Jamestown Salary Review Commission during its Dec. 5, 2018 meeting.

JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown Salary Review Commission has made a recommendation for salary adjustments for elected officials in the city.

On Wednesday morning the commission met for just over half an hour to discuss and vote on its recommendation for changes to the salaries of the office of mayor and all nine Jamestown city council seats.  It was the second meeting of the commission, with the first taking place last month.

The current annual salary for the office of mayor is $72,000. The annual salary for the nine city council members is $5,000 – with the council president receiving an additional $1000 in pay.

The last time the office of mayor received a salary adjustment was in 2008, while the last time the city council received any salary adjustment was in 1984, more than 30 years ago.

After reviewing what the salary would be if it followed a trajectory of an annual 2 percent increase, the commission voted 5-0 to recommend an increase to the mayor’s annual salary to $85,000 and increasing the council’s annual salary to $10,000, with the council president still receiving an additional $1000. The total increase to the city spending would equal $58,000.

During the discussion, commissioner member Peg Cornell said the salary adjustments are overdue.

“When [this recommendation] is presented to the city council I think we have to talk about the question of equity, because that’s so important. There hasn’t been another employee working in the city of Jamestown that hasn’t received some increase in their salary and I think that’s very important to state, because this is about equity,” Cornell said.

Other commission members pointed out that even with the recommended increase the salary for the mayor’s position would still be in line with other communities of similar size across the state and what they pay their mayor and/or city manager.  And the issue of attracting the best qualified candidates was brought up, with the commission agreeing that a higher salary will bring in a larger pool of potential candidates for the mayor’s office and city council in future years.

The recommendation will now be brought before the city council for its consideration. The council can either act on the recommendation as it is or adjust it. The council also has the option to not take any action at all, in which case the salary would remain unchanged.

If the council were to adjust the salaries, they wouldn’t go into effect until Jan. 1, 2020 – following the 2019 elections that includes the mayoral race in addition to the nine council seats that will also be up for a vote.

The last time commission recommendations were brought forward was in 2014. At that time it suggested the council salary be bumped up to $6,000 per year. It also recommended the mayor’s salary increase to $90,000 over a four-year period.  Once the recommendations were made, the council opted not to change the salaries due to ongoing financial challenges facing the city.

The salary review commission is created every four years in accordance with the city charter to review salaries for elected officials and bring forward a recommendation. Its members are selected by the Mayor and City Council president.

The six city residents serving on the 2018 commission are Cornell, Howard Brook, Tyler Case, Cornell, Dr. Lillian Ney, Rev. Chloe Smith, and Catherine Way. Case was the only commission member absent during Wednesday’s meeting and recommendation vote.

The city charter calls for the creation of a salary review commission every four years to review the salary for mayor and members of the council.

Earlier this year the mayor and city council appointed six city residents to serve on the commission. They are Tyler Case, Peg Cornell, Catherine Way, Howard Brook, Dr. Lillian Ney and Rev. Chloe Smith.

The current salary for the office of mayor is $72,000, which has not been increased since 2008. Since 1984, the annual salary for members of the council is $5,000, with $6,000 being paid to the president.

According to the Post-Journal, no official recommendation was made during yesterday’s meeting, where members primarily reviewed the history of the salaries as well as the previous recommendations that were made four years ago, which the city council did not act on.

The next meeting of the commission will be at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 5.

Any change in salary would have to be acted on by the city council in advance of the 2019 election and wouldn’t go into effect until January 2020.

Jamestown City Councilman and Finance Committee Chair Tony Dolce (second from left) shares details on the Salary Review Commission during the Jamestown City Council voting session on July 30, 2018.

JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown City Council Monday Night acted on the appointment of all six members of the city’s ad hoc Salary Review Commission.

According to the city charter, the city is required to establish the commission in order to review and make recommendations on the salary for both Mayor and the nine members of the City Council.

The six commission members appointed on Monday are Dr. Lillian Ney, Howard Brook, Chloe Smith, Peg Cornell, Catherine Way, and Tyler Case.

Acting on salary recommendations for elected officials is always a touchy issue, especially when the city is facing major financial challenges, which the city is currently dealing with due to being at its constitutional taxing limit.  That’s why city officials have not acted on any recommendations that have come forward the past 10 years.

