Mayor elect Eddie Sundquist discusses his transition strategy during a press conference on Friday, Nov. 22.

[UPDATE (DEC 31, 2019 – 1:40 p.m.)] – The Jamestown City Council reorganization meeting is Wednesday, Jan. 1 at noon at Jamestown Community College’s Scharmann Theater. New Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist will be sworn into office, along with the new members of the Jamestown City Council.

JAMESTOWN – When Jamestown mayor-elect Eddie Sundquist is sworn into office on Jan. 1, his first official duty as mayor will be to fill several administrative positions as well as make appointments (or reappointments) to more than three dozen seats on various city boards and commissions (including three citizen representative seats and one city council representative seat on the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities).

As written in the city charter, the mayor is tasked with making appointments to a variety of director positions, along with various boards, commissions and city officers. However, the city council is given the power of consent, meaning any appointment by the mayor must be approved by at least a simple majority of the Jamestown City Council.

“Obviously there is a very limited amount of time for us to find everyone – again 38 spots along with department positions. So if we are able to and after we receive approval from the council – the council will receive the list about a week or two before the (appointment) vote – if we have approval to release it we will do so,” Sundquist said during his transition strategy announcement on Friday.

It should be noted that there is no requirement in the city charter that the mayor first provide a list his prospective appointees to the city council before making it public, let alone that the council must give the mayor persmission to provide the list prior to its review.

ADMINISTRATIVE POSITIONS UP FOR APPOINTMENT ON JAN. 1

Among the administrative appointments Sundquist must make are for the following positions:

• Director of Administrative Services/City Clerk (currently held by acting clerk Jim Olson through Dec. 31, 2019)
• City Comptroller (currently held by Joe Bellitto through Dec. 31, 2019)
• Director of Development (vacated Nov. 12 by Vince DeJoy)
• Director of Public Works (currently held by Jeff Lehman through Dec. 31, 2019)
• Corporation Counsel/HR Director (currently held by Peter Larson through Dec. 31, 2019)

Both current city clerk Jim Olson and current city comptroller Joe Bellitto plan to retire in the near future, though in Bellitto’s case he has stated he would be willing to stay on in 2020 to help transition a new comptroller.

In the case of the director of development, currently city principal planner Crystal Surdyk is coordinating the department through the remainder of this year.

Public works director Jeff Lehman is the longest-serving department head, having been in his position since 1994 and serving under two different mayors (Republican Richard Kimball and current mayor and Democrat Sam Teresi). Lehman has not indicated any plans to step down from his position and it will be up to Sundquist to determine if he should be reappointed for another four years or go with someone else.

Larson was appointed city attorney this past March to fill out the remainder of the term of former corporation counsel Marylin Fiore-Lehman, who announced her departure to take a position with the Chautauqua County District Attorney’s Office. He has also continued to work for the private practice of Bly, Sheffield, Bargar & Pillittieri since his appointment.

The position of Jamestown Public Safety Director / Police Chief is also an appointed position, which is currently held by chief Harry Snellings. However, the term of that position will not end until Dec. 31, 2021.

THREE BPU SEATS HIGHLIGHT BOARD AND COMMISSION APPOINTMENTS

According to information provided to WRFA by the city clerk’s office, there are 38 different city board and commission seats up for appointment or reappointment on Jan. 1.  Among them are four seats on the Jamestown BPU.

For the BPU, both citizen board members Martha Zenns and Terrance Horner are in the final year of their four-year term. In addition, citizen board member Ralph Wallace is in the final year of his two-year term on the board. Sundquist will also have to appoint a city council representative to the BPU. Currently Maria Jones is serving as the city council’s BPU member, but she lost reelection on Nov. 5 and as a result, another member of the new city council will have to be appointed to her seat. Rounding out the BPU citizen members are currently BPU chair Gregory Rabb  along with Jim Olson (both terms end on Dec. 31, 2021).  The remaining three BPU members will be Eddie Sundquist, who serves as board president by way of his position as mayor, along with the public works director (currently Jeff Lehman) and the president of the city council (currently Marie Carrubba).

