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Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down

Thumbs up to Todd Conklin, Panama Central School boys and girls swimming coach, for a reminder of why living in a small town can be such a wonderful thing. Conklin recently organized an “Orange Out” of a Panama varsity girls swimming meet in honor of Mike Seeley, a Chautauqua County Sheriff’s deputy who is battling leukemia. In doing so, Conklin not only managed to honor a former teammate on the Panama boys swim team some 25 years ago, but also to honor his former coach, Jon Pearson of Lakewood. Pearson, a longtime Panama teacher, stepped in to coach the team rather than see it fold. Now, the Panama swim team is thriving under one of Pearson’s former students.

Thumbs down to a recent audit of the Dunkirk City School District by the state Comptroller’s Office. The audit accounted for everything except the uncertain times seen by any elected official trying to create a budget in Dunkirk by criticizing the district for having too much money in its fund balance. Jim Tracy, district superintendent, disputed the audit’s findings, saying the tax levy has been relatively flat over a five-year period even as the district has been unable to depend on PILOT payments from the NRG power plant through the plant’s uncertain repowering process. Rather than soaking taxpayers with unrealistic budgets, the district has been setting aside money to provide itself a life raft in case the repowering didn’t happen or in the case the state didn’t come through with additional aid to make up for the NRG money. The comptroller’s office provides a valuable service to taxpayers, but the Dunkirk audit results seem off base.

Thumbs up to the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation for elevating June Diethrick to the position of chief operating officer. As Randy Sweeney retires as foundation executive director, Diethrick’s knowledge of the foundation and its programs will be important as new executive director Tory Irgang takes over the reigns. Diethrick’s new position is responsible for implementing the foundation’s mission statement and strategic plan, including the ongoing development of its goals and objectives. Foundation officials have made a wise decision in elevating Diethrick to a new position.

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