Accountability Without Opportunity Changes Nothing

0:00If you like YouTube, you'll love YouTube Premium. Hi, I'm Sean Evans from Hot Ones and I want to tell you about YouTube Premium. It has offline downloads, so you can watch without Wi-Fi. Background play, so you can lock your phone and it still plays, baby. Oh, and it is completely ad-free. Yes, I said it, ad-free. Try YouTube Premium for two months free at youtube.com slash premium. File eligibility varies, terms apply, cancel any time. Today's episode is brought to you by Apple Ads. Ads on Apple Maps are changing the way local businesses get discovered. Reach customers when it counts. Right when they turn, I'm looking into I'm going. Bear in decision-making mode, actively searching for businesses like yours and deciding where to go. Customers can easily call you, visit, and more from the same place they're viewing your ad. And all of this happens on Apple Maps, a privacy-first environment that respects customers and helps

1:00them discover new places. Get started with ads on Apple Maps today, and for a limited time, receive 15% credit back on your monthly ads spend for a year, up to $1,000 per month, terms apply. Head to ads.appl.com slash maps to get started. Try business like never before with ads on Apple Maps. When it comes to home improvement, you've got choices. Let's say there's a hole in the bedroom wall, and somehow, nobody in the house knows how it got there. You could fix it. I mean, there's always YouTube, right? But you know, three hours later, it's going to look like a patch job. Not even a good patch job. And how about that leak under the kitchen sink? Yeah, you said you'd get to it, and that was what? Two and a half, three months ago?

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3:11Well, hello and welcome. Thanks for getting your pot on. Thank you for telling a friend. That's how we spread the word about the pirates. Mercedes Vesca Simmons has been on in the past. And actually, it was really helpful to me with a grad school project that I was doing. And then I come back before. I just I loved it. What I did, but the church, she's part of it was it's fantastic. And such a beautiful church. Like it's one of these hidden gems. But Mercedes, by the way, is the vice president of the Monroe County Legislature. She is representing district 22. And is currently running for New York State Assembly in the 137th district on the Mercedes Cares line. And we welcome Mercedes back to the podcast. Let me see if I can add her to the stage. There she is.

4:11Hello and good morning. Good morning and thanks for having me back. Oh my God. Well, first of all, how many people do I know that are licensed registered boxing promoters? That's right. That's right. So many things that I have to bring you to one of my boxing events. I'm thinking about having one. Boxing took a little bit of a hit. Yeah. I know. In fortunate situations that occurred here in Rochester. I know. And then there was a cancellation of another one. So I think it's time that I put on a boxing belt. We'll see after November, if I decide to do that. It's crazy because I feel like the sport itself is just losing in terms of MMA style fighting. I think people are seeing that more. And seeking out and I just love boxing. To me, it's such a, it's such an art form. I mean, it's silly as that sounds. I know it's two guys trying to pummel you. It's true.

5:12They call it the sweet science for reasons. It really is. And I think it's such a great thing for youth to be involved in and such discipline and self confidence. And you see your body change over time, right? And all those things are just, you know, so great. And I'd love to see in the sport promoted. And yeah, there's some unfortunate things that happen, right? There's unfortunate things that go on in that. It really has. And Rochester has such such great, rich boxing history. Yeah. That is just unfortunate that it, but, you know, with anything it requires support. So when promoters are trying to put on boxing, and it's important, or any sporting event, or even at all, it's important that we support it, particularly if it has to do with the young people. We want to make sure that if we start them in boxing, that they can have a fruitful career out of it. And it means supporting them all the way through. Yeah, no, and even if they don't have a fruitful career, you know, right? Or let's say it's not as a boxer. It could be a boxing trainer, a person who runs a gym,

6:12you could fall in love with this up. There's so many different avenues to go from, but there's such, it's just the discipline and the focus that you learn from it, the self confidence that you get. And I think those things can always help kids. Speaking of that, support and community, one of the things that I wanted to talk to you about was recently Jeffrey Rogers from GSL News who's been on this podcast numerous times, was I guess arrested again for violation of his parole. Now, in the past, Jeffrey has, I don't know, I'm gonna get a Windows update later. That's nice. I didn't even know I'm so sorry. Perfect timing. Yeah, right. But he's had violations before. I think that many years ago, Jeffrey decided to take a police car for a little joy ride and got caught or whatever happened there and then has violated his parole by having a weapon like a taser or something

7:13to protect himself because he's covering different news things. As we know, Jeffrey got beat up over a story that he covered. He and I disagreed on it. I said sometimes we have to have some sensitivity. He's going, you know, but any other news place would have done what he did, which was kind of showing some of the violence that resulted in the death of somebody. And I think family had asked him to take that video down and he decided that it was news and that it should be up. And I just said to him, when he and I discussed it that I think when you are trying to represent the community and show things that are going on, you also need to respect the community. That's also supporting you to a certain degree. And it's a really, you know, I get it. I understand wanting to have integrity, right? For the news, but I think that you also then have to be a little more human as well. But I know he had violated his parole in the past with the taser thing.

8:14I don't know why he had violated again this time. I did see the, oh gosh, I'm going to forget his name now. He started his podcast with me, Bill from Chaos. Oh, Tandoie. Yes, Michael Tandoie. Thank you. Tandoie started here and I said to him, you don't need me. You don't need my production facility. Go do your thing, just go. You know that, look at that. Yeah. So and I know that Tandoie was rallying people to come out and support Jeffrey as he was having going in front of a judge again. I saw just photos and I go, hey, is that Mercedes sitting there? And I thought, what a great thing to talk to you about because I look, I know how people feel and I know what they're going to say. But everything's a knee jerk reaction and I don't think

9:17for lack of a better term, there's a lot of critical thinking. So I'll ask you why you went to support Jeffrey and then I think I'm probably going to be on the same side of things with you. Sure. Well, I've known, I've known Jeffrey for quite some time and I've seen him as a young boy growing up to be a really wonderful young man, but it doesn't exempt him from some of the mistakes that he has made. And he, the most part he does own some of the stakes that he's made. See, when you're on parole or probation, there's laws, there's rules and regulations to that. And you have to abide by them. So there's a couple of things that I think we need to work with him on, as far as the community, but he also has to take ownership. So say if you're residential, that versus one address, however you're residing somewhere else, now that's a violation in units of violation. I think this one's a little different. I think this has to do with tampering or signal issues

10:20with his ankle bracelet. And then again, I need to validate this, but I've seen instances where young people are on ankle bracelets and they lose connectivity. I work in a high school, I teach at a high school. This thing was built like a bunker. And I often hear these monitors go off because they lose signal. And it's not that the young person, the person with a monitor has cut their tapered with it just simply lost connectivity. So if that's the current issue that's right now, which is my understanding, then I think that that's something that probation can work with them or parole can work with them on to help, sort of can reduce the charge and maybe just remove it all together. Again, I think that if you're on parole or probation, your rules and regulation, you should try following them. Jeffrey does have a different situation because he's a journalist at different hours of the day that news is occurring. And I think that there should be some level of consideration

11:24from that, but again, it does even exempt from you doing just whatever you want or violating any other issue that you have. Jeffrey does add a value to our community. He is providing us with news content that we wouldn't see in a traditional news outlet. Truth. Embedded in our community. And he's informing our community of some of the things that are occurring. One of the major items that's exalt to me was when there was a property tax assessment adjustment the city was covering. Jeffrey went in and had a conversation with just members of city council about this, but he also talked to the community about the impact that it had has. Many community members didn't even know this was happening. So he was able to bring valuable information to our community in a relatable way that informed our community. So I'm hopeful that things will turn out okay for him.

