and/or expanded. We must increase awareness about food insecurity to all of our city departments and community organizations. The issue of food insecurity is not an isolated issue and the more awareness there is the more effective we can be at solving this issue.
2) What other legislation or policy measures would you support to address hunger and food apartheid in the city?
Oberst:
No response.
Wilson:
I would support a SNAP incentive program where customers would get a dollar-to-dollar match up when they pay for fresh fruits and veggies with an EBT card at participating corner and grocery stores.
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