Life22

Transcript
00:00:00 Tim
In in the upstairs kitchen, because I have my office in the basement.
00:00:05 Kevin
Perfect. All right, gang. Kevin here. Life 22. And today we are interviewing with Tim Sherlock. He's running for school board in 2025.
00:00:15 Kevin
And your when's your? Your races coming up here? Right? May May 26th.
00:00:21 Tim
Believe it. Yeah. And it's all day long at the music St.
00:00:21 Kevin
May 20th.
00:00:27 Kevin
You got real soft there on me, Tim.
00:00:29 Tim
Yes, May 20th, I believe that's the date at the Olean Middle School in the music.
00:00:36 Tim
Is 1.
00:00:37 Kevin
OK.
00:00:39 Kevin
What's?
00:00:42 Kevin
So this is all right. I remember running for school board, right? So it's.
00:00:47 Kevin
It's it's low turnout race, so it's it's trying to drive numbers up.
00:00:52 Tim
Yeah, absolutely. I mean historically, school board does not poll the same amount amount of voters coming out as you would see for, you know, President or Congress. And that's sad. You know, it's still a very important position. It's a very important vote, especially in local communities.
00:01:12 Tim
So yeah, I would definitely like to see more people come out and have their their voice heard in that election.
00:01:18 Kevin
So.
00:01:21 Kevin
Right. Like obviously the general election is going to be busy in November. You get a poor turnout for primaries, typically, like when we're going into like, we have a mayoral race this year. So the probably the primaries would probably show a higher turn out than they would in a normal year.
00:01:37 Kevin
But.
00:01:39 Kevin
Like you're going to have, you're still. The primaries are significantly lower. They're harder races to win because they're primary and a school board race is very similar to that. You're going to get a lot of teachers voting. So if you don't have the will of like, what I learned running for school board, if you don't have the will of the teachers, if you don't have the Union behind you or you don't have a massive movement working in your favor.
00:02:00 Kevin
Like it, I mean it can, it's.
00:02:02 Kevin
Oh.
00:02:02 Kevin
A coin toss.
00:02:03 Tim
Absolutely. And I mean we we have the other dynamic that this year is a budget vote.
00:02:10 Tim
We also have the teachers contract negotiation is this year.
00:02:16 Tim
So those are other dynamics that make it a little bit more of a boiling pot, if you will, and and have a little more attention brought to it.
00:02:30 Kevin
Right, OK. And that and that I want to say, that's what happened when I ran. What was it? Jeez, I'm going on four years, so that was.
00:02:36 Kevin
Which what are the three-year contracts?
00:02:38 Tim
So they're five year seats.
00:02:40 Kevin
Well, I meant the the Union contract.
00:02:42 Tim
Union contracts? Yeah, I think so, yes.
00:02:45 Kevin
Right. So that would make sense that they're coming up. Yeah, they're five year seats. Whatever. There's nine seats.
00:02:50 Tim
Nine seats total this year. We actually have three seats open. So you have Kelly, who has decided not to run again. Her term is done. So that's a five year seat. Then you have two vacancies that were made by the resignation of Mr. Farnum and Mr. B, respectively. That's a one, I think 1 is a three-year term.
00:03:10 Tim
And the other one is a 2 year term and whoever gets those positions, would that have to run again?
00:03:14 Kevin
Gotcha.
00:03:18 Kevin
And then so they take that on a.
00:03:20 Kevin
And they do that by low vote getter I believe, right? So if there's like an opening that's a shorter term, like a vacancy to fill out their term, they would just give you like hey, you took third place, you're getting the guy who has a one year spot versus the five.
00:03:34 Tim
Absolutely highest vote. We'll get the five second highest vote. We'll get the three, the third highest vote.
00:03:39 Tim
We'll get the 2.
00:03:40 Kevin
OK. And so?
00:03:41 Kevin
Cool.
00:03:43 Kevin
Well, so so it's it's a spicy year right now we've got. At first we had.
00:03:49 Kevin
We've got de Blasi. Is it? Is it? Ryan? James James Ryan.
00:03:52 Tim
OK.
00:03:54 Kevin
OK. And then he was coming on he he kind of. I saw him kind of blowing up the scene. He's been very vocal on Facebook.
00:04:03 Kevin
Absolutely.
00:04:05 Kevin
I've seen Tracy Lynn. She's she's been there, but her presence isn't as great as you know, is in your faces. De Blasio's is.
00:04:14 Tim
Yeah.
00:04:15 Kevin
And then you threw into the race and now now we also have what we call the Young sisters.
00:04:21 Tim
Well, so you have former Senator Cathy Young, you have Aubrey. I can never remember her last name.
00:04:30 Kevin
Is it Malik?
00:04:31 Tim
Alex and then Alex.
00:04:34 Kevin
Kelby.
00:04:35 Tim
Now they're a three person kind of running together as a group.
00:04:41 Tim
I mean, technically you can't run on the same ticket, so each one of them will have to earn their own votes respectively. But they are running jointly.
00:04:50 Kevin
Right, right, right. Which is which is more of a tactic and less of a.
00:04:54 Kevin
Formal thing, right? So it's more of a.
00:04:57 Kevin
Right. It's just their campaign strategy, right?
00:05:00 Tim
Oh, absolutely.
00:05:01 Kevin
So.
00:05:04 Kevin
Do you are you worried about that? I mean, Kathy Young is a pretty heavy hitter. So to kind of anchor your boat to hers.
00:05:09 Tim
Well, you know, I'll say this. It's smart.
00:05:12 Tim
Absolutely.
00:05:14 Tim
I think that each candidate who has thrown their name into the race, we all bring something very unique to the.
00:05:23 Tim
I think we all on our own merits have something that would be beneficial to.
00:05:29 Tim
The school board.
00:05:30 Tim
As far as your question, am I worried?
00:05:30 Kevin
OK.
00:05:34 Tim
I don't view this as a popularity contest. I don't view it as a political race.
00:05:42 Tim
It's not about winning or losing.
00:05:45 Tim
Right. For me, whomever is elected to that position.
00:05:50 Tim
As long as they are there for the right reasons, with the district's best interests at heart.
00:05:57 Tim
Then it's really about the children winning. There are no losers.
00:06:02 Kevin
Right.
00:06:03 Tim
And so that for me it is Kathy brings a great wealth of legal information.
00:06:08 Tim
A great wealth of internal workings into politics and policy writing.
00:06:14 Tim
Her assets are strong and they're needed.
00:06:17 Tim
You know, so, you know, I'm actually more than anything. I'm kind of invigorated, excited and happy to be running.
00:06:24 Tim
Alongside of her.
00:06:26 Kevin
Right.
00:06:27 Kevin
Because, yeah, I mean and then and that's part of it too, because even after cause you've run before.
00:06:32 Tim
I have.
00:06:32 Kevin
And I mean, even with like, even with losing previous races, like you're still in it, you're still trying to run. And like you haven't, like, fallen off the scene, you get a lot of people that are like, I'm going to run for Alderman. And then you just never hear from them again.
00:06:48 Tim
Absolutely.
00:06:49 Tim
I'll say that that that's one thing that and I'm glad you pointed that out. And I I tell people this when I'm talking to them.
00:06:56 Tim
Since I ran, I didn't disappear.
00:06:59 Tim
I didn't say, oh, well, I didn't win. I'm.
00:07:03 Tim
I still stayed invested. I'm still at the board meeting. I'm still talking with board members, Superintendent admins, teachers. I am in the buildings. I'm asking questions. I'm learning as much as I can, you know, I'm trying to figure out, even as a community member.
00:07:21 Tim
I have a voice. I have ideas and I can still be valuable and everybody actually in our community needs to understand that we're all stakeholders. I didn't disappear. I've been active and I've I've still remained there and I tell people when I'm asked. Well, are you here for the long haul? You know, one of the questions is the longevity. It's a five year term.
00:07:42 Tim
It's long and it's a lot of work. Are you going to stay?
00:07:47 Tim
Well, here's the truth. I jokingly say I have a life sentence to Ollie. You know, I'm a homeowner. I'm not selling my house. I have children who have yet to graduate.
00:07:59 Tim
I have no desire to.
00:08:01 Tim
Move.
00:08:02 Tim
I'm here for life. This is my community.
00:08:07 Tim
And so yeah, I'm invested. I'm. I'm here for.
00:08:09 Tim
The long haul.
00:08:13 Kevin
So.
00:08:15 Kevin
I mean that and that's and and that's that's that's a refreshing approach because a lot of people don't talk about that. They're just and they also don't talk about the commitment because I don't think a lot of people realize the commitment like I've had conversations with Kelly and she's not one to miss a meeting, miss A if she's a committee chair, she'll be there. She'll be there for the entire duration. She she's never.
00:08:35 Kevin
Unless, like her kid is on fire, she is not like we got to go as I've served, I've served with some political people.
00:08:43 Kevin
That are like this meeting is supposed to be 30 minutes, like meetings are supposed to be 30 minutes. Meetings are as long as meetings need to be.
00:08:48 Tim
Oh, absolutely. Last night, that meeting ran well past 10:00. OK. Kelly and Kelly was a workhorse. I love Kelly. In the position on the school board. And you're correct. She was at every committee meeting every board.
00:08:53 Kevin
Right.
00:09:05 Tim
Special needed. She never missed anything. She was dedicated. And when you look at that, let's break it down. You know you're you've got all the committees that you have to go to. Those happen on the off weeks that you don't have the meeting and sometimes it's the same week as the general body meeting.
00:09:24 Tim
Last night's meeting was over three hours.
00:09:27 Tim
So you already have it, it turns out to look working a full time job because there are also trainings that you.
00:09:33 Kevin
Right.
00:09:35 Tim
Have to go.
00:09:35 Tim
To you have to learn what the rules are, the laws that you have to govern. So there's a lot that goes into them.
00:09:43 Tim
So it's a full time job and I commend her. It is not easy and we've seen we've seen that, let's be honest in some of our past board members, you get on the board and then you never see them at a meeting, you never see them at the committee meetings. And then I have to question why did you even?
00:09:46 Kevin
Right.
00:09:56 Kevin
Right.
00:10:01 Tim
Run in the first place.
00:10:03 Kevin
Right. Because they thought they're gonna make some great grand change, right there was.
00:10:06 Kevin
Some.
00:10:07 Tim
Oh, absolutely. We all do.
00:10:07 Kevin
There was some idea or a threat that they thought that they saw that happened in the last few years and it's and it's one of those things. And then you realize when you get on some of these like it's very incremental change if any that you can make a lot of these things are.
00:10:24 Kevin
Bestowed upon you from the state.
00:10:27 Kevin
So I mean it and it's a thankless job because you get the people up there trying to point and it's your fault what's going on with my kid.
