Jamestown City Council
Jamestown City Council overrode two budget vetoes related to increasing wages for two management positions and funding for the Jamestown Urban Renewal Agency in a special meeting Monday night.
Council member at large Kim Ecklund recommended to Mayor Eddie Sundquist that a committee be established to review all salaries. Sundquist said the salary commission is scheduled to be established in 2022 to review elected and appointed position salaries.
Other vetoes presented by Mayor Sundquist including restoring $6,000 to the Humans Right’s Commission, over $9,000 for the Mayor’s travel, education and stationary budget; and $10,000 for building maintenance failed to receive the six votes needed in order be overridden by Council.
Council member at large Jeff Russell said before the vote to override the restoration of funding to the HRC that he hasn’t found where the city has funded a line item for citizen boards and commissions, “I think about the Veterans Commission or the Planning Commission and there are no other commissions that are having monies that allocated to them. If this passes tonight then I’m recommending that these commissions step forward and also request funding. I feel like there’s some favoritism going on, or some of the good ol’ boy network going on with this strictly picking one commission out and funding that commission. I don’t think is right and I can’t support that.”
Council President Tony Dolce said he wasn’t surprised by the outcome of the votes given that some of the amendments that were vetoed had only passed with a simple majority of votes before on budget night.
He added that because council couldn’t override the veto regarding funding the HRC, it sets a precedence, “I had asked the Mayor if they needed money for a particular event that they were planning that they put down in writing how much specifically they’d need. And that they could come back to and ask for money be allocated, but just to give a carte blanche $6,000 I think was the wrong move. But again, you know, that’s people’s independent vote on that.”
Dolce said a budget amendment will be presented at Council’s voting session on December 27 in order to allocate the $25,950 in funds that were restored by the Mayor’s vetoes, “We’ll just have to make that adjustment and find somewhere in the budget, whether it be sales tax, whether it be it insurance, other areas where you pull from there. I would assume it’ll pass. It’ll have to. We don’t have a choice.”
Only a simple majority is needed to pass the budget amendment.
Council also voted to amend the appointment of City Court Judge George Panebianco to a ten year term.
Council member Brent Sheldon voted no on the resolution, citing the inequity in one city court judge being able to be appointed for a 10-year term while the other judge must run for election for their term, “New York State has had seven years to correct this aberration where we have an appointed position for ten years. And they have not. Our Assemblyman Andrew Goodell has fought for this and has not been successful. I cannot support appointing someone to a ten-year position.”
Council President Dolce said the City was informed by the state that Panebianco had to be appointed not just to fill the unexpired term of City Court Judge Fred Larson but to also be appointed to his own 10-year term.
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