Becky Robbins introduced the week's guest speaker, Jamestown Mayor Kimberly Ecklund. Mayor Ecklund is a lifelong resident of Jamestown and brings decades of experience and dedication to her role as the city’s chief executive. A graduate of Jamestown Public Schools, she earned her associate degree from Jamestown Community College in 1987 and a bachelor’s degree from SUNY Fredonia in 1989. Mayor Ecklund served as a City Council Member At-Large from 2004 to 2023. During her time on the Council, she was a member of the Finance Committee; the Jamestown Local Development Corporation (JLDC); the Parks, Recreation & Conservation Commission; and the Riverfront Management Council. She also contributed to the Mayor’s Task Force on Efficiency and Cost Reduction and participated in numerous ad-hoc committees. In addition, she led the City’s Neighborhood Watch Coalition and served on the board of the Jamestown Boys & Girls Club.
Beyond elected service, Mayor Ecklund currently serves as President and Public Relations Director of the Jamestown Babe Ruth World Series Board of Directors. She is a planning member of the Annual Buddy Walk, which promotes awareness and inclusion for individuals with Down syndrome. She is a proud supporter of veterans and actively backs initiatives that uplift and honor their service. Kim is a member of Holy Apostles Parish and lives in Jamestown with her husband, Keith.
Mayor Ecklund started by explaining why and how she got involved with politics. She said her father encouraged her to be involved in her community, so she started by getting involved with Neighborhood Watch. She also was involved with working with Sue Jones at the Board of Public Utilities to get residents more involved with the city's recycling program. Other community efforts included the Boys & Girls Club Board, as well as the Babe Ruth World Series. She indicated that her first involvement with BRWS was as a princess, which today is known as a diamond girl. She also noted that this year is the 20th installment of the BRWS in Jamestown and for the first time, an international team from Australia will be coming to Jamestown to participate.
Ecklund said she decided to run for Mayor in 2023, after being encouraged to run by her husband. She said she ran because she wanted to advocate for the community. She said she didn't want to make any promises during the campaign, other than pledging to do her best and to help get the city's financial house in order. She said it was ultimately about giving back to her community, and being mayor was the best way to do it.
Since being sworn in as mayor in January 2024, Ecklund said she wanted to know about all businesses in the city and made an effort to visit and tour as many as possible. She said she has not yet been able to visit all 690 businesses but added that she's been to 90% of them during the past year-and-a-half. She also wants to focus on workforce investment, helping to prepare and train the workers of tomorrow today, many of which attend Jamestown Public Schools. She said that is why she was a long-time mentor at Chautauqua Striders, and why she supports the activities of Collaborative Children's Solutions.
Mayor Ecklund fielded several questions on a variety of topics, including homelessness, Chadakoin River development efforts, the Cherry Street Parking Garage, the rise in property value in the city, problems and challenges involving too many deer in the city, and the challenges that come with housing demolitions, noting that the cost has more than tripled, going from $8,000-10,000 just a few years ago, to an average of $30,000 per structure today.