00:10:35 Tim
Oh, you know and and absolutely right. And and let's let's talk about that. We have situations I'm I'm a parent. I want the best for my students in this district. What does that mean? I want the best education that they can get. I want the best services. I want the best support. I want my child to feel.
00:10:55 Tim
Safe and included and valued as a human being, right? Well, there's also always going to be problems in every district.
00:11:04 Tim
So what we get sometimes is, are people coming up and saying you're not doing this.
00:11:12 Tim
Well, ohh, I'll take that and I hear you. But I want to ask, let's go through the process. Have you who have you talked to since I didn't win? Part of what has happened over?
00:11:22 Tim
The last few.
00:11:23 Tim
Years is I have community members who will come to.
00:11:25 Tim
Me.
00:11:25 Tim
And say I have a problem with the district.
00:11:29 Tim
What do I?
00:11:29 Tim
Do.
00:11:30 Tim
So I I walked them through the process. Have you spoken to that school's guidance counselor and administrator? Yes, I have. OK.
00:11:39 Tim
Right. Good. We did that. Do you? Nothing happened. It was terrible. OK, now I want you to go the next step, which is would be their supervisor or up to the high school level. Nope, nothing happened. All right, now you're going to talk to the.
00:11:53 Tim
Superintendent.
00:11:54 Tim
All right, nothing happened. I feel that it wasn't all right. Now you are going to address the board.
00:11:59 Tim
We follow that process.
00:12:02 Tim
Does it work perfectly? No.
00:12:05 Tim
If it worked.
00:12:06 Tim
Perfectly, we wouldn't find ourselves in the positions we constantly find ourselves in in this district.
00:12:14 Kevin
And.
00:12:17 Kevin
I mean that is that is.
00:12:17 Kevin
That.
00:12:18 Kevin
That's there's, there's, there's so much that's like that goes on with these, with these communities of ours and then like and the process you have to follow and nobody understands the process regardless of like how much people think they understand it, right. Like I used to be a teacher and I did this. And it's like, yeah. But like, so there's there's teachers that don't even deal with, like, the administration. They don't ever have to get up that.
00:12:40 Kevin
Are they never have a problem? And so now all of a sudden they're out. Maybe they want to run. You know, it's like.
00:12:45 Kevin
You've been so far back from the.
00:12:48 Kevin
And it happens in every organization, right? Like the cities got people like that. The counties got people like that. They don't follow local politics. They don't follow county politics and they, but some of them work for these municipalities and whatever. And they just they no care in the world. So if they were like, hey, you used to work there, you should run for such and such and.
00:13:07 Tim
OK. That brings me to part of my platform, right, that is that's something that is the fault of the district. How do we disseminate that information? Is it easily accessible to our community?
00:13:20 Tim
Is it written and presented in such a way that is easily understood and followed? That's the responsibility of our district to do? And how do we disseminate? Well, that's another part of my platform. We used to have our YouTube, much like the Common Council, does air our meetings. They did away with that.
00:13:39 Tim
Many reasons I want that brought back.
00:13:43 Tim
We, you know, we we should be open and transparent in what we're discussing. We have people in our community who are mobility impaired that can't get to these meetings. Let's be honest. Some of our parents, many of our parents are single parents working 2 jobs who can't just stop working.
00:14:03 Tim
At the board meeting. But.
00:14:05 Tim
You know, they can watch later on their phone, or maybe they're home with the kids and they don't want to drag the kids up there, but they can pop that YouTube video up live on their phone while they're washing dishes or cooking dinner. It's about that excessive ability piece that allows them to stay in formed.
00:14:22 Tim
And it's how we present that information. So they know where do they need to go when.
00:14:26 Tim
There is a problem.
00:14:29 Kevin
Right. No, and I'm you're not going to hear any argument from me. I'm I was a big advocate of it. I I I pop your buds in. And while some people are listening to music while they work whatever. I'll listen to podcasts. I'll keep up on news. I'll listen to books I used to. I can I catch up on every common Council meeting whether it's, you know, early in the morning to late at night.
00:14:49 Kevin
Like, I'm usually listening to some.
00:14:51 Kevin
Thing and I've become a real audible learner. Like when I'm working on something. I need to see it. But when I'm listening to a book on theories and whatnot, I can listen to it because an idea is not something. Usually you can see. So it's one of those. But that I usually man, I I miss listening to the school board meetings because you could hear some of some of it had drama, right. There's always drama.
00:15:13 Kevin
You get the public comment that's been like the Common Council's got a ton of it lately, and I'm sure there's some that happens down at the school board, but I haven't seen any of it in what, three years.
00:15:22 Kevin
2.
00:15:23 Kevin
There's.
00:15:24 Kevin
Right.
00:15:24 Tim
Absolutely. We all have that and you know, you call it drama. And for me, I love that our community exercises their free speech. I love that our community is passionate.
00:15:39 Tim
And and we'll raise alarm around concerns.
00:15:43 Tim
Umm.
00:15:45 Tim
Sometimes, though, what I think we miss in that is.
00:15:50 Tim
There must be, given the opportunity to take a step back from the noise.
00:15:55 Tim
And then find out what the real issue is.
00:15:59 Tim
And and we need to be more focused on that. Absolutely. But I love the involvement.
00:15:59 Kevin
Right.
00:16:05 Tim
Of our community.
00:16:07 Tim
You know, I I spent a lot of time in general, you and I know this. I see you out all the time. I'm a big people person. I love talking to people.
00:16:15 Tim
But since it.
00:16:15 Kevin
I don't. I don't. I don't. I I've never been accused of. Ohh wait. Yeah.
00:16:20 Tim
But you know, for recently saying I'm going to run, I've made a war, a concerted effort.
00:16:26 Tim
I'm out there talking to people and I.
00:16:28 Tim
Love.
00:16:28 Tim
It you know I love the different perspective.
00:16:32 Tim
I love the different ideas that are brought in that you know, I didn't see things quite that way before. It also allows me to see how the policies, when they're in practice at the school board when we are.
00:16:48 Tim
Utilizing policy procedure the matrix and I'm watching how these consequences are or or how these different interventions are working. And I'm hearing from these parents.
00:17:00 Tim
The impact it's having on them that gives me that first hand knowledge of what we're doing well and what we're not doing so well.
00:17:08 Kevin
Right.
00:17:10 Kevin
So I guess I want to get back to the the the point where we we did talk about like I did mention the word drama, right? So we so when I was running there was there and even afterwards there was like there was a whole like mosh pit out there like both sides and it almost seemed as polarized as like the national stage, right. You had a bunch of people.
00:17:30 Kevin
Up there, you know, we we don't want, you know.
00:17:35 Kevin
We they were, they had the you had, they had more of more of the right wing side up there. You had like what was it? Sean Overfield was coming up to the school boards. Joel Witcher was still a an assistant principal at the Tower, a principal at the middle school.
00:17:48 Kevin
And and then you had you had like the was it? What, like WTH hair? Essentially down there, Leo and.
00:18:00 Kevin
And and and and and it was one of those things. It's like and you see all these people and everybody's polarized. And it was two different sides and it was split. And so during that time period, it was like a mosh pit. Like it was like, pick a side. Which side are you on? People are intermingled. And, like, tell you the truth. And I've just been, you know, speaking with you.
00:18:20 Kevin
Recently, like, there's a lot of people out there, probably people that listen to this podcast, that like lumped you in with like, like, I want to say Leo is pretty, pretty far left. I used to think of myself as pretty far, right. And I'm realizing I'm actually somewhere between right of center. And I wouldn't say far, right. But, you know, I would say I'm closer to right of center.
00:18:40 Kevin
Than anything else but but then it was like one of those things a lot of people lumped you in to far left extremism and.
00:18:49 Tim
And and here's here's my take on that cause. I remember that time right. And that goes back to that point that we were talking about understanding where your battle really.
00:18:58 Tim
OK.
00:19:00 Tim
And the biggest issue there was people were arguing things that were of a state and federal law level had nothing to do.
00:19:10 Tim
With the school.
00:19:11 Tim
OK, those pieces. And so to that point, you know we have to stop and know your battle. There are only certain things that the school district can and can't do. Right. And and there are laws that they must follow whether you like it or not. And it doesn't have to be a right or a left.
00:19:20 Kevin
Right.
00:19:29 Kevin
Right.
00:19:32 Tim
Thing this is the beauty.
00:19:34 Tim
The school election for school board is not supposed to be, in essence, political.
00:19:40 Tim
We know politics isn't everything we do, so let's get to the real issue, which is when things are polarized like that, and those incidences and like we see now, for me the important piece to look at is to say where is the middle.
00:19:58 Tim
It's not about Republican values or democratic values.
00:20:02 Tim
It's about where can the two opposing ideas meet in the middle to come up with the best possible solution that's in the best interest of the children that we have taken an oath to serve.
00:20:17 Tim
That must always be.
00:20:19 Tim
The main objective and goal for any person running for the school.
00:20:27 Tim
That makes sense.
00:20:28 Kevin
Sure. No, no, that makes sense. When you're when you're going into negotiation, any negotiation, right, the goal is not I get everything that I want and you get nothing or you or vice versa, right. The goal in a negotiation should be that everybody walks away happy. We came up with something you might not have. You might have won.
00:20:47 Kevin
Every little item on your To Do List.
00:20:49 Kevin
But you walk away satisfied that you didn't get shafted, and and vice versa, and everybody walks away happy. And that's a good negotiation. That's a good compromise. That's that's just the rule of, you know, and you get these too many people that are like, it's my way or the highway.
00:21:04 Kevin
And it's me, me, me, me, me and the the problem is if you went into a business scenario like that, guess what you would be in business very long because most of those, most of those people are like this guy came to my house and he said me, me, me, me, me and he wasn't here for me the customer. And you know what I mean? Like everybody feels like nobody got value in that except for the guy.
00:21:24 Kevin
Who you know?
00:21:29 Kevin
I'm losing you again, Tim. That's right.
00:21:31 Tim
Oh, sorry. Let me come up better.
00:21:33 Tim
Yeah. OK. So that comes back to those fundamental purposes of the right, what is what are the, what's the board supposed to do? Well, they draft and create the policy that's going to be implemented that.
00:21:46 Tim
Then shape and form our rules, regulations and procedures in the district they are to hire and fire the Superintendent as it pertains to their contract and and things like that. Also, the contractual pieces of negotiations, OK and approving the budget, looking at our fiscal responsibility as a district.
00:22:07 Tim
That's in a nutshell, very watered down what our boards supposed to do. There's still those elements though, of checks and balances, as you would see even at.
00:22:17 Tim
You know the governmental level and so you have that there's a constant negotiation in everything you do when you're a policymaker. OK. So that's in essence, the board, a policymaker. Nobody's ever going to be fully happy. Nobody's ever going to have to walk away.
