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JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown City Council rang in the new year with its organizational meeting Monday evening, and the two newest members say they are ready to dive into their work head first.
WNY News Now spoke with newly-elected Councilmen Andrew Faulkner and Randy Daversa, both Republicans, following the meeting. Both were asked what kind of goals they have for their first year in office.
Faulkner says that there’s a plethora of issues that he’d like to tackle in his role as the Ward VI representative, particularly as the pandemic rolls on.
“The biggest thing I heard from people is the housing issues, the pandemic didn’t help any of those issues,” Faulkner said. “I’m hoping that in the next two years we can get beyond the pandemic so we can make some things happen with housing. Second up would be the deer issue. I know it’s probably the easiest answer to give, but even on my way here, I walked out to my car and there were three standing there. They’re everywhere.”
Daversa, meanwhile, explains that he’d like to continue to make improvements to the city’s public safety.
“To me, EMS and police safety (were big topics he heard during campaign),” Daversa said. “I come from a police and fire family, so that is dear to my heart, it’s important. People want to feel safe when they go out, go out on their front porch. That was paramount with everyone I spoke to.”
WNY News Now also spoke with City Council President Tony Dolce to see what his major goals are for the upcoming year. He says that the allocation of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds is a critical problem to solve.
“We have $28 million dollars, and we just started some allocating that,” Dolce said. “We really need to role up our sleeves and really get aggressive on some of the projects, economic development, neighborhood initiatives, public safety issues and so forth.”
The Council will hold a work session next Monday evening.
Multimedia Journalist Justin Gould contributed to this report.
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