Two seek Ward 2 seat on Canandaigua City Council. What to know

CANANDAIGUA, NY – As in the Ward 1 race for Canandaigua City Council, no matter what happens after the polls close Nov. 7 someone new will be representing Ward 2 in the city come 2024.

Republican and Conservative Party candidate Sean Buck and Democrat and Chosen Spot candidate Guy Turchetti are vying for the four-year seat. Incumbent Councilmember Dan Unrath is not seeking re-election.

Ward 2 is the southeast portion of the city. Early voting continues until Sunday, Nov. 5; polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 7.

Each of the candidates was asked two questions. Their responses have been lightly edited.

Q: What can Canandaigua City Council do now or in the near future to protect residents from intense weather-related events?

Sean Buck: Unfortunately, no one in any form of government can protect people from any weather-related events. It’s called nature for a reason. We can’t stop it from happening.

What we can do is to make sure that the city is ready to respond when it does happen; which I think we did rather immediately, and to the best of our ability. Just as with Agnes (when the whole city was under water), both the residents of Canandaigua and all of its emergency services responded to mitigate what could have been an even worse situation.

The biggest problem going forward is that we are having several retirements coming up in the next couple of years which will severely limit our ability as a city to respond. I believe that we need to get ahead of this now, so that it doesn’t come back to hurt us when we can least afford it.

Guy Turchetti: Canandaigua City Council needs to continue working with local, state and federal agencies to improve stormwater retention and diversion. However, since the main cause of so much of the flood issues in the city of Canandaigua are extreme weather events that overwhelm Sucker Brook, which carries storm runoff through Ontario County and the town of Canandaigua before hitting the city, I believe the most effective actions Canandaigua City Council can take are to continue coordinating with the town of Canandaigua as well as Ontario County on a shared solution. The systems were well-designed but are not able to handle the ever-increasing extreme rain events like the one in July. As residents of West Gibson and the Factory 243 on Gorham Street can attest, the problems Canandaigua residents have with extreme weather-related disasters are costly, both financially and emotionally.

I know there have been efforts to develop greater capacity by the city, but clearly there is much more that needs to be done, and the city can play a role but can’t do it on its own — Canandaigua City Council must engage the town and county to cooperatively design more effective solutions, provide the labor and work to obtain funding to improve the capacity of our runoff system. Learning about what can be done and working diligently on Council to resolve this issue will be one of my biggest priorities when the voters in Ward 2 elect me to represent them on City Council.

Q: What are your plans for residents in Ward 2?

Buck: Although I may have several things that I would like to see accomplished in Ward 2, I believe that one of the immediate issues affecting the residents is the unfortunate increase in crime. This also directly relates to what I mentioned earlier with regard to the coming retirements. With Ontario County increasing in population, there is also an unfortunate need to increase our protective services whether we like it or not.

I want to find creative ways to have the city receive the best value that we can for our residents, so that we can have a safe, and prosperous community for all our residents, businesses, visitors, and tourists alike.

Ward 2 is also the least developed area of the city. When I was on the comprehensive plan committee, I spearheaded changing the zoning for the vacant land east of Jefferson Park from “light industrial” to “residential.” We need to have more young families come into our city, and I think that area would be ideal.

Turchetti: Again, one big priority is to figure out how to prevent the flooding at Factory 243 that seems to happen far too often — this summer residents were displaced because of the flooding that pushed sewage into first-floor residences, and that must be addressed. Factory 243 has been a great addition to the Gorham Street neighborhood and the city owes it to the residents to protect their homes and property.

I also feel very strongly about protecting Canandaigua Lake and its shoreline, and since most of the city's public access is in Ward 2, it is an issue that I will make a priority. As a city of Canandaigua planning commissioner, I have been an advocate for keeping the lake accessible to city residents and have supported projects that had no negative impact to the lake.

Other than the lake, I hope to continue the work the current City Council has done to improve the quality of life while maintaining one of the lowest tax rates among cities of comparable size. I also will strive to emulate their efforts on projects like the Canandaigua Wastewater Treatment Facility project that will create waste that will be sold as a biosolid, reducing the waste the city pays to send to the landfill — a combination that will be tax neutral for city taxpayers and is better for the environment.

It’s this type of problem solving that I will attempt to continue should I be fortunate enough to be elected to Canandaigua City Council.

Getting to know Sean Buck

Sean Buck is a fourth generation Canandaiguan. Buck graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology with a degree in communications. Now, besides being a business owner, he said he is on the adjunct faculty at Finger Lakes Community College and a volunteer at Sonnenberg Gardens & Mansion Staten Historic Park and Fort Hill Performing Arts Center. He also organizes the Kershaw Kleanup diving event to remove trash from the lake.

Getting to know Guy Turchetti

Guy Turchetti, 58, is a high school special education and English teacher in the Seneca Falls Central School District. He and wife Sue, who is also a special education teacher in Seneca Falls, have two daughters.

Turchetti said music is a big part of his life, both listening to it and playing bass guitar in a band. He also loves photography, reading, writing, camping and fishing.

This article originally appeared on MPNnow: Who is running for Canandaigua City Council? What to know