Andrew Liuzzo

JAMESTOWN – Both Republican candidates running for mayor of Jamestown agree that city police officers and fire fighters deserve every cent they are paid by local taxpayers. But both Andrew Liuzzo and David Wilfong also acknowledge that financial challenges facing Jamestown will likely prevent public safety workers from getting all they they deserve.

• [RELATED] LISTEN TO FULL LIUZZO/WILFONG INTERVIEW

In 2019 the city of Jamestown has budgeted nearly a third of its total budget – $11 million – toward police and fire salaries and other related expenses. And a larger chunk could be on the way if a state appellate court upholds a recent state Supreme Court decision involving an arbitration ruling giving the police union a 2% pay raise. City officials say any increase the police receive in salary will also likely be given to firefighters as well, so the outcome of the arbitration appeal will be a challenge facing whoever is the next mayor of the city.

Liuzzo is currently a member of the Jamestown City Council and is the only council person to vote against challenging the arbitration ruling in State Supreme Court, as well as voting against the decision to appeal the Supreme Court decision.

Liuzzo told WRFA in our recent interview that it’s not the salaries but the healthcare and pension mandates from Albany that are what the city should be focused on.

“This all goes back to our retirement benefits and our healthcare benefits, and the Taylor Law and the Triborough Amendment. These laws and amendments have hurt upstate communities immensely. These were downstate laws that got applied to the whole state,” Liuzzo said. “My question would be, ‘Why hasn’t the New York Conference of Mayors, as a group, addressed this?’ Our current mayor was president of NYCOM, yet that question is still out there. Why wasn’t this addressed? These kinds of laws are what has hurt upstate New York Communities.”

Liuzzo added that he would also be willing to local at regional policing by trying to improve relationship with adjacent communities like the Town of Ellicott and Busti – which each have their own police force as well.

“Jamestown encompasses West Ellicott, Ellicott, Lakewood-Busti. What I would like to see is an inter-municipal police force. I would like us to negotiate instead of litigate with our neighbors and come to an agreement where we can use the existing police force we have outside of Jamestown to be the same police force. And to protect all of us. That’s one way I see of bringing the cost down, or at least maintaining the cost,” Liuzzo explained.

David Wilfong

Wilfong has served on the Chautauqua County Legislature since 2014 representing Jamestown. During his time in Mayville a report was completed by the Center or Governmental Rochester using over $200,000 in state money that provided a plan to consolidate the Jamestown Police Department with the County Sheriff’s office gradually, over two decades or no longer.

The consolidation would come at no additional cost to county taxpayers but would save Jamestown some money. That plan was never put up for a vote, let alone publicly discussed by Wilfong and his colleagues after it was completed.

• VIEW THE CGR REPORT

Wilfong said he agrees that regional policing may be better solution, though the push should come from the state, not the local, level.

” It would have been very difficult to put together a group of people that would have voted in favor of the consolidation. I don’t know if that would ever go off. I’ve seen it, I’ve read the document and I actually think it was a good proposal. But one of the things is, ‘Do we want a change?’ I don’t know if the Jamestown Police Department wants to merge and I don’t know if the sheriff wants to merge,” Wilfong said. “I did see the figures and the cost savings would be good for the city of Jamestown and a flat cost the county. But we’re talking about the county legislators and you’ve got to get them on board with their own districts. Because what they’re going to say is, ‘How does that benefit my district. I live in Silver Creek or I live in Findley Lake.’ It’s a hard sell.”

Instead, Wilfong said he’d prefer to see the effort to deal with police costs lead by the state representatives, similar to what former Sen. Cathy Young had worked on with school districts.

“I am not against it. I think to make change and to move our county forward and our state forward, we’ve got to start thinking consolidation. I don’t know at the mayor level what can be done there. I think that needs to be done more at the state level – maybe our assemblyman or our next senator. I think that is where that type of change has to come from,” Wilfong said.

The complete audio of our interview with Liuzzo and Wilfong can be found at our website.

Liuzzo and Wilfong will square off in the June 25 Republican Primary, which runs from noon to 9 p.m. and is eligible to all 3800 registered republicans living in the city.

