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Speaker 1: When it comes to home improvement, you've got choices. Let's

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say there's a hole in the bedroom wall and somehow

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nobody in the house knows how it got there. You

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could fix it, I mean there's always YouTube, right, but

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you know three hours later it's gonna look like a

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patch job, not even a good patch job. And how

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about that leak under the kitchen sink. Yeah, you said

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you'd get to it, and that was what two and

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a half three months ago. If we're being honest, we

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all have that list, the one word deep down you're

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not totally sure you've got the skills to pull it off.

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If it's my list, I'm calling Back of All Trades.

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Holes in the wall handled, leaky sinks done, full kitchen remodel,

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Yeah they got that too. And hey, warmer weather's coming.

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How's that deck looking? Need it extended? Rebuilt outdoor patio?

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Don't be ahead. Called Mac of All Trades five eight

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five two zero two ninety two eighteen. That's five eight

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five two zero two ninety two eighteen. And you can

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see all they do online at Macofalltrades dot net. They'll

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handle it so you don't have to win your old

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career gives you lemons throwing some ice mix in some vodka.

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We call it a podcast from the Mac of All

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Trades Studio in Fairport and driven by Victor Chrysler Dots

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Jeep Ram. It's Billified, the Bill Moran Podcast. Well, hello

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and welcome. Thanks for getting your pot on, Thanks for

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telling a friend. And that's how we spread the word

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about the pirate ship. It's all about the grassroots. So

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I I've been kicking around in my head for a while.

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I've wanted to talk to this person because when I

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go to the Bilified Facebook page, and I don't know

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if she followed it or how, but she's one of

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the first things that pop up. Mercedes Vasquez Simmons. She's

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a Monroe County legislator and reaching for higher office and stuff.

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But that you know, okay, so you go all right,

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and then but she keeps popping up and I see things,

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and I see a lot of activity in the community

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and the stuff with politics. And then I see that

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she was a beauty pageant winner and she has stuff

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in boxing. I see her standing with Sugar Ray Leonard,

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one of my favorite boxers of all time, and I go,

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this is either the most intimidating resume I've ever heard of,

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or this is someone who got real comfortable with being uncomfortable,

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and I thought I got to find a way to

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get her on the podcast. And I just reached out

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one day and called the number. I thought it was

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somebody else that answered. It wasn't. It was her, she answered,

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and she said, yeah, I'd be happy to come on.

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And I'm honored. But that is like I saw you

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standing with Sugar Ray and I'm like, what the heck

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is this?

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Speaker 2: That's right, that's right. Yes, a New York state licensed

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boxing promoter. I may be right now the only female

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licensed promoter in the state of New York. Have been

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into boxing pretty much all my life, and I'm close

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to twenty years ago. I started a company call it

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Pretty Girl Productions. And that's a fun story too that

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I'll have to share one day. But so yes, I

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entered into the boxing space as a fight promoter.

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Speaker 1: Wow.

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Speaker 2: Tried the boxing, you know, tried doing any amateur circuit.

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Didn't care for getting punched in the face, so I excited.

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There's got to be another way.

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Speaker 1: It's always the punch. It's always the punch. You don't

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throw when you're in the ring, right, it's the punch

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you don't throw that. You go, God, my head only

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right And you look back at tape and it's it's interesting, Wow,

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what a cool thing. But I mean that and beauty

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queen at the same time, I mean, what are we

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doing here that's like or not?

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Speaker 2: Well, let me tell you about the beauty queen. Tomboy

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Born and raised a Tomboy. I just you know, in

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the city. You know, we were just a I wasn't

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bully of the neighborhood, but love to fight. I love

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to scuffle with the guys, and it was it was

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fun to do that. My mother was working with a

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group of individuals within our community to help save what

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was the Puerto Rican Festival. At one time, we were

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at jeopardy of losing the festival, and my mother was

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so kind of recruiting me to become a participant in

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this pageant because again they were trying to save this pageant.

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They were doing their fundraising just to have at least

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a few hours of festivities in a downtown area. And

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of course you have to have a beauty queen. And

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I'm like, beauty queen, I don't want to be I

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don't want to do this now, I've already you know,

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dad into dancing. I love dancing and did a cultural

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piece that was true to me. In fact, I was

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the only contestant that didn't have shoes on, because if

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you understand what it is to dance a cultural song

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like a bleana or boomba, they don't wear shoes. They

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didn't have shoes, and that's I was just being true

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to that, and apparently that resonated with the judges, and

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that's how I was able to become the beauty creating

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Miss Puerto Rico of Rochester.

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Speaker 1: Why I was shocked too.

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Speaker 2: I was like me, are you sure?

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Speaker 1: I wasn't shocked at all. I really wasn't shocked at all,

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but I just thought, boy, what a what a thing?

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It's usually one or the other. You don't see many

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people who have such love of boxing then going beauty because,

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as you said, getting punched in the face into the fun.

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But what was life actually like growing up in Rochester?

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You just mentioned that your mom saved the Puerto Rican

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Fest and I don't want the Polish version, I mean

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the real version. And I guess to sort of tag

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onto that. What did being Puerto Rican here feel like

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as a kid, oh, you know.

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Speaker 2: I was immersed in a community that we're all Puerto Ricans.

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I didn't know anything but what it is to be

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Puerto Rican. So I was born and raised in the

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inner City. In fact, I still live in the home

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that I was raised. And I came back about four

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or five years ago just to help my mother. I

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noticed that she was slowing down. I noticed that things were,

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you know, just weren't connecting as they should have. So

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I said, you know, I'm just going to take some

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time off from boxing in the private sector to really

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focus on my mother's well being. And that was probably

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the biggest blessing I could have had because it allowed

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me to spend quality time with my mother and really

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understand what her motives were. What why are you going

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to so many meetings? And simultaneously, Father Tracy, who was

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he's a pillar in our community, particularly in the Latino community,

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his health started deteriorating. So I slowed down my traveling

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because I was traveling quite a bit with boxing, and

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I slowed things down, and I thought to myself, why

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did God bring me back into this? And I think

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everything is spiritual connected. Father Tracy was diagnosed with als

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and quickly his health deteriorated, and you know, of course,

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with not being able to be as mobile as he

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wanted to, I was running him from one meeting to another,

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and I thought to myself, from sun up to sundown,

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he's in meetings impacting my community. And here is a

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he's an Irish German priest. What was his investment? Why

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did he care so much about our community? And as

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I started meeting with individuals and attending some of his meetings,

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it became very clear we didn't have a seat at

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the table. And although we are a as a I

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guess race getting into spaces that at one time we

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weren't allowed, we still missed that voice. So Father Tracy

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and just being able to shadow him and then shadow

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my mother, I would deem the most as Batman and

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Robin when anything was happening in our community. They were

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front and center and bringing awareness to that community. Sadly,

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Father Tracy passed away and then several years later my

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mom did too, But that opportunity to be with them,

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right to be in their space, to understand their why,

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really resonated with me. Now again, Born and raised in Rochester,

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My mother was a civil rights activist, and you know,

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just by nature, because I was her only daughter, was

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I was always with her.

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Speaker 1: You know.

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Speaker 2: In fact, most people think that I was the only

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child and my mother and several other children, but my

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mother just you know, I was always with her. She

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was my best friend. And understanding her why became part

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of my why. It was part of my DNA growing up,

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just seeing what she was involved with. Now, I wanted

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to be a normal kid. I wanted to be outside

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playing kickball and and playing baby dolls with the neighbors.

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But that wasn't for me. That wasn't my path. My

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path was to me more of a public servant, understanding

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the little grain that everyone puts has the impact on

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a community. Shortly after my mother was quite an extraordinary woman.

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You either loved her, you hate her. There was nothing

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in between. My mother called it the way she saw it,

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but she earned the respect of many in our community.

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She was able to mobilize our Latino community went when

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it was time to take action again civil rights activists.

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She fought for the right to vote. Many Puerto Ricans

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one day migrated to Rochester and Latinos they of course

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they're American citizens because right the relationship Puerto Rico has

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with the United States, you're able to vote. But they

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also saw as as cheap labor, the cheap labor they

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can come. They worked the Kodaks, the Xerox, the Boston Moms,

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all manufacturing, right because in the late sixties, early seventies

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is one that we at this boom here in Rochester.

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But what was missing was our ability to vote. Now,

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the ability was there, however, there was a barrier, which

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was illiteracy. Now understand that that requirement was of all,

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you know, African Americans Latinos. However, those are the two

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major sectors that were greatly impacted. So my mother worked

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with the likes of Minister Florence John Lewis and to

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remove that barrier. So shortly after, you know, Puerto Ricans

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were able to vote again because of their citizenship, they

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were able to vote. And that's really what changed things

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for the Latino community and the African American community. I

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will tell you that the relationship between the Puerto Rican

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community and African Americans solidified during the Civil Rights movement.

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That's really what makes us a strong unit. We just

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have to remember that and continue to focus on issues

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that impact us in our inner city.

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Speaker 1: Wow, it really sounds like your mom had maybe the

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largest impact on your life you are today.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, the twenty twenty election. Listen, I'm a fight promoter.

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I can tell you anything that goes in inside and

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outside the ring. But the twenty twenty election was a

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defining moment in her life and my life. Again, my

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mother fought for the right to vote. My mother knows

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the ins and out of voting. She worked as an inspector,

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she worked as a translator, She worked in many aspects,

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so she knows the ed, the ld, any of those

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numbers that come with where you're a representation. She knew

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it because this is what she fought for. The twenty

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twenty election, of course, being a presidential election my mother,

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and it was right in the midst of COVID, so

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our goal site was changed last minute. It was just

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so many things that were happening, and my mother said, look,

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this is voter suppression when they start making these changes.

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We now need to get back to grassroots and get

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our community mobilized so that we can go out to vote.

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We ran a three vans. It was just very let's

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transactional let's do this. Let's do this, and we were

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able to get the community out to vote. Our post

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site was maybe a mile down, but it was very busy,

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very busy intersections where we knew the elderly weren't going

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to walk through through that. So we made it a

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point of getting our vans, getting a plan and getting

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the folks out to vote. Now, as folks are going

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into the polls, they were like, well, the bat looked

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a little different. Now, I'll understand that the ballot has

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since changed because now everything's electronic, and you know, I

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would to hear that. I'm like, so, what does that mean? Well,

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we don't know if we saw their specific candidate on

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the ballot, and I thought it was problematic. Now. My

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mother voted only on election date at one o'clock because

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that would give her a gauge as to, you know,

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who's leading the path, how many voters are out, and

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what actions she needed to take to mobilize the community.

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My mother was very strategic about everything she did. In

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she knew that there was a problem. So she walked

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in and the first thing she was she was encountered

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with was a woman that didn't understand her English. Now,

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my mother spoke with a spoke English, but she spoke

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English with a Spanish accent. Most people, if you took

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the time, you can understand what she says. She's been

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here six years, I think you should be able to.

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But she met some resistance early on, and my mother

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just you know, she observed it. She took this on. Okay,

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this is interesting. Now again, this is during COVID. They're

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allowing three or four people at a time at the

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pole sites and we were waiting for her, for her

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in the van and she says, well, you know, she

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calls me and says, there's a problem. This ballad isn't

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the correct ballot. It's the wrong information on it. Now,

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I had the right LD, which is the legislative district,

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but I think the ED there was something that wasn't right.

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And my mom was like, get the Board of Elections online.

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They don't want to call for them. So right off

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the bat there's issues. I don't know if it was

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lack of training, but they just refused to help my

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mother call the Board of Elections and fix it. My

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mother knows what her ballot should look like. It became

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just a scene of just pure chaos when it shouldn't

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have been this, And my mother says, I've been in

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this situation before where my right to vote has been compromised,

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and I'm not going to allow and I'm not going

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to tolerate. By this point, my mother's in her eighties

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and she's a woman. I said, we'll say what's on

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her mind. She's always been that woman, but now she

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doesn't care who's in the who's in the in the scene.

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She's going to tell you how she feels. And she says,

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you know, stop trying to steal my vote. So she

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did the ballot back, give me the right one. Needless

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to say, this ended with my mother putting the ballot

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after talking to her attorney. The attorney said, put the

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name of your your your candidate on the ballot. My

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mother literally took the paper the paper and filled the

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entire thing. Literally, it went from one side to another,

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with her ca that it's well, when you do that,

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it creates these little false positive things. The machine doesn't

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know how to read multiple things. So when she went

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to put the ballot in the voter machine, it rejected.

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It kept coming back and the more each time she

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did three times each time, I can feel the anger.

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I can see the anger she's putting it in, putting

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it out. And when it was accepted, she saw the

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word all and to her, that was the kiss of that.

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She was like, absolutely not. You know, how dare they

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nullify my vote? How dare they do that? And I

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remember seeing her just broken by that, broken by that,

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and she says, you know, I want you to call

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the Board of Elections. I want you to call the

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I call the AG's office. I don't know who you

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need to call. Get them here, and we're going to

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shut this place out until they can figure this out.

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Media came. It was quite a quite as you do,

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and she did file a lawsuit against the Board of Elections.

