Ducson Nguyen, Second Wa r d o f It h ac a
George McGonigal , F i r s t Wa r d o f It h ac a
Ju dge Scott M iller
M ay o r S va n t e My r i c k
P e t e r C h a r n e t s k y, N Y S Su pr em e Cou rt Ju dge
2019 Election Bonanza
Who cares if it’s an off-year? You’ve still got a vote to cast By M att Bu tler a n d E dw i n J. Vi e r a
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here are a lot of eyes turned towards 2020 already. It’s the start of a new decade, a valuable chance at a mulligan for those who believe the last few years of the 2010s went a bit sideways, for one reason or another. Related to that, many of those eyes are already fixated on the 2020 presidential election, even with more than a year left before Wolf Blitzer starts doodling on expensive digital maps once again. But before that, there are local elections to be decided. The Ithaca Times has already covered that participation is down this year compared to the last off-year election, when almost all the incumbent Common Council members who were eligible for re-election were challenged, although some have said that’s simply a return to the norm. Regardless, local elections are important, and a critique holds much more weight down the road if the subject of that critique knows they’re deal8 T
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Ithac a Times
ing with someone who was engaged when it counted, and isn’t just hopping on at the end. With that said, here is as much rundown as we could fit into this issue, with more coverage coming online as we near the date. Early voting has already begun (held at Ithaca Town Hall and Crash Fire Rescue building at 72 Brown Road) and other official polling locations open on Nov. 5, from 6 a.m. until 9 p.m. THE CITY OF ITHACA
The most interesting development in the city’s elections is the 11th hour insurrection campaigns being staged by young environmental activitsts. So far, three candidates have declared their candidacies as write-in competitors during the last week: Ellie Pfeffer, Thea Kozakis and Cheyenne Carter are all now running for Common Council seats, in the fourth, third and fifth wards respectively. All three are being spurred by generally the same motivation: the environment. All of them are members of the local Sunrise Movement chapter, which has gained momentum over the last several months,
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peaking with the climate change marches last month that attracted thousands of young people, most of them high school and college students, to the Commons to call for energy policy reform. In interviews, it’s clear that despite their late starts, the trio aren’t just trying to stir the pot by entering the race. Though they were too late to get on the actual ballot, each one legitimately believes that while experienced voices are valuable and necessary, it’s time that youth voices were not only welcomed to the table, but started pulling up a chair and forcing their way in if need be. “Voices of the community need to be empowered more,” Carter wrote in an email. “Our government works for us, but yet we have to try so hard to not be left in the dark about information. Information needs to be easily accessible. Each election is to keep democracy in check. Whether I’m a politician, activist, server, or farmer I will actively be reminding people that their voices are important, and their actions can be powerful.”
Pfeffer expressed similar views. They enter the race as the lone challengers to the Common Council incumbents, as they’ll face Rob Gearhart in the Third Ward, Steve Smith in the Fourth Ward and Laura Lewis in the Fifth Ward. The unchallenged candidates for Common Council are George McGonigal in the First Ward and Ducson Nguyen in the Second Ward. The incumbents all appeared at a candidate forum on Monday night, with each one touting their collective bona fides: Lewis for her work with affordable housing, Nguyen for his tireless advocacy of alternative transportation, and McGonigal for his work to get more Public Works staff for infrastructure work. At the start of the mayoral race, it seemed as though incumbent Mayor Svante Myrick was going to run unopposed. However, new-to-politics candidate Adam Levine swooped in with a late, grassroots campaign effort to challenge the mayor. Levine decided to take on the challenge to make Ithaca a better place after feeling like changes in the city were work-