JAMESTOWN – At least two members of the Jamestown City Council like what they heard from Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi during his annual state of the city address. On Monday night the mayor outlined the accomplishments that the city achieved during 2012 as well laid out his agenda for 2013.
The list of goals for this year included increased business development, continuing to address housing issues and putting pressure on Albany to make eliminate restrictions that make it difficult for local governments to function and serve their residents.
Jamestown City Council President Greg Rabb (D-At Large) called it an optimistic speech and agreed with the mayor’s call for Albany to make it easier for cities to operate.
I think 2012 was a very good year for us and I think 2013 will be another good year for us, but I think the mayor is also right when he points out that there are some things that we can’t do because the state simply is not allowing us to do that. I think that is a really important lesson because when I talk to constituents I say we would like to do this or we would like to do that but the state wont let us. We don’t have complete control unfortunately and the state needs to give us more control,” Rabb said.
City Councilman Tony Dolce (R-Ward 2) is not only the longest serving member of the council, but is also one of only two republicans on the panel. He called Teresi’s address an aggressive speech with a few things worth noting.
“One of the things that caught my eye obviously was the police consolidation plan with the county. It’s going to be a big issue coming up and we’ll be reviewing that,” Dolce said. “The other thing was the housing initiatives and DOD. I like the 48 hour window. I thought that was interesting and very aggressive with the neighborhoods. Something that is near and dear to my heart was the aggressiveness with demolitions. The other thing that caught my eye was the BPU upgrades and initiatives, continuing the transformation from coal to natural gas.”
Dolce is referring to Teresi’s pledge of a new “48 Hour Rule” where all calls and complaints brought to his department will be noted and followed up on within two business days of the time they came in.
A complete copy of the mayor State of the city Address can be found online at jamestownny.net. You can also here his speech to the city council tomorrow night during our Community Matters program at 6 p.m. right here on WRFA.
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