Life22

Day 13,581 - Interview with Bill Aiello 1.mp3
Transcript
00:00:06 Kevin
Hey, gang, Kevin here. Life 22. And today we have Mayor Bill Ilio on the show and he's the current the the current incumbent for the mayoral seat, for Olean, for the race coming 2025.
00:00:21 Kevin
Making term 2026 and let's switch over and.
00:00:27 Kevin
Other than title text, there we go and Bill Elliott, ladies and gentlemen.
00:00:32 Bill
Well, thank you Kevin, for having me here. Been a while. It's been a long time. So I think this is my first time here. Speaking with you, at least on life 22. So I appreciate the opportunity to be.
00:00:40 Kevin
Yeah, yeah.
00:00:43 Kevin
Here. Yeah, not a problem. So as most of my guests, I just kind of fill everybody in. We usually do just like an open forum discussion. So we can talk about current topics. We can talk about past topics.
00:00:53 Kevin
We can just, we can go down a rabbit hole if you don't want to talk about your favorite chewing gum, we can do it. It's it's one of those. It's just we. I try to keep it free form. A lot of people are like ohh hit this person with a hard hitting question.
00:01:04 Kevin
Get this one. My goal is you don't invite someone over your house to beat them up. You, you you know, you you. It's one of those. Like I wanna. I wanna have like a good discussion with everybody that comes through here, you know like me and Vernon he was I think he was one of the first ones of the season to come on for in politics and we had a great conversation and it's like me and him **** heads on a couple of topics.
00:01:26 Kevin
But for the most part, we had a great you know what I mean, a great couple.
00:01:30 Kevin
A great like hour long podcast or so and then I know your competitor was on or your your opponent was on the was on the podcast and me and her butted heads on a couple of issues, but for the most part.
00:01:40 Bill
It was very well received. Yeah, well, you know, it's OK to have different opinions, right. And, you know, as long as you're respectful, right. And, you know, and you gotta respect everybody's opinion.
00:01:50 Bill
So it may not be what you're thinking. It may not be what you believe, but if that's truly what they believe, you have to respect that, right? Yeah. So.
00:01:50 Kevin
Yeah.
00:01:59 Kevin
And the nice part about a debate or an idea or a conversation, even if it turns into an argument.
00:02:06 Kevin
At least you're going away with what the other person believes, and maybe you can grow and change as a person, and maybe you start slowly changing the way you think, because maybe somebody brings up an idea. Or vice versa, you say something to somebody else and they say, hey, I never thought about it that way. That's that's phenomenal.
00:02:22 Bill
And that's and that's. Yeah. And and you're right there.
00:02:25 Bill
About that, because it there's probably not a day that doesn't go by that somebody stops by the office and and says, you know, have you ever thought of this? Have you thought of this, you know, and and and, you know, you talked about it and, you know, they got an idea. OK.
00:02:39 Bill
Get, you know. And then one of the favorite things I like to do is if they come in and they're well, you know, they say so I says, well, what would you do to fix it?
00:02:48 Bill
You know it's, you know, and and and you do get a lot.
00:02:48 Kevin
Right.
00:02:50 Bill
Of good information so.
00:02:52 Kevin
People can, people and people do get a little frustrated. You know I want.
00:02:53 Bill
Like.
00:02:56 Kevin
You to fix it well.
00:02:58 Kevin
I'm here to kind of manage the show if that's, you know what I mean. And then you have, you do have that issue where people think that you have all the answers and you you can't have all the answers right? Because otherwise you wouldn't be the mayor. You'd be the president of the world, right? Like you would have all the answers, but.
00:03:12 Bill
No one has all the answers right, but you know, as long as you know, as long as you know you.
00:03:17 Bill
You you put things out there and as long as you're being truthful.
00:03:23 Bill
You know that mean there's a lot of times that I've said to people that you know, they and I learned this when I was early on in the Police Department when I was there, when I was, which I was there for 32 years, that, you know it it's people they hate to hear. There's nothing I can do.
00:03:41 Bill
OK, because it always says you can listen. You may not have an answer. You may not be able to to to help them, but you can listen to their concerns and you can learn from those concerns, right? So that's that's a big, that's a big part of being in the public sector is listening, hearing what they have to say.
00:04:01 Bill
Let them voice their opinions, let them vent and you know, and a lot of times people will leave.
00:04:07 Bill
Happy.
00:04:08 Bill
Happy they got it off their chest and you and you know, especially with things that go on in the city, you know, you say well, that's that's not the way, you know, that's not the law. You know, the Common Council has made the law and here's how we have to enforce it. And, you know, so there's good laws and there's there's laws that that we're always taking a look at laws and saying.
00:04:22 Kevin
Right.
00:04:29 Bill
Is there a better way we can do it right so but people people want to be heard and they want to. They want you to listen.
00:04:36 Bill
For him.
00:04:37 Bill
Used to frustrate my wife to know and we'd go out and be in a restaurant, we'd be eating somebody, come over and say I know you're you're you're not working. And I say wait a minute, I am. I work 24/7.
00:04:50 Bill
And you know, and hear what they have to say. And they're happy, you know, and you you don't shut people out. You don't say come back tomorrow. I'm. I'm. I'm I'm eating right now. I never do that. I always listen to them.
00:05:04 Kevin
And.
00:05:05 Bill
And now I may give him my card and say, you know what, this is Friday night, call me Monday or e-mail me Monday. Remind me what we talked about here and I'll get an answer for you. So and that. That's what that's what people want in the mayor.
00:05:22 Kevin
You know, and that's.
00:05:24 Kevin
Yeah, cause the other thing is that like, explain to people how how things work. Sometimes they get frustrated with how they work, right. And then they might not leave happy just because they're frustrated with everything else that's going on, you know, and it's like.
00:05:36 Kevin
I I can. I remember when I was an Alderman. Just getting those, you know. Well, I can't believe you can't do this. Like, like, I can't take care of the rubbish neighbors that you that moved into the rental next to your house. I'm sorry. You can't just.
00:05:48 Kevin
Go in with a shotgun and clear the house is a process, right? There's a process and you.
00:05:52 Kevin
Know that has to go through, right? And they're just because you don't.
00:05:55 Kevin
Like the way somebody lives doesn't mean it's against the law.
00:05:57 Kevin
Right. And they're not going to legislate laws on how people live, because if you can get to micromanage.
00:06:01 Kevin
You with.
00:06:01 Bill
Yeah, that. That's you. You can't do that. So they have to, you know, there are laws. We get a lot of them that calls on on people as to this time of year, high grass garbage in their lawn, people leave.
00:06:15 Bill
They'll leave a couch or a chair out in the subway and you know, and coast takes care of that. But there's a process.
00:06:22 Kevin
Right.
00:06:23 Kevin
30 days or something around.
00:06:24 Bill
Well, they get a they get a notice. They have to do something I think. But then on the grass 5 days and then then they get a, then we can either cut it and charge them or they can take them into court and the court. It's a longer process. So. So but it's, you know, it's, you know, just like.
00:06:31 Kevin
It's.
00:06:37 Kevin
Right, yeah.
00:06:40 Kevin
Right.
00:06:44 Bill
Right now I drive when I'm driving around, I see a lot of grass just being shot out into the street and people don't realize.
00:06:52 Bill
What a hazard that is, especially to now the scooters and the bicycles and the motorcycles. Yeah. I'm not a motorcycle rider, but I've been told that grass on the road is just like like ice.
00:06:57 Kevin
Motorcyclist.
00:07:03 Kevin
Yeah, yeah. 15 minutes after range. If it hasn't rained in a in like a week or so within, like the first five, I think it's 5 minutes. Or is it 10 usually supposed to wait a good 15 minutes before you hit the road. If you're gonna ride in the rain? Yeah. Like if you're at a store and it happened to me when I was in high school, it started raining. And I was like, oh, man, I better get home. And I rushed and all the oil that had built up on the roads, the roadways.
00:07:05 Bill
And you know.
00:07:24 Kevin
It just creates this film and you hydroplane and you slide out and.
00:07:27 Bill
The other thing that's shooting the grass into the street is it plugs up our sewers.
00:07:32 Kevin
Right.
00:07:32 Bill
And you know and and that's that's a lot of the issue with the, the backups and stuff is especially out of your streets. They back up, but it's raining heavily rains, the sewers are plugged because of.
00:07:44 Bill
Of of the grass clippings that are going in there, it's one of the reasons we we use salt, not sand salt mixture, right? Because the sand will plug up the sewers, so it's just, you know, but there's, you know, people, people want to be heard, they want, they want their concerns met and our codes department are doing a good job, you know, I mean there's there's frustration there on both sides.
00:07:53 Kevin
Right.
00:08:06 Bill
And people to call and and also our code officers. But they have laws to follow. Right? So, so and they do the best that they can to.
00:08:14 Kevin
Get that done and sometimes PR, I think is a big.
00:08:16 Bill
Issue you know it's a big issue. Yeah. Yeah. And that's, you know, and that's that's with any any.
00:08:22 Bill
You know, anywhere you go right, you know, I try to instill in our employees that you know that you know just what I said. People want to be heard. Listen, you know and be attentive when you're listening. You know, it's nothing worse than going somewhere and and that person waiting on you does not listen to you.
00:08:42 Bill
So and it's, it's that frustration can set into City Hall we have we have good workers they they get.
00:08:49 Bill
You know, especially in our water department and and upstairs and the water bills and that people get very upset with the water bills and they have a tendency to take it out on, on the girls, on the phone, it's not their.
00:09:00 Kevin
Fault. They're doing their jobs right? So that whole side of the building I was going to say after I paid my dogs bill the other day for his renewal.
00:09:09 Kevin
Yeah. And I waited till June 1st.
00:09:11 Kevin
I you know, I should have done it. I could have done it the week before, but I waited till June 1st. And you know the the the new kid in there, I can't remember his name off top my head. But he said he goes. You're not gonna yell at me, are you? And I'm like, why? And we work together. So I know I'm. And I'm like, why would I yell? He's like, well, went up $10 and I'm.
00:09:26 Kevin
Like Oh yeah, he's like, we get a lot of complaints that people pay it after June 1st, said they found out that the prices went up.
00:09:32 Kevin
Then I was like, it's fine. It's it's $10. Like you already got. I'm one of the what? There's what 6000 homes in the city, 1412 to 14,000 people. And I think I was.
00:09:39 Bill
Yeah, exactly.
00:09:45 Kevin
Talking to Crawford and he mentioned that there was like 65% of people owned dogs, at least one.
00:09:51 Bill
Yeah, we have a good number of people owned dogs and cats and you know that's. Yeah. And we got a few people that own snakes. We got, you know, they own a.
00:10:05 Bill
What are the rodents getting Guinea pigs?
00:10:08 Kevin
Guinea Pigs, Guinea.
00:10:10 Kevin
Hamsters gerbils.
00:10:10 Bill
Hands there's gerbils.
00:10:12 Kevin
Yeah.
00:10:12 Bill
You know, I don't know about Ferris now. See, when I growing up our son had.
00:10:16 Bill
A ferret. Ohh.
00:10:17 Bill
Yeah. Yeah. So that was, that was interesting. He was it it. It took a lot of stuff and hit.
00:10:23 Bill
It.
00:10:24 Bill
And he he got up under in one of the the bad back strings.
00:10:30 Bill
And when we went to after he, he unfortunately passed away, and then we were flipping mattresses and stuff in the box springs and we and he saw a hole and Patty looked in there.
