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9 questions with Anna Kelles, candidate for Tompkins legislatureCONTESTED RACE FOR FALL CREEK SEAT (HTTP:// ITHACAVOICE.COM/CATEGORY/STORY-DATABASE/CONTESTED-RACE-FOR-FALL-CREEK-SEAT/) , NEWS(HTTP:// ITHACAVOICE.COM/CATEGORY/NEWS/) , TOP(HTTP:// ITHACAVOICE.COM/CATEGORY/TOP/) / SEPTEMBER 22, 2015 / BY BENEDETTA LUCIANA SARACARNAGHI (HTTP:// ITHACAVOICE.COM/AUTHOR/BENEDETTA-LUCIANA-SARA-CARNAGHI/)

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ITHACA, N.Y. — Fall Creek homeowner Anna Kelles has announced that she

will be running for the spot on the Tompkins County Legislature recently

made available by Kathy Luz Herrera’s sudden departure.

Nate Shinagawa, who resigned from his current seat on the Tompkins County

Legislature to move, has also announced that he will compete for the seat

(http://ithacavoice.com/2015/09/race-shaping-up-for-tompkins-seat-as-

shinagawa-seeks-switch/).

Here are the 9 questions we asked Kelles in an interview on Friday; click on

the one you're interested in to see her answer, or read the entire story in

order.

An interview with Shinagawa will soon follow.

(Did we miss your question? If so, email us at jstein@ithacavoice.com)

1 - Why are you running for the Legislature? What are your priorities? Why

should people vote for you?

2 — What kind of advocacy work have you been doing?

3 — More specifically, what would you do to help the businesses in Ithaca

through the Green Resource Hub?

4 - It’s interesting that you mention architecture. What do you think of the

11-story building the city wants to build in the downtown Ithaca Trebloc

site?

5 — What do you think of tax abatements for developers?

6 — What do you think of jail expansion?

7 — What do you think of the new budget?

8 — What do you think of police body cameras for sheriff's deputies?

9 — Last silly question… what’s your typical night out in Ithaca?

1 — Why are you running for the Legislature?What are your priorities? Why should peoplevote for you?AK: “I grew up in this town and I am passionate about nourishing the growing

community dedication to diversity, equality, a vibrant engaged culture, and

sustainable development. In my District in particular, we have experienced a

lack of response from our representative to supports these values.”

“Because of my involvement with many local sustainability and social justice

advocacy initiatives and my engagement as a Fall Creek homeowner, I feel

not only connected closely to the pulse of the neighborhood but I feel that I

could be a strong voice for what we want to see as a community in the county

legislature.”

2 — What kind of advocacy work have you beendoing?AK: “Most notably people know me for my work on the Old Tompkins County

Library issue. There was a proposal in front of the county legislature for an

adaptive reuse mixed-use development of the building that would have

maximized sustainable technologies, minimized loss of greenscape, and

offered community space, a healthcare cooperative, and much needed

homeowner options on a single lot. I organized the community to voice our

desire for this project at legislative meetings through the development of

petitions, op eds, and the formation of a neighborhood association. The

county chose not to listen to the call from the community but we are still

focusing on this initiative with the city.”

“My commitment to

advocacy work

however started

years ago while

building the national

Center for Nutrition

Advocacy to outline

existing laws and

identify key battle

states (including

NY) with bills that

would restrict the

practice of nutrition

based on political

(http://ithacavoice.com/wp-

content/uploads/2015/09/kelles.jpg)Anna Kelles

agendas. During

that time I also took

over as the Director

of the Green

Resource Hub,

which is a local

sustainability non-

for-profit, and spent

years educating,

training, coaching

and supporting

businesses to adopt

a triple bottom line

people, planet, and

profit practice.”

“I also became

involved with We

Are Seneca Lake and

participated in civil disobedience and protests against the proposed Seneca

Lake natural gas storage facility. For several years I was involved with

organizing the Food Justice Fair to promote food equity and food justice in

the community. For the last five years I have participated in the Women

Swimmin’ event to raise money and awareness for Hospicare by swimming

across Cayuga Lake.”

3 — More speciQcally, what have you done tohelp the businesses in Ithaca through theGreen Resource Hub?

AK: “For example, I worked with Cornell and designed a program to train

students to coach businesses through a national sustainability certification.

After extensive training student teams worked with businesses to identify

their goals and review their current practices using a validated assessment

tool. This information was used to develop and implement a plan towards

people-planet-profit sustainability. Several businesses successfully

completed this program including Rasa Spa, Alternatives Federal Credit

Union and Greenstar Cooperative Market.”