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But it was that fire, and it was that look

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of paying My mother said, look at this is what

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I fought back in the sixties and here it is

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twenty twenty election, a very important election. Why is this happening?

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So that fire just really resonated. I think I put

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something on Facebook about it, you know, just being mindful

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of what your ballot looks like. And in my inbox

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came some gentlemen. He was like, you know, take that

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stuff down. It's not true. Your candidate would have never won.

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And I'm like, well, a couple of things, A who

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are you? And how would you know who I was

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voting for? Everyone has a right to their experience. How

301
00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:35,879
dare you tell me? It turns out he was, he

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was the candidate, he was an elected official from this district.

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So I'm thinking, shouldn't you be asking me what can

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I do to remedy this problem that you're having instead

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of attacking me for posting? And at that moment I said, well,

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you're part of the problem. Then if you're not willing

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to help us fix this, you're part of the problem.

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And at that moment I said, well I'm going to

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run against you. I don't know where that came from

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a fight promoter.

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Speaker 1: So wait, wait, wait, wait wait, stop hanging on a second.

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So in twenty twenty, this is so you just decide

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I'm gonna run for county legislator.

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Speaker 2: No political experience, you know.

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Speaker 1: Well, that's what we need.

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Speaker 2: We worked on we worked on campaigns, but he as

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a candidate. Are you kidding me? I'm the most politically

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incorrect person you'll ever meet.

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Speaker 1: Oh it's awesome. Those are the kind of people I like.

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I love that I'm telling fighters, yes, yes, yeah, right right,

321
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you're holding the Hey you got spit buckets and wraps

322
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in your gauze and a little bit of vaciline on

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the head. I got it, Mercedes. I love this. This

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is amazing. And so because of.

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Speaker 2: That, I'm the last person I think I shocked myself, like,

326
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but what I just commit to you? But it was

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the fire again, this is the seat. My mother's just

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her disappointment, her hurt, her pain really burned the fire

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in me to say why am I My mother would

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be could I could hear say that? You know, I

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did come to her with of course, asking for advice

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on things, but I I present her problems that I've

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been having. My mother would just look at me. She goes,

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whe are you gonna sit on the sidelines or you're

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gonna do something about it? And that I don't want

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to sit on the sidelines. I refuse to sit on

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the sidelines. It's time for me to start taking action.

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And I just did a swift from a shift from boxing,

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I went from one ring to another, because we tell you,

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these are some serious battles that we've been having at

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the county, within our community. Just as we have we

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now have a seat at the table. My goal is

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to remain active in my community and often i'm I asked,

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you know you're not in campaign season. You can slow down. No,

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when you when you're campaigning, you make commitments. When you're

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done with it, when you're done with campaigning and you've

347
00:18:47,799 --> 00:18:51,000
secured seat, that's when you actually start working. You have

348
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to fulfill the commitments that you made. I find my

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model and that's what I'm sticking to it.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it's a It's an amazing model. It

351
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sounds like you had an amazing mother, right. Can I

352
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ask a personal question? Was was your dad in the picture?

353
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He was? He was.

354
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Speaker 2: My parents divorced when I was young, but my father

355
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was very much part of our life. Yep, you know

356
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he'd pick us up, he take us out the pizza,

357
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knew everything that was happening.

358
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Speaker 1: And but mom was really the biggest influence.

359
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Speaker 2: Oh, absolutely absolutely.

360
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Speaker 1: Can I ask like a cultural question, it is the

361
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it's because I come from like Irish, right all Irish,

362
00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:43,160
I could get second dual citizenship and it was very patriarchal.

363
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But would you say that that Puerto Rican was more matriarchal?

364
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Is it really led by by By honestly like strong

365
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question strong, strong women that have really shaped I mean

366
00:19:55,519 --> 00:19:58,519
you're talking about your mom. Who is I mean, you

367
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want to talk about throwing a punch, right, she threw

368
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a punch at eighty something, you know what I mean?

369
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I mean, hey, that's that's that's so like that and

370
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that and where does that comes from? Just a love

371
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of her people and her culture and wanting it to be.

372
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Speaker 2: Better here, absolutely, I would say that it is. But

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culturally and you'll see that in many Latin American countries,

374
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the concept of machismo, yes, right, that the male is

375
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a dominant a factor. And you know my mother, My

376
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mother lived a very abusive life and I sort of

377
00:20:38,279 --> 00:20:40,640
don't know why to talk about that, but it's about

378
00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:43,279
her marriage. It was very difficult. There was you know,

379
00:20:43,319 --> 00:20:46,200
domestic violence that which we had to deal with, and

380
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I think it was because of that that she emerged

381
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to be this this superwoman that I've grown to admire. Now.

382
00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:55,920
When my mother passed away, there was over two thousand

383
00:20:55,960 --> 00:20:59,759
people at her funeral. Yeah, it was a traffic jam

384
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Donutting Avenue because she insisted on having it at Saint

385
00:21:03,359 --> 00:21:05,599
Michael's Church. And we'll talk a little bit about Saint

386
00:21:05,599 --> 00:21:08,599
Michael's Church because it's such an important part of my

387
00:21:08,720 --> 00:21:11,640
life and the community, uh in this in this section

388
00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:16,039
of the city. But she was she was my superhero.

389
00:21:16,279 --> 00:21:19,519
It was two thousand people there and then she wanted

390
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to be buried in Puerto Rico, so the governor did

391
00:21:24,200 --> 00:21:26,400
the whole half mess. It was just beautiful. It was

392
00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:32,440
incredible that that she she earned that level of respect.

393
00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:36,599
Speaker 1: Yeah, what well, what a testament you can always tell,

394
00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:37,640
like I.

395
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Speaker 2: Remember fired up when I talk about my mom, Well.

396
00:21:40,519 --> 00:21:44,799
Speaker 1: You and as you should be, because I should thank you, Yes,

397
00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:47,680
as you should be, because that that's a pretty uh

398
00:21:48,039 --> 00:21:49,039
pretty amazing woman.

399
00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:52,440
Speaker 2: And I'm telling you, all throughout my childhood people didn't

400
00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:55,279
even know my name. They were like, oh, you're law Belin, right,

401
00:21:55,519 --> 00:21:58,960
the daughter of Bilin, And what an honor it is

402
00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:01,279
to be called like you thinking I was thinking about

403
00:22:01,319 --> 00:22:04,599
changing my name to let you. But Mercedes is Mercedes,

404
00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:08,240
and I have my own fire, my own fight. But

405
00:22:08,319 --> 00:22:10,119
I thank her, And there's no there would be no

406
00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:11,799
Mercedes if there wasn't no way lan and go along.

407
00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:14,920
Let's be clear about that. And it's her fire. This

408
00:22:15,039 --> 00:22:17,000
is the fight she had back in the sixty sixties.

409
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It's the same fight we're having now, you know, equity

410
00:22:19,960 --> 00:22:22,640
to different things. And it's not that there's a handout, right,

411
00:22:22,680 --> 00:22:26,480
we never expected a handout, but give us a hand

412
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sold that there is an opportunity for us to do that.

413
00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:34,039
Mother came from the Puerto Rico. She insisted on not

414
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taking any public funding. My mother still does in us

415
00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:40,960
at an early age that government funding equals they own you.

416
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And we never took a dollar, and sadly, I mean

417
00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:49,759
we we suffered. We suffered. We ate vegetation. I mean,

418
00:22:49,839 --> 00:22:51,880
this is what we we ate from our from our garden.

419
00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:56,000
But it was her mindset to say, don't take any

420
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money from the government because that means they own you.

421
00:22:58,559 --> 00:23:00,480
And then I think about everything that's happen at the

422
00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:03,920
federal level, you know, with SNAP, and how they're her

423
00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:08,119
quickly to impact folks with SNAP. Right, that's that's a

424
00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:11,960
level of control. So that that placed back in my

425
00:23:12,039 --> 00:23:14,440
in my mind as well. You know, my mother had

426
00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:19,400
some points with that, so we never took government subsidies.

427
00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:21,799
My mother worked two three jobs at a time. She

428
00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:23,680
was a single mom, trying to make a lot of

429
00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:26,200
things happen in our community. How she found time to

430
00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:30,119
do things and barely making thirty thousand dollars is a

431
00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:32,519
mystery to me. But my mother was. She made it.

432
00:23:32,559 --> 00:23:35,319
She's a she was. She was a fighter and made

433
00:23:35,359 --> 00:23:38,119
no excuses. You know, there was no such thing as

434
00:23:38,599 --> 00:23:43,759
you know, committing crime and somehow being justified criminality is

435
00:23:43,799 --> 00:23:47,440
that criminality. There's no excuse for it. Born and raised

436
00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:49,720
in poverty, this is what This is what I know.

437
00:23:50,799 --> 00:23:52,440
But it doesn't defined you.

438
00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:53,200
Speaker 1: Thank you.

439
00:23:53,839 --> 00:23:58,359
Speaker 2: Yeah, it doesn't define you. Neither doesn't justify again, criminality.

440
00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:02,759
Speaker 1: You're speaking to. I'm gonna call it a philosophy that

441
00:24:02,839 --> 00:24:07,119
I believe. I think that we argue for people's limitations,

442
00:24:08,039 --> 00:24:10,680
and I think that that that's a real, real mistake,

443
00:24:10,759 --> 00:24:13,240
and we do that in every aspect of life. We

444
00:24:13,279 --> 00:24:15,759
do it for our children. We label them with things.

445
00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:18,440
I'm not saying that they shouldn't be labeled. I've had

446
00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:22,079
that argument before. They shouldn't be labeled. Let me say this,

447
00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:28,039
we shouldn't label kids. However, if someone's coming to somewhere

448
00:24:28,079 --> 00:24:30,680
to get help with a child and the only way

449
00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:34,240
to get a third party insurance to pay for it

450
00:24:34,279 --> 00:24:38,039
is a label, then fucking label the kid. Sorry, you know,

451
00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:40,680
understand what I'm saying. It doesn't mean that it's gonna

452
00:24:40,839 --> 00:24:45,720
whatever treatment plan, but let's help people in life live

453
00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:49,599
a richer life. And I loved what you said about poverty.

454
00:24:49,599 --> 00:24:53,880
It doesn't define who I am. It's just a circumstance

455
00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:56,559
that I'm in, right, sure, right.

456
00:24:56,640 --> 00:24:59,319
Speaker 2: And I'm also a strong believer that you know, quality

457
00:24:59,359 --> 00:25:02,039
of life shouldn't be limited to the zip code. But

458
00:25:02,359 --> 00:25:05,519
we live in certain areas of our city where it's allowed.

459
00:25:05,759 --> 00:25:08,319
Look down Lyle Avenue, look down Clinton Avenue. Some of

460
00:25:08,359 --> 00:25:11,440
the things that we see in these neighborhoods, you will

461
00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:14,640
not it will not be tolerated on Park Avenue. Why

462
00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:17,559
is that we have limited police presence in this area?

463
00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:20,440
And I don't care what anyone says. We need police.

464
00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:23,359
We need police to be in our communities, to be

465
00:25:23,519 --> 00:25:26,759
completely part of our communities. I welcome them. In fact,

466
00:25:26,799 --> 00:25:29,960
I opened up a youth center. I think we're closing

467
00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:33,799
in on our fourth year here within the heart of

468
00:25:33,799 --> 00:25:36,000
the city. When I grew up, there was a center

469
00:25:36,039 --> 00:25:38,640
called the Puerto Rican Youth Development and Resource Center, and

470
00:25:38,680 --> 00:25:41,160
it was a just had a resource center for youth

471
00:25:41,519 --> 00:25:43,960
and family, but it was a place where we could

472
00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:46,319
just be young people and if we had any issues

473
00:25:46,359 --> 00:25:49,279
that there was someone there just to help us. You know,

474
00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:51,799
due to politics that happens in our community. They shut

475
00:25:51,799 --> 00:25:54,920
that down or fifteen twenty years ago, and they it

476
00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:57,400
was a void in our community. Now we wonder why

477
00:25:57,880 --> 00:26:00,160
young people are the way they are. They don't and

478
00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:02,839
have an outlet. They don't have anyone to say we've

479
00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:05,880
got you. So I wanted to recreate what was Puerto

480
00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:10,319
Rican Youth Development Resource Center. Actually secured that name maybe

481
00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:13,079
three years ago, but we called it the Latino Youth

482
00:26:13,119 --> 00:26:16,119
Developmental Resource Center, and it's everyone. It's everyone within that

483
00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:19,920
district one four six, five to one and anyone who

484
00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:23,119
wants to be part of a youth programming. We go

485
00:26:23,240 --> 00:26:28,680
over conflict resolution, problem solving, job readiness, we have sports programming,

486
00:26:28,759 --> 00:26:34,880
and it's all completely free. Now we've tried securing government funding.