00:22:37 Tim
With a warm feeling saying, well, that went really well. No, it's about looking at did the work we do in the conversations that we've had, did that come to a place that we all feel really serves the greater good of?
00:22:50 Tim
The.
00:22:50 Tim
Student and that's the important piece, right? We have a board right now. I'm going to be honest.
00:22:56 Tim
Yes.
00:22:57 Tim
That's fracture.
00:22:58 Tim
We have issues in our district. We have issues that I I think we can do better with fiscal responsibility.
00:23:06 Tim
Right. I think we can do better with looking at that policy implementation of how it keeps our students safe, how it keeps our families safe.
00:23:16 Tim
How those state laws?
00:23:19 Tim
Integrate into our district and what those implications of those state laws have and how then we.
00:23:27 Tim
Shape ourselves around him.
00:23:29 Tim
We have a group of population that we're responsible for and that's our students. On top of that, yes, it's our teachers, it's our support staff. It's it's our one-on-one aid. It's our cleaners, all of it. Absolutely. But at the bottom line, I like to say the joke, you know, you hear people say we serve at the pleasure of the President. I serve at the pleasure of the students.
00:23:50 Tim
That's not the reality of it, but that's.
00:23:51 Tim
How I feel.
00:23:53 Kevin
Right.
00:23:53 Tim
And so we have some issues and and you know for me to run for the school board, I have no hidden agenda.
00:24:02 Tim
There, there's nothing that I want to see happen secretly behind the the the walls. It's not, it's very simple.
00:24:08 Kevin
No litter boxes in the men's room or.
00:24:10 Tim
I can promise you that will never happen.
00:24:13 Kevin
Right. There's a lot of rumors that it is happening and I always have to dispel them. Like there's so many people that just see clickbait on the Internet.
00:24:21 Tim
Yeah, listen.
00:24:22 Tim
I like a good joke every now and then too as well, but no, that will never happen. But there are things we have to do better.
00:24:29 Tim
There are things that.
00:24:30 Tim
That's why I decided to step.
00:24:32 Tim
Up.
00:24:33 Tim
I believe in only and I believe in only in Community, right? It's not just about only in Huskies now. I tell people who aren't from Oly and you will never understand Olean culture until you come to Olean. Olean pride.
00:24:49 Tim
It's kind of like bills mafia. All right? It is. It is a being on to itself.
00:24:55 Kevin
Right. It's a big ball of kind of lunacy. Sometimes it's.
00:24:57 Tim
And what is, and so is bills mafia. But it's our love of our community, right?
00:25:00 Kevin
Right.
00:25:04 Tim
So why is it so important for the school board? Why is it so important? The work we do in the district? Well, let's look at the makeup of our community. We're not made-up of people moving from the outside in.
00:25:17 Tim
We're generational. Our students stay here.
00:25:23 Tim
Or they leave in my case and come back because it's home.
00:25:27 Tim
All leaders are here, generationally. So when we're investing in our students, in their education, in their upbringing, making them great human beings that we want them to be, we're investing in our future doctors. We're investing in our future St. workers. We're investing in our future Alderman, our future mayor, our future teachers.
00:25:48 Tim
What we grow here stays honestly here and so the work we do is so vastly important at the school district because honestly, when you invest in our students, you invest in our community.
00:26:02 Tim
That's why I decided to run. I'm a lifer.
00:26:06 Tim
I love my community. There are things that I believe I can bring to the table.
00:26:11 Tim
That need to be changed.
00:26:14 Tim
You know, I don't agree with everything. I hope that's not a shock to anybody. I mean, listen, I'm a pretty outspoken person.
00:26:23 Kevin
No, you wouldn't say.
00:26:24 Tim
One set I mean there are some real issues and there are we've got some major work to do in this district. We really, really do.
00:26:33 Kevin
I I'm not trying to toot my horn here, but like it's things like this, it's people like being transparent stating their purpose, like and then also like.
00:26:44 Kevin
We're not on the same side of the spectrum, right? Like I'm I'm more right leaning. You're more left-leaning. But we're coming together and we're having a conversation and, like, kind of burying the hatchet. You know what I mean? And like saying, hey, listen, we're we're just people having a conversation, talking about what we can do to help the community, whatever. And, you know.
00:27:03 Kevin
And and and getting the word out there that these conversations are happening.
00:27:07 Tim
And that needs to happen.
00:27:09 Tim
Right. And and I tell people, hey, you see that I'm running stop me on the street. Talk to me. You got questions? Message me. e-mail me. I don't care. You know you.
00:27:21 Tim
I love to talk about Olean and I love to talk about the ideas because I do love it here and not everybody's going to like what I have to say. I'm OK with that.
00:27:31 Tim
You know, but I will tell people this when I talk to you, you will always know where I stand.
00:27:38 Tim
There's nothing fake about. I will be blunt, direct and honest. I don't sugarcoat things. It may hurt some people's feelings, but at the end of the day, at least, I have integrity and character, and I respect the people. I'm talking to enough to be honest and dire.
00:27:38 Kevin
Right.
00:27:51 Kevin
Sure.
00:27:58 Kevin
Right.
00:27:58 Tim
These are their children. This is our community.
00:28:01 Tim
These are our friends, our colleagues.
00:28:04 Tim
I bought, you know, people are getting mad and they'll say things. Why? Why is there such a code of secrecy? Why do we not talk about things? I wish I had the answer.
00:28:15 Tim
My philosophy is this.
00:28:17 Tim
If we are following the law.
00:28:21 Tim
Following the rules.
00:28:23 Tim
Following and the procedures like we're doing everything that we're supposed to on the up and up.
00:28:29 Tim
There's nothing to hide.
00:28:32 Tim
So there should be No Fear of having it out in the community.
00:28:37 Kevin
Right.
00:28:38 Tim
That part I've never made sense.
00:28:41 Tim
You know.
00:28:42 Tim
I get the political spin on things that happens. I'm not here for that.
00:28:49 Tim
I'm not.
00:28:50 Tim
I'm I want factual conversations. I want us to look as a community and say this is the problem. I see. OK. I see that problem too. We need to fix it. I agree. We need to fix it. What can we do together to fix it? All right, let's talk about it. It's that third part we're not doing well.
00:29:11 Tim
We're good now at the problems.
00:29:12 Kevin
Right.
00:29:14 Tim
We're good at saying fire.
00:29:17 Kevin
Right.
00:29:17 Tim
But you're not good at working together to eliminate that fire. That's another thing that I.
00:29:22 Tim
Would like to see change.
00:29:25 Kevin
Yeah, people, definitely. People definitely don't want to talk about a lot of like or or maybe they don't have the ideas, but they want to gripe about it. I mean, that's essentially what Facebook is. There's not a lot of people with bright ideas on Facebook. They're just pointing out problems.
00:29:38 Tim
But I love the fact that they they want to be involved right. And and that that's the beauty of it. That's the positive of it. And so it's giving them an outlet and giving them an Ave. that perhaps they didn't feel comfortable with in person.
00:29:41 Kevin
That's true.
00:29:53 Tim
And so that that still means something to.
00:29:56 Tim
You know and and.
00:29:57 Tim
I take that very seriously to say, OK.
00:29:59 Kevin
I.
00:30:00 Tim
I may not agree with their approach, but they have something of value to say and you and I talked about that before, right? I told you I don't always agree with your approach, but I do hear what you have to say and that's.
00:30:05 Kevin
The.
00:30:13 Tim
Important.
00:30:15 Tim
I.
00:30:15 Kevin
Right, there's.
00:30:15 Tim
Don't.
00:30:16 Tim
Like many people running now and their approach.
00:30:19 Tim
But I want to.
00:30:20 Tim
Hear what they have to say.
00:30:21 Kevin
There's a lot of people, so I've always I don't know.
00:30:27 Kevin
I'm sure you're familiar with emotional intelligence, like it was one of the IT was one of the base, like evolutionary steps for mankind, right, like.
00:30:29 Tim
Absolutely.
00:30:35 Tim
Did you not read my profile on the paper? I do. Psychology is my jam.
00:30:39 Kevin
Right, OK. Right. Right, perfect. So.
00:30:42 Kevin
So you but you have this more primitive thing, and it's still the communication hubs you have logical thinking in the two lobes, and they're coming through and they're being funneled through.
00:30:50 Kevin
This.
00:30:51 Kevin
Primitive structure and it's screwing with it and so a lot of times people let their emotions kind of like twist the logic and the the and it they go from this very emotional approach and that approach in and of itself is what makes a lot of people seem like Neanderthals on Facebook, where like they just go like I just talk from the heart.
00:31:11 Kevin
It's like, yeah, but you gotta you still have to think like.
00:31:14 Kevin
Talking from the heart, it gets you so far.
00:31:17 Tim
You can be passionate and still be.
00:31:20 Kevin
Right.
00:31:21 Tim
That visceral emotional that you're talking about.
00:31:26 Tim
That knee jerk reaction that comes from that, that kind of.
00:31:32 Tim
You know, evolutionary standpoint, that's also where our fight and flight come from.
00:31:37 Tim
When we when we respond to those extreme emotions, well, of course it doesn't come from a logical place. It actually stops that frontal lobe of your brain from functioning and and you just go gut response.
00:31:52 Tim
I'm human. I do it too, right? I I don't think any human in this world cannot say they haven't been in the car and somebody comes to a roundabout that didn't understand how it worked, almost sideswiped them. And a few expletives came out of their mouth and listen, there was nothing intelligent that happened in that moment.
00:32:10 Tim
We're human.
00:32:11 Kevin
Sure, right. And we're and we're from New York. So you gotta think that anybody who's got genes that are somewhat related to this area, you get that New York driver mentality kind of built in under the hood.
00:32:22 Tim
Absolutely. But here's now. Here's where I step in. Because we we see this now.
00:32:27 Tim
A bunch of things circulating around in our community around our mayoral running around the aldermans and and and the Council election and in our school district, and we have a lot of people who are very emotional.
00:32:42 Tim
And rightfully so.
00:32:42 Kevin
Sure.
00:32:45 Tim
And for me, I'm looking at those emotional responses. They're extreme, right? You know that.
00:32:54 Tim
Because it's coming from a hurt place. It's coming from a place of.
00:33:00 Tim
It's coming from a place of not having understanding. It's very important how we as a district.
00:33:09 Tim
You know.
00:33:10 Tim
Approach that respond to that.
00:33:15 Tim
You cannot and I will never diminish a person's feelings in those those moments.
00:33:22 Tim
They're humans. They're real.
00:33:25 Tim
It's a matter of understanding the place in.
00:33:27 Tim
Which it comes from.
00:33:28 Tim
And that goes back to that point.
00:33:30 Tim
We lack.
00:33:32 Tim
The fundamental ability to have clear.
00:33:35 Tim
Honest conversation.
