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Politics & Government

City Council Candidates Envision Batavia's Future

Batavia City Council candidates this morning addressed the public's questions about what lies ahead for the City of Energy.

Five city council candidates at a Batavia Chamber of Commerce event this morning tackled the public’s questions concerning the city’s economic development.

All 10 Batavia City Council candidates were invited to attend the Chamber's Eggs and Issues Breakfast to speak to guests. Incumbent aldermen Garran Sparks, Alan Wolff, Dan Chanzit, Lisa Clark and Dave Brown did not come to the event. 

Incumbent aldermen Lucy Thelin Atac and Janet Jungels attended the event. Joining them were Jamie Saam, Susan Stark and Edward Tousana, the candidates for the council's only contested race in Ward 4.

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Chamber President Elect Chris Nyborg was among those in the crowd of about 40 people to question the candidates on Batavia's future.

Thelin Atac said her role in economic development is creating a vision of downtown growth for residents that can become reality.

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“Batavia does have a lot of programs that target downtown economic development," she said. "I think those should be continued, and (we should) continue to support and encourage staff to be persistent and hardworking during these times.” 

Keeping businesses downtown is the biggest challenge, Jungels said.

The city works very hard at supporting and encouraging more businesses to come to the city. One example of this is the city’s façade grants helping old buildings get repaired, Ward 4 candidate Stark said. 

 “Batavia has a very distinct personality,” Stark said. 

Ward 4 candidate Edward Tousana envisions a town where trees frame small sidewalk businesses inviting people to walk, bike and enjoy the city. He hopes the city stays away from building strip malls. 

The Streetscape Committee is headed towards making the roads safer for pedestrians and bicycle traffic. Streetscape’s improvements to the store fronts, including sidewalks and street curbs, will promote the use of downtown businesses, said Jamie Saam, Ward 4 candidate.

“I feel the streetscapes are going to be wonderful for our town," Thelin said. "It’s going to create a beckoning invitation for people to walk, bike, (and) drive down there. If people are down here, businesses are going to want to locate here. I think that’s a step in the right direction.”

The biggest challenge is combining the visions of multiple residents into one vision everyone can agree on, Stark said.

Part of the city’s vision is preserving its history, Tousana said.

When the downtown area is further developed, Jungels hopes this will motivate more restaurants and wine shops to the city.

“It’s going to take time," Jungels said. "We’re going to have to be persistent. It’s just a matter of staying on our vision and staying on the right path to get there."

More on the Candidates

Batavia Patch will have questionnaires and photos of candidates in the city's contested races later this week. To read our coverage of the March 10 Batavia candidate forum, click .

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