Legislator Terry Niebel and County Attorney Pat Slagle present to the Administrative Services Committee (April 17, 2023)

The Chautauqua County Legislature is considering a property tax exemption for volunteer fire fighters and ambulance workers.

Legislator Terry Niebel and County Attorney Pat Slagle presented the proposal to the Administrative Services Committee to adopt a local law to give enrolled members of an incorporated volunteer fire company, fire department or incorporated voluntary ambulance service a 10% exemption on their assessed value of their property taxes.

Niebel said he is recommending legislators adopt the 10% exemption, “Now, the actual law, which was enacted on December 9, 2022, provided for an exemption of five to ten percent. Okay? But, I’ve talked to fire chiefs, I’ve talked to fire advisory board, emergency services council, our own emergency services department, past chiefs association.. everybody that I talked to seem to think that 10% would be better than the 5%.”

Niebel pointed out that the village of Mayville recently adopted a similar property tax exemption in the amount of 10%.

The local law requires that members have at least two years of service before they can claim the exemption. It also provides a lifetime exemption for any active volunteer who has 20 years of active service.

Neibel said there are an estimated 1,600 volunteers in Chautauqua County, which based on a sample comes out to be $85 per volunteer, “Not all 1,600 people will be entitled to this because this is on your residence and some people rent, some people have their residences in their spouse’s name. So, again, in talking to some of the folks in the fire service, we figure probably the effective number is 1,200. So, 1,200 times $85 is roughly $102,000.”

Niebel added he hopes the exemption will help attract and retain volunteer firefighters.

The entire Administrative Services Committee requested to be added as sponsors to the local law. There will be a public hearing on the local law at the Legislature’s voting session on Wednesday, April 26.

Jamestown School Board Ex-Officio Student Members Aubrey Reynolds and Emylia Hallberg (March 28, 2023)

Jamestown High School students on the Jamestown School Board expressed concern over safety in schools in the wake of recent stabbings in the city.

Ex-Officio student member Emylia Hallberg said while there is more police support in the school, the students want to see a Safety Committee created to get public input.

The other Ex-Officio student member, Aubrey Reynolds, agreed, “I think a lot of the faculty is concerned for the safety of the students and safety of themselves in general. I mean, they were promised a safety committee earlier this year. Not much action has taken place, so they’d like to see that go forward and so would we. We really care about our school. The recent issues with the fights, all the stabbings, is kind of causing an uneasy feeling in the school.”

Superintendent Dr. Kevin Whitaker said there had seemed to be interest from the community to join a Safety Committee, “But we didn’t get a lot of interest. I reached out to a few people and made some phone calls to say, ‘I heard that you might be interested. Would you like to join?’ People said, ‘Well, sure yeah, ok. Just let me know if that’s a thing.’ But we had very, very few people from outside the district say they would be interested so that was a little disappointing.”

Whitaker said the committee would look at items like ballistics coating on windows, weapons and metal detection; tactical issues, and infrastructure issues. He said while he wanted the community to have a voice, if that doesn’t work out there will be a district-building safety committee at the least.

Following the 13th school shooting in the nation this year, Board President Paul Abbott said more communication is needed of everyone’s concerns. He said he feels the District has safety as a top priority, “I think it’s important that people know and understand what we’re doing. I absolutely agree that it’s really important that everyone has a voice and an opportunity to express their concerns. I guess as far as the Safety Committee geos, that is certainly a great avenue for that.”

Abbott added that if volunteers weren’t interested, he’d still want to see a committee that included people from every school building, bargaining unit, and student representatives.

