Re: Ithaca Times Article “Kelles returns $4500 in campaign donations after ethics concerns”

My entry into politics started with advocacy for responsible development in our community. I wanted to advocate for projects that incorporated green building standards, affordable housing, local labor, and community responsibility. These have been among the cornerstones of my career.  

I was disturbed to learn that an email I sent to the regional Department of Transportation (DOT) in support of the developments along the Ithaca Inlet has been deliberately misconstrued. One of my opponents chose to share this email with the local press as an effort to disparage me. I want to share the facts. 

Since the summer of 2019, I have been a strong public supporter of the City Harbor and Carpenter Park development projects along the Inlet. Both projects together will create over 200 jobs, over 300 units of housing including affordable housing units, and will establish Medicare/Medicaid-accepting regional healthcare facilities. The sustainability measures incorporated into the City Harbor project alone, such as innovative use of waste water to power heat pumps, are enough to garner my support. In addition, the project creates full access to a $3 million walkway adjacent to the water in a large area that currently has no access for the public. Additionally, the developers have included in their design plans to rebuild the club house for the public Newman golf course. This project fits within the City’s sustainability and walkable neighborhood initiatives, and it will benefit the entire community. 

In late April 2020, both the City Harbor and the Cayuga Medical Center’s projects on the Inlet were threatened by a review published by the DOT. Both are projects that I support along with many others including Senator Tom O’Mara, County Legislators Rich John and Martha Robertson, half of the Ithaca Common Council, including Seph Murtaugh, Ithaca City Mayor Svante Myrick, and Heather McDaniels, director of Tompkins County Area Development.

In my role as the Chair of the Housing and Economic Development committee of the county legislature, I regularly meet with my City counterparts to share information. Although the waterfront projects are under the purview of the City of Ithaca and therefore I have no vote to influence any decisions, we met in early spring to discuss a DOT traffic study that would negatively impact the community waterfront revitalization initiative. Many of the leaders mentioned above wrote letters to the DOT in support of the waterfront projects. I too crafted a response to the DOT’s traffic review in April, which I sent to the City Planning Department and others for input. 

This is important to understand, as I have been accused of supporting the City Harbor Project not because of my advocacy for green buildings, walkable neighborhoods, and community benefit, but rather due to donations that my campaign received in May from individuals associated with the project. This is demonstrably untrue.

At no point have donations from anyone ever influenced my decisions or my work and they never will. I stand firmly on my record and on my principles.

I have always operated transparently. All contributions to my campaign are on the public record and may be searched at the NYS Board of Elections website. The individuals who personally supported my campaign have stated publicly that their support grew out of admiration for work that I did to help establish the Food Hub at the start of the COVID19 crisis. These donors are the new owners of the Greenstar Space, and I worked with them to secure the use of that space for food storage and distribution at no cost to the Tompkins County Food Taskforce. And again, these donations were made long after my publicly declared support for the City Harbor project.

To allay any possible concerns, we consulted the county attorney, and he assured me that nothing has been done that could be construed as a conflict of interest. Despite this clarification and to put this issue further to rest, I have decided to return the donations. 

No money is worth risking the public misconstruing my intentions or the integrity of this important project for our community.