That from Chautauqua County Executive George Borrello, who said during his July 19 interview with WRFA that the effort to consolidate and share public safety services isn’t dead, but the involved parties will likely have to come back to the table to rework a proposal on how it can be accomplished.

Borrello said that the proposal of consolidating the JPD and by gradually bringing in Sheriff’s deputies to provide public safety within the city through a process of attrition doesn’t appear to have the support of the majority of members in the county legislature, nor from rank-and-file members of the police unions involved.

As a result, he said it may be time for city officials to go back to the drawing board to consider another approach to finding a way to reduce costs via public safety.

George Borrello

“I’m open to any options, but we need to start over again there and take a fresh look at this and look at other options as well,” Borrello said. “The thing that I see, when I look at Jamestown and I look at – for example – the town of Ellicott, you see Ellicott police cars drive across Jamestown to get from one end of the jurisdiction to the other, to me this screams for the opportunity to create a regional police force. You’ve got Ellicott Police, Lakewood-Busti Police, and Jamestown Police. Now there are many challenges there and I’m not sure of the appetite for that, but just looking at it from a logical standpoint, that’s probably the best place to start.”

Nearly ten years ago Jamestown was awarded $400,000 from the New York State Department of State to develop a plan to consolidate the JPD with the Sheriff’s Office in order to streamline public safety services while also reducing city expenses. In 2012 the city entered into a contract with the Rochester-based consulting firm Center for Governmental Research (CGR) to help develop the plan and after five years of work and negotiations, a final draft intermunicapal agreement was completed. Total spending for the effort was just over $200,000, with the remaining unspent grant money returned to the state.

The final draft agreement involved the city contracting with the Sheriff’s Office, gradually adding deputies to provide public safety services within the city to replace JPD officers as they left the department, either through retirement or resignation.  Once fully implemented, the plan was expected to help save city taxpayers well over a million dollars in annual costs, with no additional costs to the county because the salaries and benefits provided to the Sheriff’s office are less expensive than those to the officers in the JPD.

But once the proposed intermunicipal agreement was completed, it didn’t appear to have majority support of the county legislature, which would be needed before Borrello could sign off on the deal. The city council would also have to approve it, but Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi has told WRFA it would be pointless to bring the matter up to a vote in the city unless the county was also willing to move forward.

Borrello said from what he’s learned, the majority of the members in the public safety unions also didn’t appear to favor the agreement. While their approval isn’t necessary to put the agreement in place, it does signify that a court battle would likely ensue with the union challenging the legality of the agreement, tying the process up in the courts and costing taxpayers money in legal fees. As a result, Borello said he’d prefer to see a plan that all sides – including labor – can agree on.

“You can sit around a board room or conference room with a bunch of executives and come up with a great plan, or what you think is a great plan, but if you don’t have the buy-in of the grassroots folks that are supposed to be executing that plan, you’re doomed to failure. And right now on both sides, I don’t see any support for this,” Borrello said.

The proposed public safety consolidation effort was one of a dozen proposed initiatives included on a $20 million shared services grant proposal that was submitted by the county to the New York State Department of State, and which Borrello helped to develop while serving as a county legislator prior to being elected County executive. While the county was a finalist for the grant, it eventually lost out, with the state instead giving the money to a community on Long Island.

Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi was joined by various local and state officials along with dozens of local residents on July 7 for the official opening of the two pedestrian bridges along the Greater Jamestown Riverwalk. (Image courtesy of Mayor Sam Teresi Facebook Page)

JAMESTOWN – There’s been a heavy focus on development projects aimed at tourism and quality of life in recent months in the city of Jamestown, but Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi said that the city is still focused on trying to solve its financial challenges.

Teresi was a guest this past week on WRFA’s Community Matters program and while much of the conversation focused on the completion of key phases of the Greater Jamestown Riverwalk as well as the upcoming opening of the National Comedy Center, he also was asked if the city is focused on development in other sectors within the city, as well as addressing the ongoing financial challenges in the city’s general operating budget.

The National Comedy Center in Jamestown, NY will open on Aug. 1, 2018.

Teresi said the city is actually focusing on a variety of items, from housing to crime to economic development.