(Note: Because Carrubba is a Democrat and the Republican party will take control of the council on Jan. 1, it’s expected a new city council president will be named and, as a result, that person will then assume that seat on the BPU. Speculation is that councilman Tony Dolce will be voted Council president on Jan. 1.)

– OTHER BOARDS/COMMISSIONS –

There are ten other board and commission seats and officer positions that will also need appointment are reappointment come Jan. 1. They include:

Jamestown Local Development Corporation  (4 year term)

• Two seats currently held by George Spitale and Mark Morton plus one city council representative seat, currently held by Kim Ecklund (2 year term)

Jamestown Urban Renewal Agency (4 year term)

• One seat currently held by Martha Zenns

Zonning Board of Appeals (3 year term)

• Three seats currently held by Ellen DiTonto (current chair), Sally Martinez, and Judith Sandson.

Planning Commission (5 year term)

• One seat currently held by Paul Whitford.

Property, Rehabilitation and Conservation Board of Appeals (3 year terms)

• Seven seats currently held by Nanzy Griswold, Mary Maxwell, Sharon McKotch, Gary Sorenson,  and three vacancies.

Parks, Recreation and Conseration Commission (5 year term)

• Two seats currently held by Russell E. Diethrick, Jr. and John Bauer

Riverfront Management Council (3 or 5 year terms)

• One Vacancy; Two designated Parks, Rec. and Con. Commission Member (Currently Russell Diethrick Jr. and John Bauer); One Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy Representative; One Roger Tory Peterson Institute Representative; One Jamestown Audubon Society representatives; One Jamestown High School represenative; and three JHS Student representatives (all 5 year terms).

Veterans Memorial Commission (3 year terms)

• Three seats currently held by Charles Telford (chair), Daniel Kell, and Theresa Baginski.

Board of Electrical Examiners (2 year term)

• Two seats currently held by James McTavish and Steve Nowel.

Constable (4 year term)

• Three positions  up for reappointment: Marie Hill (holdover), Camille Krawczyk (holdover), and Michael Berg.

Marriage officer (4 year term)

• Three officers up for reappoinment: Gregory Rabb, Paul Whitford, and Lillian Ney.

“These can be voted on collectively on January 1 or tabled until the next regularly scheduled meeting, probably January 27,” explained city clerk Jim Olson when providing the list to WRFA.

On Monday night the City Council acted on more than two dozen mayoral appointments to various boards and agencies, including the BPU. Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi said that keeping with tradition, he wanted to appoint the new council president to the BPU.

“I have two council members that I need to appoint [every two years] in accordance with the city charter… and I’ve had a long-standing tradition of appointing the council president to the board,” Teresi said. “I just feel it is important to have the council president being one of the two council members to serve on the board because of all the coordination that happens between the city council and the BPU.”

Carrabba will take over the seat occupied by former city council president Greg Rabb, who did not win reelection last November. However, Rabb will remain active on the BPU and was appointed by Teresi to serve a four-year term.

Teresi said it was important for him to keep Rabb in the fold, given his years of experience.

“Greg was a good fit. Obviously he knows the lay of the land. We are dealing with a variety of issues right now that are in mid-stream and I think that continuity as well as the cohesion on that board is important,” Teresi said. “I thought that keeping that board in tact was important.”

Teresi said among the items the BPU is currently focused on is the annexation effort of the Dow St. Substation property from the village of Falconer/Town of Ellicott, an effort to purchase a natural gas pipeline that feeds into the BPU Generating Station, the proposed sale of the city Wastewater Treatment Plant to the Jamestown Local Development Corporation (JLDC), and an effort to request the state Public Service Commission to allow for the increase of electric rates in the next two or three years.

Rabb will take over the seat that was help previously by BPU member Martha Zenns (a term of four years). Zenns meanwhile was reappointed to a two-year term to fill the seat previously occupied by Tyler Case, who was not reappointed to a new term. Instead, Case was appointed to the JLDC board.

