Community Summits 2000

In June 2000, as promised, a second round of community summits was held to account for work done toward fulfillment of the priorities citizens set at the first round of summits in November 1999.  About 300 people total attended the five meetings held in Sherman, Dunkirk, Westfield, Jamestown and Cassadaga – fewer than last Fall, but enough to have a good conversation.  During these meetings, citizens: 

• Confirmed the priorities set in November 1999, although with some shifts in emphasis.  The economy was still the leading concern, with strong emphasis on “people development.”   Support increased, however, for attention to government reform, including greater emphasis on regional cooperation, while concerns for the environment and for meeting “social needs” seemed to wane. 
  
  
• Said they were slightly more positive and slightly more optimistic about the “state of the county.”   Participants were somewhat more likely to say the county is “in good shape” and “getting better” than they were eight months before. 
  
  
• Affirmed, in general, the draft of the vision and principles statement.   Citizens rated it better than eight on a scale of one to ten and specific criticisms were scattered.  But people were enthusiastic about putting such a statement to use and disseminating it widely as a guide for action and a benchmark for progress.
  
  
• Applauded the County’s efforts in the area of economic development in general, and specifically for producing “shovel ready sites” through key infrastructure investments, for working together, and for listening and responding to the results of last year’s summits.In the minus column, participants said the effort was being slowed by political infighting, negative attitudes, and taxes that are still too high.
  
  
• Gave high marks for work on the environment. Participants were impressed by how many initiatives are under way, pleased with growing awareness of the environment, and heartened by signs of cooperation across the region. There was concern, however, that no effective address was being made to problems of sprawl or protection of natural and agricultural land. We need a vision and a plan, they said.
  
  
• Gave mixed, but still mainly positive reviews for efforts make government more effective. There was enthusiasm for a wide variety of initiatives to organized shared services and for inter-governmental cooperation in general.County government, itself, got its share of kudos. But participants also said grassroots participation in the process needed to be improved, that much more could be done to promote cooperation for the reduction of duplication of services, and that communication had to improve.
  
  
• Efforts in the area of people development got the least positive assessment, but in large part because the needs for children, families, and others are understood to be so great. Participants said the County and many others are doing the right kinds of things, just not enough to meet the needs. They called for a less fragmented effort, perhaps some kind of coordinating body county-wide, more grassroots involvement and stronger participation by schools.
  
  
• People were happy with the meetings – but not quite as happy as in the first round of summits. It’s clear we have a talented, conscientious and increasingly experienced cadre of facilitators. But participants were disturbed that there weren’t more people in attendance. They suggested holding the meetings at a more convenient time of year, or in friendlier, more social settings, among other ways to boost participation.

A more detailed summary of the results county-wide follows. It includes a tally of the re-ranking of citizen priorities; a summary of participant ratings on the “state of the county”; ratings and commentary on the vision and principles statement; a summary of the conversations in four major theme areas – economy, environment, government, and people – across the county; and an analysis of exit surveys.

This report also contains outline summaries of the presentations made at the Summits on the economy, environment, government reform, and people development issues. Following that is a separate report on each of the five summits.