Jamestown City Council

The contract for American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees , or AFSCME, Council 66, Local 418, is for a period covering January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2025. Mayor Eddie Sundquist had expressed he hopes to bring all outstanding union contracts before council for approval before the end of the year.

Council also will vote to accept a $6,195 dollar grant from the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation to put video surveillance cameras in Dow Park. The grant was awarded due to the city wanting to increase monitoring of the park after the Underground Railroad Tableau had a statue stolen and was vandalized with hate speech this summer.

Council also will vote on the Chadakoin River Strategic Business Plan, which will have a public hearing for comments at 7pm in Council Chambers.

And budget hearing sessions will start the evening at 5:30pm. The remaining departments to report out to council include City Clerk, Treasurer, Assessor, Comptroller, Information Services, Corporation Counsel, Department of Development, and Fenton History Center. The budget sessions will be held in the 3rd Floor Conference room.

The voting session is scheduled to begin at 7:30pm in Council Chambers. All are open to the public.

The statement read in part, “The Commission is disappointed by the repeated malicious activity that has happened in Dow Park in recent months. The looting of the Underground Railroad Tableau in May of this year was reprehensible, and this vandalism has made it clear that there is a racist narrative that is becoming more prevalent in our area. ”

Two statues were found defaced over the July 4th weekend. Jamestown Police are asking anyone with information to contact the anonymous TIPS line at (716) 483-8477.

The City of Jamestown Human Rights Commission denounces the hateful vandalism of the Catherine Harris and Silas Sherman statues in Dow Park discovered on the 4th of July in the City of Jamestown. This racist, anti-Semitic act is a clear example of white supremacy in our city and must be renounced as loudly and powerfully as possible. The Commission is disappointed by the repeated malicious activity that has happened in Dow Park in recent months. The looting of the Underground Railroad Tableau in May of this year was reprehensible, and this vandalism has made it clear that there is a racist narrative that is becoming more prevalent in our area. 

Catherine Harris, Silas Sherman, and many other individuals from Jamestown and the surrounding county, shared an active role in the Underground Railroad.  These activists dedicated their time, money, and opened up their homes to provide aid to people trying to reach freedom.  Due to these efforts, it is estimated that about 30,000 people were able to reach Canada.  The City of Jamestown has always played a significant role in the fight for justice and equality and this community will not be defined by the defacement of our statues.  We refuse to allow these acts to tarnish their importance.  We do not want this to be how these statues are recognized and remembered by the world. 

It is our duty as a community to identify this white supremacist behavior and work tirelessly to obstruct its expression in our neighborhoods.  As a Commission, it is our responsibility to acknowledge destructive and hateful acts like those committed in Dow Park, and to ensure that these do not become distinguishing traits of our city.  We strive for Jamestown to be known for its strong opposition to any prejudiced, intolerant behavior that does not align with the values of compassion and inclusivity. 

Anti-Semitism is defined by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) as “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews.  Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.” Merriam-Webster’s definition is “hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group.” Both definitions can be directly applied to the vandalism at Dow Park.  The Commission does not hesitate to view these actions as unequivocally anti-Semitic and feel that our leaders should treat them as such.  

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is an organization started in 1913 with a mission “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people, and to secure justice and fair treatment to all”.  Their main focus is to monitor, track, expose, and respond to antisemitism around the county.  Their Center on Extremism keeps a running list of reported anti-Semitic incidents in the United States.  They use this information to compile yearly audits; comparing the number of incidents to past years, dividing them up by state, and even organizing them by certain locations such as schools, business establishments, college campuses, etc.  These audits help provide a small glimpse into the hate and animosity that Jewish individuals face throughout their lives.  The incident in Dow Park is now on ADL’s tracker and will be a part of their 2021 audit. 

The Commission wants to emphasize that this act was a hate crime, and that we are in support of identifying the involved individual(s) and prosecuting them to the fullest extent of the law. As Jamestown residents, we are tasked with the obligation to vehemently rebuke any and all expressions of racism, anti-Semitism, and bigotry. These acts do not define who we are as a community and are in direct opposition to the work we do to represent and highlight our city’s diversity at the City of Jamestown Human Rights Commission.