00:33:38 Tim
And that's not just at the district level. Let's be clear. Let's be honest it it happens in our community. You've seen it at the Common Council level. We see it. You see it everywhere.
00:33:49 Kevin
Right.
00:33:49 Tim
And and so you know.
00:33:53 Tim
I hope to be the person.
00:33:56 Tim
On on the board, if I'm elected.
00:33:58 Tim
That says, whoa.
00:34:00 Tim
Can we take a step back a minute and like, can we recalibrate? Can we come back and find the middle? Let's have this conversation. Let let's take a step back.
00:34:08 Kevin
Right.
00:34:09 Tim
Even if I'm not, I'm still that person, right? That's still my.
00:34:13 Tim
Approach.
00:34:14 Tim
I don't want to jump.
00:34:17 Tim
And say something.
00:34:18 Tim
Out of hurt or anger because it's not productive.
00:34:23 Tim
I want to value each voice at the table and I want us.
00:34:26 Tim
To find a common ground.
00:34:29 Tim
You know.
00:34:32 Tim
Trying to figure out how to word this.
00:34:34 Tim
But I'll just say it honestly, we lack communication skills.
00:34:39 Tim
And since COVID, we've seen them dwindle drastically.
00:34:44 Kevin
Sure. And it's not going to be any better for the next upcoming generation who had to live with that.
00:34:48 Tim
Exactly. And so we have to take.
00:34:50 Tim
That into consideration.
00:34:51 Tim
And and looking at.
00:34:54 Tim
What are we going to do as a district? I hear people saying I want to go back. We need to bring back the old Olean. I want to go back to. We need to rebuild how we used to be.
00:35:07 Tim
OK, I get that. But I also don't agree with that. Like if we went back in time, we wouldn't have the same technologies and we would have all the cool advancements that we have to bring boring classrooms into the classroom via the aliens and stuff. But I get the sentiment of what they mean is we want to go back to that sense of pride.
00:35:26 Kevin
Sure.
00:35:26 Tim
We want to go back to that sense of inclusion, that sense of homogeneity where we're all one unit now I want to go back there too.
00:35:36 Tim
Right. I want to go back to where all the Huskies are pulling that sleigh I want.
00:35:40 Kevin
Sure.
00:35:42 Tim
That's it. It comes back to that. Let's find out exactly what we're talking about.
00:35:48 Tim
We have a lot of noise going on right now.
00:35:52 Tim
And people, you'll see it in the papers. You'll see it. And I hear people saying to me.
00:35:56 Tim
Our districts on fire, our districts, a hot mess that building over there is a hot mess. Our children aren't safe. I don't disagree.
00:36:06 Tim
Absolutely.
00:36:08 Tim
But the next step is let's talk about can you give me the specifics?
00:36:13 Kevin
Right.
00:36:14 Tim
Pinpoint it because once we can pinpoint the problem, we can start to address the problem.
00:36:20 Kevin
No, say they don't. So things things like our children aren't safe. Like is. That is are they? Are they less safe than they were, you know, two years ago, 10 years ago, 100 years ago.
00:36:32 Kevin
Well.
00:36:34 Tim
I don't know. I would it's it's it's a loaded question, right? I mean I get it. It's a rhetorical question, I get it.
00:36:41 Tim
You know.
00:36:41 Kevin
Right. But like a lot of people say, our kids aren't safe and it's like or people are dying of.
00:36:45 Tim
Fine for me as to find the safety issue.
00:36:49 Kevin
Right.
00:36:49 Tim
What are you defining as safe? Sure.
00:36:52 Tim
You know, I'm not going to disagree. Do we have safety concerns in our district? Absolutely.
00:37:00 Kevin
Right. But we don't have the safety concerns we did in 1974.
00:37:03 Tim
No, listen, we're not playing nuclear bomb drills anymore.
00:37:04 Kevin
What like?
00:37:07 Kevin
Right, well, not do it. Well, I was going to say.
00:37:09 Kevin
Be pre, you know. I'm sure they were doing that too, but I was just getting at more of the point that, like we were one of the homes of one of the first school shooters like 1974. Like, was it Tony Barbaro?
00:37:22 Kevin
And yeah, and it's one of those.
00:37:24 Tim
I remember reading about.
00:37:26 Kevin
Right, right. Well, my, my, my dad trained the kid on the rifle team cause only and had a rifle team. It was a it was a sport. The kid was a little.
00:37:32 Tim
Yes, we did.
00:37:36 Kevin
You know.
00:37:38 Kevin
Emotionally unintelligent, you know? Like he didn't know how to handle his stuff. He, you know, and it. But it was one of those things. It was like my dad graduated 2 years later. He's home and he got interviewed and they were like, he's like.
00:37:51 Tim
I'm glad that you actually used that as an example, because you're right, how are we defining safety in?
00:37:55 Tim
Our.
00:37:55 Tim
Schools and but you know.
00:37:58 Tim
There are concerns. Do we have you brought up mental health with that individual?
00:38:02 Tim
Gas. There are very real mental health issues in our district. So what are we doing to combat that? How are we giving those services and those supports?
00:38:13 Tim
To our teachers and to our students, those are the types of conversations and questions we should be having, right? Where are our trained, licensed counselors?
00:38:15 Kevin
Right.
00:38:23 Tim
Where are our social workers in the schools? Where are our behavioral workers, who are trained on behavioral modifications that are training the teachers? I can tell you they're not there. I can tell you they should be there. I can tell you that that is something that should be one of the main objectives of the board. And building those expenses into the.
00:38:35 Kevin
Right.
00:38:44 Tim
Budget. They're a needed resource that keep our children safe, their mental, social and emotional growth is just as important as their academic.
00:38:54 Tim
So there's another point of a conversation that I'm not hearing being had that we need to have.
00:39:02 Kevin
So like.
00:39:05 Kevin
I guess and then there gets part of the some of the issue is like what are schools designed for right? Are we supposed to be emotionally raising kids or is it stems because to me I'm I'm a little government guy. So when governments doing education, I want them to be teaching them science technology, you know.
00:39:22 Kevin
Maths, like all, all those, all the important things, right? But like reading, I want. You know what I mean. I want. I want them to teach them things that maybe mom and Dad at home are not as secure in moms. Really bad at math and actually, so his dad. So now we, you know, we rely on a teacher.
00:39:39 Kevin
Who?
00:39:40 Kevin
Is very proficient in.
00:39:41 Kevin
Math.
00:39:42 Tim
Absolutely. I don't disagree. But with to your point.
00:39:46 Tim
Let's look at development because you were talking about that.
00:39:51 Kevin
Sure. And and early childhood development, I get like kindergarten, they're playing with blocks. They're understanding shapes. I I get some of that.
00:39:57 Kevin
Because it builds.
00:39:58 Tim
School high.
00:40:00 Tim
OK, our older child.
00:40:02 Tim
You know.
00:40:03 Tim
We're talking about should we be teaching?
00:40:07 Tim
Emotional stresses. Should we be teaching?
00:40:11 Kevin
Balancing a.
00:40:11 Tim
Checkbook. Should we be teaching?
00:40:14 Tim
For me, you cannot, and I think it it is just a disservice and honestly, just lunacy.
00:40:21 Tim
To look at a human being and how we.
00:40:23 Tim
Educate them as animatrons.
00:40:25 Tim
Right. Only you are. You're going to turn off all your substance that makes you.
00:40:31 Tim
A human being.
00:40:32 Tim
While you're in school for 8 hours a day and you are going to be able to sit and just focus on the knowledge that is going to be gifted to you by our teachers now.
00:40:44 Kevin
Sure.
00:40:45 Tim
Students. Right. You have students who have very serious. Let's take example, ADHD.
00:40:51 Tim
You have students who are are are special education students, right, who are in Gen. Ed populations. Our students are interacting with this melting pot of differences.
00:41:02 Tim
Our students are having sometimes.
00:41:05 Tim
Their new boyfriends and girlfriends, they're learning how to date. They're learning how to make friends, and let's say friends structures. They fall apart. Now they've got these emotions, right?
00:41:16 Tim
We deal with them in the moment.
00:41:18 Tim
It's not that we're taking over teaching in place of the parents.
00:41:24 Tim
It's a supportive thing, right? Hey, this happened at school here. Here. You know, Johnny. Here you go. Hey, mom and Dad is having here. Johnny. Here you go. But to your point also.
00:41:36 Tim
You can also make the argument that.
00:41:39 Tim
Mom and Dad aren't good at math, right? And they aren't as proficient. That's why we have.
00:41:43 Tim
A math teacher.
00:41:44 Tim
To teach those things.
00:41:46 Tim
What if mom and dad aren't emotionally stable?
00:41:49 Tim
What if mom and dad suffer?
00:41:50 Tim
From mental health condition.
00:41:53 Kevin
Right, which which gets to another which gets to a more of a grandiose issue of society as a whole because there's a lot more people that are emotionally unintelligent and and causing those problems to perpetuate in their own kids, right or other problems at home.
00:42:08 Tim
Again, that's the beauty of why our districts and why public school systems are so important.
00:42:15 Tim
You're looking at a micro cause.
00:42:19 Tim
Of life.
00:42:21 Tim
Right. Everything that happens in society.
00:42:26 Tim
Just about any interaction, any type of thing that's going to, it's going to happen in this contained world that these kids that we grew up in at one point as well, it's where we're going to find autonomy. It's where we're going to find those Maslow's hierarchy of needs, right? It's how we're going to define where we stand in the world and everything that we do.
00:42:47 Tim
In this microcosm of school.
00:42:49 Kevin
Oh.
00:42:50 Tim
Actually will relate to the macrocosm of the world.
00:42:54 Tim
And so when we're invested.
00:42:57 Tim
When we're looking at the entire math and saying that education is more than just academia, but it also encompasses these other aspects of human development, when we are teaching.
00:43:11 Tim
The whole picture.
00:43:13 Tim
Right then we are better suiting our students and our children when they step out of those doors and across that threshold.
00:43:23 Tim
How to walk into that real world?
00:43:25 Kevin
Sure.
00:43:26 Tim
And and that's a. So I you know I now I sound like I'm on a soapbox, but it's why I'm so passionate about what we do as a district and what we.
00:43:34 Tim
Do in our schools.
00:43:35 Kevin
I mean and and technology also is feeding into that right, people are looking at screens all day, they're not outside touching grass. They don't get to interact with other people in person and and it becomes this big thing where like people are also incentive driven if there is, if there's nothing but like that's why people hate public speaking, right? It's the number one fear and and that fear of like.
00:43:38 Tim
Ohh afternoon.
00:43:54 Kevin
Sometimes you almost regress right where, like kind of like as as as people become elderly, they become agoraphobic.
00:44:03 Kevin
Yeah. Yes. Agoraphobic. I always screw that up with Arachnophobia.
00:44:07 Kevin
So.
00:44:08 Tim
Spiders one is wide open spaces so.