00:10:41 Bill
And there was a hair to brush that we couldn't find and he couldn't find all these other things that he got up in there and hit up in there. So. So just little things that happened so.
00:10:50 Kevin
I had Guinea pigs when I was a kid. Never a ferret. I had Guinea pigs and gerbils. So, but yeah, it was one of those. There's just yeah. PR is a big thing. I don't think a lot of people. I think. I think I watched the debate. I haven't given my official take on the debate yet.
00:11:06 Kevin
I think that you did very well given the fact that you're you've been there for 12 years and so and that was one of the things that like.
00:11:15 Kevin
I was expecting more of from your opponent was more of a well cause. I did this when I first was running for Alderman. Well, I'll wait till I get there and I'll open up under the hood. And there wasn't a ton of that, but at the same time, I I didn't hear as many answers cause and and. And I'm going to give it to her naivete.
00:11:35 Kevin
That she she's not there, so she doesn't realize all the laws that she like has to follow to get certain things done. You can't just go in there and start tearing it up and say, ohh, I've I've got all the solutions cause.
00:11:49 Kevin
Do you? Yeah. Because once you realize how the system works, those solutions don't.
00:11:53 Bill
Work. Yeah. Well, people gotta realize that. Yes, the mayor here with this strong form of government, we have a strong mayor that the mayor does run the day-to-day operation. But the mayor doesn't have the final word.
00:12:07 Bill
You know, and a lot of things, and especially when it comes to the fund balance, the the mayor can't spend a fund balance. The Common Council is the only one that can authorize spending out of the fund balance. So. So it's not a it's not, you know, as Mayor, I'm going to do this as mayor. I'm going to do.
00:12:07 Kevin
Right.
00:12:24 Bill
Yes, you know it's and the other thing that one of the things that came out during the the, the I got she she was critical of me for using the term we and and and you know what we as a team and you can't do anything alone you need you need strong support.
00:12:45 Bill
From your department heads, you need to have a dialogue and and the support from the Common Council. You need support from the the the CEO's in this community. You know you need support from the public.
00:12:58 Bill
You need support from the Chamber of Commerce. You need support from from the faith-based community and you you can't do it alone. It is. It is a we because you you can't go in there and say I'm going to do this, you know, as mayor I'm going to do this, you know one comment was made was you know.
00:13:18 Bill
The mall.
00:13:20 Bill
She would have demanded that it move faster, you know it or something like that. But that's you know what? If that's the attitude this is going to take.
00:13:23 Kevin
Yeah, very good. Yeah.
00:13:28 Bill
With.
00:13:29 Bill
With our, our develop people are going to develop things here. We're not going to get very far. You know developers have they have their their own.
00:13:39 Bill
Well, take them off, for instance. He's got his own plan. Yes, we've been talking to him about this plan, but one of the things that's held up the mall is that it took him almost to almost two years or better to get it through the the cataracts county ID A so.
00:13:57 Bill
That held up things, and now you know. And now who is having the housing component with didn't get the funding. Now they'll be trying again for that funding. But but he's got a he's got a plan and you know if I stepped in.
00:14:08 Kevin
Right.
00:14:12 Bill
That said, you know, here's the deadline. If you don't have it.
00:14:15 Kevin
Done by. Then you'll just have another person that just.
00:14:17 Kevin
Abandons them.
00:14:18 Kevin
All. Yeah. Because. Yeah, you can't. Yeah, it's it's one of those things you have to have people like there's certain motivations. Sometimes people say, hey, I want to buy the house next door to my house because I want to turn a profit. And some people say I want to buy it next door to my house because it's next door to my house and I want to be able to regulate.
00:14:19 Bill
So.
00:14:21 Kevin
You.
00:14:35 Kevin
My you know, the niceness of my neighborhood. So you have those two different, like incentive structures. Developers don't come into an area because they want to make them all look nicer because they they're grandfather used to live in Oland. That's not always the case. It's very seldom the case. It's usually the case that somebody wants to turn.
00:14:50 Kevin
Buck and it takes a lot of money and a lot of time and a lot of investment to hopefully return on it and nobody wants to take a huge risk. And if they have to come to an area where a huge said.
00:15:01 Kevin
This is my town. You're gonna work at my paces. I don't wanna work in that. Yeah. Don't work on that. That that's gonna.
00:15:05 Bill
Make my project fail. Well, this developer at the mall, he he did a project in the Rhonda Cory and he developed that mall there and now that's that's his vision for what he wants to do.
00:15:17 Bill
Here.
00:15:18 Bill
So I mean, people can get up, they can look up around the corner mall and what he's doing there.
00:15:22 Bill
And see and that's his vision for.
00:15:23 Bill
Here.
00:15:24 Bill
And he's he's he's.
00:15:27 Bill
I won't use the term fell in love with William, but he he is very into Olean right now and developing this and wants to see that property grow, you know and and so our downtown grows.
00:15:40 Kevin
And then he develops it. And then I'm assuming he has someone. So developing is kind of a weird thing. So like, sometimes you buy, you buy.
00:15:47 Kevin
You have a project and then you sell it off to an entity that's already preordained.
00:15:52 Kevin
Or sometimes you find investors that want to buy into it and then you can go off and develop something else. And so either way, once you have a thing, it's Bill. I think it's an old Lewis black joke, right, like, what places need is a big thing, right? It's the the Field of Dreams concept, right. If you build it, they will come. So you once you build a thing and then you can show.
00:16:10 Kevin
That it operates it's more marketable.
00:16:12 Bill
Yeah.
00:16:12 Kevin
You have a rundown rental with no tenants in it. They can't pass a code a code test though. Nobody wants to buy it. Yeah, it takes somebody motivated. Who knows how to do it, to do it, and then it's more likely for you who might not know how to fix up a house to buy something that's already ready to go.
00:16:29 Bill
Yeah, yeah, there's a there's a motivation there. Yes. Yeah, he's, let's face it, nobody's going.
00:16:34 Bill
To.
00:16:35 Bill
Come here and develop something that they don't think they can make a profit at and.
00:16:39 Kevin
Sure.
00:16:40 Kevin
Charity starts at home.
00:16:42 Bill
And and he's he's I think he's really dedicated to getting things done there.
00:16:49 Bill
And I think we will be getting some things done there and like any projects, it takes time when you get held up for over 2 years trying to get approval.
00:16:58 Bill
You know from the ID A and it's no secret that there was members on the ID, a board that were against the project and.
00:17:06 Kevin
The idea is that they're the ones who.
00:17:09 Bill
Industrial development.
00:17:10 Kevin
And they give out the pilots just for anybody out there in TV Land, which is the the payment in lieu of taxes, OK.
00:17:11 Bill
They give out. Yeah. They give out the pilots and that yes.
00:17:16 Bill
Taxes. Yeah. Yes. And they give, they give out the tax credits that you can you can get on on sales tax, you can get on mortgage tax.
00:17:25 Bill
And yes, and then they can do a pilot or structure it so that over a period of time it doesn't go to full value until then. So and then.
00:17:35 Kevin
Price so you can kind of recoup your cost of your investment and and that's I think that's where a lot of people I had an argument somebody over the weekend. So we keep giving out all this free money, right? I I know it's the famous cliche of Paul Petruzzi on Facebook.
00:17:48 Kevin
But that where I was I got into an argument. Somebody about it, I said, you know what? Listen, I said I understand why a big factory wouldn't want to come in here if they're initially paying top dollar, they're still building a building. They're rebuilding the dresser ran, for example, to try to outfit for their place. Well, if they didn't have a pilot, we would not be, the building would sit vacant.
00:18:08 Kevin
There wouldn't be all the jobs. Yeah, there wouldn't be some tax payment.
00:18:12 Bill
Yeah. Well, New York State is not the easiest place to come and and and do business. Let's face it. So.
00:18:16 Kevin
Right.
00:18:18 Kevin
You can't rewrite county and state laws, so I and I think that's a big misconception so that it's not just maybe an interview on on you, but I think it's also.
00:18:26 Kevin
Kind of some of the things we're talking about are going to make the general public kind of aware of things that, yeah, they might not.
00:18:31 Bill
Be aware of that like you know, and we're we're getting the pilot as the pilot on all of these. These the different things is is very lucrative for the city. So I mean the the one the on East State St. New State Street Apartments.
00:18:32 Kevin
Yeah.
00:18:47 Bill
We're getting a pilot there. It's very comparable to what we would get in tax.
00:18:51 Bill
OK. So and that's over the period of time, but but you know so we got that going on here. We got a lot of things going on here. We got a lot of good you know look at look at the our our structure or what's going on with some of our factories. Now you got Cutco is hiring. They put on 1/3.
00:19:10 Bill
Shift. You know, we got chimala is they're up to. I believe in the area of 150 employees now. I had a meeting with them not too long ago. And they they shared their vision with me and eventually here in the next few years, they want to be up over 250 workers and these are high end jobs paying these already the the welders.
00:19:28 Kevin
Right.
00:19:31 Bill
And and the the assemblers and that you know they're they're go there, you got to look at look at the.
00:19:40 Bill
Napoleon engineering. You know, he just he just put out a nice big addition and and as his business is really growing Mike, John painting look at look at the what he you know these are people who could have gone anywhere but they stayed here they stayed local you know so we've got you know we've got you know we've got you've got the fabricators on South.
00:20:00 Bill
Union Street. I'm drawing a blank on your name.
00:20:06 Bill
Is in the South at the end of the.
00:20:08 Bill
South Union Street. Oh, there's the drive shaft.
00:20:11 Bill
No, no, it's it's a little farther out. They got a fabrications. Fabrications billions. Yes. Yeah, yeah. You know, they were on. They were on 6th St. here. You know, in that little building there. And then they they went up there when that became open and then now they're look at. They're doing great jobs and then you've got the two brothers that started some.
00:20:14 Kevin
Ohh, Billings, Billings. Yeah. Yeah. They're over by the the the Robins nest.
00:20:31 Bill
Fabrication when the when the Siemens went out, they're down on on South on W State St. down there in the.
00:20:44 Bill
Old cross. Some taste of pizza going West there.
00:20:48 Kevin
Are they? What's in that? The Dallas cool. Oh, yeah. Yeah, the SKSK manufacturing.
00:20:50 Bill
Skull Skull brothers, right?
00:20:53 Bill
And yeah, so you've got a lot of things going on. You know, you've got Massa is moving their one division from I think Orchard Park back to here, you know on 7th St.
00:21:03 Kevin
I saw they were putting it. I saw they were putting an addition.
00:21:05 Kevin
On her, they were the building.
00:21:06 Bill
Yeah, revamping on 7th St. So you've got. You've got a lot of different things going on here. You got a lot of employees plus the hospital they're looking to, you know, they're, they're revamping their their emergency room.
00:21:18 Bill
To be more conducive to mental health patients. And so you're going to see some more hiring there.
00:21:24 Bill
Going on you.
00:21:25 Bill
Know. So we got a lot of good things going on.
00:21:27 Kevin
In in only in here and and I think a lot of people like New York State and it's in and of itself is not so conducive. So we still have things going on, but you know and you and you have those people pulling the triggers, right.
00:21:38 Kevin
I'm like Germany, where Seaman said no. We're pulling dresser. Yeah. And they pulled a lot of their stuff out of from Dresser. Just because they're looking at it, they're they're being counting back home wherever their home base is, just like.
