Chautauqua County Legislature voting session (April 26, 2023)

Despite calls to table the measure for more discussion, the Chautauqua County Legislature approved using $1 million in American Rescue Plan funding for the Jefferson Project.

One of a handful of public comments opposing the funding included Chautauqua-Conewango Watershed Consortium representative Jane Conroe, who stated the Legislature should be leading with science, “Why would we pay for understanding algae mechanisms that we already have information for? The very comprehensive ‘Harmful Agal Blooms Action Plan for Chautauqua Lake’ that we already have has much of this information. California, the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project has done extensive research along with Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The need for a complete agal DNA reference library has been taken up by this organization.”

Former County Executive Vince Horrigan submittted a letter in support of funding the Jefferson Project saying the project “brings a professional outside and an objective approach” to identifying issues in Chautauqua Lake.

The Jefferson Project is a collaboration of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, IBM Research, and the Lake George Association that is conducting water quality and Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) research. It was introduced to Chautauqua Lake in 2020 in partnership with the Chautauqua County Government, Chautauqua Institution, and the Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance.

Legislator Tom Nelson made a motion to table the resolution, saying more discussion was needed. The motion failed 5 to 14.

Legislator John Hemmer echoed the need for more discussion, saying there was not enough information for how the $1 million would be spent and what would be done, “I listened to the presentation that was given and it was a lot of talk about testing and research. And nowhere in the presentation did they say anything about the solution to the problem being presented at the end of the research.”

Legislator Bob Bankoski said it was advantageous for the Legislature to move forward with the project, “I do agree with some of the people that made comments today. I think some of this stuff is very vague and I really, really hope that we have some locked down answers. When they’re done with this project I want an action plan from them that tells us exactly what to do.”

An amendment by Legislator Tom Harmon to add language to the resolution saying that “this funding would be used for research and ongoing work in 2023” did pass.

The final vote was 17 to 2 with Legislators John Hemmer and Susan Parker being the only no votes.

Former Deer Management Group member Tom Nelson addresses Jamestown City Council (April 10, 2023)

A former member of the Jamestown Deer Management Group is questioning what the City of Jamestown is doing in regards to the city’s deer population.

Former Council member and current County Legislator Tom Nelson questioned council members about what’s been done, what’s going to get done, and if a committee has been formed regarding deer in the city, “I know many times you get people coming to council meetings complaining they don’t have a solution. I think many of you know I put forward a solution in September of 2021 which was rejected by many members of this council. So, my question to you is, you didn’t like that plan, what is your plan?”

Council had voted down a proposal 2 to 7 at the September 2021 voting session that would have allowed 8 bow hunters to receive licenses with the two sites for hunting limited to Jones Memorial Park and the wooded area behind the Allen Park Ice Rink. This was the proposal suggested by Council member at large Jeff Russell to replace an initial proposal to allow 15 licensed hunters to take down up to 4 antler-less deer between November 1st and December 31st in five designated areas of Jamestown.

Mayor Eddie Sundquist said he still supports efforts to reduce the deer population in the city, “Typically, some kind of hunt.. that is the recommendation from the DEC (State Department of Environmental Conservation). Can’t do sterilization because it has to be tied to a university and program, and other methods are just way too expensive or not going to be allowed by the state. So, whatever you guys want to do, let me know. I remain steadfast in supporting reducing the deer population as a resident of Ward 6 who sees a lot of it, and now we’re hearing from Ward 5 and others.”

Councilmembers Randy Daversa, Andrew Faulkner, Russell, and Brent Sheldon had mentioned at the October 3, 2022 City Council work session that they had met with each other to discuss the issue, but no follow-up meetings were ever announced.

