In the city of Rochester, business owner Cathy Daldin will join incumbents Ben Giovanelli, Steve Sage and Kim Russell on Rochester City Council. Turnout was 18 percent.
Daldin was the only newcomer elected. Her fourth-place finish earned her a two-year term. She will replace longtime Councilman David Becker, who didn’t seek re-election. Giovanelli finished first, Sage second and Russell third. Each earned a four-year term.
Daldin owns Shamrock Travel on Main Street and is a member of the Downtown Development Authority board.
“I worked really, really hard and it paid off,” she said. She said her two main issues will be the 2012 reconstruction of Main Street and the revision of the master plan, which is under way. She also said there’s work to do to improve dialogue between the DDA and council and suggested a televised, annual, joint meeting of the two bodies.
“What I found out from campaigning is people really don’t understand the difference between the two,” she said. If our downtown is going to thrive after next year, we have to get the residents to take a more active role. … I really want to blur the line between the two.”
Giovanelli said the results of the election are validation of what council has done over the last four years.
“There’s people out there that like what we’re doing,” he said. Despite challenging times, “At the local level we’ve got the ability to get stuff done.”
“The city of Rochester is in a unique spot,” he said. “We’re doing well. We’ve got a great fund balance. The key is going to be keeping the machine moving, doing more with less. …
“We’re starting to see the fruits of our labors. The trick is going to be not to rest on our laurels.”
Russell said she’s happy to have another woman join her on council. She said her priority is continued investment in downtown, “because if you have a downtown your property values automatically go up. We have parks, the rivers, all the events. We have to continue to pour into downtown.”
