Similar name creates land of confusion – Evening Observer

Jan 10, 2025
OBSERVER File Photo Dunkirk Town Board member Phil Leone, board member Jean Crane, Justice Christopher Penfold, Board member Shari Miller, and Town Supervisor Priscilla Penfold taking the oath of office last year.

Once the fiscal turmoil involving the city of Dunkirk’s government began to come to the forefront last spring, it did not take long for a neighboring entity to quickly attempt to distance itself. Leading the charge was one elected official who seemed almost spiteful at the thought his town would do any business with the troubled municipality — or even consider a merging of services.
“I don’t think our constituents understand what consolidation would mean as far as taxes increased,” Dunkirk Town Board member Phil Leone said in May. “All of these (entities) seem to be in the red. We’re not in the red.”
Leone, for the most part, is correct. His town of Dunkirk flourishes when it comes to its budgeting approach.
Because of the few services it provides to its 1,250 residents and its strong retail property base along Vineyard Drive, its overall budget for the year is $430,000. The property tax rate increased by 5 cents this year, which makes it 89 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation.
Back to Leone’s point, it is nowhere near as rosy in the city.
The government page of the town of Dunkirk website features the Stearns building in the city.
As has been well-documented by The Post-Journal and OBSERVER since March when Dunkirk found out it has been dealing with a cash doomsday, the city’s budget is more than $28 million this year. In putting that plan together, Mayor Kate Wdowiasz and Common Council upped the property tax rate 84% on its residents in an attempt to bridge the gap. That forced the city rate to rise this year from $18.12 to $33.82 per $1,000 of assessed valuation.
Shortly after that action, the smaller-sized entity — that makes clear it wants to remain separate from the bigger cousin with the same name — began to hear from constituents. During its December meeting, Dunkirk town Supervisor Priscilla Penfold said she fielded several phone calls from “irate” residents believing their property taxes were increasing 84%. Additionally, members of the Town Board and the town clerk’s office were contacted by angry and concerned residents believing what was happening in the city would impact them.
Spending and taxes aside, it is tough for many to distinguish a difference between the town and city. Both share the “of Dunkirk.” Even residents, through the recent phone calls, do not understand the separation.
It is what makes New York state so maddening. How many Westfields, Shermans and Panamas do we need in a county of 124,700 residents that keeps decreasing? All three of these entities are both towns and villages.
Those divisions within our county were set years ago in a horse-and-buggy economy some 200 years ago. News then was communicated over days, weeks and months, not in the current pace of split seconds through cell phones and different digital social and traditional media platforms.
Yet with only a couple of exceptions over the last decade, residents have refused to consider downsizing a current system of two cities, 13 villages, 27 towns and 18 school districts. Those included the dissolving of the village of Forestville into the town of Hanover and the village of Cherry Creek to the town of Cherry Creek.
There are five members of the Dunkirk Town Board for 1,250 residents — or one representative for every 250 citizens. There are five council members and one mayor for 12,400 city residents — or one official for every 2,066 residents. How does that representation even begin to make sense?
While we’re on the topic of the two similar in name, but differently operated municipalities, let’s consider what the town gains from the financially troubled city:
— It has a contract for coverage with the city Police Department.
— It receives its water from the North County Water District, which is supplied by the city water treatment plant.
— It receives mutual aid from a respected city Fire Department when an accident or blaze occurs that needs added attention. Its volunteers, from the East and West departments, are excellent and dedicated. Most importantly, they are not paid like their city counterparts.
In that sense, the town needs the city more than they like to admit.
“People don’t know that there is a town of Dunkirk and a city of Dunkirk,” Leone said last month. “Some of the people in Erie County say, ‘Oh, you live in Dunkirk-Fredonia.’ They are the same Thruway exit.”
Maybe Leone’s government is a bit responsible as well. Adding to the confusion between the two entities is ironically visible on the website — https://www.dunkirkny.org. Maintained by the town, it includes two pictures that are within the city.
One is under the government tab and includes a picture of the Stearns building that is located next to City Hall on Central Avenue. The other is under the Local Laws tab and features a photo of the power station owned by NRG Energy Inc. that has not operated since 2016.
If the town is serious about not being linked to the city, it needs to reconsider current partnerships and its website appearance. Those actions could be adding to the current identity crisis that has some of its residents puzzled.
John D’Agostino is the editor of The Post-Journal, OBSERVER and Times Observer in Warren, Pa. Send comments to jdagostino@observertoday.com or call 716-487-1111, ext. 253.

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