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ITHACA, N.Y. — Yet another candidate has announced a bid to represent Ithaca’s First Ward on the Common Council. Local business owner and longtime resident Alejandro Santana said he hopes to increase the council’s transparency and give a voice to his community.Santana will be facing former Alderperson Jorge Defendini and diversity director Leon Holden for the two-year seat currently held by outgoing Alderperson Phoebe Brown. Half of the seats on the council are up for grabs come November.Santana, who immigrated to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic, has lived in the First Ward for over 25 years and owns a local general contracting company. The ward includes Ithaca’s North and South Side neighborhoods as well as South and West Hill.Santana ran unsuccessfully for a Common Council seat as an independent in 2021, but said he has a renewed desire to run for the position this year after seeing breakdowns in communications between residents and council members. This year, he’s running as a Democrat.Santana cited the city’s handling of the recently opened Squeaky Clean Car Wash on South Meadow Street, which many Southside residents did not want built. The construction ultimately was allowed because the council did not finalize zoning changes that would have blocked the project.The noise of the car wash’s vacuums has also been a frustration for residents and Santana says that if elected he will work to address residents complaints about the car wash and find a solution to what he says is a current impasse.“I think you’ve got to find a solution for that impasse because at the end it will end up with some kind of a lawsuit,” Santana said. “And then, the city will have to pay — or somebody will have to pay — and that is not a benefit for the city at all.”Santana says he also wants to address Ithaca’s housing unaffordability issue. It’s a problem both his opponents also cite as a priority. Santana said to start, he wants to create more accessible for-sale housing. Tapping into New York State’s allocation of funding for projects in pro-housing communities will be important, he said, and could help the city build more single family homes and middle-income housing. Santana said he also wants to work with the city’s planning department to shorten the approval process for new construction and other projects.Like others — both on council and hopeful candidates — he also pledged to revise Ithaca’s zoning laws.“As a community we need to diversify our buildings,” Santana said. “I will actively push to rewrite the zoning [laws], which will help. It will allow for additional density, where it is appropriate.”Zoning changes are on the horizon no matter who wins the seat though. In December, the City of Ithaca received some $257,250 in state funds to update its zoning code with goals to increase housing supply and aid transitions to clean energy, among other things. Santana said he also wants to lower property taxes. To offset the loss in revenue, he wants to see “government efficiencies and cost savings,” but said he doesn’t know yet what exactly those changes would entail before a comprehensive study of city expenditures and revenue is completed. Above all, Santana says if elected, he’ll make it a priority to listen to people in his community and bring a sense of balance to the council. “I want to bring the balance and I want to be the ear that will listen to the people no matter where you are coming from,” Santana said, “If you’re a Democrat, you’re a Republican, you’re independent, I want to be there for you.”The post Third contender adds hat to ring for First Ward Common Council seat appeared first on The Ithaca Voice.First published by The Ithaca Voice.

Daily Archives: March 13, 2025

Third contender adds hat to ring for First Ward Common Council seat

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