Submitted photo Don Williams, left, is being challenged by Natalie Luczkowiak.

It’s Round 2 in Dunkirk’s First Ward between Natalie Luczkowiak and Don Williams.

Williams, the ward’s incumbent representative on the Common Council, lost a Democratic Party primary in June to Luczkowiak. She has the Democrats’ line and Working Party line on the Election Day ballot, but Williams will also be there, under his own People Over Politics designation.

The OBSERVER asked all Common Council candidates to submit answers to three questions. The responses of Luczkowiak and Williams follow.

Question 1: Why are you running for Common Council?

Williams: I’m running for re-election because I feel that Dunkirk needs leadership that is willing to ask tough questions and works to accomplish what the residents want done in the city in a transparent way. I’m not a “yes man,” I have plenty of contact with people of all political affiliations throughout the city and I do what the majority of them want me to do.

Luczkowiak: I’d like to bring my community activist background to the table. I want to pull the Common Council out of the stalemate and deadlock that my opponent has created as its front-runner. When he is not present at meetings, I see a difference.

Question 2: What is the biggest problem facing the city of Dunkirk?

Luczkowiak: The most pressing issue confronting the city of Dunkirk is the need to modernize its infrastructure. This is the most common concern I’ve encountered from my door-to-door encounters. Our nation also needs to invest in the National Infrastructure Bank, along with the Biden Infrastructure Bill, which can’t come soon enough.

Williams: The biggest problem facing Dunkirk would still be the millions of city revenue dollars lost due to the NRG plant not being in operation. There has been a committee set up to discuss the possibilities of re-use for the NRG site, but the property still sits empty and the money once paid to the city by the (unfair) PILOT agreement is now merely a fraction of what it should be.

The Chautauqua County IDA thrusted onto the City of Dunkirk an unfair, lengthy PILOT agreement that they first entered into with NRG some 30ish years ago. This PILOT was never fair to the City of Dunkirk’s or the city school district’s taxpayers. We still suffer the financial effects and no word from NRG, county IDA or New York State about making NRG pay their fair share for the prime property they own and no mention of any plans to clean the site up to make it a safe, usable property for development.

Question 3: If elected, what do you want to accomplish?

Luczkowiak: If elected, I would seek to bring civility back to the Council, allowing us to build on the mayor’s first-term accomplishments. Youth Build must also be reinstated, as well as a work development program that helps both individuals and businesses.

Williams: If re-elected, I would like to accomplish getting a plan together to construct segmented offshore breakwaters off the coast of Lakefront Boulevard. If we could get these constructed, a sandy beach would fill in from Steger Apartments to the wastewater treatment plant. This would increase tourism, protect the lake wall and protect Lakefront Boulevard. This would enable the city to make much needed improvements to the roadway there. There are many other things I’d like to accomplish but that’s the big one.