00:21:50 Kevin
Just like bimbo bakeries. Bimbo. They, they they're in based out of Mexico, I believe. Mm-hmm. South America, Mexico, I think it's Mexico.
00:21:57 Bill
They moved their facility down in Pennsylvania.
00:22:00 Kevin
Yeah, and and it was, it was a state that was more conducive for taxes. I'm sure you know, and pay rates, I'm sure were another issue. And you know, it's it's all these different things that play a factor in that your hands are tight. If you get into the city, you can't yell at your Alderman because Bimbo bakeries is shutting down. That's a that's a state.
00:22:01 Bill
Over there too.
00:22:17 Kevin
Funded issue like.
00:22:19 Bill
These are. Yeah. You know, you know, it's just like.
00:22:22 Bill
Yeah, they they went out. You get you, we get our our warrant notice and you know and it's like, you know, you make the calls I called and talked direct to the people in charge and they said it's it's it's you know it's it's economics it's where they can they can make the bread down and and ship it up here cheaper than maintaining the bakery here.
00:22:42 Kevin
So New York State dot all the other things they have.
00:22:44 Kevin
Trucks and yeah, it's.
00:22:45 Bill
So I mean, they still have a presence down in Gargo Rd. they still.
00:22:48 Kevin
Have the the distribution hub right where they parked there.
00:22:50 Bill
Yeah, right there. And I don't know what they have in the building down here on.
00:22:55 Bill
And.
00:22:56 Bill
On the 2nd St. I don't know if there's anything in there anymore, but you know it's it's it's. It's a big building. It would be nice to get somebody in there, but it's I haven't heard that they've been moving equipment out yet, so that that might be a positive too, right, so you.
00:23:09 Kevin
Never find somebody who wants to start a bread company.
00:23:10 Bill
You never, yeah.
00:23:12 Bill
So we've got a lot of good things going on here and.
00:23:16 Bill
You know and and and one of the things I don't understand is I got I got criticized for attending ribbon cuttings.
00:23:24 Bill
Now that's that's your job and it. Well, it's and it's progress, right. If we've got ribbon cuttings going on here in Olean, then then we got progress going.
00:23:32 Kevin
On so, that's like, it's like if you refuse to kiss a baby, right, like, that's not like a politician's job is to kiss babies and.
00:23:39 Kevin
Cut ribbons and then.
00:23:46 Bill
Excuse me. I've been under the weather the last few days here, so I'm going to get another cough drop so I don't coffee out, but.
00:23:51 Kevin
Oh, you're fine.
00:23:53 Kevin
Before I apologize about the air conditioning, I didn't, I didn't get it installed yet. It's to me it's still early in the season and but the window units are very noisy. So yeah, as I was thinking to myself, as you were coming here tonight, I was like man.
00:24:05 Kevin
I'm gonna have you on the hot seat.
00:24:06 Bill
Yeah, that's that's OK.
00:24:08 Bill
OK.
00:24:10 Bill
So you know, you know, there's there's, I mean, I had some notes to talk about some things, but I just want to have that conversation with you. And you know how things go, you know, up there. And, you know, we've got, you know, just like, you know, the the, the river, it's it's a hot topic now, you know, and.
00:24:20 Kevin
Great.
00:24:29 Bill
And it's it's people have this misconception that we're dumping raw sewage every day in the river 20.
00:24:37 Kevin
4 June 2024.
00:24:39 Bill
Yeah. And then when we do have.
00:24:42 Bill
Dumb.
00:24:43 Bill
Or when we do have the discharge as a word, it's not raw sewage, it's probably 80% storm water and the rest is raw sewage. And that comes from that comes from the the sanitary lines that are still hooked up. You know, we have many sanitary lines that around the city and we're going to be correcting a lot of this.
00:25:05 Bill
We're getting a plan in place, but do.
00:25:07 Bill
You have your your.
00:25:09 Bill
Drains hooked into the sanitary line.
00:25:11 Kevin
So like the storm sewer outside my house might still tie in on the, you know, on the Sullivan, Terry, the Sullivan St. Sanitary for.
00:25:16 Bill
So a sanitary yeah.
00:25:19 Bill
Yeah. So and we, we've done, you know it's on our, it's on the website. All the ones that they checked out, we've got 14 that we're going to be taking care of of them 14 or 7 or so that need to be contracted out because they're long runs. So we have to you know, but.
00:25:19 Kevin
Example.
00:25:37 Bill
You know we're we're we're we're fortunate enough to get a grant of $500,000 has been that's being controlled by the.
00:25:45 Bill
The state and we'll we'll get a better idea of what's going on and where we need to fix. We've got some good ideas and where we.
00:25:51 Bill
Need to fix.
00:25:52 Kevin
Yeah.
00:25:53 Bill
And you know, and you know, and and it's not like like we just been sitting dormant for 12 years. You know, we've been this.
00:26:01 Kevin
I was on the Council when the consent order came down. Yeah, it was $250,000 a year for however many years, which, if you're a small municipality that's struggling to stay afloat.
00:26:04 Bill
And.
00:26:11 Kevin
And $250,000 is a lot of money and for us to be able to dedicate that to storm sewers and and sanitary sewers for relining and stuff, I I I like I remember every year arguing. Well, can we cut a little bit of it? And it's like well no. Well we can allocate it for maybe we only use 100,000 this year for lining but then we can use you know do this.
00:26:30 Kevin
That space and that catch basin with the money and I remember, was at Wendy's at the time and then there was ring and we we were going through and kind of.
00:26:38 Bill
Yeah.
00:26:38 Kevin
We would figure out how to allocate it, but I it's not like it.
00:26:41 Bill
Hasn't been happening. We've spent. We've spent.
00:26:45 Bill
Over $30 million.
00:26:47 Bill
Right, to correct a lot of these problems, we put our, our, our three main pump station problems are 4 S 4th St. Adams St. and and Martha.
00:26:59 Bill
We, you know, account through our allocated money, so we could.
00:27:03 Bill
Put.
00:27:04 Bill
Generators and all those three sites, right? Because when the and we put gas generators in because when the power goes down and that's one of the times we had with the discharge is because their power went down, we couldn't pump anymore and rather than have it back up in homes.
00:27:19 Bill
Discharged into the into the.
00:27:21 Kevin
River, but and it's already being mixed. I I still think I still think that 80% is probably being very.
00:27:28 Kevin
Conservative towards the towards your critics like I, I think that it's it's not 80% stormwater. I'm sure you're probably closer like 98% stormwater, but it's better to be I guess it's better to be conservative on and say that you're dumping more or discharging additional so that it still stays as a near and present danger.
00:27:37 Bill
Well, that's yeah.
00:27:48 Kevin
My guess is that.
00:27:48 Bill
Yeah, we've, we've done an awful, awful lot. Could we have done better? Ohh yes, definitely. We could have done better. But you you work within your means, right? You know, I mean we we got a budget.
00:27:50 Kevin
Right.
00:28:00 Bill
You know people you know, and rightfully so. They get concerned when you raise water and sewer rates too high when you raise the budget up. But you know, these are the the cost of everything doesn't come down. The cost goes up and you know, this year we had we had the the Council agreed on 6.2%.
00:28:14 Kevin
Sure. Every year.
00:28:21 Bill
And we had a little we had the problem with the calculated out the 7.1 and you know and we we came up with a plan to correct it. We wanted to issue, we wanted to issue credits back to everybody for the next year and the Council didn't want that they wanted they wanted.
00:28:42 Bill
The tax bills we go out, you know, we want them fixed and to send them out and they wanted to issue checks to people who had refunds coming. So we're dealing now with we've there is some, some small parcels are getting like an 18 cent refund.
00:29:01 Kevin
You know, I remember when I was a kid, you couldn't cut a check for less than $0.50 because the bank would.
00:29:05 Kevin
Tell you cost you more to.
00:29:06 Bill
Print the check? Yeah, but we followed the Council's wishes. Our our people worked very hard on it. And, you know, we get it corrected. Now, you know it's, you know, it's it's it happened.
00:29:20 Bill
We corrected it. We're taking corrective action.
00:29:24 Bill
One of the things that the Council last week at the meeting they wanted us to look into some better or some software packages that would be for the budget. Yeah, so. And if you recall back a while ago, we we wanted to do this and they didn't think it was necessary at that time where the cost was.
00:29:36 Bill
The.
00:29:44 Bill
Well, we took it out of the budget the previous year.
00:29:48 Bill
Because the cost was up there. So it's gonna. There's gonna be some cost, but in the long run when you have dedicated software, it's gonna be for just for that. Ohh sure. It's gonna be better.
00:29:48 Kevin
Right.
00:29:56 Kevin
Better for everyone. I I run 2 businesses and each one has $300 a month subscriptions to software. I can't run a rental company for tool rental without the $289 a month.
00:30:07 Kevin
Software that tracks all the equipment and then tells you who owes money and who still has a piece of equipment. Yeah, and this and that. And then even building software for construction work people need to.
00:30:17 Bill
Yeah. Well, we're we're dealing with with.
00:30:21 Bill
Excel spreadsheets we've been dealing with them that that went on before me. It's been going on since I believe I was told since Greg Pog Brockton was here, who developed them? I may be wrong on that, but you know, with the with the Excel.
00:30:37 Bill
You know, they're they're very awkward because what I'm being told is you got to like you have to go to this one to this one, to this one. It doesn't just automatically you do it. So we need, we need the.
00:30:46 Kevin
Do it, yeah.
00:30:50 Kevin
Software and then you can edit something and it can just fall apart on you. I've, yeah, edited my fair share.
00:30:56 Kevin
Before, before it. It's funny because I was talking to somebody the other day and I was like, I have a four year accounting degree and I what do I what do I, what do I do? I'm a I'm an HVAC technician A4 year accounting degree and I remember in college they teach you how to use Excel to make all the basic things and they kind of teach you how to program it. So I have a rough idea of what Greg Brockton did.
00:31:15 Kevin
25 years ago or whatever it was when he created excel, you know, created it in Excel, you know, and it's one of those.
00:31:22 Kevin
It's one of those things. It's like, yeah, it's a it's a handy tool if that's all you had to your means. And when you're a college kid, they want you to be able to build it from scratch, right. And it's like, so you can see how all the parts work. But then after that, when I bought my first rental.
00:31:35 Kevin
Property. I've also bought a set of QuickBooks.
00:31:37 Bill
You know, and and and I'm like, not making excuses. You know, the, the, the IT shouldn't have happened. But we had an error. You know, we did an error two years in a row.
00:31:46 Bill
Oh now, and that you know that that shouldn't have happened. But we've got to. We've got to give our auditors our auditor. We've got to get them the tools that he can work with too. So and so we can, we don't have these errors and it's, you know it's disheartening but you know if there's blame to be placed, it's blames on me, you know it stops at the top.
00:31:59 Kevin
Right.
00:32:06 Bill
And people are right. Yeah. So but we got to give them the tools, the, the, it's just like.
00:32:11 Bill
If anything, you know you do HC. If we don't give you the tools to work with right, then you know you can't do HC right? So with the police depart, we don't give them the tools to work with.
00:32:22 Kevin
Right. You sent him into a domestic without, without body armor or a gun. You might have some issues, you know? Like it's.
00:32:27 Bill
So, so you know, so.
00:32:27 Kevin
A.
00:32:28 Kevin
But you hope they don't use them. But it's one of those, yeah.
00:32:30 Bill
You always. You always hope they don't use them, you know? And and.
