Since winning election to the top post in 2018, Chautauqua County Executive George Borrello has been a strong voice and hard worker for his constituents. Starting at day one, he set a strong agenda while taking the time to learn along the way.

An aggressive 100 businesses in 100 days goal was met — and exceeded — by the end of March of that year. His findings were an eye-opener to many: there are excellent companies in our region that have numerous job opportunities.

The biggest problem, however, is the lack of a skilled work force. That’s a much different take on the employment landscape than we have heard from past politicians who basically gave us the “we need more jobs” lip service without offering solutions.

In the past year, Borrello also has taken the lead on building partnerships in regard to Chautauqua Lake and spearheading a proposal for the Gateway Center in Ripley. He is a strong advocate of efficient government and a believer that the residents of this region, due to an exodus of industry and business over the last 30 years, can often be their own worst enemy. In other words, we who live here need to have more self confidence.

His challenger, Democrat Austin Morgan, is a rising star. A recent graduate of Cornell University, he has a background in politics and is correct when stating he would have a stronger voice than Borrello in state affairs. With New York having the Democratic majority, Morgan may be able to deliver more funding for the region if he wins the Senate seat.

Morgan, however, has an uphill battle. Borrello is very popular in the heavily Republican district. In the June primary against Allegany County stalwart Curtis Crandall, Borrello captured 63% of the vote. In Chautauqua County alone, he received 92%. Those are high approval ratings.

We give our backing to Borrello for the 57th Senate seat.

Agree or disagree?

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