Governor Kathy Hochul is attempting to secure a full four-year term on the Democratic and Working Families line against Republican and Conservative endorsed candidate Lee Zeldin. Zeldin currently is the 1st Congressional District Representative. Hochul took over as Governor following Andrew Cuomo‘s resignation in August 2021. For the Lieutenant Governor’s race, Antonio Delgado is running with Hochul and Alison Esposito is running with Zeldin

Voters from Chautauqua County across to Stueben County and now part of Erie County will vote on a new representative for the new 23rd Congressional District. Republican Nick Langworthy is facing Democrat Max Della Pia for that seat. The pre-2020 census district was formerly led by Tom Reed for the last 10 years and is currently represented by Joe Sempolinski.

Longtime incumbent and Democrat Chuck Schumer is running for re-election against Republican Joe Pinion and LaRouche party candidate Diane Sare.

Two other statewide offices on the ballot include incumbent State Attorney General Letitia James on the Democratic and Working Families line facing Michael Henry on the Republican and Conservative lines.

And incumbent State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli on the Democratic and Working Families lines is facing Paul Rodriguez on the Republican and Conservative lines.

In State Legislative races, incumbent State Senator George Borrello is running on the Republican and Conservative lines for the 57th District against Dan Brown on the Democratic line. Incumbent Assemblyman Andy Goodell is also running on the Republican and Conservatives lines against Democrat Sandra Lewis.

In Chautauqua County races, the County Sheriff race is unopposed with incumbent Jim Quattrone running on the Republican and Conservative lines.

There are two special elections for the Chautauqua County Legislature.

In District 7, incumbent John Penhollow is running on the Republican and Conservative lines against Barbara Colt who is running on the Democratic and Working Families lines. Penhollow was appointed to fill the seat after Mark Odell resigned in July 2021.

In District 10, Republican incumbent Jaime Gustafson is running unopposed. She was appointed to fill the seat after Ken Lawton resigned due to moving out of the district. District 10 represents the southwest side of Jamestown, the Village of Lakewood and part of the Town of Busti.

In the City of Jamestown, a special election for the Ward 5 City Council seat is being held between incumbant Bill Reynolds on the Republican and Conservative lines and Democrat Doug Lawson. The winner of that race will fill out the remainder of that seat’s term following Grant Olson declining to take the seat after the 2021 election.

There are five seats open for the 8th Judicial State Supreme Court Justices. Running on all four lines of Democratic, Republican, Conservative and Working Families is Craig Hannah. Kelly Vacco and Gerald Greenan III are running on the Democratic, Republican, and Conservatives lines. Shannon Heneghan is running on the Democratic and Working Families lines. And Joseph Lorigo is running on the Republican and Conservatives lines.

There is one proposition located on the back of the ballot.

The Clean Water, Clean Air, and Clean Jobs Environmental Bond Act would, if approved, authorize New York State to borrow $4.2 billion to fund environmental protection, natural restoration, resilience, and clean energy projects.

The State Legislature has already approved the plan, which allows the state to sell the bonds immediately after approval. But in order to sell the bonds, the state has to get approval from voters.

Polls are open Tuesday from 6 a.m. until 9 p.m. in Chautauqua County.

For all of WRFA’s Election coverage, visit https://www.wrfalp.com/election-2022/

For voting information, including sample ballots and voting locations, visit VoteChautauqua.com

We’ll have Election Night coverage starting at 8pm tonight on 107.9 WRFA-LP.

Bill Reynolds Takes Oath of Office as Ward 5 Council Member

Bill Reynolds took the oath of office after Jamestown City Council approved his appointment as Ward 5 Council member Monday night.

Reynolds replaces Grant Olson who declined to take his seat after being elected to a second term.

Mayor Eddie Sundquist said Reynolds’ appointment is just for the remainder of 2022, “We’ve been notified by the Board of Elections that an election will occur at the next general election in November for an appointment of January 1, 2023 to fill out the remainder of this term.”

Reynolds has been assigned to the Council’s Public Safety Committee.

Reynolds previously served as the North Harmony Town Supervisor and had also been employed as a Jamestown Police Detective.

William Reynolds III

Jamestown City Council will hold a special voting session tonight to appoint the new Ward 5 Council member.

City Council President Tony Dolce and Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist announced that William Reynolds III will replace Republican Grant Olson.

Reynolds had previously served as the North Harmony Town Supervisor from 1989 to 2004. He also was the Bemus Point‘s DPW Streets Superintendent from 2011 to 2016. Prior to that, Mr. Reynolds served as a Jamestown Police Detective form 1984 until his retirement in 2004.