Also being reappointed to the BPU was councilwoman Maria Jones (D-Ward 4), along with community representatives Ralph Wallace and Chuck Cornell.

JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown City Council held its inaugural voting session on Monday night at City Hall.

Councilwoman Marie Carrubba (D-Ward 4) was tapped to replace previous council president Greg Rabb, who lost reelection in November. She has served on the city council since 2013 and has chaired the council’s housing committee and also served on the public safety committee.  As city council president, Carrubba will preside over all council meetings, appoint its standing and special committees, and perform the duties of mayor in his/her absence. Carrubba will also serve as co-chair of the city’s Strategic Planning and Partnership Commission and was appointed by Mayor Sam Teresi to serve on the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities (BPU).

Carrubba is just the second woman to serve as council president, following former council women Dr. Lillian Ney, who was council president a little over a decade earlier.

Rabb, meanwhile, will remain active in city government with a seat at the BPU and on the city Planning Commission. Rabb was appointed by Teresi to serve on the BPU to replace outgoing member Tyler Case. Rabb previously served on the BPU while president of the city council. Case, meanwhile, was appointed to the Jamestown Local Development Corporation.

WOMEN HOLD MAJORITY

For the first time in its history, a majority of women will hold seats on the City Council. Joining Carrubba are council members at large Kim Ecklund (R) and newcomer Vanessa Weinert (D), along with councilwoman Vicki James (D-Ward 3) and Maria Jones (D-Ward 4).  Jones will continue serving on the BPU. Ecklund will serve on the JLDC board.

Councilman Tony Dolce (R-Ward 2) will once again serve as the council’s finance committee chair.

City resident Tim Smeal was appointed to the JLDC as a representative of the Manufacturers Association of the Southern Tier (MAST).  Smeal currently serves as Director of Development at Jamestown Community College and previously had served on the mayor’s ad hoc Downtown Parking Committee.

Also appointed to another four-year term to Public Safety Director was Jamestown Police Chief Harry Snellings, who’s held that dual role since 2010.

A Complete list of appointments is available below.

LIUZZO VOTES ‘NO’

Prior to voting the council members took their oath of office. Joining Carrubba, Ecklund, Weinert, James, Jones and Dolce were returning council members Brent Sheldon (R-Ward 1) and Tom Nelson (D-Ward 6) along with newcomer Andrew Liuzzo (R-At Large).

Liuzzo was the only council member to vote “not” to electing Carrubba as president.  In all Carrubba received five nominations as president (all from the Democratic members of the council). Others who received nominations were Dolce (two nominations from Sheldon and Ecklund) and Ecklund (one nomination from Dolce). Liuzzo had nominated Jones.  Once nominations had ended, Liuzzo made a motion to vote for the president by secret ballot rather than a roll call vote. His motion didn’t receive a supporting second and was declared dead by city clerk Todd Thomas. The council then voted 8 to 1 in favor of Carrubba as president.

Liuzzo also voted against Teresi’s 27 agency appointments, which were blocked together into a single vote. After the appointments were announced, a motion was made to suspend the rules and vote on the appointments collectively, to which Liuzzo voted “absolutely no.”  He also voted “no” on the actual appointments. All other council members supported both the motion to suspend the rules and the actual appointment vote and they passed 8 to 1.

The Council’s first work session of the new year is set for Monday, January 22 at 7:30 p.m. in the Mayor’s Conference Room (4th floor) of City Hall.

2018 Mayoral Appointments

* New Appointment
** Council member appointed by Mayor
*** Council President appointment

Department Head:

• Harry L. Snellings  – Director of Public Safety/Chief of Police – Term Expires: 12/31/2021

Zoning Board of Appeals

• Sally Martinez – Term Expires: 12/31/2019
• Patricia Calanni – Term Expires: 12/31/2020
• Richard Hanson – Term Expires: 12/31/2020
• *James Olson – Term Expires: 12/31/2020

Board of Assessment Review

• *Thomas Vitale – Term Expires: 09/30/2022
• Board of Electrical Examiners
• James MacTavish – Term Expires: 12/31/2019
• Steve Nowell – Term Expires: 12/31/2019

