Our 30th Year Three Decades of Success Local Capacity Building Cattaraugus County has been a rural community throughout its history. It has not had established urban-type organizations for solving local problems other than local legislative bodies. The members of these local legislative bodies have been local residents, property owners, and business and professional people. Traditionally they have served part-time without pay on these local legislative boards.
Issues become more complicated with each passing year.
The burden being placed on the shoulders of local legislative bodies grows ever larger. In appropriate circumstances, with specific needs, it becomes necessary to create a new department or organization to take over full time management of the matter. This has happened many times throughout the history of Cattaraugus County such as when the County Health and Public Works Departments were created. This process expands capacities for local self-government. The creation of the Cattaraugus County Planning Board in 1961 was an important example of this effort to strengthen local capacity as an alternative to State and Federal solutions.