He also has been the Director of the American Legion, Post 1286; Vice President and Trustee of the Lakeview Cemetery Association, and was previously a past President the Fenton Historical Society.

Reynolds lives in Jamestown with his wife, Deborah, and has four adult children.

The voting session will be held at 6:30 p.m. tonight in Council Chambers.

Jamestown City Council

The funding for the equipment comes from American Rescue Plan lost revenue monies. Following last week’s work session discussion, a resolution to also purchase a sidewalk plow for $153,259 was added. This plow would replace a 1979 Bombardier.

Under new business, Council will vote on a contract with the Jamestown Professional Firefighters Association Local 137. This contract runs from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2024. Four new firefighters would be hired in June under the contract to man new EMS vehicles. The contract also includes wage increases of 2.5% for 2021 through 2023, and a 2.75% increase in 2024. There also are prescription pay increases, increases to health insurance plans, and health insurance for new hires ends at the Federal Medicare eligible age.

Also under new business is a contract with the Kendall Club Police Benevolent Association. The contract covers January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2024. The contract also includes wage increases of 2.5% for 2021 through 2023, and a 2.75% increase in 2024. There also are increases for prescription costs and health insurance plans

Council also will be voting on appointments to city boards and commissions that were tabled at the organizational meeting held on January 3rd. On that list included new appointments to the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities that replaced long-time board members Greg Rabb and Jim Olson, Council member Marie Carrubba, and former Council member Grant Olson.

At the start of the meeting, a presentation will be given honoring the former City Historian, B. Delores Thompson for her work in preserving the history of the City of Jamestown.

Jamestown City Council Members Take Oath of Office (1/3/2022)

Two new council members were sworn in at Jamestown City Council‘s organizational meeting Monday night.

The new representatives are At Large Council Member Randy Daversa and Ward 6 Council member Andrew Faulkner.

A representative for Ward 5 still has yet to be sworn into office. City Republican Committee Chairman Brent Sheldon said while Grant Olson was elected in November to the seat, he has indicated he will not be signing his oath of office. He said Olson has 5 days from January 1 to sign that and if he doesn’t, he vacates the seat, “So at that point we will be talking with prospective Republicans in the 5th Ward as Grant Olson was a Republican when he was elected this term and two years ago as well. To fill the seat, we will give that name to the Mayor. The Mayor will submit that to the Council. The Council will approve that. We’re hopeful to do that by the end of January.”

Council members unanimously endorsed and re-elected Ward 2 Council Member Tony Dolce as Council President. Dolce said there will be new challenges for Council to work on these next two years, “Obviously, the allocation of the American Rescue Plan funds – we have $28 million and we just started allocating that. And we’re really going to need to roll up our sleeves and get aggressive on some of the different projects: economic development, neighborhood initiatives, public safety issues and so forth. So that’s probably the first and foremost thing.”

Dolce said he hopes to restart a pre-Pandemic initiative to have more public forums and Council meetings at locations outside City Hall in order to be more hands on with the public. He also said another goal is to formulate a plan to deal with the city’s deer population.

Council tabled a list of appointments by Mayor Eddie Sundquist to various boards and commissions. These included new appointments to the Board of Public Utilities board as well as numerous reappointments. The appointments are expected to be acted on at the January 31 voting session.

The new representatives will include At Large Council Member Randy Daversa and Andrew Faulkner representing Ward 6.

The Ward 5 representative is being chosen by the City Republican Committee and will be then appointed by Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist. Grant Olson previously represented that ward, but announced in September he would not seek another term. He still won that race in November as it was too late to remove his name from the election ballot.

Council also will elect a Council President tonight. Ward 2 Council member Tony Dolce served in that role the last term and is expected to be named to continue in that position.

Council also is expected to act on a number of appointments by Mayor Sundquist to various boards and commissions. The meeting will take place at 7pm tonight in City Council Chambers.

Jamestown City Council

Dolce said when the term started January 1, 2020 with the first new mayor and administration in 20 years, no one realized that the COVID Pandemic would overshadow everything, “The COVID virus also touched all of our city departments as well as us personally on this council. Through it all, we continued to work on city business the best we could and stay as open and transparent as possible by livestreaming all of our meetings and changing up our meeting spaces when given the opportunity to come to this building to meet in person. This council also had to endure the tragic loss of one of our longtime members this past year with the sudden passing of Councilwoman Vickye James.”

Dolce said highlights of the last two years include the Public Safety Committee’s work on police reform and the Finance Committee’s work on two challenging budgets.

