Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist delivers 2023 State of the City Address

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist toted the allocation of American Rescue Plan funds, and investments in public safety and infrastructure in his 2023 State of the City Address.

Sundquist, delivering his address online, called the receipt of over $28 million in ARP funds transformational to the city, “From these funds we’ve helped over 300 senior households with needed home improvements. We’ve replaced over 100 heavily damaged roofs across Jamestown cost-free to working class and middle class homeowners. We’ve given businesses affected by the Pandemic resources and investments to hire more people locally and a substantial amount of funds to demolish blighted buildings.”

Sundquist said other areas that benefited include the Jamestown Police Department which received funding for more police officers, the clean-up of the lower half of the Chadakoin River, as well as needed capital spending in city departments.

With the rise in gun violence nationally, Sundquist said Jamestown was not the exception last year. He said investment in public safety was necessary, “Working with our City Council, we approved new officers to help with the protection of citizens through a new program which brings our police department staffing up to full force. This includes the approval of a Gun Task Force officers which will continue the work of decreasing gun violence in our city as well as a Quality of Life officer to deal with nuisance complaints that continue to plague our residents.”

Sundquist also lauded the Citizen Police Academy starting back up this year for the first time in decades along with the increase in the number of firefighters on staff.

He cited a record year of infrastructure improvements in the city thanks to additional funding from the state and federal government. Sundquist also mentioned the beginning of work on the new Central Garage on Washington Street that is expected to be completed this year.

In terms of what’s in store for 2023, Sundquist said he’s working with the state and federal government on addressing the lack of Essential Air Service and rail service in the area. He said his administration also will be adding new bike lanes, fixing sidewalks, and hoping to install speed cameras in school zones.

The video and text of Sundquist’s address are available at: https://www.jamestownny.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2023-State-of-the-City.pdf

WRFA’s Julia Ciesla-Hanley spoke with Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist about 2022 including an update on American Rescue Plan fund spending, the uptick in gun violence, and the increase in homelessness.

Eddie Sundquist

Kathy Hochul takes the oath of office as New York State’s first elected female Governor (January 1, 2023)

Kathy Hochul was inaugurated Sunday as New York State’s first elected female governor.

Hochul took office in August 2021 after then-Governor Andrew Cuomo resigned amid allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior.

She was elected by voters in November, defeating Republican challenger Lee Zeldin.

Hochul said she’d get into policy more in her State of the State address this month, but cited housing affordability and energy affordability among other topics in her inaugural address, “And the gun violence epidemic, my gosh. The loss of lives goes on and on. The rise in hate crimes. What happened here? Especially antisemitism, Asian hate, anti LGBTQ hate and the systemic racism that still persists to this day. Those are the fights we are called to take on. We must.”

Hochul also mentioned the lingering effects of the pandemic as well as women’s rights in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.

Tom DiNapoli also took the oath of office on Sunday as New York’s second-longest serving Comptroller of more than 15 years. Letitia James was sworn in a second time as Attorney General and Antonio Delgado was sworn in as the state’s Lieutenant Governor, his first full term.

City Council Forum held at Christ First United Methodist Church on September 14, 2022

Public safety was just one issue discussed with over 60 people who attended a public forum held by Jamestown City Council Wednesday night.

Council President Tony Dolce stated one of his goals has been to hold these kinds of forums outside of the regular council meeting, but the Pandemic put that on hold until now.

City Director of Development Crystal Surdyk presented on neighborhood stabilization efforts by the department. She said the department is facing a monumental task with housing code enforcement and housing at the top of the list.

Surdyk said there are just three Code Enforcement Officers right now, “It takes up a lot of our time and energy every day, all day long. We’re on call 24-7. It’s not uncommon to get a call from one these guys (Police) in the middle of the night or on a weekend. And it’s been a really great partnership with the Police Department, with the Fire Department, our other departments.”

Surdyk said the collaboration between the departments has been important because they’re all dealing with the same issues. She said it’s helped the department make some strides.

Surdyk added that housing and housing conditions impact economic development, “..and vice versa, so you really can’t look at neighborhoods and downtown development and business development as separate things. They all have to be worked on at the same time. It’s not a this or this. It has to be this and this and this.”

Jamestown Police Chief Tim Jackson presented next and said the most important issue for police right now is gun violence which comes with narcotics issues. He said as of August 14, there have been 16 confirmed shootings this year, compared with 19 for all of 2021, “In 2022, our cases involving reports of firearms have increased 4.2% compared to year-to-date 2021 and 76.2%, compared to the five-year average. And the five year average is 27.8 cases, so it is an increase.”

He said the shootings have taken place all over the city, which makes it difficult to combat because officers can’t necessarily target where the next shooting event might take place.

Police Captain Scott Forester presented on the department’s work under the GIVE grant, or Gun Involved Violence Elimination grant, which is under its ninth year in the city, “GIVE focuses not only on gun violence but it focuses on domestic incidences, community engagements, it helps pay for our Crime Analyst, which obviously then assists with us with the information we need to run our targeted patrols. As the Chief mentioned, the shots fired calls, warrant services, and then a word you’ve heard a lot tonight, is partnerships.”

Forester said the department works closely with local law enforcement as well as Federal partnerships.

Chief Jackson said prior the presentation that the collaboration with Federal partners has helped the city get around some of the bail reform restrictions in place under New York State.

Jackson said hiring continues to be an issue for the department, with three positions open right now. This includes the Quality of Life Officer that had been approved by council in the spring which was to solely be assigned to deal with issues in the city such as noise and neighborhood complaints.

Sheriff Jim Quattrone was in attendance and echoed the issue facing law enforcement with recruitment, “We currently have nobody who has training and qualifications on the civil service list to be hired by any police department in the county. We currently have 14 Chautauqua County residents in the (Sheriff’s) Academy but they just started, so they won’t be ready to even get out of the Academy until around May, May or June of next year. So that is creating a problem. We’ve looked at other departments but really we’d just be taking them from another jurisdiction.”

Dolce said following the forum, council members and the administration will compile the comments and requests, “Put it together and then put our heads together and see where we go. This is just a beginning. These are issues that are not going to be solved overnight. They weren’t created overnight. But these are the types of things that involve the community that help us help them and move forward.”

Dolce added he does plan to have additional public forums in the future.