County Election Commissioners Norman Green and Brian Abram announce there is a total of 75,930 active registered voters in Chautauqua County who are eligible to cast ballots in the Nov. 6, 2018 General Election. There are 24,944 registered Democrats and 25,590 Republicans.

Hours to Vote? Polls are open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. The busiest times to avoid will be 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., Noon to 1 p.m. and in the evening during the dinner hour.  All county poll sites will be open.   Voters who have not moved will vote at the same site as last year.

Eligibility to Vote: Any Chautauqua County citizen at least age 18 the date of the General Election who has previously registered with the Board of Elections and has not moved is eligible to vote and will be included in the poll books.

Is it too late to register to vote?  The last day to register to vote was Friday Oct. 12th.  However, voters should check their voter status by visiting www.votechautauqua.com  and click on “Personal Voter Lookup” to access their current voting record or they should call the Board of Elections at 716-753-4580.

What if the “Personal Voter Lookup” info says you are an “inactive” voter?   Any voter who has previously registered to vote and is now “Inactive” due to the Board of Elections sent mail having been returned by the U.S. Post Office, should plan to vote by “Provisional Affidavit Ballot” on Election Day at the poll site assigned to service the voter’s current Election Day residence.

Moved? A registered voter who has moved within the county and who has failed to notify the Board of Elections must go to their new polling place and fill out a provisional affidavit ballot that will be counted along with the absentees, once the voter is proven to be eligible.

Will any voter be turned away from the polls on Election Day? No voter with a residence in Chautauqua County will be turned away from a poll site assigned to service that voter.  All voters within any county election district will be either provided an opportunity to sign in the poll book of registered voters where the election inspector finds the voters name, or the voter will be provided a “Provisional Affidavit Ballot”.  The provisional ballot will be researched after the election and if the voter is found to be eligible, the voter’s provisional ballot will be opened, votes counted and votes will be added to the Election Day totals.  Following the election, the “Provisional Affidavit Ballot” voter will be notified if their ballot was counted and will also be notified that the Board of Elections has update their voter registration and/or registered the voter for future elections.

How to see a sample of the ballot? Visit www.votechautauqua.com  and click on “Sample Ballots” to view the Election Day ballot.

Who is on the Ballot? Candidates on the 2018 ballot have been nominated by ten different statewide political parties including Democratic (DEM), Republican (REP), Conservative (CON), Green (GRE), Working Families (WOR), Independence (IND), Women’s Equality (WEP), Reform (REF), Serve America Movement (SAM) and Libertarian (LBT).

ELECTIONS THAT HAVE MORE THAN ONE CANDIDATE FOR EACH OFFICE

2018 Candidates for Governor: (Clockwise from upper left) Andrew Cuomo, Howie Hawkins, Stephanie Miner, Larry Sharpe, Cynthia Nixon (was working families candidate but withdrew from race following loss of Democratic primary), and Marc Molinaro.

NYS Governor and Lieutenant Governor:

• Andrew M Cuomo and Kathy C Hochul (DEM-WOR-IND-WEP)
• Marc Molinaro and Julie Killian (REP-CON-REF)
• Howie Hawkins and Jia Lee (GRE)
• Stephanie A Miner and Michael J Volpe (SAM)
• Larry Sharpe and Andrew C Hollister (LBT)

NYS Comptroller:

• Thomas P DiNapoli (DEM-WOR-IND-WEP-REF)
• Jonathan Trichter (REP-CON)
• Mark Dunlea (GRE)
• Cruger E Gallaudet (LBT)

NYS Attorney General:

• Letitia A James (DEM-WOR-IND)
• Keith Wofford (REP-CON);
• Michael Sussman (GRE)
• Christopher B Garvey (LBT)
• Nancy Sliwa (REF)

United States Senator:

• Kirsten E Gillibrand (DEM-WOR-IND-WEP)
• Chele Chiavacci Farley (REP-CON-REF);

Tracy Mitrano and Tom Reed

NYS 8^th Judicial District State Supreme Court Justice:

(Vote for any Two)     

• Paula L Feroleto (DEM-REP-CON);
• John M Curran (DEM-REP-CON)

Representative in Congress 23rd District:   

• Tracy Mitrano (DEM-WOR-WEP)
• Thomas W Reed II (REP-CON-IND)