12:24And I hope that we can work something out. That he's able to work something out with his parole. Yeah, what was the result that it does need a little bit more support. I don't know if this is just, you know, because he's still young, but I think there's something more that's occurring there. So if he needs maybe a case manager or something just to help him navigate through some of his emotions, he's mentioned and he's been public about it. Sometimes life gets to him and he crashes out, which you hear that term a lot and he crash out, but you have to learn how to control those emotions so that it's not looked upon as you just being disobedient and being, you know, just resisting. So we, you know, there's a lot there to unpack with Jeffrey, but I don't think he's a bad kid. I think he's a wonderful young man who has a lot to offer. Hey, what's up guys? It's Hayley Bailey. Okay, I need to tell you about something. I just got YouTube premium.

13:25It's got tons of awesome features like off-line downloads so I can download my favorite videos before I travel and watch them whenever I don't have Wi-Fi because we all know airplane Wi-Fi is the worst. I get to add free, I get back room play, and there's like a ton more in there. You should try it. If you like YouTube, you'll love YouTube premium. Try it now for two months free at youtube.com slash premium. If you like YouTube, you'll love YouTube premium. Hi, I'm Sean Evans from Hot Ones and I want to tell you about YouTube premium. It has offline downloads so you can watch without Wi-Fi. Background play, so you can lock your phone and it still plays, baby. Oh, and it is completely add free. Yes, I said it, add free. Try YouTube premium for two months free at youtube.com slash premium. Trial eligibility varies, terms apply, cancel anytime. Today's episode is brought to you by Apple Ads. Ads on Apple Maps are changing the way local businesses get discovered.

14:27Reach customers when it counts. Right when they turn, I'm looking into I'm going. Bear in decision making mode, actively searching for businesses like yours and deciding where to go. Customers can easily call you, visit, and more from the same place they're viewing your ad. And all of this happens on Apple Maps, a privacy first environment that respects customers and helps them discover new places. Get started with ads on Apple Maps today. And for a limited time, receive 15% credit back on your monthly ads spend for a year, up to $1,000 per month, terms apply. Head to ads.appl.com slash maps to get started. Try business like never before with ads on Apple Maps. Yeah, I was not surprised. I think that one of the things that I kind of liked about this

15:28was that so many people showed up. Because I think that if you're going to reintegrate somebody into society, they have to have a community of support. And a lot of times, people don't. Because most people who wind up in the system come from some sort of dysfunction. Now, I'm not pleased. I don't think that I'm reading into Jeffrey's background. I don't mean that. But what I'm saying is sometimes they don't, or people in their immediate circles just don't have the time or the ability or the whatever to be that support. But when you feel like, hey, they're relying on me or they came to support me, I really do think that plays a part in people rehabilitating themselves, like going at that moment. I'm not going to do this because you know what? They all came to show up for me and I don't want to let them down. And I want to go back. There was certainly a village behind them.

16:29And what was interesting about that was the different backgrounds, where there was just diverse amount of people there. We saw business owners, suburban business owners that were there. We saw clergy. We saw everyday people that were there to say, hey, we understand there's issues here. But we support Jeffrey and we're part of Jeffrey's village. And again, I'm not trying to make this out to be that he's a saint or anything like that. But what we're trying to say is he's actually a good person that's trying to do well. Now, as he made mistakes, absolutely. And I think he's own most of it or all of it. We're just saying for this specific case that he has, I think there should be some consideration. Although that large group of people weren't able to go into the court because it's private. I've never even knew there's such thing as a parole court or parole violation court. But there is. And I think it's limited to a lot of people that can go in. So the area that we were in was almost secluded.

17:33And I don't know if the judge knew at all that large group of people were there. But we were there. And everyone was saying the same. We know that Jeffrey has some issues. But we are as a community going to be working with Jeffrey to help him navigate through some of the issues that we're having. But this specific charge that he has, I don't think it's a warning. Again, I'm not a lawyer. I'm not a lawyer. I can't give you a advice. But I just don't think that this is one that he should be punished for. No, look, I don't know what the violation was. And there's a part of me that doesn't even necessarily care. Because I think a lot of this is just compounded things with Jeffrey, right? Maybe a little bit of stubbornness to like walking around with the taser being told not to have any kind of weapon on him. And he just has it for personal safety. He's never, we know, just charged it to somebody that would, right, without reason or I don't think he's discharged it at all. But the, but you can feel like, you know,

18:36some places and some of the news he's covering, but just feel like he needed to have that for security. I don't see him as like a threat to the community in any way. I think that he says talks a lot of positive positivity for sure. But lately, I know he did about eight months in state, which is not easy and got moved around and stuff. And he was on here after that. And I don't know. I mean, I'm seeing firsthand when we talk about rehabilitation, I sometimes wonder if we've built a system that makes reintegration into society harder. I really do. Yeah, that's an excellent point. Yeah. What is there? I don't that's coming out. Well, because here's the thing, like I, so I, I didn't watch all of Tandois video. I wanted to see what the comments were. And they were what I expected.

19:36Oh, this is what happens all the time. They let sex offenders know they don't. No, they don't. I work with sex offenders right now. No, the F they don't. But I do think that even there, I wish some of the laws would change for these guys. You know, an 18 year old guy in high school has a girlfriend who is over at his house all the time, eating dinner with the family, doing family events, kind of has a dysfunctional family yourself, spends the night, does all this stuff. Something happens. They break up. He starts dating another girl. She calls the cops and it's, yeah. And so now the mandatory thing is 10 years per all. 10 years with that status, right? Of level one sex offender, which does go away after a while, but you can't find housing.

20:37Try getting a job. Try, you know, all these things rumors. You're probably. It's like her. Oh my god. You're blasted all over social media. And I'm not saying there aren't people that we need to know where these guys are. All right. That's not what I'm saying. But let it be a politicians kid, right? Let it be a politicians kid that that happens to and what happens. And I just think that sometimes we need to take a look at things. I'm not saying that, hey, maybe a little bit of counseling along the way. Maybe we need to take men and they're late adolescence and really go, hey, this is what consent is. And this is what consent means. And this is when someone is unable to give consent because of consumption of something and understand this, like know it and respect it. In fact, it should be something that we should be discussing at a high school level. Yes. Yeah. As they're starting to get into, you know, like the puberty, now they're starting to like each other.

21:37Right. Those these are conversations because you're right. There's boundaries and it only takes one instance only one. And your life is forever. It can be changed. It can be changed forever. Absolutely. Or at least for an extended period of time. I would often say or think because I have sons in their mid 20s and one in their, still in their teen years. And I would think there's not a lot you can do to screw up your life in those, you know, early adolescent years in terms of bounce around, right? Even if you got a DWI, okay, hopefully we learn a lesson. We move on. If there's some kind of thing. What if you bounce from job to job or if you quit this or if you, you know, you move from here, I go, there's not a lot. However, then there's this. And that's where I start, you know, I start to worry and I just even think with the Jeffrey thing, one of the most important things is to have all those people show up. I really think those types of things make somebody a little more accountable because finally

22:38somebody believes in me, somebody has my back. Somebody doesn't think. Certainly it was, it was a moment. Even we were able to see him before he went into court. And I think he was surprised as the amount of people that were there. And we were there. We were all, we're here for you. We're your village. We're going to be behind you. But we also said, we're also going to hold you accountable. Yeah. There, you know, the judicial system is a judicial system. Some of his earlier mistakes are coming back to Hanum. And they'll follow him again. If you read him a stick as young person, there's, there's consequences. And then there are circumstances, right? We have to figure out what are some of the circumstances behind it. But we have to, you know, you were held accountable. And that's one of the biggest things I've tried to instill in some of the young people that I work with is there's a reaction to all your action. Everything that you do has a reaction. So it's either going to be positive or negative. You have to own it. Accountability is big and that's what's lacking right now with our, some of our young people

