Remember the television show Get Smart with Don Adams and Barbara Feldon and their “cone of silence” which they used for top secret conversations? Recall that it never really worked.

Our own Chautauqua Lake & Watershed Management Alliance has unsuccessfully attempted to operate in such a “cone” for several years now.

Readers may recall the Post-Journal editorial of November 22, 2025, which concluded: “It’s time for the Alliance’s failed closed meeting experiment to end.” That editorial addressed only one of the organizational and procedural defects preventing Alliance success.

Unfortunately, the pattern is clear. Each such “experiment” designed to shield the Alliance from public scrutiny and participation has failed. The latest was when Lake conditions deteriorated into an “absolute disaster” in the summer of 2025.

It is time to begin transitioning to a formal Chautauqua Lake Management District with clear authority, transparency, accountability, and measurable goals to produce the Lake improvements which we all seek.

In 2019, the Alliance reduced public meetings from twelve per year to six. Then, in November 2024, the Alliance closed all but one meeting per year to the public. During the following Summer, 2025, the Lake experienced its worst conditions since 2018.

Alliance secrecy does not improve performance.

However, the deeper issue is not simply meeting access – it is Alliance structural dysfunction.

Over its thirteen years, the Alliance has spent more than $13 million on management, staff, and Lake and watershed projects and programs with no demonstrable Lake improvement.

Organizational design flaws remain:

The Alliance has no legal authority to manage the lake. It funded and oversaw development of a Lake Management Plan but could not adopt it – so it was renamed a “strategy” and put on the shelf with 50-60 other lake “studies”. It sought to hire a Lake Manager but decided to call it a “consultant.” They worried they could not legally implement a Lake Management Plan with a Lake Manager. (Now, as of 2026, they say they have a Lake Manager?)

– The Alliance uses consensus decision-making, effectively giving each board member veto power. This produces watered-down, least-common-denominator and ineffective outcomes.

– Only twenty-three of the original thirty-one founding members remain, and no new members have been added in thirteen years.

– Board members are now selected by specific organizations. Member voting has been eliminated. Why be an Alliance member organization and pay $1,000 to $3,000 per year with no ability to select board members?

– The Alliance is partially funded by the County and led by the County Executive and Legislature Chair. But it operates as an IRS 501(c)(3) nonprofit claiming exemption from open meetings laws and Freedom of Information Act requests. As of January 2026, twelve elected government officials now regularly meet privately, out of the view of the public, while conducting business expending taxpayer funds.

– The County Watershed Coordinator has described the Alliance’s approach as “decentralized management where everyone does their own thing.”

– The Alliance awards taxpayer and foundation funds to its own members, including board member organizations privy to grant evaluations and funding decisions.

– Conflicts of interest are not meaningfully managed. Board members hold positions in multiple lake-related organizations and/or government bodies including those receiving funds.

– In all but one case, where required by state regulation, funding is distributed with no clear, measurable Lake improvement objectives or post-project/program evaluation.

– The Alliance funded the North Carolina State University Submersed Aquatic Vegetation Management Plan in June 2024 – then failed to adopt it, effectively shelving the work.

The County Executive’s campaign signs tout “Strong Leadership.” But strong leadership without authority, a plan, or accountability will not improve Chautauqua Lake.

After thirteen years, there is no justification for waiting another year or two to see the latest organizational “experiment” or “band aid” fail. Assigning Lake management to an ad hoc non-profit without Lake management authority and with unclear accountability has not and will not work. It is time to begin transitioning to a formal Chautauqua Lake Management District which will have clear authority, transparency, accountability, and measurable goals.

We encourage property owners, business owners, and residents to contact:

– County Executive PJ Wendel

– County Legislature Chair Pierre Chagnon

– The five lakeside Chautauqua County Legislators – Jamie Gustafson, Lisa Vanstrom, Pierre Chagnon, John Penhollow, and Marty Proctor

– State Senator George Borrello

– State Assemblyman Andrew Molitor.

Urge them to begin the transition to a formal Chautauqua Lake Management District.

Members of the Chautauqua Lake Property Owners Association are Jim Wehrfritz, president; Jeff Moore, vice president; Dan Smith, secretary/treasurer; Dave Dudash, director; Kathy O’Brien, director; and Tammy Schack, director.