“Our work is not done. It’s never ending. It’s continuous on everything else that we are trying to move forward – from an economic development standpoint to a quality of life standpoint in the community. And to put it quite bluntly, yes we can, we need to, and we do and are able to walk and chew gum and do 50 other things at the same time. That’s the nature of life these days. Whether you’re in the private sector, not-for-profit, or the media, you need to multitask. You need to work on multiple fronts at the same time. We do that every single day in city government,” Teresi said.

In two consecutive years the city has been straddled with a shortfall in the city budget that could only be closed with additional state aid from Albany. Despite the recent success of the riverwalk, the NCC, and several other downtown projects connected to the $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant, the city remains at its constitutional taxing limit and the 2019 budget is expected to be another major challenge for the mayor and the city council.  But Teresi said he is optimistic things will begin turning in the city’s favor due to new development.

Jamestown mayor Sam Teresi was joined by various local and state officials on June 29 for the opening of the Chadakoin Park Bike Path, which was part of the Greater Jamestown Riverwalk.

“The days in which we were losing $4-6 million a year in tax assessment has basically leveled out, it plateaued, and not for the past few years we’ve been posting modest gains in tax assessment. So it’s having a direct impact in the way of payment in lieu of taxes that otherwise wouldn’t have happened,” Teresi said. “But it’s also sending out a loud and clear message to investors  our there  – and I include the state of New York as one of those investors – that you can have  confidence in Jamestown.”

In addition to various downtown development projects funded by both public and private dollars, the city has also focused on other initiatives in recent years to address its financial challenges. However some are either in a holding pattern or have completely stalled out. They include the Health Insurance Buyout Program for city retirees and the proposed Jamestown Police Department consolidation plan with the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office (both funded with money secured by the New York State Financial Restructuring Board funding) along with the controversial annexation of the city-owned Board of Public Utilities substation property in Falconer.

Between those three alone, the city is projected to see a positive financial benefits in excess of $2 million annually. But the retirement buyout has yet to see the interest from retirees that was projected, the consolidation effort continues to await action from the county legislature and city council, and the annexation will need to be settled in New York 4th Appellate Division court in Rochester, although a date has yet to be set.

In the meantime city officials will have to once again face major financial hurdles when they deals with the 2019 City Budget, which will be presented by the mayor and put before the city council for consideration in October.

George Borrello

JAMESTOWN – The Republican candidate in this year’s Chautauqua County Executive race has received the support of the union representing Jamestown Police Department officers.

On Tuesday the George Borello Campaign announced that the Kendall Club Police Benevolent Association has endorsed Borrello (R, C, I -Irving) in the upcoming election for Chautauqua County Executive.

According to the media release, members of the union met on September 13 and “overwhelmingly passed” a motion endorsing Borrello in his election bid for County Executive.

“I am truly humbled to receive the endorsement of the men and women who work the front lines every hour of every day in the city of Jamestown ensuring safety and security for those they serve. During my tenure as a County Legislator I have always supported our first responders, and I am honored the Kendall Club PBA has recognized my efforts, Borrello said in a media release.

Borrello is an Irving area businessman who’s served on the Chautauqua County Legislature since 2010, representing the town of Hanover in the north county. He is also the chair of the county’s Regional Solutions Commission, which helped to create the county’s Shared Services Plan that is being considered for a $20 million state grant.

Part of the shared services plan includes a proposal to consolidate the JPD with the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office by allowing vacant patrol positions in the JPD to be filled by sheriff’s deputies. Over a 20 year period, the JPD’s overall cost basis would be significantly reduced, at no additional cost to the county. Sources tell WRFA that members of the Kendall Club are against the proposal.

In July of 2017, as part of the state’s Municipal Consolidation and Efficiency Competition (MCEC), County Legislator and Regional Solutions Commission Chair George Borrello (pictured at left) presented an efficiency plan to the New York State Department of State (DOS). The efficiency plan includes a proposal to consolidate the JPD with the County Sheriff’s Office. (Image from Chautauqua County Shared Service Plan.

While Borrello has endorsed the full Shared Services Plan, he tells WRFA that he feels the JPD-Sheriff Consolidation proposal needs to be reviewed and further discussed.

“This agreement has languished for at least five years and does not appear to have the support of the rank and file members on either side, which is key,” Borrello told WRFA on Tuesday, following the endorsement announcement. “So I think some fresh thinking is needed on how best to address this concept.”