23:40is just a lack of accountability. And sadly, when they become of age, once you're 18, 19, now you're held accountable. Now you're held accountable and you may have to sit for some time. So we want to prevent that from happening, you know, where they're at a situation where some of the same mistakes they were doing when they were younger, they were forgiven. Just preventing that from the onset. Let's understand what's right from wrong. Although, you know, sometimes everyone says, well, they should know, well, if you weren't taught it, you wouldn't know it. So it's important that we have trusted advisors early on in their lives to say, what's right, what's wrong? And let's not repeat some of these mistakes again, mistakes and then decisions have consequences. And by the way, it's fairly easy to violate parole, but simply paperwork, which is sort of what you alluded to. And I don't, he has an ankle monitor, whatever. I think these were all for the number of violations over time, right? I think that they accumulate.

24:41And so now we up it and now we up it and now we up it. And it becomes more of a paperwork, pay to the gas for everybody else. But if you don't register your address and you got a monitor and your GPS says you're in one place and you're out together and you go, well, this is where I'm living, they go, well, we don't know that. You didn't do the paperwork. I mean, how many times does anybody not done the paperwork on something? Yeah, it comes a problem. Right. It becomes a problem. It's a problem in administrative nightmare. However, if this person were to commit murder and they're registered in a different location, there's somewhere else, now it becomes, well, why didn't parole do something about it? So I can see both sides of the argument. Hey, what's up, guys? It's Hayley Bailey. Okay. I need to tell you about something. I just got YouTube premium. I've got tons of awesome features like offline downloads so I can download my favorite videos before I travel and watch them whenever I don't have Wi-Fi. Because we all know airplane Wi-Fi is the worst. I get to add free, I get back room play, and there's like a ton more in there.

25:44You should try it. If you like YouTube, you'll love YouTube premium. Try it now for two months free at youtube.com slash premium. If you like YouTube, you'll love YouTube premium. Hi, I'm Sean Evans from Hot Ones and I want to tell you about YouTube premium. It has offline downloads so you can watch without Wi-Fi. Background play. So you can lock your phone and it still plays, baby. Oh, and it is completely add free. Yes, I said it, add free. Try YouTube premium for two months free at youtube.com slash premium. Trial eligibility varies, terms apply, cancel anytime. Today's episode is brought to you by Apple Ads. Ads on Apple Maps are changing the way local businesses get discovered. Reach customers when it counts. Right when they turn, I'm looking into I'm going. Bear in decision making mode, actively searching for businesses like yours and deciding where to go. Customers can easily call you, visit, and more from the same place they're viewing your ad.

26:48And all of this happens on Apple Maps, a privacy first environment that respects customers and helps them discover new places. Get started with ads on Apple Maps today and for a limited time, receive 15% credit back on your monthly ads spend for a year, up to $1,000 per month, terms apply. Head to ads.appl.com slash maps to get started. Try business like never before with ads on Apple Maps. I think this specific violation has something to do with his ankle monitor. Not being connected or not being charged again, I. It seems like some of the charges we already dropped and that's the only thing that's left over. So I'm hopeful that he's able to get through this, but we have to make sure how does if you're able to clear this. How are we going to make sure that you're on the right path? Yeah. And make sure that there's an open dialogue with your probation officer, your parole officer,

27:51because that dialogue has to exist. It seems like there's some tension between him and his parole officer. How do we mend that when you have to mend it? You don't have to worry. You have to figure out how you work that out because your freedom is dependent on it. This isn't a while they're only doing this because of this. Meanwhile, all this is occurring. All these other offenders are off there. This is about true. This is very personal. So how do you fix your situation's independent of what's happening out with other other cases? Your case is specific to your freedom. Let's make sure that we protect the freedom. And he has to own who does well said. I think that far too often, right? There are rules and you got to you got to play by the rules. Unfortunately, they're even the parole officers, some of them. I mean, they probably think that some of this stuff is maybe a little too far too, but these are the ordered. This is the stuff. And by the way, you got yourself here, right?

28:52You got yourself here. So I hear everything you're saying, but I just wish that there would be more of a, like an interpretation of the law to the individual that committed the crime, not a blanket. Yep, you did this. We're going this way. You understand what I'm saying? Like I wish that that was more the case. And I don't even know how you, how you changed these things. We're say these, I mean, you're running for assembly and stuff like that. How does citizens get, you know, to change these things? Because at the, at the other end, we've heard an awful lot of people say, like when the key boys were running around, right? That, oh, they're released immediately. They're released immediately. I, okay, I, I don't know how the law works. I am learning how the human psyche works and how human brain works work. And I understand these things, but a little bit better. But I still think that sometimes, you know, more punishment isn't necessarily the answer to fixing shit. Right. No, we can't please the way out of many of the social issues that we're having.

29:55No, but we also have to hold them a count of a hundred percent. And those two things exist. Yes. Those two things can exist. There's programming that we can get individuals in that are mandate. We should mandate that these programs, that these, that these young violators get into. So how come I understand here's what you've caused? And I'll give you an example. About a year ago, I was called to a senior facility. And some of the seniors, they were victims of the key boys. I think there are five people who are maybe in your late, mid 70s, early 80s. They were still mobile. They're dependent on their car and they're on the fixed income. Their cars were stolen multiple times. In each time it set them back five, six months. And now this means they're not going to be able to pay rent. This means they're going to have to perhaps skip a utility bill and set them back further. So they don't understand that the financial impact this has and how it can ruin some lives.

30:57Because in their mind, they're all about that moment about stealing that car. So I would, you know, let's create a program where it says, now you're going to, because you stole this person's car, you're going to help them pay for their expenses as well as your parents. And work with this person. Now you're going to work with this person, help them rebuild their lives, and spend a day with this person and understand the impact that you've made directly to the person's life. Wow. Or work. Wow. Work on the work program. There's ways to do this. There's ways that we can work that it has nothing to do about incarceration or putting them in jail or punishing them. It's about, let me show you what your consequences caused our community and our society. And I think that once they see that, they'll say, oh, maybe, maybe I won't be stealing cars or, you know, how would you like it if your mother's car is stolen? And it becomes a real conversation because it becomes a reality to them. Yeah.

31:58Well, okay. So as you're saying that, I'm trying to remember the philosopher who said, if you could put a face to the pain, would you still commit, would you still cause the pain? I don't know if it was, I don't think it was needy. It's not about, anyway, that is, that's what's that? That is, that's real. It gets exactly. But that's what you just said. That's what you just said, right? If I get them to see what they cause and spend a day with these people, I'm like, wow, that, yeah. Yeah, you hope it penetrates, right? Because yeah. And so that's exactly what you're saying. And I think also these kids that are committing these, they're not bad kids. They're just misguided children. I work with kids all day, you know, every day. And it's about consequences. You have to understand that every decision has a consequence. Look at the impact that you've made to the society and to this community. You could have killed someone. These kids are not legitimate drivers.

