Jamestown Reapportionment Commission (May 31, 2022)

The Jamestown Reapportionment Commission has voted to move forward with creating a six ward map for new district boundaries.

Following discussion on whether to go with a five ward map as proposed by Democratic Committee City Chair Jim Walton, including whether to have it go to a referendum, City Council President Tony Dolce motioned to have maps designed with six wards. Alyssa Porter seconded the motion. Walton was the only no vote.

Dolce stated during discussion that reducing the number of wards would mean more work for council members and that the Internet has made it easier to contact and communicate with council members on top of council meetings being online. He said he’s receiving more communications about concerns now than in past decades despite population changes.

The commission received a “least change” map from Executive Assistant Zach Altschuler that moves ward boundaries by just a few blocks. This map, like the staff map submitted on May 24, all have populations within 1% of each other.

Ellen Ditonto expressed her desire to be sure the new wards on the maps keep neighborhoods together so they feel they have proper representation.

Ditonto also emphasized that the Commission will have to be diligent about making sure there is quorum of eligible members at meetings coming up, given that some members of the Commission have inconsistent attendance. One Commission member, Billy Torres, has not attended any of the Reapportionment meetings so far.

According to the City Charter, a member “shall lose his or her voting privilege if not present for a majority of meetings.”

The next meeting of the Reapportionment Commission will be held Tuesday, June 21.

Jamestown Reapportionment Commission member and city councilman Brent Sheldon points to an area of his Ward as he discusses redrawing Ward boundaries with his fellow commission members during the May 24 meeting. 

Jamestown’s Reapportionment Commission reviewed the initial drafts of two separate redistricting maps during its meeting on Tuesday as the 11-member panel continues its work of bringing the city’s Wards into compliance.

Commission members reviewed a draft redistricting plan that contains the current number of six wards, with all populations within 1% of one another. The commission also reviewed an alternate five-ward map – which also saw near-equal populations – after it was initially proposed two weeks ago by commission member Jim Walton.

Both maps were presented by Zach Altschuler, the mayor’s Executive Assistant who is also helping the commission by creating digital copies of the maps, based on the input of commission members.

Altschuler said he focused changing the maps by starting with a portion of Ward 3 that extended into the center of the city, just south of the Chadakoin River.

“That’s kind of what the starting point was, and that creates a whole list of downstream effects, so it was about 1,200 people in that little section there. It’s about a quarter of the ward,” Altschuler said, adding that he was then able to shift other populations into Ward 3 to return it to balance, and worked to do the same to all other Wards until they all were within 1% of one another.

Not only did the draft plan bring near-equal populations to all wards, it also utilized more of the city’s natural boundaries, including the river, railroad tracks and major roadways, as noted by commission chair Pete Johnson. “Well, the thing that jumps out right away to me about that map is just the optics test,” Johnson said. “The optics test very nicely.”

Even though the revised map presented more uniform-looking wards, it was at the expense of making large adjustments to nearly every existing ward boundary. That’s something that didn’t go unnoticed by city councilman and commission member Brent Sheldon.

“I just wanted for you to kind of tweak the wards to get them close and not do such drastic changes,” said Sheldon, who represents Ward 1. “Because there’s some pretty radical changes here. I mean, it does smooth out the wards, but I thought we were just going to do some small changes here and there, just try to equalize the population. I thought that’s what my motion was.”

Five Ward versus Six Ward Map proposals to Jamestown Reapportionment Commission (May 24, 2022)

The commission also reviewed Walton’s proposal to reduce the total number of wards to five – who again cited the city’s shrinking population and the call for smaller government as reasons for reducing the size of the city council. But not all commission members appeared in favor of the proposal, with council president and commission member Tony Dolce again saying it would only mean more work spread out over fewer council members.

Commission member Ellen Ditonto also felt that regardless of how many wards the final plan will have, the commission needs to consider more than just whether or not the boundaries follow natural boundaries.

“I like the natural boundaries, actually. I like using the train tracks and the river as a boundary, but when you look at the people who live in those areas, they’re very different. We have a lot of apartments in certain areas versus many more one-family homes in others. So, I think we need more discussion on some of those topics,” Ditonto said.

At the conclusion of the meeting, all commission members felt the draft maps were a good first step, but would like to see a better comparison. As a result, Committee chair Pete Johnson said they will meet again Tuesday, May 31 to continue the discussion.

“Our next opportunity to look at the maps, we’re going to try to hone in with greater detail on what these proposed changes might look like neighborhood to neighborhood. It doesn’t look like there’s any crazy gerrymandering type of thing going on, so from a purely eyeball perspective it’s a good looking map but the devil’s often in the details,” Johnson said.

The commission has until September 1 to finalize a plan and present it to the full Jamestown City Council for its review and approval.

The reapportionment process takes place every 10 years following the results of the U.S. Census, and the city commission is tasked with proposing new ward boundaries to get the average number of people within each ward to be as equal as possible.

