The Chautauqua County Board of Elections’ website at votechautauqua.com provides the information who has filed petitions to run in the November 7 elections.

Some new names are in the filing, including Jamestown Democrat Travis Knight, who has filed to run against Republican incumbent Brent Sheldon for City Council Ward 1.

In County Legislature filings, Democrat Bob Whitney has filed petitions for another rematch against Republican Incumbent Dave Wilfong in Legislative District 11.

Republican incumbent Lisa Vanstrom in District 15 will be facing Democrat Kurt Gustafson.

Marcus Buchanan has filed petitions for the Democrat, Conservative, and Working Families lines to run against Republican Incumbent Kevin Muldowney in District 1.

Democratic incumbent Bob Bankoski will face Republican Dennis Welka in District 2.

Republican incumbent Bob Scudder will have an opponent with Democrat Nevin Ecklund submitting petitions for District 3.

A couple Republican incumbents in the County Legislature appear to have decided not to seek re-election. This includes Legislative District 16 representative John Davis and Legislative District 19 representative John Hemmer.

The candidates who have submitted petitions for those districts include Republican Dalton Anthony in District 16, and Republican Fred Johnson Sr. and Democrat Braiden McElhaney in District 19.

April 10 was the last day to file petitions for the primary.

April 18 is the last day to fill a vacancy after a candidate has declined to run with April 24 being the last day to authorize a substitution after a candidate declines to run.

April 18 is also the first day for folks seeking signatures for independent, or third party, petitions.

Irwin Bay Cottages owner Julie Holland addresses Chautauqua County Legislature (March 22, 2023)

The Chautauqua County Legislature has rejected a proposal to increase the occupancy tax rate.

Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel had proposed, as part of the occupancy tax renewal with New York State, to raise the current rate from 5% to 8%.

His proposal included dedicating the additional 3% in tax income toward funding waterways in the county. Currently, of the 5% collected, 60% is used to promote tourism with 40% going toward enhancing waterways.

A handful of lodging-related business owners spoke out against increasing the tax, including Maple Springs Lakeside Inn owner Rosary Stage who said she owns lakefront property and is just as concerned about Chautauqua Lake as anyone, “But I think at same, increasing the occupancy tax is not the solution to our problems. We have millions of unspent COVID money. Please use that. Our guests do know when our taxes increase. When they examine their bill at the end of their stay we get constant feedback about the amount of tax that has to be paid. When they compare the total bill to other vacation areas, we will become more uncompetitive and crossed off of future vacation lists.”

Irwin Bay Cottages owner Julie Holland questioned how the additional funds would be used, “Will they be used for yet another study, growing administrative costs that are going to entities already supported with county funds, or will they be used for definitive actions that will enhance our lakes and waterways? Funding for lakes and waterways is a broad term.”

A motion by Legislator Bob Scudder amending the resolution to remove the 3% increase to the rate was approved unanimously by the 14 legislators present.

Legislator Susan Parker said facts were lacking in the proposal received nine days prior to the meeting about the need for the increase, “Which would give Chautauqua County the highest occupancy tax in New York State. A study of the benefits versus the cost was not included, nor was a public discussion of the inclusion of stakeholders in consideration of this increase, nor any plans for use of the funds. A lot of questions remain.”

The amended resolution requesting a renewal of the 5% occupancy tax also passed unanimously.

County Executive Wendel said he wasn’t aware any legislators had issue with the resolution until just before the meeting, “I just wished somebody would have reached out.. I did hear from residents, who were here, this week, here tonight, and spoke tonight, and they called me. I said in my speech, I have an open door. People can feel free to call me, email me. Mr. Patel (hotel owner) has on several occasions. We’ve talked. I haven’t heard anything from anybody on whether this was supported or not supported.”

Wendel said while the current 5% rate doesn’t expire until November, the Legislature needed to submit a renewal request before the end of the state legislative session in June. He said if the proposal had been adopted, the new rate wouldn’t have gone into effect until January 1, 2024.

Wendel added that he will be “going back to the drawing board” in terms of looking at ways to fund Chautauqua Lake and county waterway needs.

Chautauqua County Legislature meeting – March 23, 2022

A resolution regarding a Wastewater Surveillance Pilot Program passed 16 to 2 in the Chautauqua County Legislature Wednesday night.

Legislator and County Board of Health member Liz Rankin said the program is not mandated and the county had originally planned to use American Rescue Plan monies to fund doing it before the grant was received. She said the grant had already been accepted with the resolution on the agenda adopting a budget for the grant.

