We officially kicked off the campaign February 4th, 2025 at the Hungerford on East Main Street. Once the home to over 150 artist studios and small businesses, the once thriving arts community has been reduced to barely a tenth of what was there. We’ll be hosting a small First Friday get together in one of the remaining open spaces, the Rochester Regional Design Center from 5-8pm on Friday February 7.
You can watch Kelly’s powerful speech on Instagram, or read it below.
“Good Morning everyone, Thank you so much for joining us here today at the Hungerford. Two decades ago my husband and I launched our art studio here, just upstairs on the second floor. At the time the Hungerford was the place to be, there was a months-long waiting list to even get a studio. This building was bubbling over with 150 artists and local businesses. Much like the rest of Rochester, the Hungerford was built on the bones of our industrial past, transformed into a space where creativity, community, and small businesses thrived. It was far from fancy, but it didn’t need to be, it was full of life. Each month hundreds of visitors would stop by on First Friday celebrating community and what we create together.
This place was an absolute gem… I just hate saying “was”.
As we’ve seen time and again, the very creativity that revitalizes a place becomes the first target of gentrification. The Hungerford was purchased by a developer five years ago. To our reporter friends in the room, I encourage you to capture footage of what he has left in his wake. What this developer has done is more than destroy a building—he destroyed a center of culture and life, scattering our artist community to the winds.
It pains me to say that the Hungerford has lost its soul—and I fear our city could be next. Time and again, leaders are selling us short, only seeing the value of our community’s treasures on spreadsheets. They are choosing vanity over our humanity. If we don’t start putting our people first—the people who live here right now—we’ll lose the very heart of Rochester. And once that’s gone, there’s no buying it back.
My name is Kelly Cheatle, and I will be your next city council member because I believe everyone deserves the chance to live a good life—and together, we’re going to make that happen. I’m here to foster collaborative leadership that doesn’t settle for business as usual, but fights for real progress that our neighborhoods and families can see and feel.
We can’t keep letting unscrupulous developers treat our city like a playground for profit while ignoring the people who make Rochester home. Our artists, our small business owners, our working families—we are the ones who breathe life into these streets. But time after time, we’re pushed aside for vanity projects and luxury spaces we can’t afford. This isn’t just about one building—it’s about our future. It’s about standing up and saying: our community is not a commodity.
Imagine what we could achieve if we invested in us. Affordable housing that’s actually affordable. Public spaces where creativity and community thrive. Local businesses supported, not priced out. A city where the people who build its culture can actually afford to live here. We can protect what’s left and build something even stronger—but only if we stand together.
I’m running for City Council because I believe in our power to shape Rochester’s future. Not with top-down decisions, but by listening to our neighbors and putting our people first. Together, we can repair what’s been broken, protect what we love, and plan for a future where no one is left behind.
And on that note…
We are living in a bizarre and dangerous time where our president is an active menace to society, dismantling the policies and institutions that protect our lives and freedoms. But just because the federal government is lowering the bar doesn’t mean we have to trip over it. We need local leaders who won’t just speak truth to power—but who understand that a threat to any member of our community is a threat to us all. We are only as safe as our most marginalized neighbors.
We cannot sit around waiting for legal departments to weigh in on how to follow immoral orders—those orders must be rejected outright. We need full-throated calls for justice, backed by action. Because there is strength in numbers, and when we show up for one another—when we loudly and unapologetically reject hate and cowardice—we are not just protecting our neighbors. We are protecting ourselves.
To my fellow LGBTQ, immigrant, disabled, and unhoused friends and neighbors: we will not abandon you. We will not let you be swept aside. You are worthy of love, care, and respect—and anyone who declares otherwise is not only wrong but stands against the very values that make our community strong. Your fight is our fight, and together, we will build a city where everyone belongs.”