Several things caught my attention during this past week, and I hope no one objects to me throwing in my two cents.

To begin, in my opinion now was not the time to give large pay increases to elected officials, particularly county legislators who are classified as part time. As for the fulltime elected officials, I think that some sort of increase was appropriate but not as large as those approved. I remember that when I was younger, I always heard that if you went to work for the government, you might not make as much as someone in the private sector but that you would reap your reward in retirement in the form of a good pension and other benefits.

I know all elected county officials take their jobs seriously and work hard but it’s a fact that Chautauqua County is ranked as one of the poorest counties in New York State with one ranking placing the county second to only Bronx County. With a median income of $54,625 and a poverty rate of 17.6% the country continues to struggle and when considering pay increases that must be taken into consideration.

Next. I’m not sure that a local rally does much good in getting our governor’s attention so that she will release the money first allocated in 2016 for the new hospital. Based on my experience Chautauqua County gets lost in the shuffle even for a native of Erie County as might be the case with our governor. I remember that after moving to Silver Creek whenever I went to Buffalo for company meetings or other events people treated my wife and I like we had just arrived from the Maldives Islands and asked us if we were staying in Buffalo overnight and were actually surprised when we said that we weren’t and would be home in 35 minutes.

For some reason some Erie County residents have limited geographical knowledge beyond the city of Buffalo, West Seneca, Hamburg, or Amherst. Our governor may be one of those people. She may have just forgotten us. After all, when she left her position as Erie County Clerk, she forgot to tell employees in the Erie County Clerk’s office that she had instituted a new filing system.

Here is what I think we should do to get her attention. I know that the new hospital is a state issue but now might be a good time to contact that declared friend of upstate Senator “Chuck” Schumer, who I think is the de facto Democratic state leader and see if he could contact Governor Hochul to encourage her to release the money for the hospital. Knowing the senator, he might even come up with some federal funds to sweeten the pot. It might be worth a try.

Finally, I give Mark Geise and the county IDA “A” for effort in coming up with their campaign to do something about the loss of population in the county, but I have the feeling that it’s a case of putting the cart before the horse because Chautauqua County has issues to deal with before we can hope to entice people and employers to locate here.

Our biggest problem is that we are located in New York state, famous across the country for the highest taxes in the nation and with a nod to Attorney General Letia James the most unfriendly to business in the nation. Currently, the only way upstate New York can attract businesses is with tax breaks that our already thinly stretched tax base has added to its burden or with “half baked” state schemes like that empty former Athenex plant on Lake Shore Drive in Dunkirk.

We should recognize that Chautauqua County is not alone in having a declining population. Based on statistics released by the Census Bureau, New York State lost 101,984 people during the 12-month period between July 2022 and July 2023, a 0.52 percent decline which is the biggest drop in the country by both percentage and total. That beat out far more populous California’s loss of 75,423 people during that same time.

Upstate New York including Chautauqua County are in a tough position. We are ignored by downstate Democrats who control Albany and look after New York City and environs while passing legislation that adversely impacts upstate farmers and citizens.

I admire Mr. Geise and the County Industrial Development Agency for their efforts but I’m not sure it’s money well spent. Frankly I think the only solution is to streamline our governments and education systems. I think we need to eliminate many of our municipalities and make the county the primary public services provider. Additionally, why do we have so many small school districts when there is proof that large regional school districts can provide a better education for our young people while lowering costs and tax rates.

First, we need to get our own house in order.

That’s my two cents for this week.

Thomas Kirkpatrick Sr. is a Silver Creek resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com