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In Our Opinion

How Do We Put The ‘Development’ Back Into City Development Department?

The word development has long been a misnomer for Jamestown’s Development Department. Crystal Surdyk, city development director, didn’t do much in her recent budget presentation to the City Council to redefine the department. The department is incredibly busy administering the housing- and infrastructure-related grants it receives from the state and federal governments, code enforcement, business and housing permitting and a host of other things. No one can say the Development Department isn’t busy, and Surdyk has stepped up her game in the past 11 months. There isn’t much ...

State Should Help YWCA Day Care, Not Shut It Down

It’s obvious after reading the documentation required to be made public regarding the YWCA Jamestown’s day care program that changes need to be made. The YWCA’s Dandelion Room, which housed a universal pre-kindergarten program, is already closed after staffing oversight left children unattended for periods ranging from 2 minutes to 19 minutes inside the building while another child was left at a playground on Sixth Street unattended for between 4 and 5 minutes. Such oversights are, obviously, unacceptable, especially when dealing with such young children. Parents involved ...

Barnes, Jones Speak Strongly On Fairmount Avenue Sidewalks

We hope state Transportation Department officials have listened carefully to Lakewood residents’ concerns over a sidewalk extension project for Route 394 that is now being opposed by members of the Lakewood Village Board. The state Transportation Department has said improvements could include asphalt pavement throughout the project from the bridge west of Ashville Road to McDaniel Avenue; reconfigure road striping within the current curb to curb width; minor traffic signal improvements; replacing non-compliant curb ramps; and upgrade traffic signs. Of course, the centerpiece is the ...

How Do We Energize Local Elections Too?

Voter turnout was through the roof a week ago, both in Chautauqua County, New York state and the country at large. It wasn’t unexpected. Voters always turn out when it’s time to vote for a president, and the 2024 race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris was something we’ve never seen before. A sitting president bowed out of a campaign for the first time since 1968. We saw our first public assassination attempt of a president or presidential candidate since 1981 - and then saw a second attempt on a candidate’s life. There was plenty of mudslinging and name-calling, too. ...

City’s Population Loss Is About To Hit Your Wallet

It’s easy for discussion over the region’s population loss to feel as if it has no stakes. That’s because population loss tends to happen more like a trickle than a burst pipe. But it’s there nonetheless, our population dripping away like a leaky faucet. Jamestown’s population in 1930 was 45,155, according to the 1930 census. It’s now estimated to be 27,731. The 17,424 people lost over 94 years looks like a huge number, but it’s only about .4% a year. Because we haven’t seen a population flood, the consequences of our dwindling population aren’t always as easy to see ...

New County Elections Commissioner Will Walk A Familiar Tightrope

Chautauqua County has a new face as its Republican election commissioner - though she’s no stranger to the county’s elections. Nacole Ellis, a Chautauqua County Board of Elections employee, has been appointed by Republicans on the Chautauqua County Legislature to replace the retiring Brian Abrams. Ellis has also served as the chairwoman of the Chautauqua County Republican Party. The practice isn’t breaking any laws. It’s not even that uncommon. Chautauqua County’s last Democratic Party election commission served as chair of the Chautauqua County Democratic Party before ...