The Hometown Heroes Breakfast celebrates the Red Cross mission of alleviating human suffering by recognizing people from throughout the region who have performed heroic acts during times of crisis. The heroes include first responders as well as ordinary citizens who performed life-saving acts.

The 2018 Hometown Heroes:

Humanitarian, Sponsored by Jamestown Mattress: – Ron Johnson, Jamestown

Johnson has been a long-standing member of the Kiantone Fire Department, from driving the trucks to fixing equipment to volunteering at every fundraiser.

Humanitarian. Sponsored by Wegmans – Eric Herman, Bemus Point

Herman, a firefighter with the Jamestown Fire Department, purchased a custom hockey jersey and Jamestown Fire Department hat for a young boy  he recently met with special needs, just one of the random acts of kindness he performs regularly.

Fire Fighter, Sponsored by Cummins – Charles Piazza, Falconer

During a massive fire in the Village of Falconer, Chief Piazza dedicated two days commanding over 200 firefighters who helped bring one of the largest fires in Chautauqua County under control.

Law Enforcement, Sponsored by Lakewood Rod & Gun Club – Officer Erik Kraft & K-9 Mitchell, Bemus Point

On November 16, 2016, K-9 Mitchell was stabbed when he and Jamestown Police Department Officer Kraft confronted an accused murder suspect. The suspect was taken into custody, and Mitchell has made a full recovery. The incident resulted in bi-partisan support for Mitchell’s Law, increasing the penalties for killing or injuring a police dog or horse.

Emergency Personnel/Medical, Sponsored by EcoStrategies/Forecon – Ed Sandberg, Jamestown

Despite his own medical and family challenges, Sandberg continues to dedicate his life in service to the Kiantone Fire Department, driving an ambulance or firetruck on calls daily.

Youth Good Samaritan, Sponsored by Cummins – Vinny Certo, Lakewood

Certo has wanted to be a firefighter since he was a little boy. After joining the Lakewood Fire Department on his 17^th birthday, he responded to 277 class in his first eight months, and was in the top ten alarm responders and in drill attendance.

Animal Rescue, Sponsored by Nestle Purina Petcare – Beverli Horroks, Buren Point

Horrocks has been a volunteer foster parent for Sadie’s Safe Harbor Canine Rescue since August of 2015, fostering over 16 animals brought in from kill shelters in Ohio, West Virginia, and Texas.

Proceeds from the Hometown Heroes Breakfast benefit the Red Cross. The event will be held at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, May 16 at Moon Brook Country Club.

Tickets to the Hometown Heroes Breakfast are available here: http://www.redcross.org/local/new-york/western-central-new-york/hometown-heroes

Donald Trump

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to repeal and replace “Obamacare” is now in the hands of a key group of GOP senators who are opposing -or not yet supporting – legislation Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is pushing to bring to a vote this week.

These lawmakers range from moderate to conservative Republicans, and include senators who were just re-elected and a couple facing tough re-election fights. Their concerns about the legislation vary along with their ideology, from those who say it’s overly punitive in ejecting people from the insurance rolls, to others who say it doesn’t go far enough in dismantling former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act.

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine tweeted after the Congressional Budget Office analysis on Monday that the Senate bill won’t fix the flaws in the current bill. She says she will vote no on the “motion to proceed.”

Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin says he has “a hard time believing I’ll have enough information for me to support a motion to proceed this week.”

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky says it’s worse to “pass a bad bill than to pass no bill.”

CUOMO WEIGHS IN ON SENATE HEALTHCARE BILL

NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo (left) and Congressman Tom Reed (right)

Meanwhile, Gov. Andrew Cuomo hasn’t been shy about voicing his criticism of the Senate version of the health care bill. In a statement released Monday following an assessment report released by the Congressional Budget Office on the Senate Plan, the governor said the report shows that Republicans in the Senate are choosing to put millionaires over the middle class, cutting taxes for the rich at the expense of the health care of millions of Americans.

“This bill will leave 22 million more Americans without health care coverage, including 15 million more Americans by next year alone,” The governor noted. “Just like the House bill, this legislation is a death trap for New Yorkers. The Senate bill will jeopardize health care coverage for millions of New Yorkers, raise premiums on the poor and the elderly, and eliminate more than $7 billion for New York’s health care system, including life-saving funding for the fight against the opioid crisis. It also specifically targets New York, threatening to withhold federal tax credits for New Yorkers because of our support for women’s reproductive rights.”

He also said that the inclusion of the Faso-Collins amendment – which aims to eliminate the local contribution counties pay the state to help cover the cost of Medicaid – would force every resident to pay more through a new state tax.

“And by including the reckless Faso-Collins amendment, this bill will force every resident of this state to pay a ‘Faso-Collins Federal Tax’ added onto local property taxes to make up the $2.3 billion shortfall created by their proposal,” The governor noted.

