Only good things can come from a revived town supervisors and mayors association in Chautauqua County.

Jeff Molnar, Bemus Point mayor, hosted a meeting of about 20 supervisors and mayors in December in an attempt to bring back semi-regular meetings of the area’s town and village leaders. Similar meetings went dormant during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Molnar makes a good point – there are a lot of newer leaders in top town and village positions throughout the county. Newer blood can be a good thing, bringing new ideas and fresh approaches to local government. But there are some things that more experienced leaders bring to the table that should be disseminated to the younger leaders as well. Give Molnar credit for taking the step to reorganize the supervisors and mayors group.

There can be a lot of benefits. It’s easier for shared services to happen when people are meeting face to face rather than communicating through emails, letters or the occasional phone call. Not only can challenges be discussed during these meetings, but successes shared too – and ideally those successes can be spread throughout the region.

In fact, a revived town supervisors’ and village mayors’ association isn’t the only group that should make a comeback. This is a good time for the old Metro 6 group to be reformed as well. That group historically included the city of Jamestown, towns of Ellicott and Busti and villages of Falconer, Celoron and Lakewood. Relations between the city, Ellicott and Falconer have seemed strained since the attempted annexation of a Jamestown Board of Public Utilities substation on Dow Street in Falconer, but Jamestown and the towns and villages that surround it are inextricably linked. Major developments in the surrounding towns and villages often employ city residents, while the BPU’s low-cost power is one benefit to the surrounding municipalities. The city may have resources that can help the surrounding towns and villages – like a grant writer, for instance, that is shared with Jamestown Community College – while the surrounding municipalities can possibly help with regional solutions that can benefit everyone.

Only good things can come from having open lines of communication, with taxpayers ultimately reaping the benefits when elected officials are sharing best practices, helping each other provide services less expensively or pursuing regional solutions to common problems. Kudos to Molnar for realizing that fact. We hope someone in the old Metro 6 group comes to the same realization and takes the all-important first step.