Pictured are members of the Chautauqua County Legislature. Photo by Gregory Bacon

MAYVILLE – The debate of whether or not job creation should be the top priority of county government continued for a second month.

Before Wednesday’s Chautauqua County Legislature meeting, Legislator Bob Bankoski, D-Dunkirk, prefiled a resolution entitled “Declaring Job Growth as the Number One Goal of County Economic Development Efforts for 2026-2029.”

The legislation was not discussed at any of the August committee meetings.

In July, Legislator Fred Larson, D-Jamestown proposed adding a goal of ‘job creation’ when the legislature adopted its goals and objectives for the Chautauqua County Department of Planning and Development.

Republicans, who hold a 14-5 super majority in the county legislature, rejected Larson’s addition.

In the resolution filed by Bankoski, it notes that the county went from 65,000 employed people in 2005 to 51,000 employed people today. “This decline of 14,000 is part of the reason the County’s population has also declined by 14,000 from 140,000 (in 2000) to 126,000 in 2020.”

Before the county legislature could debate Bankoski’s resolution, a substitute resolution was proposed by Republican Legislators Tom Harmon of Silver Creek and Jamie Gustafson of Lakewood.

The new resolution, entitled “Job Retention & Creation in Chautauqua County,” also notes the county’s drop in population, and states that “the population is projected to shrink markedly because of lower birth rates, aging and dying residents not being offset by new domestic or foreign arrivals, and other factors.”

The Republicans’ resolution highlights that there are more than 1,000 jobs that are unfilled. “If the need for new jobs was the solution to population decline, people would be flocking to our county for the multitude of open jobs that currently exist,” it states.

The Republicans’ resolution states that the county Industrial Development Agency, and Department of Planning and Development are “working collaboratively to try to turn the tide on population loss and bring more economic activity to Chautauqua County.”

In the final clause, the resolution states, “the CCIDA and the county will continue to make job creation and retention by businesses a top priority, with the understanding that the CCIDA, not the County’s Department of Planning & Development, has the tools and resources and is uniquely qualified to fulfill this objective.”

Larson was unimpressed with the Republicans’ new resolution, calling it “propaganda” and even accused portions of it being “legally not true.”

He spoke for seven minutes straight, arguing that among New York counties, Chautauqua County is one of the worst, economically speaking.

“We’re pathetic and we’ve been pathetic for close to 20 years now,” he said.

Legislator Tom Nelson, D-Jamestown, agreed.

“Our county’s median income is among the lowest in the state, the poverty rate is 17% and we have a 40-year population decline, while other parts of the state have grown,” he said.

Legislator Fred Johnson, R-Westfield, argued that one priority should be filing open positions.

“In the next three years, if we don’t get these jobs filled, why after that would any employer come here?” he asked.

Gustafson, who co-sponsored the revised resolution, noted that the language in it highlights both job retention and job creation.

“Chautauqua County has experienced long-term population and workforce decline, mirroring state trends,” she said.

Legislator Dan Pavlock, R-Ellington, said while he supports job creation and retention, he believes the county has other priorities as well.

Legislator Bob Scudder, R-Fredonia, questioned both the original resolution and the substituted resolution, saying their only purpose is to create division.

“We went through 30 resolutions in about the same time that we spent arguing whether job growth is going to be our number one thing in Chautauqua County,” he said.

When the time came to vote, the revised resolution passed by a 13-5 vote. Voting no were Democratic legislators Tom Carle of Fredonia, Larson and Nelson, along with Republican legislators Pavlock and Scudder. Bankoski was absent.