Heading into April, establishing two new local laws are set to be discussed at the first city council work session of the month on Monday.

One local law looks to edit the city charter, specifically the language of Section 10, subsection B, regarding the appointment of officers in the city, allowing them to be from Chautauqua County or neighboring counties. Currently, the charter states officers may only be appointed if they reside in the city, and according to the work session agenda it has become harder and harder to find people to fill these leadership positions that reside in the city. This is a problem that has been noted in the city multiple times over the past few years and administrations, including now as the city begins to search for someone to fill the fire chief’s position in the coming months.

With the edited language, the city charter will now say rather than requiring them to live in the city, anyone who is qualified via the civil service law and resides in Chautauqua County or a neighboring county will be able to be appointed to officer positions in the city.

With the other local law, the city is already looking towards the 2026 budget, with plans to already establish a local law allowing for a tax levy limit override. New York State requires that tax levies only be increased by two percent at most each year, and according to the agenda, looking ahead to the planned budget for 2026, the city is already expecting to have to exceed this limit, due to needing to account for the budget deficit and possible union contracts for police and fire. Even if the eventual proposed budget is not passed by council, a local legislation will be required for any tax levy in excess of two percent.

One other item of note for Monday’s work session is a resolution under the finance committee for the city to enter into a contract with the producers of “Viewpoint with Dennis Quaid”, a television documentary production company with the goal of enlightening the audience by delivering diverse informational and educational documentaries by covering a variety of issues and topics, according to their website. The contract is between Pioneer Production Services, LLC and the city, Board of Public Utilities, and Collaborative Children’s Solutions. The cost of the city’s portion of the project will be approximately $30,000 to be offset between the city, BPU and Collaborative Children’s Solutions. The agenda notes that the city wishes to be included on the show in order to promote Jamestown and educate the wider world on things and places in the city. The program will be broadcast on major networks including CNBC, MSNB, CNN, the Discovery Channel and Fox Business Network, covering 84 million homes.