Jamestown Human Rights Commission meeting (May 10, 2023)

The Jamestown Human Rights Commission will begin work on creating policies and procedures for handling complaints.

Commission Member Isaiah Rashad said his understanding is that complaints would first go to HRC Chair Uvie Stewart and then to the City’s Liaison Police Captain Scott Forester, “What I’m proposing is to create from scratch a Policy and Procedures form of how we are to conduct our investigation, and where that information goes step-by-step, so that we are uniform, and that we look professional in everything that we’re doing to the public.”

Rashad also recommended that members of the HRC begin attending various public meetings again, “There’s a lot that we don’t know, especially as a small group. There’s a lot that we do not know. We only hear things as people bring it to us. But, if we’re out there, if we’re putting ourselves out there and we’re going to these meetings, we’ll understand a lot more about what’s ebbing and flowing throughout the city. And it’s important for us because when there’s chaos, that’s when people need us. And we need to make sure we’re prepared.”

Rashad was given the approval to move ahead with developing the polices and procedures form for complaints. The group also agreed they need to assign members to attend various public meetings including City Council, Jamestown School Board, the IDEA Coalition, and more.

The group also discussed holding fundraisers to raise money for the commission to supplement what is received in the City Budget. However, according to the State Office of the Comptroller, municipalities may not solicit monetary or material gifts nor conduct fundraising activities. The commission was allocated $6,000 in the 2023 city budget.

City Council Forum held at Christ First United Methodist Church on September 14, 2022

Public safety was just one issue discussed with over 60 people who attended a public forum held by Jamestown City Council Wednesday night.

Council President Tony Dolce stated one of his goals has been to hold these kinds of forums outside of the regular council meeting, but the Pandemic put that on hold until now.

City Director of Development Crystal Surdyk presented on neighborhood stabilization efforts by the department. She said the department is facing a monumental task with housing code enforcement and housing at the top of the list.

Surdyk said there are just three Code Enforcement Officers right now, “It takes up a lot of our time and energy every day, all day long. We’re on call 24-7. It’s not uncommon to get a call from one these guys (Police) in the middle of the night or on a weekend. And it’s been a really great partnership with the Police Department, with the Fire Department, our other departments.”

Surdyk said the collaboration between the departments has been important because they’re all dealing with the same issues. She said it’s helped the department make some strides.

Surdyk added that housing and housing conditions impact economic development, “..and vice versa, so you really can’t look at neighborhoods and downtown development and business development as separate things. They all have to be worked on at the same time. It’s not a this or this. It has to be this and this and this.”

Jamestown Police Chief Tim Jackson presented next and said the most important issue for police right now is gun violence which comes with narcotics issues. He said as of August 14, there have been 16 confirmed shootings this year, compared with 19 for all of 2021, “In 2022, our cases involving reports of firearms have increased 4.2% compared to year-to-date 2021 and 76.2%, compared to the five-year average. And the five year average is 27.8 cases, so it is an increase.”

He said the shootings have taken place all over the city, which makes it difficult to combat because officers can’t necessarily target where the next shooting event might take place.

Police Captain Scott Forester presented on the department’s work under the GIVE grant, or Gun Involved Violence Elimination grant, which is under its ninth year in the city, “GIVE focuses not only on gun violence but it focuses on domestic incidences, community engagements, it helps pay for our Crime Analyst, which obviously then assists with us with the information we need to run our targeted patrols. As the Chief mentioned, the shots fired calls, warrant services, and then a word you’ve heard a lot tonight, is partnerships.”

Forester said the department works closely with local law enforcement as well as Federal partnerships.

Chief Jackson said prior the presentation that the collaboration with Federal partners has helped the city get around some of the bail reform restrictions in place under New York State.

Jackson said hiring continues to be an issue for the department, with three positions open right now. This includes the Quality of Life Officer that had been approved by council in the spring which was to solely be assigned to deal with issues in the city such as noise and neighborhood complaints.

Sheriff Jim Quattrone was in attendance and echoed the issue facing law enforcement with recruitment, “We currently have nobody who has training and qualifications on the civil service list to be hired by any police department in the county. We currently have 14 Chautauqua County residents in the (Sheriff’s) Academy but they just started, so they won’t be ready to even get out of the Academy until around May, May or June of next year. So that is creating a problem. We’ve looked at other departments but really we’d just be taking them from another jurisdiction.”

Dolce said following the forum, council members and the administration will compile the comments and requests, “Put it together and then put our heads together and see where we go. This is just a beginning. These are issues that are not going to be solved overnight. They weren’t created overnight. But these are the types of things that involve the community that help us help them and move forward.”

Dolce added he does plan to have additional public forums in the future.

Jamestown City Council work session (August 8, 2022)

Jamestown City Council will consider adding an additional $2 million to a roof and sewer line replacement fund after demand well outpaced what was available.

The Roof, Private Sewer Lateral, Private Water Line Repair/Replacement program had initially been funded with $750,000 in American Rescue Plan funds by City Council in March.

Housing Committee Chair Marie Carrubba said the city received 130 requests for funding, “One-third were fundable. Ten applications were ineligible. Apparently, letters have gone out in this category of yes, possibly as a maybe if there were funds available, and there were also letters sent out that they were not eligible.”

Council member at large Jeff Russell said he’s been approached by citizens asking for more funds to be allocated toward neighborhoods, “And like I’ve said before, and I’ll say it again, this ARPA funding was not a gift from Washington. This is taxpayer money that has come back to the city, directly to the city, not via Albany. And I would like to see more funding going to the neighborhoods and taxpayers of this city.”

Director of Development Crystal Surdyk said the additional $2 million would cover the rest of the applicants who had applied and were eligible, but weren’t able to be funded in the first round. She said the application process would not be reopened.

Interest is also very high for the Senior Citizen Home Improvement Incentive Program which provides financial assistance to eligible senior home owner occupants with home repairs. Mayor Eddie Sundquist said as of last week, 128 applications had been received amounting to $519,000 in potential rebates. The application period for that program is open until August 15. More information can be found on the city’s website at http://www.jamestownny.gov/

Council reviewed the receipt of $72,221 from the State Division of Criminal Justices Services GIVE grant program. Public Safety Chair Brent Sheldon said the grant covers the cost of the Police Department’s crime analyst as well as overtime details including beat and bike patrols.

Council member Russell asked Police Captain Scott Forester about the status of the hiring of the new Quality of Life police officer. Forester responded that there are two new hires going through field training right now and they hope to have the public nuisance officer in place in eleven to twelve weeks.