00:32:34 Kevin
Well, they have to walk there because then we have a police car.
00:32:38 Bill
But we we, you know we've got we've got good department heads, we have, we have good workers and I don't care where you go to work wherever it is your eyes going to get one or two slugs let's face it. But we've got you know 99% of our workers are good.
00:32:51 Kevin
Right.
00:32:55 Bill
Workers.
00:32:56 Bill
And they do it. They do the job.
00:32:57 Bill
As necessary to get things done, they go over and above as we're short staffed, you know, and and then you know, we cut our summer help from 8:00 to 4:00.
00:33:08 Bill
We all we got how many parks to maintain. We got, you know, we got the weed whacking that's falling behind. We're getting caught about it now. But you know, when you bring, when you're used to bringing summer help on in the middle of May and because of the spending freeze, we couldn't bring them on. So then you you bring them on June 1.
00:33:28 Bill
Two weeks that you know and and the weather we've had with the rain in that and look at.
00:33:32 Bill
I.
00:33:32 Bill
Mean.
00:33:34 Bill
Look at everybody's grass. I mean it. It seems like, you know you you go to sleep at night and your grass is low. You get up. Yeah, yeah.
00:33:39 Kevin
It's it's ready to be mowed before you go to work in the morning. Yeah, I. Yeah. No, I.
00:33:45 Kevin
I remember if I was, I remember being on the Council and there'd always be these things if you looked at all the little budgets in every division wanted, wanted something. And I remember being in the Council and thinking how frivolous and now working for the city, I see what's not as frivolous as I thought. And there's certain things you can tell. Like all right, the cops want more police cars and the the fire department.
00:34:05 Kevin
In the next, you know five year plan they want to have a new ladder truck and and they want and they you know and I saw Chief Morard on last week.
00:34:13 Kevin
You know, Council meeting he was talking about, you know, the ambulance fund, when you start talking about like, you know, this is where I'd like it to be.
00:34:17 Kevin
MHM.
00:34:21 Kevin
And then you know.
00:34:23 Kevin
I I think the problem is that the money's not there and if the money was there, you can have everything you wanted. The problem is, but the general public doesn't see that. They don't see that the there's a shortfall everywhere, though. That's not just only and it's portville, it's Allegheny. It's it's all these municipalities.
00:34:28 Bill
Oh yeah.
00:34:37 Bill
Everywhere that you had, if you read the articles from the comptroller's office, you know sales tax was.
00:34:43 Bill
All over, you know, and and you know we that.
00:34:46 Kevin
Makes up what almost almost the other like 40% of our budget doesn't.
00:34:50 Bill
It it's it's a.
00:34:50 Bill
Percentage of our budget. Yeah. When you're looking at at this year, we, we we put in 5.3 million in sales tax that we're going to in revenue and that that's a big chunk of the.
00:35:00 Kevin
Right.
00:35:01 Kevin
The.
00:35:02 Bill
Budget right there.
00:35:02 Kevin
Because the general fund is, what about 1920 million?
00:35:05 Bill
19 yeah, almost 20 million.
00:35:06 Kevin
Yeah. So it's a, it's OK. So it's 1/4.
00:35:09 Kevin
Because a lot of people say, oh, my taxes are going up 6% and I don't think a lot of people understand the percentage, which was my issue when I heard that they wanted to generate all the refunds. Ohh, we're going to send all these checks back out. And I'm thinking like, what, what's the big deal? What's what's a an average home and only like $10. And in credit I'd get towards next year. I'm not going to miss the 10 bucks.
00:35:30 Kevin
I just paid an extra 10 bucks on my dog. That's that's 30. That's that's 50% more for my dog. That's in my head. I'm.
00:35:36 Kevin
They can.
00:35:38 Kevin
If I have to pay an extra 10 bucks and it it doesn't leave a deficit in the budget cause now, there's still that. Where's that? Where's that other percentage? Like if we calculated it based on 7.2?
00:35:47 Bill
Yeah, it was it. It came out to 70, about $74,000 is what it came out.
00:35:52 Kevin
To so before the before the checks got cut and new bills got sent out. So.
00:35:56 Kevin
MHM.
00:35:57 Bill
Well, that's what we had to come up with to bring it back to six.
00:36:00 Bill
Two, we had to find another $74,000 in.
00:36:03 Kevin
OK, so there were additional like cuts and things in the budget, OK, gotcha. And that's all been correct.
00:36:07 Bill
Yeah. And we we lucked out there because we had and you, you probably remember this, but we don't get our we had to guesstimate for the city's insurance and this would be the, this is the insurance we get from we we Southern Tier Realty is our insurance agent. This would be our.
00:36:19 Kevin
Ohh.
00:36:27 Bill
That our our.
00:36:28 Kevin
Workers comp and the.
00:36:29 Bill
Yeah. Yeah, not workers can't. But the rest of the insurances we need. Gotcha. So we got a quote.
00:36:35 Bill
They give us a ballpark and then we were lucky because that came in under under budget only, only about $6000. But that's still that's that's a, you know, in a tight budget that's a lot of money. But then we also found we had $30,000 in when we talked to the bonding company.
00:36:45 Kevin
Right.
00:36:55 Bill
We had $30,000 that that we could use that was leftover from some of the projects we're doing. So we should use that. And then DPW came up with the with the rest of the money to to make it 74,000. So. So it's you know it's it's some of it was for.
00:37:16 Bill
The striping we might not be able to do as much striping this year that we we are going to but but we're going to you know we're going to live, we're going to go with live without it. So this, this, this budget we're in now is is a very tight budget.
00:37:29 Bill
And you know, and and and you know, it's going to cause some heartburn, but we're going to.
00:37:36 Bill
Get through it so.
00:37:38 Kevin
Yeah, I just it's one of those. You know, I always I when I heard I was like 1% I don't think the general public understands what a 1% what 1% really is. So it's like oh it's a 6% but.
00:37:48 Kevin
I don't think the average family, if they were cutting a check on their tax bill, is going to even notice the bill difference. You see what I mean? Like there's it's $10 versus if it was 8%, it'd be $20, you know, and it's one of those.
00:38:01 Kevin
Because we're only like we're what's the city like? Roughly 2530% of all the property tax bills that you get the the school is like almost 50% of it. And then the county is like the county's 25 and we're 25 or the county might be 20 and we're 30. It's it's something in there. We're like 1/4 of people's budgets and it runs half the city.
00:38:21 Kevin
Yeah. And it's like that's that's half the city and that doesn't include the water and sewer which.
00:38:26 Bill
Well, we got a we got a a lady stop by today and and.
00:38:29 Bill
Topped off her refund check and says she wants the city to have it. It was $8 and she says I want the city to have it. I'm not cashing this check. So yeah, so that's going to, that'll that might cause problems with the books. But but we got there was another one at the, you know, like $0.18.
00:38:49 Bill
So those are, you know, swallows like that probably aren't going to get cashed.
00:38:53 Kevin
People going to think they're junk mail.
00:38:55 Kevin
Like the free water samples, when you go to Home Depot and you see them there, it says test your water at home for free. You send it away for free water sample. They give you the results and they sell your information to a bunch of mailing companies so you get tons of just junk mail. Yeah. And that's. And I'm sure if I got an 18 cent check in the mail and I don't watch the Council meetings, I'm gonna be like, what is this?
00:39:00 Bill
Yeah.
00:39:07 Bill
Oh yeah.
00:39:16 Kevin
I don't want to catch this because they it could be a scam. The Prince of Nigeria is trying to take over.
00:39:21 Kevin
My bank account.
00:39:21 Bill
Yeah, but that's why we, one of the reasons why we changed the color of the the tag, the corrected tax bills that went out, we changed the color and put right on you know on there corrected. And we also the Council also voted to give two June and July, I believe June and July.
00:39:41 Bill
Is no, no.
00:39:43 Kevin
I saw that on the corrected.
00:39:44 Bill
No penalty and.
00:39:45 Bill
Then it goes from there. So yeah, that's but.
00:39:48 Bill
But it's all corrected now. We've got it done. There was a, you know, there was a an outcry again because they didn't understand.
00:39:58 Bill
What the levy versus the tax rate, right? So and that was all explained, you know and there they had another, you know 5.5 point 4 was the difference between last year's levy and this year's levy. And that has to be on the tax bill. So we had another another, you know, outcry on that.
00:40:12 Kevin
Right.
00:40:18 Bill
And and and and we we showed them what what it was and and now everybody we believe everybody is OK with that so.
00:40:27 Kevin
But it's and it's one of those things. It's all it's always like people are, especially if you follow social media.
00:40:32 Kevin
If people were asking me, they're like, oh, if you watch social media, man, you can guess who's gonna win this election or that election or this election. And I said, you know what? No, I usually think it's the opposite of what you think on social media cause most of the people I know on social media.
00:40:45 Kevin
Don't vote. It's one of those things they don't live in Olean or they don't live in this county and so they're, you know, I've seen tons of talk about the DA's race when there was competition in it or or different when the county legislative race went down a couple of years ago, people had all.
00:40:59 Kevin
These opinions and.
00:41:01 Kevin
Not one of them was right, like it's one of those. Like, if you follow social media, usually just.
00:41:04 Kevin
Go the opposite direction. You'll figure it out.
00:41:06 Bill
Well, you know, social media is it's it's a good tool, but then it also gives people an Ave. of just, you know, they can say anything they want without justification or.
00:41:17 Bill
That.
00:41:18 Bill
And it's too bad because there's a lot of misinformation that's out there.
00:41:23 Bill
And people grab that they like to. They like to grab that misinformation and and there's some, yeah.
00:41:28 Kevin
Seems the worst.
00:41:29 Kevin
Right, like.
00:41:30 Bill
Yeah. So you know, like I I, I I say all the time that, you know, stop up and see me, you know my doors open. You know if I'm available right then I'll see.
00:41:31 Kevin
Yes.
00:41:39 Bill
You.
00:41:39 Bill
Right then and you know and and I get a lot of people that do stop by but but you know I I don't get out of social media.
00:41:48 Bill
Very much because it's very frustrating.
00:41:51 Kevin
Yeah.
00:41:52 Bill
I do. I do check it but.
00:41:53 Kevin
You'll you'll get some. You'll get depression if you follow it. It's not just you. Just everybody. Look. Look at the trend with young women. You get these young high school girls that are on Instagram and TikTok and and depression rates are at an all time high amongst high school females. So it's one of those. Like we try to limit. Like I I try to limit my kids from Snapchat and.
00:42:08 Bill
Yeah.
00:42:13 Kevin
Twitter and TikTok and all that other stuff, but you know. But then the other thing that like I like to the.
00:42:22 Kevin
I can't remember the philosopher, but it was shared. I think when Elon first bought Twitter and changed it to ex his, his quote was the best solution to misinformation is the best information of solution to bad speech is more free speech. So if you just let people talk.
00:42:41 Kevin
More eventually.
00:42:44 Kevin
The because the theory is that you will, you'll just it'll just sink to the bottom because it's garbage and the the the wheat, the the truth will float to the top.
00:42:50 Bill
Ohh yeah yeah yeah.
00:42:54 Bill
You know well, you know, some of this stuff, you know that that that I have seen on there is you you you know you see the the the headline and then you go down and.
00:43:04 Bill
You get somebody saying this is fake news, you know.