32:58No, I'm not even a age. Right. So this isn't a game. This isn't a video game. This is a, this is these are people's lives that are directly impacted by your poor decision. So they just have to see it. I think I think that that's, yes. And a lot of times when there's a very serious crime, there are victim impact statements that are read or, or even presented by the victim themselves, which can hopefully, you know, get through to somebody. But I, I don't know that they always do. And look, every case though to me is a little bit different because again, I'm not saying let everybody run free. I think there are absolutely needs to be consequences. But I think sometimes that some of the laws and regulations actually make some of the rehabilitation a little bit harder because you can't get that, that support when you're, but at the same time, part of that is you committed something that, you know, limits you.

34:00But I, I, sometimes I think there are restrictions that genuinely protect the public. And then there are some that are simply keep somebody permanently on the outside. Like they can never, that's absolutely true. Yeah. I really appreciate it in my last and in, in our last segment. But bail reform is one of the biggest ones that we, we need to modify. I born and raised in poverty, I get the gist of, of, of, uh, bail reform. You know, yeah, sure, because your board doesn't mean you sit until you're hearing. I get that. But there's some violent offenders that are out there that just need to sit, they need to sit. Right. And this is where you wish a judge again, it wasn't a, where I said earlier, it's kind of a, a broad brush with the law, right? You fall into this. So here's where you go. You get out or whatever you wish it could be the, the individual, right? So, okay, this guy stole a pack of gum, but he needs to pay his rent.

35:01Let's, let's, you know what I mean? Let's, let's let him out and pay his rent. And okay, this guy, whatever or a person, and they should sit a little while. I think you're right. I don't know how you change. Sure. My uncle was brutally murdered several years ago by someone who, he had issues with this, this young man was arrested seven eight times prior to him being killed in it. He was abusing physically abusing my, I believe my uncle at the time was 80 years old. Oh my God. So he was physically abusing him. And my uncle had a arrested start seven eight times. And my uncle, you talk about delivering an impact statement. He begged the judge not to allow, a lot to let him free, not to let him out. And unfortunately, he was allowed out to finish off what he said he was going to do, which was to kill my uncle. My uncle was brutally stabbed in his home. He was a law abiding citizen. He was a Christian man doing everything right by society standards yet.

36:03Where was the justice there? And again, I understand just stuff of the bill reform, but we need to modify it. And that goes for any law that we implement because that was such a big law that was implemented. Let's revisit to see what the impact is on society. How has, let's talk to victims. Let's talk to the community that is that it impacted and see, does it make sense for us to modify? What's troubling is that no one wants to own this. Well, if I look to change it or modify it, they'll call me, races, they'll call me, this is about people. This is beyond party lines. This is what does, what's safe for our communities? And, you know, there has to be a modification to the current laws. To make sense of what's happening in our communities, because it really is impacting our communities. To allow folks who are walk around the guns, go right back out because they fall within this bill before criteria is a problem.

37:05And, you know, the word has, it just feels, feels they don't have that discretion. So because of this law, they have to let everyone out. That's problematic. So we need to go back and modify it. Again, I'm not saying do away with it, modify it. So those that are serious offenses are, are in jail. I'm going to take us a little off because you said something in there that, I'm hoping you're comfortable discussing, but I don't know. You said that sometimes people are afraid to change the law because they don't want to be seen as racist. And I almost feel like that statement in and of itself is racist because I mean, don't you think like, hey, man, I don't give a shit if you're white, black, purple, orange, whatever. If you're doing something bad, like what happened to your uncle, let's keep you in for a little bit longer. I know. Right. No sense.

38:06And I've got to tell you that's the way it came from a lawmaker. I'm sure of us in our community. Yes. Right. Some of us in our community say we have been directly impacted by this law. Here's what we're asking you as your constituents for change. And this happens at the state level because bill reformers at the state level, yeah, we need to modify it. And it was like, I can't do it because and then I ask, then why do I need you as a representative if you're not willing to fight? I don't care if they call me rate. I don't care what they call me. If this is something that impacts our community and revictimizes the victim, absolutely call me all, but I will be fighting for that. And that's why I'm running for for New York State Assembly. Good. So many things are happening in our community. There's and it's going into death years. Constituents just don't feel heard. They feel politically abandoned. And that's why folks are changing parties. I've never seen anything like it. I've walked my party line, the Democratic, the Republican line, the independent.

39:08I've walked and spoken to everyone, all parties and everyone saying the same thing were fed up. We're sick. We feel unheard. We feel undervalued. We need a voice in Albany and in federally that would fight for us. People are struggling to make ends, rather be our genie costs, whether it be public safety. And there's no reason why Rochester is under 100, they're over 100 police officers. Sure. Why is that? And we really have to talk about the culture that we have here in Rochester. Lawlessness can't continue. Quality of life, everyone deserves quality of life independent of their zip code. So we have to have the courage to have those difficult conversations and to fight. If it weren't says, well, downstate doesn't want it. Well, let downstate do what they have to do. And I know that we need there, but work with downstate so that they understand what some challenges are in upstate New York. Otherwise, what's the purpose of having them as a representative? That's my biggest challenge.

40:09Yeah. No, I see that because as I'm here and you talk, you'll represent Rochester and Gates, I believe, correct? That's right. So the 137th district covers all of Gates, the town of Gates, the 19th war, Susan B. Anthony, Cornhill and in Northeast Quadrant of the city. So that's a, it's quite a diverse population, but it's consistent, affordability, housing, quality of life, all those things are consistent. Yes. If you like YouTube, you'll love YouTube Premium. It's destroying athlete, creator and YouTube, Max. YouTube Premium enhances how I use YouTube with awesome features like offline downloads, so I could download my favorite training videos before I hit the gym. So no Wi-Fi doesn't turn leg day into loading day. Plus I get ad free videos, background play and so much more. YouTube Premium is like YouTube got some extra gains.

41:12Try YouTube Premium for two months free at youtube.com slash premium. Hey, what's up, guys? It's Hayley Bailey. Okay, I need to tell you about something. I just got YouTube Premium. It's got tons of awesome features like offline downloads, so I can download my favorite videos before I travel and watch them whenever I don't have Wi-Fi because we all know airplane Wi-Fi is the worst. I get ad free, I get background play and there's like a ton more in there. You should try it. If you like YouTube, you'll love YouTube Premium. So try YouTube Premium for two months free at youtube.com slash premium. Try a eligibility varies, terms apply, cancel anytime. That's a mouthful. Today's episode is brought to you by Apple ads. Ads on Apple Maps are changing the way local businesses get discovered. Reach customers when it counts. Right when they turn, I'm looking into I'm going there in decision making mode, actively searching for businesses like yours and deciding where to go. Customers can easily call you visit and more from the same place they're viewing your ad. And all of this happens on Apple Maps, a privacy first environment that respects customers

42:16and helps them discover new places. Get started with ads on Apple Maps today. And for a limited time, receive 15% credit back on your monthly ads spend for a year up to $1,000 per month, terms apply. Head to ads.apple.com slash maps to get started. Try business like never before with ads on Apple Maps. Talk to me when we say, when you say we have to change things in the city, like we're 100 police officers short and the culture. I think sometimes we get talking points or the news. Look, I worked in entertainment, but I did news for a few minutes and it was if it bleeds, it leads, right? So we always had the worst stories.

43:18Well, when all you hear is the worst story and the worst story every day, well, what perception will you get of things? And I have a 16 year old son who gets very upset and says to me, the city is a wonderful place. He said, people mind their business and we'll drive through, we'll drive through different streets. We'll go off, you know, lila avenue and down into Dick Street area and all this stuff. But it and hills, look at how beautiful these homes are. Look at how the architecture of these homes, he's 16 and he says, most people just mind their business. And I said to him, right, but here's where things go bad. It's just those few people that are causing the problems, but then it again, it like paints everything. And so now I don't know if Rochester's 100, you know, officers short, because I don't want to be an officer.

