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Legislator Larson urges committee to adopt annual goals under 1998 charter, offers sample objectives
Summary
Legislator Fred Larson asked the Planning & Economic Development Committee to set measurable goals and objectives by June, as required by the county's 1998 charter, and said the committee should work with planning staff to quantify targets such as manufacturing job creation and industrial park acreage.
Legislator Fred Larson (District 12) used the committee's privilege-of-the-floor time on Feb. 19 to urge the Planning & Economic Development Committee to prepare annual objectives, goals and measurements as directed by the 1998 Chautauqua County Charter.
Larson said the charter and county code call for legislative committees to develop and submit annual goals to the full legislature so those objectives can inform the county executive’s budget. He said the practice had lapsed and that he provided sample goals and a copy of a committee action sheet from about 25 years ago to committee members and staff to help restart the process.
Larson asked the committee to consider measurable targets — for example, if the committee wanted to pursue 500 new manufacturing jobs, the committee should work with planning staff to determine how many acres of industrial park land would be required given modern manufacturing footprints. He told the committee he had shared sample 2025 economic-development goals and measurements with Mark Geiss and the committee chair and asked that members discuss the matter at March, April and May meetings with an aim to submit a committee resolution by June.
Committee members responded that staff support and historical data would be necessary to set realistic numeric goals. A committee member suggested the department provide historical five-year averages for key indicators so the legislature could set right-sized targets; another member urged a side-session or working meeting to develop the objectives. Deputy County Executive Mark Geiss said the department would help provide benchmarks and staff support.
Why it matters: Larson framed the request as an effort to restore the charter-mandated role of the legislature in setting policy objectives that can be incorporated into executive budget recommendations, and to enable the committee to set measurable, budget-linked priorities for economic development and planning work.
Next steps: Committee members agreed to pursue further work on objectives, with staff developing historical benchmarks and the committee scheduling additional discussion ahead of a June target for submitting committee goals to the legislature.