Board Member Pat Slagle said he thinks it’ll take the community, including a Safety Committee, coming together to figure out the puzzle pieces to eliminate safety issues in the district. He said a lot of investment has been made to secure the schools including the recent over $400,000 investment in a secure vestibule entrance at Persell Middle School, “We have the Red Shirt program. We have the Red Shirts here tonight. SRO’s (School Resource Officers), that’s about $100,000 per SRO. We’ve increased social workers in school. We’ve increased mental health access. We’ve partnerships with the County to provide that. We have new programs to hopefully help reduce incidences of bullies in schools. We continue to reach out to community partners on how we can continue to affect these students who are no longer students, but causing issues in and around the schools.”

Slagle added that the board and district will continue to take all steps needed to keep students and staff safe.

Members of the community who are interested in joining the School District’s Safety Committee may contact that Administrative Offices at 716-483-4350.

State Attorney General Letitia James secured a $523 million settlement with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries last year after the company was found liable for public nuisance charges.

County Attorney Pat Slagle said New York is receiving an additional $211 million from a $4.3 billion national settlement Teva agreed to in July. He said that carve out had to be approved by local governments by February 1.

Slagle said payments will be received in $50,000 increments over a 13 year period. $374,249 of the funds are unrestricted with $583,555 being designated for treating opioid use disorders, supporting people in treatment and recovery, and other efforts related to the opioid crisis.

Chautauqua County Legislature Chairman Pierre Chagnon, County Legislator Jay Gould, County Executive PJ Wendel (December 21, 2022)

Longtime Chautauqua County Legislators Jay Gould and Paul Whitford were honored for their service at the County Legislature meeting Wednesday night as they both announced their retirement.

Jay Gould represents District 17 which covers the towns of Clymer, Panama, Harmony and Busti. His over 20 year tenure on the legislature began in January 2000. Gould also served as Chairman of the Legislature from 2012 to 2016. He served on the Human Services, Public Facilities, and Audit & Control Committees.

As a legislative representative, Gould also served on the Agriculture and Farmland Protection Board, Chautauqua County Soil and Water Conservation District Board, Southern Tier Railroad Authority, and Southern Tier West.

Gould thanked everyone and said he really enjoyed his time with the legislature, “I’d like to tell legislators – remember why you were sent up here. You were sent up here to watch your constituent’s money. That’s what you’re here for.”

Paul Whitford represents District 13 which covers the eastside of the City of Jamestown around UPMC Chautauqua. He first began to serve on the legislature on December 17, 2014. Whitford has served on the Administrative Services, Human Services, and Public Safety Committees. As a legislative representative, he also served on the Chautauqua County Land Bank Board of Directors, Chautauqua Opportunities Board, and Office for the Aging Advisory Council.

Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel said he’s known Whitford for over 20 years, “His exemplary service to the county, but also to the city of Jamestown on multiple boards and political positions he’s held. So, Paul has definitely been a tireless servant for the residents of Chautauqua County both at the city and county level. So again, very sad he won’t be with us anymore but I’m sure he’s going to be enjoying his retirement after many, many years of dedicated service to the residents.”

It is anticipated that the Legislature will vote at its January 3, 2023 organizational meeting to appoint the new legislative representatives of Districts 13 and 19.

Retiring County Attorney Stephen Abdella also was recognized and honored for his decades of service.

Abdella began as an Assistant County Attorney in 1988, working his way up to County Attorney in 1992. He held that position until 1997 and then again from 2006 to the present. He also served as the Legislative Attorney from 1999 to 2005 and then again from 2008 until the present. Abdella served as Acting County Executive twice in November through December of 2013 and 2019.

Wendel said there were a lot of daunting things to face when he became County Executive three years ago, “But, as it’s stated in the commendation, Steve was a very calming, very relaxed. And again, very thorough in any issues or problems we had that arose.”

Legislature Chairman Pierre Chagnon said legislators often turned to Abdella for questions about the past, “Steve would always have the answer. I always referred to him as the ‘Corporate Memory’ because he remembered so much about county operations over such a long span of time. And he was so quick with the recall and so willing to share that it was invaluable to us as legislators in our considerations and deliberations.”

