Oneonta Common Council Ward 5 Candidates: In Their Own Words 

By JAYLEN LAMPRON
SUNY Institute for Local News
ONEONTA

AllOtsego’s 2026 election coverage continues with interviews with the candidates for the 5th Ward seat on the City of Oneonta’s Common Council. Valerie Cole is running on the Democratic party line and Amun Zo is running on the Oneonta United independent party line.  

The 5th Ward seat is the only Common Council position up for vote in this year’s November 3 election. The seat is currently filled by Edward May Jr., who was appointed on September 1 to replace Len Carson after Carson’s resignation in August 2026.   

Cole and Zo were both interviewed in person by Jaylen Lampron, a student reporter for the OnNY Community Media Lab at SUNY Oneonta. The following are full transcriptions of those conversations, only lightly edited for length, grammar and clarity. 

Can we start by having you introduce yourself and the position you’re running for? 

VALERIE COLE: My name is Valerie Cole, and I am running for the 5th Ward Common Council. 

AMUN ZO: My name is Amun Zo. I am a father of three. I live in this community. I work at the Oneonta Job Corps Academy. I’m running for Oneonta’s 5th Ward Common Council. 

How would you describe your leadership style? What values are important to you, and what will those values bring to the Common Council? 

COLE: I follow a service leadership model, which means that if I am doing my job right, then I’m not the one in the newspaper. If I’m doing my job right, that means the city is running efficiently and the programs that we’re supporting in the city are successful. For me, democracy is a value. What it means is that everybody gets a chance to have their voice heard. And even if I disagree with you, I want to be able to talk with you long enough and in a respectful way so that I can really understand what your needs are and what your concerns are. Doesn’t mean I will agree with you, but it does mean that I want to work toward solutions that are going to help us both, and that it might mean we both need to sacrifice a little bit. I think every voice should have a vote; one person, one vote. The other value that I think is really important is the value of working together; I don’t think any one of us has solved the problems that we’re facing alone. We have to work together. And that means I’m not going to be making decisions that are just going to make me famous or happy or rich. I need to be making decisions based on the needs of the community.  

ZO: For me, my leadership style is more laid back in the sense that I don’t want to micromanage. I want to allow everyone to have autonomy and their rightful position to do what they have the authority to do. I believe in service: results, responsibility. For me, leadership means putting the needs of the community of people above my personal ambition. Again, that goes back to me being able to compromise and me showing up, listening, working to improve the daily lives of the people I represent. I’m not looking for gratification for myself at all. I’d rather show you what I can do rather than tell you. A lot of people talk about what they can do and sell you a pipe dream. Integrity and accountability, those are all the things that I believe leaders should have. Residents deserve leaders who do what they say, and make informed decisions or remain transparent and available. That’s when I knock on doors; I give my business card and my personal number on it. I’m not above you. We’re all here. I don’t care what my title or position is. I’m a regular, average person and I treat everyone the same, and I expect to be treated the same. 

Young people, like students, often don’t feel their voices are heard. How would you make sure our residents feel heard and represented? 

COLE: I am available for a conversation with anyone, for sure. But also, when we’re working on any kind of task force or any kind of issue where we’re trying to solve problems, we should try to engage the students in the area, at the colleges, and make sure that the questions are out in the public through all AllOtsego, through “The Daily Star,” through whatever venues can get the questions out there. I think it’s important to get out there and find people to talk to. We did a forum at Hartwick last week where students asked questions and that was fabulous. I spent the last four Wednesdays on the SUNY campus talking to students. Watching, trying to get them registered. I think there are ways to get out there and not just do things the way they’ve always been [done], but really come up with some innovative ways to do things. 

ZO: I want to be an example. I know I’m not as young as the students, I’m 34. But I’m still treated like I’m young. Everyone acts like my experience doesn’t count; it doesn’t matter. People treat me like I don’t know what I’m talking about, or like I don’t have actual practical hands-on experience. So, I will make sure that’s being heard by not only being an example, but by advocating for and encouraging [students to be involved through] joining a committee, just being active, being involved and showing up to those Common Council meetings and holding everyone accountable. I would encourage the students at Hartwick and SUNY to prove you know your voice does matter; you have more experience than the people tell you. It’s going to be our generation that eventually is making the important decisions for the way society moves. So, don’t let anyone minimalize you. And don’t let anyone try to tell you [that] you can’t be in politics just because of your age. 