Rankin said she was voting yes not just to fulfill the grant obligations but also because she believed in what the grant supports, “The wastewater surveillance program is an early warning system for managing COVID and to give a community profile, give us a heads up, not to isolate and quarantine people, but to mobilize staff and resources, first responders, and long term care systems. Public health surveillance has been around for a very long time.”

Rankin added wastewater surveillance has been done for decades including being used in the 1940s for polio, in the 1980s for Hepatitis A virus and norovirus outbreaks, and in the 1990s as well, “We are not creating something new. We are folding in a technology that’s going to work for us now. This is a great opportunity for us to stay on top of public health trends. The samples are collected at publicly owned central treatment plants and not in neighborhoods and not at specific houses. We’re not targeting anyone in particular. It is planning for the community based on results.”

An amendment proposed by Legislator Tom Harmon added language that would limit the collection of wastewater samples to publicly owned wastewater treatment plants. The amendment also stated a spreadsheet report on the collections would be provided after the pilot program ended on July 31, 2022.

Legislators John Davis and Bob Scudder were the two no votes.

The legislature unanimously approved a $2 million grant from the State Department of Health to hire fellows to work with the County Health Department.

Legislature Chairman Pierre Chagnon said he spoke with an epidemiologist who lives in his district who worked on the creation of the fellowship program. He said the program was established six months into the pandemic when state and local counties realized they didn’t have enough health care workers to deal with the pandemic effectively, “So the concept was, how do we get more people involved in public health, trained in public health, educated in public health. So this was created as a means of encouraging people to become more educated in public health by putting them to work in fellowships working with public health departments in the counties, doing work on the ground, learning about public health.”

Chagnon said under the program, fellows will be employed by not-for-profit organizations and work for and at the direction of the County Health Department, “Not at the direction of the state at all. So, they’re there to help the county health department, public health department. And they’re there to learn and experience the public health field first hand so that they can become better educated about the practice of public health and also to encourage those who are interested in pursuing education in public health.”

Chagnon emphasized the concerns he’s heard about the fellows working for the state are misinformed.

The legislature also passed a resolution accepting a a $25,000 grant for the Chautauqua County Mental Hygiene Department‘s Mobile Crisis Unit. The grant is to be used for education and training; billing, equipment and electronic medical record expenses.

County Attorney Stephen Abdella told the Legislature’s Audit & Control Committee that a working group for the county has identified 56 properties that had been pulled from the county auction so that the Land Bank can do demolition and then market them as side lots. The hope is that adjoining owners would buy those properties and they’d go back on the tax roles.

Abdella said what the Finance department found was as these properties were in the process over time, they are sitting in a taxable status, “And the county is ending up guaranteeing the continuing taxes on these properties that in many cases in which the assessment remain high because the effect of the demolition takes some time to have an impact on the assessment because taxable status day is just once a year.”

Abdella says the County is incurring $56,000 a year in tax carrying costs until the properties are demolished and conveyed. The work group discussed the possibility to convey some of these properties as soon as possible to the Land Bank, if willing, because the Land Bank enjoys instant tax exempt status, “Because the [tax] rolls for most all municipalities, other than the City of Dunkirk, get finalized by July 1st and Dunkirk I believe is August 1st. And so although you can do these transfers in the middle of the year, it causes all this correction paperwork and monkey business.”

Abdella said the Land Bank responded to the county that they were willing to have 28 properties be conveyed to them for this year. He said this will help save the county on taxes for those properties this year as well mowing costs. The resolution will be co-sponsored by Legislators Bob Scudder and Chuck Nazzaro.

This year’s election features races for several local offices, including County Executive, County Clerk, and all 19 seats in the Chautauqua County Legislature.

Already announced candidates include Republican George Borrello (Irving) and Democrat Mike Ferguson (Fredonia) running for the open seat of County Executive after Vince Horrigan announce at the start of this year he would not seek another term in office. Running for county clerk will be Republican incumbent Larry Barmore of Gerry, being challenged by Democrat LeeAnn Lazarony of Cassadaga.

10 out of 19 Legislature Seats Uncontested

A map of the legislative districts for Chautauqua County.

In addition to the two county-wide races, there will be nine contested races for in the 19-seat Chautauqua County Legislature, including two open seat races.