Abdella unfortunately was unable to attend the meeting as he was sick.

First Assistant County Attorney Pat Slagle has been appointed to take over as County Attorney on January 1, 2023.

Jamestown School Board meeting (December 6, 2022)

Jamestown Public Schools’ Superintendent is accusing New York State of dragging its feet in resolving a lawsuit over the state under funding poor school districts.

Dr. Kevin Whitaker said the state is trying to “smoke out” the remaining eight districts involved in the Small Cities lawsuit even though they know the funding formula is unjust to poor districts, “They believe that extending through legal means the timeline for which this process will take will cause districts, especially the poorer ones, to run out of money and drop out of the lawsuit. I think it’s despicable and I think they should own up to their fiscal mismanagement over the course of decades and take care of the kids who need it the most.”

The Jamestown School Board voted 5 to 2 on Tuesday to continue paying litigation fees in the amount of $20,000 in the Small Cities lawsuit, also known as Maisto v. New York. Shelly Leathers and Pat Slagle were the two no votes, citing concerns over spending more tax money on a case that doesn’t seem to have a defined end.

The case is currently in the remedy stage after the New York State Appellate Court rejected an appeal by then Governor Andrew Cuomo in August 2021 of the court’s decision. The unanimous decision by the Third Appellate Division in May 2021 overturned Cuomo’s position that education aid to the eight small city school districts, including Jamestown, was constitutionally sufficient.

Whitaker said the districts’ goals are to change state foundation aid formulas so it’s fair for all districts in the state and for the eight small city school districts to be reimbursed for the funds lost over several decades. He said the district should receive $30 to $40 million from the lawsuit that would go specifically toward academic intervention, “It would go to tutoring. It’s essentially money that we need to help catch kids catch up to their grade level peers. [Reporter “These are teachers? Different kind of programs?] Additional teachers, additional supports – It’s all of that. It’s the entire process of assisting kids throughout their learning to close the gaps that exist with poorer communities.”

Whitaker added the state is in arrears for over $100 million for the Jamestown Public Schools District, but he doubts the district will ever see that money. However, a change in formula would provide ongoing support to the district.

The Maisto plaintiffs started the case in 2008 because they believed their districts were not getting enough educational funding/resources to give their students, mainly poor and disadvantaged, what they needed to succeed and that this violated the state constitution.

On the mascot and nickname guidance that the State Education Department is supposed to provide to school districts, Whitaker said he heard the topic is on the agenda for the Regents’ December meeting next week. He said he wasn’t aware if it was just going to be discussed or if there would be any formal action taken on on the guidance.

County Attorney Stephen Abdella, future County Attorney Pat Slagle, County Executive PJ Wendel

Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel has appointed Pat Slagle as the new County Attorney.

Slagle will begin his new position in January 2023, replacing current County Attorney Stephen Abdella, who is retiring from the position on or about January 1, 2023.

Slagle has served as First Assistant County Attorney for the Chautauqua County Law Department since February 2022 and previously was an Assistant Social Services Attorney with the Chautauqua County Department of Health and Human Services.

Prior to working for the County, Slagle was a Supervising Attorney at Legal Assistance of Western New York, Inc. He is also a current member of the Jamestown Bar Association, New York State School Board Association, and Jamestown Public Schools Board of Education.

Slagle currently resides in Jamestown with his wife and their two children.

First Assistant County Attorney Pat Slagle explained to legislative committees last week that the contract is being extended following the recent resignation of the former Human Resources Director and hiring of the new one in order to allow both sides to get everything together.

Legislator Terry Niebel said he reviewed the extension and thinks it’s fair to the taxpayers and county employees, “It calls for a one-time payment of $750 and a 3% increase in salary for about 900 employees. The cost of this extension is about $2.3 million. I think the county negotiating team, the union, and the county executive did a very good job.”

Finance Director Kitty Crow said in committees that the extension amount is included in 2023 budget that’s being put together right now.

