Crystal Surdyk, director of development, presents the department’s budget to the board during Monday’s budget discussion. PJ Photo by Sara Holthouse

As budget discussions continue for the Jamestown city council, the Development Department presented its plan to the council, highlighting both the good and the things the department struggles with.

Development Director Crystal Surdyk said one of the traditional increases includes salaries, retirements and the need for additional training for new hires. Code enforcement vehicles have been switched from leasing to outright purchases, something Surdyk said is more cost-effective and beneficial, but also comes with maintenance.

Some department highlights include 971 caseloads, which are handled by one code enforcement officer in training, one active officer, and two rehab and code enforcement specialists. Some cases are handled by a zoning officer and housing court representative, which Surdyk said is a promotion and a raise.

“This involves a lot of additional education, a lot of research and essentially representing all code enforcement cases in court,” Surdyk said. “So coordinating with all the code enforcement officers, making sure he has all the information, case updates, statuses, pictures, evidence, whatever he needs to be able to represent those cases in court.”

The department’s second officer is also pulling double duty, acting as an apprentice to the zoning and building inspector as he begins to learn all that is involved in the process, including doing many permits.

“We have a number of people doing an astronomical amount of work, often close to two people,” Surdyk said. “So when I say my initial request was $700,000, it was no joke. We did that calculation to determine if we could meet the needs of our department, how much would it cost us? And that would give us two more code enforcement officers and some back office help.”

Surdyk said the reality is the department has a lot going on, including 971 cases, 439 permits and working with $1.4 million in CDBG funding. The department does about 20 housing cases in court each Friday, and Surdyk said while they have tried to increase the number, there have been some challenges from the court. She pointed out that judges have said more are welcome but have been rebuffed by staff, but that the court is not the adversary either.

“It’s just a matter of getting into a rhythm,” Surdyk said. “Just to be clear, the court is not our adversary. We’re willing to make and change things and make sure that whatever processes we need to make to improve, we’re going to make to help judges do what they need to do.”

She added that processes have been greatly improved, including having a representative for all cases, which has helped streamline the process. Surdyk also discussed housing funds, the rental assistant program received due to COVID and a variety of other grants the department has. She acknowledged her team, saying they “crushed it” when it comes to applying for grants and administering them, but added that there is a lot of work to cover.

“I want to point out that our budget is only about 1 percent of the city’s total budget,” Surdyk said. “With that, I will say, I don’t know that there are too many things that don’t go through the development department. We touch almost every corner and every project the city has at any given time.”

When asked by the board if the department can operate on this budget, Surdyk said yes, but it’s not ideal, especially since her team is tired, but she’s grateful.

“I’m very, very thankful that I have the team that I have because they’re all here because they care so much about the city and the jobs that they do,” Surdyk said.

The team includes 12 employees, an ARPA consultant and a colleague who is shared with the Chautauqua County Health Department, covered by a grant for the next several years.

Surdyk continued by looking at some of the department’s projects and some of the things the department has accomplished in recent years.

“Just looking at this list of projects, sometimes we forget how much we’ve actually accomplished and just spin our wheels and keep going through the motions,” Surdyk said. “Every once in a while we have to step back and look at what we’ve actually done or are actually in the process of doing, and there’s a lot, and we can’t do it without all of you.”

Other discussion for the department’s budget included passing more ordinances and grants, the difference between development and housing, County View Estates and that realistically the department would like to have six to eight officers to help them operate. While Surdyk said she knows there’s no magic wand to bring more money to the department and there are a lot of different grants in the works, she also worries about her team’s burnout.

“Is there a light at the end of the tunnel?” Surdyk said. “I think maybe some, but I think looking at other ways we can support the development department, I think we have to do that. I will say, we can keep pouring money into trying to stop the bleeding, but if we don’t start focusing on prevention and addressing the systemic issues that cause it, we’re going to keep spinning our wheels. … My biggest fear is that I have this incredible team that has worked so hard over the last few years to get to where we are and that someone will burn out, and where there’s one there could be two. I don’t want that to happen.”

Surdyk said she’s very open with the team and everyone knows where they stand with the budget and what the department’s constraints are, but it’s starting to wear on them.