00:43:06 Kevin
Yeah. Or or you read the headline and it it tells you halfway through the article. It kind of explains the headline. I've seen that in some of the major news, like articles and stuff, which is more like clickbait. They get you to click on it and then takes you to the. But it's like, hey, this happened then. It's like it halfway down the article. It's like, well, yeah, it didn't happen exactly. Like we worded it, but we got you.
00:43:18 Bill
Ohh yeah.
00:43:25 Kevin
I did not.
00:43:26 Kevin
Like I.
00:43:26 Bill
I just. I just. I just that's the first time I heard that click.
00:43:30 Bill
Was was about a week ago. My grandson says. Well, yeah, they get paid for how many times they get you to click.
00:43:32 Kevin
Yeah, yeah.
00:43:37 Kevin
On it. So yeah. And then you go to and then because there's tons of ads if you ever get one that takes you to a news article, you'll just be these ads all through it. And it's on just some generic website. And it boosts their traffic, which boosts how much people pay to have those.
00:43:50 Kevin
Heads there. And so they. Yeah, they make a ton of money on dumb stuff like that. And all they have to tell you is like Lindsay Lohan, found. And then just leave it at.
00:43:53 Bill
Yeah. So.
00:43:58 Kevin
Three dots and.
00:43:58 Kevin
You're like ohh, what happened to her? Yeah, I know. You know? And you're getting out of that.
00:44:01 Kevin
No.
00:44:01 Kevin
Not.
00:44:02 Bill
Going on, yeah, so.
00:44:04 Bill
But uh, you know, I mean, uh, you know, uh people, most people have good hearts and you know, and and and especially the people of Olean.
00:44:15 Bill
And you know, they they are concerned and and, you know, rightfully so, you know, in the last two years we've had to exceed the tax cap. But when you when you look at that you say OK.
00:44:26 Bill
Our retirement has gone up for all of our workers. Sure. OK, that's that's New York State says that, you know, our insurance has gone up. And we've been fortunate over the last few years that that our, our and this is the health insurance. You know, we've had mild house, I'll call it mild increases because it's been less than 10%.
00:44:47 Bill
Most places are getting 10/12/14 percent increases. We've been under 10%, right? And you know, and that's because back about four years ago, five years ago, we we went on a, A, a thing with the insurance companies about getting our employees to to.
00:45:05 Bill
Healthy, healthy. What do they call healthy checkups?
00:45:08 Kevin
Sure, sure. Yeah, they do. Yeah, they do preventive maintenance. They. Yeah.
00:45:08 Kevin
You know.
00:45:10 Bill
Preventive, preventative, preventative medicine. The gold. You know, we went on a kick with the get our people to get out. You know we we've had.
00:45:13 Kevin
Right.
00:45:19 Kevin
Corporate challenges coming up next Thursday, I.
00:45:21 Kevin
Think. Yeah, it. Yeah.
00:45:21 Bill
That is, are you running in it OK?
00:45:22 Kevin
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I saw. I signed up the other day. OK. So. And you can try to convince my wife to go walking with us, but she's not. She's.
00:45:29 Bill
But you know when you get into preventive stuff that, you know, you know, we found that there was probably people in, in the city family that hadn't been to the doctor in years, you know, so we encouraged everybody to get out and, you know, go get your check up.
00:45:44 Bill
You know? Yeah. And and and.
00:45:46 Kevin
Know and there's tons of incentives for like, not smoking and things like this. Just a lot of.
00:45:51 Bill
Yeah. See, you know, I mean, I get, I get things in the mail, you know, I mean, the latest one I got was a they they want to give me a a a not a laptop but a an iPad or or something like that. So I can do exercises at home. You know. So they and that's because of my age.
00:46:09 Kevin
OK.
00:46:11 Bill
They want me to, you know, get get moving. They call it so, aren't you? So I get that they offer you.
00:46:14 Kevin
Yeah.
00:46:16 Kevin
Got one of the you got an Apple Watch?
00:46:16 Bill
That.
00:46:18 Bill
No, I have a.
00:46:20 Bill
I don't know what this one is.
00:46:22 Kevin
Smart watch those tracks. Your steps tells your pulse and.
00:46:24 Bill
Yeah. Yeah. Like, I haven't done many steps today because I was. I I didn't go into work till late today, but but it it. Yeah, I can get all that stuff, but it's not a I guess it's a smart watch.
00:46:34 Bill
It's kind of you.
00:46:35 Kevin
Know tracks mine. I I got. I had to fire a couple of my guys in the private sector last year and my blood pressure was super high.
00:46:43 Kevin
And I was going into a preventative maintenance doctor's appointment. And they they're like, you need to. You need to go get you. They they panicked cause my primary wasn't there at the time and I called him. I'm like doc these people are panicking like I'm about to die. Is everything OK he's like.
00:46:52 Kevin
M.
00:46:58 Kevin
What are you doing today? Like, I'm like, I gotta go fire two guys. I've been stressed out about.
00:47:03 Kevin
It all week and he goes.
00:47:05 Kevin
Yeah. Go get a blood. Go get a blood pressure cough at Walmart. Let yourself cool down and we'll talk about it on Monday. And it was because it was a Friday that I had to let these guys and it and sure enough. But now since then, I have ones that link.
00:47:14 Bill
Yeah.
00:47:18 Kevin
My apple and I do my blood pressure every morning. I do my weight, I do thermostat and I do the pulse ox.
00:47:25 Bill
So you can do everything.
00:47:26 Kevin
Ohh yeah, I just do it all at home and I just it goes on and I share it with Doctor Matt and he's.
00:47:31 Kevin
Yeah, he's got it all.
00:47:32 Bill
Yeah, I I've got a friend of mine who has a he's got a patch on his arm now, and he can. His blood sugar. He can just oil from. Yeah, he's got a whatever it is that goes on the arm and he can check his blood sugar.
00:47:39 Kevin
Oh yeah.
00:47:44 Bill
Whenever he wants.
00:47:44 Kevin
To yeah. Yeah. And a lot of times your you can set your watch your phone just to do it automatically. And they, yeah, they they get a ton of those.
00:47:51 Bill
Yeah, I guess you can. Like you said, if your blood pressure goes too high, your phone will or your watch will buzz.
00:47:56 Kevin
Yeah. And I just, I more mine's more of a monitoring it at its lowest point throughout the day and now I understand how certain things stress me out. So I.
00:48:05 Bill
See, when that we're we're there. I don't know. You're probably too young to remember. But Dick Tracy, man, he had wrist radio. We're there, you know. I guess my wife, she can answer her phone on her wrist.
00:48:07 Kevin
Yeah.
00:48:13 Kevin
Ohh yeah, yes.
00:48:16 Kevin
So yeah, I can't too, but the the line of work that I'm in, this thing gets dirty and I can't hear anybody so like or it'll ring. But it'll like the microphone.
00:48:21 Bill
OK.
00:48:25 Kevin
They can't hear me.
00:48:26 Bill
OK.
00:48:26 Kevin
So, but it's one of those.
00:48:30 Kevin
So one of the things that came up being the debate which I know that you that you touched on, which I think that you answered pretty pretty handily that I don't think your opponent did, was the homelessness and the drug problem. And like, I think that a lot of people, they're concerned about it. But I think that they're expecting you to have all the answers.
00:48:53 Kevin
And I guess I'll tell you my take on it after I hear your response again I.
00:48:56 Bill
Mean or well, you know. Yeah. You know, we we've got the city does not have resources. OK, all the resources go to the county. The state for homelessness goes to the county.
00:49:11 Bill
The county is doing a darn good job.
00:49:14 Bill
And allocating those resources and put these people up. OK, now you know, if it's under 32°, they have to put them up in a shelter. Whatever we've got, you know, we've got the homeless task force going and it's, you know, it's we're we're meeting about monthly and and we're, you know, right now it's a big education and we're learning about what each department does and we've got I think I have all the right players.
00:49:18 Bill
Right.
00:49:36 Bill
At the table there you know we have the faith-based community covered. We have the we have the county there. You know we have mental health there. We've got cares. Trinity trinities there. You know we had.
00:49:51 Bill
About we have Saint Bonaventure University represented there. Believe it or not, there's there's college students who are are homeless and you know. And so we have all of that going on and we have many, many organizations. Excuse me.
00:50:08 Bill
William, I'm going to take a drink of water. We have many organizations that are that are there, that work with the homeless.
00:50:17 Bill
You know, we have used to be community development down in Salamanca, now it's.
00:50:22 Kevin
Or Community Action.
00:50:24 Bill
Community Action? Yeah, not community development, Community Action. And there's a there's a different name for it now, but but they're there, you know, they're there. They have a shelter in Salamanca. We have the the Genesis House. They're there so.
00:50:29 Kevin
OK.
00:50:36 Bill
So we have all the people that are there and you know, so we're we're doing, we're getting together. We're finding out what's going on. We're finding out what resources there are, you know and and you know it was said that there's a there's we need a a point of contact for these people. We have that our police depart.
00:50:53 Bill
Somebody comes into town that's homeless. They go to the Police Department and they they get them and we're developing now a A basically a a sheet that is A1 page sheet that will give them all of the places that that will.
00:51:07 Bill
Give.
00:51:07 Bill
Them help and we talked about that our last meeting and when they're processing and they do have that.
00:51:13 Bill
Cattaraugus County DSS, you know that they have, as any organization, they have their rules and these people have to follow the rules. The Genesis House, they have their rules. Yeah. I'll give you an example. I had a it was it was strays. I had a guy call me from the.
00:51:25 Kevin
Yeah, you can't go in there and just, yeah.
00:51:32 Bill
Linda and Michael come in and she says I got a guy on the phone. He.
00:51:36 Bill
Wants.
00:51:36 Bill
To talk to the mayor, and she says he's from Gowanda.
00:51:40 Bill
So I said we'll put him through so and and I know him. I knew him years ago when I was on the Police Department. So he says I I need to talk to the mayor. I says you have him. And he says, Bill, he says. Yeah. So he told me his name and I, you know, I talked to him and and I says he says I need a place to stay.
00:52:00 Bill
And I says you're calling from Gowanda.
00:52:03 Bill
And he says, yeah, he says, well, I need a place to stay. Nobody will help me here.
00:52:08 Bill
And I says, well, did you, you know, have you you gone to the Police Department? Yeah. And I'm waiting for the mayor to call me from Guandi says, well, you know, I'm sure they can set you up or tell you who's there to help you. And he says, well, I did. I did get some. I did go to. He told me the place.
00:52:28 Bill
He says. But I got kicked out of there. I says why? He says I threatened the people in charge.
00:52:34 Bill
So I says, well, you're not going to get much help doing that. So we ended the call and then it wasn't, it wasn't probably 2 weeks later, here he comes walking in my office. So I said I thought you were in gwanda. I got I I had to leave there.
00:52:53 Bill
Say I wasn't welcome there anymore. So and I said OK, he says I need a place. I need a hotel room. Can you give me a hotel room? I says no, we don't do that. We don't have funds for that. So I says said, did you go to the Genesis house? And he says, yeah, I got kicked out of there.
00:53:09 Bill
Why?
00:53:10 Bill
For threatening people so and when we went through all the places and he's been, you know, I mean we went through faith-based and you know you talked to any any.
00:53:20 Kevin
And it's it's one of those things, it's and it and it it's a lot of these problems, drug addiction, I understand like.
00:53:27 Kevin
From a biological standpoint, right, like the same reason that people crave sugar.
