Here’s proof that oftentimes elected officials are wearing blinders. Straight from the Chautauqua County League of Women Voters debate last week during the primary for the Democratic trustee, this answer came to a question about the village of Fredonia working closer with the city of Dunkirk.

“Dunkirk is a sinking ship. I really don’t want to join any shared services with them,” said Michelle Twichell, current village trustee who came up short in the Tuesday primary.

For the record, Fredonia is plummeting quite quickly itself — and has been for the last decade. Population is down, the State University of New York campus is struggling — in part due to horrible water service — and the village just imposed a 56% tax increase and has yet to make any reductions in government.

Nothing impressive there.

Besides, how Dunkirk got to its fiscal disaster is a lot easier to see. It had a power plant that closed in 2016 and lost $4 million in tax revenue.

Fredonia’s follies are due to a lack of attention to detail, its use of reserve funds for years to balance its budget and a belief of superiority over other municipalities.

As the village continues to struggle, some of its leaders and residents keep looking down on Dunkirk. That’s full hypocrisy for you.