Council member at large Kim Ecklund said on Monday that whatever that work group moved forward with should be a multi-pronged approach, “When Andy Liuzzo was on council, he was adamant about a deer program and actually worked with the town of Ellicott to issue more permits. I never heard the result of that. We never got a ‘Did it work? Did it not work?’ But, living on the edge of the town, there are more deer. There’s a lot of reasons why there is more deer and you can ask many hunters. There’s less people hunting. There’s more posted property for people to not be able to hunt on.”

At the October 2022 meeting, Council member Marie Carrubba said the deer group should include not just city council members but an attorney, people in favor of a hunt, as well as people with other options for handling the deer population.

Democrat and current Mayor Eddie Sundquist previously announced he is seeking re-election for a second term with Republican Council Member at Large Kim Ecklund recently announcing she will be running against him for the seat.

The City Democratic Committee has endorsed local attorney John I. LaMancuso to run for City Court Judge. His father, John L. LaMancuso, has held that position for 29 years. Republicans have not endorsed a candidate for that race.

Democratic endorsements for City Council At Large include Isaiah Rashad II and returning candidate Alyssa Porter. Republicans have endorsed incumbents Jeff Russell and Randy Daversa; as well as Russ Bonfiglio.

Republican Ward 1 Council member Brent Sheldon and Ward 2 Council member and Council President Tony Dolce are running unopposed.

Ward 3 Democratic Incumbent Regina Brackman will again face Republican Robert Reedy. That race in 2021 was determined by three absentee ballots.

Democratic incumbent Marie Carrubba has been endorsed again to represents Ward 4 and will face Republican Joe Paterniti.

Republican Incumbent Bill Reynolds will face Democrat Kaycee Colburn for Ward 5 and Republican Incumbent Andrew Faulkner will be running against former Council Member at Large Vanessa Weinert in Ward 6.

For the County Legislature endorsements, Democratic incumbent Billy Torres and Republican Phillip Landy have been endorsed for District 9.

Republican incumbent Jamie Gustafson will face newcomer Democrat Julie Jackson-Forsberg for District 10.

Republican incumbent Dave Wilfong is unopposed for District 11.

District 12 endorsements include Republican Elisabeth Rankin against former Democratic County Legislator and former County Attorney Fred Larson.

Democratic Incumbent Tom Nelson will face Republican Joseph Tickle for District 13.

Candidate petitioning to get on the election ballot begins tomorrow, February 28 and ends April 6. Any primaries necessary will be held on Tuesday, June 22, 2023.

Chautauqua County Legislature meeting (January 25, 2023)

The Chautauqua County Legislature has approved the creation of a County Media Information Officer position, but not without some contention.

The position will be charged with disseminating all county communications and will be located in the County Executive’s office.

Democratic Legislator Susan Parker said she was against the creation of the position because it wasn’t a good use of county resources, “The County Executive Department is a tax-funded department. And in 2013, had three employees and in 2023 has now seven, which is an increase of 124.4% in the County Executive’s staff. So, I don’t feel like there’s need or that it is a good use of tax funded money.”

Republican Legislator Lisa Vanstrom countered, saying the position is important given what was experienced during the Pandemic with misinformation, “That we have a solid message to send out that’s in line with what we are are doing and transparency included. I think that our County Executive is trying to promote transparency and camaraderie with on top of the whole team here but with the public.”

Democratic Legislator Tom Nelson said while he agreed a Media Information Officer is necessary these days, he thinks the duties should be handled by someone already employed in the County Executive’s office.

Republican Legislators Terry Neibel and Elisabeth Rankin also voiced their support of the local law with Democratic Legislator Billy Torres echoing the same concerns as other Democrats.

The position comes with a salary of $60,475 to $92,778. The local law passed by a vote of 13 to 3, with Parker, Nelson, and Torres voting no.

Judge Stephen Cass leads new Chautauqua County Legislators Tom Nelson and Travis Heiser through their oath of office. (January 3, 2023)

The Chautauqua County Legislature approved the appointment of two new Legislators at its organizational meeting Tuesday.

Legislators approved resolutions naming Tom Nelson and Travis Heiser to the body.

