You heard it straight from the mouth of Dunkirk Councilman at-Large Willie Rosas. If there is any question as to why development seems to have come to a screeching halt in the city over the last three years, Rosas gave a very good indication.

“I put a call in to economic development director Steve Neratko, who didn’t answer, call me back, unfortunately,” Rosas said during the Harbor Commission last week.

No call back? Not even from one of the people the development department answers to?

How many other phone calls to the city development department are going unreturned? Why would anyone want to develop in the city if a basic, effortless task of returning a call cannot be completed?

Maybe Neratko was not available to take the call, but others do work in the office and should have been able to get back to Rosas.

This is not a laughing matter.

Dunkirk has a development department – one that seems to be missing in action at times – and how is it responding to questions from city officials? Obviously, it is not.

It is time for some serious accountability and questions from city leaders, including:

Is anyone working in the development department?

What are their hours?

Why are calls not being returned?

Why is nobody in council embarrassed by this?

What is going to be done?

This falls at the feet of city Mayor Anthony J. Dolce, who seems to be tolerating this attitude. We must note, however, the mayor is usually quick to respond to our phone calls. His development department, however, is another story.

Dunkirk is stuck. Government seems to be doing little to improve the city or to foster any type of economic growth.

How can it? Nobody wants to answer the phone.