How would you handle disagreements with other officials on the council or in the community? 

COLE: I’m eager to work with other people. I’ve already met many of the people on the council. I’ve already talked with them, and there are people on the council that I know I’m going to disagree with. And that’s fine. I think as long as we put the needs of the city above our personal needs or our personal opinions, I think we’ll be able to work together fine. I am more than willing to lay out why I think this is the best course of action, all of the reasons for it, whatever evidence I might have to back up my opinions about it. And then I’m also willing to listen to other people’s opinions as well. 

ZO: I always look for common ground. I don’t have to agree with you, but I have to respect you. We can agree to disagree but remain professional and respectful throughout that conversation. I’m the career services director at Job Corps. There’s a lot of times instructors don’t agree with some decisions that I make, or students or other staff. And I hear them out, I take into consideration their concerns. And a lot of times, I say, ‘You know what? Let’s give that a shot. Let’s try your way.’ I’m trying different things even if it’s not my idea, even if it wasn’t my initial thought, even if I don’t agree with it. I always want to compromise, but it has to benefit everyone. It can’t just benefit one side, and the other side is suffering. Another one of our favorite mottos is ‘Fail Fast and Pivot.’ Whether it’s my decision or someone else’s decision, I’ll do it—and if it doesn’t work, we fail fast, we pivot. We’re not going to sit and, you know, be sad about it. No, we’re gonna figure out what we get wrong, reassess, make a new decision and come up with a different plan, and then we get that right away.  

How would you measure your success as a Common Council member? 

COLE: If I’m doing my job right, that means the city is running efficiently and that the programs that we are supporting in the city are being successful. That means that the people who work for the city have what they need and their jobs. It means that people are having good lives here, that they feel secure and stable, and they’re prosperous. So, for me that would be success. It’s not me getting ahead of the world. It’s the city having a good place in the world. If I am successful as a councilperson, then and if the other people are successful as well, we have robust discussions that involve various points of view and diverse opinions and creative solutions. So, it’s not that we all say the same thing. It’s not unanimity. It’s more all rowing toward the same goal, all going toward the same goal, no matter how we get there. 

ZO: For me, success will be measured by actual progress. Seeing the city thriving, seeing improvements in [for example] decline in the homeless population, improvements in affordable housing, improvements in our infrastructure with residents’ roads being paved, drainage systems being updated. Seeing improvements that directly improve the quality of life of the residents here in Oneonta. That’s one way I’ll measure success. And then feedback from the residents; that’s going to be more [telling] than anything I can quantify. It’s actual feedback. Word of mouth feedback from the residents, when I go around and speak to them and host my monthly ward meeting and get their feedback. 

What do you love most about Oneonta? 

COLE: Oh, well, I don’t think [there’s much] I don’t love about it. One, it’s beautiful, and especially this fall has just been incredible. My windows overlook the SUNY Oneonta campus, and it’s just been spectacular. I think we do well within terms of our parks, Wilber Park, the Greenway Trail, you know, all of those kinds of things I think we do really well. I love that about Oneonta. I love our festivals that we have during the summer. The City of the Hills festival is great—even if there’s a slight problem with one of the acts, still, it’s a fabulous festival. The Grand and Glorious [Fall Fair], just there’s so many different festivals. I love the farmer’s market. Engaging local farmers and local businesses throughout the area to come to our festivals, I think is fabulous. I do think we have a pretty good art scene. I would like to see more stuff in Foothills; I would love it if it were part of the Broadway touring circuit. 

ZO: It’s very peaceful and quiet, very family oriented. When I first moved here, this is joking but it’s serious, I called my mom and I’m like, ‘The people here are just way too nice!’ From where I’m from, I’m not used to people being extremely nice, and we laughed about it. I have met so many great and wonderful people here in my relatively small time being here. I’ve met so many important people from different backgrounds, different walks of life, different experiences working with various industries who have made a huge impact on my life and how I view things now. Just that feeling of being a part of a larger community outside of my own immediate household. It’s a great place, there’s tons of events, there’s so much going on.  

This story was created by student reporters through the OnNY Community Media Lab, a program of SUNY Oneonta and the SUNY Institute for Local News.