The Post-Journal

Peterson Recognized For 40 Years Of Service To Falconer

Greg and Amy Peterson with Falconer Mayor James Rensel.
Pictured, from left, is Gregory Peterson, village attorney; Cindy Peterson, his wife; and Mayor James Rensel. Submitted photo.

FALCONER - Falconer village attorney Gregory Peterson was recently presented a certificate of recognition for 40 years of service to the Falconer community.

Mayor James Rensel and the village board presented the certificate during their monthly board meeting.

“It is a great honor to have had you as our village attorney for 40 years,” Rensel said. “You probably have a lot of other demands on your time and places you could be, but for 40 years you have chosen to be the attorney here in Falconer and we are blessed to have you. We recognize you as the treasure you are, not only for the county but for the village.”

Peterson said he was humbled by the recognition and even pleasantly surprised.

“I didn’t expect (anyone) would remember,” he said, with a laugh. “I really enjoyed the opportunity to work with the great community-minded citizens of the village of Falconer, its businesses and its ability to cooperate after significant discussions on what is good for the community as a whole.”

Peterson, a Jamestown native who’s also a founding father of the Robert H. Jackson Center, began representing Falconer in 1977.

“I had just passed the New York State Bar in 1976 and was going to start practicing law with the firm Cadwell and Sharpe in Jamestown,” he said. “I had not been admitted to the practice yet, but was in the office when I learned from the other attorneys of the vacancy at the village of Falconer.”

Peterson said he applied and was interviewed by then-Mayor Laurence “Spec” Dye and the village board.

Throughout his time as village attorney, Peterson has served with five different mayors: Dye, Louis Schrader, Abe Mattison, Dave Krieg and Rensel.

Peterson said representing the village is like representing a corporation, advising the board of operational issues, organizational issues, general municipal laws, real estate, employee relations, governance and a myriad of other legal issues.

“It’s an opportunity to understand a community in depth … to appreciate the citizenry and how democracy works on a micro scale,” he said.


The additional financial assistance of the community is critical to the success of the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame.
We gratefully acknowledge these individuals and organizations for their generous support.