I would like to take some time to recognize the public service to the village of Fredonia of James M. Sedota who recently died on July 15, 2025. I don’t believe many residents are aware of the responsible and demanding positions Jim held in village government.

Jim served the village of Fredonia as village administrator for 30 years, a very demanding job. He also served during that same period as village clerk and village treasurer which were also demanding jobs. Jim held three important positions for our village at a modest salary.

As village attorney, I served with Jim during all his 30 years of public service and worked with him almost on a daily basis.

Most people think of Washington, D.C., when it comes to government. However, the reality is that most day to day and meaningful government service happens at the local level and Jim was on the front line of all village issues.

I observed Jim almost daily. I need to stress that Jim held very responsible and demanding positions in our village. He was responsible for not only preparing the village budget for the Board to review and adopt, he was also responsible to make sure all village money was properly and legally spent. Jim was a hard worker and an expert on village finances. He often spent more than a regular eight-hour day on village work with no overtime pay.

Jim was the watchdog of village spending and he did a fantastic job doing so. Village tax rates were always kept very reasonable during his 30-year tenure. This was due in large part to Jim’s insistence on only spending money on what was absolutely needed to run the village efficiently and to deliver quality service to village residents. I don’t remember hearing during his tenure of any complaints from our taxpayers about village taxes or water or sewer rates.

There were many times when Jim had to tell department heads that they needed to curtail spending to keep within the village budget or telling them that their request for funds was not budgeted and their request would have to wait until a new budget was adopted.

As village administrator, Jim was also on the front line to handle employee grievances. There were few formal employee grievances during Jim’s tenure largely due to Jim’s ability to resolve such issues without the formality of a grievance procedure. Jim handled the grievances professionally and with respect to the grieving employee and in the best interest of the village.

Whenever I had to appear in Court on behalf of the village, Jim was always willing to give me assistance and all the background information I needed to represent the village. In any Court appearance involving the village, which was few, Jim was there beside me.

During Jim’s 30-year tenure as village administrator and village Treasurer-Clerk, the village consistently maintained its financial “A” rating and never had to borrow money to complete a fiscal year.

Jim Sedota was a faithful, hardworking and dedicated public servant of the highest caliber. Fredonia was very fortunate to have Jim Sedota as village Administrator as well as village Treasurer and village Clerk.

We owe much appreciation to Jim Sedota for his tireless work and for dedicating his professional career to serving the public interest.

Rest in peace Jim. You will be sadly missed. Job well done!

Sam Drayo Jr. is a Fredonia resident and former village attorney.