Board of Public Utilities

• Martha Zenns – Term Expires: 12/31/2019 (filling unexpired term of T. Case/resigned)
• Ralph Wallace – Term Expires: 12/31/2019
• Charles Cornell – Term Expires: 12/31/2021
• *Gregory Rabb – Term Expires: 12/31/2021
• **Maria Jones – Term Expires: 12/31/2019
• **Marie Carrubba – Term Expires: 12/31/2019

Parks, Recreation and Conservation

• **Vanessa Weinert – Term Expires: 12/31/2019
• **Kimberly Ecklund – Term Expires: 12/31/2019
• *David Reinhardt – Term Expires: 12/31/2022
• *Aubrey Russell – Term Expires: 12/31/2022

Planning

• Jeffrey Nelson – Term Expires: 12/31/2022
• *Gregory Rabb – Term Expires: 12/31/2022 (Chair)
• ***Thomas Nelson – Term Expires: 12/31/2019

Property Rehabilitation and Conservation Board of Appeals

• *Sandra Stewart – Term Expires: 12/31/2020
• Mary Lynne Videll – Term Expires: 12/31/2020
• ***Brent Sheldon – Term Expires: 12/31/2019

Riverfront Management Council

• **Kimberly Ecklund – Term Expires: 12/31/2019
• *Vanessa Weinert – Term Expires: 12/31/2020
• Jade Barber – Term Expires: 12/31/2020
• William Stevenson – Term Expires: 12/31/2020
• *Luke Fodor – Term Expires: 12/31/2020
• *Aubrey Russell               12/31/2020

Strategic Planning and Partnerships Commission

• Paul Leone – Term Expires: 12/31/2022
• ***Marie Carrubba – Term Expires: 12/31/2019
• ***Anthony Dolce – Term Expires: 12/31/2019

Veterans Memorial Commission

• Sharon Terwilliger – Term Expires: 12/31/2020
• Russell Diethrick, Jr. – Term Expires: 12/31/2020
• Tom Abbott – Term Expires: 12/31/2020
• *Daniel Kell – Term Expires: 12/31/2019

Jamestown Local Development Corporation

• **Kimberly Ecklund – Term Expires: 12/31/2019
• *Tyler Case – Term Expires: 12/31/2018 (At Large member)
• *Timothy Smeal               – Term Expires: 12/31/2018 (MAST representative)
• Russell Diethrick, Jr – Term Expires: 12/31/2018 (Chaut. Co. Chamber of Commerce representative)
• John Whittaker – Term Expires: 12/31/2018 (JRC representative)

The BPU is comprised of four city officials along with five citizen members.  The city officials who serve on the BPU are the mayor (currently Sam Teresi), by virtue of office, who is also the President of the Board; the Director of Public Works (currently Jeff Lehman); two city council representatives (currently Greg Rabb and Maria Jones); and five community members, each appointed by the Mayor for terms that vary in length.

At least one new member will be added to the BPU at the start of the new year.  That’s because Rabb wasn’t reelected to a new term on the city council, meaning a new council member will have to be appointed by the mayor to replace him.

The four other BPU members whose term expires at the end of this year and would have to be reappointed or replaced on Jan. 1, 2018 are:

• BPU Chairman Chuck Cornell (appointed to BPU to fill a vacated seat in June 2014);
• City Councilwoman Maria Jones (who was reelected to the council on Election Day);
• Ralph Wallace (appointed to BPU in January 2016)
• Martha Zenns (appointed to BPU in January 2014)

The two other BPU members are community representatives Tyler Case and Terrance Horner, who were both appointed in January 2016 and whose terms both expire on Dec. 31, 2019.

The mayor is expected to announce his appointments and reappointments to the BPU during city council’s first meeting of the new year, which is tentatively set for Monday, Jan. 8, 2018.  The appointments would also have to be approved by a majority of the city council.

