Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist makes remarks at Jamestown Community College after being sworn into office on Jan. 1, 2020.

JAMESTOWN – The city of Jamestown has a new mayor. Eddie Sundquist was sworn into office by city judge John LaMancuso during the Jamestown City Council’s reorganizational meeting on New Years Day at Jamestown Community College.

With Sundquist taking his oath of office, the city has a new mayor for the first time in 20 years. Sundquist, a Democrat, replaces former mayor and fellow Democrat Sam Teresi, who chose not to seek reelection for a sixth consecutive term in 2019. Instead, Sundquist ran for mayor in the 2019 General Election and was able to defeat Republican David Wilfong and Libertarian and former city councilman Andrew Liuzzo.

Following his oath of office, Sundquist made some brief remarks, saying he is aware of the various challenges facing the city but also believes the community is ready and willing to meet those challenges head on.

• Remarks by Carrubba, Dolce, and Sundquist

“Jamestown has always been a city full of pride for our people and our neighborhoods; a strong community, a city that embraces our rich past and innovates for the success of our future. It’s clear we are not without our challenges but today I want to focus on all the things that make Jamestown a strong and innovative community. People, grit and compassion is what defines who we are as one community,” Sundquist said.

Sundquist added the city is at a moment of opportunity and it is a time for the community to show how innovative it can be.

“Now more than ever we need to get creative and look at new ways to grow and expand our city; a city where we are collaborating with our partners, our neighbors, our businesses to revitalize our economy. No challenge is insurmountable. We just need to tap the knowledge of our people, embrace our grit, and show our compassion for one another,” Sundquist said.

Jamestown City Council President Tony Dolce shares his remarks after being unanimously elected council president by his colleagues on Jan. 1, 2019.

In addition to Sundquist being sworn in as mayor, the 2020-21 city council was sworn into office, including newly elected members Grant Olson (R) and Jeffrey Russell (R).  The council then unanimously elected councilman Tony Dolce (R) to serve as council president.  Dolce replaces former council president Marie Carrubba (D), who remains on the council but steps down as president due to her party losing the majority following the 2019 general election.

During his remarks, Dolce said it is time for the council to help guide the new administration through the new year.

“Along with our new mayor, there will be several new department heads as part of his administrative team. While these changes present new directions and opportunities, they will also bring about many challenges,” Dolce said. “This city council must step up and help the mayor and his administrative team through the learning process regarding the many procedures and policies that need to be implemented. We as a council stand ready and willing to assist the mayor and his administration to work towards continuing to build on what we have accomplished and to continue to make a better future for the city of Jamestown.”

Dolce is the longest-serving council member in the city’s history, having been on the council for 25 total years. It is the first time he was elected by his colleagues to serve as council president at the start of a new council term, although he had also served as council president for a few months in 2007 to finish that term when then-president John Calamunci stepped down after moving out of the city.

•  ALSO AVAILABLE ON SOUNDCLOUD

JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown City Council voted 7 to 1 Monday night in favor of filing a petition for annexation of the Dow Street Substation property in Falconer.

According to Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi, last week’s vote by the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities and Monday night’s vote by the city council is only the start of a legal process that will include a joint public hearing with the Town of Ellicott and Village of Falconer and which would also still require a final vote by the council within 90 days of that hearing taking place.

Jamestown Board of Public Utilities General Manager David Leathers and Mayor Sam Teresi during the Nov. 25 Jamestown City Council voting session

“The outgoing mayor, council and BPU board are taking what are the first – not the last and final – steps in the process and will in effect be merely making a formal, on-the-record public recommendation to the incoming mayor, city council and BPU board members as to what they feel is right and is in the best interest of both the city taxpayers and BPU electric ratepayers in the city of Jamestown and throughout the greater Jamestown area,” Teresi said.

If the story feels like Deja Vu, that’s because the Jamestown city council took similar action on annexing the same piece of property in April 2017, launching a two-year long legal battle after both Ellicott and Falconer officials voted to block the initial annexation attempt. In August of this year the New York 4th Appellate Division ultimately ruled against the annexation on a technicality, saying the required paperwork from the city’s legal team of Bond, Schoeneck & King to have the court review and rule on the case was not filed in a timely fashion.

That decision came only after the BPU spent $405,000 from its electric division budget to proceed with the annexation. Meanwhile, Falconer, Ellicott, and the Falconer School District spent over $300,000 to fight it.

Even if the paperwork was filed on time, Ellicott and Falconer officials say the court would have ruled against the city, basing their assumption on a unanimous recommendation that was submitted to the court by a three-member referee panel at the end of 2018.

