Chautauqua County Legislature Oath of Office (1/3/2022)

Four new legislators were sworn in at the Chautauqua County Legislature‘s organizational meeting Monday.

Republican Marty Proctor replaced Bill Ward in District 18 with Dave Wilfong replacing Bob Whitney in Jamestown District 11. Both Procter and Wilfong had previously served on the Legislature. Democrat Billy Torres replaced Chuck Nazzaro in Jamestown District 9. Nazzaro had chose not to run again. Democrat Susan Parker replaced Christine Starks in Fredonia District 4.

The legislature also voted to replace Mark Odell on the Legislature with John Penhollow of Sinclairville. Odell had resigned in July after moving out of the district, but his name remained on the ballot. Penhollow was appointed to fill his term last year.

Legislator Pierre Chagnon was unanimously elected the chair of the Legislature.

The legislature approved the reappointment of Ned Barone as Public Defender. The appointment is a 2-year term.

They also appointed Olivia Lee as the new Clerk of the Legislature. Lee replaces Kathy Tampio, who is retiring after 10 years as Clerk. Legislator Chagnon and County Executive PJ Wendel presented Tampio with a commendation for her service at the meeting.

Carroll Town Supervisor Russell Payne was the only incumbent to win their primary, defeating Laura Smith by a vote of 191 to 110 for the Republican line. Payne will still face Smith in November as she has the Working Families Party line.

County Legislator Bill Ward lost his Republican primary for District 18 to Martin Proctor in a vote of 105 to 285. Ward remains on the ballot with the Democrat and Working Families lines with Proctor also having the Conservative line. Ward issued a statement saying, “Despite significant party committee interference, a healthy number of primary voters still support our campaign. While we didn’t get over the top, It’s clear that folks want to keep a legislator in office who works for all the people in District 18 and Chautauqua County.”

In Fredonia, Legislator Christine Starks lost the District 4 Democratic Primary against Susan Parker by a vote of 151 to 35. Christine Starks has the Working Families Party line and will still face Parker in November.

In the City of Dunkirk, Ward 1 Representative Don Williams also lost his Democratic primary against Natalie Luczkowiak by a vote of 427 to 266. Both will face off again in November as Williams has a third party line.

For all Primary results, visit www.votechautauqua.com.

Municipalities with Primaries include a Republican Primary for Town Supervisor in the Town of Carroll between current Supervisor Russell Payne and Laura Smith. County Legislator Bill Ward is facing a primary on the Republican line against Martin Proctor in District 18. In Fredonia, Legislator Christine Starks has a Democratic Primary against Susan Parker in District 4.

In the City of Dunkirk, Ward 1 Representative Don Williams has a Democratic primary against Natalie Luczkowiak. Four Republicans are facing off in a Primary in the Town of Ripley for town council seats. And in Arkwright, a vacancy for the Arkwright Highway Superintendent has a Republican primary between James Ziemba and Lisa Waldron.

George Borrello on Election Night after winning the special election for the State Senate’s 57th District

MAYVILLE – Republican and current Chautauqua County Executive George Borrello will be the region’s next State Senator.  On Election Day Borrello defeated Democrat Austin Morgan of Cattaraugus county. The two were running for the seat vacated earlier this year by former Sen. Cathy Young, who announced in late February she was resigning from the Senate to take a job at Cornell University.

In his victory speech at the Republican Headquarters inside the Double Tree by Hilton, Borrello thanked Young for her years of service and also said he will approach his new job in Albany the same way he’s approached his job in Mayville, while also standing up to what he feels in an extreme agenda from the Democratic controlled state legislature.

“We have a tremendous debt of gratitude that we owe to Sen. Cathy Young who did an outstanding job representing us for all these years. She has set a proud example for all elected officials and those are big shoes to fill. I will work hard every single day to fill those shoes,” Borrello said. “But now we have to step forward with a new path. We have a new reality in Albany right now and we are going to work hard to push back against this radical agenda. I will ensure that our voice is heard loud and clear in Albany from this district.”

Borrello will likely take over the Senate seat before the year is out, although it’s not clear who will be replacing him as county executive. That decision to nominate someone will fall on the Chautauqua County Republican Party Committee.

In August of this year the legislature unanimously approved a resolution that states if there is a county executive vacancy, the replacement should be from the same political party and should be nominated by the county committee of said party, which would then require the approval of the county legislature. If the legislature has not filled the vacancy within 45 days, the legislature can fill the position without the requirement that the person should be nominated by the county committee of said political party.

