Races of note include the Democratic primary for Mayor of Dunkirk, with challenger Willie Rosas defeating incumbent Anthony J. Dolce 568 to 380. Dolce will remain on the ballot as a working families candidate.

Also in the Pomfret Town Justice Race, with acting village of Fredonia Justice Nancy Dietzen defeated Amy Hontz in the Republican primary by an unofficial vote of 200 to 78.

Meanwhile, Dietzen also won the primary for the conservative party, defeating former Chautauqua County Legislator and attorney William Coughlin 28 to 15. Dietzen also defeated Coughlin in the Independence Party primary 45 to 37. The two also tied in the Working Families primary with a vote of 4 to 4. Coughlin will remain on the ballot as the Democratic candidate for Pomfret town justice.

And in the race for Sheridan Town Justice for the Republican Line, Craig Sutton Jr. defeated Sheryl Mays 84 to 70.

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.

According to an article in today’s Post-Journal, the motion cited The Journal News, a newspaper based in Westchester County, which printed a map of names and addresses of pistol permit holders. The newspaper obtained the information through Freedom of Information Law filings. Since then, local governments have been calling for the state to no longer allow that type of information from getting into the public hands. Currently, a person who owns a firearm has to contact their county clerk and request that their name be omitted from any public listing.

Not all county lawmakers are in favor of the motion. Legislator William Coughlin (D-Fredonia) is quoted as saying that it would be unconstitutional to allow that type of information to be withheld from the public upon request, and went so far as to offer anyone present at the meeting $1,000 to point out where in the U.S. constitution says people have a right to privacy.

The motion was not voted on at the meeting. It will be discussed at the full legislature meeting April 24 and will need 17 votes to be passed.

On Wednesday night the legislature soundly defeated a resolution sponsored by Tim Hoyer (D-Jamestown) calling for the legislature to stop reciting the pledge and saying a prayer before each legislative session and replacing it with the New York State Oath of Office. Prior to the vote, Hoyer – who also serves as a Lutheran pastor in a local church – explained his reason for introducing the legislation.

• LISTEN TO COMMENTS FROM HOYER, BORELLO AND COUGHLIN

“Faith is important to people. And here we take our faith, whatever it is, for granted. So when we say a prayer here…our prayer’s are always Christian, not realizing there could be amongst us the Jew, the Hindu, the Buddhist, the atheist,” Hoyer explained. “In our New York State constitution, it says in the bill of rights that everyone has liberty of conscience. That no one will be forced to believe something or worship something they don’t believe in. So when we have a prayer here, we are forcing people to believe the way that we believe and not allowing others to have the freedom of conscience.”

However, the vast majority of lawmakers disregarded or disagreed with Hoyer’s reasoning, including George Borello (R-Hanover), who said that while the First Amendment says the government shall not establish any single religion, it also says that it shall not prohibit the free exercise of religion.

“That’s what this first amendment is about,” Borello said, adding, “Our founding fathers did not come to this nation because they wanted to cast away religion. No. They came here because they wanted to freely practice their religion without being persecuted. Millions and millions of people have come to this country over the past 200 years so that they can escape religious persecution.”

In the end the legislature overwhelmingly defeated Hoyer’s resolution by a vote of 18 to 5. Voting in support of the resolution were Hoyer, along with legislators William Coughlin (D-Fredonia), who was concerned with the legal implications that opening legislative session would have on the county, based on past Supreme Court Rulings; Tom Erlandson (D-Frewsburg); Rod Rogers (Green – Forestville); and Bob Whitney (D-Jamestown).

Both Vicki James (D-Jamestown) and Bob Duff (R-Sheridan) were absent from the vote.

Last night the Chautauqua County Legislature voted 14 to 10 against a proposed local law that would change the way the legislature approves the sale of property. The local law, which was proposed by Majority Leader Larry Barmore (R-Gerry) called for changing the vote that is needed to approve the sale of county property from a two-thirds, super majority to just a simply majority.

Several legislators had their concerns with the law, saying that when it was first put in place over 35 years ago, lawmakers had given it unanimous approval. In addition, Keith Ahlstrom (D-Dunkirk) said that the timing was wrong for even discussing the local law, because lawmakers are currently considering the sale of the County Home…

“There are good times and bad times to do things and in the heat of the battle is not when we should be making this type of decision,” Ahlstrom explained prior to the vote. “Mr. Barmore both in committee and tonight has been very upfront in saying that this change in the local law is to sell the county home, but it also affects many other things that the county owns, and at some point in time we may regret, or our children may regret, that we gave the ability to do this.”

Prior to voting on the local law, lawmakers also discussed at length the sale of the county home for $16.5 million to Altitude Health Services, Inc. of Chicago, owned by William “Avi” Rothner. The resolution contained the same contract and stipulations that were voted down last month by the lawmakers by a vote of 9 to 16 – with a super majority, or 17 votes, being needed. Last night, the sale of the county home was again voted down, this time by a vote of 9 to 15 with legislator Vicki James (D-Jamestown) absent from the meeting.

Last night’s legislature meeting lasted for nearly four-and-a-half hours. The entire first hour of the meeting came from public comment. Of the 26 individuals who spoke, 19 were in support of having the county keep the home or not selling it to Altitude Health Services.

Several also spoke out against the proposed change to the local law.