487
00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:38,599
In fact, we were promised money. Listen, when I get

488
00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:41,160
in a higher office, one of my biggest one of

489
00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:43,960
my priorities is to make sure some of these nonprofits

490
00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:48,519
are legitimate and b that they're truly getting the funding. Now,

491
00:26:48,559 --> 00:26:50,640
we received the big checks, right, it was cool to

492
00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:55,200
model the checks we never got it because the systems

493
00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:58,680
are so complex that a small organization that doesn't have

494
00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:02,599
that infrastructure to navigate through these complex systems, we never

495
00:27:02,599 --> 00:27:06,279
got the money. So we are here. I'm putting money

496
00:27:06,279 --> 00:27:08,200
out of my pocket because I believe in what we're

497
00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:11,519
doing on North Clinton Clinton Avenue with the youth. Now,

498
00:27:11,559 --> 00:27:13,119
we're not able to save all, but if we can

499
00:27:13,119 --> 00:27:15,279
save some, if we could provide a place for them

500
00:27:15,359 --> 00:27:17,160
to come in to say, guess what, I was just

501
00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:19,400
kicked out of my house. I have nowhere to say,

502
00:27:19,559 --> 00:27:21,319
come here and we'll figure out where you're going to

503
00:27:21,319 --> 00:27:23,720
be versus you staying in a vacant lot or in

504
00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:26,119
a vacant house. I don't want that to happen. So

505
00:27:26,559 --> 00:27:31,920
we're trying to really navigate through governmental systems. But the

506
00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:36,400
community has really supported us businesses. Small businesses see the

507
00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:40,200
work that we're doing and they're sponsoring our services and programming.

508
00:27:40,759 --> 00:27:46,279
We offer year ound soccer programming, basketball, and we're trying

509
00:27:46,279 --> 00:27:50,039
to add more sports and collaborate with different teams, local

510
00:27:50,119 --> 00:27:53,640
teams so that our kids are not limited based on

511
00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:55,799
again there's zip code. We want them to have access

512
00:27:55,839 --> 00:27:58,519
to everything, and if I can provide that to of

513
00:27:58,559 --> 00:28:00,440
them with my limited income, I'm going to my mother

514
00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:02,240
did it at thirty thousand dollars. I can do it.

515
00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:03,680
I can do it too.

516
00:28:04,200 --> 00:28:04,839
Speaker 1: Well, it's a.

517
00:28:04,759 --> 00:28:05,640
Speaker 2: Lot of work.

518
00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:10,240
Speaker 1: Things. So aren't there grants and things that that would

519
00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:14,039
become available? Do you have grant Do you have grant writers?

520
00:28:15,519 --> 00:28:17,759
Speaker 2: Some of the smaller grants, But because we don't have

521
00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:20,680
you know, one of the criterias for nonprofitsies you have

522
00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:23,480
to have a full time employee. Well, I'm a volunteer

523
00:28:23,559 --> 00:28:26,920
because we still we don't have the money yet hire

524
00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:30,480
someone on to run this. So every day we're there

525
00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:33,519
in the community and I'm thankful for the volunteers stepped

526
00:28:33,559 --> 00:28:35,519
up to say we want to help out to now.

527
00:28:35,559 --> 00:28:39,720
One of our biggest initiatives right now is addressing absentee

528
00:28:40,359 --> 00:28:42,960
at the high school level. R CSD is at a

529
00:28:43,039 --> 00:28:46,200
seventy percent absentee. Listen, if that doesn't scare you to

530
00:28:46,240 --> 00:28:49,480
a point where you're like, what is going on? Stop everything?

531
00:28:49,839 --> 00:28:51,880
I don't know what as but yet I don't see

532
00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:55,319
the alarms, I don't see the Hey, community, we need

533
00:28:55,359 --> 00:28:58,519
to do something about it. So we're allowing this chronic

534
00:28:58,720 --> 00:29:01,599
problem to continue and it's only gonna get worse now.

535
00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:04,119
This is we've had the issue of the absentee prior

536
00:29:04,160 --> 00:29:08,839
to COVID. COVID just amplified it and now it's just

537
00:29:09,640 --> 00:29:16,799
something that sadly is accepted now. I applaud the new superintendent.

538
00:29:16,839 --> 00:29:18,240
I think he had his work cut out when he

539
00:29:18,319 --> 00:29:20,920
came on, but he's that's his focus right now is

540
00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:23,160
addressing absentee. But again, we're at seventy percent at a

541
00:29:23,240 --> 00:29:26,319
high school level. That scares me because they're they're not

542
00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:28,960
in the seats, if they're they're not actually in these

543
00:29:29,039 --> 00:29:33,559
classrooms or are they they're definitely not learning and odds

544
00:29:33,599 --> 00:29:35,640
are the probably get into things that they shouldn't be.

545
00:29:36,119 --> 00:29:39,079
So I'm terrified by it. That's our priority. We're getting

546
00:29:39,119 --> 00:29:44,400
into communities, We're canvassing areas that most don't even want

547
00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:46,960
to travel through because what there's children that are living

548
00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:49,720
in these communities and they have a right to education.

549
00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:55,000
Speaker 1: Everybody has the right to education. And I hear what

550
00:29:55,039 --> 00:29:59,839
you're saying. It's very hard. And you know, I have

551
00:30:00,079 --> 00:30:02,880
my sixteen year old son who lives with me. I

552
00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:05,960
am not in those zip codes and I have sometimes

553
00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:09,119
some real battles, real battles to get them to school

554
00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:13,119
some years and it's like, you know, I've got ubers

555
00:30:13,240 --> 00:30:20,480
or whatever I mean, but it's a little different. I understand. However,

556
00:30:20,720 --> 00:30:25,920
it is a human problem and when a parent is

557
00:30:26,119 --> 00:30:28,839
trying to get food on the table and doing these

558
00:30:28,880 --> 00:30:32,759
other things, they got so much bandwidth. And if there's

559
00:30:32,799 --> 00:30:37,119
a way for us to recognize that and help kids.

560
00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:41,559
And the other thing, Mercedes is maybe, and forgive my friends,

561
00:30:41,799 --> 00:30:44,480
maybe our public school systems a bit fucked up and

562
00:30:44,519 --> 00:30:46,960
we got to find a different way. And the thing

563
00:30:47,079 --> 00:30:51,000
is like to me, and it's hard. Right, schools are

564
00:30:51,039 --> 00:30:53,680
a system and they have to be there's standards we've

565
00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:56,480
got to you know, there's things. Being a teacher is

566
00:30:56,960 --> 00:31:00,720
from a personal observation over the past few years, being

567
00:31:00,759 --> 00:31:07,559
in some schools is hard coming from non education. You know,

568
00:31:07,599 --> 00:31:09,319
I have thirty years on the radium and stuff and

569
00:31:09,359 --> 00:31:12,759
then sort of making this switch and dovetailing into podcasting

570
00:31:12,799 --> 00:31:15,759
and things and needing some health insurance. So you go

571
00:31:15,839 --> 00:31:18,640
to a school or your sub or you'll do whatever.

572
00:31:19,039 --> 00:31:22,359
You see how hard it is. But it's very easy

573
00:31:22,400 --> 00:31:24,400
to come in and meet a kid where a kid's

574
00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:29,319
at on an individual level. For me, but I don't

575
00:31:29,319 --> 00:31:31,680
have standards I'm not the one who's got to get

576
00:31:31,680 --> 00:31:33,519
them to you understand what I'm saying. So there's this,

577
00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:37,119
there's a system with the school. Why can't we design

578
00:31:37,160 --> 00:31:40,000
this to meet the kids where the kids are at.

579
00:31:40,200 --> 00:31:43,799
These kids may not look there's all kinds of things.

580
00:31:43,839 --> 00:31:48,279
They may not be neurodiversion, whatever, but they're capable and

581
00:31:48,319 --> 00:31:52,119
we can find things for them that will reach them

582
00:31:52,279 --> 00:31:55,440
whatever that is, wherever their interest is. How do we

583
00:31:55,480 --> 00:31:58,200
do more of that and less of the other. And

584
00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:00,920
then it becomes a battle because you know, the teacher's

585
00:32:00,920 --> 00:32:03,240
got pressure, and so the kid's not there, and there's

586
00:32:03,279 --> 00:32:05,640
this and that, and then the kids, you know, and

587
00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:10,799
believe me being a class clown, right, but I was.

588
00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:14,759
It's hard when there's disruption. Now take it to frustrating,

589
00:32:14,759 --> 00:32:20,440
you don't. My dad was a he had he went

590
00:32:20,480 --> 00:32:23,000
to Saint John Fisher, which is where I ended up

591
00:32:23,039 --> 00:32:25,400
going as well, but I didn't grow up around here.

592
00:32:25,519 --> 00:32:30,000
And he was He was a major in philosophy. He

593
00:32:30,039 --> 00:32:33,279
got a master's and a doctor in philosophy, and he

594
00:32:33,359 --> 00:32:37,400
taught sixth grade English in the city of Poughkeepsie, Wow

595
00:32:37,720 --> 00:32:41,200
for thirty five years. And he would always say to me,

596
00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:45,240
you don't know how someone's day began and what he

597
00:32:45,359 --> 00:32:47,680
meant was. And I would assume that the some of

598
00:32:47,680 --> 00:32:50,720
this stuff happens in the city of Rochester as well,

599
00:32:51,440 --> 00:32:54,079
that in the middle of the night somebody's door got

600
00:32:54,119 --> 00:32:57,440
kicked in and someone in the home was dragged out

601
00:32:57,759 --> 00:33:02,279
for drugs or whatever or whatever. Things are going on,

602
00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:05,400
and the frustrations and the you know, and when I

603
00:33:05,440 --> 00:33:10,640
think about it, when we're angry about something, it's usually

604
00:33:11,440 --> 00:33:15,960
and it's much bigger than the issue at hand. It's

605
00:33:16,039 --> 00:33:18,680
usually a lot of built up ship over the years

606
00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:22,400
when you have no outlet and you have nobody helping you,

607
00:33:22,519 --> 00:33:25,559
and you're looked upon as as as forgive me, but

608
00:33:25,720 --> 00:33:28,119
you know, the scuma society or the whatever or this

609
00:33:28,839 --> 00:33:32,039
we're not helping. And yet we sit there and we go, well,

610
00:33:32,200 --> 00:33:35,359
I don't understand. I don't get it. Well, come on, man,

611
00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:39,440
it's human beings that need just a little guidance. That's

612
00:33:39,480 --> 00:33:42,599
all people need is a little guidance, and you.

613
00:33:44,240 --> 00:33:46,720
Speaker 2: Look for that, right. They need structure, they want struggle.

614
00:33:46,799 --> 00:33:52,559
Speaker 1: Yes, boxing is so freaking wonderful for kids. I think

615
00:33:52,599 --> 00:33:54,079
it's amazing for kids.

616
00:33:55,319 --> 00:33:57,559
Speaker 2: I think so too. Everyone says, you know, how do

617
00:33:57,599 --> 00:34:00,000
you enter into the boxing. It is such a violence

618
00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:01,480
sport extraly, it's a very disciplined.

619
00:34:01,599 --> 00:34:04,400
Speaker 1: It's a super disciplined sport. Hanging full a bar and

620
00:34:04,480 --> 00:34:07,759
have somebody throw medicine balls at your stomach, you know

621
00:34:07,799 --> 00:34:10,000
what I mean, or have them hit I did, I did,

622
00:34:10,239 --> 00:34:15,719
I did right. But it's okay because it's and it's really, honestly,

623
00:34:15,960 --> 00:34:19,480
it's a beautiful sport because it's about scoring points. It's

624
00:34:19,519 --> 00:34:21,840
not all about the knockout. It's not all about this stuff.

625
00:34:21,880 --> 00:34:24,639
I get it's about scoring points, and yes there's some

626
00:34:24,679 --> 00:34:28,440
things there, but the discipline of it is wonderful. And

627
00:34:29,360 --> 00:34:31,800
I think that that kind of and it doesn't have

628
00:34:31,880 --> 00:34:33,679
to be that. It could be something else. But I

629
00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:37,039
find so many parallels to life. I see you stepping

630
00:34:37,039 --> 00:34:40,559
into a different ring, throwing different types of punches, promoting,

631
00:34:40,880 --> 00:34:44,639
promoting yourself, doing all these things. It's it's amazing, it's

632
00:34:44,639 --> 00:34:45,960
it's really interesting.

633
00:34:46,360 --> 00:34:48,239
Speaker 2: We really have to try it. And I think that

634
00:34:48,400 --> 00:34:50,199
if you see things and again I think I think

635
00:34:50,239 --> 00:34:52,360
back what my mother said, if you sitting in the sidelines,

636
00:34:52,840 --> 00:34:54,920
you know you're not You're part of the problem. You

637
00:34:54,920 --> 00:34:56,360
have to get in there and try to figure things

638
00:34:56,400 --> 00:34:58,800
out now. I don't know if I mentioned this. My

639
00:34:58,800 --> 00:35:01,880
mother was an educators worked at Number eight School. She

640
00:35:01,960 --> 00:35:04,719
retired after thirty five years of service, and she would

641
00:35:04,719 --> 00:35:08,079
have stayed. She started having health issues and that's slowed

642
00:35:08,079 --> 00:35:10,039
her down, and you know, she decided, well, let them

643
00:35:10,079 --> 00:35:13,679
have just retire. But she was still very much invested

644
00:35:13,800 --> 00:35:16,599
in the education of our kids. In fact, she had

645
00:35:16,599 --> 00:35:21,079
this little challenge in our community. For each a she'd

646
00:35:21,119 --> 00:35:24,639
grant five dollars. My mother was barely making minimum age.