44:19Well, I want to deal with this shit. If that's part of it, I have no idea what that is. If it's a funding short, who knows, but or I don't know. Maybe you do. But I think that the, when you talk about the culture of things, I often think that sometimes the loudest, we're living in a society now that I call it the dopamine economy, where everything is instant, right? We can get on Instagram and we can see stuff and we can get on TikTok and we get a food delivered to us. We can bet from our pocket on everything we used to watch a football game on a, on a Sunday or Thursday night when the bills played this week. And we can see we're not, you know, we used to be happy when the team won. We would talk crap with our friends and drink beer. Now we're upset that Josh Allen didn't score five touchdowns because I, that would have completed my parlay. And I would have made a, you know, I mean, everything's taking our attention. It's the dopamine. It's that. Everything everything everything now.

45:20And I just, that to me has a big impact. I think that people only our attention span has gotten shorter. I don't think people are thinking a little more globally. I won't even say critically, but just trying to look at all sides of things. I think that the loudest person in the room gets the attention that, that just because you're loud doesn't make it right. Yeah. And all these things are happening and, and I go, boy, we've, we've got a problem because you're right. Rochester is a, is a rich city with a lot of, but matter of fact, there's a lot of talent in this city. There's a lot of talent in this city, a lot of artistic talent. There's a lot of really talented young rappers coming out of this city. There's a basketball. I think right, the most a city that has the most current players in the NBA is, is Rochester. No, no, no, yeah, I'm pretty sure. Rochester has so much, and you're right. Rochester has so much to offer. I love my city. Yeah.

46:21I think we have such, so much to do, even in my district itself, the district 22, we have the museum play. We've got the public market. We have the Genesee Burry. We have so much and we were going to put a, a civil rights park. Everything is happening and I think there's great energy. Quality of life has to sort of kind of come up because if you see different areas, and I'll use the park avenue area, Clinton Avenue. I'd love Clinton Avenue to have the same energy. Yeah. Seam amount of businesses. Yeah. Same amount of, of police. Uh, surveillance, if you will, on North Clinton Avenue, park Avenue, North Clinton Avenue, two worlds. You know, we live in a city of two worlds that hasn't had knots. So we have to be intentional about our investments in our, in our, in our community. We need to invest in these communities and it's in, and I'll use the Genesee Street area as an example. The revitalization of both has, both head is transformative.

47:23People are excited about what's happening in that community. People are excited and you can see the difference. Now you see folks investing on in their property. You see them cleaning up a little bit and really just planting. You can see a cultural difference that's happening and that was a small investment from the city. That needs to happen all throughout our city. Um, the interlude project is another example of revitalization. But what we want, don't want to do is push out the great people of those communities. Because there's great families, despite some of the violence that's occurring, there's great families and great communities that are fully vested. Hey, what's up guys? It's Hayley Bailey. Okay. I need to tell you about something. I just got YouTube premium. It's got tons of awesome features like offline downloads so I can download my favorite videos before I travel and watch them whenever I don't have Wi-Fi. Because we all know airplane Wi-Fi is the worst. I get ad free. I get back room play and there's like a ton more in there. You should try it. If you like YouTube, you'll love YouTube premium.

48:26Try it now for two months free at youtube.com slash premium. If you like YouTube, you'll love YouTube premium. Hi, I'm Sean Evans from Hot Ones and I want to tell you about YouTube premium. It has offline downloads so you can watch without Wi-Fi, background play. So you can lock your phone and it still plays baby. Oh, and it is completely ad free. Yes, I said it ad free. Try YouTube premium for two months free at youtube.com slash premium. Trial eligibility varies terms apply cancel anytime. Today's episode is brought to you by Apple ads. Ads on Apple Maps are changing the way local businesses get discovered. Reach customers when it counts. Right when they turn, I'm looking into I'm going there in decision making mode, actively searching for businesses like yours and deciding where to go. Customers can easily call you visit and more from the same place they're viewing your ad.

49:26And all of this happens on Apple Maps, a privacy first environment that respects customers and helps them discover new places. Get started with ads on Apple Maps today. And for a limited time, receive 15% credit back on your monthly ads spend for a year up to $1,000 per month, terms apply. Head to ads.apple.com slash maps to get started. Try business like never before with ads on Apple Maps. And they just want opportunities. Couple years ago, and I grew up in a silent near the silestreet area, we counted over 100 vacant lots in about like a half mile radius. Now think about that over 100 vacant lots in a small area. What does that do to the culture of the community? It was completely depleted. There was one grocery store.

50:26I'm sorry, it's a bodega. Tell me where the hope is. And that was allowed. Yeah, because this was a what we're going to allow this to happen because we know the inner loop project will eventually happen. But that's so unfair to the people that live there. The children that now have to cross different lots just to get to a bus stop. It just it needs to so many issues that are occurring again. This is a great city. You just need to be equitable about the funding and how we decide, you know, what what communities get what? I think that once that investment happens, you'll see that people will start feeling hope. And that's what the city needs is just hope and someone that listens to the community. I'll go into laundry, mats. I'll go to where the people are to somebody information attack at the county level. These are individuals that were barely here from government. So it's important that I am where the people are and important conversations about what do you need in your community? Where are some of the resources that are needed?

51:28And how can we in government help you? So those are those are the things that I do. I'm just one person. I'm one of 29. And we continue to fight a good fight at the legislative area. And I'm going to say my fight to Albany. I would say that that's amazing, right? Going in and actually talking to the constituents and hearing them and hearing like what they need. And I'm sure a lot of it would be things around. Look, I live on the east side in the suburb, right? Very popular suburb these days. And there's everything is here. I don't have to go anywhere. But when I do take that 10 to 16 mile ride into the city and I am driving around with my son, I see there ain't nothing. There's nothing. There's no grocery store.

52:30There's some bodegas with, you know, the gated stuff on the bar, right? That shot the gates. And I understand it, but I don't under what I wish would happen is that someone would put a little more back in there. Like somebody who wants to build a business or put in entertainment or, you know, do something like that. It's hard when the reputation is that nothing survives here. No one wants to come. It's a scary place. People get jumped. People get robbed. You know, all this stuff. I like to think that some of that is is the story gets greater later, right? We, the things seem to grow as we continue to talk about them. But I would also add that some of the investment of things is not always monetary, monetary. I think that you can invest with a little bit of time. You can help clean up a little bit.

53:31You know, one of the things that I think when you, when you like the well and the suburbs, what would you call a house with an unkempt lawn and a and singles missing off the roof? It's an ice war. And so eventually, like people get on that. And I think like there's some taking pride in your community, taking pride in having what I call self respect for yourself. You live here, right? You live here. You deserve to have everything everybody else has. You absolutely deserve that. Doesn't matter what kind of money you make, you deserve it. You deserve to have a clean place. You got to keep your own inside clean, maybe your own little yard clean. But when everybody does it, boy, I just lifts everything. And you're right. I'm thinking of kids walking to school. And if I had to walk near places that look like they were bombed out versus vibrant, happy coffee shop or people to chat and then there's a, it's a different energy. It's a completely different energy.