Since 1984 the base city council salaries have been at $5,000, while council president’s salary is $6,000. Meanwhile the salary for the mayor is currently $72,000. The last time that was increased was at the start of 2008.

The last time commission recommendations were brought forward was in 2014. At that time it suggested the council salary be bumped up to $6,000 per year. It also recommended the mayor’s salary increase to $90,000 over a four-year period.  Once the recommendations were made, the council opted not to change the salaries due to ongoing financial challenges facing the city.

Any recommendations that come from the current commission will be reviewed by the city council and if officials chose to adjust salaries the changes would not take place until a new city council and mayoral term begins, which would be in the year 2020.

The council has until early 2019 to receive the recommendations and act on any salary increase.

In other news, the city council also approved the appointment John LaMancuso to be a member of the city Planning Commission and Dr. Ney to be reappointed to the Jamestown Community College Board of Trustees.

On Monday night the City Council acted on more than two dozen mayoral appointments to various boards and agencies, including the BPU. Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi said that keeping with tradition, he wanted to appoint the new council president to the BPU.

“I have two council members that I need to appoint [every two years] in accordance with the city charter… and I’ve had a long-standing tradition of appointing the council president to the board,” Teresi said. “I just feel it is important to have the council president being one of the two council members to serve on the board because of all the coordination that happens between the city council and the BPU.”

Carrabba will take over the seat occupied by former city council president Greg Rabb, who did not win reelection last November. However, Rabb will remain active on the BPU and was appointed by Teresi to serve a four-year term.

Teresi said it was important for him to keep Rabb in the fold, given his years of experience.

“Greg was a good fit. Obviously he knows the lay of the land. We are dealing with a variety of issues right now that are in mid-stream and I think that continuity as well as the cohesion on that board is important,” Teresi said. “I thought that keeping that board in tact was important.”

Teresi said among the items the BPU is currently focused on is the annexation effort of the Dow St. Substation property from the village of Falconer/Town of Ellicott, an effort to purchase a natural gas pipeline that feeds into the BPU Generating Station, the proposed sale of the city Wastewater Treatment Plant to the Jamestown Local Development Corporation (JLDC), and an effort to request the state Public Service Commission to allow for the increase of electric rates in the next two or three years.

Rabb will take over the seat that was help previously by BPU member Martha Zenns (a term of four years). Zenns meanwhile was reappointed to a two-year term to fill the seat previously occupied by Tyler Case, who was not reappointed to a new term. Instead, Case was appointed to the JLDC board.

Also being reappointed to the BPU was councilwoman Maria Jones (D-Ward 4), along with community representatives Ralph Wallace and Chuck Cornell.

In addition to several re-appointments to the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities, the council also approved several appointments to the Jamestown Local Development Corporation (JLDC) board of directors, including one individual to ensure representation by the Manufacturers Association of the Southern Tier (MAST).

City resident Tim Smeal, who currently serves as Director of Development at Jamestown Community College and previously had served on the mayor’s ad hoc Downtown Parking Committee, was appointed as the MAST representative.

The appointment comes following concerns voiced last month by MAST president Todd Tranum that the board needs to have MAST representation, as outlined in the JLDC Bylaws, following the departure of former MAST representative Justin Hanft, who moved out of the city last year. Tranum said MAST had requested that former BPU chair John Zabrodsky be appointed to replace Hanft, but that request was not acted on and instead, Teresi opted to go with Smeal – who qualifies as MAST representative because of his employment at JCC.

Teresi was allowed to appoint his own MAST representative because of a recent amendment to the JLDC Bylaws that removed the JLDC appointment power from the MAST president. Under JLDC bylaws, the MAST president is to serve on the JLDC only if he is a resident within the city. But because Tranum resides outside of the city, another individual connected to MAST must be appointed in his place.

Other JLDC appointments included:

• Kimberly Ecklund (Jamestown City Council representative);
• Resident Tyler Case (At Large member)
• Russell Diethrick (Chaut. Co. Chamber of Commerce representative)
• John Whittaker (Jamestown Renaissance Corporation representative)

Also on the JLDC board are newly elected council president Marie Carrubba and city council finance chair Tony Dolce, by virtue of their positions on the council.

