Police Officers Memorial Day ceremony on Tracy Plaza (May 20, 2022)

Members of law enforcement, elected officials, and the public gathered on Tracy Plaza Friday for Police Officers Memorial Day and Police Week ceremony.

Jamestown Corporation Counsel Elliot Raimondo spoke on behalf of Mayor Eddie Sundquist, saying that Police Officers Memorial Day has been held since 1962, “It’s dedicated to the memory of public safety officials who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in service to their communities. And this day would be known as Peace Officers Memorial Day. On behalf our community, and all city residents, we commend the members of the Jamestown Police Department for their committeemen and selfless protection to our residential and business neighborhoods and enforcement of the law of our community.”

Remarks also were made by County Executive PJ Wendel, Assemblyman Andy Goodell, and County Legislator Lisa Vanstrom, who was there on behalf of State Senator George Borrello.

The Kendall Club Police Benevolent Association recognized five Jamestown Police officers as “Officers of the Year.” All five officers responded to three separate house fires where they rescued a total of seven people from burning buildings. The officers recognized include Officers Mark Conklin, Erik Johanson, Jose Moya, Brian Park and Jack Swan.

Jamestown Police Officers Jakki Ahlbin and Mark Conklin

The Jamestown Holiday Parade that takes place tomorrow will feature Jamestown Police Officers Mark Conklin and Jakki Martin-Ahlbin as Grand Marshalls.

Mayor Eddie Sundquist said these two officers have been heroes in the department this year, “One rescuing a family from a burning fire, another providing CPR to a baby and we really want to support those individuals, those essential workers, who have gone throughout this Pandemic doing such incredible work.”

The parade, organized by Collaborative Children’s Solutions and the City of Jamestown, takes place tomorrow night on Third Street starting at 6:00pm. It will include a Christmas Tree lighting on Tracy Plaza and conclude with fireworks.

Legislator Chuck Nazzaro said this is a big win, “To reconstruct the runway at the Chautauqua County Airport and there is no local share on this and normally there would. So the $6.2 million is greatly appreciated and will benefit this county.”

The legislature also approved a memorandum of understanding with the City of Jamestown for the purchase of new fire software. Jamestown City Council had approved the purchase at its June voting session. Deputy Fire Chief Matt Coon said the new software will increase efficiency for fire reporting and help the department maintain compliance with the National Fire Incident Reporting System.

Resident and Democratic candidate for County Executive Norm Green spoke at the first privilege of the floor on the resolution, saying he doesn’t think the county should charge the city for the software, “Charging the City of Jamestown $111,000 just doesn’t make sense. This is absolutely what we should be all about – sharing services. And we certainly have other areas of the county of sharing of services such as the fly car, such as the Sheriff’s Department itself. Some 20% of the county’s population resides in Jamestown.”

Legislator Chuck Nazzaro responded to that, saying the county is helping the city of Jamestown, “Currently, the County of Chautauqua subscribes to the public safety software program and what we’re doing is letting the City of Jamestown purchase the fire records module of this software for their benefit. They would not be able to do that if we didn’t already subscribe to this software program.”

A resolution amending the rules of the County Legislature to not require verbatim transcripts of meetings passed. Legislator Bill Ward said he initially had reservations supporting the resolution, “I am satisfied, however, after investigating and discovering of course that all of the Legislature meetings will be transcribed verbatim and that technology exists that help us to review all of the committee meetings, perhaps in an even better way, because they’re going to be preserved in audio files and video files.”

A motion requesting that existing boundaries of the 23rd Congressional district be preserved was defeated by a vote of 11 to 6. It required 13 votes to pass and 2 legislators were absent.

The Chautauqua County Legislature, County Executive PJ Wendel, State Senator George Borrello, and a representative from Congressman Tom Reed’s office also held a commendation ceremony for Jamestown Police Officer Mark Conklin. Officer Conklin was recognized for his heroism in rescuing 2 people from a fire in Jamestown on July 19th. The Legislature also issued a commendation for outgoing Legislator Mark Odell, who announced his resignation effective the end of July.

Mayor Eddie Sundquist presented a proclamation to Officer Conklin at last night’s City Council meeting, “He truly has gone above and beyond what we ask of our employees, for our officers. And it’s really a testament to our community. And for that, and I know you don’t like this, but we really want to thank you, and honor you on behalf of all the men and woman that are here in the Police force, our Fire department, and your family that I got to meet.”

Council President Tony Dolce noted that this is the second time in the last few months that a City employee has rescued people from a house fire and that he continually sees City employees go above and beyond, “And again we’re proud of our employees. They do a lot with the resources that we can afford to give them and the numbers that we have so again it’s a proud moment for the city, a proud moment for us as city leaders as well as the department itself.”

The video of the rescue by Officer Conklin can be found on Jamestown Police’s Facebook Page.