Jamestown City Council members meet for work session (June 5, 2023)

Costs for the new Central Garage project on Washington Street are currently at $3.9 million.

City Council Public Works Chair Randy Daversa provided that cost update to council at its work session Monday night. He stated at the meeting the project was over budget given that the $2.8 million in funds from a bond had been expended.

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist said while he didn’t have the exact budget numbers for the Central Garage project, the project itself wasn’t over budget yet, “We knew the costs were going to be high, but they were not going to be as high as the creation of a completely new maintenance building that was upwards, I think, of just under $10 million. So, we’re still looking at a very low amount of funding for this building. We’ve only spent about $3 million, or a little over $3 million, so we just need to get the additional funding to finish it up. The majority of the building is actually completed now. We’re just in the final finishing portions of it.”

Sundquist said what remains to be funded will be bonded for and the city still has $1 million state Financial Restructuring Board (FRB) funds coming in toward the project.

According to a Smart City Capital Investment Program bond presentation by former Mayor Sam Teresi in September 2019, the estimated total cost at that time for a new Central Garage on Crescent Street was $6.9 million. The Teresi Administration estimated that the project would have been paid for using $5.9 million from the Smart Cities bond and $1 million from the State FRB.

Sundquist said the 2019 Smart Cities bond has been closed out, “And so, the project itself was, unfortunately, a 2019 project. With COVID, it stalled for quite a period of time and then we went a different direction. And so, we’ve closed out that bond and we’ve sent that money back and paid it off. So, we just re-bond for it, which is absolutely fine.”

Council member Marie Carrubba commented at Monday’s work session that American Rescue Plan funds should have been used toward this and other capital projects versus going out for new bonds.

Sundquist said that the remaining $1.7 million in APRA funds could be put toward the project or any other projects, but it’s up to Council if they want to go that direction.

Daversa added that former DPW Director Jeff Lehman is still working as the project engineer for the Central Garage project and he will be coming to the City Council June 12 work session to go over further budget details.

Former Deer Management Group member Tom Nelson addresses Jamestown City Council (April 10, 2023)

A former member of the Jamestown Deer Management Group is questioning what the City of Jamestown is doing in regards to the city’s deer population.

Former Council member and current County Legislator Tom Nelson questioned council members about what’s been done, what’s going to get done, and if a committee has been formed regarding deer in the city, “I know many times you get people coming to council meetings complaining they don’t have a solution. I think many of you know I put forward a solution in September of 2021 which was rejected by many members of this council. So, my question to you is, you didn’t like that plan, what is your plan?”

Council had voted down a proposal 2 to 7 at the September 2021 voting session that would have allowed 8 bow hunters to receive licenses with the two sites for hunting limited to Jones Memorial Park and the wooded area behind the Allen Park Ice Rink. This was the proposal suggested by Council member at large Jeff Russell to replace an initial proposal to allow 15 licensed hunters to take down up to 4 antler-less deer between November 1st and December 31st in five designated areas of Jamestown.

Mayor Eddie Sundquist said he still supports efforts to reduce the deer population in the city, “Typically, some kind of hunt.. that is the recommendation from the DEC (State Department of Environmental Conservation). Can’t do sterilization because it has to be tied to a university and program, and other methods are just way too expensive or not going to be allowed by the state. So, whatever you guys want to do, let me know. I remain steadfast in supporting reducing the deer population as a resident of Ward 6 who sees a lot of it, and now we’re hearing from Ward 5 and others.”

Councilmembers Randy Daversa, Andrew Faulkner, Russell, and Brent Sheldon had mentioned at the October 3, 2022 City Council work session that they had met with each other to discuss the issue, but no follow-up meetings were ever announced.