Member of NYS Assembly 150th District:

• Judith S Einach (DEM-WOR-WEP)
• Andrew Goodell (REP-CON-IND)

Judith Einach and Andrew Goodell

County Sheriff:

• Joseph A Gerace (DEM-WOR-IND)
• James B Quattrone (REP-CON)

Portland Town Justice:

(Vote for any Two)

• Thomas S DeJoe (DEM-GRE-WOR-IND
• Michelle L Patterson (DEM-GRE-WOR)
• Daniel R Thompson (REP-CON-IND)

Ripley Town Justice: 

• John Hamels (DEM-GRE-WOR-IND)
• Lawrence M Freligh (REP-CON)

Chautauqua County Sheriff’s candidates Joseph Gerace (incument, left) and James Quattrone pause for a friendly photo with one another following their Meet the Candidates forum on Tuesday night at JCC.

Villenova Town Council – Vacancy:

• John Dudley Robinson Sr (DEM)
• Yvonne M Park (REP)

Mayville Village Mayor:

• Ken Shearer Jr (DEM)
• Richard Syper (REP)

Mayville Village Trustee:

(Vote for any Two)

• Tim Jacobson (DEM)
• Diane Seaton (DEM)
• Eagle Harrington (REP)
• Martin Murphy (REP)
• Bill Ward (Write In)

ELECTIONS THAT HAVE ONLY ONE CANDIDATE FOR EACH OFFICE: 

NY State Senate 57th District:

• Catharine M Young (REP-CON-IND-REF)

Busti Town Justice:

• Lyle T Hajdu (REP)

Clymer Town Clerk – Vacancy:         

• Stephanie M Bailey (REP)

North Harmony Town Supervisor – Vacancy:

• Robert E Yates (REP)

North Harmony Town Council – Vacancy:

• Steven W Senske (DEM)

Pomfret Town Highway Superintendent – Vacancy:

• Jude A Gardner (DEM-REP-CON-WOR)

Pomfret Town Justice:

• Anthony J Pulci (REP-CON-IND)

Sherman Town Justice:

• Douglas A Neal (REP)

Villenova Town Justice:

• Ronald Lucas (DEM-REP)

Bemus Point Village Trustee:

(Vote for any Two)

• Theodore W Farnham (REP)
• David I Lipsey (REP)

Celoron Village Trustee:

(Vote for any Two)

• Kate Burnett (DEM)
• Norm Mattison (DEM)

Panama Village Mayor:

• William F Schneider (PAN)

Panama Village Trustee:

Jonathan G Weston (PAN)

Silver Creek Village Trustee:

(Vote for any Two)

• Marv Cummings (DEM-REP-CON)
• John Burt (DEM-REP-CON)

Where to see election results?   www.votechautauqua.com election night results starting at about 9:15 p.m.

Chautauqua County Home in Dunkirk, NY.

MAYVILLE – More details are coming out about the proposed sale of the Chautauqua County Home that will go before county lawmakers next month in Mayville.

Chautauqua County Executive Vince Horrigan announced on Wednesday that he has signed an asset purchase agreement to begin the process of selling the county-owned skilled nursing facility in Dunkirk to two corporations formed last year by VestraCare of Roslyn, N.Y.

• VIEW ASSET PURCHASE AGREEMENT

According to Horrigan, VestraCare’s latest offer is for a purchase price of $16 million as compared to its $16.5 million dollar offer last September.  However, the new agreement includes a provision confirming that VestraCare is considering up to $1,000,000 in capital improvements to the County Home.

The Chautauqua County Legislature will be holding a special meeting on February 5 to have a presentation and question and answer session with representatives of VestraCare. The purchase is then scheduled to go up to a vote for the legislature during its monthly meeting on Feb. 26, where it would need 13 of 19 votes to be approved.

Chautauqua County Executive Vince Horrigan.

During an interview with WRFA earlier this month, Horrigan said that even if the sale does go forward, it would still take some time before the sale is completed. “If the county legislature approves privatization, there is a process called ‘Certificate of Need.’ This is where the state health department does a complete review. They review the potential buyer, they review all the details… and they also look at the need for the number of skilled nursing beds in Chautauqua County, at that relates to the Medicaid piece.”

