WRFA-LP 107.9 FM https://www.wrfalp.com A listener supported, non-commercial, low power FM radio station in Jamestown, NY. Fri, 22 Jan 2021 16:36:56 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2.2 https://i0.wp.com/www.wrfalp.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/wrfa-favicon-54e2097bv1_site_icon.png?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 WRFA-LP 107.9 FM https://www.wrfalp.com 32 32 58712206 [LISTEN] Community Matters – Jamestown City Council President Tony Dolce: Jan. 21, 2021 https://www.wrfalp.com/listen-community-matters-jamestown-city-council-president-tony-dolce-jan-21-2021/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=listen-community-matters-jamestown-city-council-president-tony-dolce-jan-21-2021 https://www.wrfalp.com/listen-community-matters-jamestown-city-council-president-tony-dolce-jan-21-2021/#respond Fri, 22 Jan 2021 14:10:06 +0000 http://www.wrfalp.com/?p=36914

Jamestown City Council President Tony Dolce talks with WRFA to give an update on some issues and initiatives facing the city and council.

Tony Dolce


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City Will Pay $1.1 Million in Arbitration Settlement with Police Union https://www.wrfalp.com/city-will-pay-1-1-million-in-arbitration-settlement-with-police-union/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=city-will-pay-1-1-million-in-arbitration-settlement-with-police-union https://www.wrfalp.com/city-will-pay-1-1-million-in-arbitration-settlement-with-police-union/#respond Wed, 13 Jan 2021 18:59:32 +0000 http://www.wrfalp.com/?p=36856 JAMESTOWN – Mayor Eddie Sundquist tells WRFA that the city of Jamestown will have to pay an estimated $1.1 million in back pay to members of the Jamestown Kendall Club police union, following the announcement last month that the highest court in New York State has refused to hear the city’s appeal regarding an arbitration ruling.

Last month the New York State Court of Appeals announced it would not take up the appeal by Jamestown involving the 2018 arbitration ruling, in which an arbitration panel ruled, among other things, the city must give the Kendall Club a 2% salary increase as part of its 2016-2017 collective bargaining agreement.

During an interview last week with WRFA, Sundquist said the ruling means the city is going to have to pay over one million dollars in back pay to affected union members later this month.

“The total cost to the city will be about $1.1 million in retro-pay and increased salary base pay. We will be making those payments to the officer and we are working directly with the union to make sure we have the correct calculation for each officer. Normally we’d make the payment within about 30 days from that decision by the Court of Appeals,” Sundquist said.

The Jamestown City Council hasn’t yet discussed the retroactive payment, although there is still time for it to do so before it holds its regular voting session on Monday, Jan. 25. The city will likely use money from its Fund Balance to make the retroactive payment. The council is not required to take action on the matter before the payments is made to officers.

Meanwhile, The city also has an outstanding 2016-17 contract with the Jamestown Professional Firefighters’ Association. It’s expected that the members of that union will also be seeking the same 2% retroactive salary increase that the officers received. The union – which is also represented by the law firm Fessenden, Laumer and DeAngelo – has not opted to go forward with arbitration like its police union counterpart. Sundquist said the city is currently awaiting communication from the union on how to proceed.

“The city is always open to negotiating those contractual requirements. Those are things that have to be determined at the negotiating table. We’re always willing to talk to the fire union about what that award may look like, but there is a legal process that unions have to go through in New York State in order to be awarded those, if they do not want to negotiate,” Sundquist explained.

Even after the city settles its firefighters’ union contract for 2016 and 2017, it then has to go back to the negotiating table and discuss outstanding contracts for the past three years, as well as this current year for both police and fire.

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[LISTEN] Community Matters – Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist: Jan. 7, 2021 https://www.wrfalp.com/listen-community-matters-jamestown-mayor-eddie-sundquist-jan-7-2021/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=listen-community-matters-jamestown-mayor-eddie-sundquist-jan-7-2021 https://www.wrfalp.com/listen-community-matters-jamestown-mayor-eddie-sundquist-jan-7-2021/#respond Fri, 08 Jan 2021 15:20:30 +0000 http://www.wrfalp.com/?p=36810

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist offers gives us an update on COVID-19 and its impact on city operations, as well as his reaction to the state’s highest court deciding not to hear an appeal from the city focusing on the Police Union Arbitration case. Plus he offers thoughts on the city’s precarious financial position and some of the things that can be done to help address it.


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City Will Have to Pay Estimated $800,000 in Back Wages After State High Court Denies Arbitration Motion https://www.wrfalp.com/city-will-have-to-pay-estimated-800000-in-back-wages-after-state-high-court-denies-arbitration-motion/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=city-will-have-to-pay-estimated-800000-in-back-wages-after-state-high-court-denies-arbitration-motion https://www.wrfalp.com/city-will-have-to-pay-estimated-800000-in-back-wages-after-state-high-court-denies-arbitration-motion/#respond Thu, 17 Dec 2020 15:21:59 +0000 http://www.wrfalp.com/?p=36683 JAMESTOWN – The ongoing legal battle involving an arbitration ruling between the city of Jamestown and its police union appears to finally be over. As a result, the city will have to pay union members over $800,000 in back wages.

