Dunkirk council refers three chief appointments and budget changes to committees; ratifies town police patrol contract

The City of Dunkirk Common Council on Jan. 2025 voted to refer three prefiled resolutions to committee for further review and unanimously adopted a separate resolution ratifying a police patrol contract with the Town of Dunkirk.

The council voted to refer Resolution 1 (appointment of a police chief) to the personnel committee and Resolution 3 (consent to appointment of a fire chief) to the personnel committee; both referrals passed on recorded roll calls. Resolution 2 (authorizing budget line modifications for fiscal year 2025) was referred to the finance committee. Resolution 4, ratifying the Town of Dunkirk police patrol contract, was adopted on a roll call vote.

Why it matters: referrals to personnel and finance committees mean those items will receive further review and possible amendment before the full council may vote on final appointments or budget changes. The ratified patrol contract governs policing arrangements between the city and the Town of Dunkirk.

What the council did - Resolution 1 — Appointment of police chief: motion to refer to personnel committee carried on a roll call. Vote: Laskowiak — aye; Yeriko — aye; Bustillo — no; Nichols — aye; Lars Weiser — aye. Outcome: referred to personnel committee for further review and clarification. - Resolution 2 — Authorize budget line modifications for fiscal year 2025: motion to refer to finance committee carried on a roll call. Vote: Laskowiak — aye; Yeriko — aye; Stoyle — aye; Nichols — aye; Lars Weiser — aye. Outcome: referred to finance committee. - Resolution 3 — Consent to appointment of fire chief: motion to refer to personnel committee carried on a roll call. Vote: Laskowiak — aye; Yeriko — aye; Stoyle — no; Nichols — aye; Lars Weiser — aye. Outcome: referred to personnel committee for further review and clarification. - Resolution 4 — Ratification of Town of Dunkirk police patrol contract: clerk called the roll after no discussion; council recorded unanimous ayes and the resolution was adopted.

Council procedure and next steps: Several motions to refer were made from the floor and seconded; the clerk then called the roll for each referral. Each referred resolution was routed to the named committee for additional review — the personnel committee for the two chief-related resolutions and the finance committee for budget modifications. The adopted patrol-contract resolution does not appear to have been amended at this meeting.

Administrative context: Earlier in the meeting the clerk read the certification of the prior meeting and the mayor noted upcoming staffing changes in the public safety department; the mayor also said she is "hoping that we can pass the resolutions to get the new chiefs in place tonight," though the council chose to refer those items to committee for further review.

Ending: The council moved into executive session later in the evening for matters of employment and returned briefly to complete the remaining agenda items, including the referrals and the contract ratification.