Cuomo said he’s already called on the state’s Congressional delegation to do everything within their means to protect New York residents and not support the measures. However, Chautauqua County’s representative in Congress, Republican Tom Reed of Corning, released a statement critical of the governor, calling him a liar and a bully who’s done nothing for upstate New York.

“Governor Cuomo is a liar who has done nothing for upstate New York,” Reed said. “He’s a one trick pony for whom everything is an excuse to raise taxes. He needs to buck up like other governors and start reining in the cost of Medicaid and figure out more efficient ways of spending the taxpayers’ money. Instead, he acts like a bully and threatens a tax hike on middle class families.  I’d like to see Gov. Cuomo run for president owning the highest tax increase in America.”

Vince Horrigan

JAMESTOWN – Chautauqua County’s new county executive says he’s been very busy getting acclimated to his new position during his first couple weeks in office. Vince Horrigan of Bemus Point tells WRFA that since taking over as county executive on January 1, he’s been working with his department heads, elected officials and community groups to prioritize his agenda for his first year in office.

WORKING TOGETHER

Horrigan has also had an opportunity to meet with representatives of organized labor, a group that mostly supported his opponent, democrat Ron Johnson, during the 2013 Election. He says its important to talk with those groups to get a better understanding of their needs and concerns as they relate to the future of the county.

“So often we windup with maybe adversarial relationships between labor and management, but I’m taking more of a view of ‘what can we do to work together?'” Horrigan explains. “I will say the number one theme that kept coming together was this ‘Working Together’ theme. It has to do with everything from the challenges we have with drugs in our community; the challenges we have from those who are disenfranchised or unemployable; and it has to do with economic development and being inclusive of those that have ideas that maybe felt they didn’t have a seat at the table for whatever reason.”

Horrigan also says that effort actually got underway in the days following his victory in November, when he assembled a community task force to help him identify the most pressing issues for the county.  He says the developed into a five-point plan that included economic development, job retention, job training and marketing the county as a year-round attraction.

FUTURE OF COUNTY HOME

Chautauqua County Home in Dunkirk, NY.

As for priorities, Horrigan says he obviously will continue where his predecessor, Greg Edwards, left off in finding a buyer for the Chautauqua County Home in Dunkirk. He says that its likely a proposal to buy the home will once again come before the legislature before the end of 2014.

“Whatever I put forward to the legislature, I want to be confident in my heart and in my judgement that this is in the best interest of the residents, the employees, and the entire county,” Horrigan says. “I want to be very comfortable with that before I put any [offer] forward because there is a lot at stake. It’s controversial for many because people are very passionate and very involved with this. So I have to be very careful with this very important issue.”

In 2013, a proposal was put forward to sell the county home to the legislature on three separate occasions. Each time it failed by a very slim margin of the 25-member legislative body. This year, the legislature has been downsized to 19 members and many ran on a platform of selling the county home. Thirteen votes will be needed by the legislature in order to give approval for any sale.

Horrigan made his comments during a recent interview with WRFA. We’ll feature that interview in its entirety Thursday night during our Community Matters program, which begins at 6 p.m. A replay of the program will also take place Sunday, Jan. 19 at Noon.

On Monday, County Executive-Elect Vince Horrigan named the eight members of his transition team, which he calls a non-partisan group that is designed to provide an external assessment of Chautauqua County government strengths, weaknesses and opportunities. The group will then provide its recommendations to Horrigan in an effort for his administration to improve Chautauqua County service delivery and economic development.

Among those included on the transition team are:

• John Jay Warren – Northern Chautauqua County Local Economic Development Committee
• Dr. Gregory DeCinque – Retired JCC president
• Dr. Sue McNamara – SUNY @ Fredonia business professor
• Mike Roberts – President and CEO of Allied Alarm Services, Inc.
• Dr. Lillian Ney – Jamestown Strategic Planning and Partnerships Commission
• Tory Irgang – Executive Director, United Way of Southern Chautauqua County
• Aaron Resnick – Westfield Development Corporation
• Kelly Borrello – Town of Hanover Chamber of Commerce

As part of its fact-finding mission, the team will interview representatives of manufacturing, tourism, agriculture, retail, health care and technology-related businesses, along with representatives of academics, not-for-profits, foundations, local governments, and faith-based groups.

Horrigan won election as Chautauqua County’s next County Executive during the Nov. 5 election. He defeated democratic opponent Ron Johnson.

On Election Day 2013, Horrigan picked up over 54 percent of the vote to defeat Fredonia Democrat Ron Johnson. The unofficial vote total was 13,858 for Horrigan and 10,926 for Johnson. A total of 1999 absentee and affidavit ballots are still waiting to be counted.

