Chautauqua County Legislature Chairman Pierre Chagnon, County Legislator Jay Gould, County Executive PJ Wendel (December 21, 2022)

Longtime Chautauqua County Legislators Jay Gould and Paul Whitford were honored for their service at the County Legislature meeting Wednesday night as they both announced their retirement.

Jay Gould represents District 17 which covers the towns of Clymer, Panama, Harmony and Busti. His over 20 year tenure on the legislature began in January 2000. Gould also served as Chairman of the Legislature from 2012 to 2016. He served on the Human Services, Public Facilities, and Audit & Control Committees.

As a legislative representative, Gould also served on the Agriculture and Farmland Protection Board, Chautauqua County Soil and Water Conservation District Board, Southern Tier Railroad Authority, and Southern Tier West.

Gould thanked everyone and said he really enjoyed his time with the legislature, “I’d like to tell legislators – remember why you were sent up here. You were sent up here to watch your constituent’s money. That’s what you’re here for.”

Paul Whitford represents District 13 which covers the eastside of the City of Jamestown around UPMC Chautauqua. He first began to serve on the legislature on December 17, 2014. Whitford has served on the Administrative Services, Human Services, and Public Safety Committees. As a legislative representative, he also served on the Chautauqua County Land Bank Board of Directors, Chautauqua Opportunities Board, and Office for the Aging Advisory Council.

Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel said he’s known Whitford for over 20 years, “His exemplary service to the county, but also to the city of Jamestown on multiple boards and political positions he’s held. So, Paul has definitely been a tireless servant for the residents of Chautauqua County both at the city and county level. So again, very sad he won’t be with us anymore but I’m sure he’s going to be enjoying his retirement after many, many years of dedicated service to the residents.”

It is anticipated that the Legislature will vote at its January 3, 2023 organizational meeting to appoint the new legislative representatives of Districts 13 and 19.

Retiring County Attorney Stephen Abdella also was recognized and honored for his decades of service.

Abdella began as an Assistant County Attorney in 1988, working his way up to County Attorney in 1992. He held that position until 1997 and then again from 2006 to the present. He also served as the Legislative Attorney from 1999 to 2005 and then again from 2008 until the present. Abdella served as Acting County Executive twice in November through December of 2013 and 2019.

Wendel said there were a lot of daunting things to face when he became County Executive three years ago, “But, as it’s stated in the commendation, Steve was a very calming, very relaxed. And again, very thorough in any issues or problems we had that arose.”

Legislature Chairman Pierre Chagnon said legislators often turned to Abdella for questions about the past, “Steve would always have the answer. I always referred to him as the ‘Corporate Memory’ because he remembered so much about county operations over such a long span of time. And he was so quick with the recall and so willing to share that it was invaluable to us as legislators in our considerations and deliberations.”

Abdella unfortunately was unable to attend the meeting as he was sick.

First Assistant County Attorney Pat Slagle has been appointed to take over as County Attorney on January 1, 2023.

County Attorney Stephen Abdella, future County Attorney Pat Slagle, County Executive PJ Wendel

Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel has appointed Pat Slagle as the new County Attorney.

Slagle will begin his new position in January 2023, replacing current County Attorney Stephen Abdella, who is retiring from the position on or about January 1, 2023.

Slagle has served as First Assistant County Attorney for the Chautauqua County Law Department since February 2022 and previously was an Assistant Social Services Attorney with the Chautauqua County Department of Health and Human Services.

Prior to working for the County, Slagle was a Supervising Attorney at Legal Assistance of Western New York, Inc. He is also a current member of the Jamestown Bar Association, New York State School Board Association, and Jamestown Public Schools Board of Education.

Slagle currently resides in Jamestown with his wife and their two children.

Legislature’s Administrative Services Committee meets (September 19, 2022)

A cybersecurity protection service program provided by New York State could save Chautauqua County over $88,000.

Chief Information Officer Jon DeAngelo, in a presentation to the Legislature’s Administrative Services Committee, said the state is offering endpoint protection for computers, “It’s virus protection, is basically what it is. They haven’t done this before. There’s additional services that they’re offering as well. It’s through a third party provider called CrowdStrike. So the state is offering it to all the counties at no cost for three years. We currently use a different product, so this would be a change for us. But this product would cover about, approximately 1,500 devices utilized by all county employees.”

DeAngelo said the IT Department is still evaluating whether it will go with the state’s program, but wanted to have the approval to move forward. He said the annual savings would be $29,460 if the County made the changeover. The Administrative Services approved the resolution unanimously.

The committee also voted to accept a grant from the State Board of Elections in the amount of $31,654 to offset expenses for return pre-paid postage.

County Board of Elections representative Donna Sanderson said the pre-paid postage is part of a new election law approved in April, “The grant will be in effect from July 1st, which then would cover our additional election that we had this year, which was the special and the primary in August. Going forward, the Board of Elections would have to provide a postage paid envelope to all voters who are requesting an application and an absentee ballot.”