The meeting will be the first for the three new members of the BPU, who were appointed by Mayor Sam Teresi and approved by the Jamestown City Council at the start of the year to replace three previous members. The three new members will be Tyler Case, Terrance Horner, and Ralph Wallace who are replacing John Zabrodsky, Wayne Rishell and Carl Pilliterri, after Teresi made the controversial decision not to reappoint the three long-time board members.  Zabrodsky, Rishell, and Pilliterri were each opposed to Teresi’s proposal in recent years to use BPU profits as a revenue stream to balance the city’s annual operating budget.

Because Zabrodsky had served as the chair of the BPU, there will also be a new board chairman for the first time in several years. An article in Monday’s Jamestown Post-Journal says the new chair will likely be Chuck Cornell or Martha Zenns, who are the two other community representatives who serve on the board and who were both appointed in 2014.

Monday’s board meeting begins at 4 p.m. at the BPU administrative offices and is open to the public.

During the city council’s New Year’s Day inaugural meeting on Friday, all nine members of the city council were sworn in to a new, two-year term in office, with just one new member joining the fold. Ward III Democrat Victoria James will be the only new member of the city council, replacing Republican Alphonso Pagan, whom she defeated in the November Election.

Also during Friday’s meeting the council approved several appointments by Teresi, including three new members for the BPU.

The newest BPU members will be Tyler Case, Terrance Horner, and Ralph Wallace. They are replacing: John Zabrodsky, appointed by Teresi in January 2000 and serving as BPU chairman from January 2002 to December 2015; Wayne Rishell, appointed by Teresi in January 2002; and Carl Pillittieri, appointed by Teresi April 2004.

The appointments came with no discussion or comment and were included in a laundry list of mayoral appointees for various agencies, commissions and boards involved with city government.

Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi

“After consulting with members of the city council, colleagues on BPU and senior management staff, and advisors in the community, I decided to bring in [the three new members],” Teresi told reporters on Friday following the meeting. “They come from three different disciplines and backgrounds in the community and share mine and the council’s love for the city and commitment to building the entire city of Jamestown. Each showed a great deal of interest in joining the city government family on the BPU and I’m very happy to have them join us.”

The three new members will replace three individuals who bring a combined 42 years of board experience to the BPU. Perhaps even more noteworthy, the three outgoing members have been outspoken critics of the city government’s use of BPU profits – by way of dividend payments – to help balance its annual budget each year since 2014. That dividend sharing was first used by the city decades ago, but eventually went out of favor with city leaders. However, the dividend sharing was re-introduced by Teresi in an effort to close spending gaps in the city budget the past three years.

Despite the difference of opinion on how to best use BPU profits and the ensuing (and at times contentious) debates that took place, the mayor would not say that was the reason for not reappointing the three to another term.

“I’m not going to make this about what has happened in the past,” Teresi said. “New Year’s Day is a day about looking forward and that’s exactly what we’re doing here – celebrating and thanking the contributions of those board members that I had the opportunity, the pleasure and the honor of originally appointing. They’ve been good board members that have served the public utilities of this city well, and this city as a whole well. We thank them and honor them for their service through a difficult and diverse period of challenge and accomplishments for [the BPU].”

Chase is a city resident who currently serves as Human Resources Administrator at The Resource Center, where he’s been employed since 2003. This past November he also ran as a Democratic candidate for city council in Ward 1, losing to Republican incumbent Brent Sheldon. He’s also active in several community groups and organizations.

Horner is a retired Biomedical Technician who worked at WCA hospital in Jamestown for 30 years before retiring in 2013. He’s also a U.S. Army veteran and is involved in several community and regional organizations.

Wallace serves as the Operations Manager for Jamestown Metal Products, a position he’s held for the past 15 years. He’s also worked in management for several other manufacturers including CAE Ultrasonics, Jamestown Sterling Corporation, and Visu-Wall Storage Systems.

Teresi said he believes the diverse backgrounds of the three new members will serve the BPU well, ensuring representation from all aspects of the city and also bringing new energy and ideas into the fold.