Following his victory, Horrigan thanked the voters of Chautauqua County for choosing him to be the county’s next top executive.

“It’s an absolute, incredible feeling,” Horrigan told WRFA. “I’m in the footsteps of the people that have gone before and so we will be building on the successes that we’ve had. We have challenges, but after talking with people in this county, businesses all over the county, I’m confident that we will be able to move ourselves forward to a period of growth.”

As for his future plans as County Executive, Horrigan said he will stick with his pledge of working toward leaner government, which includes the ongoing effort to privatize the Chautauqua County Home in Dunkirk.

“If we’re going to grow this county, we cannot be burdened by those things that can be done better in the private sector,” Horrigan said. “This is an opportunity. An opportunity to save the county home, to grow jobs and to add to the tax base. This is not a loss by any means, it is an opportunity. With that said, we will determine the best way to move forward with that and I’m excited about [tonight’s GOP victories], but I’m also excited to be working with our democratic folks from across the aisle.”

Vince Horrigan

Horrigan said he also wants to work on helping residents in the county become more self-sufficient while also creating new jobs working with existing businesses.

Horrigan will be replacing outgoing county Executive Greg Edwards, who announced earlier this year he would not be seeking reelection for a third term. Edwards has said he plans to step down from his post on Nov. 18 and will likely appoint Horrigan as his interim replacement. If that happens, Horrigan would have less than two week to prepare. As a result, he said he’s already put together a transition team to help get him ready.

“I won’t prejudge the interim position or how Greg will [make his selection], but I will tell you that I will have a transition team picked out. We’ll do some analysis of what our strengths are, what are weaknesses are, and where our opportunities are, and then we’ll put together the right team moving forward and make sure we have the right strategies in place to executive my vision.”

Horrigan is currently serving as a county legislator, representing the Town of Ellery. He had previously served as the Executive Director of the Southeastern NY Chapter of the American Red Cross.

COUNTY EXECUTIVE RACE

In the county-wide races, residents will be selecting the county’s next county executive. Earlier this year, County Executive Greg Edwards announced he would not be seeking a third term in office. As a result, there will be a new county executive sworn into office come January 1, 2014. The Republican Candidates for the position is Vince Horrigan from Bemus Point. The Democratic Candidate is Fredonia’s Ron Johnson.

OTHER COUNTYWIDE RACES

The other contested countywide race is for the open seat of the county clerk. In that race, Jamestown Democrat Lori Cornell is facing Gerry Republican Larry Barmore.

There is also an election for District Attorney, but incumbent David Foley of Fredonia is running unopposed.

Voters throughout the county will also be selecting the candidate for Supreme Court Justice. The candidates are Mark Montour (D, C, WF) and Paul Wojtaszek (R, I).

COUNTY LEGISLATURE RACES

In addition to the countywide offices, voters will also be selecting their representative in the recently downsized county legislature. Starting in 2014, the size of the legislature will be only 19 seats – which is six fewer than the current cont of 25.  Of the 19 seats, 10 will be contested:

• District 1: Keith Ahlstrom (D,WF-Dunkirk)
• District 2: Sean Heenen (D-Dunkirk)
• District 3: Bob Scudder (R,C-Fredonia); Billy Coughlin (D,WF,I-Fredonia)
• District 4: Janet Keefe (D,WF,I-Fredonia); Michael Sullivan (R, C-Fredonia)
• District 5: Susan Baldwin (D-South Dayton); Terry Niebel (R,C,I-Dunkirk)
• District 6: George Borello (R,C,I-Irving)
• District 7: John Runkle (R,C,I-Stockton); Tom DeJoe (D,WF-Brocton)
• District 8: Pierre Chagnon (R,C-Bemus Point)
• District 9: Chuck Nazarro (D,I-Jamestown)
• District 10: P.J. Wendell (R,C-Lakewood); Sharon Lisciandro (D,I-Lakewood)
• District 11: Dave Wilfong (R,C-Jamestown); Bob Whitney (D,WF,I-Jamestown)
• District 12: William Prieto (R,C-Jamestown); Fred Larson (D,I-Jamestown)
• District 13: Paula DeJoy, (D,I) Jamestown
• District 14: Mark Tarbrake (R,C,I-Jamestown)
• District 15: Lisa Vanstrom (R,I-West Ellicott); Sam Ognibene (D,C-Falconer)
• District 16: Ron Lemon (R,C-Frewburg); Tom Erlandson (D,I-Frewsburg)
• District 17: Jay Gould (R,C-Ashville)
• District 18: David Himelein (R,C,I-Findley Lake); Ed Carutis (D,WF-Sherman)
• District 19: John Hemmer (R,C,I-Westfield)

JAMESTOWN CITY COUNCIL HAS THREE CONTESTED RACES

Voters in Jamestown will also be selecting members of the city council. Six members of the council are running unopposed for reelection. They are:

