ITHACA, N.Y. — Two candidates for Ithaca’s Common Council will square off in a primary election being held on Thursday.

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Residents of the city’s Second Ward — which encompasses Northside, Washington Park as well as parts of downtown and Southside — have from noon until 9 p.m. to vote for either Isabelle Ramos or Ducson Nguyen in the Democratic primary.

Polling stations are at GIAC, Titus Towers and the public library. Further questions can be directed to the Tompkins County Board of Elections at (607) 274-5522.

A second primary is being held in the Lansing Town Supervisor race, where Republicans Edward J. Lavigne and Christopher Williams will face off.

Undecided about who to vote for in the Common Council race? Below we are republishing the two Q & A’s we held with Ramos and Nguyen shortly after their candidacies were first announced.

Interview with Nguyen

Here are the 7 questions we asked Nguyen in an interview; click on the one you’re interested in to see his answer, or read the entire story in order.

1 – What’s your top priority for Council?
2 – What do you think think of how the city has handled the Commons construction project?
3 – Do you support the controversial 210 Hancock Street building proposal? If so, why?
4 – Do you think an 11-story building is appropriate for the Trebloc site in downtown Ithaca?
5 – What do you think of 1) dogs on the Commons and 2) chickens in the home?
6 – What in your background qualifies you for the post? Why are you a good candidate?
7 – What’s your ideal Friday night in Ithaca, and why?

1 — Thanks for speaking with us. What’s your top priority for Council?

DN: “My top priority is housing. Maybe people might feel like they’re sick of hearing about it, but I genuinely think it’s the biggest issue the city faces … While canvassing, I talked to all sorts of people who are worried about their rents going up or have lived here for decades and are seeing their property values increase (which translates into higher property taxes).”

“Anyone who downplays the housing crisis isn’t talking to enough people; I don’t want the city to turn into a playground for rich people — I like having a diverse mix of people, in terms of race and income levels and occupations and all kinds of diversity — and you’re going to lose some of that if you can’t keep people in their homes.”

“The other cool thing about housing is that it’s linked to everything people care about in the city: If you care about sustainability and you don’t want to see sprawl into Lansing and the suburban areas, it’s important to build housing …

“I can say I’m someone with the extreme pleasure of walking to work for the past two years, not having to deal with the road rage and things like that — these are benefits I want to extend to as many people as want it because I think it’s better for our environmental and for our mental health.”

2 — What do you think think of how the city has handled the Commons construction project?

DN: “I think there’s no question it could have done better, but I do want to give them credit for doing the best they could — presumably, I hope at least — under some difficult circumstances. They didn’t know the conditions of the infrastructure in the middle of the Commons other than that it was old and needed replacement.

“So while it’s extremely frustrating to see constant construction, I think large municipal projects are difficult and I personally am a little more forgiving because I know from, say, renovating my own house — which is a tiny comparison — that things go out of schedule and problems come up that you have to deal with.”

“That said, there are incidents that they could have thought better about … the traffic light obscuring the sign — I think it’s an enormous issue. … That was a pretty huge oversight. I don’t know how that passed the planning staff. … I think we may want to review things a little more carefully in the future and, in general, make more accurate estimates.”

“Maybe part of the problem was that promising the Commons in 18 months, or whatever it was, was grossly unrealistic and people need to have the strength to stand up against these optimistic projections that they come up with just to get the project approved. I’m not saying that’s what they did … but you want to be accurate, so you don’t give people false expectations.”

3 — Do you support the controversial INHS 210 Hancock Street building proposal? If so, why?

DN: “I do support it. And I support it because it provides a lot of housing that is badly needed.”

“I also went to all three of the open houses INHS had, and — first of all, having the open houses was great. Getting the neighborhood’s input was a great way to stay communicative, and I think they learned lessons from the Stone Quarry project that they applied (to Hancock) …

“It’s really badly needed. It’s at the end of the neighborhood and seems an appropriate place for it. … a lot of these complaints won’t bear out in the end and we’ll really enjoy having more people in that neighborhood … Parking, for instance — INHS knows roughly how many people will own cars (based on their work from prior projects) and how many won’t. And I think they’re taking that into account.”

4 — Do you think an 11-story building is appropriate for the Trebloc site in downtown Ithaca?

DN: “I think it could be a little more attractive, and that’s where form-based planning — which I’m trying to learn as much as I can about going forward — it could be more attractive, but that area is zoned for that height and I think it makes sense to try and maximize density in the core of the city.”

“It’s been kind of hard to convey this to people, but the housing market works on supply and demand like any other market; when we have extraordinary demand like we do in the city of Ithaca, the best way to take pressure off the pricing is to increase the supply and we have an opportunity here to make a substantial dent in supply. And for that reason I’m very interested in it.”

“We can make it fit in better aesthetically with the late 19th century buildings that surround it; that would be great. But in general, I’m certainly not opposed to really tall buildings that make an admittedly small dent in the housing crisis but a necessary one.”

5 — What do you think of 1) dogs on the Commons and 2) chickens in the home? 

DN: “I was actually not opposed to dogs on the Commons as long as you were very strict about people picking up after them. If we want to encourage the Commons as a shopping corridor, we should be okay with dogs — but people don’t pick up around their house and it’s irritating, so I understand why people are concerned about that …

“I am not in favor of raising backyard chickens. I love the locally grown food movement and I’m a huge fan of the community gardens, but I think chickens in an urban environment can be noisy and interaction with other animals in the neighborhood can be difficult. Someone recently told me their dog killed their neighbor’s chicken — that was in a suburban setting, but at the same time (backyard chickens) introduce a lot of problems that can cause discord between neighbors.”

6 — What in your background qualifies you for the post? Why are you a good candidate?

