Women hold majority on council for the first time in the city’s 132-year history
JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown City Council held its inaugural voting session on Monday night at City Hall.
Councilwoman Marie Carrubba (D-Ward 4) was tapped to replace previous council president Greg Rabb, who lost reelection in November. She has served on the city council since 2013 and has chaired the council’s housing committee and also served on the public safety committee. As city council president, Carrubba will preside over all council meetings, appoint its standing and special committees, and perform the duties of mayor in his/her absence. Carrubba will also serve as co-chair of the city’s Strategic Planning and Partnership Commission and was appointed by Mayor Sam Teresi to serve on the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities (BPU).
Carrubba is just the second woman to serve as council president, following former council women Dr. Lillian Ney, who was council president a little over a decade earlier.
Rabb, meanwhile, will remain active in city government with a seat at the BPU and on the city Planning Commission. Rabb was appointed by Teresi to serve on the BPU to replace outgoing member Tyler Case. Rabb previously served on the BPU while president of the city council. Case, meanwhile, was appointed to the Jamestown Local Development Corporation.
WOMEN HOLD MAJORITY
For the first time in its history, a majority of women will hold seats on the City Council. Joining Carrubba are council members at large Kim Ecklund (R) and newcomer Vanessa Weinert (D), along with councilwoman Vicki James (D-Ward 3) and Maria Jones (D-Ward 4). Jones will continue serving on the BPU. Ecklund will serve on the JLDC board.
Councilman Tony Dolce (R-Ward 2) will once again serve as the council’s finance committee chair.
City resident Tim Smeal was appointed to the JLDC as a representative of the Manufacturers Association of the Southern Tier (MAST). Smeal currently serves as Director of Development at Jamestown Community College and previously had served on the mayor’s ad hoc Downtown Parking Committee.
Also appointed to another four-year term to Public Safety Director was Jamestown Police Chief Harry Snellings, who’s held that dual role since 2010.
A Complete list of appointments is available below.
LIUZZO VOTES ‘NO’
Prior to voting the council members took their oath of office. Joining Carrubba, Ecklund, Weinert, James, Jones and Dolce were returning council members Brent Sheldon (R-Ward 1) and Tom Nelson (D-Ward 6) along with newcomer Andrew Liuzzo (R-At Large).
Liuzzo was the only council member to vote “not” to electing Carrubba as president. In all Carrubba received five nominations as president (all from the Democratic members of the council). Others who received nominations were Dolce (two nominations from Sheldon and Ecklund) and Ecklund (one nomination from Dolce). Liuzzo had nominated Jones. Once nominations had ended, Liuzzo made a motion to vote for the president by secret ballot rather than a roll call vote. His motion didn’t receive a supporting second and was declared dead by city clerk Todd Thomas. The council then voted 8 to 1 in favor of Carrubba as president.
Liuzzo also voted against Teresi’s 27 agency appointments, which were blocked together into a single vote. After the appointments were announced, a motion was made to suspend the rules and vote on the appointments collectively, to which Liuzzo voted “absolutely no.” He also voted “no” on the actual appointments. All other council members supported both the motion to suspend the rules and the actual appointment vote and they passed 8 to 1.
The Council’s first work session of the new year is set for Monday, January 22 at 7:30 p.m. in the Mayor’s Conference Room (4th floor) of City Hall.
2018 Mayoral Appointments
* New Appointment
** Council member appointed by Mayor
*** Council President appointment
Department Head:
- Harry L. Snellings – Director of Public Safety/Chief of Police – Term Expires: 12/31/2021
Zoning Board of Appeals
- Sally Martinez – Term Expires: 12/31/2019
- Patricia Calanni – Term Expires: 12/31/2020
- Richard Hanson – Term Expires: 12/31/2020
- *James Olson – Term Expires: 12/31/2020
Board of Assessment Review
- *Thomas Vitale – Term Expires: 09/30/2022
- Board of Electrical Examiners
- James MacTavish – Term Expires: 12/31/2019
- Steve Nowell – Term Expires: 12/31/2019
Board of Public Utilities
- Martha Zenns – Term Expires: 12/31/2019 (filling unexpired term of T. Case/resigned)
- Ralph Wallace – Term Expires: 12/31/2019
- Charles Cornell – Term Expires: 12/31/2021
- *Gregory Rabb – Term Expires: 12/31/2021
- **Maria Jones – Term Expires: 12/31/2019
- **Marie Carrubba – Term Expires: 12/31/2019
Parks, Recreation and Conservation
- **Vanessa Weinert – Term Expires: 12/31/2019
- **Kimberly Ecklund – Term Expires: 12/31/2019
- *David Reinhardt – Term Expires: 12/31/2022
- *Aubrey Russell – Term Expires: 12/31/2022
Planning
- Jeffrey Nelson – Term Expires: 12/31/2022
- *Gregory Rabb – Term Expires: 12/31/2022 (Chair)
- ***Thomas Nelson – Term Expires: 12/31/2019
Property Rehabilitation and Conservation Board of Appeals
- *Sandra Stewart – Term Expires: 12/31/2020
- Mary Lynne Videll – Term Expires: 12/31/2020
- ***Brent Sheldon – Term Expires: 12/31/2019
Riverfront Management Council
- **Kimberly Ecklund – Term Expires: 12/31/2019
- *Vanessa Weinert – Term Expires: 12/31/2020
- Jade Barber – Term Expires: 12/31/2020
- William Stevenson – Term Expires: 12/31/2020
- *Luke Fodor – Term Expires: 12/31/2020
- *Aubrey Russell 12/31/2020
Strategic Planning and Partnerships Commission
- Paul Leone – Term Expires: 12/31/2022
- ***Marie Carrubba – Term Expires: 12/31/2019
- ***Anthony Dolce – Term Expires: 12/31/2019
Veterans Memorial Commission
- Sharon Terwilliger – Term Expires: 12/31/2020
- Russell Diethrick, Jr. – Term Expires: 12/31/2020
- Tom Abbott – Term Expires: 12/31/2020
- *Daniel Kell – Term Expires: 12/31/2019
Jamestown Local Development Corporation
- **Kimberly Ecklund – Term Expires: 12/31/2019
- *Tyler Case – Term Expires: 12/31/2018 (At Large member)
- *Timothy Smeal – Term Expires: 12/31/2018 (MAST representative)
- Russell Diethrick, Jr – Term Expires: 12/31/2018 (Chaut. Co. Chamber of Commerce representative)
- John Whittaker – Term Expires: 12/31/2018 (JRC representative)
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