647
00:35:25,199 --> 00:35:27,960
And every year every semester you see a line out

648
00:35:27,960 --> 00:35:31,599
of our house with everyone collecting their five, ten, fifteen, twenty,

649
00:35:31,599 --> 00:35:33,599
and my mother celebrated that. She goes, I don't care

650
00:35:33,599 --> 00:35:35,480
if we don't have any money. After this, the metre

651
00:35:35,519 --> 00:35:38,039
of fact that our community now sees, you know, our

652
00:35:38,119 --> 00:35:42,360
kids are being rewarded for it. So I applaud my

653
00:35:42,400 --> 00:35:44,519
mother for doing those small initiatives that made such a

654
00:35:44,519 --> 00:35:47,400
big impact. Because when my mother passed away, I would

655
00:35:47,400 --> 00:35:50,159
get those calls, you know when my mother, your mother

656
00:35:50,199 --> 00:35:51,920
did this, and then I had no idea. My mother

657
00:35:52,039 --> 00:35:56,039
still had so many connections from you know, my childhood,

658
00:35:56,280 --> 00:36:00,599
where people are off to college, they're in California, in Harvard,

659
00:36:00,599 --> 00:36:02,719
and you were saying, your mom wrote letters of inspiration,

660
00:36:03,199 --> 00:36:05,239
just telling us that we can still do it. And

661
00:36:05,320 --> 00:36:08,079
just to think my mother was always busy. How did

662
00:36:08,119 --> 00:36:10,079
she find time to do all this stuff? But she

663
00:36:10,199 --> 00:36:12,679
found time. My mother said, when you want to do something,

664
00:36:12,880 --> 00:36:15,840
you will find the time to do it. That led

665
00:36:15,880 --> 00:36:19,239
me into getting into education too. I worked as a

666
00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:21,480
substitute teacher and I wanted to sort of kind of

667
00:36:21,519 --> 00:36:24,199
do it as a tribute to her. At doing someone

668
00:36:24,280 --> 00:36:28,400
door at Rubert do Clamented number eight school, I ended

669
00:36:28,480 --> 00:36:33,360
up at Franklin and I'm like, oh, Franklin, huh, Franklin

670
00:36:33,480 --> 00:36:38,039
it is. And Franklin, my goodness, Franklin has such great things.

671
00:36:38,599 --> 00:36:41,360
Again you hear Franklin. In fact, we have barriers. If

672
00:36:41,360 --> 00:36:45,519
you ever drive down down Norton Street and Hudson's it's

673
00:36:45,599 --> 00:36:48,199
quite a sight. And one of the things I want

674
00:36:48,239 --> 00:36:50,800
to address with the City of Rochester. We've got to

675
00:36:50,840 --> 00:36:53,920
remove those boulders. Have you driven by that by Franklin

676
00:36:53,960 --> 00:36:57,400
High School? It is a welcoming site. It's not a

677
00:36:57,400 --> 00:37:00,480
welcoming site for the community, for the students, the parents,

678
00:37:00,480 --> 00:37:00,960
for anyone.

679
00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:03,239
Speaker 1: So are they're trying to prevent people from driving on

680
00:37:03,280 --> 00:37:07,800
the property. Absolutely, I mean I got it. I mean

681
00:37:07,880 --> 00:37:10,559
I get the thing. I think there's a better way, but.

682
00:37:10,920 --> 00:37:12,639
Speaker 2: There's there's got to be a better way to come on.

683
00:37:12,800 --> 00:37:17,119
These molders looking intimidating and in fact, in some conversations

684
00:37:17,119 --> 00:37:19,159
I've had with the student, they feel like they're in prison.

685
00:37:19,519 --> 00:37:21,519
So how do we change that? We can, we can

686
00:37:21,719 --> 00:37:25,320
change the facade. We can build something out of bricks, something,

687
00:37:25,440 --> 00:37:29,559
something welcoming, not those rocks. But anyways, I'll digress, because

688
00:37:29,760 --> 00:37:33,159
the immediate, uh, the immediate need was to keep our

689
00:37:33,199 --> 00:37:36,559
students safe, and we don't. We no longer have the

690
00:37:36,599 --> 00:37:40,079
Kia boys deciding they're going to use Franklin Lawn as

691
00:37:40,079 --> 00:37:44,280
a racetrack. So that's one thing. But what started off

692
00:37:44,320 --> 00:37:48,840
as just a year to celebrate my mother became I

693
00:37:48,840 --> 00:37:54,079
think now we're entering our fourth year at Franklin. At Franklin, yes,

694
00:37:54,119 --> 00:37:56,719
I am a substitute teacher. I have a full time

695
00:37:56,920 --> 00:38:01,039
gig there and I teach Spanish, and within that there's

696
00:38:01,039 --> 00:38:04,480
a little bit of social studies as we're covering different countries.

697
00:38:04,599 --> 00:38:08,320
And I absolutely love this produce. It's incredibly rewarding and

698
00:38:08,360 --> 00:38:10,639
I have an opportunity to really understand what are some

699
00:38:10,719 --> 00:38:13,000
of the issues. And I see it firsthand again, I

700
00:38:13,039 --> 00:38:15,239
have a youth center. I hear them, I see them,

701
00:38:15,679 --> 00:38:20,159
but to be in there and see we have failed.

702
00:38:20,320 --> 00:38:23,039
We have failed as society. When we have children that

703
00:38:23,079 --> 00:38:26,719
are walking in with ankle bracelets, we have failed. When

704
00:38:26,760 --> 00:38:29,960
children are coming in that are unhoused, we have failed.

705
00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:32,039
When we have children that are coming in that haven't

706
00:38:32,079 --> 00:38:35,920
had breakfast, and the list goes on. But we've also

707
00:38:35,920 --> 00:38:37,800
failed when we here it is March, we have kids

708
00:38:37,840 --> 00:38:41,400
without chromebooks. How do we expect them to excel if

709
00:38:41,400 --> 00:38:43,880
we're not giving them the tools necessary? And I love

710
00:38:43,880 --> 00:38:46,039
what you said. I think when we when you said

711
00:38:46,800 --> 00:38:49,559
we have to meet students where they are now, we

712
00:38:49,639 --> 00:38:53,199
are in the age of technology. AI, let's let's let's

713
00:38:53,719 --> 00:38:56,719
let's leverage those technologies. And more so, if this is

714
00:38:56,760 --> 00:38:57,880
what they say kind.

715
00:38:57,719 --> 00:39:03,159
Speaker 1: Of, I hear some crusty, crusty old men sometimes say

716
00:39:03,159 --> 00:39:06,719
to me that they're not teaching cursive anymore. And I go, well,

717
00:39:06,840 --> 00:39:10,559
let me ask you something. Why aren't we using the

718
00:39:10,599 --> 00:39:14,000
things that we have? And there are so many things

719
00:39:14,119 --> 00:39:21,360
for neuro divergent diagnosed children. Right, you can talk your

720
00:39:21,440 --> 00:39:24,000
stuff into something. You don't have to type it. You

721
00:39:24,000 --> 00:39:26,400
don't have to. There are so many people that have

722
00:39:26,519 --> 00:39:33,400
wonderful ideas that may not have other skills, transcribing skills.

723
00:39:33,519 --> 00:39:37,159
It could be fine, motor skills, whatever was missed as

724
00:39:37,159 --> 00:39:40,559
a kit. Fine, Okay, that doesn't mean that they're dumb

725
00:39:40,599 --> 00:39:43,000
and they don't have ideas. And you know, we all

726
00:39:43,079 --> 00:39:49,719
celebrate the I'm trying to think of God, who is

727
00:39:49,760 --> 00:39:54,840
the guy in the wheelchair astronomer? Anyway, it's people with

728
00:39:54,840 --> 00:39:58,199
disabilities who do these great, amazing things. And yet we

729
00:39:58,559 --> 00:40:00,760
look at the people that we have and then you know,

730
00:40:00,800 --> 00:40:02,920
they look pretty able. Body to go, well, what's the

731
00:40:02,920 --> 00:40:05,840
fuck's your problem? And the problem is that somewhere along

732
00:40:05,880 --> 00:40:08,480
the line there may be gaps in their education. What

733
00:40:08,599 --> 00:40:12,119
I'm hearing from you, what I'm hearing, and correct me

734
00:40:12,159 --> 00:40:15,880
if I'm wrong on this. Okay. I had a friend.

735
00:40:16,119 --> 00:40:18,519
He has a name that is not very popular probably

736
00:40:18,559 --> 00:40:21,239
in the city of Rochester much anymore. And I really

737
00:40:21,360 --> 00:40:22,960
like this guy, and I thought he did a lot

738
00:40:22,960 --> 00:40:25,079
of really good work, and I tried to get him.

739
00:40:25,159 --> 00:40:27,719
I used to push him because I would say, you

740
00:40:28,360 --> 00:40:30,760
need to run to be mayor you need to do something,

741
00:40:30,800 --> 00:40:36,679
and it was I hesitate to even say, but he

742
00:40:36,800 --> 00:40:39,760
ran a nonprofit. They were putting some money in places

743
00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:43,920
they shouldn't. It was Adam McFadden. Okay, Now, Adam would

744
00:40:43,920 --> 00:40:45,599
say to me, and Adam would come on the radio

745
00:40:45,639 --> 00:40:48,800
show with me, and he was part of our We

746
00:40:48,840 --> 00:40:51,960
did a high school fantasy football because I wanted to

747
00:40:52,000 --> 00:40:54,639
highlight some of the kids as much as we highlight

748
00:40:54,920 --> 00:40:58,199
the pros, right, so we would all draft different players.

749
00:40:58,760 --> 00:41:01,320
And Adam once said to me that there's going to

750
00:41:01,360 --> 00:41:05,719
be a real problem in the city because the grandparents

751
00:41:05,719 --> 00:41:09,639
are raising the kids and they're going to die, like

752
00:41:09,679 --> 00:41:13,639
they just age out. And as I'm listening to you,

753
00:41:13,639 --> 00:41:19,280
your mother raised the community. Your mom raised the community.

754
00:41:19,280 --> 00:41:21,119
I mean, that's what I'm hearing you say without you

755
00:41:21,199 --> 00:41:25,000
saying that. But that's that's the story. And your mother's

756
00:41:25,039 --> 00:41:30,239
not here anymore. And so here you are again, like,

757
00:41:30,400 --> 00:41:34,880
but you're one person doing amazing things. You've started the

758
00:41:34,920 --> 00:41:38,239
community thing, you've done this, you're a county legislator, you're

759
00:41:38,559 --> 00:41:42,400
a school teacher. But you're one Where are all the

760
00:41:42,519 --> 00:41:47,519
people what happened? Why don't we give a shit what

761
00:41:47,719 --> 00:41:49,960
happened within the community? To not give a shit? And

762
00:41:50,000 --> 00:41:52,000
I don't know if that's even the accurate thing. And

763
00:41:52,039 --> 00:41:54,320
it sounds very bad coming from a face that looks

764
00:41:54,360 --> 00:41:57,840
like mine, right, it sounds judgmental.

765
00:41:58,199 --> 00:42:00,000
Speaker 2: Has an opportunity, and I think is that this early

766
00:42:00,559 --> 00:42:04,039
putting their little brain in this earth. We all have

767
00:42:04,719 --> 00:42:06,920
the opportunity to do it. We just don't have the will.

768
00:42:07,480 --> 00:42:10,599
It's quick to it's easy to criticize. It's easy to criticize.

769
00:42:10,760 --> 00:42:14,079
Yeah it is, But what are we doing about it?

770
00:42:14,119 --> 00:42:16,880
Everyone's sitting in the sidelines. So we have to shift

771
00:42:16,920 --> 00:42:20,280
that mentality to say, if we're upset about what's happening

772
00:42:20,280 --> 00:42:22,159
with our youth stealing cars, what are we doing as

773
00:42:22,239 --> 00:42:25,239
society to help that. When I said that, you know,

774
00:42:25,239 --> 00:42:29,159
we have kids walking on walking in with anchor bracelets.

775
00:42:29,239 --> 00:42:32,599
It took ownership. We have failed. We have failed. So

776
00:42:32,760 --> 00:42:34,800
this is why I'm in education. This is why I'm

777
00:42:34,840 --> 00:42:37,320
summing over at Franklin High School and have been there

778
00:42:37,320 --> 00:42:39,159
for four years, and I can see myself being there

779
00:42:39,159 --> 00:42:41,840
for many more years because I want to see those

780
00:42:41,920 --> 00:42:45,119
kids that were in my ninth grade class walk the stage. Yep,

781
00:42:45,400 --> 00:42:46,800
that's what I want to see it. And I tell

782
00:42:46,840 --> 00:42:49,760
them all the time, and here they're worried about living

783
00:42:49,880 --> 00:42:52,880
to see their their workers permit if I get six

784
00:42:53,239 --> 00:42:55,719
you know, if I make it to sixteen, can you

785
00:42:55,719 --> 00:42:56,639
help me find a job?