The Commission urges anyone who may have information regarding the vandalism or the disappearance of the statues at Dow Park to please contact the Jamestown Police Department at (716) 483-7537.  Alternatively, the Department’s tip line is (716) 483-8477.  All callers can choose to remain completely anonymous.   

Comptroller Ryan Thompson said the maintenance fee is around $1,100 a year for all the security cameras for the Parks Department. Stone said once purchased, the new camera would be installed at Dow Park.

Crime Stoppers of Western New York is offering a reward of up to $2,500 for information in the theft of the Underground Railroad statue. Those with information can call (716) 867-6161.

After being closed since April 2020, Housing Court will reopen in Jamestown on Friday, July 23rd. Director of Development Crystal Surdyk told Council that the court will be meeting just once a week for an hour, hearing just 10 cases a week at first. She said priority will be given to pre-Pandemic cases that have been outstanding.

Council members have raised concerns about noise issues over a car show scheduled for September in Bergman Park.

Councilmember Marie Carrubba said following stories in the Post-Journal about car clubs having event permits revoked in Dunkirk because of concerns of excessive noise, she’s heard from constituents concerned about the event by the Los Contrincantes Car Club, “And, let’s face it, everybody is looking to try to get back to bringing events back in, bringing people back in, and having things going back to what we consider normal. So no one wants to discourage this, but if it gets bad enough and people are angry enough, it’s going to be a problem. And you’re not going to find people willing to host them in an area where you’ve got homes and people don’t want to be blasted out of their houses.”

Mayor Sundquist said there is an upper limit for decibels allowed under the City’s noise ordinance. Council members recommended the City meet with the car club again to discuss the parameters of what can be allowed at the event.

The rally was organized by the Jamestown Justice Coalition and followed the discovery of anti-Semitic and White Supremacy language written on the statues of the Tableau over the 4th of July weekend. Back in May, one of the three statues was stolen. It has not been recovered at this time.

Pastor Chloe Smith opened the rally, talking about the importance of Dow Park given its close proximity to the home of the first Black woman in Jamestown, Katherine Harris as well as being near the home of abolitionist Silas Shearman. Both were instrumental is helping guide slaves to freedom. Smith said our city needs healing, “And we today are saying we want freedom and equality for all people. We have gathered here today to make a declaration over our city, over our county, over our nation that every, every person is able to make a difference.”

Jamestown Justice Coalition leader Justin Hubbard emphasized that the vandalism was not random, “Random acts of vandalism are not White Supremacists symbols. They’re not Nazi swastikas. It’s not white power when it’s random on Underground Railroad statues of all people, of Katherine Harris and Silas Shearman. That’s not random. That’s an act of terror. That’s white supremacy and you do not belong in my city. You do not.”

Hubbard said he kept hearing it was just “some kids,” “Well if it’s ‘just some kids’ then we need to take a look at what we’re teaching our kids! Because when something like that happens, when our statues are stolen, when white supremacist symbols, when racists remarks are put on our statues, that’s an attack on the Black community of Jamestown. That’s exactly what it is. You’re attacking the Black community of Jamestown. But when you attack the Black community of Jamestown, you’re attacking all of Jamestown.”

Hubbard added that the fight for justice needs to be intersectional to include other marginalized voices.

Anyone with information on the vandalism of the statues or the theft of one of them is asked to contact Jamestown Police’s anonymous TIPS line at (716) 483-8477.

Jamestown Police

The vandalism was discovered and reported on Sunday and has since been cleaned off by the Jamestown Parks Department.

This incident follows the theft of one of the tableau statues back in early May that still has not been recovered. Anyone with information on either case is asked to contact Jamestown Police or the anonymous tips line at 716 483 Tips (8477).

The Jamestown Justice Coalition is planning a “Hate Has No Home Here” rally at 11am, Saturday, July 10th at Dow Park as a response to the incident.