Nelson replaces Paul Whitford as the legislator for District 13 in the City of Jamestown. He thanked Whitford for his years of service, “He is a public servant in the truest sense of the word. So, we’ll miss Paul. And I’ve made a habit of following Paul politically because when he moved out of (City Council) Ward 6, there was a vacancy and Mayor (Sam) Teresi appointed me to that. And now with Paul leaving, there was a vacancy and it just worked out, so I’m happy to be here and to work with all of the other legislators.”

Nelson is a U.S. Government teacher in the Frewsburg Central School District.

Heiser replaces Jay Gould as the legislator for District 17 in the towns of Clymer, French Creek, Harmony and part of Busti.

Until last week, he was Clymer’s Town Supervisor for seven years and had served on the town board as well. Heiser said the Town Board will vote next week to appoint a new Supervisor from its members to serve out the last year of the term.

He said he has always been interested in local government, having lived in Chautauqua County for over 20 years, “I knew Jay Gould, who I am replacing, a little bit beforehand and had a kind of an inkling and knew that the committees were looking for when he was eventually going to resign. And so, they did come knocking at the door and it wasn’t totally unexpected and I did say yes.”

Heiser is currently the CEO of the Inner Lakes Federal Credit Union.

Nelson will serve on the Public Safety Committee with Heiser serving on the Public Facilities Committee.

Both new legislators plan to run for a full two-year term on the Legislature in the November General Election.

One resolution appoints Travis Heiser of Panama to replace Jay Gould as the legislator for District 17. Heiser is currently the Clymer Town Supervisor.

Another resolution appoints Tom Nelson of Jamestown to replace Paul Whitford as the legislator for District 13. Nelson previously served as the Ward 6 representative on Jamestown City Council.

The organizational meeting also will include the appointment of the Chair of the Legislature, majority and minority chairs; and the appointment of the Clerk and Deputy Clerk of the Legislature.

The meeting will take place at 4:00 p.m. in the Legislative Chambers of the Gerace Office Building. It is open to the public and will be livestreamed on the Chautauqua County Youtube page.

Jamestown Municipal Band

The Jamestown Municipal Band performs their ‘Patriotic Salute’ at the Goranson Bandshell tonight in Allen Park.

Municipal Band Director Rick Lundquist said there will be a special feature on this program, “This one, we’re doing a tribute to JFK (John F. Kennedy). It’s called ‘Ask Not.’ And Tom Nelson, former city councilman and social studies teacher at Frewsburg, will be our narrator.”

The concert also will feature a Color Guard.

The concert starts at 7:00 p.m. and is free and open to all. The Allen Park Women’s Club will be selling refreshments that benefit Allen Park.

Tom Nelson, Tamu Graham-Reinhardt

Jamestown City Council has approved the appointment of two familiar faces to the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities.

Former Council-Member-at-Large Tamu Graham-Reinhardt and former Ward 6 Council Member Tom Nelson were both put forward by Mayor Eddie Sundquist to serve on the BPU Board.

Council President Tony Dolce said both appointees obviously have experience in City Government, “Both of them have working knowledge, obviously, of the BPU since we’ve been dealing with that for several years on Council. I think people felt comfortable with knowing who they were and knowing that they have some level of experience and that they’re people that we know that are easily accessible with us to communicate with us.”

Graham-Reinhardt and Nelson will replace former BPU Chair Greg Rabb and Jim Olson on the board.

Jamestown City Council

Dolce said when the term started January 1, 2020 with the first new mayor and administration in 20 years, no one realized that the COVID Pandemic would overshadow everything, “The COVID virus also touched all of our city departments as well as us personally on this council. Through it all, we continued to work on city business the best we could and stay as open and transparent as possible by livestreaming all of our meetings and changing up our meeting spaces when given the opportunity to come to this building to meet in person. This council also had to endure the tragic loss of one of our longtime members this past year with the sudden passing of Councilwoman Vickye James.”

