To The Reader’s Forum:

The Board of Directors of the Chautauqua Lake Partnership (Partnership) appreciates The Post-Journal coverage of our public program presented at the James Prendergast Library on December 5, 2018. However, we do take exception to two very important aspects of the article.

First, and most importantly, we take exception to the article’s headline: “CLP Uses Lecture as Platform to Air Grievances.” We did not “Air Grievances.” The title of our program, as previously announced in a newspaper article provided by library staff, shown on our charts and emphasized by Tom Erlandson at the start of the presentation was, “Chautauqua Lake Management: The Partnership Perspective.”

Sixteen charts were presented by Tom on lake characteristics and science and another 16 charts were presented by Jim Wehrfritz on the Partnership’s analysis of the three primary lake problems (weeds, algae and fragments) and our perspective on their solutions. We did present 3 charts identifying the Partnership’s “issues” with the comparative effectiveness of other lake organization programs and our own, and 1 chart with the Partnership’s perspective on “impediments to improvement”. But those were a very small portion of the presentation. Further, we see a vast difference between presenting a perspective with issues and airing “grievances,” a word that we did not use. Immediately after the presentation, all charts were provided electronically to newspaper staff to facilitate accuracy in their reporting.

Twenty-five years of mismanagement has led to the significant problems we’re now experiencing in Chautauqua Lake. We believe it’s critical that specific issues be identified and discussed.

The entire presentation will be posted on the Partnership website, chqlake.org, and our Facebook page within the next several days.

Jim Cirbus,

Bemus Point

Chautauqua Lake Partnership president