This week the New York State Court of Appeals denied a motion by the city to appeal a lower court’s ruling involving a 2018 arbitration ruling, in which an arbitration panel ruled the city must give the Jamestown Kendell Club police union police union a 2% salary increase as part of its 2016-2017 collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

The city filed the motion in the state’s highest court in late June after the State 4th Appellate Division in Rochester released a unanimous ruling on June 12 that upheld a 2019 State Supreme Court Decision allowing the arbitration ruling to stand.

The arbitration ruling originally came in 2018, after the city and police union reached an impasse in contract negotiations for the years covering 2016 and 2017.

Upon its release, city officials – led at the time by then-mayor Sam Teresi – felt the arbitration ruling failed to take into full consideration the financial challenges facing Jamestown. State law indicated that the Arbitration Panel was to place a 70% weighting factor on the city’s financial position and ability to pay for any increase in salary. The city contends the arbitrators didn’t place enough focus on that aspect of state law when ruling in favor of a pay raise for the union members.

With the court ruling not to hear the motion, the original arbitration ruling will stand. As a result, the city will have to pay an estimated $800,000 in back wages to the members of the union during the time period that is covered. In addition, a similar back payment would also likely have to be made to the Jamestown Professional Firefighters Association, which also never settled a contract for 2016 and 2017, but opted to wait until the police arbitration case plays out before possibly pursuing their own arbitration case.

The Albany-based law firm of Bond, Schoeneck & King represented the city in the legal dispute, while the Jamestown law firm of Fessenden, Laumer & DeAngelo represented the police union. The cost of the court proceedings for the city – including taking it to the State Court of Appeals – has totaled $50,000.

WRFA reached out to Mayor Eddie Sundquist on Thursday morning to find out how much the city will have to pay the police union, as well as what the timeline is for the retroactive payment.

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[LISTEN] Community Matters – Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist: July 2, 2020 https://www.wrfalp.com/listen-community-matters-jamestown-mayor-eddie-sundquist-july-2-2020/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=listen-community-matters-jamestown-mayor-eddie-sundquist-july-2-2020 https://www.wrfalp.com/listen-community-matters-jamestown-mayor-eddie-sundquist-july-2-2020/#respond Fri, 03 Jul 2020 14:24:33 +0000 http://www.wrfalp.com/?p=35082

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist​ checks in for an interview on Community Matters and covers a variety of subjects – including public safety, the search for a new public safety director, the governor’s executive order on law enforcement reform, a review of his first six months on the job, and his recent comments when he said city government needs to be more inclusive.

Eddie Sundquist


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[LISTEN] Community Matters – Jamestown City Council President Tony Dolce: June 25, 2020 https://www.wrfalp.com/listen-community-matters-jamestown-city-council-president-tony-dolce-june-25-2020/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=listen-community-matters-jamestown-city-council-president-tony-dolce-june-25-2020 https://www.wrfalp.com/listen-community-matters-jamestown-city-council-president-tony-dolce-june-25-2020/#respond Fri, 26 Jun 2020 16:05:21 +0000 http://www.wrfalp.com/?p=35009

WRFA’s Jason Sample talks with Jamestown City Council President Tony Dolce to get his thoughts on the recent Appellate Court ruling upholding an arbitration decision with the Jamestown Police Union, as well as discussing the 2019 city audit, a proposal to make it easier for Food Trucks to operate downtown, and also the retirement of two long-time city employees – Police Chief Harry Snellings and Comptroller Joe Bellitto.

Tony Dolce


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State Appellate Court Upholds Arbitration Ruling Favoring City Police Union https://www.wrfalp.com/state-appellate-court-upholds-arbitration-ruling-favoring-city-police-union/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=state-appellate-court-upholds-arbitration-ruling-favoring-city-police-union https://www.wrfalp.com/state-appellate-court-upholds-arbitration-ruling-favoring-city-police-union/#respond Fri, 12 Jun 2020 19:24:28 +0000 http://www.wrfalp.com/?p=34895 ROCHESTER – A State Appellate Court in Rochester has unanimously upheld a lower court’s ruling involving the arbitration decision between Jamestown police union and the city.

On Friday, the Supreme Court of the State of New York Appellate Division: Fourth Judicial Department released its decision that has at least an $840,000 impact to the city of Jamestown’s bottom line, all though the final financial implications could be much higher.

The latest decision is part of an ongoing legal battle involving the Jamestown Kendall Club’s collective bargaining agreement covering the years 2016 and 2017.

The long-awaited decision is the result of the Jamestown City Council voting in May 2019 to appeal a State Supreme Court decision that upheld an October 2018 arbitration ruling on the 2016-17 collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the city and the Kendall Club. Among other things, that ruling provided a retroactive 2 percent increase in salaries for each of those two years for police officers.

In November 2018 the Jamestown City Council voted 7 to 1 in favor of challenging the initial arbitration ruling. State law requires an arbitration decision involving the police union to place a weighting factor of 70 percent toward the ability of a fiscally challenged municipality like Jamestown to pay. In challenging the arbitration process, the city felt it would be a violation of its fiduciary duty to comply the arbitration award, basing its argument on the award being in violation of the 70 percent state statute. The city’s legal argument was that the arbitration decision was “arbitrary and capricious” and did not take into account the serious financial challenges gripping the city.

