At the Aug. 28, meeting The Southern Tier TEA Party officially endorsed Chautauqua County Sheriff candidate Jim Quattrone.

The Tea Party Patriots state, “We envision a nation where personal freedom is cherished and where all Americans are treated equally, assuring our ability to pursue the American Dream.”

Quattrone stated, “It is an honor to receive the endorsement from the Southern Tier TEA Party Patriots knowing that they have confidence in me to be the next Chautauqua County Sheriff ensuring that each person can enjoy their personal freedoms while maintaining an effective, efficient and accountable budget at the Sheriff’s Office.

“Chautauqua County residents and visitors deserve a community that they can feel safe and secure. It is only when agencies can collaborate and cooperate with each other that we will have these safe communities. The Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office needs to better utilize its current workforce and work with all police agencies — local, state, and federal to ensure the quality of life we deserve. It is equally important that the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office work alongside other government agencies, non-profit’s, and Emergency Medical Services to develop more efficient and effective ways to combat our drug epidemic.

“While working together in a collaborative and cooperative manner we can develop positive efforts to combat the drug epidemic which has led to increased crime rates, increased rates of incarceration, and increased financial costs to our county residents. We need to find smarter ways to combat these issues and reduce the rates recidivism. We must unify the county’s efforts on drug enforcement rather than having multiple drug task forces so that we can effectively remove those who are selling and dealing in the poison that is taking too many lives. At the same time we need to work with our rehabilitation centers and peer advocacy networks to assist those who are fighting addictions and are seeking help.

“I look forward to developing these positive partnerships with the various agencies that are working hard to make Chautauqua County a great place to live for all,” Quattrone concluded.