COUNTY LEGISLATURE TO SEE LITTLE CHANGE

Meanwhile, there won’t be a lot of changeover in the county legislature when January 1 comes. Based on the election day results, there will only be three new names added to the 19-member body.

In the Mayville-Findley Lake area, Republican newcomer Bill Ward defeated fellow Republican and incumbent Martin Proctor for the District 18 seat. Ward was cross-endorsed by both the Republican and Democratic Parties and Proctor had created his own party known as the Cornerstone Party to get his name on the ballot.

Over in District 6,  Republican Thomas Harmon of Dunkirk defeated Democratic incumbent Kevin O’Connell.

And in Jamestown’s District 11 legislature district, Democrat Bob Whitney ran unopposed to reclaim a seat he lost 6 years earlier to David Wilfong, who chose not to run for reelection to the county legislature so he could instead run for mayor of Jamestown.

Other election day results had Republican incumbent Jesse Robbins defeating Democratic challenger Rudy Mueller in the Busti Town Supervisor race, in the village of Lakewood Republican Randy Holcomb was elected mayor, in the Carroll Supervisor Race Republican Russell Payne defeated Conservative candidate and incumbent Laura Smith, and in Falconer Democrat and lone candidate James Jaroszynski was elected mayor.

For a complete rundown of election day results, visit vote votechautauqua.com.

During Wednesday night’s legislature meeting, lawmakers voted 15-4 on an amended spending plan that raised the county tax levy to $64.2 million – a $2.3 million increase over the current year.

Voting against the budget was County Legislators David Wilfong (R-Jamestown), Elisabeth Rankin (R-Jamestown), Terry Niebel (R-Sheridan), and Martin Proctor (R-Clymer).

The budget proposal was an amended version of the one presented by County Executive George Borrello at the end of September. In that initial spending plan, Borrello called for a 2.7% tax levy increase but also proposed no increase in the tax rate. Instead, he wanted to rely on using some of the county’s fund balance to close any spending gaps without increasing the tax rate.

But earlier this month the spending plan was reviewed by the county’s audit and control committee, which cautioned against using too much of the fund balance to close a spending gap. Instead, the majority of the committee members felt the more prudent thing to do was to slightly bump up the tax levy and – as a result – putting an increase on the tax rate.

Prior to the vote Wednesday night, Audit and Control chairman Pierre Chagnon (R-Bemus Point) reiterated the concerns the committee had with using the fund balance.

“The $1 million use of fund balance in the Tentative Budget would have caused the general unobligated fund balance to drop below 5% of revenues. Our Financial Chautauqua County Legislature Management Policy requires the unobligated fund balance to remain between 5% and 15% of general fund revenues. The County continues to face challenges in 2019 that will make it difficult to meet the 2019 budget. Consequently, an unplanned use of fund balance may be needed to balance the 2019 financial results,” Chagnon explained.

Despite the concerns regarding using too much of the county fund balance, some lawmakers said they simply could not support any budget that included a tax rate increase. Elisabeth Rankin of Jamestown said property owners in her district are already over-taxed.

“In my district I have people in Jamestown who are- many of them are at the high end of property taxes and paid more over twenty years in taxes than they paid for their house originally and then I’ve got at the other end of my district people who struggle to make ends meet and can’t afford anymore property taxes. So, in spite of all that they’re doing and it’s very compelling and I’ve really been on the fence, I’ve promised to fight against any tax increases and I’d like to wait another year and so I can’t support this right now,” Rankin said.

Jamestown Lawmaker Chuck Nazzaro – who also serves as the ranking Democrat on the Audit and Control Committee – explained that although no one wants to raise taxes, the legislature still needs to be mindful of challenges in the coming the years.

“We have to look at projections and eventually, it’s not if it’s when we will go again into a recession. It’s an 8-10 year cycle. It’s an economic fact of life. So, we have to prepare ourselves for when there is a down turn in the economy. We have to maintain our fund balance at a reasonable level, which is 5% minimum of revenue and we need a plan for the future. If next year, for those that are here, are working on the 2021 budget things change, we have an increase in revenue, we can adjust that tax rate again up or down,” Nazzaro said.

As a result of the tax rate increase, the new county property tax rate for 2020 will be $8.46 per $1,000 of assessed value.

District 18 covers the towns of Mina, Sherman and Chautauqua Lake.

Proctor, meanwhile, doesn’t appear as a candidate for the 2019 general election so it appears he will only stay until the current term is completed. There are currently two individuals running for the seat and they both are seeking the Republican party endorsement. They are Richard Syper (Mayville) and Bill Ward (Mayville) – who’ve both submitted petitions to run for that party and will square off in the June 25 primary.

Ward is also the lone Democratic Candidate.