Greeting friends, neighbors and residents of the Town of Ulysses,

It is with great honor and excitement to announce that I have decided to run for the Town of Ulysses Supervisor. With almost five decades of experience working with, and for, a wide variety of voluntary and non-profit organizations leading and engaging large groups of all ages and backgrounds, I have built the cornerstone of my development as a community leader around Tompkins County striving to inspire creativity, communication and a true desire to work hard towards collective community goals.

With deep roots in the region and the local area I have a strong desire to give back to the community that welcomed and sustained me as a young mother, college student, working single parent, first time home buyer, and all the things that come with growing up.

As a young single mother I invested 15 years in Human Services work before returning to my education to study Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) at Cornell University: A degree program specifically designed for the development of human resources, personnel management, organizational behavior, and useful and inclusive company communication to create a path to success for all stakeholders involved.

A “founding member” of the Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival, I have been involved in the creation and sustaining of an event  that has grown from a fun idea to a national economic and artistic staple that helps fuel our community’s economy, while along the way I have enjoyed evolving and growing with the combined talents of the management team, the crew leaders, and the volunteers who carry out the mission of promoting cross-cultural education and celebration to over 15,000 diverse, happy people every July at the Trumansburg Fairgrounds.

I’m often described by employers and teammates as having an ownership mentality—whether serving as a staff member or a manager, I’ve always been a loyal steward of the goals I’m entrusted with. I bring that same spirit home to Ulysses, where I want to help bring our dear community together. I work as if I were a true stakeholder, seeing the success of the project as a reward shared by all. I’m outspoken and eager to contribute, while also open to listening, learning, and investing in the success of our common goals.

The central tenet of my campaign is to incorporate an inclusive local government, developing plans using a wide range of inputs, and encouraging a variety of ideas from differing points of view before decisions are made.

While there is a considerable divide in our national conversation, I do not feel that it's necessary for it to carry over into the local politics. With common sense and clear communication our common values could easily outweigh our differences. Surely we all share acres of common ground!

With open minds, hard work and a spirit of cooperation we can work hard to develop a coalition to tackle the challenges we face as a town and to achieve our common goals. Goals that we aspire to as a community. Projects to unite a community not create further division.

Respectfully Yours,

Katy Walker