He also publicly acknowledged the council members not returning in 2022, “Councilman Grant Olson, who is not here this evening, has served on our Public Works committee as well as a member of the BPU Board. Councilwoman Tamu Graham-Reinhardt, who has served on our Public Safety committee, and has been an integral part of our Police Reform committee as well as a strong advocate for minority owned and women owned businesses. Councilman Tom Nelson, who has served as Chair of the Public Works committee and is also chair of Council’s ad hoc Deer Management committee and also a member of the Planning Commission.”

Council member at large Tamu Graham-Reinhardt did not run for another term, while Ward 6 Council member Tom Nelson was defeated in his run for re-election by Republican Andrew Faulkner. Nelson said it was an honor to serve for the last 6 years and he was disappointed to not be returning for another term, “Being on the Council has been a great experience. It’s made me more appreciative of what local governments do. I don’t think the average citizen understands the hard work and dedication of all of our men and women who work in our police and fire, parks, public works departments, department of development. It’s made me appreciate the hard work of the people who lead those departments.”

Graham-Reinhardt thanked Council member Kim Ecklund for her guidance after she was first appointed in 2017, “All politics are local and everyone up here is here to do the best that they can for the residents and the taxpayers and the people who live in this town. And I think we’ve done the best of our ability. We have not agreed and the public has not agreed with us, and that’s understandable, but we’ve had to make decisions that felt in the long run were going to benefit the residents of Jamestown.”

Ward 5 Council member Grant Olson announced in September he would not seek another term, but still won that race as it was too late to remove his name from the election ballot. No announcement has been made at this time on who Mayor Eddie Sundquist will appoint to replace him on Council.

The reorganizational meeting for Jamestown City Council will be held at 7pm, Monday, January 3 in Council Chambers.

Around 20 amendments were adopted that reduced the amount taken from the fund balance from $1.3 million to $643,568. Those amendments included increasing expected revenues for sales tax by $172,780, limiting management salaries to a 2.5% increase for a $43,340 savings, and cutting $8,380 dollars budgeted for the Human Rights Commission. Four council members, including Regina Brackman, Grant Olson, Tom Nelson, and Tamu Graham-Reinhardt voted against the $6,000 cut to the HRC. The funding had been requested for outreach work and a diversity festival.

A resolution on allocating $3.7 million dollars in lost revenue from the American Rescue Plan Act Local Recovery funds for the 2022 Capital Improvement Program also was tabled.

Council President Tony Dolce said the Council will act on the American Rescue Plan funds at its December meeting and plans to address concerns raised by members of the public about how public safety is funded, “And increasing the amount of funding for different pieces of equipment, different things in the police department particularly, and the fire department. And those things will also be discussed and probably part of the ARPA or American Recovery funds as we move forward.”

Mayor Eddie Sundquist said he wished Council had acted on the Capital Improvement Program, “Which do provide a lot of support for police, our fire, and all of our other departments. You know, by punting it to the next month they only take us longer to work on these projects. We’ll evaluate each one, although I do anticipate some vetoes will be on the way.”

Sundquist has until next Monday, or 5 business days, to submit any vetoes he may have. He said of the amendments made by Council to the budget, he was disappointed in the cut to the Human Rights Commission, “And that commission has been working hard to really to provide some understanding and diversity to the city. So to provide a small amount of funding for them to do a festival is really sad that the council took that away.”

He also was not happy with the cut to the Mayor’s travel budget as wells as a $10,000 cut to the Jamestown Urban Renewal Agency.

The tax rate remains at $23.69 per $1,000 assessed property value.

A local law to opt out of allowing cannabis dispensaries and consumption establishments was automatically tabled. It will be discussed at the December Council meetings.

PJ Wendel

Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel easily won re-election to his first full term over Democratic challenger Norm Green by a vote of 17,455 to 5,516.

Wendel had first been appointed to replace George Borrello as County Executive in January 2020 after Borrello vacated the seat due to being elected to the State Senate. He defeated Democrat Richard Morrisroe in a special election last year to fill out Borrello’s term.

Wendell said he was humbled by the results, “My team has been very focused and, you know, we’ve been leading by example, moving the county forward and we’re going to continue to do that for the next four years.”

Republican County Clerk Larry Barmore won a third term over Democratic Challenger David Salley by a vote of 16,505 to 6,192.

Republicans will retain a super majority on County Legislature with 15 Republicans being elected to 4 Democrats. District 11 Democratic Incumbent Bob Whitney lost to former legislator David Wilfong by a vote of 328 to 534.

In County Legislative District 12, Republican Incumbent Elisabeth Rankin won re-election by a vote of 614 to 307 over Democrat Heather Fagan.