00:53:32 Kevin
They they love, you know, they love pasta, right? Like there's just this. There's something inside of you that breaks it down. It gets that sugar and you get that. That joy in your brain, right. Like you get that chemical release. You look at your fault. You get these teenage kids. They look at the phone, they get the dopamine hits. Their brain is satisfied by that, right. They try drugs. The drugs are great. They makes them feel euphoric. Right. And then their body.
00:53:54 Kevin
Starts to crave these good things and I get I get that aspect of it, but part of it is also like willpower and and being raised right, the moral fabric of society, nobody takes advantage of the faith-based communities when the kids are younger and you have less of that. And people are wondering why.
00:54:11 Kevin
The moral fabric of our society slowly goes to time and it starts to look like an old tattered blanket. And as time goes on, and it's like if I, but if this guy had a solid childhood with good parents and a two parent household and was going to a faith-based, it was raised in a faith-based community.
00:54:28 Kevin
I don't see why he would be walking into places threatening him.
00:54:31 Kevin
And getting kicked out.
00:54:32 Bill
But you know, I mean and. And then we went through the whole gamut. So he finally ended up.
00:54:36 Bill
With.
00:54:39 Bill
Well, have you tried Catholic charities?
00:54:42 Bill
And he says no.
00:54:44 Bill
And he says, well, where's that at? I says, well, that's down down the West End of town, down at Holiday Park Center. And he says, well, how am I going to get there?
00:54:56 Bill
Says it says it's it's.
00:54:58 Bill
Only a 26 block walk.
00:55:00 Bill
I said so. You you know.
00:55:02 Kevin
You can only lead a horse to. You can only lead.
00:55:04 Bill
A horse to water, but he says you expect me to walk there? I said, well, how did you get here? He says, well, I walked most of the way. And I says, yeah, I do expect you to go and walk down there. And you.
00:55:15 Bill
Know.
00:55:15 Bill
And I says, and you burned all your bridges, don't burn it.
00:55:18 Bill
There.
00:55:19 Bill
Too. So and I I haven't heard. I don't know. I haven't heard from him.
00:55:22 Bill
In the.
00:55:23 Bill
Over a couple of months now. So so I don't know. But you know, you got, I mean.
00:55:28 Bill
We have people who are, yes, they are homeless, but some of them are homeless by choice, you know.
00:55:37 Kevin
Or through their.
00:55:37 Kevin
Actions, I mean which is which is which is their choice, right? They made the choices that got.
00:55:38 Bill
Failure actions.
00:55:41 Kevin
Them.
00:55:41 Bill
Where they are so, but now you know we're getting as good weather is coming now we're going to see an uptick of of people.
00:55:42 Kevin
Mm-hmm.
00:55:49 Bill
In the in our parks and around and you know, I guess there was a call the other the other night that some people were camping in these people's property and they they called the police to, you know, to get them off the property and.
00:56:01 Bill
You know, it's it's amazing how they take liberties with people's property and that, but we'll we'll get. But you know, and then then it'll go through the cycle again. And then so this summer, they'll be around different places. I mean, I I heard a couple of calls that, you know, they're in, in dumpsters, throwing stuff out of dumpsters and.
00:56:18 Kevin
There was the one guy who was sleeping in the dumpster at Tim horton's.
00:56:20 Bill
Yeah. Oh, yeah. He got. Yeah, he had. He must have been up high in that, that that he got. He's the one that they lifted him up and he fell out of it.
00:56:28 Kevin
Yeah, he was sleeping, I guess in the dumpster when they took the dump truck over the truck cause the truck dumps it into the back of it. Yeah. And so I guess he must have made a commotion when he woke up inside the truck. So.
00:56:38 Bill
But but you.
00:56:38 Kevin
Know and then you know the the lovely people on the Internet were complaining that the the Police Department came a.
00:56:43 Bill
Ticket. Yeah. So, but you know, you mean you have places that now I know country fair locks. They're they're dumpsters. Yeah, you know.
00:56:51 Kevin
Gonna treat it like there's bears.
00:56:52 Bill
Around, yeah.
00:56:54 Bill
It's it's, you know, it's a shame because there there's avenues that they can get a meal right, you know, they can go to the warming house, they can go to a harvest ministry right on W State St. you know, they can. They go to the the food pantries and they'll give them food.
00:57:05 Kevin
Right, right.
00:57:12 Bill
So there there's avenues, you know.
00:57:14 Kevin
Yeah. And it's and it's. And that's a large part of it. I don't think the general public understands that that.
00:57:18 Bill
Like and and then there there is a component of people with mental health issues and that that's sad and OK, but you know. But there again Casa Trinity works with these people. You know, they'll work with them. The Mental Health Association will work with them.
00:57:25 Kevin
Yeah.
00:57:29 Kevin
And.
00:57:29 Kevin
Can't make people get treatment.
00:57:34 Bill
You know, they'll get them. They'll get them the counseling and that that they need. But you're right, you can't. You can't make them if they don't wanna they.
00:57:40 Bill
Not help you know that there is a lot of help out there there. There's, there's the governor has put a lot more money on the table for organizations to to help with homeless. But there again, that's going to go to the counties and bladder. August County is very good on on using that.
00:57:57 Kevin
OK.
00:58:01 Bill
Money to help.
00:58:03 Bill
All the residents of Cattaraugus County, not just certain, not just certain areas.
00:58:06 Kevin
Certain groups, certain niches, right? Yeah. Yeah. So.
00:58:09 Kevin
Yeah.
00:58:10 Kevin
And I, yeah, that was that's that's one that people don't ever they don't they don't think about I I just want like sometimes I'll get frustrated with the homeless I just I just want them gone Bill just send the cops through town and just tell them to leave you know but at the same time.
00:58:24 Kevin
I mean, there are there are laws like I might be frustrated. I think I had a rant on here about the homeless. And it's like, yeah, I can rant about it. It doesn't mean that you're gonna be able to do anything because yeah, there's only certain things you can do. You can't go around and just make.
00:58:34 Bill
Well.
00:58:38 Bill
The problem disappear it's and there there's a lot of good people working on the problem, OK. And it's all about resources.
00:58:42 Kevin
Right.
00:58:45 Bill
And then what you have to work with in order to solve the solve these problems? Are you ever going to solve the problems? No, but you can probably make a good hit on them, you know? Yeah. With them. Now I know. I mean, we've had them look at the, you know, we've had them down in there, you know, in in the franchise.
00:58:53 Kevin
Right.
00:59:01 Bill
The park, the one gazebo there. That's kind of out of the way over by the Children's Garden. You know, they they took up, you know, their head hammocks strung across was living in there, you know. But then then they got to, then they got to, you know, do things that, you know, they defecate on the floor, you know, and then look what they're doing to our our restrooms. We like to have our restrooms around the city open up.
00:59:06 Kevin
Yeah.
00:59:16 Kevin
Right.
00:59:20 Kevin
Oh yeah, Lincoln.
00:59:22 Bill
We just had them now, one per they just wiped uh fingernail Polish all over the walls and on the toilets and the sinks, you know. And and why? Why do that? I got a call tonight that there's a group using the park and they're.
00:59:39 Bill
You know, the toilet paper was gone. So. So we we had to get them some more toilet paper because they had to, you know.
00:59:45 Kevin
I mean, because people come in and just.
00:59:47 Kevin
Steal the toilet paper.
00:59:48 Bill
Yeah, yeah, whatever they do with it. So that's amazing. But it's, you know, you try to, you try to have nice parks and stuff and and it's there for everybody to use and that but you know, I mean just to respect it, you know, and you don't have to, you don't have to. Why go into a into the bathroom?
01:00:06 Bill
And and and dirty it all.
01:00:07 Kevin
Up right cause and I'm like I'm a little government.
01:00:10 Kevin
So that's that was kind of my take is like at what point? Because I remember being on the Council and we were talking about things like when we were redoing the rink, for example, like are you in, are you in, are you out on like, there's certain things that government does right. Like I want the government for police fire and and and roadways, right, like and the people like, what about parks?
01:00:30 Kevin
OK, I can get behind parks, right? Like I don't expect like.
01:00:33 Kevin
You know, I don't expect, you know, like the church to buy a lot next to them and put in. Oh, you know what I mean, to put in playground equipment. So I would expect that. And then you start getting in down these rabbit holes, though, it's like, OK well, should you provide a rank? Well, we already had one. So what's the cost of maintaining? And you, you weigh these options on things you already have and then like.
01:00:40 Kevin
MHM.
01:00:54 Kevin
I I don't. I don't need my city to to pay for councillors to go out on the streets and deal with the the homeless. We don't have the funding for it. Even if we did, I don't think that our taxpayer dollars should be used for that. There's other programs, there's non for profits. There's priests. There's all these people that work with people. So it's one of those.
01:01:14 Bill
As long as we can get them, you know, if our our, you know there there's some pros and cons that having a a Chrysler or a crisis counselor that that is right assigned to your Police Department. Right. OK. But you know that mean you're looking at a lot of these are are in bigger cities that have.
01:01:32 Bill
You know many more resources, right? OK, now there's pros and cons and having a cry, you know? So, you know, in an ideal world, ideal situation. Yes, we had crisis counselors that could be right there, but they're they're on call.
01:01:49 Kevin
And they're not. Also, they're not. Also like a trained police officer.
01:01:52 Kevin
Either right, they've got some basics. So now you're a cop. Is responsible now for the civilian they're bringing in. So that's I I can see that as.
01:01:58 Bill
Yep.
01:02:00 Bill
A con? Yeah. And there's avenues. You know, they're. They're available. I mean, it's not.
01:02:04 Bill
Like it's, you know, you you can get one, you can probably get one there within 1/2 hour, 45 minutes, maybe even sooner, right. You know when the need is there, but our our police officers do a fantastic job when it comes to dealing with people with mental mental disabilities and and mental issues. And that too, you know the and and things are getting better.
01:02:25 Bill
At the at the hospital too, you know they're going to have there's more funding coming. Like I said, the the emergency room is going to be better, better designed for.
01:02:41 Bill
People with the command with mental health issues for them to treat them. Yeah. You know, you got a person who's who's having an episode and you know, they got to sit in a in a waiting room full of people.
01:02:55 Kevin
Right. That's not going to. That's just going to exacerbate the issue.
01:02:57 Bill
Yeah. And not only is it going to, you know, as aspirate the situation with that individual, but with the other people there, you know it becomes a safety concern then.
01:03:07 Kevin
Right, because now you don't want to be here with your sick child because there's a guy over here losing his lose his mind. Yes.
01:03:11 Bill
Yeah, so so it's going to be better all the way around.
01:03:14 Bill
So you know, one of the things I want to touch on is I don't know how many people realize that we have a a methadone clinic in town.
01:03:23 Kevin
You know, I knew they were going to put.
01:03:24 Bill
One in I didn't know, and it it's been going now for for probably 6-8 months and I haven't.
01:03:34 Bill
For monthly meetings with Casa Trinity, we've backed off now to every other month and it's being very well run. You don't see a lot of the vehicles around town anymore, as you've seen, and you know, they guaranteed me that it would be for the people of Cattaraugus County.
01:03:52 Bill
And it's it's, you know, so it's.
01:03:54 Kevin
I know that's an issue with the bigger cities because we the reason we bought the House next to us was because we had people that were getting on that bus all the time and they would have Riff Raff come here. And So what they use and they, they have no qualms like they have no qualms about, like, spilling their story on the front porch.