786
00:42:56,679 --> 00:42:59,639
Speaker 1: I'm like, if I make it to sixteen, And.

787
00:43:02,000 --> 00:43:05,199
Speaker 2: It was it was ninth grade and they're asking me that.

788
00:43:05,280 --> 00:43:07,000
I'm like, what do you mean? No, not only are

789
00:43:07,039 --> 00:43:08,679
you gonna make it till fifteen, you're gonna make it

790
00:43:08,679 --> 00:43:10,719
to twenty five and four thirty five. And you and

791
00:43:10,760 --> 00:43:13,280
I will laugh about this when you're taking care of me,

792
00:43:13,320 --> 00:43:15,320
because you're the generation that takes care of me as

793
00:43:16,239 --> 00:43:19,960
as it is. But it was a moment that I said,

794
00:43:20,199 --> 00:43:24,880
how horrific that they can't see a future. There's no hope.

795
00:43:25,119 --> 00:43:27,360
So my job is to just sprinkle hope all throughout

796
00:43:27,360 --> 00:43:29,840
this community. And I know it sounds cliche, but this

797
00:43:29,880 --> 00:43:32,840
is what's lacking in our community. They lost hope. Adults

798
00:43:32,880 --> 00:43:35,000
have lost hope in this generation. They've lost hope in

799
00:43:35,079 --> 00:43:38,719
themselves and being able to uplift and everyone has the

800
00:43:38,760 --> 00:43:42,239
ability of doing this. I'll share a story. There was

801
00:43:42,280 --> 00:43:45,039
a woman that lived down the street from the house

802
00:43:45,039 --> 00:43:49,639
I'm living, which is my mother's house, and it was

803
00:43:49,679 --> 00:43:51,760
my first time running. She heard that I was running

804
00:43:51,800 --> 00:43:56,880
and I was running up against a machine, and she says,

805
00:43:56,920 --> 00:43:58,360
I don't have a lot of money to give you.

806
00:43:58,400 --> 00:44:00,800
In fact, I have no money. But would you step cans?

807
00:44:01,079 --> 00:44:04,880
I cried, because I see her collecting cans every single day,

808
00:44:05,199 --> 00:44:09,239
and you're willing to donate your cans to my campaign.

809
00:44:09,559 --> 00:44:11,519
You believe in me that much? And I said, I

810
00:44:11,559 --> 00:44:14,639
can't fail this community. I just can't. Everyone if you

811
00:44:14,679 --> 00:44:16,760
look at our community or worse off than we were

812
00:44:16,760 --> 00:44:20,000
ten years ago, twenty years ago, when there's millions being

813
00:44:20,000 --> 00:44:22,559
poured into these communities. So we've got to put us

814
00:44:22,599 --> 00:44:26,639
put a hold and see where's this money going? And

815
00:44:27,119 --> 00:44:30,159
can we can we say accountability? We just continue to

816
00:44:30,159 --> 00:44:35,280
pour pour money into this problem and there's no metrics,

817
00:44:35,320 --> 00:44:38,599
there's no what are we're measuring? So does it make

818
00:44:38,639 --> 00:44:40,360
you all feel great that you're pouring money in this

819
00:44:40,400 --> 00:44:43,760
community and it's going nowhere? Why does our city look

820
00:44:43,800 --> 00:44:46,840
the way it does? So those are problems that I

821
00:44:47,119 --> 00:44:49,960
just I can't. I can't accept it. And I'm sure

822
00:44:50,239 --> 00:44:52,840
most of the things I've said today is problematic to

823
00:44:52,920 --> 00:44:55,599
my party. But I am Mercedes Party, I am the

824
00:44:55,599 --> 00:44:58,800
People's party. I am who I am because I am

825
00:44:59,239 --> 00:45:01,320
I see what's happen in our community, and I have

826
00:45:01,360 --> 00:45:03,440
to roll up my sleeves. You know, people say, you know,

827
00:45:03,480 --> 00:45:06,400
what type of Democrat are you? And my opinion has

828
00:45:06,440 --> 00:45:09,199
been very interesting. What's it? But you know, I would

829
00:45:09,239 --> 00:45:11,920
categorize myself as a Kennedy. Oh my god, I was

830
00:45:12,000 --> 00:45:15,199
just gonna say, I'm Kennedy day.

831
00:45:15,280 --> 00:45:18,559
Speaker 1: Okay, hang on a second, because Geez, I had no

832
00:45:18,639 --> 00:45:21,400
idea where this conversation would go. I had a bunch

833
00:45:21,400 --> 00:45:24,239
of questions things. I thought, you know, I'm so happy

834
00:45:24,239 --> 00:45:29,280
the way it's going. Uh. I would say that to me.

835
00:45:29,639 --> 00:45:34,559
The Democratic Party has such problems because they can't agree

836
00:45:34,599 --> 00:45:37,480
on anything. And the more you go, it's more splintered,

837
00:45:37,519 --> 00:45:40,119
it's more splintered. It's more splintered. And when we look

838
00:45:40,159 --> 00:45:42,679
at the Republican Party, there's two things that they really

839
00:45:42,719 --> 00:45:45,800
answer to church, big business. That's it.

840
00:45:46,320 --> 00:45:49,440
Speaker 2: Sometimes and sometimes say that I think I think.

841
00:45:49,320 --> 00:45:51,760
Speaker 1: That, and I love the way you think.

842
00:45:52,119 --> 00:45:56,639
Speaker 2: Yeah. I think our country is broken. Republicans. I think

843
00:45:56,719 --> 00:46:01,679
we have serious, serious issues, and it to me is disconcerting.

844
00:46:01,800 --> 00:46:05,079
I'm knocking on doors, I'm knocking on Democratic doors, and

845
00:46:05,119 --> 00:46:08,880
there there's just so much to unpack in every single

846
00:46:08,920 --> 00:46:12,639
interaction that I have because everyone's angry, But what are

847
00:46:12,639 --> 00:46:14,960
you doing with that anger? Why are you so angry?

848
00:46:15,000 --> 00:46:17,880
And what can you do to change it? You know,

849
00:46:17,920 --> 00:46:19,880
they're like, well, we don't have police, we don't have resources.

850
00:46:19,920 --> 00:46:21,719
Look at all this I said, but what are we

851
00:46:21,800 --> 00:46:25,920
doing about it? They depend on elected officials to resolve

852
00:46:25,960 --> 00:46:28,599
it when they have their own agenda too. Sorry, I'm

853
00:46:28,599 --> 00:46:31,440
going to say that we have sitting elected officials that

854
00:46:31,480 --> 00:46:34,000
are taking money from utilities. Well, of course you're not

855
00:46:34,039 --> 00:46:39,039
going to advocate for reduction mutility because there they make

856
00:46:39,079 --> 00:46:42,400
profit off of it, sadly, and it's both sides. So

857
00:46:42,559 --> 00:46:45,239
we have to have honest conversations about what we're doing

858
00:46:45,360 --> 00:46:47,719
and who we want to represent us. Because a no

859
00:46:47,880 --> 00:46:50,239
vote is a vote. I hear people, Oh, I'm not

860
00:46:50,320 --> 00:46:52,679
voting anymore, Well, guess what that is? The vote. I

861
00:46:52,760 --> 00:46:54,280
need you to be educated and I want you to

862
00:46:54,360 --> 00:46:56,360
I'm going to provide you with as much information as

863
00:46:56,440 --> 00:46:59,000
I can, good, bad, or and different And one thing

864
00:46:59,000 --> 00:47:01,480
that I kind of I think that why I'm different

865
00:47:01,480 --> 00:47:04,760
than anyone. Now, I'll have conversations with anyone. You could

866
00:47:04,760 --> 00:47:06,440
love me, you can hate me, but you'll always get

867
00:47:06,480 --> 00:47:10,880
the same Mercedes. I'm consistent. My community needs law enforcement.

868
00:47:11,079 --> 00:47:15,119
I'm all for community policing. We walk the avenues. Hutson,

869
00:47:15,239 --> 00:47:18,639
Joseph Scio, come on down. I don't I don't get

870
00:47:18,639 --> 00:47:21,159
too many takers on that. The same people who are

871
00:47:21,400 --> 00:47:24,079
who are drumming up community policing. Where are you? We

872
00:47:24,199 --> 00:47:27,599
need you out here, I need you come out Avenue D.

873
00:47:27,800 --> 00:47:30,159
Let's go down, Sullivan. Let's go down in all these

874
00:47:30,199 --> 00:47:34,239
areas where we're seeing an uptick of crime, and let's

875
00:47:34,320 --> 00:47:37,519
let's be there. Let's be intentional about really caring about

876
00:47:37,519 --> 00:47:40,239
our community if you want to see that, because because

877
00:47:40,280 --> 00:47:42,360
we can't, we can't blame society, and some of the

878
00:47:42,400 --> 00:47:44,880
issues that we can we can address. Some of these

879
00:47:44,920 --> 00:47:48,159
are because there's there's not a structure at home. This

880
00:47:48,280 --> 00:47:50,159
is what's happening. What can we do to help and

881
00:47:50,159 --> 00:47:52,880
build up the families? And one of my priorities and

882
00:47:52,920 --> 00:47:56,119
we've started working on this, is getting services down to

883
00:47:56,159 --> 00:47:59,360
the street level. We have DMV that's now in our communities.

884
00:47:59,599 --> 00:48:02,280
We have social services that are now coming into our communities.

885
00:48:02,320 --> 00:48:05,679
But guess what, we also have a job career fairs too.

886
00:48:06,239 --> 00:48:10,559
We have to have those intentional things happening at our community. Okay,

887
00:48:10,719 --> 00:48:14,599
you said bring things to us, bring things to us,

888
00:48:14,599 --> 00:48:16,960
but let's be intentional about what we're doing. Again, this

889
00:48:17,000 --> 00:48:19,480
is not about a handout. I want to uplift. I

890
00:48:19,519 --> 00:48:21,639
want to give you a hand so that you're able

891
00:48:21,760 --> 00:48:27,159
to fight for yourself. I live in, you know, one

892
00:48:27,159 --> 00:48:32,320
of the poorest districts five to one. How do I

893
00:48:32,400 --> 00:48:34,519
change that? I can change it. We can't continue to feed.

894
00:48:34,960 --> 00:48:39,159
Just just pour some more money and somehow it remedies themselves. No,

895
00:48:39,280 --> 00:48:41,320
I want to provide you with the tools so that

896
00:48:41,400 --> 00:48:44,239
you can be successful. Let's get you out of this

897
00:48:44,440 --> 00:48:47,639
cycle of poverty and uplift you so that you're able

898
00:48:47,679 --> 00:48:51,000
to become, you know, just independent from any anything that

899
00:48:51,320 --> 00:48:53,920
holds you down today. So it's just so much to

900
00:48:54,000 --> 00:48:56,679
unpack with all this. But I every time I hear

901
00:48:57,000 --> 00:49:00,800
elected officials saying that they threw money and nothing worse

902
00:49:00,840 --> 00:49:03,920
than you know, this whole political theater when they do

903
00:49:04,000 --> 00:49:06,760
it during your election year. You're putting half a million

904
00:49:06,800 --> 00:49:11,480
dollars to a rec center, community center right before election. No, no, no,

905
00:49:12,039 --> 00:49:15,920
do it all your entire term and be present. There's

906
00:49:16,039 --> 00:49:19,519
there's electors officials that will come to Clinton and say, well,

907
00:49:19,559 --> 00:49:21,480
we're going to have police escort. Can you walk with

908
00:49:21,559 --> 00:49:24,719
us down Clinton Avenue? Absolutely not. You leave all those

909
00:49:24,840 --> 00:49:28,159
escorts and in all this entourage, let's have a real conversation.

910
00:49:28,239 --> 00:49:31,360
We'll walk down Clinton, Joseph Stiles Street, anywhere you want

911
00:49:31,360 --> 00:49:33,679
to walk in our city. Let's walk. I don't walk

912
00:49:33,679 --> 00:49:37,239
with police escort. I don't walk with security. I walk

913
00:49:37,280 --> 00:49:41,360
with myself. I want to have real and intentional conversation

914
00:49:41,480 --> 00:49:43,039
about what's happening in our communities.

915
00:49:43,679 --> 00:49:49,559
Speaker 1: Yeah. Right, so you pull back the political mask and

916
00:49:49,639 --> 00:49:52,960
you get to see what's really happening and not not

917
00:49:53,159 --> 00:49:55,800
the theater. As you say, right, it's not the political theater.

918
00:49:56,199 --> 00:49:59,639
But let's go back to something that you hit upon

919
00:50:00,480 --> 00:50:07,880
that I think is so important in human beings. I

920
00:50:08,039 --> 00:50:12,679
believe that everything in life is an inside job. And

921
00:50:12,719 --> 00:50:16,480
by that I mean that there's really nothing in This

922
00:50:16,519 --> 00:50:19,800
will sound ridiculous, people do what the fuck is wrong

923
00:50:19,840 --> 00:50:23,639
with you? I don't believe anything. No one can really

924
00:50:23,679 --> 00:50:28,559
assert anything on you. Now, there are certainly things, as

925
00:50:28,599 --> 00:50:32,519
you gave it an amazing example in the beginning where

926
00:50:32,599 --> 00:50:35,400
your mother was trying to vote. That seems like things

927
00:50:35,400 --> 00:50:38,199
were asserted that way. Were they intentional. I don't know.