The JLDC is a not-for-profit corporation created by the Jamestown City Council in April 1981 which serves as the lending agency of the City of Jamestown’s Department of Development. No taxpayer dollars are used as loan money.  Jamestown mayor Sam Teresi has also proposed having the agency purchase the city’s wastewater treatment plant in an effort to raise capitol for the city to help pay for infrastructure improvements and equipment purchases, along with going toward a tax stabilization fund.

JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown City Council held its inaugural voting session on Monday night at City Hall.

Councilwoman Marie Carrubba (D-Ward 4) was tapped to replace previous council president Greg Rabb, who lost reelection in November. She has served on the city council since 2013 and has chaired the council’s housing committee and also served on the public safety committee.  As city council president, Carrubba will preside over all council meetings, appoint its standing and special committees, and perform the duties of mayor in his/her absence. Carrubba will also serve as co-chair of the city’s Strategic Planning and Partnership Commission and was appointed by Mayor Sam Teresi to serve on the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities (BPU).

Carrubba is just the second woman to serve as council president, following former council women Dr. Lillian Ney, who was council president a little over a decade earlier.

Rabb, meanwhile, will remain active in city government with a seat at the BPU and on the city Planning Commission. Rabb was appointed by Teresi to serve on the BPU to replace outgoing member Tyler Case. Rabb previously served on the BPU while president of the city council. Case, meanwhile, was appointed to the Jamestown Local Development Corporation.

WOMEN HOLD MAJORITY

For the first time in its history, a majority of women will hold seats on the City Council. Joining Carrubba are council members at large Kim Ecklund (R) and newcomer Vanessa Weinert (D), along with councilwoman Vicki James (D-Ward 3) and Maria Jones (D-Ward 4).  Jones will continue serving on the BPU. Ecklund will serve on the JLDC board.

Councilman Tony Dolce (R-Ward 2) will once again serve as the council’s finance committee chair.

City resident Tim Smeal was appointed to the JLDC as a representative of the Manufacturers Association of the Southern Tier (MAST).  Smeal currently serves as Director of Development at Jamestown Community College and previously had served on the mayor’s ad hoc Downtown Parking Committee.

Also appointed to another four-year term to Public Safety Director was Jamestown Police Chief Harry Snellings, who’s held that dual role since 2010.

A Complete list of appointments is available below.

LIUZZO VOTES ‘NO’

Prior to voting the council members took their oath of office. Joining Carrubba, Ecklund, Weinert, James, Jones and Dolce were returning council members Brent Sheldon (R-Ward 1) and Tom Nelson (D-Ward 6) along with newcomer Andrew Liuzzo (R-At Large).

Liuzzo was the only council member to vote “not” to electing Carrubba as president.  In all Carrubba received five nominations as president (all from the Democratic members of the council). Others who received nominations were Dolce (two nominations from Sheldon and Ecklund) and Ecklund (one nomination from Dolce). Liuzzo had nominated Jones.  Once nominations had ended, Liuzzo made a motion to vote for the president by secret ballot rather than a roll call vote. His motion didn’t receive a supporting second and was declared dead by city clerk Todd Thomas. The council then voted 8 to 1 in favor of Carrubba as president.

Liuzzo also voted against Teresi’s 27 agency appointments, which were blocked together into a single vote. After the appointments were announced, a motion was made to suspend the rules and vote on the appointments collectively, to which Liuzzo voted “absolutely no.”  He also voted “no” on the actual appointments. All other council members supported both the motion to suspend the rules and the actual appointment vote and they passed 8 to 1.

The Council’s first work session of the new year is set for Monday, January 22 at 7:30 p.m. in the Mayor’s Conference Room (4th floor) of City Hall.

2018 Mayoral Appointments

* New Appointment
** Council member appointed by Mayor
*** Council President appointment

Department Head:

• Harry L. Snellings  – Director of Public Safety/Chief of Police – Term Expires: 12/31/2021

Zoning Board of Appeals

• Sally Martinez – Term Expires: 12/31/2019
• Patricia Calanni – Term Expires: 12/31/2020
• Richard Hanson – Term Expires: 12/31/2020
• *James Olson – Term Expires: 12/31/2020

Board of Assessment Review

• *Thomas Vitale – Term Expires: 09/30/2022
• Board of Electrical Examiners
• James MacTavish – Term Expires: 12/31/2019
• Steve Nowell – Term Expires: 12/31/2019

