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In Our Opinion

Property Owners Should Have A Greater Voice On Lake Issues

Add one more group to those claiming to work on behalf of Chautauqua Lake. The Chautauqua Lake Property Owners Association formed recently. Unlike other lake groups, it isn’t looking for state or county funding to undertake Chautauqua Lake projects. Instead, it is a group that seeks to act independently of the state DEC and Chautauqua County governments by simply representing the views of its members to the state, county. While we ordinarily wouldn’t think another group seeking to protect Chautauqua Lake isn’t necessary, it’s obvious lake property owners are interested in ...

Another Example Of Government Wasting Your Money

There are times all you can do is laugh at the sheer lunacy of government spending. We had occasion to do just that a couple of weeks ago when the state Assembly passed legislation (A.4243B/S.4198-B) requiring the state Transportation Department and state Thruway Authority to identify sites along all highways, thruways and parkways in the state where wildlife crossings are most needed to increase public safety and protect wildlife. State agencies will also be required to create a priority list of wildlife crossing opportunity areas so that, if federal grant money is available, the ...

County’s Support Of Local Corporate Ownership Is A Positive

County IDA officials recently announced their support of the purchase of Dahlstrom Roll Form by two members of the company’s leadership team. The sale comes at a time when the company’s foothold in Chautauqua County was weakening. Robert White, the company’s previous owner, had decided to retire and put Dahlstrom Roll Form up for sale. There had been at least one serious offer from a German company that could have ended up moving the local company to Kentucky. So kudos to Jeremy Blum, current Dahlstrom Roll Form CEO, and Brad Renwick, current Dahlstrom Roll Form COO, for ...

State Of The City Is Murky

Mayor Kim Ecklund’s first State of the City address is very much the new mayor in a nutshell. It’s a 20-page document full of Joe Friday, “just the facts” statements of what Ecklund’s administration has done over its first four months. There isn’t a lot of flowery rhetoric, nor is there page after page of lofty goals and ambitions that Ecklund wants her team to achieve this year. The mayor notes the administration’s work setting a final cost for the Washington Street fleet maintenance facility - a bigger undertaking than one would think - as well as administrative ...

We Need Long-Term Answers To Energy Needs

We find the news that President Joe Biden is releasing a million barrels of gasoline from a federal reserve more of a frustration than a relief. Releasing petroleum from reserves is a short-term band-aid that carries real risks. If a crisis or prolonged economic downturn comes, the U.S. may well regret tapping into this supply. The United States instead should be pursuing long-term solutions — promoting or incentivizing the production of domestic oil and gas and investment in increased refinery capacity. As we have editorialized before, the benefits of developing domestic energy ...

Voters Keep Approving Runaway School Spending

It should come as no surprise that all local school budgets were approved last week. There wasn’t much controversy on the ballot. Thanks to continued state aid increases and aid remaining from the federal government’s COVID largesse, there weren’t huge tax increases to be voted on. That meant there weren’t major layoffs of teachers or staff, nor were there program cuts - all of which are usually what drive people to vote down school budgets. Eventually, that will change. Gov. Kathy Hochul tried to begin tightening the public education spending belt this year with a focus ...