Sanderson said the grant amount will cover all election costs for 2022 and expires at the end of this year. She said it also can be used to bring in two temporary employees to assist with mailing for the general election.

Administrative Services also approved a resolution selling a parcel of land in the town of Ellicott that had gone into foreclosure to Target Corporation. County Attorney Stephen Abdella said the small parcel of land is located at the entrance of the parking lot to the future store. He said the sale will put the property back on the tax rolls while eliminating any confusion over who is responsible for its maintenance. The committee approved the measure on the contingency that the financial information on the sale will be available for review at the Audit and Control Committee meeting on Thursday.

All approved resolutions will appear before the full County Legislature for consideration next week Wednesday, September 28.

Pierre Chagnon, Chairman of the Chautauqua County Legislature; Stephen Abdella, Chautauqua County Attorney; and PJ Wendel, Chautauqua County Executive.

After serving Chautauqua County for over 30 years, County Attorney Stephen Abdella is retiring at the end of 2022.

Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel announced Abdella’s pending retirement.

Abdella first began his career with the County in 1988 as an Assistant County Attorney with the County’s Law Department. He later served as County Attorney from 1992 to 1997 and re-appointed again in 2006. He had also served as Counsel to the County Legislature from 1999 to 2005 and again since 2008.
In addition, he served as Acting County Executive in November and December of 2013 and 2019 when there were end of term vacancies for former County Executives Greg Edwards and George Borrello.

Wendel said Abdella has been instrumental in advising the County on executive orders and laws regarding operating restrictions during the COVID-19 Pandemic and with the opioid settlement.

Wendel said he plans to establish a bipartisan search committee to assist in the process of finding Abdella’s replacement.

County Attorney Stephen Abdella addresses Administrative Services Committee (June 13, 2022)

The County Legislature’s Administrative Services Committee has approved a resolution to set public hearings on two proposed reapportionment plans.

The County Reapportionment Commission recommended two plans that include a 17 Legislative district plan and a 19 Legislative district plan.

County Attorney Stephen Abdella said Legislative Committees can begin discussions now on the two plans, “I have done some additional reviews of the descriptions in the plan and made some corrections here and there. The Board of Elections has also reviewed the two plans and had some suggestions which I’ve shared with the sponsors of plans – Mr. [Bob] Bankowski and Mr. [Tom] Harmon.”

Abdella said a permissive referendum can only be held if the local law is passed, giving the example that if the 17-district plan is voted down, a referendum cannot be held for that plan.

The two public hearings will be part of the Chautauqua County Legislature meeting on Wednesday, July 27 with the 17-district plan hearing be held at 6:35 p.m. and the 19-district plan hearing held at 6:40 p.m.

County Attorney Stephen Abdella and Finance Director Kitty Crow address Audit & Control Committee (April 21, 2022)

Democratic Chautauqua County Legislators are expected to pre-file a resolution Friday morning to alleviate the sales tax on gas in the county.

County Attorney Stephen Abdella informed the Legislature’s Audit and Control Committee that he had been contacted by Legislators Susan Parker, Bob Bankowski, Paul Whitford, and Billy Torres. Their resolution that would be on Wednesday’s full County Legislature agenda would opts for the fixed sales tax rate of 12-cents per gallon. Abdella said they had not set a sunset date for the resolution but were considering March 1.

Finance Director Kitty Crow said the county should still meet budgeted sales tax projections with the proposed 12-cents per gallon rate resolution, “So we wouldn’t expect a surplus and we wouldn’t expect a deficit. You know, I think that that would result in us coming in at budget.”

Crow said sales tax from motor fuel sales typically account for about 6% of the budgeted sales tax revenues.

No legislators from Audit and Control offered to co-sponsor the resolution, citing the need to gather more information about how it could affect local municipalities’ budgets. County Executive PJ Wendel said he had directed county staff to reach out to local municipalities to see if that information could be gathered before Wednesday night’s meeting.

County Attorney Stephen Abdella and County Finance Director Kitty Crow address Administrative Services Committee on April 18, 2022

County legislators heard initial proposals for how they could give consumers a break on gasoline sales tax.

County Attorney Stephen Abdella and County Finance Director Kitty Crow presented to the Administrative Services Committee on the proposals.

Abdella said while the state doesn’t allow counties to entirely suspend sales tax on motor fuel, Chautauqua County could suspend the 4-percent sales tax rate or a fixed amount per gallon rate such as 8-cents, 12-cents, or 16 cents a gallon.

He said if the county chooses a fixed-rate per gallon, there is a proviso by the state to adjust the fixed rate if the price of gasoline drops below what the sales tax percentage rate would be versus the fixed rate per gallon, “If we were to set a fixed rate of 16-cents which is roughly based on $4 a gallon, and when I say roughly it’s because if the price at the pump is $4 our tax is not on the full $4 because part of that $4 is a state and federal tax and our tax is not applied as a tax on a tax.”