• READ THE PANEL’S RECOMMENDATION 

The city says it wants to annex the property into its own jurisdiction, arguing it is in the public interest of the entire BPU service area because it would ultimately help to save the BPU’s electric division over $160,000 every year. That savings would come from the BPU not having to pay $330,000 in taxes to Ellicott, Falconer, the Falconer School District and Chautauqua County, although $160,000 would then be paid to the city and the Jamestown Public Schools as part of a payment in lieu of tax agreement the BPU has with the city and school district.

As part of the renewed annexation effort, the Jamestown BPU last week approved resolutions that would give Bon, Schoeneck & King an additional $35,000 in payment as part of the previous annexation effort, along with committing up to another $75,000 for the renewed effort.

Jamestown Mayor Elect Eddie Sundquist was one of several individuals who addressed the city council during its Nov. 25 voting session. Sundquist said he was simply making a request that the council table the annexation resolution until after the new year when he and a new council take office.

Monday’s council vote came after more than 30 minutes of public comment with 11 of those who spoke voicing opposition to the annexation or at least requesting the council wait until the new year when a new council and mayoral administration is sworn into office. Those individuals who spoke included  both the current mayor of Falconer and the mayor elect, the town of Ellicott Supervisor along with a Town of Ellicott Board member, the Falconer School Superintendent and the Falconer School Board president, and Jamestown Mayor-Elect Eddie Sundquist, who asked the city to table the motion.

Mayor Teresi also spent more than half-an-hour explaining why the annexation is being pursued in addition to outlining the various ways the city has and will continue to work with its neighbors, despite the legal dispute involving the annexation.

The only council member to vote against the annexation resolutions was outgoing Jamestown City Councilman Andrew Liuzzo. Councilwoman Tamu Graham-Reinhardt was recused from voting because she cited a conflict of interest, being an employee of the Falconer School District.

The City Council actually voted on a total of three resolutions involving the annexation – with the final resolution involving the date for the Public Hearing – tentatively set for Wednesday, December 18 at 7 p.m. inside JCC’s Scharmann Theatre.

Following that Public Hearing, the council will have up to 90 days to formally vote for or against the annexation. That vote could come as early as the December 30 voting session. But councilman Tony Dolce said that more than likely it would take place following the new year when Sundquist is sworn into office and a new council is in place.

Eddie Sundquist

JAMESTOWN – The mayor-elect of Jamestown has gone on record saying the annexation of a piece city-owned property in the Town of Ellicott is not something he would immediately pursue if serving as mayor, saying he doesn’t believe it would foster good will with municipal neighbors.

Local attorney and Democrat Eddie Sundquist said during his election campaign that the annexation has become a contentious issue between Jamestown and its neighbors, adding that he would have preferred to sit across the table from those neighbors before taking legal action to pursue annexation. However, he also said that if the issue is put into play before he is sworn in, he would have little ability to stop it.

“The biggest thing I’m going to have trouble with is that, most likely, the current city council and the board of public utilities will take some action on the [annexation] before the end of the year and as new mayor, I may be bound to that action,” Sundquist said. “For me, as someone who negotiates every single day as part of my job, I think we do need to start to negotiate before we decide to move into further litigation.”

Sundquist made his comments during a September 26 meet the candidates forum at the Robert H. Jackson Center and hosted by the Jamestown Renaissance Corporation. He eventually won election to be Jamestown’s next mayor earlier this month on Election Day, defeating opponents David Wilfong (R) and Andrew Liuzzo (Libertarian) and after current Mayor Sam Teresi announced he wouldn’t be serving a sixth consecutive term.

On Wednesday the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities voted to continue the annexation effort that started in January 2017. That initial effort culminated in August of this year with a decision from the State Appellate Division – Fourth Judicial Department in Rochester, which ruled against the city’s original petition to initiate a court review on the matter was untimely. As a result the city lost the case on a technicality but still had the option to proceed with another effort.

With the BPU’s action, the ball is now in the Jamestown City Council’s court and with two voting sessions remaining, the city council will likely vote to file for a petition of annexation before the end of this year. That vote would move the process forward and initiate a required joint public hearing. But any final annexation vote by the city will likely have to wait until the new year when Sundquist is also sworn in as mayor. That means Sundquist would have the ability to veto any final annexation approval by the city council.  However, the city council could then have the option override the veto as long as it had a two-thirds majority vote – which would require a yes vote from at least six of the nine council members.