Council member at large Kim Ecklund said on Monday that whatever that work group moved forward with should be a multi-pronged approach, “When Andy Liuzzo was on council, he was adamant about a deer program and actually worked with the town of Ellicott to issue more permits. I never heard the result of that. We never got a ‘Did it work? Did it not work?’ But, living on the edge of the town, there are more deer. There’s a lot of reasons why there is more deer and you can ask many hunters. There’s less people hunting. There’s more posted property for people to not be able to hunt on.”

At the October 2022 meeting, Council member Marie Carrubba said the deer group should include not just city council members but an attorney, people in favor of a hunt, as well as people with other options for handling the deer population.

Democrat and current Mayor Eddie Sundquist previously announced he is seeking re-election for a second term with Republican Council Member at Large Kim Ecklund recently announcing she will be running against him for the seat.

The City Democratic Committee has endorsed local attorney John I. LaMancuso to run for City Court Judge. His father, John L. LaMancuso, has held that position for 29 years. Republicans have not endorsed a candidate for that race.

Democratic endorsements for City Council At Large include Isaiah Rashad II and returning candidate Alyssa Porter. Republicans have endorsed incumbents Jeff Russell and Randy Daversa; as well as Russ Bonfiglio.

Republican Ward 1 Council member Brent Sheldon and Ward 2 Council member and Council President Tony Dolce are running unopposed.

Ward 3 Democratic Incumbent Regina Brackman will again face Republican Robert Reedy. That race in 2021 was determined by three absentee ballots.

Democratic incumbent Marie Carrubba has been endorsed again to represents Ward 4 and will face Republican Joe Paterniti.

Republican Incumbent Bill Reynolds will face Democrat Kaycee Colburn for Ward 5 and Republican Incumbent Andrew Faulkner will be running against former Council Member at Large Vanessa Weinert in Ward 6.

For the County Legislature endorsements, Democratic incumbent Billy Torres and Republican Phillip Landy have been endorsed for District 9.

Republican incumbent Jamie Gustafson will face newcomer Democrat Julie Jackson-Forsberg for District 10.

Republican incumbent Dave Wilfong is unopposed for District 11.

District 12 endorsements include Republican Elisabeth Rankin against former Democratic County Legislator and former County Attorney Fred Larson.

Democratic Incumbent Tom Nelson will face Republican Joseph Tickle for District 13.

Candidate petitioning to get on the election ballot begins tomorrow, February 28 and ends April 6. Any primaries necessary will be held on Tuesday, June 22, 2023.

Jamestown City Council work session (October 3, 2022)

While a deer hunt will not take place in the city of Jamestown this year, the discussion of options to deal with deer overpopulation is back on the table.

Council member at large Randy Daversa said he had met with Council member at large Jeff Russell as well as Council members Andrew Faulkner and Brent Sheldon on the issue. He said they hope to have a formal meeting soon.

Russell said with deer hunting season starting October 1, it’s not feasible to do the hunt this year, “We’re not able to move that quickly with tags and get this together. So, we all knew that this was going to take place, to come up with a plan, if it’s approved, that it would be for next year’s season.”

Council member Marie Carrubba said in conversations with members of the community, there were recommendations on who should be included in the discussion group, “Corporation Counsel or another attorney about the liability to the city, having someone who is in favor of it (a hunt) from the community, someone who has other ideas as we had someone here last week who talked about other options. I think if we have a more inclusive group than just council members. And not just the hunters. I think last time we just had the bow hunting group.”

Daversa agreed his plan was to include various community members. Russell said there will be a notification for when the deer group meets next.

Council also discussed hours for trick-or-treating on Halloween with the consensus being to keep them at 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Council President Tony Dolce said there would not be a Halloween Fun Fest this year but that the Parks Department was looking at other options including a “trunk or treat.”

Jamestown City Council (April 25, 2022)

Jamestown City Council passed over $5 million in American Rescue Plan funded projects, with four resolutions for economic development related initiatives failing to pass.