He said at $4 a gallon for gas, the county receives 14.8 cents on a gallon and not 16-cents.

Crow recommended going with the fixed rate of $12-cents per gallon option as they estimate the county would still meet budget projections for sales tax, thus not hurting municipalities in their budgeted sales tax revenue figures, but still giving consumers a break on the cost of gas.

The Administrative Services committee opted not to create a resolution on the matter given that the Audit & Control Committee also will hear this presentation at its meeting at 8:35 a.m. on Thursday, April 21st.

Abdella said a resolution would need to be pre-filed by 10:00 a.m. this Friday in order to appear on the Legislature‘s voting agenda for April 27. He said an emergency resolution could be introduced on the floor next week as well.

The State is requiring resolutions on the gas tax issue 30 days in advance of them being implemented, versus the usual 90 days. The changes would not go into effect until the start of the next sales tax quarter, which is June 1st. The County Legislature must submit a resolution to the state by May 2nd in order to meet the June 1st implementation date.

Former Chautauqua County Executives recognized at the Robert H. Jackson Center

The eight men who have led Chautauqua County in the nearly 50 years since the County Executive position was created were honored at an event held at the Robert H. Jackson Center Friday.

Until 1975, the Chautauqua County Board of Supervisors appointed a chair to serve as chief executive of county business. The Board of Supervisors system was challenged as being unconstitutional, with the challenge succeeding and the county required to rewrite its charter. The new charter included the establishment of a County Legislature and the County Executive position.

The former County Executives all shared memories of successes and challenges during their tenure.

The County Executives who have served Chautauqua County include:
Joseph Gerace (serving Jan. 1, 1975 to May 10, 1983),
John “Jack” Glenzer (serving Nov. 25, 1983 to Dec. 31, 1989),
Andrew Goodell (serving Jan. 1, 1990 to Dec. 31, 1997),
Mark Thomas (serving Jan. 1,1998 to Dec. 31, 2005),
Gregory Edwards (serving Jan.1 2006 to Nov. 17, 2013),
Vincent Horrigan (serving Jan. 1 2014 to Dec. 31, 2017)
George Borrello (serving Jan. 1, 2018 to Nov. 27, 2019)
Paul “PJ” Wendel (serving Jan. 1, 2020 to present).

Current County Attorney Stephen Abedella also was in attendance and was recognized for serving as Acting County Executive from November 18 to December 31, 2013. While not in attendance, David Dawson was recognized as well for his service as an Acting County Executive from May 10 to November 25, 1983.

We’ll be sharing the full recognition event on WRFA at a later date.

County Attorney Stephen Abdella told the Legislature’s Audit & Control Committee that a working group for the county has identified 56 properties that had been pulled from the county auction so that the Land Bank can do demolition and then market them as side lots. The hope is that adjoining owners would buy those properties and they’d go back on the tax roles.

Abdella said what the Finance department found was as these properties were in the process over time, they are sitting in a taxable status, “And the county is ending up guaranteeing the continuing taxes on these properties that in many cases in which the assessment remain high because the effect of the demolition takes some time to have an impact on the assessment because taxable status day is just once a year.”

Abdella says the County is incurring $56,000 a year in tax carrying costs until the properties are demolished and conveyed. The work group discussed the possibility to convey some of these properties as soon as possible to the Land Bank, if willing, because the Land Bank enjoys instant tax exempt status, “Because the [tax] rolls for most all municipalities, other than the City of Dunkirk, get finalized by July 1st and Dunkirk I believe is August 1st. And so although you can do these transfers in the middle of the year, it causes all this correction paperwork and monkey business.”

Abdella said the Land Bank responded to the county that they were willing to have 28 properties be conveyed to them for this year. He said this will help save the county on taxes for those properties this year as well mowing costs. The resolution will be co-sponsored by Legislators Bob Scudder and Chuck Nazzaro.

County Attorney Stephen Abdella said the State Legislature extended a hardship provision related to foreclosures from May 1st to August 31st, “If we were to proceed with the foreclosure proceeding that started in 2020, we would have to send notifications of the hardship provisions to the remaining delinquent taxpayers. And those who are in residential properties and in most commercial property would have the ability to file a hardship form.”

Abdella said the County would then have to pull that foreclosure from the list. Finance Deputy Director Todd Button said the delay is making the whole situation worse even if they can get to an auction next year, “It’s going to be a fiscal catastrophe as far as I’m concerned, because we’re going to be auctioning properties with five, four, and three years worth of taxes on them. On top of the fact that the batch that we were supposed to auction last year includes a number from the City of Dunkirk that have those ancient water bills on them from 2018.”

Button added the County can’t hold an auction date in 2022 if it doesn’t set a redemption date before the end of 2021.