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In Our Opinion

Borrello, Molitor should be returned to Albany

State Sen. George Borrello and Assemblyman Andrew Molitor face similar challenges in their re-election campaigns for state office. Borrello is challenged for the 57th state Senate District, which includes all of Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties and more, by Victoria Guite-Williams while Molitor is challenged in the 150th Assembly District, which includes all of Chautauqua County and the Cattaraugus Reservation in Erie County, by Thomas Carle of Fredonia. The argument for both Democratic Party candidates is that a Democrat would find themselves working with the majority party in ...

Sullivan should be re-elected as Family Court judge

Voters have a choice when it comes to Chautauqua County Family Court Judge this year, with incumbent Michael Sullivan facing off against challenger Alexandria Moss. Both candidates are from the north county and come with qualifications that suit the position. Sullivan has served as one of the county’s two Family Court judges, handling more than 16,000 cases in Chautauqua County Family Court and another 850 from Cattaraugus County. Sullivan has also in the Court Improvement Project has provided him with a broader perspective on the challenges facing Family Courts and the importance of ...

Vote for financial conservatism, common sense on the County Legislature

Voters have a clear choice to make regarding the Chautauqua County Legislature when they go to the polls on Nov. 3 - keep the status quo or shake things up. Locally, voters will see contested races in seven races. In District 9, the recent move of incumbent Democrat Vince DeJoy to North Carolina, coupled with news that former legislator Charles Nazzaro intends to step into the vacancy and accept the position if DeJoy ends up winning the position pits Nazzaro against John Vogan, a Republican Jamestown resident who has been a longtime varsity wrestling coach at Southwestern Central ...

DiNapoli has earned another term as state comptroller

Incumbent state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has a strong challenger this year in Republican challenger Joseph Hernandez. Hernandez has raised questions about DiNapoli's role in the growth of the state's debt load, wants to create a Medicaid Fraud Strike Team as Medicaid spending increases and fraud convictions decrease and proposes additional checks on $21 billion in state aid to New York City. Hernandez, like past challengers to DiNapoli, also wants to pull back from investing state pension funds in accordance with the state’s environmental, social and governance goals and invest ...

How much do you want to pay for a SAFER Jamestown?

In 2023, yellow signs proclaiming the need for a SAFER Jamestown were seen on almost every block in the city. In 2027, we all get to pay for a SAFER Jamestown. Mayor Kim Ecklund’s 2027 budget proposal comes with a 7.4% property tax increase driven by a lot of costs the city doesn’t have much control over - and one big one that the city does control. We’re talking about fire department staffing and the fork in the road the city has reached after hiring four firefighters paid for with American Rescue Plan Act funding and eight firefighters paid for with federal SAFER grant ...

County shouldn’t compound manager’s salary range COLA mistake

County Executive PJ Wendel could have exercised a bit of fiscal conservatism by vetoing a Local Law that creates mandatory cost-of-living-adjustments to the top and bottom salary ranges for management employees. Wendel chose not to do so - and it’s something we hope county residents remember moving forward. Let us be clear - we think management employees should be treated fairly. Those who deserve yearly raises should receive them. But management employees also know what the salary ranges for their positions are when they move into management, and the upper ranges of these salary ...