Borrello is running against Mike Ferguson (D-Fredonia) in the county executive race. Ferguson comes from a law enforcement family with his father serving as a Buffalo Police Officer. Ferguson has several ties to the Jamestown area, including being a former General Manger of the Northwest Ice Arena and of the past Jamestown Jammers professional baseball team.

The Kendall Club has not stated the reasons why it’s members selected Borrello over Ferguson in giving its endorsement.

The winner of this year’s County Executive race will succeed Vince Horrigan (R-Bemus Point), who announced his decision not to seek reelection earlier this year.

County executive Vince Horrigan delivering his 2017 State of the County address on Wednesday, Feb. 22.

MAYVILLE – Chautauqua County Executive Vince Horrigan will be focusing a lot on regional solutions and shared services during his final year on the job.

On Wednesday night Horrigan delivered his 2017 State of the County message to the legislature, which, as it turns out, will also be his last. At the end of the address, Horrigan announced he would not be running for reelection in 2017. However, Horrigan said that even though he has less than a year left on the job,  he still plans to focus on a variety of initiatives, including those involving regional solutions.

In fact, Horrigan said the county has already laid groundwork in that effort with its Regional Solutions Commission, which focused on several projects in 2016 and will also put together a plan on a dozen other projects this year that could lead to significant financial assistance from Albany.

“The commission has identified 12 projects to either merge, consolidate, or share services,” Horrigan said during his State of the County. “These projects have been submitted to the state as part of a municipal consolidation and efficiency competition and last week, as many of you know, our county was awarded $50,000 as part of Phase 1 of the state program. This will require us to develop a plan for the final round of the competition to try and take home $20 million for regional solutions.”

CONSOLIDATION PROPOSAL BETWEEN CITY, COUNTY STILL IN PLANNING PHASE

One of the regional solutions proposals is a consolidation plan between the city of Jamestown and the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office. The plan, which has already received state funding to help guide it along, has been in the discussion phase for more than four years.

While Horrigan didn’t specifically mention the consolidation in his state of the county address, WRFA did ask him about it following Wednesday night’s presentation. He said 2017 may be the year that it is finalized and put before city and county lawmakers for review and action, although some details still need to be ironed out.

“What I found is that the way we were going about it is that we were trying to merge collective bargaining units and it’s very hard to do that,” Horrigan. “We have a model where we provide contract services to Cherry Creek, and all over the county. We’re happy to do that to the city as well, and maybe there’s some adjustment there as well. We’ll see how that goes.”

Horrigan also said that any public safety agreement between the county and city also needs to be mindful of labor relations with the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Deputies Association, as well as with the JPD’s bargaining unit, the Kendall Club.

“Whatever we do, I’ll have to be able to sell it to the legislature. That’s very important. And the last thing I want to do, where we have very good labor relations with our team, all of a sudden get into a situation where collective bargaining agreements become a point of contention, or we’re stepping on the [city’s labor groups], I’m not sure that’s going to help anybody.”

In 2012 Jamestown received a state grant to hire Rochester-based consulting firm the Center for Governmental Research to help develop a plan to have the city contract with the sheriff’s office in order to help save the city money, at no additional cost to the county.

An initial report from CGR stated that the savings from such an agreement could be as high as $1.4 million annually, once fully in place. The savings would be due to the city reducing the number of JPD officers who provide public safety and instead bringing in Sheriff Deputies, who work under a labor agreement that has less costly benefits than what officers in the JPD union receive.

It’s not so much a consolidation of the two departments with one going away, but more of a contractual arrangement with between the city and county that as officers at the Jamestown city level retire or should otherwise leave employment would be replaced by a contracted county employee, because of the savings differential on salary, retirement, and other expenses,” Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi explained last July.

Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Deputies Association president Tina Holtz listens in the foreground as Sheriff Joe Gerace voiced his support for a new contract between the county and the union, prior to a vote during the Dec. 21 meeting of the Chautauqua County Legislature.

