Things could be better in Chautauqua County.
It would be a hard task to find someone opposed to lower taxes, better health care, better education and more available jobs.
Mark Geise knows this.
As deputy director of the county's Department of Planning and Economic Development, he's hoping that residents will work with him and his office to create a new comprehensive plan to better Chautauqua County.
"You can be anywhere in this county and hear people complain about how they wish this would get done or that would get done," Geise said. "Well, how else are things going to change unless people get involved and communicate what they're thinking and feeling. You can't rely on just a few community leaders. It's got to be the entire community.
"A certain small core group can't pull this whole thing along," Geise said of the comprehensive plan. "Even as good as Michael Jordan was, he had to have Pippen and the other guys to make that team win. It's got to be a team. That's why it's important for people to participate."
Two public meetings will be held this week, both at 6:30 p.m.
The meetings are informational sessions, meant to educate about the planning process and the results of a recently completed county-wide phone survey. They will also serve as a forum for anyone with ideas about the county to be heard.
"It is crucial that this resource-based approach to decision-making be guided by the opinions and ideas of the Chautauqua County residents," Geise said. "The information obtained from these meetings will be the initial stage in the planning process and will supplement the input that is being garnered through other means."
According to Geise, the public meetings will not exceed two hours in length and they will feature a presentation by Wallace, Roberts and Todd, an award-winning planning firm from Philadelphia. The meetings will also consist of breakout group discussions and a question-and-answer session. The first meeting will be held Wednesday at the Clarion Hotel in Dunkirk. The second meeting is scheduled for Thursday in the Hamilton Collegiate Center at Jamestown Community College.
PARTICIPATION AND RETENTION
Expanding on Geise's ideas of participation, Bill Daly, Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency director, said the county is listening to every voice in this process.
"The reason to participate is because we're trying to find out what this county can be," Daly said.
Moreover, the betterment of the county should be an idea every resident wants to embrace - as the county belongs to everyone who lives, works and recreates in it.
Admittedly, as important as participation is, Daly said, what's more important is keeping residents engaged in the process.
"People really have a beef with plans in many cases because in so many cases, they're developed and they sit on a shelf," Geise pointed out. "What's so important is that this plan cannot be stagnant. It's got to be constantly re-prioritized and updated. It's a blueprint for how the county goes forward with spending and with programs and with everything else. We need to keep both the focus groups and the public engaged."
Already, officials have identified a total of 17 different issues of importance to the county - civic organizations, workforce development, local government, community action and religious institutions, architecture and historic preservation, the environment, small businesses and economic development, water resources, tourism and cultural resources, housing, agriculture and foods, active living and parks, the youth, health care, and infrastructure.
For each of the issues, the county has formed a focus group. After this week's meetings, the findings of the focus groups will be combined with all public input heard and later re-presented for review.
"I expect to be around for 25 more years and I think this plan really needs a champion," Geise said. "I think it's important to make sure that the ball does not get dropped. You hear a lot about that too. You hear about another administration coming in and saying, 'forget about that.'
"We have copies of all the plans we could get our hands on that are out there or are being done right now," Geise continued. "Our consultant is reviewing them to make sure that our plan is in lines with theirs and that we're not going to be at a crossroads with what any of theirs are talking about. It's really just about getting everybody committed and agreed to marching together in the same direction."
According to Geise, the public forums this week are just the first in a series of several such meetings.
After this week's scoping sessions, Geise said he and other officials will return to the public for them to review the information which was collected.
"We're going to come back and say, 'Is this what you said? Do you agree with this?'" Geise explained. "We'll show them how we prioritized the information coming out of those meetings and ask them if that's what they were thinking. And it won't only be the information coming from out of those meetings, but the phone surveys as well. The people will have an opportunity to look at the demographic data we're doing about population trends and economic trends and other data. We'll be merging those things together and spitting it back out for review."
Any comments or questions regarding the upcoming public meetings or any other aspects of the comprehensive plan should be addressed to Geise by calling 661-8904 or e-mailing geisem @co.chautauqua.ny.us.