Negotiations on the next contract with CSEA will begin in February 2023.

The County Legislature also voted to rescind local law 6-22 which established a public relations officer position. County Executive PJ Wendel said he recommended the law be rescinded, citing the incident on August 12 where author Salman Rushdie was attacked at Chautauqua Institution.

He said his office and the District Attorney’s Office received calls from all over the world and showed a need more for a Public Information Officer, “So upon further review, it’s better to make sure we have a position that is rightly fitted, and rightly described, and a job description is fitting for what for what we’re looking for is Public Information Officer that is able to disseminate the information, make sure that social media is taken care of and the messages are consistent and professional in coming out.”

Wendel added that he was advised by his legal team to ask the Legislature to rescind the law.

First Assistant County Attorney Pat Slagle addresses County Legislature’s Administrative Services Committee (August 15, 2022)

The County Legislature’s Administrative Services Committee has approved a one-year contract with CSEA.

First Assistant County Attorney Pat Slagle informed the committee that the contract, which is set to expire at the end of 2022, is being extended following the recent resignation of the former Human Resources Director and hiring of the new one in order to allow both sides to get everything together.

Slagle said the terms of the one-year contract include a one time bonus of $750, a 3% salary increase, and the addition of a holiday. Negotiations on the next contract will begin in February 2023.
The financial impact of the one-time bonus is estimated to be $618,930 and is based on 796 full-time employees and 28 part-time employees. It was stated at the meeting that that figure is included in the 2023 budget being currently worked on by the Finance Department.

The Administrative Services Committee also approved the extension of the county’s mortgage tax.

Both items will come before the full County Legislature for a vote on Wednesday, August 24, 2022.

Pat Slagle and Joe Pawelski take oaths of office as members of the Jamestown School Board (July 12, 2022)

The Jamestown School Board has approved a Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Jamestown for the School Crossing Guard Program.

Under the MOU, the City will recruit, hire and manage the guards for the five elementary schools with the school district picking up the cost.

Jamestown City Council approved a resolution related to the MOU in March 2022 with the staff report saying the program would be a $25,000 savings to the City.

The School Board also approved a contract with 15 head custodians and several maintenance workers. The collective bargaining agreement withe IBEW is effective July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2027. Superintendent Dr. Kevin Whitaker said the contract includes tool allowances, uniform allowances, as well as salary increases across the five years.

Pat Slagle and Joe Pawelski took their oaths of office to begin their new term on the school board. The Board also nominated Paul Abbott to be its president again with Pat Slagle as Vice-President.

Jamestown School Board meeting (May 18, 2022)

The Jamestown School Board approved a $610,000 capital overlay project for Persell Middle School at its meeting Wednesday night.

The project was first approved in the 2021-22 school year, but the district didn’t have enough funding in its accounts to move forward. With the passage of the $5 million capital improvement reserve fund by voters on Tuesday, May 17, the district now has the needed monies.

The overlay projects includes the construction of a new secure entrance to Persell Middle School. District administrative staff said Persell is the only school that doesn’t currently have a secure vestibule upon entry. The middle school’s administrative offices also will be moved to be adjacent to the new secure entry. Theatrical and house lighting will also be replaced in Persell’s auditorium.

The district will go out to bid on the project in the Fall.

School Board President Paul Abbott thanked and congratulated district staff on the successful passage of all budget items that were up for a vote on Tuesday, “I know there is a lot of work that goes into all of those things, and a lot of thought that goes into all of those things. And I know it’s been said before but this certainly helps set us up for the future. And that’s one of our goals to always not just be doing this year to year, but to have things in place so that our budgeting becomes a more stable process going forward.”

Abbott also congratulated Pat Slagle and Joe Pawelski on their re-election to the board. Their three-year term begins July 1.

The next Jamestown School Board meeting will be on Tuesday, June 7 in the Jefferson Middle School Auditorium.