00:44:10 Kevin
Right, right. So eventually, like when my dad was, like, getting older, he.
00:44:14 Kevin
Didn't want to leave the house because Walmart was terrible. It's Walmart's a mad house and that little thing of Walmart. Eventually he could only go to park and shop or country fair and country fair became too stressful. And so eventually you regress the and. And because social interactions for a lot of people can become negatively associated.
00:44:34 Kevin
And so you start working backwards, and so the more time you can devote to a screen and get your dopamine hits from that, the the less social you may become.
00:44:43 Tim
I mean I I guess you know, I agree with you on that. I mean for me you know.
00:44:49 Tim
Looking at how technology is implemented in plays and works within our school districts and how we educate our children, you know that that's kind of outside the purview of the school.
00:45:02 Tim
Board, you know.
00:45:03 Kevin
I'm not. Yeah. I'm also not trying to say I'm not poo pooing technology. I'm just saying that it's something we should be cognizant of.
00:45:06 Tim
No, no, not at all.
00:45:11 Tim
And that's the again, that's the beauty of having these open conversations. That's the beauty of, you know, having round tables having a diverse.
00:45:22 Tim
Uh.
00:45:24 Tim
You know, Board of Education or Common Council. It's why I like that. In essence, it's not political. The school board, right? It's not what you have to have this many Republicans and this many Democrats and this many and.
00:45:38 Tim
It's supposed to be a coming together of the months.
00:45:43 Kevin
Right.
00:45:44 Tim
And I love that.
00:45:46 Kevin
There's, but there's a lot of people, a lot of people out there. They don't want to have those conversations because their mind doesn't go to a peaceful conversation like you and I are having their minds go to like Valhalla rising. You know what I mean? Where you just get dropped on another island where people want to smash your skull in. And I think that's how a lot of people interpret conversations.
00:46:04 Tim
Absolutely, because we have this weird notion. It's about right or wrong.
00:46:09 Tim
Right.
00:46:10 Tim
It's a power differential.
00:46:13 Tim
When when we set up an our a conversation, a debate or sharing of ideas on the premise that one person is right and the other person is wrong, you've already lost the conversation. You've already lost the ability to have the conversation because you have sent up a power archetype that is going to place.
00:46:33 Tim
One person above the other, it will never happen, so that's that point again to say there is no right or wrong.
00:46:35 Kevin
Sure.
00:46:42 Tim
OK, it's a sharing of ideas.
00:46:45 Tim
Once we get to a point where we can look at policies, procedures, behaviors we can define.
00:46:52 Tim
Right or wrong?
00:46:54 Kevin
Sure. Right. Like we got to draw the line in this. We can draw the line in the sand on certain things, but we have to draw a line in stone on something.
00:46:56 Tim
Yes.
00:47:01 Tim
But we have to be able to have those conversations.
00:47:04 Kevin
Right.
00:47:04 Tim
And and that's been my whole premise.
00:47:07 Tim
In in running for school board or even in everyday life, right there are the one phrase that makes people so angry and I don't get it as we can agree to disagree.
00:47:19 Tim
I like that phrase personally.
00:47:22 Tim
Right. I do. I I am not opposed to that. We can agree to disagree.
00:47:28 Kevin
I'm neutral on it.
00:47:30 Tim
Yeah, I like disagreements. I like agreements. But I also like the sharing of ideas, and at some point my core values aren't going to match your core values, and that's OK.
00:47:41 Tim
We don't have.
00:47:42 Tim
To agree on those core values, as long as we can still come to the middle.
00:47:48 Tim
Have those conversations.
00:47:50 Tim
Find the common ground.
00:47:52 Tim
To find solutions.
00:47:54 Tim
We need in this district to find solutions.
00:47:59 Tim
We need to temper down the hostility. We need to temper down the emotion. Excuse me.
00:48:06 Tim
And we need to find solutions.
00:48:09 Kevin
Right.
00:48:09 Tim
And practicable solution?
00:48:12 Tim
We have to make sure that what we are doing has the best interest of every student and the district as a whole longevity wise in the long term.
00:48:25 Tim
You can't make a quick emotional response to every situation.
00:48:29 Tim
Because you're going to end up with really bad decisions each and every time.
00:48:33 Kevin
Right.
00:48:34 Tim
Right. And nothing's going to be fixed. You're just putting a Band-Aid over everything that pops up in front of you instead of stepping back, having the conversations and figuring out where the bleeder is and then fixing the bleeder.
00:48:47 Kevin
Right.
00:48:48 Tim
And and so.
00:48:50 Tim
Our district right now needs that.
00:48:54 Tim
It needs a cohesive board.
00:48:57 Tim
That can discharge their duties effectively.
00:49:01 Tim
We don't have that.
00:49:03 Tim
When and I said it at the meeting last night, if the board cannot have the conversations that they are required to have and cannot come to an agreement to formulate the policies that govern and dictate our district, you have no rules. If you have no rules, you have complete anarchy.
00:49:24 Kevin
Right.
00:49:24 Tim
We're seeing the start of that. The other pieces, those rules must be something that are applicable that start in elementary can be adapted to make sense for children of that age group, right?
00:49:38 Tim
And will grow with them and our there's a continuity that happens in middle school and high school, right? It's followed them all the way up. So they've lived with it. They've shaped them.
00:49:53 Tim
And now that we get to the point of high school where they they've been doing it long enough, they understand, right. And it allows for uniformity. It allows for there to be very little Gray area.
00:49:59 Kevin
Sure.
00:50:05 Tim
And it allows for all of our parents then to be informed and know what's going on. But when we only half ask the job.
00:50:14 Tim
Well, you're going to get a half asked outcome.
00:50:17 Tim
And it's going to lead to major problems and I think that's part of what we're seeing right now in the district.
00:50:24 Tim
We have an amazing district, but we have very serious issues.
00:50:29 Tim
There's no denying it.
00:50:31 Tim
But the issues that we have are not unique.
00:50:35 Tim
To just only.
00:50:37 Tim
There are the same issues we're seeing in other districts, either on a larger scale, smaller scale, but they're there and you're seeing it nationwide. We had issues with.
00:50:46 Tim
I would be, and anybody who says our schools don't have drugs and they would just be silly, right? Let's be honest. It's like being back and when you and I were in school and saying none of our students smoked cigarettes, of course they did.
00:50:57 Kevin
Yes, they did. They, they, they, Sullivan and forth. They were always at the corner with trench coats.
00:50:57 Tim
No. Yeah.
00:51:01 Tim
So we have a drug issue in our school. We got drugs, OK, got to have conversations about that.
00:51:06 Kevin
Do we have the hard drugs that people like the homeless are shooting under the bridges? Like do we like?
00:51:10 Tim
You know, I don't, I don't believe so. I have not.
00:51:13 Kevin
Right.
00:51:13 Kevin
Kids aren't right. Kids aren't sneaking into the bathroom to like, shoot up between their toes and any of that crazy.
00:51:20 Kevin
Like right?
00:51:20 Tim
We've had incidences with with drugs and, you know, marijuana and things like that, but all the same, it's still an issue.
00:51:26 Kevin
Right, my middle schooler, she had to bring a clear plastic bottle to school as a as a water bottle because they won't let you use stainless.
00:51:34 Kevin
Because kids are sneaking alcohol and I'm thinking to myself like I remember being in high school. Vodka is clear. Like, where are you guys coming from?
00:51:42 Tim
Well, you know, but there you go. Let's have those conversations around that policy. And what was the rationing and is it something that we can?
00:51:51 Tim
Or does there need to be tweaked?
00:51:53 Kevin
Sure, cause like me and.
00:51:56 Tim
Oh, go ahead.
00:51:56 Kevin
I was going to say me and my wife have been discussing like I she's been a Teflon she she grew up on West Green Street. So she's a Teflon coated pan fanatic. And I've got her switched over to stainless steel or cast iron like we're we're slowly making these changes like where I've we've been doing a lot of research into micro plastics. So we were talking about switching over to glass and stainless.
00:52:18 Kevin
And well, they've already outlawed glass bottles at the school. You know what I mean? You can't bring glass bottles in. And now that we've switched to stainless.
00:52:27 Kevin
So then all of a sudden, well, you can't bring stainless now our daughters back on plastic. So there is an issue there that I would see. It's not a huge issue, it's not safety of the students like short term.
00:52:37 Tim
Put that close to that heart. OK, come up. Ask the question. Let's show you the policy. Ask let's have a conversation. I'm going to send to you. Why? Let's say I'm on the board or whatnot. You know, hopefully somebody.
00:52:43 Kevin
Right.
00:52:47 Tim
'S explaining to.
00:52:48 Tim
You what the rationale was for creating that policy. Maybe you're going to bring something to the table that might improve that policy or need to change it. That's what we need to be doing, right?
00:52:57 Tim
Also, it allows our our community to be informed and to understand what's going on. We have those issues.
00:53:06 Tim
For example, I don't like the policies that we have written around bully.
00:53:11 Tim
I don't like the wording 0 tolerance define 0 tolerance.
00:53:16 Kevin
Right. It's a nice catchall like.
00:53:16 Tim
Because.
00:53:18 Tim
It is and there so for me, when we draft policy or rule it is.
00:53:24 Tim
Imperial.
00:53:25 Tim
If that it is clear and concise, because if it's not, how are you going to enforce?
00:53:32 Tim
Something like 0 tolerance. There's a fight at the school. Well, that policy says we have 0 tolerance for that. OK, that means no chances.
00:53:41 Tim
So we go to the matrix. Goodbye. Well, that's not entirely true, because now we want to have a teachable moment. We want to understand what the precipitous was for that fight. Maybe there was something going on where this person has some abuse issues. Well, then that's not 0.
00:53:59 Tim
Right. So that's very important to me. I don't like wordsmithing things. So that's part of.
00:54:05 Kevin
Right, I'm a I got a I got my fair share of fights in high school and it wasn't. It wasn't like usually I said something and somebody reacted with that unemotional, intelligent response of trying to strike me.
00:54:19 Tim
Yeah.
00:54:19 Kevin
My my grandfather was a was a boxer in the USO shows he was a he was in the motor pool and they'd bring him out to spar with the USO fighters and he taught my dad. My dad taught me, so I was always a pretty good striker. And so when kids would come at me, I'd Bob weave and I I'd cold **** him. And it was like, hey, he's coming at me in a threatening manner. I'm defending myself. And the school says.
00:54:40 Kevin
0 tolerance. You're and I had to do community service with Sally Ventura over at the head start a couple weekends in a row or a couple of weeks, and it was like all because small Paul at the time had come at me, you know, and.
00:54:53 Tim
And there again is that why it's so?
00:54:56 Tim
That we write the policies right and how it's how it's enforced.
00:54:59 Kevin
Right.
00:55:04 Tim
I don't know if you.