Dolce said highlights of the last two years include the Public Safety Committee’s work on police reform and the Finance Committee’s work on two challenging budgets.

He also publicly acknowledged the council members not returning in 2022, “Councilman Grant Olson, who is not here this evening, has served on our Public Works committee as well as a member of the BPU Board. Councilwoman Tamu Graham-Reinhardt, who has served on our Public Safety committee, and has been an integral part of our Police Reform committee as well as a strong advocate for minority owned and women owned businesses. Councilman Tom Nelson, who has served as Chair of the Public Works committee and is also chair of Council’s ad hoc Deer Management committee and also a member of the Planning Commission.”

Council member at large Tamu Graham-Reinhardt did not run for another term, while Ward 6 Council member Tom Nelson was defeated in his run for re-election by Republican Andrew Faulkner. Nelson said it was an honor to serve for the last 6 years and he was disappointed to not be returning for another term, “Being on the Council has been a great experience. It’s made me more appreciative of what local governments do. I don’t think the average citizen understands the hard work and dedication of all of our men and women who work in our police and fire, parks, public works departments, department of development. It’s made me appreciate the hard work of the people who lead those departments.”

Graham-Reinhardt thanked Council member Kim Ecklund for her guidance after she was first appointed in 2017, “All politics are local and everyone up here is here to do the best that they can for the residents and the taxpayers and the people who live in this town. And I think we’ve done the best of our ability. We have not agreed and the public has not agreed with us, and that’s understandable, but we’ve had to make decisions that felt in the long run were going to benefit the residents of Jamestown.”

Ward 5 Council member Grant Olson announced in September he would not seek another term, but still won that race as it was too late to remove his name from the election ballot. No announcement has been made at this time on who Mayor Eddie Sundquist will appoint to replace him on Council.

The reorganizational meeting for Jamestown City Council will be held at 7pm, Monday, January 3 in Council Chambers.

Around 20 amendments were adopted that reduced the amount taken from the fund balance from $1.3 million to $643,568. Those amendments included increasing expected revenues for sales tax by $172,780, limiting management salaries to a 2.5% increase for a $43,340 savings, and cutting $8,380 dollars budgeted for the Human Rights Commission. Four council members, including Regina Brackman, Grant Olson, Tom Nelson, and Tamu Graham-Reinhardt voted against the $6,000 cut to the HRC. The funding had been requested for outreach work and a diversity festival.

A resolution on allocating $3.7 million dollars in lost revenue from the American Rescue Plan Act Local Recovery funds for the 2022 Capital Improvement Program also was tabled.

Council President Tony Dolce said the Council will act on the American Rescue Plan funds at its December meeting and plans to address concerns raised by members of the public about how public safety is funded, “And increasing the amount of funding for different pieces of equipment, different things in the police department particularly, and the fire department. And those things will also be discussed and probably part of the ARPA or American Recovery funds as we move forward.”

Mayor Eddie Sundquist said he wished Council had acted on the Capital Improvement Program, “Which do provide a lot of support for police, our fire, and all of our other departments. You know, by punting it to the next month they only take us longer to work on these projects. We’ll evaluate each one, although I do anticipate some vetoes will be on the way.”

Sundquist has until next Monday, or 5 business days, to submit any vetoes he may have. He said of the amendments made by Council to the budget, he was disappointed in the cut to the Human Rights Commission, “And that commission has been working hard to really to provide some understanding and diversity to the city. So to provide a small amount of funding for them to do a festival is really sad that the council took that away.”

He also was not happy with the cut to the Mayor’s travel budget as wells as a $10,000 cut to the Jamestown Urban Renewal Agency.

The tax rate remains at $23.69 per $1,000 assessed property value.

A local law to opt out of allowing cannabis dispensaries and consumption establishments was automatically tabled. It will be discussed at the December Council meetings.