Council members Marie Carrubba, Andrew Faulkner, Kim Ecklund, and Randy Daversa voted no on three resolutions related to giving funding to the Small Business Development Center for a business marketing program, a branding and marketing program for the city, and a program to provide marketing funding to businesses. Brent Sheldon was absent at Monday’s meeting, so the resolutions failed on a tie vote. The fourth program that failed was a resolution to contract with the Jamestown Local Development Corporation for $500,000 to administer the ARPA program.

Council member Faulkner said he voted no because he felt some of the proposed programs were duplicates. He also said other communities have used an average of 11.1% of ARPA funds toward economic development and workforce development, “If we were to allocate the full $7.5 million tonight, that would have been 27% of our entire ARPA funding. From the start, I thought we were pushing too much money toward the economic when we have other issues that need to be dealt with. So seeing those statistics of how we are almost three times higher than what everyone else is doing kind of reassured me of that.”

Faulkner said he wants to see funding more focused on public safety and housing initiatives.

Two programs for business building and infrastructure improvements and equipment and machinery upgrades had funding reduced from $1 million to $500-thousand each under an amendment proposed by Faulkner that council approved. Faulkner said if the programs run out of the money, then the Department of Development can always request additional funds be added.

Council President Tony Dolce said he was surprised that the four resolutions failed. He said one concern some council members had was having enough oversight of how the money was allocated under the proposal to contract to the JLDC for administration, “We have three members on the JLDC board – myself, Councilwoman Ecklund and Councilman Russell, as well as JURA, we have representation. So anything over the $100,000 threshold would have come back to the City Council anyways for a vote. So I’m not so sure.. I mean the whole purpose of having council representation on any board or commissions is to have some oversight and a direct link to the City Council.”

In other business, a request home rule legislation from the state to put speed zone cameras in school zones will move forward.

An ordinance to establish a Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate, and Return (TNVR) program for feral cats in the city was approved in addition to a contract with the Chautauqua County Humane Society for $5,000 to run that program.

Council also approved a resolution to purchase 12 mobile data terminals for $40,000 for police vehicles and to purchase 75 service duty pistols for $9,643 using American Rescue Plan funds.

Jamestown City Council

Jamestown City Council voted down a contract with the Jamestown Professional Firefighters Association in a vote of 5 to 2 at its voting session Monday.

The contract covered January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2024 and would have included hiring four new firefighters in addition to pay increases each year and increases in healthcare plans. Health insurance for new hires would have ended at the Federal Medicare eligible age.

Mayor Eddie Sundquist said adding four firefighters would cost the city an additional $1.23 million dollars over four years,

“However, with the removal of the removal of the lifetime healthcare, for every new officer we hire within the city, we will save over $2 million per firefighter we hire each year. It is a significant amount. It also runs the second ambulance service, another revenue generating source for the city.”

Council member at large Kim Ecklund clarified that the first year the city would see the $2 million healthcare savings would be 2061.

Council member at large Jeff Russell commended Sundquist and his team for negotiating the end of lifetime healthcare, “But like Kim said, that’s a very long term savings and we’re looking at a cost of $1.2 million. Well, my concern is that we’ll be back here in two or three years. We’ll have a room full of firefighters because we’re going to be laying people off. That’s my concern and I don’t want to see that happen.”

Council members Brent Sheldon, Marie Carrubba, Andrew Faulkner, Randy Daversa, and Jeff Russell were the no votes on the resolution. Council member at large Kim Ecklund recused herself from the vote as her husband is a retired firefighter and she would benefit financially from the contract.

Sundquist said he was deeply disappointment with council’s decision, saying the city had a chance to save money with negotiating the end to lifetime healthcare for retirees which is a huge legacy cost, “Tonight the council has signified that they want no part of that. They’d rather continue going like we always do which is mostly like to be to arbitration, which is unfortunate. Because if we’ve negotiated without having to go to arbitration, all of the police and fire contracts which were six or more years behind and to be all under current contracts is a really incredible thing in the first two-three years.”