00:55:05 Tim
Remember when I ran the 1st?
00:55:07 Tim
I ran on and I'm running on very much the same type of platform, right? I push.
00:55:12 Kevin
As you ran right after I ran.
00:55:13 Kevin
Right.
00:55:14 Tim
I did, yes.
00:55:14 Kevin
OK.
00:55:16 Tim
And the plant my same the same thing that I had.
00:55:19 Tim
Asked to be done.
00:55:20 Tim
Years ago. So let's point this out.
00:55:24 Tim
Years ago, when we had all this mayhem going on.
00:55:27 Kevin
Right.
00:55:28 Kevin
The.
00:55:29 Tim
My biggest push was advocating for stronger policy.
00:55:34 Tim
Understanding the rules that we're implementing.
00:55:38 Tim
Urging the board to be unified and what they were doing.
00:55:43 Tim
For as our district that we needed to be cohesive, that we had to have clear language, I pushed for better understanding.
00:55:51 Tim
Of the rules and how they were implemented and what those implications were in practicability, right, what our code of conduct was. I was on there saying again, we need to look at our special education programs. We need to start combating these things now in terms of our absenteeism, our graduation rates.
00:55:57 Kevin
Sure.
00:56:12 Tim
If we do not take the opportunity because at that time.
00:56:16 Tim
We had switched to new and gotten rid of Brick Moore, right? We were having a change in the regime.
00:56:23 Tim
Well.
00:56:24 Tim
Here we are.
00:56:26 Tim
Three years, four years, whatever it is. Later, we're dealing with the same issues because again, we are not doing the things that we should be doing. The board is not doing the work of the board.
00:56:41 Kevin
Right.
00:56:41 Tim
And if our board is not doing the work of the board, the rest of the system falls apart. That's checks and balances.
00:56:49 Kevin
So.
00:56:50 Tim
You know, for me.
00:56:52 Tim
I love having these conversations, but conversations are also only so good.
00:56:58 Tim
They only take us so far.
00:56:59 Kevin
Right.
00:57:02 Tim
The next step is saying this is what I want to do. Now I'm going to.
00:57:06 Tim
Put it into action.
00:57:08 Kevin
Right. And then see how it's implemented.
00:57:09 Tim
Right.
00:57:10 Tim
Exactly.
00:57:12 Tim
It's not some great experiment, right? We've been doing this.
00:57:15 Tim
For a long time.
00:57:16 Kevin
OK.
00:57:16 Kevin
So it's really just tweaking what's there, maybe unless you're gonna, unless you have a major issue, at which point you might have to upend a division.
00:57:23 Tim
Absolutely. But then then, here's the other piece to that right. We have to understand and the Community would love for them to have a better understanding, right? Our policies have to comport and align with state and federal law.
00:57:38 Tim
Right. So there's only so much aboard. Let's be honest. Board of Education can really do. We can't rewrite rewrite state law.
00:57:47 Tim
But we can't change that. So when parents are coming at me or coming at the board saying, well, well, wait a minute that that's a state law.
00:57:54 Tim
Right, that that's not something that we have the power, that's something.
00:57:58 Tim
That you're taking up the wrong tree.
00:58:01 Kevin
Right. Title 9 is a federal thing, right, like?
00:58:01 Tim
But.
00:58:03 Tim
Exactly great examples. So it has those aren't conversations. Listen, you want to talk outside of school, outside of a board meeting about those things that meet with me on a one to one level. All right, let's do that. But that's not within the wheelhouse or the purview of the Board of Education. So I'm sorry that you're mad, that I can't engage or answer.
00:58:24 Tim
But I have no authority there.
00:58:26 Tim
It would be like.
00:58:27 Tim
Be coming to you and saying I'm going to the Common Council and saying I want you to change Kathy Hoku's mind on bail reform right now.
00:58:37 Tim
You can't. You've got perfect perfect.
00:58:39 Kevin
Yeah, no, I know. And there's a lot of there's tons of people at local level from from the boots on the ground that have to live those policies all the way up to the local common councils with unfun unfunded mandates, all that stuff.
00:58:52 Tim
You know? And so for me, I hear what people are saying. I I hear.
00:58:57 Tim
The heartfelt crimes of the things that are happening in our district, I hear you and and I'm with you and I agree with you.
00:59:06 Tim
But I'm I can't just round and rally and jump on the bed of the truck to drive them by and say, OK, part of being on the board or on the Common Council when you were, you know, this, it's taking a step back.
00:59:21 Tim
And looking at the bigger picture.
00:59:25 Tim
And prioritizing it's the same thing as if you went into an ER. People get mad that ER doctor has a team of nurses, those these nurses, triage. We have to take the most immediate problem.
00:59:38 Tim
And take care of it and and work around what we have to get to the bigger picture. It's the same with the Common Council. It's the same with.
00:59:45 Tim
The Board of Education.
00:59:47 Tim
I hear what you're saying.
00:59:49 Tim
But I've got to step back and I've got to look at all the problems we have.
00:59:54 Tim
And which impacts which and what's the best solution for the longevity of the district?
01:00:02 Tim
And people then you could say, well, oh, you're you're pro District, you're pro admin. No, I'm not. When I say Pro District that means students.
01:00:10 Tim
Right when I'm looking at budgeting, we've have our budget hearings.
01:00:15 Tim
I'm looking at that budget as a Community member, saying, OK.
01:00:19 Tim
Where? How is everything broken down? How is it going to spend? What's our tax base look like?
01:00:25 Tim
Do we have an ever shrinking population which means an ever shrinking decrease in tax base? OK, well, that's not a revenue I can count on. So now I've got to look at getting more money from the state and more money from the government.
01:00:38 Tim
OK. Well, what if those palms run dry?
01:00:42 Tim
OK. Do I have enough in my budget that warrants spending that much money to serve this many teachers or this many principles? But I only have this many kids. Well, that's not logical. That's just irresponsible. Then I have to look at, you know, we have issues.
01:01:01 Tim
Administratively, OK, What does it mean to take on those decisions and and change administrators or do we have and can we by law right? It's not as easy as you think. Then I'm looking at we have fighting issues, we have behavioral issues. We have an entire special education program that has.
01:01:21 Tim
Been completely neglected in our district for over a decade.
01:01:27 Tim
We just got our report back on that one. The report was not good. We are not doing well and and servicing our children with special needs. That's deplorable. There's another issue we need to look at.
01:01:39 Tim
I I I love that we're passionate about our schools, but we have to really have a conversation and look at what can be done.
01:01:51 Tim
Logically, rationally and effectively, that will maintain.
01:01:57 Tim
Our district's ability to give education to our students.
01:02:06 Kevin
There's, there's just. There's so much to kind of wrap your head around. So for those of you in the audience, that right, right, there's a lot of people out in the audience that just don't understand what's involved. And I know that, like, clearly, you've shown a track record of being involved in even not being a member of the board. So I don't think there's any question that, like, if there was an election and you won, that you would be at every meeting.
01:02:28 Kevin
You would be.
01:02:28 Tim
Every every committee meeting, you know.
01:02:30 Kevin
You'd be, yeah, you'd be a good, valid replacement for Kelly Keller.
01:02:34 Kevin
Just.
01:02:34 Tim
I take that as a compliment.
01:02:36 Kevin
Right. It's like in, in, in a dedication standpoint to agreements, disagreements, anything we've had in the past. I'm just saying like, just your, your dedication to it is is is on and is on par with Kelly.
01:02:50 Kevin
So we've talked about the, the young, the young sisters. That's the name I just dubbed them like, what, an hour ago, right? What?
01:02:57 Tim
OK.
01:02:59 Tim
Yeah.
01:03:03 Kevin
What's your? What's your take on your your your other running. You don't want to call them opponents, right? They're not. They're not enemies. It's not good and bad. You're running mates, colleagues, right.
01:03:12 Tim
Probably.
01:03:14 Tim
Probably tonight my running mates. Yeah, listen.
01:03:18 Tim
As I've said to you, I am very clear, I'll say what?
01:03:22 Tim
I.
01:03:22 Tim
I don't like everybody's approach.
01:03:25 Tim
But I don't have to. That's my personal opinion. I'm going.
01:03:32 Tim
To take a step, each person running for the school board.
01:03:37 Tim
Has a reason.
01:03:39 Tim
They also have a particular skill set that they bring to the table. They all have passion. They all have a reason for being there. They all have some really good ideas.
01:03:52 Tim
Right.
01:03:53 Tim
And and so for that there again, I love hearing from each candidate running.
01:04:00 Tim
Because they all bring something to the table, it's a matter for the community to when they're looking at these candidates and myself included, right?
01:04:10 Tim
It's looking at the collection of the board and saying can I see these people working together and working together well? Can I see these people having these real conversations that are going to help my son, my daughter, my niece, my nephew?
01:04:23 Kevin
Right.
01:04:24 Tim
Can I see these candidates?
01:04:27 Tim
Are they there for the right ones? What are their morals values and their their compass?
01:04:32 Tim
Right. Are there hidden agendas? I don't know. I can only speak for myself.
01:04:38 Tim
I can tell you what my agenda is. I can tell you what my platform is. Do I agree with each one of their campaigns approach?
01:04:47 Tim
No, I don't.
01:04:48 Tim
I wouldn't do it that way, but I'm not them.
01:04:52 Kevin
Right.
01:04:53 Tim
I can only lead my campaign with what aligns with my core values that I believe projects decorum, integrity.
01:05:04 Tim
Character, compassion, honesty, transparency.
01:05:10 Tim
Those are things that are important to me, so that's how I run my campaign. Everything I have posted.
01:05:17 Tim
In in response to things or newspaper articles.
01:05:21 Tim
I I posted because that's how I feel.
01:05:25 Kevin
Right.
01:05:25 Tim
Make sure it's clear, I make sure it's honest. I make sure that it's bad.
01:05:29 Kevin
Sure.
01:05:30 Kevin
Right. And so there's certain parts of transparency that I don't think a lot of people get right, like there are, like, open meetings law, for example, right. So like, the Common Council can go into executive session for for sale of real property employment issues, whether it's, you know, staffing or whatever they can go in for.
01:05:37 Tim
Yeah.
01:05:51 Kevin
Ongoing litigation feel like there's a couple others. I think there's like 5.
01:05:57 Tim
Now disciplinary there's probably.
01:06:00 Tim
I think what you're saying.
01:06:01 Kevin
Right, right. Right, right, right. So, but transparency doesn't include like airing those meetings, right like those.
01:06:06 Tim
You don't have laws that protect HIPAA and herpa.
01:06:09 Kevin
Sure. Right. Right. Right. Especially when you have students involved, like people under the age of 18 without their parents consent, yada, yada, yada. So like, and I know that there's been some, like, some other candidates that have been, like kind of trying to broach that. And there have been past school board members that have maybe been feeding into some of these.
