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The OBSERVER’s View

Inept Fredonia content to be in crisis

Fredonia’s follies just will not go away. Last week, after a contentious Village Board meeting marred by a minor scuffle after the public comment session, trustees went into executive session and created even more chaos. When they came out of it, the board terminated its Department of Public Works supervisor. While trustees have every right to do so, there is no replacement waiting in the wings. David Bird, a former trustee, had been hired in November to lead the department. From most accounts, he had been doing an acceptable and above-average job. Three trustees — all Democrats ...

Impressive list of Westfield projects

Viewing from a distance, there seems to be little doubt that the village of Westfield is one of the most organized and aggressive communities when it comes to funding. Last week, state Gov. Kathy Hochul announced projects planned by recipients of the NY Forward grant. Westfield had an impressive lineup, which totaled $4.5 million. — Establish a Small Project Fund at $508,000. — Redevelop the Former Welch’s Administrative Building into Apartments and Commercial Space at $1 million. — Create a Pocket Park on Clinton Street with Public Restrooms and Bicycle Repair Station ...

Our view: Hefty reserves disregard taxpayers

We have complained for years about more than $30 million in reserves for Chautauqua County. Pine Valley Central Schools is even more guilty. In recent years, Pine Valley built its unassigned fund balance to roughly 30% of the succeeding year’s budget — dramatically higher than surrounding districts. Prior to this proposed budget, the district had just shy of $6 million in unassigned fund balance. It also has significant amounts in several reserve funds for various purposes. That’s too much — and goes against the 4% recommendation by New York state. This year, the district ...

Our view: Not Fred Fest gets less rowdy

Village of Fredonia officials deserve some praise for their efforts regarding the notorious Not Fred Fest. Earlier this month, the party hearty weekend was nothing like previous editions. In a news release issued last week, Fredonia police noted they handled 163 incidents and made 37 arrests. Here’s the total charges handed out: Open container violation, 15; underage possession of alcohol, 9; fake ID, 2; harassment, 2; vehicle and traffic tickets, 7; disorderly conduct, 2; littering, 2; and one each of criminal mischief, petit larceny, sewer ordinance violation, and driving under the ...

Our view: Shock waves continue in energy policy

Republicans and Democrats are like two ships passing in the night when it comes to New York’s energy policy. Both ships are in shallow water with a rocky bottom. In this analogy, that makes the state Independent System Operator a lighthouse trying to illuminate the darkness to allow the ships to pass safely to port. Unfortunately, both ships’ captains have blinders on – and we’re headed for a crash. The ISO said last week that electric grid reliability for the summer months is among the lowest on record, with 34,615 megawatts of power resources available to meet forecasted ...

Building tab disturbing in Pomfret

We must admit our lack of surprise regarding rising government costs. In this case, the top story in last weekend’s OBSERVER focused on the growing expense for Pomfret of its new town hall. During its meeting last month, Supervisor Dan Pacos told the town board the estimated price tag now stands at $3.46 million. That’s more than double the last reported estimate, and more than eight times the original $400,000 estimate that Pacos said was made “years ago.” And just how did Pomfret get the funds to acquire the former church on Chestnut Road? American Rescue Plan Act funds that ...