Issues

Because this seat is being filled by appointment rather than election, I think there is an added responsibility to earn the trust of the people I would represent. One part of that is being transparent about where I stand.

Below are my views on some of the biggest issues facing Ward 4 and Ithaca, and how I would approach them on Common Council. This is not meant to cover everything. If there is an issue you care about that I have not addressed here, or if you want to talk through any of these positions, I am always happy to have that conversation.

Housing

Ithaca needs more housing, and it needs to be easier to build. Most Ithaca households rent, and housing costs increasingly shape who can afford to stay here. Supply is not the whole answer to affordability, but there is no serious affordability strategy without it.

Most of the decisions here run through zoning. I would push for more housing types and greater density to be allowed by right, fewer unnecessary parking requirements, and clearer development standards. The City should decide through the zoning process what it wants to permit, then make those rules predictable enough that compliant projects can actually move forward.

Predictability helps residents too. Clear rules let people know what can be built near them without forcing every project into a separate political fight. The alternative is a system where each proposal becomes its own negotiation and the people with the most time to attend hearings have the most influence.

In Collegetown, new construction is adding supply, but many students still live in older converted houses and high-occupancy rentals. I support building more because the alternative is more competition for the same aging housing stock. I would also push for code enforcement and inspection capacity to grow alongside new development, so tenants are protected and responsible property owners are not undercut by those who neglect their buildings.

City Finances

Ithaca is building its 2027 budget against a projected gap of roughly $5 to $6 million, with departments asked to identify five percent in reductions or new revenue.

Housing connects directly to this. About 58% of property value in Ithaca is tax-exempt, which leaves a relatively narrow base to fund City services. A one-point increase in the property-tax levy raises only about $350,000. New taxable development broadens the base over which the cost of government is spread, which is why I see housing growth as both an affordability strategy and a fiscal one.

Two current efforts matter in particular. The City is moving toward five-year capital planning, which helps anticipate major expenses before they become emergencies. It is also developing a strategy to reduce and convert short-term debt, which has grown to roughly a third of what the City owes, in part because grant-funded projects often require Ithaca to spend first and wait for reimbursement.

My focus would be on keeping those long-term consequences in view. When Council authorizes a capital project, the question should not only be what the City can borrow today, but what that decision commits Ithaca to three, five, and ten years from now. Fiscal discipline is not just about cutting spending. It is about making sure the City can keep investing without creating new pressure down the road.

Collegetown Businesses

Collegetown has lost several long-standing businesses, and empty storefronts weaken the entire district.

The City’s recent retail study includes a section on Collegetown and recommends building on what the neighborhood already does well, including casual dining and convenience retail, while coordinating more closely with Cornell. There is funding this year to act on those recommendations, and I would work to make sure Collegetown receives a real share of that investment rather than seeing it concentrated downtown.

I also think the zoning rewrite is an opportunity to reconsider how ground-floor commercial requirements work in practice. The goal should be active streets, not storefronts that remain empty simply because a particular use is required on paper

Streets & Public Spaces

Streets in Collegetown need better maintenance and repaving. College Avenue has too few public trash receptacles, and the ones that exist often overflow given the amount of foot traffic. These are small things compared with housing or the City budget, but they affect the neighborhood every day.

Council does not direct work crews, but it does help decide what makes it into capital planning, sanitation priorities, and the budget. I would make sure Ward 4’s basic infrastructure needs are reflected there rather than addressed one complaint at a time.

Waste

Ithaca’s trash-tag system is sound policy because it prices waste directly instead of hiding the cost in the tax levy. But its effectiveness as a conservation tool is limited by who it reaches. Many residents, especially those in larger apartment buildings, are outside the City’s collection system and rely on private haulers.

The County’s curbside food-scraps pilot is a good step, but it reaches only a small share of households. If Ithaca wants meaningful waste diversion, it has to reach multi-unit rental housing, where much of the City’s population actually lives. I would want the City and County working together on a model that can do that at scale.

Climate

I support the Ithaca Green New Deal and its 2030 carbon-neutrality goal. The challenge is the gap between the ambition of that commitment and the resources available to carry it out.

The program has produced real progress, including stronger building standards, community choice aggregation, and building electrification. But much of the work has depended on outside grants rather than sustained City funding, which means implementation often moves at the pace of available funding rather than the pace of Council’s goals.

Given Ithaca’s fiscal position, I would focus first on measures that also reduce long-term operating costs, especially building efficiency, and on strengthening the City’s ability to pursue, administer, and collect state and federal grant funding. Climate policy only works if the City has the capacity to deliver it.

Just Cause

I support just cause protections because workers should have a basic assurance that they cannot be fired arbitrarily or without a legitimate reason. This is an essential labor standard: it creates a fair process, requires employers to document why a termination is happening, and gives workers greater security without preventing businesses from making necessary staffing decisions.

Just cause is not meant to stop good employers from firing workers who are not performing, violate workplace rules, or otherwise need to be let go. It simply requires that those decisions be based on a fair and documented reason rather than being arbitrary.

The concern I hear most often from small businesses in Collegetown is about compliance. I would work to make compliance as straightforward as possible by pairing the policy with model documentation, progressive-discipline templates, written-warning forms, and plain-language guidance developed with local businesses and the Tompkins Chamber.