Democrat and current Mayor Eddie Sundquist previously announced he is seeking re-election for a second term with Republican Council Member at Large Kim Ecklund recently announcing she will be running against him for the seat.

The City Democratic Committee has endorsed local attorney John I. LaMancuso to run for City Court Judge. His father, John L. LaMancuso, has held that position for 29 years. Republicans have not endorsed a candidate for that race.

Democratic endorsements for City Council At Large include Isaiah Rashad II and returning candidate Alyssa Porter. Republicans have endorsed incumbents Jeff Russell and Randy Daversa; as well as Russ Bonfiglio.

Republican Ward 1 Council member Brent Sheldon and Ward 2 Council member and Council President Tony Dolce are running unopposed.

Ward 3 Democratic Incumbent Regina Brackman will again face Republican Robert Reedy. That race in 2021 was determined by three absentee ballots.

Democratic incumbent Marie Carrubba has been endorsed again to represents Ward 4 and will face Republican Joe Paterniti.

Republican Incumbent Bill Reynolds will face Democrat Kaycee Colburn for Ward 5 and Republican Incumbent Andrew Faulkner will be running against former Council Member at Large Vanessa Weinert in Ward 6.

For the County Legislature endorsements, Democratic incumbent Billy Torres and Republican Phillip Landy have been endorsed for District 9.

Republican incumbent Jamie Gustafson will face newcomer Democrat Julie Jackson-Forsberg for District 10.

Republican incumbent Dave Wilfong is unopposed for District 11.

District 12 endorsements include Republican Elisabeth Rankin against former Democratic County Legislator and former County Attorney Fred Larson.

Democratic Incumbent Tom Nelson will face Republican Joseph Tickle for District 13.

Candidate petitioning to get on the election ballot begins tomorrow, February 28 and ends April 6. Any primaries necessary will be held on Tuesday, June 22, 2023.

Jamestown City Council

Jamestown City Council overrode two budget vetoes related to increasing wages for two management positions and funding for the Jamestown Urban Renewal Agency in a special meeting Monday night.

Council member at large Kim Ecklund recommended to Mayor Eddie Sundquist that a committee be established to review all salaries. Sundquist said the salary commission is scheduled to be established in 2022 to review elected and appointed position salaries.

Other vetoes presented by Mayor Sundquist including restoring $6,000 to the Humans Right’s Commission, over $9,000 for the Mayor’s travel, education and stationary budget; and $10,000 for building maintenance failed to receive the six votes needed in order be overridden by Council.

Council member at large Jeff Russell said before the vote to override the restoration of funding to the HRC that he hasn’t found where the city has funded a line item for citizen boards and commissions, “I think about the Veterans Commission or the Planning Commission and there are no other commissions that are having monies that allocated to them. If this passes tonight then I’m recommending that these commissions step forward and also request funding. I feel like there’s some favoritism going on, or some of the good ol’ boy network going on with this strictly picking one commission out and funding that commission. I don’t think is right and I can’t support that.”

Council President Tony Dolce said he wasn’t surprised by the outcome of the votes given that some of the amendments that were vetoed had only passed with a simple majority of votes before on budget night.

He added that because council couldn’t override the veto regarding funding the HRC, it sets a precedence, “I had asked the Mayor if they needed money for a particular event that they were planning that they put down in writing how much specifically they’d need. And that they could come back to and ask for money be allocated, but just to give a carte blanche $6,000 I think was the wrong move. But again, you know, that’s people’s independent vote on that.”

Dolce said a budget amendment will be presented at Council’s voting session on December 27 in order to allocate the $25,950 in funds that were restored by the Mayor’s vetoes, “We’ll just have to make that adjustment and find somewhere in the budget, whether it be sales tax, whether it be it insurance, other areas where you pull from there. I would assume it’ll pass. It’ll have to. We don’t have a choice.”

Only a simple majority is needed to pass the budget amendment.

Council also voted to amend the appointment of City Court Judge George Panebianco to a ten year term.

Council member Brent Sheldon voted no on the resolution, citing the inequity in one city court judge being able to be appointed for a 10-year term while the other judge must run for election for their term, “New York State has had seven years to correct this aberration where we have an appointed position for ten years. And they have not. Our Assemblyman Andrew Goodell has fought for this and has not been successful. I cannot support appointing someone to a ten-year position.”

Council President Dolce said the City was informed by the state that Panebianco had to be appointed not just to fill the unexpired term of City Court Judge Fred Larson but to also be appointed to his own 10-year term.

George Panebianco

Jamestown City Council appointed attorney George Panebianco as a City Court Judge last night. Panebianco will replace Judge Fred Larson on January 1st. Larson has reached the mandatory retirement age.

Panebianco has worked in law for 32 years, spending over 27 of those years at Lewis and Lewis. His term expires March 31st, 2024. He had previously served as a City Court Judge from 2004 to 2014.

Jamestown City Council

Council also will vote to accept the home rule legislation for school speed zone cameras. There is no cost to implementing the program, but the city will receive $32 of every $50 ticket issued through the system.

Council also will vote on putting out a Requests for Proposals on re-developing properties at 8 East Second Street and 402 Lakeview Avenue in order to be able to return those properties to the tax rolls.

The work session starts at 7:00 p.m. in the Third Floor Conference Room of the Municipal Building followed by the voting session at 7:30 p.m. The meeting is open to the public.

Chautauqua County Legislature Chairman Jay Gould reads a commendation as Jamestown legislator Paula DeJoy looks on. DeJoy announced Wednesday night that she would be resigning from the panel because she’ll be moving out of District 11 in Jamestown.

