Two candidates are running for the East Ward seat on the Jamestown City Council, which is up for election April 3.
Joseph Wyckoff is a lifelong Jamestown resident.
“I was raised and still reside in Jamestown,” he said. “My grandparents lived in Jamestown, where my grandfather, Gene Wyckoff, was a mail carrier for over 40 years.”
His parents, Larry and Louise Wyckoff, were Jamestown residents for their entire lives.
Wyckoff, who served four years active duty in the U.S. Army and is a Gulf War veteran, has two children — daughter Jessie and son Colton. He has worked for Union Pacific Railroad for 15 years.
“I am running for this position to help serve my community and give a voice to the residents,” Wyckoff said.
Victoria Kempfer is 26 years old and married to Matthew Kempfer. They have resided in Jamestown for two years.
“We absolutely love it here,” she said.
The candidate said she has four children — two girls, ages 10 and 6, and two boys, ages 2 and 6 months.
“I am running for this position to try and make a difference,” Kempfer said.
She said there are city ordinances with which many people do not agree, including herself.
“I know that this will be a lot of hard work, but if I can get just one thing to change, it will be a very rewarding experience,” Kempfer said.
Joyce Pearcy is running unopposed for a West Ward seat on the Jamestown City Council.
“I grew up knowing nearly everybody in and around town because my dad was manager of the MFA Cooperative grocery store from the year I was born to the year my son was born,” Pearcy said. “Those people are mostly gone now, and new ones have taken their place.”
Pearcy, 68, retired from Shelter Insurance in May 2016, after having lived nearly her entire life in Jamestown. She lived in New York City for about three months in early 2003, then “had the good sense to come back.”
“Now that I have the time, I want to spend it learning more about my town and the people in it and seeing if there’s anything I can do to help and to protect the town I’ve been a part of all my life.”
Also residents of Jamestown are her son, Roy Scholl, and her granddaughter, Blake Scholl, a student at Jamestown High School.