She faces Republican Party candidate Lt. Beau Saul, who is regarded by some as a more conservative liberal. And I am the Green Party mayoral candidate, regarded by some more as leader than administrator.
For these reasons, several Peterson supporters have asked me to quit the race for mayor.
However, the challenges to our city require Ithaca's next mayor to effectively lead the city in novel ways. All candidates for mayor need to be asked their specific plans to fix the following: federal and state budgets have gone to fight permanent war, while the City's bond capacity has been committed to road widening and Southwest infrastructure. Chain stores will cause accelerated traffic jams and revenue loss, while City Hall's expenses (water, sewer, road repair, health insurance premiums, etc) are rising. Greater numbers of Ithacans earn low pay while costs of housing and health care rise. Urban air and water quality are poor.
Conventional tinkering with the above, by Peterson or Saul, feeds a downward spiral. To thrive during hard times instead, we'll explore big changes-- new technologies, transit alternatives, mutual aid systems, import replacement programs, nonprofitization with living wages, small business incubators, energy efficiencies.
The above themes diverge somewhat from Ithaca's more cautious left, which accepts "smaller" big box retailers, accepts reliance on multinational corporate capital, accepts the dominance of the automobile, accepts consumerism as necessary for economic development, accepts social hierarchy, and seems to assume that most Ithacans are too dull to vote for basic change. Please demand that all candidates show the details behing their slogans.
I agreed to become mayor because it's apparent that neither Beau Saul nor Caroline Peterson-- solid liberals both-- have the background to confront these problems or champion these opportunities. I offer not only decades of civic activism, but backgrounds in program development and administration and city planning.
Ithaca does not need a woman mayor. Ithaca does not need a bearded mayor. Ithaca does not need a well-dressed mayor. Ithaca needs a mayor who will directly address the unprecedented crises of our time. See glover.resume.html
My candidacy invites Ithaca and its progressives to organize to embrace the future and set examples for the nation. My greater constituency, in fact, are Ithaca's next generations. It's for them and for the planet that I run.