Board of Public Utilities

• Martha Zenns – Term Expires: 12/31/2019 (filling unexpired term of T. Case/resigned)
• Ralph Wallace – Term Expires: 12/31/2019
• Charles Cornell – Term Expires: 12/31/2021
• *Gregory Rabb – Term Expires: 12/31/2021
• **Maria Jones – Term Expires: 12/31/2019
• **Marie Carrubba – Term Expires: 12/31/2019

Parks, Recreation and Conservation

• **Vanessa Weinert – Term Expires: 12/31/2019
• **Kimberly Ecklund – Term Expires: 12/31/2019
• *David Reinhardt – Term Expires: 12/31/2022
• *Aubrey Russell – Term Expires: 12/31/2022

Planning

• Jeffrey Nelson – Term Expires: 12/31/2022
• *Gregory Rabb – Term Expires: 12/31/2022 (Chair)
• ***Thomas Nelson – Term Expires: 12/31/2019

Property Rehabilitation and Conservation Board of Appeals

• *Sandra Stewart – Term Expires: 12/31/2020
• Mary Lynne Videll – Term Expires: 12/31/2020
• ***Brent Sheldon – Term Expires: 12/31/2019

Riverfront Management Council

• **Kimberly Ecklund – Term Expires: 12/31/2019
• *Vanessa Weinert – Term Expires: 12/31/2020
• Jade Barber – Term Expires: 12/31/2020
• William Stevenson – Term Expires: 12/31/2020
• *Luke Fodor – Term Expires: 12/31/2020
• *Aubrey Russell               12/31/2020

Strategic Planning and Partnerships Commission

• Paul Leone – Term Expires: 12/31/2022
• ***Marie Carrubba – Term Expires: 12/31/2019
• ***Anthony Dolce – Term Expires: 12/31/2019

Veterans Memorial Commission

• Sharon Terwilliger – Term Expires: 12/31/2020
• Russell Diethrick, Jr. – Term Expires: 12/31/2020
• Tom Abbott – Term Expires: 12/31/2020
• *Daniel Kell – Term Expires: 12/31/2019

Jamestown Local Development Corporation

• **Kimberly Ecklund – Term Expires: 12/31/2019
• *Tyler Case – Term Expires: 12/31/2018 (At Large member)
• *Timothy Smeal               – Term Expires: 12/31/2018 (MAST representative)
• Russell Diethrick, Jr – Term Expires: 12/31/2018 (Chaut. Co. Chamber of Commerce representative)
• John Whittaker – Term Expires: 12/31/2018 (JRC representative)

The BPU is comprised of four city officials along with five citizen members.  The city officials who serve on the BPU are the mayor (currently Sam Teresi), by virtue of office, who is also the President of the Board; the Director of Public Works (currently Jeff Lehman); two city council representatives (currently Greg Rabb and Maria Jones); and five community members, each appointed by the Mayor for terms that vary in length.

At least one new member will be added to the BPU at the start of the new year.  That’s because Rabb wasn’t reelected to a new term on the city council, meaning a new council member will have to be appointed by the mayor to replace him.

The four other BPU members whose term expires at the end of this year and would have to be reappointed or replaced on Jan. 1, 2018 are:

• BPU Chairman Chuck Cornell (appointed to BPU to fill a vacated seat in June 2014);
• City Councilwoman Maria Jones (who was reelected to the council on Election Day);
• Ralph Wallace (appointed to BPU in January 2016)
• Martha Zenns (appointed to BPU in January 2014)

The two other BPU members are community representatives Tyler Case and Terrance Horner, who were both appointed in January 2016 and whose terms both expire on Dec. 31, 2019.

The mayor is expected to announce his appointments and reappointments to the BPU during city council’s first meeting of the new year, which is tentatively set for Monday, Jan. 8, 2018.  The appointments would also have to be approved by a majority of the city council.

The meeting will be the first for the three new members of the BPU, who were appointed by Mayor Sam Teresi and approved by the Jamestown City Council at the start of the year to replace three previous members. The three new members will be Tyler Case, Terrance Horner, and Ralph Wallace who are replacing John Zabrodsky, Wayne Rishell and Carl Pilliterri, after Teresi made the controversial decision not to reappoint the three long-time board members.  Zabrodsky, Rishell, and Pilliterri were each opposed to Teresi’s proposal in recent years to use BPU profits as a revenue stream to balance the city’s annual operating budget.

