Democrats endorse 2 for Canandaigua City Council
CANANDAIGUA, NY — The general election is seven months away, and two Canandaigua City Council candidates are getting an early start on what for the city is a special election.
The Canandaigua City Democratic Committee has unanimously endorsed Gwendolyn Van Laeken and Douglas Merrill as at-large candidates for City Council.
Merrill was appointed to City Council last August after former Councilmember Renee Sutton resigned.
Van Laeken is running for the seat formerly occupied by Councilmember Stephen Uebbing, who resigned in December. Councilmember Dan Unrath is filling the at-large seat until the end of the year.
If elected, both Merrill and Van Laeken would fill out the year remaining on each of the terms. All four at-large seats on City Council and the mayor would run in a regular election in 2025 for fouryear terms.
Who is Gwendolyn Van Laeken?
Van Laeken was born in Canandaigua and raised in the area. After living in Connecticut and Europe for work, her family moved home to Canandaigua.
Van Laeken, who lives in the city’s Ward 4, recently served as executive director of Leadership Rochester and now leads the Partnership of Ontario County. She and husband Greg are the parents of three children and are active participants in the Canandaigua hockey community.
Van Laeken said Canandaigua has a lot of great gifts, including wonderful people, beautiful parks and lakefront, and a strong business community.
As a fiscal conservative, Van Laken added that long-term planning for infrastructure and the preservation of the lakefront are important and she wants to see City Council become more proactive when approaching issues.
“I think there is good room for strengthening the community even further,” Van Laeken said. ”I love City Council in particular because it’s really about our local ability to strengthen the community.”
Who is Douglas Merrill?
Merrill has been a resident of the Towne Harbour Island community in Ward 3 since 2014, but his connection to Canandaigua goes back to his childhood years spent at his grandparents’ cottage on the lake. He retired in 2020 after a 40-year career as a professor and administrator in the biomedical sciences at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
Merrill serves on the board of directors of the Canandaigua Lake Watershed Association and as vice chair of the Finger Lakes Regional Watershed Alliance. He is also an active member of the board of directors of the Ewing Canandaigua Forum and the Canandaigua Chapter of Rotary International.
Merrill and his wife Debra Martin, a retired judge in the New York State Court of Claims, have two daughters and six grandchildren.
Merrill, who said he is passionate about Canandaigua Lake, said as a scientist and educator, he feels he has talents and experiences he can share with a community he cares about.
“I have never felt as much at home as I do in Canandaigua,” Merrill said. “There’s just something really special about this place.”