Of the nine council members who unanimously supported annexation when it was first approved by the city council in August 2017, six of those members (Brent Sheldon, Tony Dolce, Vickye James, Marie Carrubba, Tom Nelson and Kim Ecklund) would still be on the council in 2020.

Fenton History Center director Noah Goodling (standing) meets with the Jamestown City Council during its Nov. 18, 2019 budget work session.

JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown City Council will likely use recently discovered savings in the 2020 City Budget to reduce local property taxes rather than boost funding in other areas of the spending plan, including providing more aid for the James Prendergast Library.

On Monday night the city council held its public hearing on the $36.6 million budget with only person speaking out. City Resident Doug Champ offered two ideas on how the city could save money in the future – shifting storm water maintenance to the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities and privatizing leaf pickup. In addition, he also urged the council to help the library by restoring additional city aid for next year while also appealing to the three members of the city council who work in public education, saying that the library is a valuable educational resource for the entire community.

Jamestown resident Doug Champ speaks to the Jamestown City Council during its Nov. 18 budget hearing.

“Our library is a catalyst of ideas. People who can’t afford – and I stream everything. I pay $70 a month for my internet service – they can’t afford that. There are people that can’t afford to buy a book. So I ask you to augment the mayor’s budget, which has $60,000 for the library. I would like to see you as a city council add $40,000 to that for a $100,000 total,” Champ said.

Following the public hearing, the city council continued its budget deliberations by meeting with officials from the Prendergast Library and the Fenton History Center.  Prendergast Director Tina Scott reiterated the news from earlier this year, saying the library is expecting to lose $110,000 in state aid next year because it the city has dramatically cut its local share of taxpayer supported library aid.

“Unfortunately, what we had warned the city about for many years now has come to pass,” Scott said. “Because or [local] tax support has been cut by more than 5% over two years, it triggers the ‘maintenance of effort’ clause in library law, which cuts our state funding. [The state] cut 25% already this year and next year we stand to lose all of it.”

Scott also pointed out that 98% of the public libraries in the United States receive more community support as a percentage of their budge than the Prendergast receives from Jamestown.

Prendergast Library director Tina Scott talks with the Jamestown City Council on Nov. 18, 2019.

This year the city dedicated $50,000 in funding for the library, a decrease of $300,000 from just two years earlier. Next year the mayor’s budget calls for giving the library $60,000, but the library says that is no where near enough to ensure the state aid for the library can also continue. As a result, Scott said the library is looking at a $126,000 deficit in next year’s budget.

Unlike other recent budget years, this year the city council does have some adjustments it can make beyond what was proposed by Mayor Sam Teresi and that includes the option of boosting library aid.

It was announced earlier this month that next year’s city budget could have as much as $357,000 in savings to its health insurance costs. During that announcement both the mayor and city comptroller Joe Bellitto recommended the council be conservator and only project about $150,000 in savings, meaning that could be applied to other areas of next year’s budget. But despite the financial challenges facing the library and other departments in city government, Teresi recommended using the savings toward a tax cut.

Following last night’s meeting with the library officials the city council held its regular work session and during that meeting, city councilman and finance committee chairman Tony Dolce (R-Ward 2) said he was in agreement that the money should be used to cut the tax rate.

“If we just took that conservative amount of $150,000 and budgeted toward next year’s budget, that would give us a tax decrease of $0.22 per thousand. That would get us down below the constitutional taxing limit, just below 99%. So it would be a slight, decent tax decrease,” Dolce said.

According to Mayor Teresi’s budget presentation in October, the current tax rate for city tax payers is $23.85 per thousand assessed value. If all the $150,000 in savings is applied toward reducing the tax levy next year, the new tax rate would be $23.63 per thousand. That’s an annual savings of $22 for property valued at $100,000.

Joining Dolce in voicing support for the property tax cut were council members Maria Jones (D-Ward 5) and Tom Nelson (D-Ward 6). However councilman Andy Liuzzo (R-At Large) said he would instead prefer to see the money go to support the library and help it for one more year. However, it didn’t appear enough of his fellow council members supported that idea, although he does have the option to bring it forward again as a formal amendment before the council holds its budget vote next week during its monthly voting session at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 25.

Meanwhile, the library could still see its financial challenges addressed in the future if it can convince enough residents to support a public vote on creating an annual library property tax levy. During next May’s school budget vote, a proposition will appear on the ballot calling for the establishment of a $350,000 levy for the library. If approved, that levy would remain in place in perpetuity or until residents voted again to change it.

Locally there are plenty of contested races on the ballot that will likely result in a better-than-average voters turnout for a local election year.