01:06:29 Kevin
People on Facebook, on stuff like that. And like when you say transparency, you're not referring to just airing everyone's dirty laundry, just to just to clarify, I I don't think anybody thinks that.
01:06:41 Tim
Yeah, absolutely transparency to me, right. So I believe that's why I want the the YouTube videos back, right? I want everything streamlined out there, so there can't be this misinformation or this guessing of what was said or guessing of what.
01:07:00 Tim
Happened, right?
01:07:02 Tim
Like I said before.
01:07:04 Tim
If we are being honest, if we are following the rules and the laws, there's nothing that should be hidden from the community outside of those caveats like you just discussed, there's no reason for it and. And so for me.
01:07:19 Kevin
Right.
01:07:24 Tim
You know, I I know. And you know you can't have different rules about public comment commenting.
01:07:29 Tim
Back with the.
01:07:29 Tim
Public there are certain things they'll tell you. You know you you can't make a comment and you can't discuss this or it's in back.
01:07:37 Tim
I've told everybody and you know, again, this is my transparency, me being honest for me, I've told board members.
01:07:44 Tim
You're really not going to like me on that board because.
01:07:46 Kevin
And.
01:07:47 Tim
Some of those rules I'm probably not going to follow it, and I know you're going to smirk at this because I I kind of remember you kind of doing the same thing right and it's.
01:07:54 Kevin
All I've done in the past.
01:07:55 Tim
I'm going to push back and there are times that I don't agree and I believe that we should be telling the Community something I just might do it. And why is that? OK, let's be clear about that. Why would I do it? Well, let's see. John Lewis said. Sometimes you got to get into good trouble. Sometimes rules need to be broken. We're looking at the situation.
01:08:12 Kevin
Right.
01:08:16 Tim
And.
01:08:18 Tim
And and does it protect the district or does it harm like it's going to be? I'm not going to always just caution to the wind, break all the rules, but I don't agree. No. But you know, I I don't agree with how little is communicated at times though I understand why.
01:08:27 Kevin
You're not gonna, Kevin Doherty.
01:08:37 Kevin
Sure, they're they've got their. It's almost like there's a little lawyer on every shoulder in the room.
01:08:42 Tim
Exactly. And listen, I'm not always going to share everything about my life with every other human being that I meet on the street. Right. Let's be honest. You don't need to know, but it is part of that need to know. There have been some things that have happened.
01:08:56 Tim
In our district that I'm sitting here, going well, why didn't?
01:08:59 Tim
You just say that.
01:09:01 Tim
Like that you made it far worse.
01:09:03 Kevin
You you made, so you made it so ambiguous that people are kind of guessing what the answer is.
01:09:09 Tim
And that's what I mean by transparency, right? Like just be straightforward, just be honest.
01:09:15 Tim
You know, don't be ambiguous. Don't. I don't like wordsmithing. I don't like canned speeches. I don't like crafting. I mean, I'm a writer, so yes, I do like those things. But it's, you know, time and place and purpose. Right. And so I do hear our other candidates talking about the transparent.
01:09:36 Tim
And I think we all agree on what we mean by that and it's how we disseminate information.
01:09:41 Tim
To our community and to our.
01:09:44 Tim
How are we reaching?
01:09:44 Kevin
Right. So like.
01:09:47 Kevin
So like.
01:09:50 Kevin
I had a busy day today between like life and everything else, but I happened to catch Facebook earlier and I saw this whole stream about like office.
01:10:01 Kevin
Mr. Kurt.
01:10:03 Kevin
And I missed the I wasn't at the meeting last night. I wasn't there for three hours. So, but I see all these posts. And then I saw you put up a correction. So I guess I have no idea what the what the entire situation was about.
01:10:19 Kevin
I I know, I know, Kurt. He used to be a tenant of a client of mine and I just happen to know him from helping the kids cross the school. So I, you know, I had to fix a sink for him and he was super nice and, you know, so.
01:10:34 Tim
That piece.
01:10:35 Tim
Right.
01:10:37 Tim
This is goes back to that why I say it's so.
01:10:40 Tim
Important.
01:10:42 Tim
That we take a step back like we were just talking from that reactionary emotion, visceral response.
01:10:49 Kevin
Right, putting a post a picture of him hugging a child, right?
01:10:52 Tim
Well, because, look, let's listen our ask.
01:10:54 Kevin
I don't know what happened, so I don't.
01:10:55 Kevin
Know I don't. I didn't.
01:10:56 Tim
I don't have all the details fully because I know there was a new correction published in the.
01:11:01 Tim
Paper. But I've been talking with you about.
01:11:03 Tim
But let's go to the point here. RSR's are SPO's are two different ones.
01:11:09 Tim
They serve an integral piece to our district in what they offer for protection, absolutely, but also in building community, building unity, building that sense of safety and and and acceptance.
01:11:23 Tim
He was he is. And he was very loved and very good with the children in that school. I don't know all of what happen.
01:11:31 Tim
I don't know.
01:11:33 Tim
You know.
01:11:35 Tim
Those, those are personnel pieces. I'm not going to have the ability to know that I need the correction that he wasn't fired. He was removed from his post at Eastview because that's easy to talk about. That's factual. You could look at the contracts. You can pull them up online and how that works, right? So.
01:11:40 Kevin
Sure.
01:11:55 Tim
The word fired was the only thing I was making correction.
01:11:59 Kevin
Ohh OK got you. I didn't know if you were replying to another candidate.
01:11:59 Tim
Like soups.
01:12:02 Tim
I like the use. I I want to make sure we're being factual in what we're saying. He was not fired. He was removed from his position. He's still employed as an SPO. He can be placed in Portville, Allegheny, Limestone, Cuba, Rushford he can work in the courts as a a court officer.
01:12:22 Tim
Yeah, he can. He wasn't fired. He wasn't. He's just not allowed to have that position in that school. Why? I don't know.
01:12:25 Kevin
Right.
01:12:30 Tim
But this.
01:12:30 Kevin
I know there's a lot of stuff going on at Eastview.
01:12:32 Tim
There is, but this goes to the point that we haven't the bigger problem we have is that there's no morale. Nobody has faith.
01:12:41 Tim
In anything right now in our district. OK, I'm a little different. I have this weird notion of having hope that, you know, have some faith things will work out. I'm blind in that find. Whatever. But that goes to the point of making sure we're not posting things right, because the way the proper policy and procedure.
01:13:01 Tim
The work is this.
01:13:03 Tim
If somebody is removed from a position in my district.
01:13:08 Tim
I'm a parent. I'm mad. I'm sad to see that he's not there anymore. Do I want to know why? Absolutely. I want to know why.
01:13:17 Tim
Am I allowed to know why I know enough to know?
01:13:20 Tim
That I'm not.
01:13:22 Tim
Now if they want to share it with me, great, and I want to listen, I want to hear. I've heard bits and pieces and I'm not going to comment on it because I don't know the whole story that would be improper. But I'm disheartened to see that we've lost an SPO and SRO, one of those integral pieces in our schools. That's saddens, absolutely.
01:13:41 Kevin
Right.
01:13:43 Tim
I don't like saying well, it was this person we don't know and we have no right to.
01:13:49 Tim
Know.
01:13:49 Tim
That right, he was escorted out of the meeting. I was there. I witnessed it. I saw it. Absolutely have I demanded and said I want to know why there are open meeting rules. We must follow. He's a community.
01:14:03 Tim
Remember, he wasn't disruptive. OK, but I have faith in my school, officer and Officer McGraw, that what he did.
01:14:16 Tim
In removing him.
01:14:18 Tim
He did.
01:14:19 Tim
By law.
01:14:21 Tim
And warranted. And if he didn't?
01:14:25 Tim
Then that will be corrected. I have faith in that process. That's the difference. I would like to see our community members start to have that faith in the process again.
01:14:28 Kevin
Right.
01:14:36 Tim
Have faith in some of these people and it's not there right now. There is no faith right now. I get that. But I'm my personal approach.
01:14:46 Tim
Is.
01:14:47 Tim
Me as Tim the candidate being to my core values. I'm not going to jump throwing that stuff out there when I don't know. It's an egotistical thing for me too. Let's be honest. I hate being wrong and I hate eating humble pie, so I'm not going to put it out there unless I can back, you know, because all it does is it Stokes.
01:15:05 Kevin
Right.
01:15:08 Tim
The planes it it. It's like chumming the water for sharks.
01:15:12 Tim
So you know it's all over Facebook.
01:15:16 Tim
I do know the correction I made was really just about wording. He was not fired.
01:15:21 Kevin
Got you.
01:15:21 Tim
That power does not rest with the district.
01:15:24 Tim
The Superintendent or the board or principal cannot fire an SPOSRO.
01:15:31 Tim
Can he be not allowed to be placed in a building? Yes, that is what happened.
01:15:38 Kevin
Because as as far as my understanding from my time on the Council that the.
01:15:43 Kevin
The SRO's are placed per the Police Department, because they're the ones that have the magisterial power through the enforcement arm of the law, not the Department of Education. So they contract with the local municipality to supply them with SR's and S.
01:15:50 Tim
Bingo.
01:16:01 Kevin
Bo's.
01:16:02 Tim
Yeah. And that comes from them and their contracts are a little different between SRO's and SEO's and kind of how their employability and how they're paid is different through those contracts. But at the end of the day, you're correct, that manageability piece.
01:16:03 Kevin
So.
01:16:17 Tim
Is at the discretion of the Olean Police Department.
01:16:20 Tim
Not within the district. And so for me, it was just being very clear on what we were saying and and.
01:16:22 Kevin
Right.
01:16:28 Tim
Listen, if I said he was removed and people are on this and they're saying he was removed from Eastview, you're right. He was. And I'm equally as ****** it. It's sad.
01:16:38 Tim
And I want to know more as to the rationale. I have some ideas. I've been told some things I have some understandings.
01:16:48 Tim
And I'll have those conversations, but I don't have the whole story. I do know that there was a statement put out this evening as to why he was escorted out of the meeting.
01:17:00 Tim
As to that piece, whether he was fired or removed, I just haven't had an opportunity to read it, but I know that there was. It's put in the paper, so I'll read that. I'm sure other people have already read it. I haven't yet because I'm.
01:17:12 Tim
Talking to you.
01:17:13 Kevin
Right. What was the? So, yeah, so there's a lot of people out there that are are just love to stir the pot too. So like, I know the 1476-O group is turning into a very only in politics with stuff.
01:17:26 Kevin
Like today I saw I saw a post and it was by Paul Petruzzi and he shared an article of from 2022 of Janelle Morris's hiring.
01:17:39 Kevin
OK.
01:17:40 Kevin
And but then at the top like that was the shared post and above it, he said this revolving door of our superintendents has got to stop or something along those lines. And my first instinct is this article is not about her being fired or leaving or resigning, but it his comment made it sound like he knew more than he was letting on.