“As I stated before though, people connect me most closely with the library

issue and my commitment to development that creates density while

establishing mixed uses so people can live, work and play in the same place

and uses architecture that maximizes greenscape and creates walkable

neighborhoods.”

CONTENT CONTINUED BELOW

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4 — It’s interesting that you mentionarchitecture. What do you think of the 11-storybuilding the city wants to build in the

downtown Ithaca Trebloc site?AK: “We are absolutely short on housing in this town. It is a real and serious

problem. How we address this issue however should be balanced and

comprehensive. Last year zoning for the downtown core jumped from, I

think, 4 stories to 10 stories in one leap. Overnight we have more than 7

project proposals for 10 story buildings. However, I have not seen any

proposals to build supporting resources for incoming residents, for example,

food markets.”

“With the Trebloc site there will not be any parking for all the residents of the

584 bedrooms. Unless these residents have walkable access to basic needs

this could create a problem. Last year a comprehensive form-based code was

drafted. This plan outlines a strategy to create moderate density more

uniformly in key areas that would meet our density needs while creating

walkable smart growth neighborhoods and would not require the

development of mega-rental buildings. There are over a million square feet of

undeveloped and underdeveloped land in the city limits that could be

targeted to meet our affordable, senior, homeowner and rental housing

needs. I would note that not only will all of these mega developments be

rental units but they will be eligible for tax abatements, which could have

major ramifications on our economy.”

5 — What do you think of tax abatements fordevelopers?AK: “If we are going to use them, I think they should be used strategically to

support our local economy and local labor force. If we are engaging non-local

developers we need to ensure that they are not making a profit here at the

detriment to our economy and our community. We may be able to create

more of a balance by obtaining a commitment to local labor and a living wage

in return for a 7-year tax abatement.”

6 — What do you think of jail expansion?AK: “This is a complicated issue. It is critical that people who are in jail have

basic rights and a basic quality of life. If we as a society believe in

rehabilitation and successful reentry we cannot abide by mistreatment

potentially leading to anger and hopelessness, and this includes severe

overcrowding."

"However, I believe focusing our money and attention on building more

facilities is missing the core issue. We need to look at structural racism in the

core of our economic system and foster equal rights and access to quality

education, job training, and job promotion. We need to see equal

representation in management positions and government. If we focused our

efforts and money on job training and rehabilitation and fostered equal

representation around our decision making tables in our community would

we need jail expansion?"

"We could also focus our efforts on initiatives like Ban the Box that would

require employers to hold questions about felony charges until after the

initial paper application phase. There are many things that we can do to both

prevent jail entry as well as support reintegration. I would like to see these

emphasized before jail expansion.”

7 — What do you think of the new countybudget?AK: “The county is currently going through a proposed budget review and

approval process for 2016. I understand that the current increase was only

1.3%, and below the 1.8% state tax cap. That is a good thing. The county

recommendation does not make significant cuts to county supported

programs."

"Tompkins County, unlike many surrounding counties has made a point of

minimizing staff and program cuts as a priority for budget approval. The

budget is of course one of the trickiest tasks of the legislature in an attempt

to minimize tax increases while maintain program support. Overtime in the

county jail consistently exceeds the allocated budget so a significant increase

was added for overtime costs. I would like to see some creative solutions and

investments in education and reintegration to help support the Sheriff in the

long run and reduce these costs while supporting the community.”

8 — What do you think of police body camerasfor sheri]'s deputies?AK: “This is a complicated issue. On the one hand body cameras increase

accountability if they are worn and used properly but on the other hand

infringe upon privacy issues. There is also the matter of technology. The

technology is always improving but there are still plenty of cases of

malfunction.

"We would need to be ready to address this when it happens and not become

exclusively dependent on them. I think there are clear pros and cons but if I

had to make a decision now I would approve them pending very clear and

well thought through policies with the hope that they would create a

standard of accountability and possibly even foster a more balanced and

healthy dialogue between police and the public.”

9 — Last silly question… what’s your typicalnight out in Ithaca?AK: “I think one of the most therapeutic things to do in the world is to go

dancing. It’s my favorite form of exercise. There are amazing local musicians

in town too so I love to catch live music, preferably earlier in the evening than

later. I’m also a foodie and have a big group of foodie friends."

"We love to cook so potlucks are a staple and we all like healthy local food so

it’s common to meet up at the Farmer’s market to get our CSA shares and

end up in the evening with a wonderfully eclectic meal. Regular dinners with

my family, which is mostly still in town, is another common evening out.”

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