Highlighting the election this year is the race to fill the vacant 57th district state senate seat that opened up after former long-time Senator Cathy Young resigned from her post in March in order to take a job with Cornell University. Running to fill the remaining year of the Senate term is Republican and current Chautauqua County Executive George Borrello and Democrat and recent Cornell graduate Austin Morgan of Cattaraugus county.

• LISTEN: LOWV MEET THE SENATE CANDIDATES FORUM

In Jamestown three individuals are running to fill the open mayoral seat after current mayor Sam Teresi announced in February he would not be seeking a sixth term in office. Candidates in this year’s mayoral race Libertarian and Current City Councilman Andrew Liuzzo, Democrat and local attorney Eddie Sundquist, and Republican and current county legislator David Wilfong.

• WATCH: WRFA, WJTN, WNY NEWS NOW MAYORAL DEBATE

In addition to the mayor’s race, there’s also contested races for the Jamestown City Council’s three at large seats as well as for Wards 1, 4, and 5. Candidates include:

CITY COUNCIL WARD 1
– Brent Sheldon (R, C, I)
– Tim Smeal (D, WF, Libertarian)
CITY COUNCIL WARD 4
– Marie Carrubba (D, I, WF)
– Brittnay Spry (R, C, Libertarian)
CITY COUNCIL WARD 5
– Maria Jones (D)
– Grant Olson (R)
CITY COUNCIL AT LARGE (3 Seats)
– Kimberly Ecklund (R, C, I)
– Tamu Graham-Reinhardt (D, I, WF)
– Raven Mason Thompson (Libertarian)
– Gregory Rabb (D, I, WF)
– Jeffrey Russell (R, C)
– Taylor Scott (D, WF)

• WATCH/LISTEN: WRFA MEET THE COUNCIL CANDIDATES FORUM

Other races of interest include the race for Busti Town Supervisor, where Republican Jesse Robbins is being challenged by Democrat Rudy Mueller. Over in the Chautauqua County Legislature, only 7 of the panel’s 19 seats feature contested races.

EARLY VOTING YIELDS 5% VOTER TURNOUT IN COUNTY

According to the Chautauqua county Board of Elections, there is a total of 76,762 active registered voters in the county this year. Early voting was underway from Oct. 26 through Nov. 3 and according to election officials, nearly 5% of all active voters cast ballots during that name. That made Chautauqua county the third highest per-capita early voting county in the state, with only Ulster and Columbia counties seeing a higher percentage.

Commissioners Norm Green and Brian Abram are attributing the heavy turnout to the mayors races in Jamestown, Dunkirk and Fredonia, the town supervisors races in Pomfret and Busti, and the special election for New York State Senate.

As for the regular voting hours for on Tuesday, Polls will be open 6 .m. to 9 p.m. All county poll sites will be open.  Any New York State citizen at least age 18 at the date of the General Election who previously registered is eligible to vote.

For more information on where to vote, to view a sample ballot, or to see the results after 9 tonight, visit VoteChautauqua.com.

The Jamestown City Council during its October 2019 Voting session on Oct. 28, 2019.

JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown City Council has approved the purchase of over $1.8 million worth of new vehicles and equipment for the city Public Works Department.

The purchases are part of the Smart City Capital Investment Plan that Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi rolled out in early September. Later that same month the city council approved borrowing up to $12.6 million for the plan.

Ten separate resolutions involving the purchases were acted on Monday night during the council’s October voting session, although not all city council members approved the purchases.  Councilman Andy Liuzzo (R – At Large) said he would have preferred to see the council wait until after the new year to act on the resolutions, when a new mayor is in office and there are also new members on the council.

• READ ALL TEN RESOLUTIONS ON THE COUNCIL VOTING AGENDA

“Do we need the equipment? A lot of it is worn down. Do we need all ten [resolutions] right now? Do we need to spending the money right now on this Smart City Plan that’s going to cost us close to $13 million? I was opposed to it last month, I’m opposed to it now. For one of the tractors we have the money to pay for it – $30,000 – good purchase because we have the money. I just want to state that I don’t think this is the time for us to be approving these other resolutions,” Liuzzo said.

Despite Liuzzo’s concerns and questions, other city officials, including DPW Director Jeff Lehman, said there is an advantage to purchasing the equipment before the end of the year.

“In particular for the plow trucks and the loaders, they have an eight month build out time. So we won’t even be seeing these until eight or nine months from now. That’s part of the reason for the push, so we could get those in place,” Lehman explained following the council meeting. “We also want to take advantage of the 2019 bid pricing on the state bid, because we would wind up getting in a different bid cycle with the state if we waited and typically, prices will go up.”