928
00:50:39,559 --> 00:50:44,639
Was it wrong, Yes it was, but there was things.

929
00:50:44,679 --> 00:50:46,880
But I think that one of the problems that I

930
00:50:46,920 --> 00:50:49,639
see so much and I wish there was an easy

931
00:50:49,719 --> 00:50:55,119
answer to this is building the self esteem in children.

932
00:50:55,960 --> 00:50:58,639
And when I say that, I don't mean like I

933
00:50:58,679 --> 00:51:01,039
don't want to be blown smoke a kid's ass, and

934
00:51:01,079 --> 00:51:03,840
it's not you know. And I hear people every kid

935
00:51:03,840 --> 00:51:06,559
shouldn't get a trophy. Well, I had three sons and

936
00:51:06,599 --> 00:51:09,960
I don't remember them out past the age of five

937
00:51:10,360 --> 00:51:13,519
playing soccer. That everybody got a trophy, right, And even

938
00:51:13,599 --> 00:51:16,119
there there was one kid who scored the most goals,

939
00:51:16,119 --> 00:51:18,519
and so it gave you a meritocracy to try to

940
00:51:19,119 --> 00:51:22,199
build toward. I don't know how you really build self esteem,

941
00:51:22,199 --> 00:51:24,239
but the self esteem is what we need. And I

942
00:51:24,239 --> 00:51:27,400
don't care where you live. The kids are hit with

943
00:51:27,440 --> 00:51:30,840
shit on a constant level with social media, and it

944
00:51:30,960 --> 00:51:35,480
is really really like they live on these things. That

945
00:51:35,599 --> 00:51:39,760
device is never more than six inches away from them.

946
00:51:39,800 --> 00:51:43,400
It feels like right, and so how do you have

947
00:51:43,480 --> 00:51:47,480
to make those kids feel good about them? And when

948
00:51:47,519 --> 00:51:50,840
I heard things like in communities and you say you're

949
00:51:51,239 --> 00:51:54,000
the democrats, I'm not the whatever you think the others

950
00:51:54,000 --> 00:51:55,519
in the party will say, I know, one of the

951
00:51:55,519 --> 00:51:58,280
things that was coming out and it bothered me was

952
00:51:58,320 --> 00:52:01,440
the defund the police, and I go, you know, words

953
00:52:01,480 --> 00:52:05,480
mean a lot. Can we say something else instead of

954
00:52:05,559 --> 00:52:10,960
defund the police and making you know, like in any community,

955
00:52:11,159 --> 00:52:15,880
it's the the or what's the saying the bad apple

956
00:52:16,159 --> 00:52:18,960
spoils the bunch, right, And we have that with police

957
00:52:18,960 --> 00:52:22,599
as well, where there's bad police officers but yeah, or

958
00:52:22,639 --> 00:52:25,880
they're bad teachers. Probably, there's all kinds of stuff, but

959
00:52:26,000 --> 00:52:27,920
we focus on those and now all of a sudden,

960
00:52:28,039 --> 00:52:30,679
you know, they're this and when we say defund the police.

961
00:52:30,719 --> 00:52:32,519
There used to be things that the police did that

962
00:52:32,599 --> 00:52:36,760
were great. There were youth leagues. You know. One of

963
00:52:36,800 --> 00:52:39,360
the greatest basketball players to ever come out of this

964
00:52:39,480 --> 00:52:43,960
area was in a police league. He used to play. Yes,

965
00:52:45,199 --> 00:52:49,039
So my point being is, okay, you want to defund

966
00:52:49,039 --> 00:52:51,599
the police, well, then let's reallocate some of the money.

967
00:52:51,840 --> 00:52:55,639
Because those things impacted the community and it got and

968
00:52:55,920 --> 00:52:58,599
you can't tell me like, people go, well, how do

969
00:52:58,679 --> 00:53:01,559
you how do you make a friend? You know, I'm older, now,

970
00:53:01,559 --> 00:53:03,840
how do you make a friend? You show up at

971
00:53:03,840 --> 00:53:07,079
the same place all the time, right, and you just

972
00:53:07,199 --> 00:53:09,880
as the conversation goes, we get to know a little

973
00:53:09,880 --> 00:53:12,360
bit more more about each other and we share and share,

974
00:53:12,480 --> 00:53:15,079
and then one day you're sharing something a little more vulnerable.

975
00:53:15,119 --> 00:53:17,440
And that's how it happens. That's exactly how it happens

976
00:53:17,480 --> 00:53:19,639
on a basketball court with the police and the kids.

977
00:53:20,079 --> 00:53:22,760
And that's something that's not missing. And John Wallace is

978
00:53:23,119 --> 00:53:25,320
a product of that, went on to play for the

979
00:53:25,360 --> 00:53:28,360
New York Dicks, a wonderful guy, still comes back and

980
00:53:28,400 --> 00:53:31,440
does all that. That is the shit that's missing.

981
00:53:31,840 --> 00:53:34,440
Speaker 2: Absolutely and it's still I'm a big fan of pal.

982
00:53:34,639 --> 00:53:38,480
I absolutely agree with you on it. As I mentioned,

983
00:53:38,519 --> 00:53:40,719
we run a soccer program where at the Latino You've

984
00:53:40,760 --> 00:53:44,000
Development Resource Center. We use one of the city recreation centers,

985
00:53:44,639 --> 00:53:48,000
and several years ago I was approached by I believe

986
00:53:48,000 --> 00:53:52,639
the Sheriff's department with a new group of cohort was

987
00:53:52,679 --> 00:53:54,800
coming on and he had to do some community service.

988
00:53:55,239 --> 00:53:58,239
So I said, I would love to participate in that

989
00:53:58,280 --> 00:54:00,719
where they help coach our kids. They're all in the

990
00:54:00,760 --> 00:54:05,039
field with our kids during that summer and the end

991
00:54:05,119 --> 00:54:07,880
the last game, which is always ends with a little

992
00:54:07,920 --> 00:54:11,880
picnic and barbecues. Really nice they did this and the

993
00:54:11,960 --> 00:54:15,239
kids loved it. The last day they came in their uniforms.

994
00:54:15,239 --> 00:54:18,800
The kids were like, wait, you're a cop. And it

995
00:54:18,840 --> 00:54:21,360
was such a moment. But they build relationships, so all

996
00:54:21,400 --> 00:54:24,079
of a sudden, he's not a cop with at an interview,

997
00:54:24,119 --> 00:54:26,480
you know, and all the stereotypes they hear about a police.

998
00:54:26,719 --> 00:54:31,239
This is the guy who couldn't play soccer or that

999
00:54:31,400 --> 00:54:33,360
scored on them. You know, they all have this story

1000
00:54:33,639 --> 00:54:36,920
and these are lifelong relationships. But it changed their perspective

1001
00:54:37,400 --> 00:54:40,360
on an outlook on policing. We need to do more

1002
00:54:40,400 --> 00:54:42,239
of that. I really listen. I want to pal. I

1003
00:54:42,239 --> 00:54:43,960
want to pal right on Clinton Avenue. We can make

1004
00:54:43,960 --> 00:54:45,239
this happen. We're gonna have to We're gonna have to

1005
00:54:45,320 --> 00:54:48,800
work with the police to make it happen. Because you're right,

1006
00:54:49,440 --> 00:54:56,320
that's what's lacking for shootings since December. Uh, that impacted

1007
00:54:56,760 --> 00:55:02,280
a police officer. That alarms me. That alarmed at different levels.

1008
00:55:02,679 --> 00:55:04,800
But there are shootings in the city every single day,

1009
00:55:04,840 --> 00:55:07,920
but when it when it comes to law enforcement, there's

1010
00:55:07,960 --> 00:55:10,719
a there's no longer a respect for the police, and

1011
00:55:10,760 --> 00:55:14,800
that to me is terrifying. You know, when I saw

1012
00:55:14,840 --> 00:55:17,559
the video and we played several times and I thought

1013
00:55:17,559 --> 00:55:20,360
to myself, look at how people it reacted. Some ran,

1014
00:55:20,719 --> 00:55:22,920
but there was a gentleman that actually walked towards again

1015
00:55:22,960 --> 00:55:26,440
that was shooting, and I thought to myself that this

1016
00:55:26,519 --> 00:55:29,039
is society. We're gonna watch it and we're not going

1017
00:55:29,119 --> 00:55:33,599
to do anything about it. Yeah, and again another police shooting. Listen,

1018
00:55:33,639 --> 00:55:37,320
I don't want any shootings in my community. We hear

1019
00:55:37,360 --> 00:55:41,039
the gunshots on a daily and it's become it's normalized.

1020
00:55:41,239 --> 00:55:43,599
So we're having conversations where there are children to say,

1021
00:55:43,719 --> 00:55:46,480
here's how to resolve conflict. You don't have to go

1022
00:55:46,599 --> 00:55:48,880
towards a gun. You don't have to. And we did

1023
00:55:48,880 --> 00:55:51,639
a survey. I'll have to invite you over to my

1024
00:55:52,039 --> 00:55:53,000
center on North Clinton.

1025
00:55:53,079 --> 00:55:54,920
Speaker 1: I would actually I want to talk to you about

1026
00:55:54,960 --> 00:56:01,760
that off air, not not anything aboutvolunteering and doing things.

1027
00:56:02,519 --> 00:56:04,800
Speaker 2: Oh what do you mean. I've already put you down

1028
00:56:04,840 --> 00:56:06,320
as a volunteer, so you can't back out of this.

1029
00:56:07,360 --> 00:56:08,440
Speaker 1: I think I might like it.

1030
00:56:09,880 --> 00:56:12,920
Speaker 2: But I did a survey. The survey was how accessible

1031
00:56:13,199 --> 00:56:18,960
or the way it was worded is do you have

1032
00:56:19,000 --> 00:56:22,840
access or can you find a gun? And out of

1033
00:56:23,000 --> 00:56:25,840
twenty kids that we surveyed, twenty said that they can

1034
00:56:25,840 --> 00:56:28,840
find it. They can either have access to a gun,

1035
00:56:28,920 --> 00:56:31,880
and they can find a gun either at a badega

1036
00:56:32,039 --> 00:56:35,000
or at a trap house or wherever. And I thought

1037
00:56:35,039 --> 00:56:39,159
to myself, they all have access to a gun. How

1038
00:56:39,159 --> 00:56:42,559
do we remove that? How do we've become a society

1039
00:56:42,599 --> 00:56:46,039
where our children know how to have get access to

1040
00:56:46,079 --> 00:56:50,119
a gun because they're relatively available in certain communities. And

1041
00:56:50,199 --> 00:56:52,760
we have to really make a deep dive on why

1042
00:56:52,800 --> 00:56:57,519
that is. Why is it that these communities again, they

1043
00:56:57,599 --> 00:57:00,280
tolerate the level of tolerance that is a lot out

1044
00:57:00,440 --> 00:57:02,920
in these communities, and it's not the people. The people

1045
00:57:03,000 --> 00:57:06,199
want safe communities. You know, the safest community, the safest

1046
00:57:06,199 --> 00:57:08,239
time we've ever had in this community is when they

1047
00:57:08,239 --> 00:57:11,000
locked North Clinton down because of a shooting. A three

1048
00:57:11,079 --> 00:57:13,960
year old was shot and they shot us down. This

1049
00:57:14,000 --> 00:57:17,960
is the first time, I want to say, since I

1050
00:57:18,039 --> 00:57:21,400
was a teenager that I saw families walking their dogs.

1051
00:57:23,039 --> 00:57:25,800
I've seen people jogging, I saw people doing extra and

1052
00:57:25,960 --> 00:57:29,199
becoming part of it. But it literally took the command

1053
00:57:29,239 --> 00:57:31,920
center being right on North Clinton Avenue and no traffic

1054
00:57:31,920 --> 00:57:34,519
going up and down Clinton Avenue. Why does it have

1055
00:57:34,559 --> 00:57:36,039
to be this way? Why do we have to be

1056
00:57:36,119 --> 00:57:39,400
so extreme to a point where the only time we

1057
00:57:39,440 --> 00:57:41,920
see this is during a shooting. We don't want we

1058
00:57:41,960 --> 00:57:44,480
don't want shootings at all. Let's be clear. Born and

1059
00:57:44,599 --> 00:57:47,480
raised in this community, I don't want the violence. I

1060
00:57:47,480 --> 00:57:50,119
think if you've shot someone, you should do your time.

1061
00:57:50,679 --> 00:57:52,199
We have to look at some of the laws that

1062
00:57:52,280 --> 00:57:56,320
impact us today. Bail reform was created for a reason.

1063
00:57:56,400 --> 00:57:58,599
We have to go back and modify it. I'm not

1064
00:57:58,639 --> 00:57:59,559
saying you away with it.

