• MOBILE APP USERS: LISTEN HERE

Originally airing Thursday, May 30, 2019

WRFA’s Jason Sample talks with Jamestown City Council – Ward 2 Candidates Tony Dolce and Raven Mason Thompson. Dolce is the long-time incumbent for Ward 2 and Mason Thompson is running for office for the first time. Both candidates are seeking the Republican Party’s endorsement for the November General election and will square off in a primary on Tuesday, June 25, 2019.

The two talk about why they are running for office and also talk about some of the issues facing the city of Jamestown, including housing, public safety, and economic development.

JAMESTOWN – The deadline has arrived and election petitions have been submitted to the Chautauqua County Board of Elections with a total of 17 individuals running for Jamestown City Council in addition to the three who’ve announced their intention to run for mayor.

LIUZZO, SUNDQUIST, WILFONG RUNNING FOR MAYOR

According to information posted at the Chautauqua County Board of Elections website, Republican candidates Andrew Liuzzo and David Wilfong both submitted enough signatures to qualify as a candidate for mayor. As a result, a Republican Primary will take place on June 25.

Liuzzo is currently in his second year on the City Council while Wilfong is in his sixth year on the Chautauqua County Legislature.

Besides getting enough signatures for the Republican Party, Wilfong is also the only candidate to receive endorsement of the conservative party, meaning that even if he were to lose the June Primary election, he could still run as a third-party candidate in November.

Meanwhile local attorney Eddie Sundquist is the only candidate to submit petitions for the Democratic party, along with both the Independence and the Working Families parties.

With current Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi saying in February he would not seek a sixth consecutive term, the 2019 race for mayor will mark the first time the seat has been open in seven decades.

17 CANDIDATES SUBMIT PETITIONS FOR CITY COUNCIL SEATS

Over on the City Council, there will be six different candidates vying for the three at-large seats. In addition, four of the six ward seats will also be contested – including one that will see a Republican Party primary take place. 

In the city’s Second Ward, long-time incumbent and Republican Tony Dolce is being challenged by newcomer Raven Thompson (AKA Raven Mason) for the Republican nomination. As a result the two will square off in the June 25 primary. The winner of that primary will advance to take on Democratic Challenger Thomas Vitale. However, because Dolce has also been endorsed by the Conservative and Independence parties, he would still have a spot on the ballot even if he were to lose the Republican primary.

Meanwhile, the council’s At Large candidates include incumbents Kimberly Ecklund and Tamu Graham-Reinhardt. Ekclund is endorsed by the Republican, Conservative and Independence parties while Graham-Reinhardt received backing from the Democratic, Independence, and Working Families parties. The other four at-large candidates are former councilman and council president Gregory Rabb (Democratic, Independence, and Working Families), Taylor Scott (Democrat and Working Families), Gregory Lindquist (Republican and Conservative) and Jeffrey Russell (Republican Conservative).

In the Ward 1 Race, incumbent Republican Brent Sheldon has also received the endorsement of Conservative and Independence parties. He’ll face challenger Timothy Smeal, who is running for both the Democratic and Working Families parties.

In Ward 4, Democratic incumbent and current council president Marie Carrubba also received the backing of the Independence and Working Families parties. She’ll face newcomer Brittnay Spry, who is running for the Republicans and Conservative parties.

And in Ward 5, Incumbent and Democrat Maria Jones will face Republican challenger Grant Olson.

The only two seats that are not contested are in Wards 3 and Wards 6, where Democratic incumbents Vickye James and Thomas Nelson are respectively running unopposed for reelection.

The number of candidates for the city council is the most

Raven Mason, Jamestown resident and 2019 candidate for City Council – Ward 2, during a 2017 meeting of the Jamestown City Council.

JAMESTOWN – A city resident who’s voiced concerns in the past about not enough being done to help families and neighborhoods in the city says that’s why she’s decided to run for the Ward 2 seat on the Jamestown City Council.

Resident Raven Mason has attended council meetings the past two years and on occasion has voiced concerns with the city and how it interacts with residents. In 2017 she attended a meeting and said city officials needed to work harder at encouraging and participating in public discourse with constituents. She also said city representatives should work harder at getting feedback from residents before weighing in on controversial issues like the BPU substation annexation case with the town of Ellicott.

Mason said she’s now running for city council because of family experiences she’s dealt with personally and wanting to now be a voice for other local families.

“Why I’m running is based on seeing that families can have a voice in the community. It seems that even more than just revitalizing downtown, we should be revitalizing our families and neighborhoods and one stems from the other,” Mason said. ” I’m not a politician but I want to be a part of the progress in seeing change within the governing body and I believe in order to see that I need to be in it.”