54:31And those are things that we're not paying attention to. And look, I know that people will probably get on me going, here you come. I get calls liberal. I don't know where I stand politically. I really don't. I'm like all over the place. But I, here's what I like. Here's what I care about. I care about human beings. I think that we have fucked up humanity. I think that we've done things that have taken power from people. I think we've had a way of putting people down. I started watching the Mr. T documentary last night. And you could see where Mr. T was like his whole thing was to, I don't know the people rep, knew this like his whole wild style with the, with the Mohawk and the ears was all representative of a culture that he is an ancestor of from Africa. And he talked about like how, um, you know, he got into security and he became, uh, you know, private security for people and it started with a, a box. I think it was spinks actually.

55:32And he did some of these things. And then from there, he got into the Rocky three somehow, you know, just this, this thing, but his whole thing was about self-respect. And he hated that when he saw his dad called, uh, boy by white guys, right? And you can see where I want to prove that I am worthy and, and screw you. And I, and the reason I do this is to represent my people. And then I think he might have taken it too far because he was demanding too many things and was turning down roles and, and whatever. But I think all of it in the end was respect me. Respect me. Don't treat me like an outside. And I think that's all anybody wants. I have believed since I was 19 years old and worked midnight to six on a rock station in Pekipsi and I would open the phones because I got so bored playing music. And I did this thing called who's up and why I three o'clock? And it, and I realized then all people want to know is that they matter.

56:36That's somebody that gives a shit. And when they feel like nobody gives a shit and they have, and then they don't give a shit about themselves, we get chaos. That's scary. That's a scary mentality. But you know what? Like a tracks like. And so that's where we get things like where you'll hear gangs or whatever. Yeah. Like a tracks likes people are looking to belong to something and be respected. Just do that. But be kind to somebody. That's it. You know, you see a little walking down the street, pick up the soda cup or the cigarette butter, whatever. I don't know. Yeah. You know, and you're absolutely right. I think that there has to be just hope. I'll keep using the word hope that once you instill a little bit of hope if you plant that little seat of hope, it's contagious. I always laugh because whenever I mow my lawn, three of my neighbors mow their lawn the same day, it's that little step, a small step that's needed just to give someone the energy and motivation to do something different.

57:38Once a year, my mother passed away several years ago, but she would have these, whenever she wanted to, the using prop to street cleanups, we had, we had a city cleanup, even before the city protestor had the city cleanups, where she would say, okay, we're going to go down and we're going to clean up the whole street and I'm going to bug every single neighbor and business owner to get out there and get a broom. It takes just one person to want to do it. Let's do it and let's get the whole street motivated to do it. She did it with our street and in fact, one of the neighbors said, you know, we're overdo for a street cleanup. And I thought it was hilarious. You know, you don't have to wait for someone to do it. Just do it. Trust me, everyone will join in. Yeah. You know, and it's truly neighbors taking care of neighbors. This is a community and it's a vibrant community. We have so much to live for to celebrate. But we have some issues that we need to address and unfortunately, until we get those issues addressed, these issues will continue to grow. We can't put a blind eye to the levels of poverty and homelessness that's

58:39happening in our community. No. And yet what you want to say, we're striving. We're far from striping. Hey, what's up, guys? It's Hayley Bailey. Okay. I need to tell you about something. I just got YouTube Premium. It's got tons of awesome features like offline downloads so I can download my favorite videos before I travel and watch them whenever I don't have Wi-Fi. Because we all know airplane Wi-Fi is the worst. I get to add free. I get back room play and there's like a ton more in there. You should try it. If you like YouTube, you'll love YouTube Premium. Try it now for two months free at youtube.com slash premium. If you like YouTube, you'll love YouTube Premium. Hi, I'm Sean Evans from Hot Ones and I want to tell you about YouTube Premium. It has offline downloads so you can watch without Wi-Fi. Background play. So you can lock your phone and it still plays baby. Oh, and it is completely add free. Yes, I said it. Add free. Try YouTube Premium for two months free at youtube.com slash premium.

59:40Trial eligibility varies, terms apply, cancel anytime. Today's episode is brought to you by Apple ads. Ads on Apple Maps are changing the way local businesses get discovered. Reach customers when it counts. Right when they turn, I'm looking into I'm going there in decision making mode, actively searching for businesses like yours and deciding where to go. Customers can easily call you visit and more from the same place they're viewing your ad. And all of this happens on Apple Maps, a privacy first environment that respects customers and helps them discover new places. Get started with ads on Apple Maps today and for a limited time, receive 15% credit back on your monthly ads spend for a year up to $1,000 per month, terms apply. Head to ads.appl.com slash maps to get started. Try business like never before with ads on Apple Maps.

1:00:45We have potential. A year ago, we opened up a homeless shelter at 210 West Main Street. You know, I had done or working with sister Grace Miller for many years and it was an honor to actually run that facility for her. But what we saw was a little different, you know, they weren't a traditional homeless person. That's, you know, jobless, that's without any type of funding or any income. These are working families that could no longer afford rent. And I say families because I, the impact children, although that center at 210 West Main Street, Lama, Donna, Della Strada is a male only shelter. Their wives were in a different shelter. Why are families and morsel working individuals in shelters? When we talk about affordability, what does that look like? Right now, rents are going up to $1,800 to $2,000. But the income doesn't match it. The average income in my district, which is 1, 4, 6, 0, 5, is $15,000.

1:01:47There's just no way that we should be looking at a rent at, there's no way anyone could afford it. Now you talk about at utilities at the RGN is going, who can afford it? So that's pushing individuals into a homeless state. Again, I've never seen this before. This reality that we're so many working individuals that never enter the shelter system are not part of our system. We've got a crisis in our hand in the city. And I know it's, you know, in other cities, but I could only, I could only talk about what's I see in my city. And these are addressable issues. These are issues that we can fix. Yeah, I know. And in some folks, I think we should put a rent cap. I'm not saying all the codes, but these are a rent cap. We should look at the areas of high poverty concentration and limit the rent that we're charging individuals in that district. I'm going to ask you something and I'll be interested how it lands here, but. No, I think sometimes we spend money maintaining problems instead of actually solving them.

1:02:54And I think that one of the big ones throughout the country that that that happens with is homelessness. And I think that, you know, boy, you're right. If a family's taken apart because of that, you know, that's over here or males over here and women over there. And I get it. I understand why you would do that in a homeless shelter. You're looking to maintain safety. It also is, you know, we're separating families. We're separating. And I don't know. And I think we get some things wrong about poverty. I really do. I think we get some things wrong. And a lot of times look homelessness. There's probably a mental health component to that. I mean, in some cases there are, but not all get and not all of them. Right. I'll tell you that working at a high school level, I see this several years ago, the children's agenda released their annual poor were showed over their findings were over 70% of children entering the ninth or between ninth and 12th grade.

1:04:1270% are absent from school so that we have a chronic absentee issue. What I've noticed going door to door as just that some of these children are now homeless. They're in institutions or in hotels or they're moving around. They're very fluid. Rochester is a very fluid city. And what I mean by that is the term in which individuals live in their residency. They're being evicted at high rates. Children have multiple address during their school year and that becomes problematic and very unsettling for education. So when we have numbers that are 70% of our high schoolers in the city of Rochester, a part of our CSD system are missing. We've got a crisis. Now, we also are looking at this budget of over a billion dollars. What are we doing with that billion dollars to address the underlining issues that we have in our city? Right. Now, exactly. Right at the city level.

