By RICK MILLER
Olean Star
Cattaraugus County Administrator John “Jack” Searles plans to tell county lawmakers Wednesday of his plans to step down in June from the post he’s held since 2003.
Legislative leaders were informed earlier by Searles, who is in his 46th year with the county. He held previous positions in the Department of the Aging — including director — and was a deputy county administrator.
Searles and his staff craft a county budget the county legislature reviews and votes on each November. The 2025 budget is $293.7 million with a tax levy of $58.9 million from property taxes.
As a deputy to the county’s first administrator, Donald Furman, who was appointed in 1986, Searles served as acting county administrator a few times when Furman was on sick leave.
After his appointment, Searles appointed Kelly Reed, a deputy treasurer as deputy administrator, a position she continues to serve in today. In addition, Reed serves as the county’s nursing home director.
Searles describes his current team as “a group of people who are absolutely stellar.”
“There have been a lot of ups and downs along the way. We have been exceedingly successful in terms of a variety of things” from a flood in Gowanda, to a flood in the county building to COVID-19.
The county continued to provide a variety of services throughout the pandemic, with the Health Department on the front line. Dozens of people across most county departments train in contact tracing used to quarantine those who had contact with people who had tested positive. The county went on to record more than 24,000 cases and nearly 300 covid deaths.
Covid was “uncharted water” for everyone, the county administrator said. “The response by the county was phenomenal.”
The 911 attacks have special meaning for Seales, who was with two other county officials in the World Trade Center complex to meet with bond counsel over the county’s Moody’s bond rating.
Searles saw it as an attack on the country’s financial institutions, and it was a driving force that helped him focus on avoiding fiscal calamity for the county.
Searles is proud to have worked with many county legislatures to keep property taxes down. “We’ve never, ever delivered a budget that’s been over the 2% tax cap,” he declared. While conservative, the budgets have “tried to be sensitive to what’s going on over the horizon at the state and federal levels.”
The county’s distance from Albany makes for a natural barrier. However, the country’s participation in statewide groups has helped bridge that gap, Searles said.
The county has had two legislators who were elected president of the New York State Association of Counties — the late James J. Snyder and Joseph K. Eade. Snyder was also elected president of the National Association of Counties, he noted.
Today, department heads are still encouraged to “participate in their respective state organizations,” Seales said. This can provide early information about upcoming programs.
“I’m very proud of that engagement and the team we have built,” Searles said. “Not only the administration, but department heads and their staff.”
Serles said he sees county government as providing “a number of programs and services not being met otherwise.” The role of government can change as other providers become available.
Cattaraugus County is number four on the list of counties with the most bridges and third in the number of road miles they maintain, Searles said. “It’s one of the interesting quandaries. We’ve been able to juggle the pieces and hopefully move forward with long-term investments.”
Searles cited recent investments by the county to help nail down the Franklinville location for the $800 million Great Lakes Cheese Co. plant and in an Ellicottville parking lot. Both are an example of the county’s commitment to economic development.
Another “all hands on deck” efforts was the 2008 flood in Gowanda, Searles said.
He also had a hand in the building of the new county nursing home in Machias, the Public Works Facility in Little Valley and the rebuilding of the Franklinville Highway Barn after it was destroyed by fire. The Cattaraugus County Campus of Jamestown Community College in Olean is another project Searles had a hand in, as are the renovations and new buildings at the county-operated Onoville marina.
Among the memories swirling in Searles head is the 2008 Cattaraugus County Bicentennial celebration including the wagon train that wound its way across the county.
Searles and then County Legislature Chairman Crystal Abers rode in the lead stagecoach as it went through Ellicottville. As it turned out, a 5K run through the village was being held at the same time and some of the runners had to wait for a break in the wagon train. Later, the wagon train found itself on Route 16 at the same time as motorcycles from Rally in the Valley.
“There’s an awful lot that has occurred,” Searles said in the interview in his Olean office. When he told legislators he planned to leave, he quipped that he was probably the only one who knew the names of all the legislators in photos hanging in the hall outside the legislative chamber at the County Center.
In his 46th year at the county, Searles believes he is the longest serving current county employee. He started at the Guidepost, which is part of the Community Services Department, while he was still in graduate school at St. Bonaventure University, and soon afterward moved to the Department of the Aging.
“It’s time to move on to other challenges,” Searles said. “It’s been an absolutely wonderful trip. I’ve enjoyed working with the different legislatures.” He said county government “is a core of people who want to do good by the taxpayers. They are trying to do good. I’ve enjoyed working with all of them.”
Searles had an interesting upbringing. A Navy brat, he was born in the Panama Canal Zone. His brother Larry was born in Malta. By the time he got to high school, he had been in every state but the biggest and smallest — Alaska and Rhode Island — and six countries.
“I chose to be here (Olean),” Searles said. He and his wife, Kathy, plan to do some traveling when they both retire including North Carolina where their daughter Emily Sorokes, her husband Bill and their children Henry and Alexander live. His brother lives in Raleigh. The Searles’ son Andrew and his wife Brittany live in Olean and have three children Liam, Addie and Sophia.
Searles hopes to spend time doing some volunteer work as well, and have more time to work on his hobby of stamp collecting.
He’s studied the postal history of Cattaraugus County and has begun making presentations at different historical societies and has plans to write a book about the subject. He also wants to get more involved in the American Philatelic Society at State College, Pa. He’s also taking interesting online courses at different universities and may even take a course at JCC for certification as a plumber.
Searles said he will miss his county family, especially his administrative team. “I’m exceedingly proud of what we have been able to accomplish,” he said. “We’ve got a stellar team in place.”
He declined to comment on a possible successor.
He said, “I will certainly miss all the people and the challenges of the job. I’ve enjoyed all of it.”
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All Rights Reserved. Star News LLC. Eric M. Firkel.