Prior to the vote, Jamestown Resident Doug Champ used his opportunity in the public comment portion of the meeting to question whether or not the city council had done its due diligence in reviewing each piece of equipment, including how necessary was it and also whether or not it would yield a significant savings for the city.  Councilman and finance committee chairman Tony Dolce (R-Ward 2) explained that the council spent a significant amount of time during the two work sessions earlier this month reviewing the proposed purchases, including being show a power point presentation last week.

“We also were given handouts and they talked about the price of the vehicle, which vehicle they are replacing, the critical nature of the vehicle and what it actually does, and the cost involving the current situation with the vehicles we currently own. All of that information was given out so it was discussed at length,” Dolce noted.

In the end, the council voted 7 to 1 in favor of most of the 10 resolutions, with Liuzzo going along with two of them, including a new John Deere tractor that would be paid for through contingency along with a new caterpillar grader that will replace a current grader in the city fleet that is all but inoperable.

As for the equipment and vehicles that will be purchased through the borrowing initiative, Lehman said it will definitely help bring the DPW up to speed, but added more purchases will likely be necessary before it is all said and done.

“We’re looking at $8 million in equipment needs, but we’re putting on a $2 million band aid. Believe me, it’s a great shot in the arm and takes care of a lot of the largest pieces of equipment we need replaced, but more equipment is also in need of being replaced,” Lehman said.

The new equipment that will be purchased as part of the borrowing plan includes three new loaders, two backhoes, four new plows, a street grader, and a street sweeper.

A total of $2.5 million in equipment needs for the DPW and Parks department was listed for purchase as part of the Smart City Investment plan rolled out by the mayor in early September, meaning the city will likely make an additional $700,000 in purchases in the coming months to round out the list.

The 2019 Mayoral Candidates Debate, taking place Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019 at the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts Media Arts Studio on featuring candidates for mayor Andrew Liuzzo, Eddie Sundquist, and David Wilfong. Moderated by WRFA’s Jason Sample with WJTN’s Terry Frank and WNY News Now’s Justin Gould serving as media panel members.

• ALSO AVAILABLE AT WRFA SOUNDCLOUD PAGE

Live from the Reg Lenna’s Media Arts Studios, a 90-minute debate featuring the three candidates for Mayor of Jamestown in the 2019 General Election: Andrew Liuzzo (Libertarian), Eddie Sundquist (Democrat, Independence, Working Families), and David Wilfong (Republican, Conservative).

The debate was a collaboration between several media outlets. It was moderated by WRFA’s Jason Sample and involved questions from Terry Frank (Media One Radio / WJTN), Justin Gould (WNY News Now), and Sample.

• ALSO AVAILABLE AT THE WRFA SOUNDCLOUD PAGE

The 2019 Chautauqua County League of Women Voters Candidate Forum for Mayor of Jamestown, featuring candidates Eddie Sundquist (D), David Wilfong (R), and Andrew Liuzzo (Libertarian). Moderated by Marcia Merrins. Presented by the LOWV, the AAUW, and the Jamestown Community College Poli Sci department and taking place at JCC on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019.

A reminder that a final debate with the mayoral candidates will occur on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019 at 6 p.m. and will be broadcast live on WRFA Radio, 107.9 FM and streaming at our website.

• READ DETAILS OF THE ‘SMART CITY’ PLAN

During Monday night’s city council voting session, the city’s Public Works Committee reviewed information on the purchase of four new pieces of equipment for the Department of Public Works vehicle and equipment fleet. The equipment would include two new loaders for the DPW, along with two new backhoes. The equipment would replace older equipment already in the city fleet that officials say is beginning to show its age.

DPW Director Jeff Lehman and Mayor Sam Teresi say that by purchasing the new equipment, the city will save money on the maintenance costs it would have to pay for the older vehicles, as well as reduce the amount of downtime workers would have as they wait for repairs and maintenance to occur.

The net cost of the four pieces of equipment after trade-in would be an estimated $460,000 and the city would borrow the money, most likely early next year. That means any new debt from the borrowing would likely come online by the end of 2020.

City councilman Andrew Liuzzo – who voted against borrowing money for the Smart City Capital Investment Plan in September – expressed some concern with the proposed purchase, saying it may not be necessary to replace one of the city’s current loaders because it is only four years old. But Lehman pointed out that city’s recently completed comprehensive vehicle maintenance plan by Mercury Associates calls for a regular rotation of new vehicles so less attention is needed for maintenance and that includes equipment that is five years old.

The council will vote on the borrowing during its regular voting session on Oct. 28.