1:05:12We the state funds the Rochester city school district. Yet there's no level of accountability. Let's just continue feeding. I call it the dragon. Keep feeding the dragon and expect a different outcome year after year. The absentee issue is a crisis that we need to get our hands around. So rather it be, you know, go door to door, which is what we're doing now is. And we've recruited several teachers from the high school that I that I work at. To help knock on doors. And we're doing it this early, right within a week and a half of a starting. We are already seeing a trend. Let's get ahead of this, which we did last year as well. And we're starting to see a little bit of a change, but it's not enough because we need it's all hands on deck. We need more boots underground to help address this chronic issue. Yeah. I mean, I, you're right with the kids and I come coming to school. You're going and knocking on doors. Trying to find them right. Yeah. Yeah. We're trying to connect. We're trying to connect services. So again, homeless is being one of them.

1:06:12What can we do to find them stable housing? Connecting them to the programming that we have. We can find them in the community. And we can, um, employment if they, if this is their path that they need to go to. Or making sure that if there is any see what happens with social services is if you miss appointments. You're going to get kicked off the system. If you're not updating your paperwork, you're going to get off the, so there's some requirements as recipients that you must appear to. And then you're going to get a lot of people bodies to get back into the workforce. So that transition is, is happening. But again, my priority is what happens to the children. Well, okay. We have to make sure whatever changes that we're making isn't impacting their day to day. Are they getting full meals? Are they in school? It's such a big thing for me. Making sure that their, their, their bodies are in school. All right. I just want to say this real quick.

1:07:15People go, well, you know, an adult's doing something and not showing up, or they're not taking care of themselves or giving themselves what they need or getting the help that they need. That's kind of on them. Right. But the kid didn't choose to be in that situation. The kid has to go to school and can't. Why would you go to school when some of the homework, and I don't know if this is the case or not, but some of the homework requires a digital component. But I don't have internet or I don't have a computer or I don't have the ability to whatever. So if I go in, I think I'm going to be in trouble or I'm going to be behind what's the point. And think about that. That can be a real thought process for somebody. And I think that that is one that leads in not showing up for school. Right. Or, you know what? I, I got to figure out a way to survive here. I got to figure out a way to get some money in my pocket. I can't, it's school just is going to have to wait right now.

1:08:16And those, and when you're thinking that way at 12, 13, 14 years old, and there are people who do, that's terrible. Well, we can't blame them. So we got to figure out a way to try to help do that and encourage these kids. But when everything in their, in their world is discouraging or scary or unsettled and they don't have caretakers that they can rely on, it's a, it's, it's, it's a tough thing. And so I think trying to show like, hey, there's people here. They're going to meet you at least halfway. And let's try to do this together and start to get those little wins. And really, that's the point is, is having folks that will meet you halfway. And some of the conversations that we've had with parents, when we're required about their child attendance is, well, we're afraid to ask for help because we're, we don't want our children taken from our house, or we don't want to have a CPS case or we don't have, well, in all reality, not sending your child to school is educational neglect.

1:09:19Certainly, it's not my job to get you in trouble, but connect you to services and get you the necessary assistance, removing all barriers to your child's education. Right. That should be priority, absolutely. So when, when we approach individuals and approach families about their child's attendance, it's not of a, if you don't send your child to school, we're in a call CPS, but let us remove some of those barriers that you have. If it's helping you remove, you know, connect with social services to help you connect with job opportunities, that's what we're going to try to do. But what's important is, how do we get your child to school? What do we know? What are some of the barriers that we need to remove to help you navigate your life? Listen, everyone falls on tough times, and it's important that we don't forget that because it's so quick to cast judgment, or their bad parents or their this, you don't know what their circumstances are. I spoke with a mother who lost a child.

1:10:19She needed, she needed help. She needed help just to uplift her, uplift her from the grief that she felt. So now we're talking about griefing, you know, a mental health counseling, not for her, but not only for her, but for her entire family. And how do we move that from that dark place that they are, so a place of prosperity? And that takes a journey and that takes patience. They don't need judgment. So, you know, my family came here from Puerto Rico, and my family never looked for our handout, but they did, you know, they didn't need some help to get housing, to get a job. And that's what we want to provide our community. Let me provide you with the necessary resources, again, if it's job opportunities, if you need resume writing, if you need skill, some type of, you know, like a journeyman program, let us help you get to those programs. If you're like YouTube, you'll love YouTube Premium. It's destroying, athlete, creator, and YouTube Maxer. YouTube Premium enhances how I use YouTube with awesome features like offline downloads, so I can download my favorite training videos before I hit the gym.

1:11:26So no Wi-Fi doesn't turn leg day into loading day. Plus, I get ad free videos, background play, and so much more. YouTube Premium is like YouTube got some extra gains. Try YouTube Premium for two months free at youtube.com slash premium. Hey, what's up guys? It's Hayley Bailey. Okay, I need to tell you about something. I just got YouTube Premium. It's got tons of awesome features like offline downloads, so I can download my favorite videos before I travel and watch them whenever I don't have Wi-Fi. Because we all know airplane Wi-Fi is the worst. I get ad free, I get background play, and there's like a ton more in there. You should try it. If you like YouTube, you'll love YouTube Premium. So try YouTube Premium for two months free at youtube.com slash premium. Try eligibility varies, terms apply, cancel anytime. That's a mouthful. Today's episode is brought to you by Apple Ads. Ads on Apple Maps are changing the way local businesses get discovered. Reach customers when it counts. Right when they turn, I'm looking into I'm going. Bear in decision making mode, actively searching for businesses like yours and deciding where to go.

1:12:30Customers can easily call you, visit, and more from the same place they're viewing your ad. And all of this happens on Apple Maps, a privacy first environment that respects customers and helps them discover new places. Get started with ads on Apple Maps today, and for a limited time, receive 15% credit back on your monthly ads spend for a year, up to $1,000 per month, terms apply. Head to ads.apple.com slash maps to get started. Try business like never before with ads on Apple Maps. So that you can become independent and remove from all, you know, the poverty properties of levy of I'm sorry, the poverty levels that you're in. Yeah, we want to open communities and that's the plan. Right. But as even as you're talking, you know, you start to see where people see the system that's there to potentially help and protect.

1:13:33And it becomes the enemy. I don't want to call because I don't want my kids taken away from me. Right there and I just it just becomes such a thing. And I think when you're when you're not living it or you're not seeing it, you don't care. Any blame people and you go out for it. But it's so easy to cast off. And all I'm saying is just a little bit of kindness and understanding. Take a beat. Take a step back. And honestly, just just wait. Don't say nothing. But maybe say nothing. Just listen. And maybe you'll learn something and maybe you'll see something with people that are there. I think that. Yeah, I love when I talk to you because I hear somebody with a lot of passion and a lot of care. And I know that. You know, I don't I don't know what you'll do after November. If you if like you don't win and you wind up, will you stay in the county ledge?

1:14:35Yes, yes. Okay. So I wouldn't run for I don't need to run until next year for county ledge. So I'll continue doing the work. Let me tell you something. That was born and raised in a Rochester to civil rights activist. The work is always there. This will never change anything that I do. My fight continues to uplift our communities and have a voice. It doesn't matter if I'm in the seat or not, we'll continue to fight a good fight. And I'll take it all away to the federal level because the needs of our community are significant. We I actually serve three zip codes that are on the pot on New York State poverty list. That's a reality. But what are we doing to address it? We see millions of dollars being put into this area. But nothing gets to the community. It's served. I don't get it. Make it make sense. Yeah. I'm about common sense stuff. I'm about doing what's right by the people, not the party. I could care less about party politics. What's right about the people? And sometimes that makes me a little unpopular. But I didn't come here to make friends.

