2025_YSNElectionGuide

7 Y E L L OW S P R I NG S N EWS H H H 2025 E L E C T I ON GU I DE H H H OC T OB E R 3 , 2 0 2 5 VILLAGE COUNCIL There are three seats up for election on Yellow Springs Village Council. The two highest vote-getters will serve four-year terms, and the third highest will serve a two-year term. The three candidates are listed in order they will appear on the ballot. The News asked them the follow- ing questions, and owing to space con- straints of this publication, included their responses into a traditional News profile: 1 . How does your connection to Yellow Springs and your involvement in local orga- nizations, committees and commissions make you the ideal Council candidate? 2 . How does the ideal Village Council member work with other governing bodies to inform their decision-making? 3. How do you believe Yellow Springs should grow — if at all — and what should Village Council’s role be in shaping that growth? 4. How does the ideal Council member navigate conflict? 5. How does the ideal Council member best reflect the will of the people, when sometimes that will contradicts itself? DINO PALLOTTA TOP PRIORI T I ES: Growing the local tax base, more housing, more focus on local seniors In the nearly three decades he’s owned and operated a business in downtown Yellow Springs, Dino Pallotta has main- tained a close eye on the local economy. In his view, a flourishing business com- munity can benefit every Yellow Springs resident. If elected, Pallotta wants to double down on the Village’s efforts to attract a new economic occupant for the CBE — ideally one the size of Cresco Labs—with the goal of creating more local jobs and generating more municipal income from taxes and utility fees. That revenue, Pallotta suggests, can then be reinvested in improved infrastructure and social programs. “Growing our revenue can give the Vil- lage greater flexibility to invest in the com- munity,” he said. With that added revenue, Pallotta would aim to provide greater support for the local senior population — a growing demograp- hic in Yellow Springs that Pallotta believes has been underserved for some time. “They need to be at the table,” Pallotta said. Specifically, Pallotta wants to create more housing options for local seniors who may want to scale down their living situation, and in doing so, open up more homes on the market that young families could move into — another way, Pallotta believes, the Village could bolster its tax base. “Having more workforce housing is cru- cial,” he added. Pallotta believes his involvement in Vil- lage commissions, boards and committees over the years has given him the needed experience to help him tackle his priorities if elected to Council. He presently serves on the Board of Zoning Appeals, and in the past has been involved with Planning Commission, Yellow Springs Development Corporation, the Chamber of Commerce board, Commu- nity Resources, Utility Dispute Resolution Board, Economic Sustainability Commis- sion as well as the Comprehensive Land Use Plan and the Village Manager Search committees. Pallotta strives to be a good listener — the best approach to navigating conflict, he said — and hopes to serve as a Council member with transparency and clear communication on his side. “I don’t like hearing, ‘We can do better,’” he said. “Just do it. Just be better. It’s important to get in front of our issues and communicate clearly about them, and not be in a position where we have to apologize later on. The [low-income housing tax credit] and Short Street projects are perfect examples of that.” He added: “It’s not about being right, but doing the right thing. I would rather be wrong in doing something, as opposed to doing nothing and getting nothing accom- plished. That’s not how we learn.” In the spirit of transparency and good communication, he will often be available for “office hours,” should he be elected, he said. He invites community members to step away from their keyboards and instead, meet him at his coffee shop or at the Bryan Center to hash out concerns or issues. STEPHANIE PEARCE TOP PR IOR I T I ES : Better communication, mindful growth, more af fordable housing Stephanie Pearce said one of her grea- test assets as a Council candidate is her independence. She’s not a business owner, she’s not wealthy and she’s not affiliated with any local political interests that could render her biased or cloud her judgement if elec- ted to the dais. “I think I have a really specific insight into the issues in Yellow Springs that affect the average person,” Pearce said. A middle-class mother of five and a long- time renter, Pearce holds down a couple jobs as a store clerk at Tweedle D’s and as office manager for local literacy and social justice nonprofit StoryChain. Pearce also volunteers her time with a handful of area organizations, including Glen Helen Nature Preserve, YS Pride, the local chapter of Free