• Ward II: Anthony Dolce (R,C,I)
• Ward V: Maria Jones (D)
• Ward VI: Paul Whitford (D,WF,I)
• At Large: Kimberly Ecklund (R,C,I); Gregory Rabb (D,WF,I); George Spitale (D,WF,I)

There will also be three contested races:

• Ward I: Tara Hall (D); Brent Sheldon (R,C)
• Ward III:  Regina Brackman (D); Tamara Dickey (R,C)
• Ward IV: Marie Carrubba (D,WF,I); Richard Elardo (R,C)

U.S. Senator Charles Schumer this week endorsed Fredonia businessman and former Pomfret Town Justice Ron Johnson for the office of County Executive. In his endorsement, Schumer highlighted Johnson’s years of public service, including his time in the United States Armed Forces as well as Johnson’s experience as a local business owner.

A fifth generation Chautauqua County resident, Johnson is owner and operator of Johnson Adult Homes in Fredonia, and was the lead developer of Fredonia Place. He is the endorsed Democratic and Independence Party candidate for county executive and will be facing Republican and Conservative Party Candidate Vince Horrigan in the next week’s election.

In addition to an endorsement by Schumer, Johnson was also recently endorsed by the members of Chapter 266 of the National Conference of Firemen & Oilers/Service Employees International Union Local 32 BJ.

Chapter 266 represents the Production and Maintenance Workers at Carriage House in Fredonia and Dunkirk and the Production workers at Monofrax in Falconer. In addition to Johnson, the labor group also announced its endorsement for Lori Cornel as County Clerk.

On Wednesday morning, Edwards, along with several members of his economic development staff, announced that a deal has been finalized that will bring the Empire Specialty Cheese Co. into the former AFA Foods facility in the town of North Harmony.

Edwards says that he is obviously pleased that the county was able to find a new occupant for the facility, less than two years after AFA Foods closed its doors.

The outgoing County Executive also said he was very appreciative of what Empire Specialty Cheese co-owner Tony Carparco had to say about expanding operations into Chautauqua County. “During today’s announcement, he said this is percisely where anyone who is looking to locate their business ought to call because of the quality of the people who worked on this deal, the capacity of Chautauqua county to close a deal, the quality of people that are here to work and the quality of life that is available in Chautauqua County.'”

EDWARDS CALLS OUT RON JOHNSON FOR CRITICISM OF AFA FOOD LOCATION

The current county executive also said that announcement shows that his economic development team is doing its job, despite recent criticism from Democratic county executive candidate Ron Johnson.

“This is a company that governor Chris Christie’s team was courting dramatically, trying to get them to relocate to New Jersey,” Edwards said. “We won that race again, just like we won it against China, just like we won it against Sweden and just like we won it against southern states, and that’s because of who were are, what we offer, and the quality of our economic development teams. So for Ron Johnson – who said it couldn’t be done and who was proclaiming he should be hired because it wasn’t being done – well, he’s wrong again. He’s wrong on the facts, wrong on the realities and wrong for Chautauqua County.”

Edwards was referencing a recent photo featuring the Ron Johnson campaign, showing him out in front of the AFA Foods location and citing the loss of jobs in Chautauqua County during the past seven years.

Last week, the Chautauqua County Legislature voted unanimously to have the county apply for a $616,000 grant on Empire Specialty Cheese’s behalf from the New York State Office of Community Renewal. The money would go toward financing a portion of the cost of equipment and working capital required to establish operations at the former AFA site.

Empire Specialty Cheese currently operates in Conewango Valley, where it has been in operation since 2000.  The company currently employs 45 people, but plans to grow to more than 200 employees within five years at the new facility in North Harmony.

Chautauqua County Executive Candidates Ron Johnson (Left) and Vince Horrigan.

MAYVILLE – There’s just one week of campaigning left to go before the 2013 November elections take place.

This year’s elections will focus on several high-profile local offices, including the selection of the county’s next top executive. The candidates for Chautauqua County Executive are Bemus Point Legislator and former regional Red Cross Executive Director Vince Horrigan (R), and Fredonia-businessman, retired Sheriff deputy and former Town of Pomfret Justice Ron Johnson (D).

The two men agree that more can be done to help during the county’s economy around, but have put forward different plans and strategies to accomplish that goal.  Also, while Horrigan has come out in favor of selling the embattled Chautauqua County Home since January 2013, Johnson has stated that the county must first try to address the financial issues plaguing the home and correcting them, prior to simply signing it  over to a private owner.

Last week, the two squared off during a “Meet the Candidates” forum hosted by the Chautauqua County League of Women Voters. WRFA will feature two candidates comments at the forum later this week during our Community Matters program, which airs at 6 p.m. Thursday and Noon the following Sunday.