Mason said that if she were elected, she would not only be a voice for residents in the entire city, but also work to address specific issues within the ward.

“Lakeview Avenue looks great, but when I look over at Winsor Street – I have personal friends who say they have moved out of the area, they have moved out of Ward 2, because it’s been known as ‘the hood.’ I would hate to see not just Ward 2 but Jamestown in general be known as ‘the hood.’ But that’s the reputation it’s time to change that. Why should any particular area be labeled that?”

Tony Dolce

If Mason is to have her name appear on the ballot in November as a Republican candidate, she will have to knock off long-time councilman Tony Dolce. Dolce is the senior-ranking member of the council, having served since the 1990s. He’s also the current chair of the city finance committee and has already received the endorsement of the Jamestown Republican Committee.

Mason said she knows it will be a challenge to pull off a primary upset against an experienced council member like Dolce, but adds that she feels she is capable and qualified for the office.

“I can’t argue his experience and nor would I try. But what my experience brings to the table is my personal life experience, whether it’s been a tragedy, I see it as a triumph because I see opportunity from it. I see now where there have been some desperate needs in my community that if I didn’t go through what I went through, I wouldn’t have known. I wouldn’t have known that we have such a high rate of child abuse in our county. So from that standpoint, I think most of the time its passion and its life experience that says that we are qualified,” Mason said.

Both Mason and Dolce are currently circulating petitions in Ward 2 in order to collect the required number of signatures to run as a Republican. If both are able to get an estimated 30 signatures from registered Republicans within the ward by the April 4 deadline they will square off in a June 25 primary.

Under state law, any candidate seeking office and who wants to have their name appear on the November ballot must collect signatures equaling at least 5 percent of the number of active enrolled voters in the political party they want to run under.

Because the primary day for local elections was recently pushed up from September to June, candidates seeking local office are now on an earlier schedule and will begin circulating petitions starting Feb. 26, rather than later in the year during the Spring.

This year New York officially recognizes eight political parties: the Conservative, Democratic, Green, Independence, Libertarian, Republican, SAM, and Working Families parties. Candidates also have the rarely used option of creating their own political party to run under but must first wait until the petition period has ended for the recognized parties before embarking on the challenging task of creating their own political party designation.

Locally it appears all candidates who’ve already announced their intention to run for office will run as either a Republican or Democrat, with the option of seeking a cross-endorsement from an eligible third-party.

Candidates for Mayor

Eddie Sundquist

In Jamestown, current mayor Sam Teresi (D) announced at the start of February he would not be seeking a sixth term in office.

Currently, there are three known mayoral candidates running for the open seat who will be circulating petitions to get their name on the ballot for either the Republican or Democratic parties.

For the Democrats, Attorney Eddie Sundquist is the Jamestown Democratic Committee’s endorsed candidate for mayor and it appears he is the only person seeking the party’s nomination.

David Wilfong and Andrew Liuzzo

On the Republican side, two individuals will be circulating petitions. They are county legislator David Wilfong, who is also the Jamestown Republican Committee’s endorsed candidate, along with city councilman at large Andrew Liuzzo, who is running despite not getting the committee’s backing.

If both Liuzzo and Wilfong collect the required number of signatures from registered Republicans living within the city, then a Republican party primary for mayor will take place in June. As of Feb. 1, 2019, there were a reported 3782 registered Republicans in the city. That means the minimum number of signatures needed to qualify as a mayoral candidate for that party is 190.

Candidates for City Council

In addition to the mayoral candidates, there will also be city residents running as candidates for the Jamestown City Council who will begin circulating petitions on Tuesday.

The GOP committee endorsed candidates include incumbents Brent Sheldon (Ward 1), Tony Dolce (Ward 2) and Kim Eckund (At Large). Other Republican committee-endorsed candidates for city council include Brittnay Spry, (Ward 4), Grant Olson (Ward 5), Greg Lindquist (at large) and Jeffrey Russell (at Large).

In addition to the GOP committee endorsed candidates, WRFA has learned that city resident Raven Mason is also running for Ward 2 council seat and if she is able to collect enough signatures she will force a primary with Dolce. There are 575 registered Republicans in Ward 2, meaning both Dolce and Mason will have to collect 29 signatures apiece in order to qualify as a candidate for that party and force a June primary.

Meanwhile on the Democratic Side, there is a full slate of endorsed candidates for city council. They include incumbents Marie Carrubba (Ward 4 and current council president), Vickye James (Ward 3), Maria Jones (Ward 5), Tom Nelson (Ward 6), and Tamu Graham-Reinhardt (At-Large).