1065
00:57:59,800 --> 00:58:02,800
Speaker 1: We have to mind. I thought bail reform was more

1066
00:58:02,840 --> 00:58:06,519
of and use is a very simplistic thing. But I

1067
00:58:06,599 --> 00:58:09,960
stole a pack of gum, and so instead of locking

1068
00:58:10,000 --> 00:58:12,119
me up so I can't pay my bills and get

1069
00:58:12,159 --> 00:58:14,320
to work and do this, let's let's let's take it

1070
00:58:14,360 --> 00:58:19,000
for what it is. And you're right, it certainly does

1071
00:58:19,199 --> 00:58:26,079
need to be probably reformed. I don't know how these things, Yeah,

1072
00:58:26,320 --> 00:58:29,360
it goes. The problem is we take It's like we

1073
00:58:29,400 --> 00:58:33,039
take the ship too far, and I don't understand how

1074
00:58:33,079 --> 00:58:35,360
that happens. I want to I know we're coming up

1075
00:58:35,400 --> 00:58:36,960
on an hour. I don't want to eat up your day,

1076
00:58:37,280 --> 00:58:40,079
but I want to ask uh this question. And just

1077
00:58:40,119 --> 00:58:43,719
going back, because you talked about money, coming into the

1078
00:58:43,719 --> 00:58:47,400
community and where does it go? And that's the to

1079
00:58:47,440 --> 00:58:54,760
hear someone of your level of political involvement community involvement, uh,

1080
00:58:54,840 --> 00:58:58,079
to say that is eye opening. Now, I'm going to

1081
00:58:58,119 --> 00:59:02,480
bring something up that was a screaming point for many

1082
00:59:02,880 --> 00:59:07,239
around the country, and that would be Minnesota. And the thing,

1083
00:59:09,159 --> 00:59:12,760
you can't give people money and expect them when it's

1084
00:59:12,800 --> 00:59:17,079
not their money, to not give it out. It's people

1085
00:59:17,079 --> 00:59:20,639
in the community. We're coming in and they go, hey,

1086
00:59:20,639 --> 00:59:22,840
we got two thousand dollars for you if you can

1087
00:59:23,000 --> 00:59:25,880
prove your kid is whatever, and so people were doing it.

1088
00:59:25,920 --> 00:59:29,000
Is that fraud or are the people giving the money

1089
00:59:29,000 --> 00:59:31,880
not putting the fucking barriers on it? You know what

1090
00:59:31,920 --> 00:59:35,000
I'm saying. I mean, I'm sorry, who's not going to

1091
00:59:35,079 --> 00:59:37,760
do that in a community where you feel like, hey,

1092
00:59:38,119 --> 00:59:40,360
two thousand dollars is a nice punch in the pocket

1093
00:59:40,800 --> 00:59:43,400
or whatever the money was, I don't know. And I go,

1094
00:59:43,519 --> 00:59:46,960
how can you blame people when you just threw money

1095
00:59:47,239 --> 00:59:52,239
without any guidance for the money? Right, and even there

1096
00:59:52,320 --> 00:59:53,800
maybe they.

1097
00:59:52,800 --> 00:59:55,320
Speaker 2: Had that's an easy way out. Well let's blame them

1098
00:59:55,360 --> 00:59:58,239
and let's yes, it's not their fucking fault.

1099
00:59:58,320 --> 01:00:01,000
Speaker 1: You would do the same thing. I hate that because

1100
01:00:01,000 --> 01:00:03,559
I go, come on, man, if anybody couldn't use a

1101
01:00:03,559 --> 01:00:06,119
little extra money, and you tell me, hey, does your

1102
01:00:06,159 --> 01:00:08,599
kid write the number five backwards? Okay?

1103
01:00:08,840 --> 01:00:13,920
Speaker 3: You you know we had here in Monroe County, we

1104
01:00:14,000 --> 01:00:19,679
had a situation where we had something similar where money

1105
01:00:19,760 --> 01:00:21,639
was being mismanaged and we had to be the bad

1106
01:00:21,639 --> 01:00:22,400
guys to pull it.

1107
01:00:23,480 --> 01:00:25,880
Speaker 2: And it was the ARPA funding look it up. It

1108
01:00:25,920 --> 01:00:31,000
was quite controversial, and you know, certain individuals decided they

1109
01:00:31,000 --> 01:00:33,519
were going to make me their point person. But when

1110
01:00:33,519 --> 01:00:38,880
we're giving you tax dollars to address issues that our

1111
01:00:38,960 --> 01:00:42,039
life impacting, listen, I'm going to say this. Don't play

1112
01:00:42,079 --> 01:00:44,119
with that. Everyone to say, well, well, you know we

1113
01:00:44,440 --> 01:00:47,719
have life experience, we have this incident, but you're buying wagoneers.

1114
01:00:48,159 --> 01:00:51,920
Tell me how you're helping those that are battling opioid,

1115
01:00:52,000 --> 01:00:59,039
those are battling social issues. How is that helping? I

1116
01:00:59,159 --> 01:01:02,079
asked the question. But you're right, the accountability starts with us.

1117
01:01:02,159 --> 01:01:05,639
Speaker 1: It does. And the hard Mercedes is it's when you

1118
01:01:05,679 --> 01:01:09,800
give people money that's not their money, they're not going

1119
01:01:09,880 --> 01:01:13,199
to spend it in the right way. If I feel

1120
01:01:14,280 --> 01:01:17,719
that maybe I'm painting with a broad brush. I'm just saying, like,

1121
01:01:18,320 --> 01:01:21,400
take it to you know, like giving your kid money

1122
01:01:21,480 --> 01:01:24,599
or encouraging your kid to get a job. Right, a

1123
01:01:25,039 --> 01:01:27,880
team kid. Right. To me, it's sort of the same

1124
01:01:27,920 --> 01:01:30,960
thing that a lot of times people get excited going,

1125
01:01:31,159 --> 01:01:33,719
oh god, there's money and you want a wagon ear

1126
01:01:33,760 --> 01:01:37,199
and wagoneers, do we need a wagon? Ear? It's it's

1127
01:01:37,199 --> 01:01:40,159
one hundred thousand dollars card. It's kind of shitty. They're

1128
01:01:40,199 --> 01:01:42,679
not even that great guys, They're just not I mean,

1129
01:01:42,679 --> 01:01:43,760
I'm a car guy there.

1130
01:01:43,840 --> 01:01:46,360
Speaker 2: Yeah, and trust me, I got quite a bit of

1131
01:01:47,480 --> 01:01:51,760
backlash because I voted against h continuing the funding of

1132
01:01:51,760 --> 01:01:55,440
this nonsense. Yeah, we just can't continue it. I mean,

1133
01:01:55,960 --> 01:01:58,199
let me just tell you, hosts of your things things were.

1134
01:01:59,639 --> 01:02:02,880
They were ear Mark to hire a social worker and

1135
01:02:02,920 --> 01:02:05,920
then they hired someone that barely had a high school diploma.

1136
01:02:07,199 --> 01:02:10,199
Do you understand the impact that that has in our community?

1137
01:02:10,519 --> 01:02:13,280
A person has now given herself the title of a

1138
01:02:13,320 --> 01:02:16,639
social worker and doesn't have that. It just to me,

1139
01:02:17,320 --> 01:02:19,719
you are now the enemy of this community because now

1140
01:02:19,800 --> 01:02:22,239
you are advising folks that really need.

1141
01:02:22,320 --> 01:02:27,119
Speaker 3: Someone that's like a license right, social worker is a

1142
01:02:27,159 --> 01:02:30,599
serious and.

1143
01:02:30,519 --> 01:02:32,679
Speaker 2: How dare you do that to our community, to play

1144
01:02:32,679 --> 01:02:34,480
do it, to pretend to be something that you're not

1145
01:02:35,159 --> 01:02:37,880
and call it help. I don't need that help. We

1146
01:02:37,920 --> 01:02:40,239
need to be intentional about that. Every dollar and every

1147
01:02:40,239 --> 01:02:42,639
dollar should be accounted for. I want to see those

1148
01:02:42,760 --> 01:02:45,280
monthly reporting to say this is what the dollars have

1149
01:02:45,360 --> 01:02:49,280
been spent on. I teach young people every day about accountability.

1150
01:02:49,320 --> 01:02:52,960
I expect it from adults. So that's those Those are conversations.

1151
01:02:52,960 --> 01:02:55,079
And again there's people in this community that are not

1152
01:02:55,119 --> 01:02:58,360
happy because guess what, we cut that gravy train. It's

1153
01:02:58,360 --> 01:03:01,000
not going to happen, not on my watch. So call

1154
01:03:01,039 --> 01:03:04,440
it what it is. You're always going to get this authenticity. Now,

1155
01:03:04,559 --> 01:03:07,400
is it in my mind right about everything? Probably not,

1156
01:03:08,079 --> 01:03:11,760
most likely not, but at least, I mean, I'm honest

1157
01:03:11,760 --> 01:03:13,440
to have the conversation to say, you know what, I

1158
01:03:13,519 --> 01:03:16,480
was wrong about this, but with ARPA, I'm absolutely not

1159
01:03:16,559 --> 01:03:19,800
wrong about it, and I stand firm in my vote

1160
01:03:19,840 --> 01:03:22,159
against continuing to fund this nonsense.

1161
01:03:23,400 --> 01:03:26,280
Speaker 1: I have loved this conversation. It did not go all

1162
01:03:26,360 --> 01:03:28,639
the way I thought I would learn more about your

1163
01:03:29,119 --> 01:03:31,760
boxing and things. I don't care. I don't care. I

1164
01:03:31,800 --> 01:03:34,280
thought it was fantastic. It would be an honor for

1165
01:03:34,360 --> 01:03:35,639
me to have you back sometime.

1166
01:03:36,039 --> 01:03:38,760
Speaker 2: True, that would be fun. And before we wrap up,

1167
01:03:38,760 --> 01:03:41,280
I want to tell you is we're doing a boxing

1168
01:03:41,280 --> 01:03:43,519
event here. It's the first time in like thirty years

1169
01:03:43,519 --> 01:03:46,480
there's been a major boxing event in Rochester. It's going

1170
01:03:46,519 --> 01:03:49,920
to be at the Blue Cross Arena, really ro twenty fifth.

1171
01:03:50,599 --> 01:03:53,440
So we have Bryce Mills who's just recently won the

1172
01:03:53,639 --> 01:03:57,639
WBC silver championship. He's going to defend his title. Okay,

1173
01:03:58,000 --> 01:03:59,639
it's won it like two three weeks ago, so it's

1174
01:03:59,679 --> 01:04:03,920
cool it he's back on it. I'm a big boxing fan.

1175
01:04:04,119 --> 01:04:06,079
I'm a big fight fan. In fact, tonight I'm gonna

1176
01:04:06,119 --> 01:04:11,079
go see cage fighting. I love this. So people says, well,

1177
01:04:11,119 --> 01:04:14,159
you know, you either like boxing or you to like

1178
01:04:14,199 --> 01:04:15,960
boxing you like a man. I love them both. You

1179
01:04:16,000 --> 01:04:17,519
do both require a level of.

1180
01:04:17,480 --> 01:04:19,360
Speaker 1: Discipline, huge level of discipline.

1181
01:04:19,360 --> 01:04:22,000
Speaker 2: Those guys rules and regulations. But you go in there.

1182
01:04:22,079 --> 01:04:23,800
You just have to respect those that are answering.

1183
01:04:23,840 --> 01:04:26,360
Speaker 1: I don't understand. Well, yeah, right, and you have to.

1184
01:04:26,679 --> 01:04:31,360
That's that's very true. Uh, there's one other thing I'm

1185
01:04:31,360 --> 01:04:33,800
going to jump back to. Just I know we're going

1186
01:04:33,800 --> 01:04:37,440
a little bit overtime, but the uh, the I would

1187
01:04:37,519 --> 01:04:40,960
compare anything to stepping into those rings. You're adrenaline, You're

1188
01:04:41,000 --> 01:04:43,639
all this, You're nervous, right everybody, and if you're not,

1189
01:04:44,559 --> 01:04:46,840
there's something wrong with you. Those guys are really putting

1190
01:04:46,880 --> 01:04:49,840
it online. But I think what you do when anybody does,

1191
01:04:49,960 --> 01:04:52,719
it's the same thing. Take that step, step into that ring.

1192
01:04:53,039 --> 01:04:55,039
You know, if you're a young person or you have

1193
01:04:55,119 --> 01:04:57,639
young people in your homes, get them to step into

1194
01:04:57,679 --> 01:05:00,760
the ring. They're going to feel better because that's where

1195
01:05:00,760 --> 01:05:04,000
the true self esteem comes. Well, the problems happen and

1196
01:05:04,119 --> 01:05:06,559
we feel shitty about ourselves. And I don't know that

1197
01:05:06,599 --> 01:05:09,079
it's a disrespect for the police as much as it

1198
01:05:09,119 --> 01:05:12,559
is a disrespect for every human being these days. And

1199
01:05:12,599 --> 01:05:14,519
by that I mean if you don't have a little

1200
01:05:14,559 --> 01:05:16,360
bit of something in here, you don't give a shit

1201
01:05:16,440 --> 01:05:19,400
about anything out there, is kind of my point. And

1202
01:05:19,840 --> 01:05:23,480
when you're right right, we see more shootings of police officers,

1203
01:05:23,840 --> 01:05:26,360
we could say, boy, there's a real disrespect for police. Well,

1204
01:05:26,400 --> 01:05:28,840
there's also teachers getting punched and we're not hearing about it.