Sundquist said the additional cost of adding the four firefighters could be initially covered by American Rescue Plan funds and he understands there could be a potential for lay-offs down the line, “But if you have an opportunity to hire four firefighters to run a second ambulance that will generate anywhere from $200,000 to $400,000 a year in additional calls, you’re never going to complete make even with public safety. And that’s something we have to recognize. It’s a service that we pay for through our taxes for our citizens and we’re never going to come out even in this regard.”

City Council did unanimously approve a contract with the Kendall Club Police Benevolent Association. That contract covers January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2024. The contract also includes wage increases of 2.5% for 2021 through 2023, and a 2.75% increase in 2024. There also are increases for prescription costs and health insurance plans

Justin Hubbard, Missy Paterniti

Jamestown City Council voted down Mayor Eddie Sundquist‘s citizen appointments to the Board of Public Utilities as well as the reappointment of Justin Hubbard to the Human Rights Commission.

City Clerk Jennifer Williams read a letter from the Human Rights Commission advocating for Hubbard’s reappointment, “We feel it is our duty to try to convey to our elected representatives how much we value Mr. Hubbard and the ideas, thoughtfulness, and passion that he brings to our group. As a teacher, he brings a point of view regarding education that helps us better understand and address human rights issues in our schools.”

Resident Missy Paterniti spoke out against Hubbard being reappointed, saying he publicly attacked her at an HRC meeting by calling her a racist and a bigot in response to her creating a petition to the school district to keep the “Red Raiders” name, “I contacted Elliot Raimondo [City Corporation Counsel] and nothing happened. I wrote to the mayor. And I’m just asking you, as the city council, that have the ability to remove this gentleman from the commission, please do so because he doesn’t belong there.”

Hubbard, speaking at privilege of the floor, said he was approached by Mayor Sundquist following rallies he helped organize after George Floyd‘s death in 2020 about serving on a reinstated Human Rights Commission. Hubbard said while on the HRC, he was approached by members of the community regarding issues on discrimination in relation to religion, race, and sexuality, “Even though I knew that some of these complaints were about members of council and that would make some members of this council unhappy with me for bringing them to the table, I knew that it was my duty to do so. I also believe that the passion I brought to this position made it so that people could feel free to contact me when dealing with very stressful issues.”

Council voted 2 to 6 not to reappoint Hubbard with Brent Sheldon, Marie Carrubba, Andrew Faulkner, Kim Ecklund, Randy Daversa, and Jeff Russell voting no.

The appointment of Sean Conner and Sabrina Gustafson to the BPU Board to replace Jim Olson and Greg Rabb failed 4 to 4 with Brent Sheldon, Andrew Faulkner, Kim Ecklund, and Randy Daversa voting no.

Council President Tony Dolce said while he supported the appointments to the BPU board, he doesn’t know why other council members did not but he guessed it may have come down to qualifications, “In the past, there’s always been a kind of.. not going to say controversy but discussion over replacing long time members that have experience with newcomers. And this mayor wanted to put his people in just like the previous mayor did as well. And so I don’t know specifically why those two individuals were voted down by specific council people.”

Jim Olson and Greg Rabb will remain on the BPU board as holdovers until new appointments can be made.

Jamestown City Council Members Take Oath of Office (1/3/2022)

Two new council members were sworn in at Jamestown City Council‘s organizational meeting Monday night.

The new representatives are At Large Council Member Randy Daversa and Ward 6 Council member Andrew Faulkner.

A representative for Ward 5 still has yet to be sworn into office. City Republican Committee Chairman Brent Sheldon said while Grant Olson was elected in November to the seat, he has indicated he will not be signing his oath of office. He said Olson has 5 days from January 1 to sign that and if he doesn’t, he vacates the seat, “So at that point we will be talking with prospective Republicans in the 5th Ward as Grant Olson was a Republican when he was elected this term and two years ago as well. To fill the seat, we will give that name to the Mayor. The Mayor will submit that to the Council. The Council will approve that. We’re hopeful to do that by the end of January.”

