These canton council candidates have a special job

In just over four weeks, the citizens of Zurich will have a choice. More than a thousand candidates have applied for the cantonal council. They included more than 50 lawyers, over 40 doctors and nearly 60 economists – the usual suspects, who are particularly well represented in all parliaments.

But there are also candidates with more special professions. For example, there is an AL candidate who works as a taxidermist. Or an oenologist, a stonemason and a shoemaker. Blick has reviewed the list of candidates and introduces you to those with the most specific professions.

Green candidate Julia Hofstetter (51) is a goatherd in the middle of Zurich-Seebach. She holds so-called boot goats. “With the goat pasture, I wanted to create a place where goats can be happy, children can be wild and adults can be happy,” she says. This is her voluntary commitment to the neighborhood. Hofstetter is not only a goatherd, she is also a biologist, lecturer and has her own communication agency.

“I do politics because democracy is important,” she says. The most pressing issues for the Zurich city councilor? Climate change and the biodiversity crisis. “I would like to make sure that even in difficult times we remain level-headed, prudent and cautious and keep in dialogue with each other,” says Hofstetter.

Center candidate Riccardo Seitz (65) is the director of a coffee roasting company. Since 1989, together with the director, he has been running a coffee roasting company on Lake Zurich, namely Illycafé AG. His top priority? The production of high quality roasted coffee.

Seitz was already involved in the JCVP in his youth. He later worked for years on the board of district parties 7 and 8 – he also represents these districts in the cantonal elections. “The middle party provides a platform to implement policies that are as factual and solution-oriented as possible,” he says.

Johanna Raphaela Feusi (EDU, 67), who is a candidate for the Affoltern constituency, also has no ordinary job: she has been an intercessor since 2014 – so praying is her job. “Prayer is my passion,” she says. She prays alone, but also together with other people, in her prayer house or outside on the street.

Feusi has been politically active for a good year. EDU asked her at the time if she wanted to start a prayer group for the party. Since the district presidency became vacant, she applied without hesitation. The intercessor says she sees it as her responsibility to get involved politically and to work for the good of the country and the vulnerable.

SVP candidate Urban Husi (41) has another passion besides politics: fishing. Or rather, the fish import. The fishmonger company supplies restaurants and retailers in the Zurich region. Husi, a member of the management team, is responsible for purchasing and often works with local suppliers.

Husi, who is a candidate for the district of Bülach, was active in the Opfikon city parliament for four years. Since last year he has been party chairman of the SVP Opfikon-Glattbrugg-Glattpark. “I’m getting into politics to make a difference and be involved in the process,” says the fishmonger.

Former councilor Olivia Romanelli (48) of the alternative list also has a special (side) job: she is a beekeeper. The candidate for the cantonal council has been keeping bees in the city of Zurich for twelve years and is committed to preserving the native honey bee. For example, for the dark honey bee, which is threatened with extinction because it is being displaced by the international bee trade. “I stand for more diversity. Not only does the ecosystem depend on it, but so do we humans and our society,” she says.

The beekeeper has been politically active since 2018. She was on the city council for the AL for three and a half years. This also applies to districts 1 and 2, for which she is now a candidate for the cantonal council. In addition to beekeeping, Romanelli works as a teacher.