Will Burbank

Author: Kylie Spooner

Topic: Local Candidates

Will is running for the Town of Ithaca Board. Will is running on both the Green and Democratic lines. In the September 25 Democratic primary, Will received the largest number of votes of any candidate for town board by a large margin.

I'm running for the Town of Ithaca Board because I wish to:

Preserve our neighborhoods:

by working to address problems ranging from deer and excessive traffic, supporting affordable housing and resisting inappropriate development

Protect our environment:

by rezoning in accordance with the town's Comprehensive Master Plan, working to protect open space and ecologically sensitive areas and developing better alternatives for cyclists and pedestrians

Have more openness in government:

making agendas, minutes and budgets more easily available and cable-casting meetings of the Town Board

Have broader representation on the Town Board:

and rewrite the charter to ensure that there representatives from around the town (currently 5 of the 6 council people live in one South Hill neighborhood)A brief bio:

Education:
B.A., International Relations, American University, Washington, DC.
M.Ed. (secondary social studies) State University of New York at Binghamton

Employment:

I currently do a mix of substitute teaching and freelance feature writing (mostly for Cornell). In the past I was Coordinator of the Eco-Justice Project of CRESP at Cornell, Media Coordinator for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County and a youth counselor with the Tompkins County Economic Opportunity Corporation.

Political Experience:

I have been a progressive Democrat all my adult life and vote independently. I've worked on numerous local political campaigns and was a paid field worker with the McGovern for President campaign (anti-war candidate in 1972). I also have a long history of community activism around environmental and social justice issues and I was a co-founder of the Progressive Media Alliance.

Volunteer Activities:

I was part of the steering committee that started the Ten Thousand Villages (fairly traded third world crafts) store on the Ithaca Commons. Last fall I was a rider in the AIDS WORK "Ride for Life" and am serving on the committee organizing this years event. For a number of years I was a volunteer and later a board member or Loaves & Fishes (local soup kitchen). I was a founding member of the Progressive Media Alliance, a member of the Alternative Community School Advisory Board, and Chair of the Ithaca City Conservation Advisory Council,

Family and Neighborhood

My wife, Ellie Stewart, and I have lived in the Ithaca area since 1972 and moved to our present home on Glenside Road, in the Town of Ithaca, in 1989. I have been actively involved in our neighborhood association and helped to organize neighborhood picnics, garage sales and roadside litter pick-ups We have two college-age children, a cat and a dog.

132 Glenside Road, Ithaca NY 14850 * 272-7555 * bluebird@lightlink.com

Will Burbank and Kylie Spooner at the Ithaca Progressive Festival