New county controller Chelsa Wagner from a line of public servants
When Chelsa Wagner is sworn in on Tuesday as the first female Allegheny County controller, her new position will become the latest in a string of political and public service roles held by the Wagner family.
Growing up in Beechview, Wagner, 34, watched her father, aunt and uncles ascend to political office.
When Wagner returned to Pittsburgh after attending the University of Chicago and working in the private sector for several years, she saw unsettling changes in Beechview and the city overall, she said.
"I thought there needed to be more community involvement in development projects and politics, and I saw changes where neighborhoods were losing their grocery store, bank and post office," Wagner said. "I thought I could play a role there."
Her uncle, state Auditor General Jack Wagner, said the family tree took root in politics in the 1970s, when Pete Wagner, Chelsa's father, won a district magistrate seat.
"We all got involved in campaigning for him, and it truly became a family event," Jack Wagner said. "After that it just snowballed and we all became involved in community service, neighborhood issues and supporting good candidates."
By the early 1980s, Beechview was experiencing water main breaks that resulted in the placement of water buffalos throughout the neighborhood. Jack Wagner said he and others weren't satisfied with the response by city officials, so he decided to run for public office.
At the time, City Council was composed entirely of at-large seats, so Wagner had to "campaign the whole city." Using the slogan "Stop the Circus," he ran unendorsed and won. He served 10 years before his election to the state Senate in 1994.
In January 2009, he began his second term as auditor general.
"Giving back to the community is ingrained in this family," said Eileen Wagner, was Allegheny County's register of wills until 2009. She is married to Jack Wagner's brother, Bob.
Chelsa Wagner earned a law degree from the University of Pittsburgh and worked as a business analyst and attorney in private practice before being elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 2006. She served three terms before winning the county controller's seat.
Wagner, whose father chairs the Democratic Party's 19th Ward committee, said her family's political life and public service became part of the fabric of her childhood.
"I think you definitely gain a respect and a passion for it when it's the conversation around the family dinner table," Wagner said. "Growing up around that definitely influenced me."
She lives in Brookline with her husband, Khari Mosley, and their son, Thaddeus Wagner, 2. When she takes office, she said her priority will be to work toward making the controller's office more "efficient, transparent and digestible to taxpayers."
"I'm proud of what our family has done and accomplished," Jack Wagner said. "I'm glad I'm part of a family that wants to improve the city, the county and the state. I hope that legacy continues for years to come."
