Brent Sheldon is the current Jamestown City Council representative for Ward 1, and is running unopposed in this year’s election. Submitted photo

Brent Sheldon will continue his 12-year career on the Jamestown City Council when his next term begins on Jan. 1.

Sheldon is running unopposed for the council’s Ward 1 seat. Sheldon is currently the council’s Finance Committee chairman.

“Public service has been most of my life,” Sheldon said. “I worked for the county Health Department for 32 years and I’ve been on City Council for about 12 years now. It’s something I enjoy. I enjoy helping people and trying to solve problems.”

Sheldon is a life-long resident of Chautauqua County, living in Jamestown since 1987. He said he believes he works hard for the people of the city, trying to hold the line on taxes, even as that becomes a little bit more difficult with some of the financial issues that the city faces.

When it comes to some of the major issues the council has faced and discussed in this past year, specifically issues with some neighborhoods throughout the city, Sheldon said he sees the Department of Development working hard to help with some of the issues these neighborhoods are facing. Additionally, he said the Development Department is also working with some personnel issues and the loss of some staff.

“We’ve also dedicated funding for demolitions from the American Rescue Plan Act, to deal with some of those houses on Fulton Street,” Sheldon said. “It’s not just Fulton Street; there’s other areas that definitely need help. I believe these plans that we’ve put in place to develop some of these lots, and offer affordable housing will help with some of the issues that we have here.”

Housing is not the only factor in these ongoing problems in neighborhoods, Sheldon added, saying that issues with crime and drug addiction also add to it and the police department has been working on that. The Chautauqua County Mental Health Department has been working to help with some of the mental health and homelessness issues as well, he said.

“I think we are carrying on a lot of these programs, and that’s what we need to do,” Sheldon said. “We should be seeing results very soon.”

Financially, the city is continuing to struggle, and Sheldon said the current budget that the council is working on that was recently presented is very lean, and the city is facing lost revenue with no increase in help from the state through state aid. He said the current proposed 7.5% tax increase is the highest he has seen during his career on city council.

“We’d like to reduce that but also using about $3 million from the fund balance is concerning,” Sheldon said. “That will reduce our fund balance to about $3 million and it’s not sustainable to do that. If we have that much in the budget this year we’re going to have to have that much next year and then our fund balance will be zero and that’s not a good financial position to be in.”

One other big issue for council from this year is whether or not Jamestown is a safe place, and Sheldon said to him it is safe, though he added there are some places in the city that the police have a lot of calls to, specifically for things like people breaking into the condemned houses that are slated for demolition. He said he believes that the city is on the right track with the things being proposed by the Department of Development and being approved by city council.

“I think people just need to be aware of the environment and take care of their own things around their own home,” Sheldon said. “Make sure their doors are locked; make sure their bicycles are locked up. It’s a problem but I think it’s being managed fairly well. I think if we can get a few more police officers, we do have some vacancies, and some staffing issues there, but I think that would help out.”