01:17:59 Tim
And so here's my.
01:18:00 Tim
Into that, I like stirring the pot. I like reading those comments because there are elements in there that might have some value, right? If it makes a person feel better to to put that stuff out there, right. But more than anything, it sparks conversation, right?
01:18:16 Kevin
Right. Is she leaving? I that's that's what I was thinking when I read it. And I haven't heard you'd think that there be a notice.
01:18:17 Tim
Add that.
01:18:23 Tim
I think that we would all know if.
01:18:24 Tim
She were leaving the district, right?
01:18:26 Kevin
Probably we would know before Paul Petruzzi would. I mean, a Miami defense lawyer, you know.
01:18:30 Tim
So I would hope so, but to the point is what I like.
01:18:34 Tim
Is it spurs conversation?
01:18:37 Tim
And it's something that we need to have more of in our community and more of in our district is these conversations and have honest, open dialogue, you know, and and look at the facts that are being presented. Understanding, you know, I've heard, you know, the idea that.
01:18:45 Kevin
Sure.
01:18:57 Tim
People are uneducated.
01:19:00 Tim
I not for a second do I think anybody is uneducated, right? I think we have.
01:19:08 Tim
I myself am undereducated when it comes to understanding how common counsel works, right?
01:19:15 Kevin
Sure.
01:19:16 Tim
I've just never been taught it.
01:19:18 Kevin
Right.
01:19:19 Tim
And so my goal is for those who lack the knowledge of how the process works. I want them to be a part of it. I want every parent listen in a utopic world.
01:19:32 Tim
I hope that everybody in this Community, every mom, every dad, every grandma, every grandpa, every aunt, every uncle shows up at our board meeting shows up at coffee with the Super shows up at these extracurricular activities, shows up at the forums, shows up at the code of Conduct meetings. I would like to see every person in our Community have a seat at the table.
01:19:53 Tim
And work together. That is a utopic idea that's never going to happen, right?
01:19:58 Kevin
Right.
01:19:59 Tim
But I would love to see that.
01:20:01 Tim
Because that's how the best work.
01:20:04 Tim
That's why it's important when we're voting.
01:20:08 Tim
Especially on this microcosmic level of school board.
01:20:13 Tim
It is so important for each person in our community to reach out and talk to their candidates, get to know them.
01:20:22 Tim
Because when you're voting for them, you're in essence saying you're my voice.
01:20:27 Tim
I'm trusting you to make the decisions that will govern.
01:20:32 Tim
How my child is treated?
01:20:35 Tim
And talked.
01:20:37 Tim
And the consequences and outcomes I'm giving you this massive responsibility.
01:20:43 Kevin
Right.
01:20:44 Tim
And so for me.
01:20:47 Tim
I want to talk to all the candidates. I want all the parents to talk to all the candidates. I like what you're doing here by giving me an opportunity virtually at least to put it out there and say, get to know me. You know, I want to be your voice. And you know what? If somebody came up to me and said, you know, Tim, I don't like you, I don't want you to be my voice on that board.
01:21:09 Tim
I respect that.
01:21:11 Tim
Because we should all have the same opinion, because if we have the same opinion, it's a.
01:21:16 Tim
It's just a a vacuum. Nothing changes. There's no progress. There's no new ideas. So if I don't align with you that.
01:21:23 Kevin
There also be no problems either because everybody would be the same.
01:21:26 Tim
I don't know. I talked to myself quite often and listen, I can make problems in my own head and I like me. But you know, I I'm OK with people not wanting to vote for. That's the beauty of our democratic process.
01:21:39 Tim
You know.
01:21:41 Tim
I know I probably sound hokey, but I I I I love it. I love the democratic process. I love the ability that we have to vote. I love that. You know what it represents.
01:21:52 Tim
You know, I I really love having had the opportunity to come on here and have some conversation with you and joke around a little bit and also kind of, you know, say hey, this is.
01:22:01 Tim
Who?
01:22:01 Tim
I am and this is who I am on this show. This is who I am in the streets. This is who I am in the YMCA. I mean. And I know you can even attest to that.
01:22:02 Kevin
Right.
01:22:12 Kevin
Right.
01:22:12 Tim
Moving. Yeah, like this is me.
01:22:15 Tim
I'm the same person. I'm not. It's not performative.
01:22:20 Tim
You know, sometimes you'll see with with.
01:22:23 Tim
When you're looking at elections and candidates and people running.
01:22:26 Tim
People are really.
01:22:27 Tim
Good about saying what people want to hear.
01:22:29 Kevin
Sure, because they're shooting for the they're shooting for the center.
01:22:32 Tim
Exactly. I'm not. My thing is, I'm not. I am not saying what I want.
01:22:38 Tim
I think people want to hear. I'm not here to win people over by some magic. No, I'm just being mean and envying me. I hope I win people over. But if I don't, I don't. Because at the end of the day, I'm still weak.
01:22:54 Tim
Take it or leave it. You're always going to know where I stand and where you stand with me. You're always going to know.
01:22:55 Kevin
Right.
01:23:03 Tim
What my values are?
01:23:05 Tim
And where I'm where I lie. If you get to know me, right?
01:23:09 Kevin
Right. Yeah. You know, there's too many people that lean towards that. They make a concession to the mass, the big voting group in the middle, and they might lean on one side or another or have, like, a favorite group or that sometimes they just change hats amongst different groups that they sit.
01:23:26 Kevin
So.
01:23:27 Tim
And I think I think you can attest that I have never been one.
01:23:32 Tim
To lean to any side or push for the voting of the mass.
01:23:38 Tim
I am just.
01:23:41 Tim
I I'm outspoken. I I'm. This is what it is, right? I I'm not. I'm not going to change my values or change how I vote on something to appease anybody.
01:23:55 Tim
What I will do on that board?
01:23:58 Tim
Is you're going to see me if voted on. I'm going to tell you where I stand on a policy. I'm going to tell you why I stand on that policy and I'm going to tell you exactly why I voted yes or why I voted no.
01:24:11 Tim
I am not going to be a board member that you see.
01:24:13 Tim
On there, when they're like motion.
01:24:17 Tim
Second, all in favor all. No, that's not me. When they say, is there any discussion, you probably can bet your *** I'm going to have discussion.
01:24:19 Kevin
Aye.
01:24:27 Kevin
Oh boy, I'm super excited to watch you drive meetings to 5-6 hours long instead of like.
01:24:34 Tim
No, none past 8:00. That'd be my only request because I'm old and I like to.
01:24:38 Tim
Go to bed.
01:24:39 Kevin
Right. I'm just, I think it would be humorous if you just started driving them and just people are just going, Oh my God. And then you who was, was it? Cory Booker's most recent.
01:24:48 Tim
Cory Booker, I'll pull the 27 hour Phillips. What? The filibuster, but yeah.
01:24:52 Kevin
You should. Yeah, you should just pull one of those. Be like, this is my first meeting. I want to make it epic. I'm going to filibuster for 28 1/2.
01:25:00 Kevin
Hours.
01:25:01 Tim
Hours at a local level, it's where Guinness Book of World Records where are you.
01:25:03 Kevin
Yes.
01:25:06 Kevin
And then, yeah, and then, yeah, the problem is you'd make it like, 20 minutes and Dan McGraw would have.
01:25:10 Kevin
Squirt you out of the room.
01:25:11 Tim
Probably honestly, at 20 minutes, I hope he would.
01:25:15 Kevin
Right, right. Can I have faith in the process, Tim?
01:25:18 Tim
That's right, you got to have.
01:25:19 Tim
Faith in the process. All right.
01:25:21 Tim
Anything else my friend?
01:25:23 Kevin
No, I I can't think of anything else.
01:25:27 Kevin
I've been asking people that that watch the show, people that that know me, just submit questions and I I don't get a ton of people that are just like, ask this person, this ask and I I just don't get a ton of it. So we'll make another plea and then they can also where can people find you? You got a Facebook.
01:25:44 Tim
So my Facebook is to block.
01:25:48 Kevin
01 more time, Tim.
01:25:49 Tim
Alright, so mine is. It's Tim Sherlock. It's a picture of me and a Red Hat. And then my background picture.
01:25:56 Tim
On Facebook you can e-mail me at t.r.sherlock2023@gmail.com.
01:26:08 Tim
And and message me any on Facebook e-mail me I I I'm happy to answer any questions. I'm happy to meet up with anybody and have coffee. I've met with four people now. Just this week alone at Tim Horton's and other places who they reach out and say, hey, I'd like to talk to you. Can you want to go for coffee? Sure, I'll buy.
01:26:11 Kevin
OK.
01:26:29 Tim
Let's talk.
01:26:30 Kevin
Yeah. So when we do this audio podcast, we actually have a when when we do transistor, they give a profile of the guests that are on the show and it tells you what episodes you can find this guest in. And we can we can link all of your other stuff directly to that. So people have a yeah. So they can check out on Facebook. Some people have a website, some people what they have.
01:26:45 Tim
Awesome.
01:26:50 Kevin
And it gives me an option for X Instagram GitHub.
01:26:54 Kevin
Club blue sky. That's the new Twitter.
01:26:57 Tim
That's the new one, yeah.
01:26:58 Kevin
Yeah. So.
01:26:59 Tim
Shell savvy person. I have Facebook and Instagram, but I have them linked so that I only have to post on Facebook.
01:27:06 Tim
And it automatically.
01:27:07 Tim
Posts on Instagram because I'm.
01:27:08 Kevin
And vice versa, right?
01:27:09 Tim
Yeah. And vice versa. And then I I.
01:27:11 Tim
Have just my.
01:27:13 Tim
Actually I just have my e-mail address and.
01:27:15 Kevin
That's it.
01:27:16 Kevin
Cool. Alright. Yeah, I'll. I may even send you a screenshot just to collect some of that data here afterwards. But alright guys. Well, I hope you enjoyed our interview with Tim here and I'm sure you're more than welcome to come back on the show. Check him out on Facebook. Check out this podcast. Other things that you're doing and then.
01:27:21 Tim
Yeah, not a problem.
01:27:36 Kevin
Don't forget to get out and vote folks. We have the election for school board is May 20th at the middle school.
01:27:42 Tim
You.
01:27:44 Kevin
Middle School Musical.
01:27:46 Tim
Yeah, right. When you walk to the front doors, it's right there on the right. They have it very well mapped out.
01:27:52 Kevin
Got you. If you go down the wrong hallway, Tim or Tim McGraw, what's the Dan McGraw is going to be waiting for you.
01:27:57 Tim
Absolutely. He'll ask very nicely.
01:28:00 Kevin
Right, very pleasantly.
01:28:03 Kevin
All right, guys, don't forget to like, subscribe and we will catch you guys next time on life 22.