Horrigan says that in all, it could take anywhere from a few months to nearly a year for the review process to be completed. “During that time i want to make sure that we are very carefully taking care of the employees, taking care of the residents and continuing to operate a very top-quality nursing home.”

According to the county executive, VestraCare’s current offer to purchase the County Home will expire on February 27 – a day after it is slated to go up for a vote.

VestraCare, which would be doing business as Dunkirk Reality Holdings LLC and Dunkirk Operating LLC, first showed interest in the Chautauqua County Home in August 2013.  This will be VestraCare’s second attempt to purchase the home. The first purchase offer fell one vote short of approval by the County Legislature last October.  Several of those who voted against the sale, including former legislature minority leader Bob Whitney, Jamestown’s Lori Cornell, Brocton’s Tom DeJoe and Fredonia’s Billy Coughlin – are no longer on the legislature.

Proponents say that selling the home will alleviate the county’s growing property tax burden by reducing expenditure’s in the annual operating budget. Those who want the county to keep operating the home say that the quality of service for residents in the home will diminish if it were to be privatized.

Among the key victories for the GOP on Election night was in District 11 in Jamestown, where Republican Challenger David Wilfong defeated incumbent and current minority leader Bob Whitney. The unofficial total from election night was 533 to 444.

Another key loss for democrats was in District 16, which covers the towns of Kiantone, Carroll and Poland. In that race, Republican and former legislator Ron Lemon defeated democratic incumbent Tom Erlandson by a wide margin of 1,077 to 641.

Two other democratic incumbents also loss their bid for re-election and in both cases, they lost to republican incumbents. The match-up of incumbents was the result of downsizing the legislature. In District 7, which covers the towns of Portland and Stockton, Republican John Runkle defeated Democrat Tom DeJoe. Meanwhile, in District 3, which covers the towns of Pomfret and half the village of Fredonia, Republican Bob Scudder knocked off Democrat William Coughlin.

In the other Contested races:

• District 4: Janet Keefe (D,WF,I-Fredonia) def. Michael Sullivan (R, C-Fredonia)
• District 5: Terry Niebel (R,C,I-Dunkirk) def. Susan Baldwin (D-South Dayton)
• District 10: P.J. Wendel (R,C-Lakewood) def. Sharon Lisciandro (D,I-Lakewood)
• District 12: Fred Larson (D,I-Jamestown)def. William Prieto (R,C-Jamestown);
• District 15: Lisa Vanstrom (R,I-West Ellicott) def. Sam Ognibene (D,C-Falconer)
• District 18: David Himelein (R,C,I-Findley Lake) def. Ed Carutis (D,WF-Sherman)

Legislators running unopposed were:

• District 1: Keith Ahlstrom (D,WF-Dunkirk)
• District 2: Shaun Heenan (D-Dunkirk)
• District 6: George Borello (R,C,I-Irving)
• District 8: Pierre Chagnon (R,C-Bemus Point)
• District 9: Chuck Nazarro (D,I-Jamestown)
• District 13: Paula DeJoy (D,I) Jamestown
• District 14: Mark Tarbrake (R,C,I-Jamestown)
• District 17: Jay Gould (R,C-Ashville)
• District 19: John Hemmer (R,C,I-Westfield)

The Chautauqua County Legislature spent over two hours on Wednesday night hearing comments and discussing the future of the County Home prior to a failed vote to sell the facility to VestraCare. The proposal to sell failed by one vote. (Photo by Jason Sample/WRFA)

MAYVILLE – For the third time this year, the effort to privatize the Chautauqua County Home has been defeated.

Wednesday Night the Chautauqua County Legislature voted to sell the county home to VestraCare at a cost of $16.5 million. The final vote was 16 to 9, which was one vote short of the 17 that is required for a property sale under the county charter.

Prior to the vote, legislators spent an hour discussing the sale. Legislator Tim Hoyer (D-Jamestown) said he was opposed to the sale because he felt the county needs the skilled nursing facility in order to ensure its residents will be properly taken care of.

“When we own our own county nursing home, we can take care of our family. We can take them in, not needing a means test to see if they can help turn a profit,” Hoyer said. “When we own our county home, we can act with compassion for each and promise to provide for each others’ common needs because of our county home. There is no worry about whether or not we will be accepted, only if there is a bed available. That promise of care is what we are being asked to sell tonight.”

