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It was interesting to see Dave Wilfong, R-Jamestown and new Chautauqua County Legislature majority leader, talk about working to improve the relationship between the city and county.
A better relationship would be a much better situation for everyone involved than the war of words that had become so commonplace between County Executive PJ Wendel and former Mayor Eddie Sundquist. It doesn't matter much who was at fault, but things deteriorated quickly once the COVID-19 pandemic ended.
Wilfong ran to be Jamestown's mayor in 2019, so it makes sense that he would be more comfortable working with Ecklund than Sundquist. But one has to wonder why Republicans who represent Jamestown didn't do a better job working with an overwhelmingly Republican City Council over the past four years. After all, Wilfong, Dolce and Ecklund are often in city party meetings with each other. They obviously have each other's contact information. A better relationship between the legislature and the council didn't need to wait until Ecklund took office as mayor.
The lack of relationship between the county and city legislative bodies has less to do with personal relationships and more to do with the silos and groupthink that come with electoral politics. It's easy to think solely about the decision one group is making and harder to think about how that decision affects another legislative body. Wilfong mentioned specifically landfill tipping fees as something the legislature could have talked to the city about more effectively. We note the issues former Mayor Sam Teresi and former city Development Director Vince DeJoy had with the county over PILOTs and tax abatements for development projects in the city at a time when the city was fiercely protecting its taxable assessment as an area where better communication would have been welcomed. And, it's fair to note there are times the city's communications with the county haven't been particularly effective.
Better communication between the city and county can only benefit city residents, so we hope Wilfong is true to his word and that city officials are receptive to Wilfong's offer.