Eddie Sundquist and Kim Ecklund took part in a mayoral debate Thursday at The Reg Lenna Center for the Arts.

The Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant has become a hot-button issue in this year’s mayoral race in Jamestown.

That topic, among others, was discussed during a mayoral debate at The Reg Lenna Center for the Arts. It was moderated by Julia Ciesla-Hanley, WRFA’s public affairs director and acting general manager, and involved questions from participating panel members from the media — Terry Frank, Media One Radio, news director, and John D’Agostino, The Post-Journal and Dunkirk OBSERVER’s editor.

Mayor Eddie Sundquist, a Democrat, and Kim Ecklund, a Republican member of the City Council, were both asked about the SAFER grant, which will provide the initial funding to hire eight firefighters. Council members unanimously voted to lift a hiring freeze to hire the new firefighters after several months of discussion.

“There was a point that seemed like the council was going to send that money back to D.C. with a note saying, ‘We don’t want it,'” Sundquist said during the debate. “But I’m glad that they’ve come to their senses and accepted it.”

Ecklund had a different view of what transpired.

“I heartily disagree with the mayor, that we were going to just freely send the money back,” she said. “Again, with due diligence, there was concern about financial stability going forward. In addition, there’s contractual agreements that need to be looked at with the department that need to be looked at and met to make sure the city and taxpayers would be held harmless in that.”

“Yeah, the City Council did the due diligence, and we got that bill today and it cost the city $21,000,” Sundquist responded. “So, when you say we’ve overspent … yeah, we have.”

The $21,000 Sundquist was referencing was payment to an outside law firm that drew up a hold-harmless agreement between the city and the local firefighters’ union. It revolves around an impact-arbitration ruling requiring the city to be on the hook for payments for not maintaining minimum staffing requirements of employees.

“We’ve spent $21,000 to protect hundreds of thousands down the road in layoffs and unemployment,” Ecklund said. “If that’s what we need to do to protect the city and taxpayers, then that’s what we do. There are not many things in his budget that weren’t overspent.”

Sundquist started the debate by highlighting some of his accomplishments as mayor.

“I have been honored to be the city’s mayor for the last four years,” he said. “When I took office, I never expected to take on a global pandemic, and the first two and a half years of my term focused on the health of our community.”

He added, “Unemployment is the lowest it’s been in three decades; we’ve invested $8 million of federal funds directly in our neighborhoods; we’ve brought in $16 million in state and federal grants; and we’ve had the largest expansion of police and fire in decades, all with no tax increase.”

Ecklund, in her first remarks, drew on her past service to the city.

“Like Eddie, I take pride in my 20 years on the City Council,” she said. “I was moving back home and getting involved in the city, and I’m proud to say that I’ve worked bipartisan with many members throughout council for the betterment of Jamestown — always addressing the public needs first.”

She added, “I’m a voice that has been around — knows the system a little bit. I’m a lifelong Jamestown resident. I moved back here after college for a job which I’ve been at the same company for 34 years. The importance of that speaks to stability, the volumes of stability in this community. People first.”

Both candidates discussed the position of mayor and the need for it to be a full-time position; 12 buildings identified as key parcels downtown by the Urban Design Plan 2.0; and the lack of action in the past five years with the key structures.

“Running for mayor would require me to leave my full-time job,” Ecklund said. “I won’t take outside work — the only other work I will do is volunteer.”

“The position of mayor is a 24/7 job, and as mayor you have to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time,” Sundquist said.

Sundquist pointed out that he was upfront and forthcoming about his outside work, and noted that other local politicians have other jobs as well.

Both candidates agreed that the pandemic impacted work on the Urban Design Plan 2.0, both economically and socially, and that work must be done on the buildings.

The candidates also debated the city’s future dealing with homelessness and affordable housing.

“When we started to see it here in Jamestown, no one did anything, but I did,” Sundquist said. “I made sure we brought together our faith-based groups, our resource providers. And we opened emergency shelters, the first and only in Chautauqua County.”

Ecklund, responded, stating, “We’ve approved funding for a women’s shelter and there’s some great strides being made at the UCAN City Mission. We need to address that need, because not everyone is homeless for the same reason and try to figure this out as a community. Both religious-based, non-profits and governmental to make that work.”

To watch the debate in its entirety, visit youtube.com/watch?v=hd6MP0EZJIM