1205
01:05:28,840 --> 01:05:34,880
We're also yeah, huh, there's also parents that are getting whatever.

1206
01:05:35,920 --> 01:05:40,639
There's something where there is this hopelessness. And when there's that,

1207
01:05:41,599 --> 01:05:46,639
you know, the scariest thing is a person who has

1208
01:05:46,679 --> 01:05:50,079
nothing to lose. Yes, And when these kids feel like

1209
01:05:50,119 --> 01:05:54,079
they have nothing to lose and they're telling you if

1210
01:05:54,119 --> 01:05:57,880
I make it to sixteen, that's a really scary telling thing.

1211
01:05:58,320 --> 01:06:01,559
That to me is the bigger is concerned here and

1212
01:06:01,559 --> 01:06:05,480
and we need those community centers to show these kids

1213
01:06:06,360 --> 01:06:10,440
you matter, and and you got to figure out inside

1214
01:06:10,480 --> 01:06:13,760
here you matter and build something in here. Don't listen

1215
01:06:13,800 --> 01:06:17,039
to all this noise and ship out here. You matter, right,

1216
01:06:17,639 --> 01:06:21,760
And I think that that's where that we're seeing. I

1217
01:06:21,760 --> 01:06:23,599
don't know that it's a disrespect for the police. I

1218
01:06:23,599 --> 01:06:26,320
think it's a disrespect for themselves and they have nothing

1219
01:06:26,360 --> 01:06:29,159
to lose. Yeah, And that's a scary.

1220
01:06:28,880 --> 01:06:30,280
Speaker 2: Scary, scary, absolutely right.

1221
01:06:30,360 --> 01:06:30,760
Speaker 1: Yeah.

1222
01:06:30,920 --> 01:06:33,800
Speaker 2: And I think we have society, we owe it to

1223
01:06:33,840 --> 01:06:36,400
this generation to just give back. Take time out of

1224
01:06:36,400 --> 01:06:39,639
your busy schedule and spend time with youth. Rather be

1225
01:06:39,679 --> 01:06:43,679
through a rec center, through different forms volunteering at schools.

1226
01:06:44,480 --> 01:06:47,639
We need community back. I was just at a church

1227
01:06:47,800 --> 01:06:51,840
and we're talking a little bit about absent teachers bringing awareness. Listen,

1228
01:06:51,840 --> 01:06:54,360
I anywhere that would take me to speak, I will

1229
01:06:54,360 --> 01:06:57,480
talk about this because this is a chronic issue when

1230
01:06:57,480 --> 01:07:00,880
it comes to absentee and everyone has the ability of

1231
01:07:00,960 --> 01:07:03,760
changing the life of even if it's your neighbor they're

1232
01:07:03,760 --> 01:07:05,239
not going to school. Knock on the door and say

1233
01:07:05,239 --> 01:07:07,159
what do you need to get to school? Often you'll

1234
01:07:07,199 --> 01:07:10,760
find maybe they just don't have clean clothes, they don't

1235
01:07:10,800 --> 01:07:14,159
have supplies, they don't have whatever it is, help them.

1236
01:07:14,440 --> 01:07:16,320
If you have the ability, the means, and and and

1237
01:07:16,360 --> 01:07:19,000
again it's the will because you don't have to have

1238
01:07:19,039 --> 01:07:22,320
money to help help your neighbor. Just help someone to

1239
01:07:22,559 --> 01:07:26,719
particularly the youth, because they're crying for attention. But criminality

1240
01:07:26,760 --> 01:07:29,320
isn't it. We can't make excuses to say, oh, it's

1241
01:07:29,320 --> 01:07:31,559
because of that. No, we have to give them direction.

1242
01:07:32,039 --> 01:07:34,960
Let's give them direction, Let's give them the path to success,

1243
01:07:35,079 --> 01:07:37,599
and let's hope that that's That's something that I'm hoping

1244
01:07:37,639 --> 01:07:40,280
that we can continue doing in our community because it's

1245
01:07:40,280 --> 01:07:42,360
starting to pick up. People are starting to say, yes,

1246
01:07:42,400 --> 01:07:44,639
what can I do to help young people? And rather

1247
01:07:44,679 --> 01:07:46,519
it be you know, we're going to use We're going

1248
01:07:46,599 --> 01:07:50,760
to take our kids to the museum somewhere different, take

1249
01:07:50,800 --> 01:07:54,079
them out of their everyday run that they they see

1250
01:07:54,960 --> 01:07:55,239
this is.

1251
01:07:55,239 --> 01:07:58,119
Speaker 1: The life show. Show show them that there is more.

1252
01:07:58,880 --> 01:08:00,280
There is more, right.

1253
01:08:00,320 --> 01:08:02,559
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's just our kids to the museum out in

1254
01:08:02,559 --> 01:08:06,599
the country. And I forgot it was the count I

1255
01:08:06,639 --> 01:08:08,920
thought these kids were going to hate it. They didn't

1256
01:08:08,920 --> 01:08:11,320
want to leave, and they said, miss can I tell

1257
01:08:11,360 --> 01:08:14,480
you something something that we don't hear is the sirens?

1258
01:08:14,639 --> 01:08:18,000
And I thought, wow, how profound. And they didn't want

1259
01:08:18,000 --> 01:08:20,279
to leave. And they were rolling, rolling down the little

1260
01:08:20,359 --> 01:08:23,800
hills that they were. They were in costumes and for

1261
01:08:24,000 --> 01:08:27,520
a full day they were able to experience something different

1262
01:08:27,560 --> 01:08:30,279
outside of North Clinton. Joseph Hudsen. They were able to

1263
01:08:30,359 --> 01:08:33,279
do something different and man, what a roarty experience that

1264
01:08:33,560 --> 01:08:37,560
was for everyone that volunteered. And there were organizations in

1265
01:08:37,640 --> 01:08:40,840
small companies that help make that a reality because there

1266
01:08:40,840 --> 01:08:43,039
was a bus there, there's cost a bus, there's costs

1267
01:08:43,039 --> 01:08:43,800
of feed these goods.

1268
01:08:43,920 --> 01:08:44,119
Speaker 1: Yeah.

1269
01:08:45,399 --> 01:08:48,079
Speaker 2: It was like I said, hey, I want to take

1270
01:08:48,079 --> 01:08:50,439
the kids, and people are like, here, here's fifty dollars,

1271
01:08:50,479 --> 01:08:52,800
here's one hundred dollars. And it was a community that

1272
01:08:52,840 --> 01:08:56,359
came together to provide them that experience and every year

1273
01:08:56,399 --> 01:08:58,720
they look forward to going out there. They call it

1274
01:08:58,760 --> 01:09:00,920
the country. We want to go to the real country. Okay,

1275
01:09:01,000 --> 01:09:05,039
let's do that. Yeah, it's amazing, right, something to live for.

1276
01:09:05,239 --> 01:09:08,840
Speaker 1: You're a beautiful soul if anyone's ever said, you really are.

1277
01:09:08,960 --> 01:09:12,800
You're doing amazing work. And I love the boxing. I

1278
01:09:12,840 --> 01:09:16,520
didn't know about the boxing and a Blue Cross arena

1279
01:09:16,600 --> 01:09:18,960
this April. I think that's really really great. That's going

1280
01:09:19,039 --> 01:09:23,159
to be back and that's another thing. Yeah, and boy,

1281
01:09:23,279 --> 01:09:25,119
i'd love to talk to you again, and I really

1282
01:09:25,159 --> 01:09:30,479
appreciate it. And please tell people how they find you

1283
01:09:31,119 --> 01:09:33,239
and how they can also vote for you. I know

1284
01:09:33,319 --> 01:09:35,479
you're running for a state Assembly. You're going for a

1285
01:09:35,520 --> 01:09:38,880
higher office than the county legislator, where you clearly you're

1286
01:09:39,000 --> 01:09:40,199
doing impactful work.

1287
01:09:41,159 --> 01:09:45,399
Speaker 2: Yes. So I have two websites. The one that I'm

1288
01:09:45,439 --> 01:09:48,960
really pushing right now is Mercedes twenty twenty six and

1289
01:09:49,000 --> 01:09:52,439
that's my website for my current goals, which is to

1290
01:09:52,479 --> 01:09:55,640
become a New York State assembly person representing this district

1291
01:09:55,680 --> 01:10:00,119
one hundred and thirty seventh District again, Michael, is to

1292
01:10:00,159 --> 01:10:02,039
have a seat at the table so that our community

1293
01:10:02,079 --> 01:10:04,239
has a fighting chance. You know, we sort of kind

1294
01:10:04,279 --> 01:10:06,920
of bow down to anything that's happening in downstate. I

1295
01:10:06,960 --> 01:10:09,479
don't care what's happening in downstate. We need to fight

1296
01:10:09,560 --> 01:10:11,239
and we have to have a voice and have the

1297
01:10:11,359 --> 01:10:14,520
courage to represent our district. And I know that I

1298
01:10:14,560 --> 01:10:17,439
haven't listen. I come, I'll come swinging right.

1299
01:10:17,680 --> 01:10:20,680
Speaker 1: Yeah, you do, absolutely, you do well. This has been

1300
01:10:20,960 --> 01:10:23,439
a real pleasure for me. I really, really, really enjoyed

1301
01:10:23,439 --> 01:10:26,960
the conversation. Got you are one interesting human being. I

1302
01:10:27,000 --> 01:10:29,880
didn't know you kept popping up in my Facebook page

1303
01:10:29,920 --> 01:10:32,640
and go, man, it's this This chick's cool man. She's

1304
01:10:32,640 --> 01:10:36,279
standing with some sugar the heck and wait, you want

1305
01:10:36,279 --> 01:10:38,000
to beauty? What the heck is going on here? I

1306
01:10:38,000 --> 01:10:40,399
don't know. I want to find out more. And I'm

1307
01:10:40,399 --> 01:10:44,920
glad I did. I really appreciate it. I am, and

1308
01:10:45,680 --> 01:10:50,159
I will say, please go learn more about what Mercedes

1309
01:10:50,239 --> 01:10:55,000
is doing. And her dad built that car. By the way,

1310
01:10:55,600 --> 01:10:58,000
I'm kidding. I'm kidding. The car is named after the

1311
01:10:58,039 --> 01:10:58,680
man's daughter.

1312
01:10:59,199 --> 01:11:04,880
Speaker 2: Everyone says, because joke is, what's your brother's name, Toyota?

1313
01:11:05,479 --> 01:11:08,079
Speaker 1: The car was named after the man's daughter. Come on,

1314
01:11:08,239 --> 01:11:11,239
just like Porstia, same thing. Come on, all right, they

1315
01:11:11,279 --> 01:11:15,279
got those beauty queen daughters. I'm Bill Morea, you got it.

1316
01:11:15,600 --> 01:11:20,680
I'm Bill morea we'll see you next time, somewhere whatever

1317
01:11:20,960 --> 01:11:21,800
in the dark.

1318
01:11:21,760 --> 01:11:23,159
Speaker 2: Flow murder a rat.

1319
01:11:23,600 --> 01:11:25,960
Speaker 1: You never think you're gonna need a personal injury attorney

1320
01:11:26,439 --> 01:11:30,000
until you do. It's not something you plan for. You know,

1321
01:11:30,079 --> 01:11:33,079
one minute you're just living your life. Do next thing,

1322
01:11:33,079 --> 01:11:35,960
you know you're dealing with an accident and injury, missed

1323
01:11:36,039 --> 01:11:39,760
work and a whole lot of stress you didn't ask for.

1324
01:11:40,119 --> 01:11:43,720
And here's the truth. Insurance companies they've got a plan,

1325
01:11:44,399 --> 01:11:48,680
They know exactly what they're doing. The question is do you.

1326
01:11:49,640 --> 01:11:52,439
That's why if it's me, I'm calling Connors and Farris.

1327
01:11:52,800 --> 01:11:55,159
They know the system, they know how to fight, and

1328
01:11:55,199 --> 01:11:57,920
more importantly, they know how to take care of people

1329
01:11:58,039 --> 01:12:01,399
when things get messy. You're not just a case file

1330
01:12:01,520 --> 01:12:04,279
to them. They walk you through it step by step

1331
01:12:04,439 --> 01:12:07,319
and make sure you're not getting pushed around when you're

1332
01:12:07,359 --> 01:12:10,800
already down. So if life throws you one of those moments,

1333
01:12:10,920 --> 01:12:13,600
don't try to figure it out alone. Call Connors and

1334
01:12:13,720 --> 01:12:17,680
Ferris or visit Connorsanferris dot com, with offices in New

1335
01:12:17,760 --> 01:12:21,800
York City, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo. Because when it matters most,

1336
01:12:22,159 --> 01:12:25,119
you want someone in your corner who actually knows how

1337
01:12:25,119 --> 01:12:27,439
to win Connors and Ferris