From left, state Assemblymen Andy Goodell, R-Jamestown, and Joseph Giglio, R-Gowanda, during the news conference with elected officials about how Chautauqua County should be allowed to reopen its economy. P-J photo by Dennis Phillips

Chautauqua County’s elected representatives are calling for the reopening of Chautauqua County’s economy.

On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Tom Reed, R-Corning; state Sen. George Borrello, R-Sunset Bay; Assemblyman Andy Goodell, R-Jamestown; and Assemblyman Joseph Giglio, R-Gowanda; held a news conference at Crown Street Roasting Company in downtown Jamestown to discuss the reasons why Chautauqua County should be able to reopen once Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s state of the emergency expires Friday.

According to the reopening plan by Cuomo, areas of the state will be able to restart its economy by Regional Economic Development Councils. Chautauqua County is in the Western New York Regional Economic Development Council, along with Allegany, Cattaraugus, Erie and Niagara counties.

According to Cuomo’s seven-point metric system for reopening, Western New York fails two of the seven metrics, so the region has not been given the green light by the governor to reopen. Currently, the county is failing the metrics dealing with hospitalization and death rates, mostly due to the impact the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, pandemic is having in the city of Buffalo.

Reed said, hopefully, the numbers later this week will be favorable so Western New York can be allowed to reopen its economy.

“That is goal No. 1,” he said.

Reed said if businesses aren’t reopened soon, the national economy could be worse than during the Great Depression.

“We can no longer live in a state of fear,” he said.

Borrello said the Restart New York plan created by Goodell and himself was mostly adopted by the governor in his restart plan.

However, he said one large aspect that is not included in the governor’s plan is to separate large metropolitan areas, like Buffalo, in regions so rural areas that haven’t been impacted as much by the coronavirus aren’t punished and allowed to reopen. He added that the determination on reopening should be determined county by county.

“We’re never going to eliminate the risk entirely, but we can reduce it substantially,” he said.

Borrello said businesses in the Chautauqua County have been working with the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce and other agencies on plans to reopen their businesses.

“We’ve done those things. We’ve been proactive,” he said. “Common sense will get us back to work the quickest way.”

Goodell said reopening the economy isn’t about making people rich, but about people keeping their jobs. He said every day a business is kept closed, the closer it is to closing for good.

“This is what this is about. It’s about our friends and neighbors having a future in Chautauqua County,” he said.

Goodell said he was informed by the Chautauqua County Health Department that there has never been a confirmed case of the coronavirus in Jamestown. He said there hasn’t been a case of COVID-19 south of Cassadaga in the last two weeks. He added that Chautauqua County hospitals have unlimited space and there is no one in their ICUs or using a ventilator because of COVID-19. Goodell said one reason why cases in the county are so low, with only 44 confirmed cases and four deaths in the county as of Tuesday afternoon, is because the Chautauqua County Health Department has done a great job with contract tracing.

Giglio said there is no reason Allegany, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties should not be reopening.

“Our metrics show us we are more than ready,” he said. “We’re there. We’re ready. It’s necessary.”