J.R. Clairborne represents the Second Ward on the City of Ithaca's Common Council. He is a proud resident of downtown Ithaca, living in the historic southside neighborhood. He's lived in Ithaca for nine years and is thoroughly involved in this community.
Professionally, Clairborne spent his first six years in town working at the Ithaca Journal -- as the criminal justice reporter for the first four years and assistant local editor for the remaining two. He moved to Ithaca College in 2002 as writer/editor for web publications in its Office of Marketing Communications. Currently Clairborne owns EJC Publications, a small publications firm offering writing and editing services, small publication design, and website planning. He is also a veteran of the U.S. Navy.
Clairborne delved into community service shortly after leaving the Journal. He sits on the boards of directors for the Greater Ithaca Activities Center, One-to-One Big Brothers Big Sisters, The Village at Ithaca initiative, and United Way of Tompkins County. He's also a member of the Tompkins County Public Information Advisory Board, Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services Loan Review Committee, the Tompkins County and City of Ithaca Second Ward Democratic committees, CAN-DO (the Historic Southside Neighborhood Association), and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. During his time in Ithaca, Clairborne has also given his time and talents to support various causes including the American Red Cross Red Shoe Dance-a-Thon, Multicultural Resource Center, Martin Luther King Jr. community breakfast, and the former Ithaca Rape Crisis Sweat-a-Thon.
Clairborne's local professional and civic involvement teaches him daily about Ithaca, Tompkins County, the people, and their issues and attraction to this place they call home. One lesson continually affirmed for Clairborne is his belief that information is key to involvement; involvement is key to empowering residents; and empowered residents exercising their civic power propel responsible government. This notion helped form Clairborne's campaign slogan: "The 2nd Ward is Powered by the People!"
The proud husband of Tompkins County Legislator Leslyn McBean-Clairborne, Clairborne is the father of one child and care provider for the couple's teenage nephew and two puppies. He graduated from the University of Kansas with a double bachelor of science degree in newspaper and magazine journalism and a bachelor of arts in African-American studies.
RÉSUMÉ
EXPERIENCE
EJC Publications, Ithaca, New York
- Owner/sole proprietor, May 2005 to present
- Provide freelance writing and editing services for print and web, small publication design, and website planning
Office of Marketing Communications, Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York
- Web writer/editor, May 2002-April 2005
- Wrote and edited content for various websites on the Ithaca College server
- Developed content plans for new websites; helped create, launch, and maintain such sites
- Assistant local editor, May 2000-May 2002
- Edited local copy for daily editions under tight deadlines
- Supervised reporting staff and freelance columnists, assigning stories and story lengths
- Helped decide placement of stories on front and secondary local pages
- Criminal Justice Reporter, August 1996-May 2000
- Covered police, emergency, and court action throughout Tompkins County
- Named runner-up in one and contributing reporter in three Gannett "Well Done" awards
- Contributing writer in award from the Associated Press
- Assistant web editor, January 1996-August 1996
- Marked up day's news content in HTML for publication on the World Wide Web
- Assisted in development of new services for use on the Internet
Life Span Institute, University of Kansas
- Research assistant, August-December 1995
- Interviewed and wrote profiles for Beating the Odds, a booklet about Kansas senior citizens with disabilities who live independently
University Daily Kansan, University of Kansas
- Assistant to the editor, August 1993-May 1994
- Coordinated story budgets for ethnic heritage months
- Created and chaired Kansan Advisory Board
- Worked as wire editor, with reporters, and designed news pages as needed
- Copy editor, January-May 1993
- Edited copy and wrote headlines for daily stories
- Staff reporter, August-December 1992
- General assignment reporter covering various campus issues and feature assignments
Reporting Internships
- The Arizona Republic, Phoenix, Arizona, May-August 1995
- The Detroit News, Detroit, Michigan, May-August 1994
- The Wichita Eagle, Wichita, Kansas, May - August 1993
- Iowa City Press-Citizen, Iowa City, Iowa, May - August 1992
EDUCATION
University of Kansas, December 1995
- Bachelor of Science, Journalism, double-major: news-editorial, magazine
- Bachelor of Arts, African-American Studies
United States Navy and U.S. Naval Air Reserve
- Petty Officer 3rd Class; Aviation Boatswain's Mate - Handler, 1987-1995
- Qualified Hangar Bay Director and Landing Signalman Enlisted for operations on the ship's hangar bay and flight deck, and landing strips at assigned naval bases
- Coordinated division training programs and records
- Proficient operating in PC and Macintosh environments. Familiar with various programs including Photoshop, Quark Xpress, the Microsoft Office suite, and various Internet-based programs
- Ithaca College Bigs -- founding adviser
- Tompkins County Public Information Advisory Board
- Tompkins County Democratic Party
- City of Ithaca 2nd Ward Democratic Committee -- chair
- CAN-DO -- the Historic Southside Neighborhood Association
- Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services Loan Review Committee
Boards of Directors
- Greater Ithaca Activities Center -- vice president
- One-to-One Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ithaca and Tompkins County
- The Village at Ithaca Initiative
- United Way of Tompkins County
- National Association of Black Journalists, 1993-2003
- NAA New Media Fellow, 1996-1997
- Investigative Reporters and Editors, 1996-1997
- Community Leadership Conference, Neighborhood Reinvestment Corp., May 2003
- Zenger-Miller Management Training, September-October 2000
- Hartford National Writers' Workshop, April 1999
- National Association of Black Journalists Convention, 1996-2003
- Pew Center for Civic Journalism Conference, March 1998
- University of Kansas Student Senate, Black PanHellenic Council Representative, 1995-1996
- University Daily Kansan Board Member, 1995-1996
- University of Kansas Educational Opportunity Fund Committee Member, 1995
- Amanzaa -- Spectrum of Students in Journalism, founder and president, 1994-1995
- Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.
- Chi Pi chapter, Syracuse, New York, 2002-present
- Rho Eta chapter, University of Kansas, executive committee member, 1990-1996
- Citizens' Police Academy, Lawrence, Kansas, 1993