On behalf of the Cornell Democrats, I’m proud to announce our endorsement of Jorge DeFendini ’22 and the rest of the Solidarity Slate for Ithaca Common Council. As some of the Democratic Party’s constituents on Cornell’s campus and in the City of Ithaca, we believe that the candidates running for our party should represent community leadership, bold action and a departure from the status quo.
Jorge is running in Ward 4, a region that is primarily made up by collegetown, and he is being opposed by an independent challenger named Alejandro Santana, someone who has done minimal outreach to residents of the ward. As such, I wanted to settle some of the debate around the candidates and explain why my organization unanimously voted to endorse DeFendini and the Solidarity Slate.
Jorge has been working to push for the issues he cares about for years now. He served as the president of La Asociación Latina at Cornell, he worked to create the Cornell Progressives and has been working with me for over three years in the Cornell Democrats. Jorge knows about organizing and leadership, and that’s exactly what we need in the Ithaca Common Council.
While it’s great to hear that Santana has an old connection to the area, Jorge is the only candidate in this race that is actually focusing on the challenges that residents of Ward 4 face now. Whether it be a Right to Renew law that would prevent landlords from evicting tenants without cause, an Ithaca Green New Deal to tackle the climate crisis or even free public transportation for all Ithacans, Jorge is focused on the issues that matter to constituents.
We believe that Jorge will fight for social and economic justice, and he will uplift our community by focusing on affordable housing, environmental sustainability, public utilities and other important policies. To our executive board, this is not an ideological issue, but rather a question of common sense. Our executive board, ranging from moderates to progressives, voted unanimously to endorse Jorge because we found that these policies that he and his slate are running on are not just good, but necessary.
With that, we urge all Ward 4 residents to get out and vote for Jorge!
Logan Morales ’22 is a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences. He serves as the President of the Cornell Democrats. Comments can be sent to [email protected]. Guest Room runs periodically throughout the semester.