In addition, the committee is endorsing past council member and city council president Greg Rabb,who is again running as an at-large candidate after being defeated in 2017. The Democrats other at large candidate will be newcomer Taylor Scott. Rounding out the slate of candidates for city council will be newcomer Tim Smeal (Ward 1) along with Tom Vitale (Ward 2).

All candidates have until April 4 to collect the required signatures and return the petitions to the county board of elections, which will certify the petitions. That includes making sure voters did not sign a petition for more candidates than there are openings for an office. For example, if there is one council seat open, then the eligible party members signing a petition may only sign one petition for a candidate for that office. If there are three seats open (as is the case with the city council at large seats), the eligible party members may sign petitions for up to three candidates.

David Wilfong and Andrew Liuzzo

JAMESTOWN – Registered Republicans living in Jamestown will likely have to make a few choices in this years’s local primary election.

As WRFA reported on Wednesday, both current city councilman Andrew Liuzzo (At Large) and current county legislator David Wilfong (District 11) have announced their intention to run for the open seat of mayor.

On Tuesday night the Jamestown Republican Committee voted to endorse Wilfong over Liuzzo in the run for mayor.

WRFA talked with Jamestown Republican Committee Chair Brent Sheldon Wednesday about the endorsement and he explained why the committee is backing Wilfong.

“We talked to quite a few people about running for mayor, especially after Mayor Teresi announced he wasn’t going to run for another term. We had several people say they just couldn’t do it at this point. But Dave had been high on our radar for quite a while. He’s got a lot of experience as a county legislator. He’s been a proven tax cutter, cutting the county tax rate. He works well with both sides of the aisle us in Mayville. He’s been a very productive member up there and very highly respected. We think we have a very excellent candidate who has a very good shot of winning the office in November.”

Of course in order for Wilfong to win the November election he first must get past the Republican Primary. Liuzzo said following Tuesday night’s endorsement by the party committee that he would still be seeking the rank-and-file voters support in the June primary – something he alluded to last week when he was a guest on WRFA’s community matters program.

“The people of the city of Jamestown have a choice. It’s something they haven’t had for the past few years and I think that’s a good thing. We’ll just have to wait and see how it all plays out,” Liuzzo said.

Even though Wilfong received the backing of the GOP committee, Sheldon tells WRFA it wasn’t unanimous and Liuzzo also received some support from party officials.

“He put his name up for nomination and members had a choice between he and David Wilfong. After quite a bit of discussion most members felt that Wilfong was the best candidate,” Sheldon said.

SHeldon didn’t want to disclose the actual vote, only to say Wilfong received the majority number of votes.

In addition to the GOP mayoral primary, WRFA has learned that local resident Raven Mason will challenge long-time incumbent Tony Dolce for the party nomination in his Ward 2 city council seat. Dolce has served in that seat for the past two decades while Mason has not previously held political office.

Meanwhile, Sheldon tells us that other Republican candidates running for city offices in 2019 include incumbent Kim Ecklund for council at large and himself, also an incumbent in Ward 1.

He added that other candidates are still invited to come forward and run for other seats on the city council currently held by Democrats or which are open. They include seats in Wards 3 and 6.

Petitions to run for local office will be circulated starting February 26.

WRFA has scheduled an interview with Wilfong to discuss his run for mayor and it will be broadcast on Thursday, Feb. 28 during our weekly Community Matters program.

JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown City Council and Mayor Sam Teresi were on the defensive during Monday night’s council voting session, fending off criticism and attacks from several members of the public who spoke during the meeting’s public comment session.

• MOBILE APP USERS, LISTEN HERE

Falconer Mayor James Rensel speaking to the Jamestown City Council on Sept. 25, 2017

A total of five individuals spoke to the council, including Falconer Mayor James Rensel. Rensel has attended several past city council meetings to question and criticize officials about the ongoing annexation effort, in which the city is trying to annex a piece of property it owns, but lies within the village of Falconer/Town of Ellicott. The proposed annexation of the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities‘ Dow Street Substation is currently awaiting to be reviewed and decided on in State Appellate Court in Rochester.

• RELATED: James Rensel, Patrick McLaughlin and Todd Beckerink Discuss Annexation Opposition

During Monday’s meeting, Rensel focused his attention on a past proposal involving the the Falconer Volunteer Fire Department that he said was purported to create an annual $2 million savings for the city. That proposal was initially discussed more than 14 years ago, when the city was considering ways to cut public safety costs. It was brought up again earlier this year during the May 22 voting session when several individuals from Falconer and the Town of Ellicott addressed the council to voice their concern’s with the annexation.

