The Chautauqua County Board of Elections will canvass absentee and affidavit ballots Tuesday, starting at 1 p.m. Members of the Board of Election will count the ballots for each of the races at the following times:

• 1 p.m. – WESTFIELD TOWN CLERK: Democrat Andrea Babcock  leads Republican incumbent Tim Smith by 23 votes;
• 1:30 p.m. – LAKEWOOD VILLAGE MAYOR: Cara Birrittieri leads Republican incumbent Dave Wordelman by 19 votes;
• 1:45 p.m. – KIANTONE TOWN SUPERVISOR: Write in Candidate John Ostrander leads Republican Incumbent Kevin Meyers by 2 votes;
• 2 p.m. – COUNTY LEGISLATURE DISTRICT 11:Republican incumbent David Wilfong leads Democrat Robert Whitney by 42 votes;
• 2 p.m. – COUNTY LEGISLATURE DISTRICT 12: Republican incumbent Elisabeth Rankin leads Democrat Beth Kresge by 31 votes;
• 2 p.m. – JAMESTOWN CITY COUNCIL WARD 3: Democratic challenger Vicki James leads Republican Incumbent Alphonso Pagan by 39 votes.

Candidates are welcome to attend or to designate an attorney or other person to act as their representative at the table. Following the counting of the ballots, the totals will be added to the totals to determine the unofficial leader.

Nothing is official until certification of the balloting on or before Nov. 27.

Democratic challenger for Lakewood Mayor, Cara Birrittieri

LAKEWOOD – The mayor’s race for the village of Lakewood is too close to call.

Democratic challenger Cara Birrittieri leads incumbent David Wordelmann by 20 votes – although absentee ballots could change the outcome. The official results will be known within two weeks once all absentees are counted. A total of 95 absentee ballots were sent out with 50 having already been sent back to the board of elections.

LAKEWOOD VILLAGE TRUSTEES

Randall Holcomb (R) 578 and Ellen Barnes (R) 516 were elected, with current board member John Jablonski III (D) losing his reelection bid.

Meanwhile, the supervisor of the second largest town in southern Chautauqua County has easily won reelection.

Busti Republican Jesse Robbins defeated challenger Democratic Lee Fischer by a vote of 906 to 598. The Busti Town Council was also contested, with Republican James Andrews and Democrat Rudy Mueller being the top two vote-getters. Republican Robert Schultz was the odd man.

Also for Busti in the Town Justice race, William Geary (R) 930 defeated Gary Segrue (D) 682.

Earlier this month a public hearing was held for the special-use permit request for a permit for a used-car lot and office at 266 E. Fairmount Ave. The project is being proposed by Daniel Johnson of Jamestown.  Lakewood Mayor David Wordelmann said a couple of people spoke during the public hearing about traffic concerns in the area, which is next to the businesses of KFC and Taco Bell.

After the public hearing, Wordelmann said the board decided to table the decision on the car lot because of several issues, including a plan by the owner to use a currently standing garage as his office. Wordelmann said the rest of the building is in poor shape and village officials would like Johnson to tear down the building before it issues a special-use permit .

On Tuesday, Mayor David Wordelmann said the proposed tax levy would increase by $48,000 to $1,693,000. Wordelmann added the tax increase is due to a higher state pension payment. Also, the cost for trash removal is expected to see an increase, along with increases in fuel, health care costs and workers compensation.

Because of state rules for calculating the tax cap, the tax levy in the village is only increasing 1.74 percent, which is below the 2 percent tax cap. There will be a public hearing on a tax cap law resolution at 6:45 p.m. Monday, March 26.  A second public hearing will be held at 6:45 p.m. Monday, April 2.