Northwest Arena Board Co-President Kristy Zabrodsky said when the arena first opened nearly 20 years ago, it was evident that the community wanted the arena to be a community center, “One thing really jumped out that we needed to change in the building and that was that we had so many kids in the building. Whether they were here because their siblings were on the ice and they were sitting in the bleachers. Whether they were here because we were having a hockey tournament. Whether they were here because their parents were involved in some other program, they had to be entertained.”

Zabrodsky said as a non-profit, the board looked at how to create something that allows the Arena to be sustainable. She said the National Comedy Center will be paying rent for space on the first floor as well as rent for their new, consolidated offices on the 3rd floor, “And another key piece of that is being able to generate revenue from all the spaces in our building. But not just to generate revenue, generate it so that it helps support what we’re doing so that it provides programming that allows people to experience things in the building that makes us to become a true community center.”

Zabrodsky said The Zone will be free play space for children that includes STEAM educational learning activities. Arena officials are currently working on finding funding to complete the build out of The Zone and hope to have it opened by Summer 2022.

JAMESTOWN – Jamestown Mayor-elect Eddie Sundquist has put together a Transition Team and established a series of public input sessions as he prepares to launch his initial mayoral term on Jan. 1.

During a special announcement Friday morning at the National Comedy Center in downtown Jamestown, Sundquist was joined by several supporters and members of his transition team. According to Sundquist, his transition team is a voluntary committee designed to create a community conversation on his priorities, evaluate current city operations, and provide suggestions and recommendations for immediate and long term goals to help ensure a smooth transition from one administration to the next. He also said the team is non-partisan and includes representatives from a variety of community organizations and businesses will be broken down into four subcommittees.

Sundquist said the team will be focused on his top priorities for 2020:

• Creating a City for the Future;
• Strengthening Housing Initiatives and Supporting or Neighborhoods; and
• Tackling Financial Burdens.

“We are embracing openness as we focus on creating the Jamestown of the future,” Sundquist said. “To do that we will build on our strengths, work collaboratively with community partners, businesses, neighborhoods and employee groups. Community input is not only welcome, it is strongly encouraged. We hope to have a good turnout for these public meetings, and I am very pleased with the Transition Team that has been assembled.”

Economic and Business Development Subcommittee

• Rich Dixon, Chief Financial Officer with the County of Chautauqua Industrial Development Agency
• Greg Edwards, Chief Executive Officer of the Gebbie Foundation
• Tory Irgang, Executive Director of the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation
• Ricky Turner, President of Blackstone Advanced Technologies.

Housing and Public Safety Subcommittee

• Len Faulk, Professor Emeritus at SUNY Fredonia
• Rev. Luke Fodor, Rector at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
• Dr. Lillian Ney, former City Council Chair, and former Medical Director and VP of Medical Affairs and Cardiology at WCA Hospital
• Taylor Scott, real estate agent with ERA Team VP Realty.

Financial Stability Subcommittee

• Tom Benson, Managing Director of Vineyard Group, LLC
• Maria Kindberg, Dean of Arts Humanities, & Health Sciences at Jamestown Community College
• Todd Tranum, President and CEO of the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce and Executive Director of the Manufacturers Association of the Southern Tier
• Kristy Zabrodsky, shareholder of Buffamante Whipple Buttafaro, P.C.

City Operations and Human Resources Subcommittee

• Andy Johnson, Senior HR Advisor at TitanX Engine Cooling
• Peggy Kaltenmeyer, owner of Forté the Restaurant
• George Panebianco, President of Lewis & Lewis
• Patrick Smeraldo, Teacher/Education Consultant at Jamestown Public Schools/Chautauqua Connections Inc.

Serving as Communications and Public Relations Liaison for the Transition Team is Sheila Webster, Director of Marketing, Communications, and Governmental Affairs for the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce.

Public meetings have been scheduled for December to get input and recommendations from the community. They will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. as follows:

• Economic and Business Development Subcommittee, Thursday, December 5, at Jefferson Middle School
• Housing and Public Safety Subcommittee, Tuesday , December 10, at Washington Middle School
• Financial Stability Subcommittee, Wednesday, December 11, at Persell Middle School
• City Operations and Human Resources Subcommittee, Tuesday, December 17, at Jamestown High School.

“The purpose of these sessions is to listen and to open a dialogue. Primarily, we are seeking input, recommendations, and comments relative to each subject area. This will provide the subcommittees with crucial information as they begin their evaluation process in early January,” Sundquist said. “The experience and diversity of backgrounds in this group is a great starting point. We not only welcome, but invite, all input from all residents of Jamestown.”