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In Fredonia, mum means no

Fredonia is a finalist on the Small Business Revolution series.

Take a cue from downstate, Dunkirk-Fredonia. During a meeting this month at the State University of New York at Fredonia Technology Incubator on Central Avenue, a senior development consultant from New York City emphasized there are opportunities in marketing both the village and city as one to visitors and tourists.

Those comments were courtesy of Neil Pariser with Vita Nuova, which is working with the city on its Brownfield Opportunity Area along the waterfront.

Fortunately, a bit of this is already occurring with the Central Connection initiative, which focuses on the history, architectural gems in housing and a path to Lake Erie. It is being driven by the university with the assistance of Dunkirk and Fredonia.

But Pariser’s remarks also led to some concerns. During his firm’s work on the project, which is fairly significant, his office reached out to the village of Fredonia on more than one occasion. Unfortunately, he said, Fredonia officials never returned a call to express whether they were interested in becoming a partner in the project.

Sound familiar?

See the front page of our Wednesday edition. North County Water District stakeholders sent Village Board representatives and the mayor a letter regarding its interest in an interconnect along Route 20. The letter was sent on Feb. 21 and it requested a response by March 31.

When April 1 arrived, and no formal answer came from Fredonia, the only thing district members could surmise was the village was not interested.

There is too much happening — most of it for the good — when it comes to regional initiatives and efforts along the waterfront. Fredonia has a village administrator, who gets paid quite handsomely to the tune of $120,000 annually in total compensation.

If the mayor or board members do not have time to make a short return phone call, then maybe the elected officials can delegate that to the administrator who is paid to handle the village’s day-to-day business.

In this era of cellphones and text messaging, there is no possible excuse — other than Fredonia’s perceived elitist attitude — for the lack of responding.

High honors

Minda Rae Amiran, a longtime Chautauqua County League of Women Voters member, is one of the quiet engines in the background that helps educate residents about issues and candidates in our local democratic process. Last week, as reported by Damian Sebouhian, she won the inaugural Elizabeth Cady Stanton award with congratulations coming from League members as well as state Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

It is well deserved.

One of Amiran’s most recent successes has been a gathering of area residents who support President Donald Trump and those who do not to try and find common ground. Meetings take place monthly, and by all indications, have been positive.

Our community is fortunate to have residents like Amiran among us. If you are interested in being part of the group, send an email to amiran@fredonia.edu.

John D’Agostino is the OBSERVER publisher. Send comments to jdagostino@observertoday.com or call 366-3000, ext. 401.

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