Council members unanimously endorsed and re-elected Ward 2 Council Member Tony Dolce as Council President. Dolce said there will be new challenges for Council to work on these next two years, “Obviously, the allocation of the American Rescue Plan funds – we have $28 million and we just started allocating that. And we’re really going to need to roll up our sleeves and get aggressive on some of the different projects: economic development, neighborhood initiatives, public safety issues and so forth. So that’s probably the first and foremost thing.”

Dolce said he hopes to restart a pre-Pandemic initiative to have more public forums and Council meetings at locations outside City Hall in order to be more hands on with the public. He also said another goal is to formulate a plan to deal with the city’s deer population.

Council tabled a list of appointments by Mayor Eddie Sundquist to various boards and commissions. These included new appointments to the Board of Public Utilities board as well as numerous reappointments. The appointments are expected to be acted on at the January 31 voting session.

The new representatives will include At Large Council Member Randy Daversa and Andrew Faulkner representing Ward 6.

The Ward 5 representative is being chosen by the City Republican Committee and will be then appointed by Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist. Grant Olson previously represented that ward, but announced in September he would not seek another term. He still won that race in November as it was too late to remove his name from the election ballot.

Council also will elect a Council President tonight. Ward 2 Council member Tony Dolce served in that role the last term and is expected to be named to continue in that position.

Council also is expected to act on a number of appointments by Mayor Sundquist to various boards and commissions. The meeting will take place at 7pm tonight in City Council Chambers.

PJ Wendel

Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel easily won re-election to his first full term over Democratic challenger Norm Green by a vote of 17,455 to 5,516.

Wendel had first been appointed to replace George Borrello as County Executive in January 2020 after Borrello vacated the seat due to being elected to the State Senate. He defeated Democrat Richard Morrisroe in a special election last year to fill out Borrello’s term.

Wendell said he was humbled by the results, “My team has been very focused and, you know, we’ve been leading by example, moving the county forward and we’re going to continue to do that for the next four years.”

Republican County Clerk Larry Barmore won a third term over Democratic Challenger David Salley by a vote of 16,505 to 6,192.

Republicans will retain a super majority on County Legislature with 15 Republicans being elected to 4 Democrats. District 11 Democratic Incumbent Bob Whitney lost to former legislator David Wilfong by a vote of 328 to 534.

In County Legislative District 12, Republican Incumbent Elisabeth Rankin won re-election by a vote of 614 to 307 over Democrat Heather Fagan.

Republicans also will have a super majority on Jamestown City Council even with the Ward 3 race too close to call.

Council President Tony Dolce called it a “statement election,” “The public spoke loud and clear. They wanted a check and balance on the Mayor and his administration. And they came out in droves and voted for all three At-Large candidates. There was a change in Ward 6 with Andrew Faulkner – a huge win, that was a huge upset. And even Grant Olson who didn’t run or actively campaign won that seat.”

Republican Incumbents Kim Ecklund and Jeff Russell came first and second for the At-Large race with Republican newcomer Randy Daversa coming in third with 16% of the vote.

In other ward races, Ward 4 Democratic councilmember Marie Carrubba held onto her seat against Republican Rick Elardo.

And the Ward 3 race between Democratic Incumbent Regina Brackman and Republican Robert Reedy will come down to absentee ballots with Brackman currently leading by 11 votes.

For the 8th Judicial State Supreme Court Justice race, Grace Hanlon, John Licata, Frank Caruso and Raymond Walter all were elected.

Voters statewide voted no on ballot propositions 1, 3, and 4 which all dealt with elections and redistricting.

However, Proposition 2 was passed which adds the right to clean water, clean air, and a healthful environment to the New York Constitution’s Bill of Rights.

Proposition 5 also passed which allows the New York City Civil Court to hear and decide lawsuits involving claims of $50,000, rather than the current threshold of $25,000.

For full local election results, visit VoteChautauqua.com