OBSERVER Photo by Gregory Bacon From left, standing: County Surrogate Court Judge Stephen Cass, swears in Tom Nelson, D-Jamestown, and Travis Heiser, R-Clymer. Also pictured (seated) is county attorney Patrick Slagle.

MAYVILLE – A former Jamestown City Councilman and the supervisor for the town of Clymer have joined the Chautauqua County Legislature.

During the organizational meeting Tuesday, Tom Nelson, D-Jamestown, was sworn in as the legislator for District 13, while Travis Heiser, R-Clymer, was sworn in as the legislator for District 17. Nelson takes over for Paul Whitford, while Heiser takes over for Jay Gould. Both Whitford and Gould resigned last month.

Nelson served as a city councilman from 2015-2021. He noted he joined the Jamestown council after Whitford was elected as a legislator. “I’ve kind of made a habit of following Paul,” he said with a smile.

Nelson said he hopes to address government spending and declining population but admits he doesn’t have any surefire fixes. “I have to take a little bit of time and get my feet underneath me and get going,” he said.

Along with being a county legislator, Nelson has taught U.S. history and government with the Frewsburg School District for the last 37 years.

Heiser said he just resigned from his position as Clymer supervisor after serving in the position for the last seven years. Before that, he was a town councilman. He said the Clymer Town Board will be meeting next week to appoint a new supervisor from among the current board and eventually appoint a new town council member.

When asked why he decided to join the county legislator, Heiser responded, “I’ve been very interested for the longest time in local government. I’ve been in Chautauqua County for well over 20 years now. I love it and the opportunity presented itself,” he said.

Heiser noted that in Clymer, they’ve had a lot of work on solar projects, and said that may be something he may want to work on at the county level. “I know the county kind of leans on the IDA (Industrial Development Agency) and the townships. I would like to see if there’s something more that the county should be doing as far as setting parameters,” he said.

He added he doesn’t have any “agenda” and believes fellow legislators are well versed as leaders. “There’s so much in this body, so much knowledge and experience. I’m going to lean on them, follow their lead and certainly give my voice when it’s due,” he said.

Heiser is the chief executive officer of the Inner Lakes Federal Credit Union in Westfield.

Both Nelson’s and Heiser’s appointments are for 2023. Both said they plan to run for their respective seats in November.

In other business:

¯ Pierre Chagnon, R-Bemus Point, was unanimously reappointed as chairman of the legislature. He has served as the chairman since 2000.

¯ It was announced that Thomas Harmon of Silver Creek was appointed as the Republican majority leader of the legislature and Lisa Vanstrom of West Ellicott was appointed as the assistant majority leader.

¯ It was announced that Robert Bankoski of Dunkirk was appointed as the Democratic minority leader of the legislature and Susan Parker of Fredonia was appointed as the assistant minority leader.

¯ Olivia Lee was appointed as the legislature clerk and Kristi Zink was appointed as the secretary/deputy clerk of the legislature.

¯ The Post-Journal and OBSERVER were named as the official newspapers of Chautauqua County.