“This is not about the three members that gave 16, 14, and 12 years of dedicated, good service to the community. It’s a matter of moving forth and refreshing and replenishing,” Teresi said. “It’s not the first time there have been new members brought onto the BPU and it certainly won’t be the last time.”

The six other members of the BPU, in order of seniority, are: Jeff Lehman, serving by way of position as DPW director since 1994; Teresi, serving by way of position as mayor since 2000; Greg Rabb, serving by way of position as city council president since 2008; Maria Jones, serving as city council liaison since 2013; Martha Zenns, appointed by Teresi in January 2014; and Charles “Chuck” Cornell, appointed by Teresi in July 2014.

Members of the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities listens to Chautauqua Co. Chamber of Commerce President Todd Tranum during the Nov. 23 board meeting.

JAMESTOWN – The projected property tax increase in the city of Jamestown’s 2016 budget now sits at 4.06 percent. The Jamestown Board of Public Utilities on Monday approved giving the city a $482,000 dividend payment for next year following a 6-2 vote.

The $482,000 payment is $232,000 more than what Jamestown mayor Sam Teresi had proposed in his initial 2016 budget. That’s because the Jamestown City Council, during closed-door budget deliberations last week that were not open to the public, came to a unanimous decision to request $482,000 – the same amount the BPU gave the city for the current fiscal year.

City Council president Greg Rabb said the additional $232,000 will bring down the projected tax hike by 1.5 percent.

“[The $482,000] is almost double what the mayor requested, so it does have an effect on the budget. I think the the tax increase – whatever it might work out to be next week – might be much worse if we didn’t have the additional funding. So it does help a lot,” said Rabb, who also sits on the BPU.

The BPU spent more than 90 minutes discussing the dividend payment before acting on it, with board chairman John Zabrodsky, board member Carl Pillittieri, and general manager David Leathers saying the don’t support the payment because it would deplete the BPU reserves in either the electric or water divisions. If taken from the water division, it would create a rate increase higher than the 2.3 percent already being projected. If taken from the electric division, it could compromise a future 2.5 percent electric rate increase currently being considered by the state Public Service Commission (PSC).

The BPU was going to act on finalizing and approving its 2016 electric and water division budgets but held off following a request by Teresi, who wants to first find out if there could be any further cost saving measures in the water division budget before it is finalized. The issue of whether or not taking money from the electric division would impact the PSC rate case is something he also felt should be investigated further.

Rabb agrees it wouldn’t hurt to hold off on approving the two division budgets.

“There was much discussion about how we were going to handle this and I believe we tentatively committed to Dec. 7 as an additional board meeting for the BPU so that we could deal with the electric and water divisions, with the mayor making the point that now that we’ve agreed to the $482,000, can we go back and take a look at the budgets and make sure there isn’t something else we can ring out of the budget so we don’t have to talk about a rate increase.”

Both Zabrodsky and Pillittieri voted against giving the city the $482,000 dividend payment. BPU members voting in favor of the resolution included Teresi and Rabb, along with Chuck Cornell, Maria Jones, Jeff Lehman, and Martha Zenns.  Board member Wayne Rishell was absent.

CHAMBER SPEAKS OUT AGAINST DIVIDEND PAYMENT

Chamber president Todd Tranum.

Prior to discussing the dividend payment, several members of the public addressed the BPU, including Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce and Manufacturers Association president Todd Tranum. Tranum criticized the board for approving dividend payments in past years, saying it’s the reason why the BPU electric division had to file for the rate increase request with the PSC.

“Based on our reserach and looking at the numbers, the current rate increase submitted by the BPU is absolutely unnecessary,” Tranum said. “It is an indirect tax driven by the city of Jamestown, taking money from this utility.”

Tranum also told officials that if they continue to profit share with the city, it would continue to force the BPU to increase its rates, causing it to lose its edge as an affordable utility provider to both residents and businesses not only in Jamestown, but the entire service area including the communities outside of the city.

Tranum also pointed out that the BPU already pays $3.5 million a year in the form of tax equivalent payments, adding that the dividend payments are excessive.