Fred Larson

Fred Larson, first elected to the County Legislature in 1985 in District 12 on Jamestown’s North side, is running to regain his County Legislature seat he gave up in 2014 to become a Jamestown City Court Judge.

The retired Judge said “My passion is economic development and jobs for the people of Chautauqua County. The last decade has seen a collapse of the County economy. Our population has plummeted, our job losses are in the thousands. There is no one in the County Legislature with my record of commitment to economic development and job creation.”

From 1985 to 1993 Larson served on the County Legislature’s Economic Development Committee.

Larson, along with late County Legislator Al Jones, was co-chair of the Route 17 Advisory Committee, which obtained the necessary federal funds to complete the Route 17 Expressway (now Interstate 86) by 1997.

In 1986 Larson successfully got the Jamestown Sewage Treatment Plant exempted from county property taxes. In 2023 alone, the “Larson exemption” is saving the customers of the Jamestown BPU almost $100,000.

From 1998 through 2005, Larson was the Chautauqua County Attorney. In that role he was a member of the Industrial Parks Task Force starting in 1998, that planned the expansion of the South County Industrial Park which attracted Serta Mattress and the County Industrial Park on Hunt Road which attracted Southern Tier Brewing.

As County Attorney, Larson was also a founding board member of the Southern Tier Railroad Authority which re-established through rail service to industries in the Jamestown area including Bush Industries and Carborundum/Monofrax.

The retired City Court Judge was born and raised in Jamestown. After graduating from Jamestown High School he graduated from Princeton University and its Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and then graduated from the Yale Law School.

Larson practiced law for 38 years before becoming a Jamestown City Court Judge.

Larson has been married for 41 years with two sons and three granddaughters. Larson has been a member of the Jamestown Kiwanis Club for 46 years and served as club president twice. He has been an active member of First Lutheran Church for 45 years.

Larson is a Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame board member.

“I want to use my educational experience, my experience in County Government and my lifetime dedicated to improving the lives of the people of Chautauqua County to again make a difference in the County Legislature” Larson observed. “The Post-Journal has recently expressed its disappointment with ‘listless Legislators’ in Mayville who are content with the status quo which is getting us nowhere. I will not be a ‘listless Legislator’ content with the status quo,” Larson said.

Among his priorities if elected are making sure the County Legislature provides county industrial and business parks with far more land that is truly shovel-ready for new business and that the County Legislature demands that the state of New York make significant improvements to Route 60, the link between Jamestown/I-86 and I-90, the state Thruway at Dunkirk/Fredonia.

Route 60 today is slow, frustrating and dangerous, Larson said.

“We can do better. We have done better at times in past County Administrations. 60 of New York’s 62 counties are already doing better than Chautauqua County.” Larson, a Democrat, concluded.