MAYVILLE – The Chautauqua County Legislature voted 12 to 7 Wednesday night in favor of a new 5-year collective bargaining agreement for both the Sheriff’s Deputies and the Sheriff’s Lieutenants. The new contract includes no wage increase in 2017; a 1.5 percent increase in 2018 and 2019; and a 2 percent increase in 2020 and 2021. It also places all active members into a high-deductible health plan while the county would provide a 20-year retirement plan.

Legislators who voted in favor of the new contract felt that it was a fair deal for both the county and the unions. Among those who supported it was Paul whitford (D-Jamestown).

“In this contract the retirement was imperative for the officers. They’re in harm’s way. When you have an earlier turnover, it creates openings for a younger group coming in,” Whitford said. “The county’s focus, since I’ve been in the legislature, is to maintain control of a structural deficit and I think this contract goes a long way in doing that.”

Another supporter of the contract was Ron Lemon (R-Frewburg), who said he was opposed to changing the retirement option from 25 to 20 years, but said it wasn’t enough for him to vote against it.

“There are some pros. One is the savings from the health insurance part of the package and the other would be the rate of salary increase,” Lemon said. “But I also want to commend the [unions] for negotiating in goo faith, coming in. I understand there were about 36 things that were brought to the table, but they were pretty lenient with them, which was good to hear.”

Those who voted against the contract were Terry Niebel (R-Sheridan), Bob Scudder (R-Fredonia), Lisa Vanstrom (R-Ellicott), PJ Wendel (R-Lakewood), and David Wilfong (R-Jamestown). In addition, both Pierre Chagnon (R-Bemus Point and Chuck Nazzaro (D-Jamestown) – who serve as the chair and vice-chair of the county’s audit and control committee  – voted against it.  Following the meeting, Nazzaro said he voted no because there was still too many questions left on the table.

Chautauqua County Legislator Charles Nazzaro (D – Jamestown, District 9).

“I guess what it comes down to is a discomfort level with the long-term effect of this contract and also the long term assumptions in there. For example, they’re assuming people are going to retire at 20 years, and that’s not a given. Also, they are going to be in a high deductible plan [for health insurance]. High deductible plans still go up in cost and the county funds 100 percent of the premium for the plan, granted, the member pays for the deductible,” Nazzaro explained.

Nazarro also said there was an upfront cost with the deal that he has concerns with.

“We have to put upfront costs to buy into the new pension,” Nazzaro said. “That cost for the deputies and the lieutenants is $2.6 million. Not one person on this floor tonight asked, ‘where are we going to get that $2.6 million?’ We did ask that in our discussion [in audit and control] and it’s going to have to come out of fund balance, and I have in issue of taking that money out of fund balance. You’ve heard the county executive say we need to build our fund balance and stick with our deficit reduction committee plan, so I had a big issue with taking that money out of fund balance.”

Despite concerns from several legislators, County Executive Vince Horrigan, who helped to negotiate the final contract, said he felt it was the best compromise possible, including moving retirement from 25 to 20 years.

Chautauqua County Executive Vince Horrigan

“At the end of they day, it’s a win for the tax payers. It’s a win for the sheriff’s department. And it’s a new approach and I’m very excited to see that come into fruition,” Horrigan explained. “At the same time, I understand moving from 25 years to 20 years is hard for some people, and I understand that, so our negotiating team of budget director Kitty Crow and HR director Joe Porpiglia did a lot of work and I credit them for this.”

Following the vote, president of the Deputy Sheriff’s Association Tina Holtz said she and the union members were very pleased the contract was approved, and also explained why moving the retirement option from 25 to 20 years was so important.

“I think there’s several reasons,” Holtz said. “One, it brings us into line with other agencies in this county and the surrounding counties. It’s also, if you pay attention to the news, a different world out there and we’re ready to go at 20 years. We really need to be moving through and onto another career.”

Both unions have already ratified the tentative contract. Chautauqua County Sheriff Joe Gerace along with two deputies also spoke before the vote in support of the contract.

NEW CONTRACT SHOULD HAVE A MINIMAL IMPACT ON CONSOLIDATION STUDY

The terms of the new contracts shouldn’t have an impact on a possible consolidation of public safety services between the county and city of Jamestown. That’s according to Horrigan, who addressed the issue following Wednesday night’s vote.