MAYVILLE – A member of the Chautauqua County Legislature announced Wednesday night that she would be resigning from her position on the panel.

Jamestown Democrat Paula DeJoy – who had represented District 13 for nearly five years – told lawmakers that she was stepping down because she and her family are moving out of the district.

DeJoy was first elected to the panel in 2009. During that time she served on both the Public Facilities and Administrative Services committees.

DeJoy tells WRFA that one of the things she’s most proud of during her time on the legislature is that she’s worked well with other representatives, regardless of political affiliation or geographic location. Earlier this year, DeJoy was one of the majority of legislators that approved the sale of the Chautauqua County Home. She says that the sale was for the good of the entire county and another accomplishment she was proud of.

Following her announcement on Wednesday night, Legislature Chairman Jay Gould presented DeJoy with a commendation for her service on the panel and she received a standing round of applause form her colleagues.

It will now be up to the county Democratic Committee to select DeJoy’s replacement, who will serve out the remainder of the current term until a general election takes place in November 2015.

Meanwhile, DeJoy said that she may get involved in local politics again. She’ll be moving to the west side of Jamestown and into Legislative District 13, which is currently represented by Republican David Wilfong. She said that she hasn’t decided yet whether she run for office in 2015 but will most like come to a decision by January of next year.

DeJoy’s announcement is the second resignation from a Jamestown Legislator this year. In the spring, Democrat Fred Larson announced his resignation after being appointed as Jamestown city court Judge. He was eventually replaced by appointee Beth Kresge, who is now running for election to fill out the remainder of that term. She is facing Jamestown Republican Elisabeth Rankin in the Nov. 4 general election.

Beth Kresge

The Chautauqua County Legislature once again has 19 members after lawmakers approved the appointment of a Jamestown democrat during Wednesday night’s meeting.

Jamestown’s Beth Kresge of Lakeview Ave. was added to the panel by a unanimous vote of the other 18 members. The vote was a stark contrast to last month, when the legislature voted 10 to 7 against the appointment of Jamestown’s Chuck Cornell to the legislature.

Kresge will take over the District 12 seat that was vacated by Fred Larson in April, after he was appointed to serve as Jamestown’s second full time city judge. The stay-at-home mom previously worked at Keywell corporation in Frewsburg prior to it closing its doors and who’s also worked for both Congressmen Jack Quinn and Amo Houghton. She will remain on the legislature until at least November, when a special election will take place for the District 12 seat.

During Wednesday’s legislature meeting, County lawmakers also approved a new, five-year contract with for the sheriff’s department’s supervisors union. According to media reports, lawmakers voted 16-to-3 in favor of the agreement. It includes no retroactive wage increase for 2012, but does include staggered increases for each year after up through 2016.

During Wednesday’s scheduled legislature meeting, a local law amending the county charter is on the agenda. The amendment deals with how a new legislator would be appointed to a vacant seat.

Under current law, any person appointed to fill a vacancy shall be a member of the same political party as the person who vacated the office and shall be nominated by the district committee of said party. That nomination would then be approved or denied by the full legislature.

The proposed amendment would instead have the political party of the district committee appoint the replacement without the need for full legislature approval. As with the current law, the seat would be filled by the appointment until the next general election.

The amendment is in response to last month’s meeting, when Jamestown Democrat Chuck Cornell was unanimously nominated by members of the local Democratic committee to fill the seat vacated by recently appointed city court judge Fred Larson. However, that nomination was defeated 10 to 7 by the full legislature. As a result, Cornell was not added to the legislature and the District 12 seat has remained vacant.

KRESGE LIKELY REPLACEMENT FOR DISTRICT 12 SEAT

Fred Larson’s replacement on the legislator could be determined tonight. Jamestown Democrat Beth Kresge of Lakeview Avenue has been nominated by the local democratic committee to fill vacant District 12 seat. The seat has been vacant since April, when Larson was appointed to become the second Jamestown City Court Judge.

According to a report in the Jamestown Post-Journal, Kresge has never served in public office, but has served as a liaison for former Congressman Jack Quinn and also worked for former Congressman Amo Houghton.

The County Legislature will hold its regular meeting Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. in the legislative chambers of the Gerace Office Building in Mayville. It is open to the public.

Chuck Cornell

Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi has named his appointment to fill a recently vacated seat on the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities.

Jamestown resident Chuck Cornell will fill the BPU seat recently vacated by recently appointed city court judge Fred Larson. His appointment was confirmed by the city council during its monthly voting session on Monday night.

Last month Cornell was nominated by the county Democratic Committee to fill Larson’s District 12 seat on County Legislature, but that nomination was defeated in the legislature by a 7-10 vote.

Just ten resolutions have been pre-filed for the Monday night meeting, including a resolution to accept $35,000 from the Ralph C. Sheldon Foundation. The money will be earmarked for the Strategic Planning and Partnership Commission’s Physician Recruitment Project, which is designed to help attract physicians to the Jamestown area.

The city will also act on resolutions to accept $7000 from the Sheldon Foundation and $5000 from the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation for the city’s summer playground program.

In addition to the pre-filed resolutions, there’s a chance that it could also appoint a new member of the Board of Public Utilities.

A report in the Jamestown Post-Journal says that Mayor Sam Teresi could possibly be naming a nominee to fill the vacant position on the BPU that was previously held by Fred Larson. The BPU position opened up after Larson accepted Teresi’s nomination to become the second full-time city judge. The announcement for his replacement could come as soon as Monday’s meeting. If that’s the case, the city council must also vote to approve the appointment.

Once the new board members is selected and approved by City Council, they will finish the remainder of Larson’s four-year term, which will expire at the end of 2017.

Tonight’s meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. and is open to the public.