However, several lawmakers disagreed with Hoyer, saying that if the county doesn’t privatize the home, it risks being closed down in the near future. Legislator and Republican county executive candidate Vince Horrigan (R-Bemus Point) said that selling the county home shouldn’t be considered a loss, but rather an opportunity.

“If we do not seize this opportunity, if we just continue like in 1987 until now to kick this down the road, I truly believe there will come a time when we will not talking about a buyer, at lest not this quality buyer. We’ll have to face the consequences that could be something much less than the opportunity to privatize. None of us want that.”

Legislator and minority leader Bob Whitney (D-Jamestown) said he was opposed to the sale because he didn’t feel legislators were given enough time to research VestraCare. He accused the process of being rushed for political reasons…

“You can slice it anyway you want but his is not a vote tonight to sell the county home. It’s a vote so one political party can try to make this election about the sale of the county home. Not about the record on job loss, tax increases and political gerrymandering of legislature lines,” Whitney said. “They control the agenda so they are going to use the legislative process in an attempt to influence the election…. you would have to be a fool to think the timing of this vote was just by chance.”

Besides Whitney and Hoyer, the other Legislators voting against sale were: Keith Ahlstrom (D-Dunkirk), Lori Cornell (D-Jamestown), Billy Coughlin (D-Fredonia), Tom DeJoe (D-Brocton), Bob Duff (R-Sheridan), Shaun Heenan (D-Dunkirk) and Bob Scudder (R-Fredonia).

LISTEN TO LEGISLATORS COMMENTS AND REACTION FROM COUNTY EXECUTIVE

OVER A DOZEN SPEAK OUT AGAINST SELLING THE HOME

Prior to the legislature discussing the sale of the county home, members of the public were given an opportunity to offer their thoughts on the proposed sale.In all, 15 people spoke, including County Home Resident Joe Carrus, who serves as the president of the home’s resident’s council and made an impassioned plea to the lawmakers.

County Home resident Joe Carrus was one of 14 individuals who spoke out against the sale of the county home on Wednesday. (Photo by Jason Sample/WRFA)

“Can’t you hear that the sick and old and employees are calling out to you, the county legislator? Can’t you hear their cries?” Carrus asked. “Will you grasp their outstretched hands or let them cry in vain when you cast your vote for the buyers? Please don’t cast that vote for the buyers! You did not do enough research to begin with.”

Another who spoke out against the sale was Dunkirk resident Frank Gawronski, who said that several lawmakers have said selling the home will help reduce taxes. Something he doesn’t believe.

“My county taxes come out to about $400 a year. How much are you going to save me by selling the county home? You might save me five buck. It’s not worth the five bucks you’re going to save me to do what you’ve done. You’ll further divide this county into north and south with the false promises of a tax deduction that we’re never going to see.”

Several members of the CSEA Unit 6300 also where on hand and spoke out against the sale.

Of the 15 speakers, only one spoke out in favor of selling the county home, and that was Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce president Todd Tranum, who said that if the county doesn’t sell the home soon, it will risk having to close the facility down. He also said that a sale would benefit more residents than it would hurt.

“For some here tonight, voting ‘yes’ to sell the county home may be a difficult decision,” Tranum said. “However, if you look at it from the framework of saving jobs, saving important services for our elderly, saving an asset, doing what is fiscally and financially right to do, and doing what is right for the taxpayers of Chautauqua County, then it really should not be that hard of a decision.”

EDWARDS PREDICTS VOTERS WILL SHOW DISPLEASURE WITH FAILED SALE

Following the failed vote, Chautauqua County Executive Greg Edwards admitted that the result was what he had anticipated, although he also said that he was still disappointed. He also said that when he contacts VestraCare, he will let them know that the decision was not based on how they run their operations.

“I’m going to compliment them on the fact that despite immense efforts by people opposed to the [the sale] of trying to find something bad VestraCare, not one single negative word was mentioned about the performance of VestraCare,” Edwards stated. “So he should be taking this vote as a compliment, in the sense that not a single person could say anything bad, just not enough people could recognize the value and the opportunity that he proposed.”

Edwards believes that the sale of the home will happen at some point in the near future, and that’s because voters will not re-elect those who voted against the sale.