The meeting was also well attended by 2^nd Amendment advocates who were on hand to show their support for a motion calling for the repeal of the 2013 NY SAFE Act, which puts further restrictions and regulations in place for rifle and gun owners. That motion was the first order of business by the legislature and was approved by a vote of 21 to 3. Despite the vote at the start of the meeting, three individuals still spoke during the public comment criticize the law.

Also discussed at the meeting, was a resolution by legislator Tim Hoyer (D-Jamestown), which called for removing prayer from the start of each monthly voting session and replacing it with the New York State oath of office. Furthermore, it called for the removal the entire Pledge of Allegiance from being said at the start of each voting session. The resolution was defeated 18-5. Voting in support of the resolution were Hoyer, along with legislators William Coughlin (D-Fredonia), Tom Erlandson (D-Frewsburg), Rod Rogers (Green – Forestville) and Bob Whitney (D-Jamestown).

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).

Legislators Lori Cornell (Jamestown) and Vince Horrigan (Bemus Point) listen as Legislator Larry Barmore (Gerry) talks during the Prendergast Library’s Critical Discussion involving the County Home on Jan. 8, 2013.

JAMESTOWN – The issue of whether or not to sell the Chautauqua County Home to a Chicago-based company was once again in the spotlight, this time during a Critical Discussion Series at the James Prendergast Library. A panel of four Chautauqua County legislators were involved in the discussion. They were Larry Barmore (R-Gerry) and Vince Horrigan (R-Bemus Point) – who both support selling the home to William “Avi” Rothner of Altitude Health Services, LLC of Chicago – along with William Coughlin (D-Fredonia) and Lori Cornell (D-Jamestown) – who are opposed to selling the home.

The discussion allowed each panelist to offer their thoughts on the proposed sale of the home. Barmore explained that it simply isn’t cost effective to run the home anymore, considering it will be running in a significant deficit starting in 2014.

“The hard cold facts, as we move into 2014… including the IGT funding, the County Home will lose close to $9,000 per day,” Barmore said.

Barmore’s claim of the county home losing an estimated $9,000 per day was refuted by David Fagerstrom, president of the local CSEA that represents the county home employees. He said that number is way off, and doesn’t take into account a series of cost-saving adjustments that could be made at the home to get it back in the black.

County legislator Vince Horrigan echoed Barmore’s sentiment for selling the home, saying that if it is sold, it would result in the home being privatized and the addition of a significant property tax payment being added to local coffers.

“The future is not good,” Horrigan said. “Property tax revenues is what is continued to be turned to to keep [The County Home] afloat. Look at what’s happened up in the north county – Petri, Carriage House, NRG – are all businesses that are leaving us and those people are probably going to be laid off, but we’re going to go ask for more property taxes to keep the county home running when, in fact, here’s someone that can take a one-star county home rating – according to Medicare – and all indications are he’s going to move it to  three or four star home.”

County lawmaker William Coughlin – who opposes selling the home – explained that the reason he’s not in support of a sale is because he doesn’t think Altitude Health Services is a good fit to purchase the home. In addition, he explained that the legislature hasn’t even made the decision to sell the home in the first place.

The questions that I present are two-fold,” Coughlin said. “Number one – do we want to sell the home? Do we have the votes necessary to sell the home and that is the first vote that should have been taken. Now if that goes and you are going to sell the home, do you want to sell it to William ‘Avi’ Rothner. It’s two separate issues.”

Several members of the public were on hand to ask questions and make comments regarding the sale to Altitude Health Services, with it split down the middle in terms of who was in favor and who was opposed.

The lawmakers say the sale will most likely come before the legislature during the February voting session.

Chautauqua County Executive Greg Edwards is urging the county sell the home to offset an annual deficit resulting from its operation. In the past few months, his office has been talking with potential purchaser William “Avi” Rothner of Altitude Health Services, LLC on the proposed sale of the home. A resolution involving the sale could come before the legislature later this month.

This is the second in a series of critical discussions, which began in November with a panel of experts on gas well fracking. The discussions are free and open to the public, and audience members are encouraged to participate.

This is the second in a series of critical discussions, which began in November with a panel of experts on gas well fracking. The discussions are free and open to the public, and audience members are encouraged to participate. The library is located at 509 Cherry St., Jamestown. For information, call 484-7135, Ext. 225.

Andy Goodell

MAYVILLE – New York State Assemblyman Andy Goodell (R-Jamestown) will be heading back to Albany in January to represent the 150^th Assembly district. The incumbent easily defeated democratic challenger Dr. Rudy Mueller (D-Lakewood) by 10,000 votes. According to votechautauqua.com, Goodell unofficially received 28,810 votes – or 61 percent of the electorate. The total does not reflect absentee ballots.

Senator Cathy Young (R-Olean) will also be returning to Albany. She won a fourth consecutive full term in Albany, running unopposed. Young was first elected to the Senate in a special election in 2005 following the death of Pat McGee. She was elected to her first, full term in office in 2006.

In the Race for Chautauqua County Judge, incumbent Republican John Ward easily won reelection to a third consecutive term, defeating Democratic challenger William Coughlin. Ward received nearly 30,000 votes to Coughlin’s 17,000 – giving him a margin of victory of over 25 percent.

The only two other contested local races took place in to nearby towns. In the race for Carroll Town Council, Democrat Patty Ekstrom defeated republican Harold Whitford.  In the race for Busti Town Council, Todd Hanson ( R) defeated Bill Burk (D).