Jorge DeFendini – 1st Ward
By Naomi Martin
Jorge DeFendini won the June 24 primary election for the Democratic nomination against Alejandro Santana and Leon Holden, and is now opposing Republican nominee Zach Winn to represent the city’s 1st Ward on Ithaca’s Common Council. The 1st Ward includes Ithaca’s South and West Hill neighborhoods.
DeFendini represented the 4th Ward on the Common Council in 2021; he was defeated in 2023 by Patrick Kuehl. After his loss, he stayed involved by pushing legislators to pass just cause legislation that bars employers from firing employees without cause. DeFendini has been endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America.
An issue that DeFendini is looking to address, which he outlined in the council’s Q&A style forum in early September, is housing stability. DeFendini said stability would be achieved through the protection of affordable homes with rent caps and by strengthening rent stability laws, specifically in low-income areas.
On the issue of public safety, DeFendini wants to see the implementation of a group of unarmed responders. DeFendini also wants to see underutilized resources within the community be used, such as turning the police department’s SWAT truck into a mobile grocery store.
Zach Winn – 1st Ward
By Naomi Martin
Zach Winn won the June 24 primary election running unopposed for the Republican nomination to represent the city’s 1st Ward on Ithaca’s Common Council. The 1st Ward includes Ithaca’s South and West Hill neighborhoods. Winn will rival Jorge DeFendini to represent the 1st Ward.
Winn has previously ran as a Republican for 1st Ward in 2023 and ran for mayor in 2022.
Winn said in an interview with The Ithacan that his number one objective would be to make Cornell University commit to contributing more financially to the city. To achieve this he proposed a revision of the current Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Ithaca and Cornell University. Winn said that Cornell’s current contribution of $4 million does not support the city, and a renegotiation is necessary to change this.
On the issue of public safety Winn said that he would not want to redirect any of the police’s budget to social programs. Winn also said he wants a secured psychiatric drug and rehabilitation facility to help those struggling with addiction.
Winn said that part of the purpose of his campaign is to give voters a choice and that the current political climate of Ithaca is a one party system. Winn said this puts the city at risk for abuse of power.
“I believe a lot of the decisions that have been made … over the last five years have not been done in good faith [and] have not had good results.” Winn said, “Tax payers, not only of the city but the entire county are paying the price. So, I am offering people an opportunity to make an actual choice on election day.”
Joe Kirby – 2nd Ward
By Naomi Martin
Joe Kirby won the primary election running unopposed for the Democratic nomination to represent the city’s 2nd Ward on Ithaca’s Common Council. The 2nd Ward consists of Ithaca’s downtown, Fall Creek neighborhood and a part of Collegetown.
Kirby, an Ithaca native, is an attorney and works with Tompkins County Treatment Court. Kirby is seeking public office to address issues with criminal justice reform. Kirby told The Ithaca Voice that his work within the Tompkins County Treatment Court with people who have existing criminal charges and substance-abuse issues has shown him where changes can be made to public safety. Kirby said that the “Reimagining Public Safety” initiative passed in 2021, and its recommendation that the City of Ithaca implement a team of unarmed public safety officers for mental health crises has not been addressed.
Kirby is also focused on increasing efficiency within the city’s politics, specifically addressing the city’s delayed audits. When speaking at a Q&A style forum in early September, Kirby said that the city was in “gridlock” and that its lack of action to address problems was affecting how the city operates.
Pat Sewell – 3rd Ward
By Naomi Martin
Pat Sewell wonthe primary election against Bill Noseworthy, winning the Democratic nomination to represent the city of Ithaca’s 3rd Ward on Ithaca’s Common Council. The 3rd Ward encompasses Belle Sherman as well as South Hill neighborhoods.
Sewell has lived in Ithaca for 20 years and works as an adjunct professor at Tompkins Cortland Community College. He ran in 2023 for a two-year seat in the 3rd Ward as an Independent but lost to Democrat Pierre Saint-Perez. In 2024, Sewell petitioned for ranked-choice voting; this petition was denied by the Ithaca City Clerk because the proposal did not address financial issues but has led to working groups exploring the issue.
Sewell said in an interview with The Ithacan that he is looking to address the increased cost of housing. Sewell said that to address this, property taxes must be lowered and the city should invest in a diversity of housing options.
“The concerns that we have for our area is more residential housing; there’s not a ton of residential housing and there’s also not a lot of senior housing,” Sewell said. “I’d like to see our zoning or tax abatements focus on senior housing in particular.”
Robin Trumble – 4th Ward
By Naomi Martin
Robin Trumble won the June 24 primary election running unopposed for the Democratic nomination to represent the city’s 4th Ward on Ithaca’s Common Council. The 4th Ward includes a large portion of Collegetown and Cornell University’s campus. Trumble, an experienced local service worker, has never held elected office before and was endorsed by the local chapter of the Progressive Working Families Party.
Trumble has lived in Ithaca for 15 years. He has done work as a field organizer with People For the American way and he had involvement in Ithacans for Reimagining Public Safety, which advocated for police reform.
The issues that Trumble is looking to address include financial support for downtown Ithaca. At a Q&A style forum in early September, Trumble proposed a state law that would impose a commercial vacancy tax to stimulate downtown financially and deal with the issue of empty storefronts. Trumble supports implementing the “Tompkins till 2” policy which would allow bars to stay open till 2 a.m. as opposed to the current 1 a.m. cut-off.
Trumble also wants to work to reexamine the Ithaca Green New Deal that the council passed in 2019, which had resolutions such as the one to decarbonize all city buildings by 2023. This reexamination would include clear and achievable goals and would involve Cayuga Nation members in council discussions of environmental initiatives.
G.P. Zurenda – 5th Ward
By Julian DeLucia
G.P. Zurenda, often referred to by his nickname Gepe (pronounced Jeep) is running to represent the city of Ithaca’s 5th Ward on Ithaca’s Common Council. The 5th Ward contains much of Cornell University North Campus as well as the Cornell Heights district. After initially losing the preliminary vote as a Democrat, he is running in the general election as an Independent with the Affordable Ithaca Party.
Zurenda was raised in Elmira and has been living in Ithaca for nearly 40 years. He works as a psychotherapist, consultant and life coach but has a background in the manufacturing industry, all of which he says will help him as a councilperson. He has served on the Ithaca City Planning Board, Board of Family and Children’s Services, the Advocacy Center and was a founding member of Ithaca Community Recovery
As a councilperson, Zurenda wants to lower the property tax burden on Ithaca homeowners and renters, getting Cornell University to pay more in tax to the city, reforming zoning and helping the city run in a more cost-effective manner.
“I listen to everybody, I try and pay attention and I figure out what makes sense,” Zurenda said. “What one needs to do is get in and see where the biases are [and] where things aren’t actually functioning the way people involved think they’re functioning.”
Hannah Shvets – 5th Ward
By Julian DeLucia
Hannah Shvets is running to represent the City of Ithaca’s 5th Ward on Ithaca’s Common Council. The 5th Ward contains much of Collegetown as well as the Cornell Heights district. Shvets is a junior at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations and won the preliminary vote as a Democrat against candidates G.P. Zurenda and Deborah Fisher, who has since dropped out and endorsed Shvets.
Shvets has lived in Ithaca since 2016, when she moved from Austin, Texas with her family. Shvets attended Ithaca High School and has been involved with community groups like the Ithaca Tenants Union, Ithaca Teachers Association, United Auto Workers Local 2300, Ithaca Democratic Socialists of America, the Tompkins County Working Families Party and the Just Cause Coalition. She currently staffs the Workers’ Rights Hotline at the Tompkins County Workers’ Center.