DN: “I genuinely love the city. I love my life here — I grew up in New Jersey, where you did not know your neighbors too well. There’s community here — I find a lot of people who are really involved.

“I get to walk to work every day — my life here is amazing, and I want to be sure as many people as possible have access to this lifestyle. The current mayor and the current Common Council as a whole has been fighting this fight, and I don’t want us to reverse course.”

“I’m also a policy wonk and enjoy the nitty gritty of really arcane city policies, and I like to make data-driven decisions, and I think it will be interesting to research and experiment with what works and what doesn’t work. We should be okay trying things to see what actually improves the city.”

7 — What’s your ideal Friday night in Ithaca, and why?

DN: “I do love going to Cinemapolis and watching movies there and the different types of films they show. My ideal evening probably involves dinner at Saigon Kitchen (Nguyen notes he is the son of Vietnamese parents), then a movie at Cinemapolis – probably a documentary, though a nice indie comedy would be good too … and then drinks at The Westy, especially when you can sit outside and play corn-hole.”

“And the fact that I can walk to all those things, not to sound like a broken record, is a great privilege. (It is) something I want everyone else to have: To be able to have a drink and not have to worry about driving back out to Newfield.”

Interview with Ramos

Here are the 7 questions we asked Nguyen in an interview; click on the one you’re interested in to see his answer, or read the entire story in order.

1 – What’s your top priority for Council?
2 – What do you think think of how the city has handled the Commons construction project?
3 – Do you support the controversial 210 Hancock Street building proposal? If so, why?
4 – Do you think an 11-story building is appropriate for the Trebloc site in downtown Ithaca?
5 – What do you think of 1) dogs on the Commons and 2) chickens in the home?
6 – What in your background qualifies you for the post? Why are you a good candidate?
7 – What’s your ideal Friday night in Ithaca, and why?

1 — Thanks for speaking with us. What’s your top priority for Council?

IR: “Offering excellent constituent services — so having regular communication with constituents, especially those who come to city Council meetings and express their concerns.

“To actually build trust and be accountable – that’s my top priority as an alderperson.”

2 — What do you think think of how the city has handled the Commons construction project?

IR: “Well, outside looking in I would say that the city failed to identify potential issues that involved NYSEG and other aspects of the project – including, obviously, the timeline, the impact on small businesses, the impact on pedestrian traffic and safety and also the very obvious oversight about the size of the Ithaca Commons sign being out of scale with the rest of the signage.”

“I think the devil is in the details, as they say, and I feel like this was a big learning experience for the city — but that with my background being able to focus on those details it will help me help the city be more efficient.”

3 — Do you support the controversial INHS 210 Hancock Street building proposal? If so, why?

IR: “I do support it, because — number one, I think INHS and the fact that it’s a mixed-use development project and that they are welcoming input from community members — that’s a good way to come to the table with an open mind and be willing to address their plan accordingly.

“Obviously, we live in a very passionate and vocal community, and so this is going to be a process, and I feel that this is going about it in the right way, that public comment is the right way to hear pros and cons. And I think that it will be a good case study for other development projects that come to the table to see, ‘Is this property going to be sustainable? How is the community going to change? How is the environment going to be impacted?’ It looks good and I think it will be a great learning experience for the whole city.”

4 — Do you think an 11-story building is appropriate for the Trebloc site in downtown Ithaca?

IR: “Well, at first glance the project proposal on its face seemed a bit excessive; however, I feel that there are a lot of benefits that could come with having that type of structure in that location at the Trebloc site.

“It would be a huge change, but I think it could have a really positive impact for the downtown culture and for the city’s economy …  it would mean bringing in new community members that can contribute to the liveliness of the Commons; it would hopefully bring in more money to businesses and restaurants within the downtown area and especially the Second Ward, which is a plus — and with more revenue, the city could then focus on improving the infrastructure, including potholes and sidewalks within the Second Ward …

“That being said about the benefits, I would be equally concerned about the negative impacts as far as traffic congestion (is concerned). I ride the TCAT bus and already it’s been a challenge commuting in that area because of the Marriott construction — so while it sounds like a great idea, it sounds like a big headache as well.”

5 — What do you think of 1) dogs on the Commons and 2) chickens in the home? 

IR: “So, dogs on the Commons. I know for purposes of liability it’s in the city’s best interest to be thoughtful … about permitting people to bring dogs in the Commons … I am definitely pro pets, but I am also pro safety, and they dont have to be exclusive. And I can see how for purposes of liability the city would need to stay firm on not allowing dogs — but within an hour of walking the Commons I saw 5 dogs with their owners being walked. So you don’t necessarily want to have laws no one is going to follow, either, so I’d be open to reviewing where the city’s policies stand there.

“And on that same note, if we were to keep the current policy of not having dogs on the Commons I would advocate for the city to create another space … some dog-friendly areas near the Commons.

“And chickens. I love chickens; I eat chickens. (But) I feel like there are certain health risks that can come with maintaining chicken coups and I would want to really understand how many residents within the city of Ithaca would be in support of allowing chickens before I make any policy judgement.”

6 — What in your background qualifies you for the post? Why are you a good candidate?

IR: “I would say the thing that qualifies me the post is my education — in my undergraduate studies, with a focus on ethics; that is important to me and not just passing a law but passing good laws that serve the people.

That education and that principle I believe qualifies me, I believe, for being a Second Ward alderperson.”

7 — What’s your ideal Friday night in Ithaca, and why?

IR: “I could talk about lots of great Friday nights, but I’ll stick with something I do pretty common: an early evening bike ride around Cass Park, then returning to my residence and making a home-cooked meal — hopefully with local friends I can entertain, and then popping into the Congo Street Market near the Southside Community Center, getting some cool entertainment and bouncing around the different venues downtown for the remainder of the evening.”

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