Rensel even cited the former Falconer Fire board member Steve Vanstrom and former Jamestown deputy fire chief Lance Hedlund, saying they both confirm the plan existed and was reviewed and eventually turned down by city officials at the time. He then called out city councilman and finance committee chair Tony Dolce for not remembering the plan, which put Dolce on the defensive.

“Mr. Dolce’s comment was, as a recall, ‘I don’t remember that occurring. Well Mr. Dolce…”

Jamestown City Councilman Tony Dolce (second from left) addresses comments made by Falconer Mayor James Rensel

“Excuse me. That is not true,” Dolce said, interrupting Rensel’s comment. “And I want to tell you right now, I did my homework and I asked the fire department… they said it was a bunch of crap that was made up. It didn’t exist. It didn’t happen, so don’t stand up there and make those types of comments and put those words in my mouth.”

Near the end of the meeting, Dolce again took time out to address the plan Rensel was referring too.

“I don’t recall a meeting because I was not invited and so I reached out to a bunch of people [following the May 2017 meeting],” Dolce said. “I’d have to believe that if there was a $2 million savings, then we would have pursued that. I reached out to the former city council presidents and former members of council that were here at the time, and also current deputy fire chief Chet Harvey. No one could recall, although those meetings may have taken place, that there was anything of substance that came out of it.”

Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi, who was also mayor at the time to purported plan was first discussed, also addressed the statements made by Rensel, although Rensel had left the meeting before hearing Teresi’s response.

“The only thing that I can recall of a proposal during my tenure – and before my tenure here because it comes up periodically – was a proposal that was brought forth by local 1772 of the Jamestown Professional Firefighters Association to allow them to staff up and ramp up a paid personnel, equipment, and facilities to run a 24-7 professional ambulance service within the operation of the fire department and go head-to-head with a private sector provider of those services – Alstar, that is a division of taxable WCA services division – with the wild claim that it would result in $2 million in net revenues and savings to the taxpayers of Jamestown…. It’s been shown that not only does the plan not produce a savings, it would actually create $1.5 to 2 million in net losses to the city,” Teresi said.

Jamestown resident and property owner Raven Mason.

Others who spoke to the city included Jamestown resident and Falconer property owners Raven Mason, who returned for the second month in a row to accuse the city council for not having a full discussion on the annexation, either amongst themselves or with the public.

During the council’s August meeting, Mason had posed 12 questions prior to the vote on the annexation and the council didn’t address any of them prior to voting in favor of the annexation later in the meeting. She also accused council president Greg Rabb for discouraging her from attending meetings and asking questions.

“I’m concerned about having received an informal letter from the city council president that clearly implied that if I had any public remarks, questions, or concerns, I should not address them publicly but instead call a private cell phone number instead of in the public venue…”

“I have to interrupt you,” Rabb then said. “That is not what I said. I said that if you had any concerns that you would like to discuss further I would be happy to meet with you anytime. But I did not tell you not to bring them up in public.”

Following the meeting, Rabb explained why he sent her a message and directed her to call him to discuss further, adding that it wasn’t intended to be interpreted as discouragement to attend future meetings.

“I just offered [my cell number], I thought generously, and I will continue to do this,” Rabb said, saying he gives it out to all constituents. “I say to people that if they have an issue that I can’t deal with right now, or if they give me an issue I’ll say let me go to city hall, give me a few days, and then call me. So I think that’s a public service.”

Mason also told WRFA after the meeting that she was appreciative of Rabb and Teresi’s response to her concerns, but also said that city officials need to work harder at encouraging and participating in public discourse with constituents before weighing in on controversial issues.

“I’m not trying to criticize from the point of right or wrong. I’m trying to establish truth here and establish transparency, and that people could feel comfortable enough to address it publicly. Maybe not so much as a debate, but getting clarity and transparency so that we know what is going on in our city,” Mason said.

Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi, foreground, addresses a question that was posed by city resident Chris Gardner (background, standing) during the city council’s Sept. 25 voting session.

Others who spoke to the council included resident Chris Gardner, who challenged Rabb and other city officials for not fully answering his past questions that he posed during public comment regarding the annexation, including who was the city official who was the original sponsor of the annexation proposal.

Teresi responded by telling Gardner he didn’t know off the top of his head who the specific BPU board member was, only that it came as a recommendation from BPU General Manager David Leathers and that neither he nor Rabb – who both sit on the BPU board – sponsored it because city officials serving on the BPU don’t typically sponsor BPU resolutions.  He also urged Gardner to call the city clerk’s office or BPU secretary and ask them to review the minutes to identify the sponsor, or to simply look it up in the meeting minutes that have been posted online.