Contested races include:

• District 1 (Dunkirk) – Democrat Tommy Roque is facing Republican incumbent Kevin Muldowney;
• District 3 (Fredonia) – Democrat Robert Dando is facing Republican incumbent Bob Scudder;
• District 6 (Hanover) – Democrat Kevin O’Connell of Silver Creek is facing Republican Gary Cerne of Irving. The two are vying for the seat currently held by Borrello, who is running for County Executive;
• District 8 (Ellery and North Harmony) – Democrat Jeri Ann Simora of Stow is challenging Republican incumbent Pierre Chagnon of Bemus Point;
• District 11 (Jamestown) – Democrat Frank Besse is challenging Republican incumbent and County Republican Party Chair Dave Wilfong;
• District 12 (Jamestown) – Democrat Dave Reinhardt is challenging Republican incumbent Elisabeth Rankin;
• District 16 (Kiantone, Carrol, Poland) – Democrat and Poland Town Councilman Terry Walker of Kennedy is facing Republican John Davis of Frewsburg. The two are vying for the seat currently held by Republican Ron Lemon (Frewsburg) who has announced he will not seek reelection;
• District 18 (Chautauqua, Sherman, and Mina) – Independence Party member Ella Ames of Mayville is running on the Democratic ticket and is challenging Republican incumbent and Legislature Chairman David Himelein of Findley Lake;
• District 19 (Westfield and Ripley) – Democrat Laurel Adams of Ripley is challenging Republican incumbent John Hemmer of Westfield.

It appears 10 races will be uncontested this year.

The four incumbent Democratic legislators are all seeking re-election and are apparently not being opposed by Republicans. They include Minority Leader Chuck Nazzaro (District 9 – Jamestown) Assistant Minority Leader Bob Bankoski (District 2 – Dunkirk); Christine Starks (District 4 – Fredonia) and Paul Whitford (District 13 – Jamestown).

Six Republicans, including five incumbents, are also running unopposed. They are Terry Niebel (District 5 – Dunkirk), Mark O’Dell (District 7 – Brocton), Paul “PJ” Wendel (District 10- Lakewood), Lisa Vanstrom (District 15 – West Ellicott), and Frank “Jay” Gould (District 17 – Ashville).

Republican Dan Pavlock of Charlotte will be running unopposed in the open District 14 seat, which is being vacated by Republican Mark Tarbrake (Jamestown), who is vacating the seat due to moving out of the district. District 14 covers the Town of Ellicott north of I-86, along with the towns of Gerry, Ellington, and Charlotte.

Republicans currently hold at 15 to 4 majority in the legislature.

The Jamestown Post-Journal reports the resolution involving a lease with BNSF Logistics for vacant county space on South Roberts Road in Dunkirk was approved 15-4 during Wednesday’s County Legislature meeting.  The lease would cover a four-month period and would result in the county receiving a total of $60,000, and would only go into effect if BNSF Logistics is granted a contract award for the Arkwright Summit Wind Farm project.

Legislators voting against the resolution were George Borrello, Ron Lemon, Charles Nazzaro, and Bob Scudder.

The $156 million wind farm project will involve 36 wind turbines being built with a maximum generating capacity of 78.4 megawatts- which is enough electricity to power approximately 31,500 households. The wind farm will span approximately 6500 acres of leased private land in the Towns of Arkwright and Pomfret.

Also Wednesday night, the legislature approved a local law to authorize an assistance program for municipalities that successfully dissolve or merge.

According to the Post-Journal, the county legislature’s public facilities committee met on Tuesday and considered a resolution authorizing the lease of vacant space to a logistics company – which is looking to receive a contract award to store wind turbine materials as part of the Arkwright Summit Wind Farm project.

The resolution eventually passed in committee by a vote of a 3-2, with Fredonia Republican Bob Scudder reportedly saying he is against any windmills going up in Chautauqua County. Jamestown Democrat Chuck Nazzaro also voted against the measure, due to the amount of concern the specific project has raised from residents living in the area.

The $156 million wind farm project will involve 36 wind turbines being built with a maximum generating capacity of 78.4 megawatts- which is enough electricity to power approximately 31,500 households. The wind farm will span approximately 6500 acres of leased private land in the Towns of Arkwright and Pomfret.

Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Deputies Association president Tina Holtz listens in the foreground as Sheriff Joe Gerace voiced his support for a new contract between the county and the union, prior to a vote during the Dec. 21 meeting of the Chautauqua County Legislature.

MAYVILLE – The Chautauqua County Legislature voted 12 to 7 Wednesday night in favor of a new 5-year collective bargaining agreement for both the Sheriff’s Deputies and the Sheriff’s Lieutenants. The new contract includes no wage increase in 2017; a 1.5 percent increase in 2018 and 2019; and a 2 percent increase in 2020 and 2021. It also places all active members into a high-deductible health plan while the county would provide a 20-year retirement plan.

Legislators who voted in favor of the new contract felt that it was a fair deal for both the county and the unions. Among those who supported it was Paul whitford (D-Jamestown).