“We’ve been working with [Mayor Sam Teresi] and the unions have been working together to give us their concerns, and we think we have a good law enforcement team. If [the city] wants us to contract with them, as we do in other places, we’re happy to do that,” Horrigan said. “There’s some unique things about chain of command in the city and some unique issues that they have, but we don’t think this will have a real bearing on that, directly.”

That police consolidation study is still being finalized and there’s no guarantee it would be accepted by the city council or the county legislature. The basic premise of the proposed consolidation is to have the Sheriff’s office provide deputies to work in Jamestown, replacing Jamestown Police officers as they retire or leave the force. The transition would result in a savings for the city at no additional cost to the county.

Consultants with the Center for Governmental Research (CGR) consulting firm out of Rochester have been hired to look into the feasibility of such a plan, with funding provided by the state.

The tentative labor contracts with sheriff’s deputies and lieutenants was reviewed last week in committee and was approved by both public safety and audit and control.

The contract between the county and the Deputy Sheriffs’ Association would take effect Jan. 1 and expire Dec. 31, 2021. The agreement includes no wage increase in 2017; a 1.5 percent increase in 2018 and 2019; and a 2 percent increase in 2020 and 2021. It also places all active members into a high-deductible health plan while the county would provide a 20-year retirement plan.

Details within a tentative five-year contract with lieutenants are similar to that of the deputies’ agreement, besides a slight difference in the pay increase schedule.

Both unions have ratified their tentative labor agreements.

IMPACT ON JPD/SHERIFF’S OFFICE CONSOLIDATION PLAN

It’s not known what impact, if any, the proposed contract would have on a proposed consolidation of the Jamestown Police Department with the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s office. That plan is still being finalized and there’s no guarantee it would be accepted by the city council or the county legislature. The basic premise of the proposed consolidation is to have the Sheriff’s office provide deputies to work in Jamestown, replacing Jamestown Police officers as they retire or leave the force. The transition would result in a savings for the city at no additional cost to the county.

Consultants with the Center for Governmental Research (CGR) consulting firm out of Rochester have been hired to look into the feasibility of such a plan, with funding provided by the state.

The legislature will act on the two contracts when it meets Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. in the Chautauqua County legislative chambers in Mayville.

Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi presents the 2017 City Budget.

On Tuesday afternoon Teresi presented his $35 million spending plan, which is $70,000 lower than the spending in the current year’s budget. However, despite the slight decrease in spending, the 2017 budget also contains an $878,736 deficit.

• VISIT THE CITY’S 2017 BUDGET PAGE

According to the mayor, he and his staff have tried to identify as many cuts to the budget as possible, but due to several mandates including minimum staffing requirements and healthcare contributions, he was only able to bring down spending so much.

On the revenue side, the city will be unable to rely on several revenue options it had in previous years, including the profit contributions from the BPU and even the ability to raise property taxes enough to close the deficit. That’s because the city has all but reached its constitutional taxing limit for the current year. In fact, the mayor’s 2017 budget contains a .96 percent increase in the tax levy, which brings the city up to its constitutional taxing limit of $15,844,270.  That equates to a tax rate increase for property owners of .76 percent – or $0.18 per thousand assessed value.

SEVERAL ASSUMPTIONS NEED TO BE REALIZED

Even with the budget deficit in place, the 2017 spending plan presented by the mayor also contains 15 different conditions and assumptions that need to move forward in 2017 or else the deficit could grow larger.

Those assumptions include a $250,000 (71 percent) funding cut to the James Prendergast Library and a $600,000 grant from the state to assist with the buyout of Medicare-eligible retirees who would voluntarily leave city’s healthcare program, thus reducing that spending line for next year and in future years.

Another assumption is moving forward with the proposed city-county shared services agreement in public safety – which could save $25,000 next year – but could ultimately result in a seven figures savings per year within two decades.  However, that Police Consolidation proposal – which is still in the finalization process – needs to be approved by both the county and city in order to go into effect.

The mayor said that despite presenting a budget that contains an $878,000 deficit, he’s not ready to throw in the towel. He said that in the coming weeks and the city council will continue to work on trying to balance the spending plan.

Copies of the budget are available at the city clerk’s office, in the mayor’s office, and also at the Prendergast Library for public review.

The city is required to have a budget in place by Dec. 1.