{"id":51260,"date":"2023-04-12T07:32:53","date_gmt":"2023-04-12T11:32:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/?p=51260"},"modified":"2023-04-12T07:32:53","modified_gmt":"2023-04-12T11:32:53","slug":"town-of-ellicott-meeting-opposition-to-decision-to-eliminate-a-justice-position","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/town-of-ellicott-meeting-opposition-to-decision-to-eliminate-a-justice-position\/","title":{"rendered":"Town of Ellicott Meeting Opposition to Decision to Eliminate a Justice Position"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Ellicott Town Board<\/strong> has been met with opposition after voting in March to eliminate one of the town’s two Justice positions.<\/p>\n

According to the minutes posted on the Town of Ellicott website, the board unanimously voted at the March 13 meeting to abolish an elected town justice position effective December 31, 2023. The resolution was not on the agenda and the vote took place at the end of the meeting following a 34 minute executive session on “litigation\/personnel” issues.<\/p>\n

The town then published a legal notice in the Jamestown Post-Journal on March 14, 2023 that said the “Town Board has determined that it would be in the best interest of the Town of Ellicott to reduce the number of Town Justices to one.”<\/p>\n

The town Justice position affected is the one held by long-time Judge Marilyn Gerace<\/strong>, who has circulated petitions to appear on the November General Election ballot. Sally Jaroszynski<\/strong> is the other Town Justice.<\/p>\n

According to the Jamestown Post-Journal, Gerace was joined by a couple dozen supporters at the town board meeting Monday night with letters of support being entered into the record by the Ellicott Town Police union and District Attorney Jason Schmidt<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Gerace said in her comments that she and Judge Jaroszynski were blindsided by the decision, only learning about the position elimination the day after the vote when they both received a letter from Town Supervisor Janet Bowman<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

She criticized the board for the making the decision without providing the public adequate opportunity to comment.<\/p>\n

She added in her statement that a petition has garnered over 300 signatures, which could force the town to put the resolution to a public referendum in a special election if the Town Board doesn’t act to rescind it.<\/p>\n

District Attorney Schmidt also called on the town board to rescind the resolution, stating in a letter that Ellicott Town Court is one of the busiest courts in Chautauqua County.<\/p>\n

He said that the elimination of the one of two Justice positions “could jeopardize the integrity of our criminal prosecutions by leading to longer delays in the adjudication of individual cases, increasing wait times for all involved, including not just criminal defendants but witnesses and counsel as well, and increasing the Court’s backlog which we have all worked so hard to reduce following the reopening. Without question, these factors could potentially lead to the dismissal of cases on statutory and Constitutional speedy trial grounds through no fault of the police or prosecutors; this, in turn, could undermine public confidence in the legal system and diminish access to justice for our citizens.”<\/p>\n

A call and email by WRFA to Supervisor Bowman requesting comment on the matter have not been returned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Ellicott Town Board has been met with opposition after voting in March to eliminate one of the town’s two Justice positions. According to the minutes posted on the Town of Ellicott website, the board unanimously voted at the March 13 meeting to abolish an elected town justice position effective December 31, 2023. The resolution […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":51262,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[4],"tags":[7513,10978,6284,13170,4270],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Ellicott-Seal.png?fit=383%2C320&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3YlJ4-dkM","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":51793,"url":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/ellicott-town-board-rescinds-resolution-that-would-have-eliminated-town-justice-position\/","url_meta":{"origin":51260,"position":0},"title":"Ellicott Town Board Rescinds Resolution That Would Have Eliminated Town Justice Position","author":"WRFA Radio","date":"May 9, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The Ellicott Town Board, with no discussion, voted to rescind a resolution that eliminated one of the Town Justice positions. Town Justice Marilyn Gerace expressed her disappointment and frustration about the process at the privilege of the floor, saying the matter shouldn't have gotten to this point, \"The Town Board's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Local News"","block_context":{"text":"Local News","link":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/category\/news\/local-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Ellicott-Town-Board-5-8-23.jpg?fit=945%2C590&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Ellicott-Town-Board-5-8-23.jpg?fit=945%2C590&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Ellicott-Town-Board-5-8-23.jpg?fit=945%2C590&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Ellicott-Town-Board-5-8-23.jpg?fit=945%2C590&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":51279,"url":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/town-of-ellicott-voters-will-have-special-election-in-june-unless-town-board-rescinds-resolution-eliminating-town-justice-position\/","url_meta":{"origin":51260,"position":1},"title":"Town of Ellicott Voters Will Have Special Election in June Unless Town Board Rescinds Resolution Eliminating Town Justice Position","author":"WRFA Radio","date":"April 13, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Unless it's rescinded, voters in the Town of Ellicott will have a special election in June to vote on whether to eliminate one of the town's Justices. A petition effort, led by Ellicott Judge Marilyn Gerace, garnered 325 signatures to force a permissive referendum after the Ellicott Town Board voted\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Local News"","block_context":{"text":"Local News","link":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/category\/news\/local-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Ellicott-Seal.png?fit=383%2C320&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":51733,"url":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/ellicott-town-board-to-discuss-resolution-that-eliminated-town-justice-position\/","url_meta":{"origin":51260,"position":2},"title":"Ellicott Town Board to Discuss Resolution That Eliminated Town Justice Position","author":"WRFA Radio","date":"May 5, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The Ellicott Town Board will discuss Monday the resolution passed in March that eliminated one of the two town's Justice positions. 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The board will be meeting at 6 p.m., which they have changed from a 7 p.m. start. Ellicott Town Supervisor Cecil Miller said\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Local News"","block_context":{"text":"Local News","link":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/category\/news\/local-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26596,"url":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/ellicott-town-board-to-hold-special-meeting-on-chautauqua-lake-monday\/","url_meta":{"origin":51260,"position":4},"title":"Ellicott Town Board to Hold Special Meeting on Chautauqua Lake Monday","author":"WRFA Radio","date":"September 24, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"FALCONER - The Ellicott Town Board will meet Monday, Sept. 24 in Falconer and one of the topics of discussion will be the health of Chautauqua Lake. 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