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JAMESTOWN, NY (WNY News Now) – Of the many places to call home, one United Nation Ambassador has chosen to reside in Jamestown.
County Executive P.J. Wendel sat down with Ambassador Hugues Sanon, to discuss the needs of Chautauqua County.
“It’s really interesting that we have a person of his caliber, he presents at the UN, he’s met with several heads of state, over 50 different countries, kings, dignitaries, etcetera, so it was quite an honor to be in his presence today and receive the awards he did present to me,” said Wendel.
One of the issues the two officials touched on was increasing diversity in the area.
“On Friday we had a question, how do you bring more diversity into Chautauqua County, and I think Ambassador Sanon would be that conduit to increase the cultural diversity here in Chautauqua County with his knowledge, his understanding of the world, a global perspective, so I’m really excited to see what we could together in the future,” Wendel said.
The County Executive believes that Ambassador Sanon is familiar with some of the issues that Chautauqua County faces.
“I think much like everything else, he understands our opioid problems, he understands poverty and homelessness. He’s been to Nicaragua, Honduras and Mexico, and third world countries that have a much greater problem than we do here in Jamestown, but again he understands that and he brings the perspective of ‘as bad as it may seem, it’s much worse in other places’,” explained Wendel.
The pair seem to have similar views, which Wendel hopes will improve their collaboration.
“We share the same philosophy, I’ve said this to people since I’ve taken office, the positivity is created by us, the negativity is created by us as well. Although we do have negative aspects that are always going to be happening here in Chautauqua County, to focus on those is doing us a great disservice,” said Wendel.
In the end, Wendel is seemingly very positive about future endeavors involving the Ambassador.
“I think there’s a much broader perspective of what we need to accomplish here in Chautauqua County. There is no one thing, it’s an overall increasing the positivity, increasing our footprint when it comes to tourism here in Chautauqua County but really accentuating and collaborating together,” Wendel said.
County Executive Wendel acknowledges that there is work to be done, but is optimistic that with collaboration and patience, the state of the county can be improved.
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