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MAYVILLE — To the surprise of several County Legislators, Fredonia Mayor Michael Sullivan put the ki-bosh on a budget amendment. At the start of the October County Legislature meeting to consider and adopt a 2010 budget, Sullivan asked that an amendment adding $100,000 for the Southern Tier Regional Drug Task Force not be proposed. During the budget review process at the beginning of October, County Legislator David Kleparek, D-Fredonia, said he would be seeking funding for the task force. The funding would help the village of Fredonia and both the city of Dunkirk and the city of Jamestown offset some of their expenses in having officers on the task force. Each community would have received $20,000 for each officer dedicated to the task force, a sum covering roughly one-fifth of the position’s total cost. In recent years, Fredonia has paid for one officer while Dunkirk paid for two and Jamestown three. “As I see this amendment, it is using a one-time revenue source,” Sullivan said. “But if the Village Board were to decide that less than 20 percent of the cost of our officer were sufficient, we would then hire a replacement. If we had no funding next year, we would be stuck with the entire cost of an officer who has not been needed or assigned a road patrol in our village for several years.” Sullivan continued on to say that discussion of the situation started years ago and called it a “shame” that the resolution was proposed so close to this year’s budget deliberations. “The phrase, ‘too little, too late’ rings in my ears,” Sullivan said. “Forget this amendment. Instead, pass a local law to create a department of central police services. Save the taxpayers considerable money. There must be a fair and equitable way to share this large cost.” After the meeting, Kleparek was “a little perplexed” by Sullivan’s request. “I felt we were ready to propose an amendment tonight asking the county to spend upward of $100,000,” Kleparek said. “And I’d felt I’d garnished enough support through caucus to pass that through tonight. That’s the way it went down, though. If he’s not seeking funding from the county, then I won’t propose the amendment.” In a statement issued the next day, Kleparek said he and Stephen Keefe, D-Fredonia, had been prepared to put the budget proposal forward to partially fund the officer position as had previously been requested by the village of Fredonia. “I was very surprised when Mayor Sullivan spoke at the budget hearing and requested the proposal to partially fund the officer be dropped because it was not enough,” Kleparek said. “The County budget is very tight and we are doing everything possible to keep taxes down in Mayville, but we were able to find a way to fund the position in part and have spent a great deal of time lobbying our colleagues on the legislature for support. “I regret that our efforts and offer of partial funding were met with disapproval from Mayor Sullivan,” Kleparek continued. “And further, that Fredonia residents will now do without another officer until the village is able to fund a position in full.”

 

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