The council’s decision to appeal to the Appellate Division came after Chautauqua County Supreme Court judge James Dillon ruled in April 2019 that that arbitration panel ruling on the matter would stand.

While still in office, former Jamestown mayor Sam Teresi had said the bottom-line impact would cost the city an excess of over $800,000 if the arbitration ruling where allowed to stand.

“To allow that decision to stand will have an $840,000 unbudgeted impact on the 2019 budget. And that impact is only for retroactive raises for 2016 and 2017. If that decision is allowed to stand, it could lay the groundwork for a similar retroactive payment with the fire union moving forward. And as well that $840,000 impact for the police union alone doesn’t take into account raises that might be received for 2018, 2019, and 2020 moving forward,” Teresi explained in March 2019.

The city does have an option to file yet another appeal and take the case to the New York Court of Appeals – the highest court in the state – if the council so chooses.

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[LISTEN] Community Matters – Mayor Eddie Sundquist: March 2020 Interview https://www.wrfalp.com/listen-community-matters-mayor-sundquist-march-2020-interview/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=listen-community-matters-mayor-sundquist-march-2020-interview https://www.wrfalp.com/listen-community-matters-mayor-sundquist-march-2020-interview/#respond Mon, 09 Mar 2020 14:05:37 +0000 http://www.wrfalp.com/?p=33448

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist talks with WRFA’s Jason Sample about several issues involving the city, including the recent annexation effort, an update on collective bargaining arbitration with the police union, his thoughts on some downtown development projects, and much more.

Eddie Sundquist


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Arguments in Police Union Arbitration Appeal Scheduled for March 30 https://www.wrfalp.com/arguments-in-police-union-arbitration-appeal-scheduled-for-march-30/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=arguments-in-police-union-arbitration-appeal-scheduled-for-march-30 https://www.wrfalp.com/arguments-in-police-union-arbitration-appeal-scheduled-for-march-30/#respond Tue, 25 Feb 2020 15:41:50 +0000 http://www.wrfalp.com/?p=33265 JAMESTOWN – The legal battle over a two-year labor contract between the City of Jamestown and its police union will take its next step at the end of March in state appellate court in Rochester.

According to the calendar page of the State Supreme Court Appellate Division: 4th Judicial Department, attorneys Terence O’Neil from Bond, Schoeneck & King and Charles DeAngelo from Fessenden, Laumer & DeAngelo are scheduled to appear before the appellate division justices on Monday, March 30 to argue on behalf of their respective clients – the City of Jamestown and the Jamestown Kendall Club PBA.

The long-awaited showdown is the result of the Jamestown City Council voting in May 2019 to appeal a State Supreme Court Decision that upheld an October 2018 arbitration ruling on the 2016-17 collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the city and the Kendall Club. Among other things, that ruling provided a retroactive 2 percent increase in salaries for each of those two years for police officers.

The council’s decision to appeal came after Chautauqua County Supreme Court judge James Dillon ruled in April 2019 that that arbitration panel ruling on the matter would stand.

The city has long argued that it can’t afford giving officers the salary increase because it will have an impact not only on any reserve funding that has been built up, but also on all future expenses for the city. In addition they say the increase to the police union will also likely be applied to the 2016-17 Jamestown Professional Firefighters Association CBA, which is also still unsettled and has been awaiting the outcome of the police contract issue before being resolved. While still in office, former Jamestown mayor Sam Teresi had said the bottom-line impact would approach an excess of over $800,000 if the arbitration ruling where allowed to stand.

“To allow that decision to stand will have an $840,000 unbudgeted impact on the 2019 budget. And that impact is only for retroactive raises for 2016 and 2017. If that decision is allowed to stand, it could lay the groundwork for a similar retroactive payment with the fire union moving forward. And as well that $840,000 impact for the police union alone doesn’t take into account raises that might be received for 2018, 2019, and 2020 moving forward,” Teresi explained in March 2019.

The city is paying Bond, Schoeneck, and King $25,000 to handle the Appellate Division case.

Once arguments are made before the appellate division justices, they will then deliberate and deliver at some point later this year.

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[LISTEN] Community Matters – Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi, May 2019 Interview https://www.wrfalp.com/listen-community-matters-jamestown-mayor-sam-teresi-may-2019-interview/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=listen-community-matters-jamestown-mayor-sam-teresi-may-2019-interview https://www.wrfalp.com/listen-community-matters-jamestown-mayor-sam-teresi-may-2019-interview/#respond Tue, 21 May 2019 18:05:06 +0000 http://www.wrfalp.com/?p=30061

Originally airing Thursday, May 16 2019

WRFA’s Jason Sample talks with Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi about the recent decision by the Jamestown City Council to challenge a State Supreme Court Ruling that upheld an arbitration decision involving the Jamestown Police Union. Plus he discusses the announcement that collegiate league baseball will return to Jamestown in 2020.

Sam Teresi


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