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Opinion

The importance of public water systems

Commentary

This past week marked a big event at our house—we were finally connected to the public sewer system that has just been completed along the west side of Chautauqua Lake. When it happened, it was really a “non-event.” The toilet flushed the same way, the drains in the sink were no different than before—yet, we knew that our wastewater was now going to a better place—the public sewage treatment plant in Celoron. Actually, I think that I slept better that night, knowing that this 10-year odyssey of getting sewers up the lake had finally come to a successful conclusion at our ...

Our choices for county legislators

The OBSERVER’s View

For at least the last six years, this corner has been consistent regarding our spending concerns with the Chautauqua County budget. Recent contracts that have shot up payroll costs — from $66.6 million to $75 million in one year from 2024 to 2025 — and an increasing number of employees have all happened under the reign of a Republican majority and county executive. Certainly, unfunded state mandates are a major dilemma. But payroll costs, that are locally controlled and allowed to balloon, cannot be dismissed. In making our Legislature endorsements, we stick to our belief that ...

Spending hikes prove county’s growing footprint

Commentary

Chautauqua County's government spending has steadily increased every single year since 2020, and the 6.5% spike for 2027 is a stark departure from the smaller, incremental increases of prior years. The year-over-year spending reality includes: — 2020, $263 million — baseline when Executive PJ Wendel took office. — 2025, continued multi-million dollar incremental growth. — 2026, $309.7 million. — 2027, $330 million — an abrupt, massive $20.3 million single year spike. Despite blaming external economic pressures like unfunded state mandates, the Legislature has not ...

The OBSERVER’s View: DiNapoli keeping entities in check

The OBSERVER’s View

Incumbent state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has a strong challenger this year in Republican challenger Joseph Hernandez. Hernandez has raised questions about DiNapoli's role in the growth of the state's debt load, wants to create a Medicaid Fraud Strike Team as Medicaid spending increases and fraud convictions decrease and proposes additional checks on $21 billion in state aid to New York City. Hernandez, like past challengers to DiNapoli, also wants to pull back from investing state pension funds in accordance with the state’s environmental, social and governance goals and invest ...

Life's not all doom, gloom if surrounded by love

Commentary

To turn a phrase from the great blues artist Albert King, “if it wasn’t for bad news, there wouldn’t be no news at all.” A friend recently confided in me that she never watches the news because it makes her feel frightened and hopeless. The world is so full of violence and hate, and she can’t bear the sight of one more mass shooting or suffering animal or school bombing (she is a teacher). It’s hard to find a silver lining inside the stormy clouds of the modern world. It’s hard to believe in Abraham Lincoln's appeal to the “better angels of our nature” when the ...

Golden days of Dunkirk are long lost

Commentary

I am looking at all of Dunkirk’s problems, including the current mayor and her support staff, the Democratic leadership, and the deep despair of a city that appears to have lost its way. I grew up in a community surrounded by neighborhoods and churches, corner stores, a thriving downtown, and factories that provided blue-collar families with jobs and hope for the future. Today, I see a city struggling with desperation and decline. The delicate fabric of our community is being erased and forgotten. Neighborhoods where scores of children once played outside, participated in playground ...