It’s good to have goals. In the next few weeks, we’re going to be hearing a lot about our elected officials’ goals in the form of various agenda-setting addresses at the city, county, state and federal levels.

The first such effort came from Pierre Chagnon, R-Ellery and chairman of the Chautauqua County Legislature, during last week’s legislature reorganizational meeting. Those goals, honestly, are uninspiring.

Chagnon has six goals in mind for the coming year: successful launch of the administrative director for the North Chautauqua County water and sewer districts, support and assist efforts to restore essential air service to the Jamestown airport, extension of Center Chautauqua Lake Sewer District to complete public sewers around the entirety of Chautauqua Lake, support and assist JCC and Jamestown Area YMCA for the Community Wellness Center, support and assist the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Chautauqua Lake Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration project, and refocus discussions centering on what is wrong in the county to discussions of what can be done to improve policies, programs, and procedures that need improvement.

The quibble is that some of these are less goals than they are a task list of actions already begun. Allison Vento is already the administrative director of the North Chautauqua County water and sewer districts. Beginning steps have been taken on the Center Chautauqua Lake Sewer District expansion. The Army Corps of Engineers is here starting its work on Chautauqua Lake. The choice for the county legislature on the JCC-YMCA Community Wellness Center comes down to whether or not to write a check if the project moves forward. A study has been completed on restoring air service — and there is a lot of convincing that will need to be done before commercial flights resume in Jamestown.

Unlike some of the speeches we’ll hear this month, Chagnon’s goals are most definitely not pie-in-the-sky expressions of lofty dreams. It’s the legislative equivalent of a honey-do list. And, honestly, that’s not a bad thing. It’s pragmatic, and in our view we need more pragmatism from leaders at all levels. But, while the county works toward completing things already in the works, we’d love to see the legislature’s eyes shift toward the future.

What county services should be extended countywide in the form of shared services. We’re thinking assessing or perhaps regional municipal-level courts is a good place to start. Can we improve on county services, like Child Protective Services, by pushing for changes at the state level? We could set concrete goals for use and health of county waterways. The legislature chairman would have every right to set a goal to reduce wait times at DMV offices.

We welcome Chagnon’s pragmatism. It’s needed in government now more than ever. But this year’s list sounds like completion of 2024’s goals, not an agenda to move the county forward in 2025.