01:04:12 Kevin
Loud. So the whole neighbor could Hood can hear it. Yeah, they get on the bus or the the the, the the minivan and they get in with all their friends. They get paid to go up there. They got paid the the previous landlord got paid for the their rent because technically they didn't have to work.
01:04:29 Kevin
So they would, you know, so there's this big thing and it been it. And when people are aware that these things are going on, it kind of leaves a bad taste in your mouth. And I know it's not a city issue. It becomes a city issue. But like, yeah. Yeah. And so they go up there and they go into these clinics and.
01:04:39 Bill
And then.
01:04:44 Kevin
Then.
01:04:44 Kevin
There's from the way that these these people that are going to describe it, there's a line.
01:04:48 Kevin
Of people out front.
01:04:50 Kevin
Waiting to buy the methadone pills that they can spit out and sell, and then they trade them for more drugs. Or they use the money that they're given cause they can't work, so they get paid to go. They get their rent paid for. That doesn't count as income. So they were getting food stamps, Medicaid. You know, the rental assistance, all this.
01:05:09 Kevin
All these different things, and it's one of those, like you're like, man, these people are making, like, 2-3 grand a month. And they're not like, they have all their bills paid for. They get to walk home with like, 700 bucks a week, which that's that's my take home like that's.
01:05:20 Bill
Well.
01:05:23 Bill
Well, so So what I.
01:05:24 Bill
When I when I I've been over to the new site twice now and it's very well run, they have to have an appointment. They go in, they get right off the bat, they they sign in, they they get they meet without a counselor, they go, they get.
01:05:45 Bill
The methadone it's administered by a nurse to them so.
01:05:51 Kevin
There's no, there's no hiding under their tongue and.
01:05:53 Bill
No hiding it, no. And then? And then they they meet again with the counselor on the way out.
01:06:02 Bill
And there's security there all the time too, so.
01:06:04 Kevin
Right. Prevent loitering.
01:06:06 Bill
Yeah, yeah. And and it was interesting because I, you know, I mean, there's the, the where it's cap is is a real secure safe and out there. So it's very well run and and I told him right off the bat I said you know my concern is.
01:06:18 Kevin
Right.
01:06:21 Kevin
OK, that's.
01:06:24 Bill
Mayor, is that?
01:06:27 Bill
And I've heard this concerns from many people. I don't want to see zombies walking up and down the.
01:06:31 Bill
Street.
01:06:32 Kevin
Right.
01:06:32 Bill
You know, on our Main Street here and they said that's not what this program is. And so far they've held true to what the program is and.
01:06:40 Kevin
We do have our fair share of zombies, but it's not. It's probably not because of that, yeah.
01:06:43 Bill
No.
01:06:44 Bill
No, we.
01:06:45 Kevin
We have a few. There's. Yeah, I was with the kids the other day. Lachlan took his first guitar lesson. As we were talking about when we first got here with these guitars on the wall. And I pulled out my dad's old guitars and I've been practicing. I've been practicing with Lachlan.
01:06:58 Kevin
And we took him to see he wanted to go to 711. After that, his and his sister, his sister took violin. And I take those with her as well. So I do both. It's one of those taxing those taxing things I do as a dad. I play guitar with my son and now I play violin with my daughter. And so he wanted to go to 711. We went in there.
01:07:16 Kevin
And there's our famous Larry Ordway, and they're helping out. Mm-hmm. He's stocking shelves. He's like, and he come, he comes running in right after the kids bought their slushies. Somebody scared me from behind the dumpster.
01:07:27 Kevin
And the there's only one other guy in there I was like, I'll go with Larry. So I walked around with Larry and we had to shoot a homeless guy out from behind the dumpster. And then as we're.
01:07:34 Kevin
Coming.
01:07:35 Kevin
Back around this other guy, his stump, who we saw earlier blocking traffic because he was kind of stumbling across the street moving super slow and he was coming in and a lot of people got nervous. And I had quite a lot.
01:07:47 Kevin
You could make lock the truck.
01:07:49 Kevin
And so I checked with Larry, made sure everything was alright, but this guy is just standing there, like moving at like a snail's pace, holding a like looks like a little girls Hello Kitty blanket. And one of those pillows that like your grandmother would have with the little balls, the poop balls around the perimeter of it. And all I kept thinking was I looked.
01:08:06 Kevin
At Larry and I said, Larry.
01:08:08 Kevin
It's not that this guy is acting funny. I want to know where the little girl is like. That's in my my head. That's what I think and.
01:08:14 Kevin
And I know that like it's one of those cases. Like, you can't go tell that guy to go clean up his act, like, cause he's not going to and it's.
01:08:22 Bill
And you know what? You know, he just may be someone who just who's had some issues and that's that's his safety net blanket. And they have the pillow and, you know, I mean, you just look, you know, I learned a long time ago.
01:08:36 Bill
When I first got on the Police Department that that there's going to be people that that you're going to think is strange, you know and and I mean there's been a lot of output at this. There's been a lot of characters around only.
01:08:51 Bill
But, but you know, you look at him.
01:08:53 Bill
And and like.
01:08:54 Kevin
Larry, I love.
01:08:55 Bill
Larry, Larry. Larry is our ambassador for Olian. You know, we've had, I mean, I'll go back to we had Joe Babcock years ago. He used to sell papers.
01:08:58 Kevin
Yeah.
01:09:08 Kevin
OK.
01:09:08 Bill
On the street. And he was he was. He had a speech.
01:09:10 Bill
Impediment.
01:09:11 Bill
And he would be. But he was out on the street selling.
01:09:14 Bill
Papers and you know it, it just you can go down through that. The number of people that we've had in town who are, you know and and.
01:09:22 Kevin
The returning hung for Jesus guy. He was here last week.
01:09:24 Bill
Oh yeah, he's he's out there every, every, every couple of. Well, he took a couple of weeks off there, but he's out there. So you have, I don't know if you can say these these people like this give our give you location character or not. But you learned that that that.
01:09:41 Bill
They're they're OK. They're not. You know, they're everybody's got some issues, let's face it. And you know, and you see people walking around, there's a guy.
01:09:51 Bill
That.
01:09:51 Bill
That comes over a country fair and you know he walks very slow and deliberate.
01:09:57 Bill
And but he's every morning. He's walking the country fair, he gets whatever he gets, turns around and walks back.
01:10:04 Kevin
Doesn't harm anybody. Just I'm trying to think Adrian Keel.
01:10:08 Kevin
MHM.
01:10:09 Kevin
She wanders around town. She she she hits me up for 5 bucks every so often. I give her the Dan Derose speech.
01:10:15 Kevin
You know, spend it on liquor or whatever. No Lotto tickets, that's the Dan Derose speech to Adrienne, but she walks around town and if you didn't know her, she doesn't say anything to you. Yeah, she just just walks a straight line and you know me, me and my wife will. We'll get her bottles of water when she's walking by or we'll give her money. Will lend her a cigarette or.
01:10:33 Kevin
Whatever she seems to be looking for, but yeah.
01:10:35 Bill
So.
01:10:37 Bill
You know, there's there's a lot of people like that, you know, we had many growing up there was. I mean, look at that. I just I mentioned David Dirks. I don't know if you know David Dirks or not. David Dirks is what, back in the day is what you would consider would have been *********. OK. And David Dirks is 73 years old.
01:10:48 Kevin
They don't.
01:10:58 Bill
Davy Dirks lived down on 15th St. and he's actually Kathy Belle's uncle. I believe. OK, OK, the Fire Chief, former fire chiefs uncle and Davy was the bat boy for probably every softball team that played at Marcus Park.
01:11:17 Kevin
OK.
01:11:17 Bill
And he was he was adopted. Or you could say, adopted by all the softball players and everybody took care of Joe, desirable for years. Joe would pick him up, go to his house, pick him up and bring him to east. Only in football.
01:11:30 Bill
Games and David would be along the sideline with his clipboard and, you know, and Joe took care of him. So here's a guy that probably I don't know what the life expectancy was, probably early 20s, but he's 73 years old. He's still alive. Really. Yeah. Just a, just a wonderful, you know, individual.
01:11:49 Kevin
So yeah, that's.
01:11:50 Kevin
I was gonna say.
01:11:51 Kevin
Which she she helps out over at the Senior Center.
01:11:53 Bill
Is, uh, Jackie, Jackie paytech?
01:11:55 Kevin
Yeah, she she was. We saw at this. We were. I was flipping chickens on Sunday with the Hibernians. OK. And so she was there helping clean up she.
01:12:02 Kevin
Does that every year and.
01:12:03 Bill
She has cleaned up at most events around the city. She will be there helping. Yeah. Yeah. She's just a wonderful young lady. She, you know, she's Jackie's not a young lady, but.
01:12:12 Kevin
If we're right, she's. I was just saying she's got to be. She's got to be in her 60s.
01:12:15 Bill
I would, I would say, yeah, yeah, 50s or 60s. Yeah. And, you know and.
01:12:20 Bill
She just she helps she.
01:12:21 Kevin
The the fournies they're she's big in with their family, right? The.
01:12:23 Bill
Yeah.
01:12:24 Bill
Fournies. Yeah, and she.
01:12:27 Bill
She helps everywhere, wherever it is, an event. She was at the chambers, the Chambers Picnic in the park. She was helping there. She'll she'll help. When St. John's was doing their festival, she would help down there, no matter where there's help needed.
01:12:43 Bill
She's there to.
01:12:43 Kevin
Help. That's. Yeah. That's kind of that's kind of like that's kind of like Larry, he's our up and coming. You know he's Larry. Larry call Larry had a friend of mine called me and said, you know, somewhere I can get shovels.
01:12:54 Kevin
And so my friend called me said I I got this guy. His name is Larry and he's volunteering to help do the gardens Uptown with.
01:13:00 Kevin
The city and he needs shovels and some like spades and little things like that. And maybe, you know, some gloves. And it's Larry Ordway. He goes. Yeah, I'm like, I'll call Larry. So I call on Larry. And I'm like, Larry, what do you need? He goes. I need a shovel. I need a little rake. I need a spade. I need a bucket. And so I I called one of my guys and I said hey.
01:13:20 Kevin
Tomorrow afternoon. Can you meet Larry? He's gonna meet you. I can't remember where they met, but he met him. Picked him up, took him to harbor freight. They had everything but a spade shovel. They're all sold out at the beginning of the season. And I said he goes and he called me. And I was like, taking with W Smith. And he goes and he's like, well, Larry really likes both shovels. I'm like Larry.
01:13:41 Kevin
I just bought you like $60 worth of tools, buddy. I was like, just go pick. Which one do you want the best? And so we we bought Larry a shovel and.
01:13:49 Kevin
He I guess one of these days I gotta go Uptown with him, take a picture of him with, with his new shovel. Cause he said it's he called me like a week.
01:13:56 Kevin
Later, he's like, these are the best tools. Thanks, Kevin. Probably once a week.
01:14:00 Kevin
Yeah.
01:14:00 Bill
He's up at the office and says hello and he's he's a good guy. He reminds me all the time they're leaving for. I think it's just Friday I gotta check, but they're leaving for a bowling event for.
01:14:14 Bill
Special electrics. Yeah. So he'll he wants to. He'll he'll want to escort for the bus to go out. So, but they they do a good job. Yeah, lot of. Lot of good that Larry's been. I call him the ambassador.
01:14:15 Kevin
That's OK.
01:14:20 Kevin
Oh.
01:14:30 Kevin
So helps you keep the feud down with Western Mills, right, Tony? Tony Kostas.