I’m confident that on Tuesday, voters are going to vote at the polling places with a clear agenda on their minds. That they are going to look to replace those legislators who voted in opposition to their wishes and that their going to put people in those spots that are going to do what they are hired to do, and that is to represent the majority of the people in Chautauqua County.”

As for the buyer of the home, VestraCare co-owner Edward Farbenblum told WRFA earlier this month that if the sale was voted down, he would reconsider submitting another proposal, although there’s no guarantee because he was also looking into purchasing another similar facility, and stated that it would be one or the other, but not both.

There will also be elections for the downsized county legislature, which will have just 19 seats starting in January 2014, compared to the current 25 seats. In all, there will be 10 contested races for the legislature:

• 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 7: John Runkle (R,C,I-Stockton); Tom DeJoe (D,WF-Brocton)
• 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 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 18: David Himelein (R,C,I-Findley Lake); Ed Carutis (D,WF-Sherman)

There are also three Jamestown city council seats that will contested:

• 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)

For more details on this year’s race, including audio from candidate, visit www.WRFALP.com/election-2013. Information regarding all races for 2013 can also be found at www.VoteChautauqua.com.

A map of the legislative districts for Chautauqua County, approved and finalized for the 2013 elections.

MAYVILLE – Chautauqua County’s Democratic Committee has approved its list of preliminary endorsements for the 2013 local elections.

Last weekend the party’s nominating committee met, and endorsed Ron Johnson of Pomfret as the candidate for County Executive and Lori Cornell of Jamestown as the candidate for Chautauqua County Clerk. The party also cross-endorsed current District Attorney David Foley, a Republican from Fredonia, in his bid for reelection.

For the county legislature, the party so far is endorsing candidates for 14 of the 19 legislative districts.

A total of 8 incumbent democrats were endorsed by the party. They are: Dunkirk’s Shaun Heenan and Keith Ahlstrom in Districts 1 and 2 respectively; Billy Coughlin of Fredonia for District 3; Tom DeJoe of Brocton for District 7; Chuck Nazarro of Jamestown for District 9; Robert Whitney of Jamestown for District 11; Paula DeJoy of Jamestown for District 13; and Tom Erlandson of Frewsburg for District 16.

Democratic newcomers this year include Fred Larson of Jamestown, who is running for the District 12 seat and Sam Ognibene of Falconer who is running for the District 15 seat. Other democrats running for the first time include Fredonia’s Janet Keefe in District 4; Amy Dillenburg Farnham in District 5; and Sherman’s Ed Carutis in District 18.

The Democrats are also cross-endorsing Mark Tarbrake of Jamestown in district 14.  That district covers the area of Ellicott north of I-86, plus the towns of Gerry, Charlotte and Ellington.

County Democratic Commissioner Norman Green says they are still looking for candidates for District 6 which covers the town of Hanover; District 8 which covers Ellery and North Harmony; District 10 which covers Lakewood and parts of Busti and the city of Jamestown; District 17 which covers the towns of French Creek, Clymer, Harmony and parts of Busti, and District 19, which covers Westfield.

For a complete rundown of all candidates, plus exclusive audio interviews, visit our 2013 Election page.

The final vote was 16 for the sale and nine against, meaning it came just one vote short of the super-majority needed to make the sale final.

Prior to the vote, legislators spent more than 45 minutes discussing the sale. Among those in favor of selling the home was Legislator Vince Horrigan (R-Bemus Point), who said the sale would be a “triple win” for the county.

“Ladies and gentleman, this is not a win-lose. This is not a good-bad. This, in fact, is triple win. It is a win, if we approve this contract, where we protect the nursing home residents. Where we protect the jobs of county home employees. And where we protect the taxpayers.”

Majority Leader Larry Barmore (R-Gerry) was also in favor of the sale. He said that given the fact the County Home could be out of money by the middle of 2014, the legislature should approve the sale now because there might not be a county home to sell in the future.

“When the county home runs out of money the administrator is going to be forced to stop accepting new patients and form a plan for closure,” Barmore said. “Little by little, the patient numbers will decrease in the county home as we accept nobody new. The county home will be forced to close. We will no longer have a county home and we will lose everyone of those jobs.”