1:15:35I made here to make a difference in the community that I've been elected to serve. Yeah. I think that's a great note to end on. I could keep talking to you for another hour or so. But I'm sure you got things to do today. So I can hear your phone all throughout. No, no, I think it's great. Sorry about that. No, no, no. I'm not saying that it's a negative. I think that it's kind of amazing. And that you're accessible. A little different. Right. A little different. It has to happen. And I'm glad you're seeing this. Because I go and door to door. People are like, we've never had an elected official come to our doors. And it's important that those that are serving in our in in representing our districts. That they stay connected to the communities that they serve. All throughout their term, not during election season. It makes it easier to be a. It makes it easier for people to understand who they're electing, what your. What your platform is. But people want to feel heard, right? They want to feel. As if their concerns are valued.

1:16:37And. When it doesn't happen. That's where uncertainty occurs. I've never seen so many people just discontent within its all parties. All parties. I think I mentioned earlier, they feel politically abandoned. They feel as if their representatives just aren't doing enough. Or it's going a different direction. There wasn't one party that didn't say it. All parties are saying it. So how do we unify? You know, our country is incredibly divided right now. And it makes us vulnerable to the enemy. So how do we bring this back? How do we bring common sense? And just the voice of the party. And it makes us vulnerable to the enemy. How do we bring common sense? And just the voice of the people back in the government. That's the question. No, I'm hoping that I'm that I can continue to be that voice for the people who just feel. Completely, you know, detached from. Right. I would. I'll say this and it might be slightly counter to what you're saying. But I would love to see things. That are there as a resource to help you become independent, which is the word you used before.

1:17:38So like a resume writing or something like that or some way to help you be better instead of because in the end, it comes down to the people. How do they feel? Do they feel like they're getting screwed over or do they feel like they actually have a chance? And I think that's with anybody at any level. You can take it right down to sports is a great analogy. I won't try out because I don't think I have a chance. Well, you know what? You definitely don't if you don't show up and you won't find out what your weakest parts are that you can build on and work on. But it does come down to the individual person as well to be able to do that. But to know that there's people behind them pushing. So when we just throw money at certain situations, it doesn't help anything. Unless we're using it in a way. As you said, I love the resume writing job creating. Give me a social skills class for people. I mean, come on, something that's going to be able to help people, you know, work and get it and get a job and stuff.

1:18:44And even if it's something at fast food, can we stop throwing soda at each other and jumping over counters and, you know, come on. It's like, that's just behave. That's it for five minutes. Just behave. That's all. Can I get your meal and leave? Like all this stuff and I know that there's a lot of problems. But I think like even if there was just maybe free counseling, I don't know something, you know, pro bono counseling might be a nice thing. Can we start with like conflict resolution would be a great one. Let's figure out how I dist your mom doesn't mean the next thing I'm coming back with is a bullet because that's the final period in the sentence. I don't know what I'm saying. I like, and I feel like a lot of these things do start with that. I hear an awful lot like I'm smoking your dead relative because that's supposed to be the biggest insult out there. And somebody goes berserk and I go, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Well, you know, I wouldn't smoke my own dad. I mean, I love the guy.

1:19:44Hey, do you know what I'm saying? I'm like, that just doesn't make sense to me, but that's me. Well, I don't want it. I need to go. I'm sure you need to go. I would love to do this again sometime. I wish you all the luck as you keep going. I think that the community certainly needs more people like you because the other thing is you're also a role model for exactly what I'm saying. You're out there doing it. You're walking the walk and you're showing people, hey, you can no matter where you're coming from, we can all end up somewhere. I mean, I think I'm just going to have to do the first thing. I'm going to talk about the privilege walk. I mean, I'll do it real quick here. I had to do a privilege walk. I don't know that they're ever going to do this again because people were really bothered by it. And it was questions like, did you grow up in a house that had more than a couple of books? Did you grow up in a house where parents had jobs that desired advanced degrees? Did you grow up in a house with highly educated? I was the first one to the candy bowl. I have said to people all wrong.

1:20:45I am the poster child for white privilege. I'm white, I'm male, I'm over six feet tall. And even at my age, I'm kind of pretty. I get it. You all fucking hate me. That's fine. However, what I didn't, what I, what was really telling to me was this one young woman who didn't really get off far in the walk at all. And somebody said, and I had to lighten this up and I'll tell you why. Somebody in the middle, when they were asked, how do you feel about this? And they said, all I can think of was so and so who I know was still in the back. Right? And there was this awkward silence and I go, oh, she was. I go, I don't know, I was so far out in front. I couldn't tell. But my point of saying that was we're all here at the same place doing the same thing. So what are you going to do now? And I said in another class, fuck it. We're all here.

1:21:45We're all here. So what are you going to do now? You have the same opportunity that someone who we say is more privileged has. You're here. You got here. Your road here may have had more potholes. I, right? I can't say that. But you're here. So what are you going to do now? Don't let that stuff bring you down. Stop looking at everything is different. You just do it because you want to. And you have the opportunity to. And that's all I'm saying. I maybe that's a naive simple way of looking at things. I don't know. But that is kind of how I feel sometimes it's like, look, we're all here. Who cares how we got here? We're all here together. We're all here. You're upbringing will define who you are. It's like your DNA. I get it. But I know I personally use it as a springboard. Yes. It motivates me more. I do things to try new things. My whole thing now is understanding AI and the environmental impact that it has. But I'm not going to listen to what, you know, what everyone else is.

1:22:45I let me learn it. I want to understand AI, the data centers and the dangers of dangerous centers or benefits. But society will also push a narrative as to what the culture should be. You define it, but you have to own it. It is difficult because it takes you really having to dig in deep to find out, who am I? What are my motivators and will I allow? You know, you're upbringing and your society and your community to find who you are as a person. Right. It takes courage. Sitting your own shit a little bit and figured out, right? I mean, it's not a not a pleasant thing to do, but I think it's an important thing to do. And I can't thank you enough. And I wish you a lot of luck as you continue. And I'd love to have you on again in the not too distant future. I think you have a lot of great. Thanks for having me. It's all right. Thank you. And on that note, we will wrap it up for Sadie's Vaska Simmons running for assembly of the 137th district.

1:23:45Correct? That's right. That's right. I am Bill Moran and we will see you next time. I woke up in a hotel. You never think you're going to need a personal injury attorney until you do. It's not something you plan for. You know, one minute you're just living your life. Duh, duh, duh, next thing you know, you're dealing with an accident and injury, missed work, and a whole lot of stress you didn't ask for. And here's the truth. Insurance companies? They've got a plan. They know exactly what they're doing. The question is, do you? That's why if it's me, I'm calling Connors and Ferris. They know the system, they know how to fight, and more importantly, they know how to take care of people when things get messy. You're not just a case file to them. They walk you through it, step by step, and make sure you're not getting pushed around when you're already down.

1:24:46So if life throws you one of those moments, don't try to figure it out alone. Call Connors and Ferris or visit Connors and Ferris.com with offices in New York City, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo. Because when it matters most, you want someone in your corner who actually knows how to win. Connors and Ferris. Today's episode is brought to you by Apple Ads. Ads on Apple Maps are changing the way local businesses get discovered. Reach customers when it counts. Right when they turn, I'm looking into I'm going. Bear in decision-making mode, actively searching for businesses like yours and deciding where to go. Customers can easily call you, visit, and more from the same place they're viewing your ad. And all of this happens on Apple Maps, a privacy first environment that respects customers and helps them discover new places. Get started with ads on Apple Maps today, and for a limited time, receive 15% credit back on your monthly ads spend for a year.

1:25:47Up to $1,000 per month, terms apply. Head to ads.apple.com slash maps to get started. Try business like never before with ads on Apple Maps.