KAYTEE LIPARI SHUE

ONEONTA COMMON COUNCIL, WARD 4

COMMUNITY OF RESIDENCE:  Center Street, Oneonta for over 30 years.

EDUCATION:  Oneonta City Schools (’05) and Academy of Art University in San Francisco (advertising)

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:  Retail business leadership for over 10 years, most notably maurices at the Southside Mall for five years.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT:  City of Oneonta sustainability taskforce alongside Mark Davies. First United Methodist Thanksgiving dinner volunteer for several years. Represented maurices as a local Chamber of Commerce member. Coordinator of numerous drives and events as Store Leader of maurices benefitting local groups – focusing on women, children, seniors and animals.

FAMILY: I have a husband, Jared, who is also an Oneonta native, and a son, Henry.

PHILOSOPHY OF GOVERNMENT:  Council members should be elected to advocate for their constituents and ensure tax dollars are used to appropriately address community needs.

MAJOR ISSUES FACING CITY OF ONEONTA:  

I think it’s important that we are finding purposeful solutions for the future, rather than making potentially short-sighted decisions. For example, the DRI grant is an important opportunity and it’s crucial that we think about how the decisions we make now will age in the community we want to build.

It’s critical that we focus on growing the local economy by encouraging quality job creation and by reducing the tax burden on homeowners.

We need to facilitate a symbiotic relationship between the City and the colleges. We are a college town – so the students are a vital part of our city’s character, but our year-round residents who have invested in our community deserve respect. This is a continual issue for the residents of my district, so it’s important that we set expectations clearly so that we are all participating in a shared vision for our neighborhood. We should also tap into the college community when it comes to growing industry in our area, as supporting students with jobs in their field after they graduate will help them view (and treat) Oneonta as their home.

I’m also passionate about increased communication and transparency between City Hall and city residents so that everyone feels involved in the processes that impact our quality of life.

MY QUALITIES: strong communicator, results focused, driven, organized, and genuinely optimistic.

STATEMENT: 

When people I grew up with hear that I’m still in our hometown, a lot of them ask me why – and that is exactly why I’m running for city government. The perception among many is that Oneonta is a great place to grow up, but not a great place to stay.  We raise great kids, and so many more move here to go to college, but then most end up elsewhere because there isn’t anything to keep them here long term. It’s hard to find housing. It’s hard to find jobs. “There isn’t anything to do.”

Our community has so much potential. We could absolutely be a destination for other families like mine to put down roots; to live, work, shop, dine, and proudly call Oneonta their home. In recent years, we have taken steps toward that potential, but there is still a lot of work to be done. I’m motivated to dig in, work hard, find solutions to our challenges, and be involved in these decisions that will shape the future of Oneonta.

As a lifelong resident of the Fourth Ward, you can trust that my perspective on issues will come from a place of deeply held personal understanding.  I’ve been here through the ups and downs in our community, and I can relate to many of the concerns of my neighbors. Now, more than ever, city residents are voicing their opinions, hoping to be heard by those making decisions on their behalf – and I would be excited and honored to be their representative.

I can be reached via email at LS4Oneonta@yahoo.com for further discussion.

I hope to earn my neighbors’ support in the Democratic primary on June 25th!