Because Zabrodsky had served as the chair of the BPU, there will also be a new board chairman for the first time in several years. An article in Monday’s Jamestown Post-Journal says the new chair will likely be Chuck Cornell or Martha Zenns, who are the two other community representatives who serve on the board and who were both appointed in 2014.

Monday’s board meeting begins at 4 p.m. at the BPU administrative offices and is open to the public.

During the city council’s New Year’s Day inaugural meeting on Friday, all nine members of the city council were sworn in to a new, two-year term in office, with just one new member joining the fold. Ward III Democrat Victoria James will be the only new member of the city council, replacing Republican Alphonso Pagan, whom she defeated in the November Election.

Also during Friday’s meeting the council approved several appointments by Teresi, including three new members for the BPU.

The newest BPU members will be Tyler Case, Terrance Horner, and Ralph Wallace. They are replacing: John Zabrodsky, appointed by Teresi in January 2000 and serving as BPU chairman from January 2002 to December 2015; Wayne Rishell, appointed by Teresi in January 2002; and Carl Pillittieri, appointed by Teresi April 2004.

The appointments came with no discussion or comment and were included in a laundry list of mayoral appointees for various agencies, commissions and boards involved with city government.

Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi

“After consulting with members of the city council, colleagues on BPU and senior management staff, and advisors in the community, I decided to bring in [the three new members],” Teresi told reporters on Friday following the meeting. “They come from three different disciplines and backgrounds in the community and share mine and the council’s love for the city and commitment to building the entire city of Jamestown. Each showed a great deal of interest in joining the city government family on the BPU and I’m very happy to have them join us.”

The three new members will replace three individuals who bring a combined 42 years of board experience to the BPU. Perhaps even more noteworthy, the three outgoing members have been outspoken critics of the city government’s use of BPU profits – by way of dividend payments – to help balance its annual budget each year since 2014. That dividend sharing was first used by the city decades ago, but eventually went out of favor with city leaders. However, the dividend sharing was re-introduced by Teresi in an effort to close spending gaps in the city budget the past three years.

Despite the difference of opinion on how to best use BPU profits and the ensuing (and at times contentious) debates that took place, the mayor would not say that was the reason for not reappointing the three to another term.

“I’m not going to make this about what has happened in the past,” Teresi said. “New Year’s Day is a day about looking forward and that’s exactly what we’re doing here – celebrating and thanking the contributions of those board members that I had the opportunity, the pleasure and the honor of originally appointing. They’ve been good board members that have served the public utilities of this city well, and this city as a whole well. We thank them and honor them for their service through a difficult and diverse period of challenge and accomplishments for [the BPU].”

Chase is a city resident who currently serves as Human Resources Administrator at The Resource Center, where he’s been employed since 2003. This past November he also ran as a Democratic candidate for city council in Ward 1, losing to Republican incumbent Brent Sheldon. He’s also active in several community groups and organizations.

Horner is a retired Biomedical Technician who worked at WCA hospital in Jamestown for 30 years before retiring in 2013. He’s also a U.S. Army veteran and is involved in several community and regional organizations.

Wallace serves as the Operations Manager for Jamestown Metal Products, a position he’s held for the past 15 years. He’s also worked in management for several other manufacturers including CAE Ultrasonics, Jamestown Sterling Corporation, and Visu-Wall Storage Systems.

Teresi said he believes the diverse backgrounds of the three new members will serve the BPU well, ensuring representation from all aspects of the city and also bringing new energy and ideas into the fold.

“This is not about the three members that gave 16, 14, and 12 years of dedicated, good service to the community. It’s a matter of moving forth and refreshing and replenishing,” Teresi said. “It’s not the first time there have been new members brought onto the BPU and it certainly won’t be the last time.”

The six other members of the BPU, in order of seniority, are: Jeff Lehman, serving by way of position as DPW director since 1994; Teresi, serving by way of position as mayor since 2000; Greg Rabb, serving by way of position as city council president since 2008; Maria Jones, serving as city council liaison since 2013; Martha Zenns, appointed by Teresi in January 2014; and Charles “Chuck” Cornell, appointed by Teresi in July 2014.