After the primary elections in June, only one race for the City of Ithaca’s Common Council is left without a clear front–runner. This is the 5th Ward race between Democrat Hannah Shvets, junior at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations, and independent G.P. Zurenda, a psychotherapist and consultant. 

Shvets defeated Zurenda and Deborah Fisher, who has since dropped out, in the Democratic primary, with 40.49% of the vote. Zurenda received 33.74% and Fisher received 25.77%. Zurenda is running again in the general election as an independent. 

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 and Ithaca Teachers Association among others. She currently staffs the Workers’ Rights Hotline at the Tompkins County Workers’ Center.

Zurenda, often known by his nickname Gepe (pronounced Jeep), 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 said 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. 

The 5th Ward

The 5th Ward contains much of Cornell University’s North Campus, as well as residential, single-family neighborhoods in the Cornell Heights district and around Fall Creek, creating a split between student and local constituents. 

Shvets said she believes her background as both an Ithaca local and a Cornell student gives her the ability to bring both groups together and address their concerns. Zurenda said his background in psychotherapy and manufacturing makes him adept at listening to people and offering practical, cost-effective solutions. 

Zurenda said he anticipated splitting the non-student vote with Fisher, so he petitioned to run in the general election as an independent in April with the Affordable Ithaca Party, a party he created himself. 

Shvets said Zurenda running again in the general election is undemocratic and that she believes she will receive higher voter turnout as students in the 5th Ward will be back in town. 

“He already ran in the primary and he lost, I think that matters to a lot of people,” Shvets said. “I really want more people voting because … [163] people voted in the last race. That was really disappointing because we have 5,000 registered voters in the district and they should all have their voices heard.” 

Key issues

Shvets’ platform involves increasing worker protections like just cause employment and legislation for outdoor workers, construction of a new “no-questions-asked” homeless shelter on Cherry Street, expansion of the Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit and creating a community accountability board for civilians to keep police and other powerful people in check. 

Zurenda’s platform involves lowering the property tax burden and securing a better Memorandum of Understanding with Cornell; applying performance metrics for and better defining the roles of Ithaca city manager and mayor; increasing property inspections and enforcing existing laws and codes in a more expansive way; and moving to more county-wide climate initiatives. 

Zurenda and Shvets both agree that key issues in the 5th Ward are the lack of housing and the unaffordable price of housing. The Fair Market Rent of a one-bedroom apartment in Ithaca has increased from $1,127 in 2022 to $1,489 in 2025, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Policy Development and Research’s HUD User. According to the 2025 Tompkins County Living Wage Study, the gap between the New York state minimum wage and the Tompkins County living wage has increased from $4.25 to $9.32 from 2023 to 2025, a large increase in the cost of living. 

Shvets said she wants to see more housing units built, but also better rent controls and tenant solidarity. She said she wants to work on fixing what she sees as an unbalanced power dynamic between tenants, property developers and landlords through coalition building and community organizing. 

Zurenda said he wants to rezone parts of the 5th Ward and redevelop the existing housing stock. He said duplexes could be broken down into more single units and that tax abatements should no longer be given to out-of-town developers. He said all voices — renters, developers, landlords and more — should all come together in discussion to find solutions to these problems so that more Ithaca locals are not pushed out by high prices and taxes. 

Zurenda said he wants to lower the property tax burden on Ithaca homeowners and renters, get Cornell to pay more in taxes to the city, reform zoning and help 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.”

Part of Shvets’ platform is the implementation of a city-specific minimum wage that would be in line with the current Living Wage Study, which found that a comfortable living wage for a single person in Tompkins County is $24.82. Shvets said she would want to implement increases incrementally to get closer to the living wage and that she has been working with local labor unions and advocating for this cause. 

“Fundamentally, having higher wages is good for everyone, including businesses,” Shvets said. “I think it creates healthier environments and people feel more inspired to do their work.” 

Community response

Nash Wickremeratne, Cornell junior and political director at Cornell Democrats, said Shvets’ focus on worker and tenant protections as well as housing resonated with her and the other members of Cornell Democrats. 

“We need someone to progress housing policy and ensure everyone’s rights are protected, whether they’re a student or a longtime resident,” Wickremeratne said. 

Wickremeratne said Cornell Democrats held a discussion and endorsed Shvets, as they believed her policies aligned more with the views of their organization. 

Walter Hang, 5th Ward resident and president of Toxics Targeting Inc., said he appreciated Zurenda’s focus on the city’s financial issues and that he believed his background and experience would allow him to tackle some of those issues. 

“He’s basically understanding that we face enormous challenges, mainly financial challenges,” Hang said. “I haven’t heard anything about that from Hannah. … She just thinks we’re going to basically tax the rich and give money in some way to help people without any understanding of how you do that.” 

Hang said he has been continually frustrated by the governance of Ithaca, especially when it comes to environmental and public health issues. He said he doubted that students could truly address community issues in a meaningful way. 

“I totally believe that Ithaca is the worst governed locality I am aware of in all my travels and I’ve worked in 12 states,” Hang said. “To make matters worse, we now have these students who basically think that they’re running for Congress or the U.N. and they want to deal with these overarching global issues, and they’re not dealing with the fact that … people can’t afford to live here.”