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The OBSERVER’s View: Recent history shows county runs red

The OBSERVER’s View

It was in 2018 when the tide officially turned in Chautauqua County. At that time, the Board of Elections released the official voter registration enrollment totals for 76,447 residents. For the first time since 2008, there were more registered Republicans in Chautauqua County than Democrats. Numbers that year had Republicans at 25,775 and Democrats at 25,235. It was a close margin, but the dominoes began to fall. By 2023, red was driving the results. A Post-Journal article noted then that even though there’s only 5% more registered Republicans than Democrats in Chautauqua County, ...

How aware are you post-9/11?

Commentary

How prepared were we for the surprise attack on the morning of September 11, 2001? Neither was America prepared for it on December 7, 1941. Today it's not like it was in 1966, 25 years after Pearl Harbor. Imperial Japan was defeated and its threat ended. Is Islam defeated or even in retreat? Are you aware that since 9/11, nearly 50,000 acts of Islamic terror have struck worldwide? In 1966 roughly 300 mosques were in America. Are you aware that nearly 3000 mosques occupy America in 2026? "Death to America" isn't just heard from the Middle East; it's being shouted from locations in ...

Officials need to find solutions

Peoples column

Editor, OBSERVER: Assemblyman Andrew Molitor in his most recent bemoaning of state government, “New York Just Keeps Losing,” uses Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s July report, “Taxpayer Migration Dashboard” to claim the wealthiest New Yorkers continue to move out of state. Additional analysis, by fiscalpolicy.org notes the counterevidence, the dashboard provides, of decreasing migration rates, across the board, since the pandemic. Migration, because of increasing taxes does not undercut the revenue gains achieved from the increase in rates. Molitor continues to cite past ...

The surreal Republican Convention in Dallas

Commentary

“Surreal” is a subjective term describing something that is beyond normal reality...like something out of a dream. That is the way it seemed with the special Republican Convention called by President Donald Trump last week in Dallas. It wasn’t a serious political convention with any real substance. It was a Trump pep rally—a call to the MAGA troops not to look at the price of gasoline or the ongoing war in Iran...but to think about all of the good things going on like the new ballroom at the White House, a new arch near the Potomac, or the U.S. getting oil from Venezuela as ...

Successor to WCA Home a proper fit

The OBSERVER’s View

A significant site on Temple Street in Fredonia is getting a new lease on life, thanks in part to an agreement worked up between two organizations. Last month Aspire of WNY and the WCA Home Board of Directors announced the finalization of the historic property, transferred to Aspire of WNY as a generous gift. Aspire of WNY says the WCA will remain with the location and stand for “We Connect All.” The naming pays homage to the legacy of the WCA Home and modernizes it to fit Aspire of WNY's nonprofit mission supporting children and adults with intellectual and developmental ...

County needs to invest surplus in people

Commentary

Money is a funny thing. When you don’t have enough, we grumble. When we have too much, folks argue what to do with it. So, it seems to be true with our County Legislature. I’ve read the various articles and comments in The Post-Journal and OBSERVER for the last few months and it is becoming clear that there are differences of opinion as to how to use the $30 million overage in the fund balance. This is money that is not used in the annual budget but a separate account for emergencies or future projects. As a school superintendent, this was a common practice. We never knew when ...