Republicans also will have a super majority on Jamestown City Council even with the Ward 3 race too close to call.

Council President Tony Dolce called it a “statement election,” “The public spoke loud and clear. They wanted a check and balance on the Mayor and his administration. And they came out in droves and voted for all three At-Large candidates. There was a change in Ward 6 with Andrew Faulkner – a huge win, that was a huge upset. And even Grant Olson who didn’t run or actively campaign won that seat.”

Republican Incumbents Kim Ecklund and Jeff Russell came first and second for the At-Large race with Republican newcomer Randy Daversa coming in third with 16% of the vote.

In other ward races, Ward 4 Democratic councilmember Marie Carrubba held onto her seat against Republican Rick Elardo.

And the Ward 3 race between Democratic Incumbent Regina Brackman and Republican Robert Reedy will come down to absentee ballots with Brackman currently leading by 11 votes.

For the 8th Judicial State Supreme Court Justice race, Grace Hanlon, John Licata, Frank Caruso and Raymond Walter all were elected.

Voters statewide voted no on ballot propositions 1, 3, and 4 which all dealt with elections and redistricting.

However, Proposition 2 was passed which adds the right to clean water, clean air, and a healthful environment to the New York Constitution’s Bill of Rights.

Proposition 5 also passed which allows the New York City Civil Court to hear and decide lawsuits involving claims of $50,000, rather than the current threshold of $25,000.

For full local election results, visit VoteChautauqua.com

In County races, incumbent Republican County Executive Paul “PJ” Wendel is facing Democratic challenger Norm Green. Wendel is running for full 4-year term after being appointed to replace George Borrello in January 2020 when Borrello was elected to the State Senate. Green formerly worked in the Chautauqua County Board of Elections as its Democratic Commissioner for over 20 years.

The County Clerk race will feature incumbent Republican Larry Barmore against Fredonia Democrat David Salley.

All 19 County Legislature seats are on the ballot. In Jamestown, the contested races are in District 11 between incumbent Democrat Bob Whitney and Republican Dave Wilfong; and in District 12 between incumbent Republican Elisabeth Rankin and Democrat Heather Fagan.

In the City of Jamestown, all City Council seats are on the ballot.

In Ward 3, incumbent Democrat Regina Brackman faces Republican Robert Reedy. Brackman was appointed in April to fill the seat after the untimely death of Vickye James. In Ward 4, incumbent Democrat Marie Carrubba is running against Republican Rick Elardo.

In Ward 5, Republican Grant Olson is facing Democrat Doug Lawson, however Olson announced in mid-September that he was no longer seeking re-election. As it was too late to remove his name from the ballot, should Olson win and decline to accept his seat again, Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist would be charged with appointing a Republican from Ward 5 to replace him in January.

And in Ward 6, incumbent Democrat Tom Nelson is going up against Republican Andrew Faulkner.
There are six candidates running for 3 At-Large seats. Incumbent Republicans Kim Ecklund and Jeff Russell are running for re-election as well as Republican Randy Daversa. Running on the Democrat line are Christina Cardinale, Ellen Ditonto, and Alyssa Porter. Democrat Tamu Graham-Reinhardt is not seeking re-election for her At-Large seat.

There are two seats open for the 8th Judicial State Supreme Court Justices. Running on all four lines of Democrat, Republican, Conservative and Working Families are Grace Hanlon and John Licata. Frank Caruso and Raymond Walter are running on the Democrat, Republican, and Conservative lines.

There are also 5 propositions located on the back of the ballot.

Proposal 1 deals with redistricting and, if passed, includes capping the number of State Senate seats at 63, require that incarcerated persons be counted at the place of their last residence for redistricting, and require the state to count residents, including people who are residents but not citizens, should the federal census fail to do so.

Proposal 3 removes the requirement that persons must register to vote at least ten days before an election. This would allow people to register to vote the same day as elections.

Proposal 4 would allow no-excuse absentee voting. Currently, in order to qualify for an absentee ballot, a voter must be absent from their county of residence, ill, or physically disabled.

Proposal 2 would add a right to clean water, clean air, and a healthful environment to the New York Constitution’s Bill of Rights.

And proposal 5 would allow the New York City Civil Court to hear and decide lawsuits involving claims of $50,000, rather than the current threshold of $25,000.

Polls are open Tuesday from 6 a.m. until 9 p.m. in Chautauqua County.

For all of WRFA’s Election coverage, visit wrfalp.com/election-2021

For voting information, including sample ballots and voting locations, visit VoteChautauqua.com

We’ll have Election Night coverage starting at 8pm tonight on 107.9 WRFA-LP.