01:14:36 Bill
Tony's living in town now is.
01:14:37 Kevin
He yeah. So he's not the oh man. Surprised he's.
01:14:39 Kevin
Not running, he's.
01:14:41 Kevin
Yeah.
01:14:42 Bill
He stopped in to see me. Ohh yeah, yeah. He stops in too. He stops up there and yeah, I think he's.
01:14:50 Bill
He's not in Western mills anymore, so.
01:14:52 Kevin
No, I thought I heard something about his house being condemned or something. I think the sewer.
01:14:55 Kevin
Line collapsed or?
01:14:56 Kevin
Whatever. Actually, it's funny that we're doing this today. I, as I got home tonight, I got a I got a letter from our our dear friend Luke. I know you're on his mailing list too, so.
01:15:08 Bill
I got 1 today to everybody, yes.
01:15:11 Kevin
I I've got like 15 in this pile that I haven't read yet and I at some point I got.
01:15:15 Bill
Yeah.
01:15:17 Kevin
They.
01:15:18 Kevin
So one more I I guess I don't know how much longer you wanna do this for Bill, but I've got one more. There's a charter Commission going on, yes. And we've been pushing. I've been. I mean, I was pushing that when I when I was on the Council too, just to just cause. It's what, 819931982. Yeah. And so this was just kind of cleaning up some laws.
01:15:35 Bill
Been a while.
01:15:39 Kevin
Trying to figure out do we revamp the city? Do we not? I've caught a couple of them.
01:15:44 Bill
Yeah.
01:15:46 Bill
That yeah, I I put the Charter Commission together as, as you know, the Council wanted to do it and they didn't. They didn't.
01:15:54 Bill
Yeah.
01:15:55 Bill
Feel they could. They could get it going. So they asked me to put it together, so I did. I said I have no problem with that. And so we've got some real good people on there. And if you think back, a Charter Commission started under Dave Crucci and then they they saw.
01:16:15 Bill
What it was going to, and this is what I was told and I don't know if it's accurate or not, but.
01:16:19 Bill
Then it it didn't really get going because of the cost involved in it. So so they they put that to rest and then so we started up again they're working on.
01:16:28 Bill
It.
01:16:29 Bill
I have former mayor Jim Griffin, who's the chairman of it, Nate Smith, I believe is the vice chairman, Linda Whits on there. She's the secretary.
01:16:41 Bill
And we have a Vernon Robinson's on there. Sonya Mccalls on there from the Council a, you know, just I have former Fire Chief Tim Sam Richardson's on there.
01:16:53 Kevin
Jim.
01:16:56 Bill
Uh.
01:16:58 Bill
Dennis Pezzimenti is on there.
01:17:01 Bill
And I'm Jonah blank on the restaurant, but we got some real good people. The word on there too, right? Yeah. Awards on there too. Award near. Yeah. He's on there. And so we got some real good people on there. And they're, you know, the first thing they tackled was should there be a city manager or should there be or should we keep the the mayor there? So.
01:17:08 Kevin
And then.
01:17:21 Kevin
They went and I've heard. I've over the years I've heard mixed feelings on it. And you know, I think that's that's kind of what it.
01:17:27 Kevin
I think that's what drove it from what I remember, I remember just that's what a lot of people wanted to just to put a.
01:17:29 Bill
Yeah.
01:17:33 Kevin
Referendum out there and.
01:17:34 Bill
Yeah. Yeah, they wanted to so, but they that was one of the first things they tackled and they decided to keep it as a, as a mayor, strong mayor.
01:17:43 Kevin
Right. And So what?
01:17:48 Bill
They I I'm not sure when their next meeting is, but if they want to get it on the.
01:17:54 Bill
On the.
01:17:57 Bill
The ballot in.
01:17:57 Bill
November, yes, thank you. The ballot in November, they got it. It's got. I think they have to have it.
01:18:01 Bill
Ready by August?
01:18:02 Kevin
Oh, OK. I was going to say yeah, the I was gonna say Jim Griffin was a good choice. I didn't. I've never met Jim. I've heard stories of him, and I've seen those meetings and he's he's a no nonsense guy. No, if he he kind of he's quick to the point and he'll let people.
01:18:08 Bill
Oh yeah.
01:18:11 Bill
No.
01:18:15 Kevin
Speak their piece.
01:18:16 Kevin
And then he'll yeah, quickly, kibosh it real quick if it's going nowhere and there's a.
01:18:22 Bill
There's a there, there's a lot of good.
01:18:24 Kevin
People on there. Nate's great. I like Nate.
01:18:27 Bill
Not a good, you know.
01:18:29 Bill
There's a lot of people with a wealth of information there who've been, and I think Larry strokes is on there and.
01:18:35 Kevin
Yep.
01:18:37 Bill
I can't think who else right now.
01:18:40 Bill
But yeah, they've been meeting I I kind of, I don't I go there and I'll sit off to the side and listen answer questions like that. But alright I or I don't go at all, you know. And and and I and I wanted it that way. I don't want to have I want them to their committee.
01:18:48 Kevin
Question yeah.
01:19:00 Bill
You know have influence.
01:19:03 Kevin
Right.
01:19:04 Kevin
Well, so yeah, that's good. Yeah.
01:19:06 Bill
That's.
01:19:06 Bill
So.
01:19:07 Kevin
Yeah. And how's Linda doing? I I heard she had some.
01:19:10 Kevin
Issues too. She had a heart attack. Something, yeah.
01:19:11 Bill
Yeah, she did. She has some medical issues she was doing OK. I saw the other day with GAIL and she's she's getting aroused. And she says she's doing better.
01:19:15 Kevin
Yeah.
01:19:16 Kevin
Yeah.
01:19:18 Kevin
I was talking to her son the other day. I gotta I gotta put a phone call into her, but it's one of those things. It's like I don't talk to Linda that often. So I I feel weird about calling somebody. Cause you don't want to catch him in the middle of a doctor's appointment.
01:19:27 Kevin
When it's, you know, or or they should be resting or whatever it is, so. OK. Well, I've, I've I've covered a lot of things that I wanted to talk about. Awesome and.
01:19:28 Bill
Yeah, yeah.
01:19:38 Bill
I hope.
01:19:39 Bill
You know you 2 got some answers that yeah. You know, one of the things I want to leave with is that, you know, I mean.
01:19:48 Bill
You know, a lot of some people not allowed, but you know or or there's indication that that I'm too old, you know. Well, I I've been, you know, there's a lot to say about experience. And I've been, you know, I was in law enforcement for 32 years here. I worked a year running down bad debts.
01:20:09 Bill
For the Sheriff's Department as a part-time deputy, then I got, you know, I was fortunate to get elected to the Cattaraugus County Legislature.
01:20:17 Bill
And I I you know, I got elected my first term I was two years into my second term, which I was a Majority Leader for both of those years. And then I ran for mayor. And I was fortunate enough to win Mayor. So I counted it up and it this this is my 51st year in public service.
01:20:36 Bill
And you know in my community.
01:20:39 Bill
And.
01:20:40 Bill
You know it's it's, you know, it's.
01:20:43 Bill
You know, I've had opportunities over the years that I I could have left here, but no, I want. I I stayed here because I believe in this Community.
01:20:52 Bill
And I think over the years we've made some good progress here, right? If you look at, if you look at back at 12 years ago and when they started, when they got their first, they got the tiger grant, you know and and and that that was that was, you know they got that grant under under Linda Wet and then you know it was very controversial at the.
01:21:12 Bill
Time.
01:21:12 Bill
You know, because of the roundabouts and and they were what they were doing at Union Street. But you know, it was brought about by what our people in the industry, what our CEO's felt was needed to attract people here.
01:21:27 Kevin
Right. Make it look.
01:21:27 Bill
New and that's exactly what we're doing now with we're, you know, I know we get criticized by because of the walkability and that. But you know what? You know, the community, you see people out walking, you see families out walking and that's just what we're accomplishing. What? What?
01:21:43 Kevin
Right.
01:21:47 Bill
What the people have said we need here in old.
01:21:52 Bill
And you know, we're we're on the right track now. It was a criticism aimed at, you know, take the take the money for W State St. and, you know, and and put it into the, you know, fixing the river.
01:22:04 Bill
You know, we didn't. The grant wasn't for that. It was for it to take care of W State St. sure. And we are going to be taking care of the infrastructure. But once we get that because you're going to have all new sewer, you're going to have separated out where there is storm sewer, you know going into sanitary sewer that's going to be corrected and you're going to have all new water lines.
01:22:24 Bill
Through there, plus you're going to have, you know, a connection between Olean and Saint Bonaventure.
01:22:29 Bill
Diversity to to bring some of the some of the college kids into town, you know, to do that. So we got that going on. Look what we're doing on, you know, S Union St. Yeah, it's it's it's inconvenient right now, but it's going to be very nice when it's all done and you're going to have the shared youth.
01:22:35 Kevin
Right, yeah.
01:22:47 Bill
Path.
01:22:48 Bill
You know, as you you know.
01:22:49 Bill
There's, you know, the keyboard warriors are out there criticizing the the the yellow lines on the side.
01:22:55 Bill
You know there, that's that was that's what was was dot says on a shared youth path you have to you have to you know have a.
01:23:04 Kevin
Divider, right? It's. I remember being on the Council and talking with Bob Ring and I was like, why are we every time we hit an intersection, we have to determine if it has to be around about I said like I I don't care. I'm.
01:23:15 Kevin
You know, I'm I'm pro roundabout, but there's a lot of constituents that would always complain. Why you always putting roundabouts and he goes because there's less accidents, roundabouts out roundabouts cause less accidents. dot makes us go through a safety study and the one thing is if we have spaces and parameters to put it around.
01:23:32 Kevin
Well, we all absolutely should. If it also doesn't confine us, you know, like and that's the reason why one of the constraints to Henley St. and north-south Union was that it was on a hill. You can't put, you can't put it on the Crest.
01:23:47 Bill
Of a hill so right and that you know. And and and even even after we did that.
01:23:52 Bill
Out and had every other plans there then dot come back and said well, you may have been able to do one there but everything was in the process.
01:24:00 Kevin
Now, and so they gave you some grace and said yes.
01:24:02 Bill
Yeah.
01:24:04 Bill
But you know, is a good community. We got a lot of good things.
01:24:08 Bill
Going on here.
01:24:10 Bill
You know, I mean, you know, you know, when you when you run for for office, you can make a you you can.
01:24:17 Bill
Make.
01:24:18 Bill
Any comment you want?
01:24:21 Bill
You know, and I think I've shown.
01:24:25 Bill
In my 10 year that we have delivered.
01:24:27 Kevin
Right. That's yeah. Settlement to leave it on, so having.
01:24:32 Bill
Said that, I thank you very much for.
01:24:34 Kevin
Having me here, not a problem. Well, thanks for watching guys. You can catch Bill. We'll put up his profile. We'll be on our transistor site so you can see Bill. He's got a Facebook. He's got a campaign page on Instagram website.
01:24:52 Bill
No, we didn't. We didn't redo our website.
01:24:54 Kevin
No. OK. So but and then you can check out any of the other local news stations to see information on Bill. I mean, when he goes back 12 years on doing this, so there's tons of information to gather out there and we will, we'll catch you guys next time.
01:25:10 Kevin
I'm like 22. Ohh boy.
01:25:10 Bill
Kenny, we've met a visitor.
01:25:14 Kevin
She does.