Executive Assistant Zach Altschuler addresses City Council on Home Improvement rebate programs (May 16, 2022)

The City is proposing two additional home improvement programs that would be funded with $1 million of American Rescue Plan funds.

Mayoral Executive Assistant Zach Altschuler presented a proposal to City Council members Monday night on two programs that he says could be implemented quickly and ran out of the Assessor’s Office.

Altschuler said the Senior Citizen Home Improvement Incentive Program would target homeowners who are currently receiving or would qualify for the Aged Exemption, “That is you own or live in your home, and live in your home, excuse me, for more than one year and your total income including social security is less than or equal to $22,000 for County tax or $19,000 for City and School tax. This would be up to $10,000 in documented repairs and improvements. And that would receive a dollar for dollar rebate check.”

Altschuler said those who receive or qualify for Enhanced STAR could receive a rebate check for 90% of the total cost up to $10,000 in documented repairs or improvements. He added that homeowners must acquire all necessary permits to be eligible.

Altschuler said the second proposed rebate program is a Residential Home Improvement Incentive Program, “That is for all other homeowners and landlords with properties that contain three or less units. And we’ve included a chart which is just a suggested rebate amount, based on the amount of improvements here. This would be for city-wide residents. We’ve heard from council members that they would like to see some programs that everyone can access.”

Altschuler added that homeowners may qualify for the existing Property Tax Abatement exemption. Each home improvement proposal would be funded with $500,000 of ARP monies.

Council members requested additional guidelines for applying to the program, especially for funding for landlords. Discussion on the programs is expected to continue at a future council work session.

Jamestown City Council (May 16, 2022)

Jamestown City Council members are requesting more clarification on a proposal to hire new Police Officers and Firefighters.

The proposed hiring is part of public safety investments announced by administration and members of the City Council Public Safety Committee last week. The 1 police officer would be part of a Gun Violence Unit with 2 officers dealing with quality of life issues. The four firefighters would man a second ambulance to address increased EMS calls.

The total cost to the city through 2026 is estimated to be $3,258,000; which includes health benefits. Funding would come from American Rescue Plan monies. The figure is based on the assumption that the police officers would be hired June 1 of this year with the firefighters being hired by August 1, 2022.

Finance Committee Chair Kim Ecklund said no one was “100% objecting to the hiring” but there were questions about impact payments and how they are on the current contract since it’s not a negotiated contract issue, “In addition to, how the plan actually going to be carried out. We’re looking for some more information, Zach [Altschuler], from the Mayor in his original plan. Is it four and three for the four years until 2027, because you say through attrition those positions would be eliminated. Is it going to continually eliminate or as of 2027, we’re making the shift?”

Council President Tony Dolce stated that if the seven positions were kept beyond 2026, when the ARP funding runs out, that it would be a $800,000 addition to the city budget. He said there may be some other revenue sources, “There is some revenue stream for EMS, so that has to be calculated into that $800,000 as well. So, just want to be sure everyone understands that by adding those four positions, that’s a four-year commitment and at that point we have to, we or whoever is here, will have to decide if and how that will be continually funded.”

Council member at large Jeff Russell expressed his concern that the new police officers be used for their intended purpose, “It’s very easy to hire three police officers and they get thrown in the mix of day to day operations. I don’t want to see that happen. I want to see them being utilized exactly for their positions. If they are thrown in with general patrol and they’re not answering these type of calls on a regular basis then it’s going to be a waste of time and money.”

Comptroller Ryan Thompson is to supply council members a list of future retirees in the Police and Fire Departments to show where attrition may also help with keeping the new hires on past 2026.

Thompson also reported on first quarter sales tax revenues, which were 10.8% above first quarter receipts for 2021.

The City received $1,826,608 for first quarter of this year, which is 22.5% of the amount budgeted for 2022. Thompson said there wasn’t concern that the city hadn’t hit 25% of budgeted numbers as first quarter sales tax revenues are often the smaller of the four quarters.

Dr. James Scarpino

Concerns about garbage collection and rules about the Board of Public Utilities‘ new garbage containers were discussed at Jamestown City Council‘s work session Monday night.

Dr. James Scarpino, speaking at privilege of the floor, expressed concern over garbage not being collected in recent weeks across the city.

He said at one time, residents could have eight bags of garbage out at the curb, “To having to have a single container, which the containers look very nice, but those containers only hold three bags. So therefore, your average citizen can only get three bags of garbage into one of those containers. It’s been my observation lately that if the lid to the can isn’t completely sealed and it’s canted slightly then they’re not picking up the garbage.”

Scarpino said when the weather is warmer, this will be a public health issue if garbage is left uncollected and sits out all week. He said fining people for improper disposal could also lead to illegal dumping.

BPU General Manager Dave Leathers addresses Council

BPU General Manager Dave Leathers said the rules for garbage pick-up have always said that bags of garbage needed to be placed in containers with a lid.

