Eddie Sundquist

With an eye toward assembling a wide variety of ideas as he prepares to launch his initial mayoral term, Mayor-elect Eddie Sundquist has put together a transition team and established a series of public input sessions to begin the process.

The Mayoral Transition Team is a voluntary committee designed to create a community conversation on Sundquist’s priorities, evaluate current city operations and provide suggestions and recommendations for immediate and long-term goals ensuring a smooth transition from one administration to the next. The team will be focused on Sundquist’s top priorities for 2020: creating a city for the future, strengthening housing initiatives and supporting neighborhoods, and tackling financial burdens.

The transition team is non-partisan and includes representatives from a variety of community organizations and businesses will be broken down into four subcommittees.

The Economic and Business Development Subcommittee includes Rich Dixon, chief financial officer with the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency; Greg Edwards, chief executive officer of the Gebbie Foundation; Tory Irgang, executive director of the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation;; and Ricky Turner, president of Blackstone Advanced Technologies.

The Housing and Public Safety Subcommittee includes Len Faulk, professor emeritus at the State University at Fredonia; the Rev. Luke Fodor, rector at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church; Dr. Lillian Ney, former City Council chair and former medical director and vice president of medical affairs and cardiology at WCA Hospital; and Taylor Scott, real estate agent with ERA Team VP Realty.

The Financial Stability Subcommittee includes Tom Benson, managing director of the Vineyard Group LLC; Maria Kindberg, Dean of Arts Humanities, & Health Sciences at Jamestown Community College; Todd Tranum, president and CEO of the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce and executive director of the Manufacturers Association of the Southern Tier; and Kristy Zabrodsky, shareholder of Buffamante Whipple Buttafaro P.C.

The City Operations and Human Resources Subcommittee is made up of Andy Johnson, senior human resources advisor at TitanX Engine Cooling; Peggy Kaltenmeyer, owner of Forte the Restaurant; George Panebianco, president of Lewis & Lewis; and Patrick Smeraldo, teacher/education consultant at Jamestown Public Schools/Chautauqua Connections Inc.

Serving as communications and public relations liaison for the transition team is Sheila Webster, director of marketing, communications, and governmental affairs for the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce.

Public meetings have been scheduled for December to get input and recommendations from the community. They will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. as follows:

• Economic and Business Development Subcommittee, Thursday, Dec. 5, at Jefferson Middle School

• Housing and Public Safety Subcommittee, Tuesday , Dec. 10, at Washington Middle School

• Financial Stability Subcommittee, Wednesday, Dec. 11, at Persell Middle School

• City Operations and Human Resources Subcommittee, Tuesday, Dec. 17, at Jamestown High School.

“The purpose of these sessions is to listen and to open a dialogue,” Sundquist said. “Primarily, we are seeking input, recommendations, and comments relative to each subject area. This will provide the subcommittees with crucial information as they begin their evaluation process in early January. The experience and diversity of backgrounds in this group is a great starting point,” he added. “We not only welcome, but invite, all input from all residents of Jamestown. We are embracing openness as we focus on creating the Jamestown of the future. To do that we will build on our strengths, work collaboratively with community partners, businesses, neighborhoods and employee groups. Community input is not only welcome, it is strongly encouraged. We hope to have a good turnout for these public meetings, and I am very pleased with the Transition Team that has been assembled.”