“In this contract the retirement was imperative for the officers. They’re in harm’s way. When you have an earlier turnover, it creates openings for a younger group coming in,” Whitford said. “The county’s focus, since I’ve been in the legislature, is to maintain control of a structural deficit and I think this contract goes a long way in doing that.”

Another supporter of the contract was Ron Lemon (R-Frewburg), who said he was opposed to changing the retirement option from 25 to 20 years, but said it wasn’t enough for him to vote against it.

“There are some pros. One is the savings from the health insurance part of the package and the other would be the rate of salary increase,” Lemon said. “But I also want to commend the [unions] for negotiating in goo faith, coming in. I understand there were about 36 things that were brought to the table, but they were pretty lenient with them, which was good to hear.”

Those who voted against the contract were Terry Niebel (R-Sheridan), Bob Scudder (R-Fredonia), Lisa Vanstrom (R-Ellicott), PJ Wendel (R-Lakewood), and David Wilfong (R-Jamestown). In addition, both Pierre Chagnon (R-Bemus Point and Chuck Nazzaro (D-Jamestown) – who serve as the chair and vice-chair of the county’s audit and control committee  – voted against it.  Following the meeting, Nazzaro said he voted no because there was still too many questions left on the table.

Chautauqua County Legislator Charles Nazzaro (D – Jamestown, District 9).

“I guess what it comes down to is a discomfort level with the long-term effect of this contract and also the long term assumptions in there. For example, they’re assuming people are going to retire at 20 years, and that’s not a given. Also, they are going to be in a high deductible plan [for health insurance]. High deductible plans still go up in cost and the county funds 100 percent of the premium for the plan, granted, the member pays for the deductible,” Nazzaro explained.

Nazarro also said there was an upfront cost with the deal that he has concerns with.

“We have to put upfront costs to buy into the new pension,” Nazzaro said. “That cost for the deputies and the lieutenants is $2.6 million. Not one person on this floor tonight asked, ‘where are we going to get that $2.6 million?’ We did ask that in our discussion [in audit and control] and it’s going to have to come out of fund balance, and I have in issue of taking that money out of fund balance. You’ve heard the county executive say we need to build our fund balance and stick with our deficit reduction committee plan, so I had a big issue with taking that money out of fund balance.”

Despite concerns from several legislators, County Executive Vince Horrigan, who helped to negotiate the final contract, said he felt it was the best compromise possible, including moving retirement from 25 to 20 years.

Chautauqua County Executive Vince Horrigan

“At the end of they day, it’s a win for the tax payers. It’s a win for the sheriff’s department. And it’s a new approach and I’m very excited to see that come into fruition,” Horrigan explained. “At the same time, I understand moving from 25 years to 20 years is hard for some people, and I understand that, so our negotiating team of budget director Kitty Crow and HR director Joe Porpiglia did a lot of work and I credit them for this.”

Following the vote, president of the Deputy Sheriff’s Association Tina Holtz said she and the union members were very pleased the contract was approved, and also explained why moving the retirement option from 25 to 20 years was so important.

“I think there’s several reasons,” Holtz said. “One, it brings us into line with other agencies in this county and the surrounding counties. It’s also, if you pay attention to the news, a different world out there and we’re ready to go at 20 years. We really need to be moving through and onto another career.”

Both unions have already ratified the tentative contract. Chautauqua County Sheriff Joe Gerace along with two deputies also spoke before the vote in support of the contract.

NEW CONTRACT SHOULD HAVE A MINIMAL IMPACT ON CONSOLIDATION STUDY

The terms of the new contracts shouldn’t have an impact on a possible consolidation of public safety services between the county and city of Jamestown. That’s according to Horrigan, who addressed the issue following Wednesday night’s vote.

“We’ve been working with [Mayor Sam Teresi] and the unions have been working together to give us their concerns, and we think we have a good law enforcement team. If [the city] wants us to contract with them, as we do in other places, we’re happy to do that,” Horrigan said. “There’s some unique things about chain of command in the city and some unique issues that they have, but we don’t think this will have a real bearing on that, directly.”

That police consolidation study is still being finalized and there’s no guarantee it would be accepted by the city council or the county legislature. The basic premise of the proposed consolidation is to have the Sheriff’s office provide deputies to work in Jamestown, replacing Jamestown Police officers as they retire or leave the force. The transition would result in a savings for the city at no additional cost to the county.

Consultants with the Center for Governmental Research (CGR) consulting firm out of Rochester have been hired to look into the feasibility of such a plan, with funding provided by the state.