Mom Hugs and the Ameri- can Organization for Suicide Prevention. Pearce said her reason for running for office is simple: to make it a little easier to work and live in Yellow Springs. “It’s sad to me that finding a job in Yellow Springs that pays a livable wage or enough to be able to afford to live here is like winning the lottery,” she said. “We’re leaving a lot of people behind.” To correct that, Pearce believes Coun- cil ought to take a more proactive role in seeking out middle-class job sites — the likes of which checkered the village several decades ago. Further, she believes the Vil- lage should double its efforts to build more workforce and affordable housing, so more folks can both live and work in town, like her. “So, we should be giving tax breaks to mid- dle-class employers and light industry, not the builders of luxury apartments,” she said. Pearce said she was also motivated to run upon perceiving a lack of transparency at the municipal level. She believes villa- gers aren’t fully heard, and that their con- cerns aren’t being addressed. Her advice: be more honest and straight-forward. “There needs to be more engagement and direct conversations with community members, and not as many decisions being made behind closed doors,” Pearce said. “I want equal input from everyone to make sure that decisions aren’t leaving anyone out of the discussion — young people, seniors, everyone.” Looking ahead to the future, Pearce said she wants Yellow Springs to grow, but only from the result of collaborative decision- making, and at a slow and mindful rate. “I think some population growth would be beneficial to keep our tax situation under control,” she said. “But we must grow together.” She added that the village’s infrastruc- ture also needs to be taken into account. “You can’t put in any newneighborhoods or build more industry without first making sure our infrastructure is up-to-date,” she said. SENAY SEMERE TOP PRIORI T I ES: Promoting business, bolste- ring local arts, building more housing The arts are Senay Semere’s north star. They’re what first attracted him to Yellow Springs when his father — who taught at Central State for several decades, and who immigrated to the area from Eri- trea — would bring a young Semere along to visit the village. Now a permanent resident of Yellow Springs since 2017, the arts are part of what Semere believes should be at the core of every decision Village Council makes. “Yellow Springs has this foundation of creativity and social justice,” Semere said. “Anything that comes next for Yellow Springs should be built on that.” “Change is happening all around us, but we must stay true to ourselves,” he added. Through intentional investments in com- munity arts programs and initiatives, pro- viding support for downtown businesses and creating more housing opportunities that create “diversity of thought and eco- nomic backgrounds,” Semere believes he can help steer Yellow Springs into a more vibrant future. With a background in entrepreneurship and economic development — having served as program director for the Grea- ter Dayton Minority Business Assistance Center, as well as director of media and film for a Toronto-based business incu- bator — Semere says he knows how to tap into resources available to struggling Yellow Springs businesses. “We’ve seen some amazing projects happening downtown, but we’re also seeing businesses adjusting their hours, slowing down or even closing,” he said. “But there are tools available to help. I’ve worked at the state level advocating for funding grants and other economic opportunities.” He pointed to the possibility of setting up a micro loan program, working more closely with state organizations such as the Small Business Administration or Small Business Development Centers, as well as pursuing more economic development incentives such as tax increment financing programs. In his earlier professional work, Semere said he’s also worked closely and negoti- ated with housing developers throughout southwestern Ohio. “With affordability and diversity in mind, we must be strategic with which develo- pers we let into our community and who to target,” he said. All of these efforts — promoting the local arts scene, helping businesses succeed and creating more housing opportunities — must be guided by what he described as “bottom-up community involvement.” “Politics and government are miscon- strued as the engine of culture,” Semere said. “Village Council sets the trajectory like a wheel. The engine is the commu- nity.” He continued: “If people are saying they don’t feel heard in a town our size, that’s just inexcusable. Yellow Springs should be at the forefront in leading through community-based and partici- patory practices. I don’t think I have a super power, but if I did have one, it’s the ability to bring people together — to listen, understand and speak on behalf of my constituents.”