New Minority Leader Bob Whitney (D-Jamestown) was among those who voted against the sale, and gave a number of reasons for his vote.

“I’m voting ‘no’ because I don’t feel we’ve fully implemented the CGR report. I’m voting ‘no’ because I don’t think the sale’s price coming in 20 percent lower than what they projected is right. I’m voting ‘no’ because the contract [with Altitude Health Services] came out fast – it was given four days before committee. I’m voting ‘no’ because I don’t like the buyer. And I’m voting ‘no’ because I tried to get language in the contract about [Altitude Health Services] not being eligible for IDA money but that couldn’t be put in. For all these reasons, I’m voting ‘no,'” explained Whitney.

In addition to Whitney, the other legislators voting against the sale were Keith Ahlstrom (D-Dunkirk), Lori Cornell (D-Jamestown), William Coughlin (D-Fredonia), Tom DeJoe (D-Brocton), Bob Duff (R-Sheridan), Shaun Heenan (D-Dunkirk), Tim Hoyer (D-Jamestown) and Bob Scudder (R-Fredonia).

Although the legislature did not approve the sale of the home to Altitude Health Services, it did vote in favor of a follow-up resolution to sell the Chautauqua County Home, if the right conditions were in place. That resolution passed by a vote of 18 to 6.

The legislature also approved a resolution to appropriate $693,000 from the county’s fund balance as matching funding for the federal Intergovernmental Transfer program, which will be used to help keep the County Home operational.

WRFA will present more comments and reaction regarding the sale of the Chautauqua County Home during our Community Matters program, which airs Thursday night at 6 p.m. (and is rebroadcast Sunday at noon).

According to an article in today’s Jamestown Post-Journal, the legislator’s financial oversight committee voted 5-1 in favor of the resolution, which calls for selling the home to Altitude Health Services, Inc. of Chicago.

Voting in favor of the resolution was George Borello (R-Irving), John Runkle (R-Cassadaga), Chuck Nazarro (D-Jamestown), David Himelein (R-Findley Lake) and Tom DeJoe (D-Brocton). The only person voting against the resolution was Shaun Heenan (D-Dunkirk).

Both County Executive Greg Edwards and County Attorney Steve Abdella also appeared before the committee to explain details of the pending agreement between the county and potential purchaser William (Avi) Rothner, president of Altitude Health.

The resolution will now go before the full legislature during its monthly voting session next Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. in Mayville.

According to the Jamestown Post-Journal, Edwards has responded to the legislators’ request, apologizing for not responding sooner, but said the letter had never arrived in his office – although it was read during the May voting session of the county legislator.

The county executive also informed the legislators that he has asked Planning and Economic Development Director Bill Daly to complete the data they have requested. The information will be presented during the Legislator’s Planning and Economic Development meeting in January.

Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi recently expressed his concern over a”tax deal” the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency approved for the new owners of Covenant Manor. Last week, the IDA unanimously approved granting a payment in lieu of taxes for a potential buyer of Covenant Manor – a privately owned, subsidized housing building. In response, the mayor was quoted in the Jamestown Post-Journal calling it corporate welfare at its worst.

In a media release sent out Monday afternoon, Chautauqua County Legislator Paula DeJoy (D-Jamestown) announced that the Democratic Caucus of the county legislature stands behind Teresi’s comments and his concern for the effectiveness of the IDA.

DeJoy also raised the point that over six months ago, she and her colleague Tom DeJoe (D-Brocton) sent a letter to the County Executive requesting a response to several questions about economic development efforts under his leadership.   She said the questions and concerns she and DeJoe had expressed are consistent with those from Mayor Teresi. DeJoy added that so far, no reply has come from county executive Greg Edwards or County IDA Executive Director Bill Daly.

• VIEW LETTERS FROM DEJOY AND DEJOE TO EDWARDS

In an initial response to the request last May, Edwards told the media that all the information DeJoy and DeJoe have requested can be found on the county IDA website through reports that have been posted there. However, Minority Leader Lori Cornell (D-Jamestown) says lawmakers shouldn’t have to comb through piles of website materials and lengthy reports, adding that the onus is on the Administration to be accountable and answer the questions. Last week both Dejoy and DeJoe sent Edwards and Daly a follow up request, again seeking the information related to economic growth and job creation through the IDA.