The Chautauqua County Airport, just north of Jamestown. (Image via Google)

MAYVILLE – The Greater Chautauqua-Jamestown Airport at Robert H. Jackson Field will get a new parking lot thanks to federal, state and local funding.

On Wednesday night the Chautauqua County Legislature approved federal and state funds for an airport parking lot rehab project.

According to the Jamestown Post-Journal, the vote was 13 to 4, with legislators John Hemmer (R-Westfield), Ron Lemon (R-Frewsburg), Charles Nazzaro (D-Jamestown), and Bob Scudder (R-Fredonia) each voting against the measure.

The total cost of the project is just over $850,000 and the county’s share of the project totals just over $21,000.

The lawmakers who voted against the measure voiced concern about using local funding to pay for a project at the airport that has been under-utilized, with minimal usage by area residents and businesses. They also explained that by moving forward with the project, the county will be committed to keeping the airport open for the foreseeable future, even if it continues to be underutilized.

County Executive Vince Horrigan says he supports the project and the county is in a mode to continue airline service.

County lawmakers also approved an agreement with Wyoming County to house inmates. The rate per day within the agreement is $85 and the county will assume all medical costs for the inmates who are boarded in Wyoming County. Seven of the county’s inmates are currently located in the Wyoming County Jail.

Chautauqua County Legislator Terry Niebel (white shirt) explains why he won’t support a proposed amendment to extend legislator term lengths from 2 to 4 years during the July 27 meeting of the Chautauqua County Legislature. The amendment was approved 16 to 1 with Niebel casting the lone “no” vote.

MAYVILLE -Voters in Chautauqua County will have the opportunity to decide if they want to have their representatives in Mayville serve four-year terms rather than two-year terms.

During Wednesday’s Chautauqua County Legislature meeting, lawmakers voted 16 to 1 in favor of a local law that would switch terms from two years to four years. Under rules of the county charter, the amendment must still be approved in a public referendum in order to go into effect.

Only one lawmaker voted against the amendment. North county legislator Terry Niebel (R-Dunkirk) said he’s against the idea of extending terms for several reasons, including his feeling that two-year terms represent a government that is closest to the people it represents, and also the fact that actually extending the term length might drive people away from running, as opposed to drawing them to it.

He also said that data from recent elections disproves the argument that legislators focus too much on running for reelection and not enough time on actual county business.

“One of the arguments that we hear quite often is that with two year terms legislators are running for reelection and with four-year terms they can concentrate more on their legislative duties, but actually this argument runs contrary to facts,” Niebel said. “In 2013, ten (out of 19) legislators ran unopposed: five Republicans and five Democrats. In 2015 that number had risen to eleven (out of 19) legislators running unopposed: eight Republicans and three Democrats…. So as you can see, running for reelection is not a problem for well over  50 percent of the members of this body.”

Niebel was the only legislator to vote against the amendment, which passed by a vote of 16 to 1 (legislators PJ Wendell of Lakewood and Mark Tarbrake of Jamestown were absent).

Even though all other legislators supported the amendment, several stated before the vote that they were personally against the idea, but still felt it should go before the public so it could have a final say in the matter.

“Personally I’m not in favor of a four-year term, for a lot of the reasons that legislator Niebel gave – Congress, state assembly, state senate, they’re all two years,” Said Chuck Nazarro (D-Jamestown). “I also support that it holds us accountable to the people who put us in office. It gives them an opportunity to grade us every two years… But I think it’s good for the public to have a voice in deciding this issue.”

“There are certainly pros or cons, but I think what we’re discussing tonight is are we going to let the voters decide on this,” said George Borrello (R-Irving). “Voting in favor of this is voting to put it on the November ballot. In the time between now and then discussions can occur and people will have the opportunity to discuss with each other and with us the pros and cons, and then hopefully they can make an informed decision.”

In addition to the term length amendment, lawmakers approved another amendment that increased the County Executive’s salary from the current amount of $85,000/year to $92,500.  The County Clerk’s salary is seeing a proposed increase from $53,000 to $55,500. And the County Sheriff’s salary would go from $82,500 to $85,000.

It was a approved 15 to 2 with legislators Ron Lemon (R-Frewsburg) and Bob Scudder (R-Fredonia) voting against it.

“At this time, with the way things are economically it’s just best to hold the line at where we are at until we get beyond what county executive Vince Horrigan has called a ‘structural deficit’ that we’re trying to take care of,” Lemon said. “I don’t think it’s prudent for us to be given anybody raises. If we are going to give raises it should be across the board and not just for particular offices – but I’m not in favor of that either at this time.”