He said the BPU moved to the container system primarily for employee safety which is why they don’t want bags on top of containers or overflowing bags, “It’s very difficult to get that container with the extra bags to the back of the truck to be tipped. Some of those bags that are extra bags fall, stuff breaks into the streets, stuff breaks on the terrace, we have a lot of hypodermic needles, we have a lot of glass, we have other things in these bags that we’re trying to keep our employees not picking up and handling the bags themselves. That’s one of the reasons we went to the standard container program.”

Leathers apologized for the situation in recent weeks where garbage was left uncollected. He also added that it is not the BPU’s desire to fine or add fees to customers who do not follow the rules for placing garbage at the curb.

Councilmember Marie Carrubba recommended residents make sure they’re recycling as much as they can as that will help reduce the amount of garbage in bags.

The rules for garbage and recycling pickup are available on the BPU’s website.

The Finance committee reviewed and approved resolutions using American Rescue Plan funds to replace the roof on Fire Station #4 on Allen Street for a cost of $100,000 and to replace the roof on the Parks Maintenance Building on Fairmount Avenue for a cost of $237,000.

The committee also approved a resolution to use $210,513 to purchase 60 police radios, which will include software needed for radios to communicate with outside agencies

The Finance Committee did not approve a tuition reimbursement request from Mayoral Executive Assistant Zach Altschuler, with Committee Chair Kim Ecklund saying that procedure under the management guidelines wasn’t followed and that the classes to be reimbursed were not necessary to the position.

• RELATED: PREVIEW OF CITY COUNCIL’S PUBLIC HEARING

In addition, the council hearing also violated the city’s own rule that prohibits members of the public to attend meetings in person Due to COVID-19.

VIOLATION OF STATE OPEN MEETING LAW

The council’s public hearing on its 2021 budget was held at 6 p.m. on Monday night and was advertised to have a live video stream of the proceedings being available on the city website since it was closed to the public due to COVID-19.

However, the live stream was not working and the public was unable to watch the public hearing as it unfolded.

Mayor Eddie Sundquist’s assistant, Zach Altschuler, is responsible for providing video streams of all city public meetings on the city’s website. WRFA notified Altschuler via social media messenger the stream wasn’t working at 6:07 p.m. and asked if the start of the hearing was delayed. He responded shortly after that he was trying to fix the issue and that the meeting had indeed started. He also indicated that while the live stream was unavailable, it was being recorded and would be uploaded and made available for viewing later in the evening.

WRFA had reached out to Council President Tony Dolce following the meeting. He explained he didn’t want to stop the meeting because some members of the public were in attendance and speaking.

“The Union was giving a presentation and I didn’t feel that it would be appropriate to interrupt him especially since it was being recorded,” Dolce said. He also said the snafu could have been due to the recent power outages from over the weekend.

According to the New York State Committee on Open Government, “the fundamental premise of the State Open Meetings Law is that any person who is interested in the deliberations of a public body may be present to view and listen to such deliberations as they occur.”

Due to COVID-19, Governor Andrew Cuomo has issued executive order that prohibits the public from being able to attend in-person deliberations. However, the State Committee on Open Government states that the public still must be able to view the meeting as it happens.

The State Committee on Open Government recently offered a ruling to this effect:

“In my opinion, if a public body can possibly anticipate that any persons who may wish to attend a meeting governed by the provisions of the Open Meetings Law cannot be safely physically accommodated in the proposed meeting locationpursuant to legal and regulatory restrictions, that public body is required to simulcast to the public, by either video or audio means, the proceedings of the meeting as they are occurring so that all members of the public who wish to “attend” may do so.”
– Shoshanah V. Bewlay
ExecutiveDirector, NYS Committee on Open Government
August 10, 2020

Under state open meeting law, any member of the public who takes issue with a violation has the right to challenge it under an Article 78 proceeding.

However, state law also states that an unintentional failure to fully comply with the provisions in the open meeting law “shall not alone be grounds for invalidating any action taken at a meeting of a public body.” That would likely include the technical difficulties associated with not being able to provide the stream as it happens.

The council was able to eventually get its live video stream working, but not until after the 6 p.m. public hearing had ended and its 6:30 p.m. budget deliberations had started.

CITY VIOLATES RULES ON NOT ALLOWING PUBLIC TO ATTEND

The city council also went against its own rule prohibiting public attendance by allowing some members of the public to attend in person.

Both the public notice for the budget hearing, as well as all other meetings since March, states the meetings are closed to the public and comments are required by 5 p.m. the day before the scheduled meeting/hearing.

Despite its public notice stating Monday night’s meetings would be closed to the public, the council still allowed some members of the city’s collective bargaining units to attend the budget hearing in person and speak on concerns they had with the budget.

Both Mayor Sundquist and Dolce have also informed WRFA and other media outlets that as members of the public, they are prohibited from covering their meetings in person during COVID-19. But both the 6:30 p.m. budget deliberations and the 7:30 p.m. work session showed a member of the Post-Journal newspaper staff in attendance.

Council member Kim Ecklund informed WRFA the newspaper reporter showed up in person once he had learned the live stream was not available and he was permitted to stay for the hearing, as well as the subsequent budget meeting and work session.