According to the BPU minutes for the January 2017 meeting, the resolution was sponsored by BPU member Ralph Wallace and approved unanimously 7-0, with both Rabb and fellow council member and BPU member Maria Jones absent.

The Jamestown City Council during its Aug. 28, 2017 voting session.

JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown City Council has approved the annexation of the Falconer Dow Street Substation, which is owned by the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities.

During Monday Night’s City Council Meeting, the council voted unanimously on moving forward with the annexation, which would move the 4-acre substation parcel, located between Tiffany Ave. and Dow St., from the village of Falconer into Jamestown.

The vote was the culmination of months of effort by the city, which started in January when the BPU first brought the proposal forward.

Council members offered no discussion or comment prior to the vote, although two residents, in attendance did speak out on the issue during the public comment portion of the meeting and voiced their opposition.

City resident Raven Mason, who also said she owns property in Falconer, asked that the council to seriously consider 12 different questions related to the annexation prior to acting on the matter.

“As public service members of our community isn’t there a moral obligation as a the bigger entity to seek to aid our neighboring communities when there is a need and not to take from them in their time of need?” Mason asked, referring to the challenges Falconer is still dealing with resulting from an historic fire that damaged a significant portion of its downtown.

“Why are you doing this? It’s insane. It’s politically motivated and nobody I’ve talked to wants anything to do with it,” said city resident Chris Gardner.

No one from the council addressed any of Mason’s questions, nor Gardner’s comments, prior to voting on the annexation.

The annexation resolution – along with two others related to it – came after the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation commissioner late last week approved giving Jamestown lead agency status in the environmental review of the property.

A map depicting the BPU substation property (in red) that sits adjacent to the border between Jamestown and Village of Falconer/Town of Ellicott.

On Thursday DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos ruled that the Jamestown City Council would be designated as lead agency to conduct the environmental review under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), based on his findings that the city has the broadest authority to conduct the environmental review.

The lead agency designation was required before the city, town of Ellicott, or Village of Falconer could formally act on the annexation proposal. With the lead agency designation in place, the city council approved a resolution issuing a negative declaration pursuant to SEQRA and authorizing the council president to executive the required Environmental Assessment Form.

“The environmental assessment is limited to the action of the actual annexation, not what might happen to the property in the future,” Jamestown mayor Sam Teresi explained following the action by the city council. “At this time there is no plan and nothing on the docket to expand the substation, to reduce its size,to modify it, to change out equipment. There’s going to be no physical change to the site. The SEQRA process is about evaluating impacts to the physical environment… The determination tonight by the city council, that as it relates to the action that is being proposed – amending the official maps of the city, the village, and the town – will not have any physical impact on the physical environment.”

As part of their effort to fight the annexation, the Town of Ellicott had requested the DEC commissioner deny the city lead agency status for the SEQR, but the commissioner’s ruling is that the city had the broadest authority when it comes to the environmental assessment.

Ellicott Town Supervisor Patrick McLaughlin told WRFA on Monday that the town was not happy with the decision, but the town would not be able to challenge the commissioner’s ruling. He adds, however, that it will continue to fight the annexation. WRFA also reached out the Falconer Mayor James Rensel on Monday, who said he had no comment at this time on the DEC ruling.

Under state law, the involved municipalities must vote on the annexation within 90 days of a public hearing on the matter. Since the public hearing on the Dow Street Substation annexation took place on June 12, the deadline to act is Sept. 12.

If either Falconer or Ellicott or both vote against the annexation, Teresi said the matter will then have to be settled in the New York State Appellate Division Court in Rochester.

“If anyone of the municipalities should object in any way, then those findings and objections will ultimately be brought to the 4th Department of the Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court for a determination on the matter. We expect that process to start as soon as the town and village are completed with their portion of the process,” Teresi said.

Both Ellicott and Falconer have voting sessions scheduled for September, but they are set to take place after the Sept. 12 deadline. McLaughlin told WRFA the town will schedule an emergency meeting in the coming days in order to act on the annexation. It’s not known at this time if Falconer’s village board will also hold an emergency meeting.

City officials have said the annexation would serve in the best public interest, because it would help stabilize utility rates by reducing the annual tax costs the BPU has to pay on the property – which totals more than $320,000. In addition, the city has argued that by putting the property in the jurisdiction of the city, it means it would also be protected by the city’s professional Fire and Police Departments. Currently the property falls under the jurisdiction of the Falconer Volunteer Fire Department.

Officials with the Town of Ellicott and Falconer, along with the Falconer Central School District, oppose the annexation because it would result in a loss of tax revenue.