Newsp fanstar,
come to play on
the world's
city high
throughout the community
enough to enjoy that last
week,
happy to be here this morning.
Go to spring training for the
brewers and other your own fix
and that claim.
Okay.
So the mayor see we got a bunch
of things to talk about.
If you have a question,
you can download the civic media
app, go to the app store,
you'll see it there and look
for WRJN on the list of radio
stations.
And when you do that,
all you do is have to text
your question.
And if we have time, we'll get
to it. Let's talk about some
of the, um,
about this first fire and police
contracts.
Yeah, science yield and deliver.
Yeah.
So, um, though, the fire contract
has been passed through the,
to the, uh,
through the full council and
then next Tuesday, the fire,
uh, I'm sorry, the police
contract will be up.
But yeah, they're all negotiated
and agreed to.
It was one final vote to take on
Tuesday for the police contract,
but happy to have that done.
You know, our police and fire
personnel do a lot of dangerous
work to keep us all safe.
And it is good to have contracts.
They're for your contracts.
And so we've got contracts
settled for a while and we're, uh,
glad to be able to do it.
And I think we reached a fair
deal for taxpayers and a fair
deal for our employees who deserve
a raise.
There is it enough money in
this world to get me to be a
police officer or a fireman.
It's hard work.
It is hard work.
Hard work.
It's dangerous work.
You never know that when you
just pull over a car, what's
going to happen?
I mean, I watch enough of these
true crime and body cam shows.
It's dangerous out there.
So thank goodness there are
people that want to do it.
Paying what they want.
Let's move on.
I'll talk about the warming
centers now.
It's zero here now.
This has been a rough January.
It has been a snowy cold cold
winter.
I mean, I knew last couple
of years, people have man
global warming and who knows
if we'll ever see snow again
in the right time.
I was so hopeful for this global
warming.
Well, this is the counter narrative
that it is.
The snowiest and coldest winter
we've had, um, they're talking
to the DPW staff about, you know,
snowfall versus cold.
But it's certainly the coldest
one in, uh, at least 10 years
in the most snow in at least
20.
So it has been a winter to remember
that is for sure.
But what that means right now is
it is bitterly cold out there.
And so if people need a place to
be warm, we do have our community
centers that are open from eight
to five.
And so that's the Bryant Center,
the Cesar Chavez Center, the King
Center, the Humble Park Center.
Um, and so, you know, people should
check those out and make themselves
available to them if they want to
do that.
But there's also, um, the hospital
is a warming center as well.
Now, let's say warming center,
if you go to the hospital, it
basically means you can, you
can stay in there to be warm.
I'm saying the lobby.
Yeah, and they make space
available. It's one of the, you
know, our public health departments
are like, looks to find places.
Like what do you do if it's zero
degrees zero?
I got to work the other day was
minus 14.
Yeah.
I don't know how anybody can survive
out there, right?
That was the actual temperature.
The other thing I wanted to mention
about it too is that people see
people outside and they're exposed
to the elements like that.
They may be experiencing frostbite
and some really, you know,
potentially life threatening, uh,
conditions.
If people see that, you,
you can call the fire department
and let them know about it.
And they'll send an ambulance out
there and make sure they're okay.
And if they need to take them
to the hospital, a treat frostbite
or even just to get warm, the city
will do that.
So if you're seeing people that are
out in the cold and exposed to the
elements, you know, don't hesitate
to reach out and, uh,
and let the fire department know about
it because it is, um, it,
it can be definitely cold out there
at those temperatures.
You know, I go out for my car to my house,
from my house to my car and I'm freezing.
I can't imagine, yeah,
sleeping out overnight in minus 14.
I don't get how bundled up you are.
Now I, I was, you know, came to city hall
after a meeting yesterday and a nice
woman stopped me, wanted to talk
just for a couple minutes,
but just standing out there for a
couple minutes, it gets really, really cold.
So yeah, um, so, you know,
we need, um, to take extra note of
people who might not be indoors
and make sure, you know,
can certainly, again,
those warming centers are available
in our five community centers
and the hospital is also one of the
warming centers.
But if you see somebody exposed to
the elements and you think they're
freezing to death, they're getting
frostbite, you can call the fire
department, you can call this batch
and let them know in the sense of
it out.
But I go to work in the morning.
I see people walking up and down
the street, 16th street, downtown,
just they have nowhere to go.
Yeah.
And they're just walking to stay warm
and it breaks your heart.
I mean, I don't, I, I don't know
what to do other than they can go
to the hospital or open 24 hours.
I go to the library during the day,
but that's closes at a certain hour.
You got to leave, but that's tough.
It is.
It is.
And you know, they don't have this
problem in Hawaii and Florida.
They do not.
They make sure it canes, though.
So, you know, I know, my daughter
calls me every time it snows here.
She goes, hi, I got three inches of
snow, hi, hi, your roof blow off
in the last hurricane to get a
fixed jet.
I'll shovel the snow.
It'll be gone in a half hour.
Yeah.
Your roof will be offered a couple
of months.
I mean, we we had to delay garbage
for a day last week because it was
so cold, the hydraulics on the
garbage first one.
I know it, they moved over a day.
It got so cold, like the hydraulics
to dump the garbage just didn't
work. It was too cold.
You know, as a kid, I hate to sound
like, you know, when I was a kid,
I was a kid they used to have,
they used to pick up the metal
garbage fails.
They had to pick them up and put
them in the truck.
There was no hydrolyyls, no nothing.
Yeah.
And my father had a galvanized
garbage fail, which I can't
explain to you.
It was just very heavy.
It's an industrial garbage fail
because he worked in industry.
So we had this big garbage fail.
And it took me and my brother,
both of us to carry it out to the
curb and these garbage men hated
that garbage fail.
It was so heavy.
I wanted to just threw it in there
and brought the lid down on it and
broke it and said, now get a real
one.
And my father's ill upset because
but it was happy dad.
Come on.
These guys, the lift now, they don't
have to lift.
They just, you know, one guy can
operate the truck.
So one less garbage story.
So every year we give gift
cards to the recycling.
All the stuff is.
Yeah.
And the garbage.
Okay.
So the recycling guys come when
I'm home from work and it was
easy to run out there and give the
gift cards, but the people who
picked up the regular trash.
I'm here.
Yeah.
And it went on for three
weeks.
And finally, the week after
Christmas, I said, I'm going to
track these guys down.
So I went down all the street.
I went down the Michigan.
I went down, what's between
Michigan and mannequin together?
Chad him.
I went down and I kept going
down on the streets and I came
across Buchanan.
Now it's not that far from me.
I never heard of it though.
Yeah.
And there were the guys on Buchanan.
I pulled over in front of their
trucks and they couldn't get away.
Oh, he didn't do that.
They were there into the garbage.
And they said, I have something
for you.
You do my street in Maine.
They said, yes.
Here it is.
Hey, they said, thank you very
much and they moved on.
But I had to stop these guys.
I never, I can't get them.
Yeah.
$10 gift cards to Chick-fil-A.
I think it was very kind of you.
Yeah.
I think it's a limit.
I think $10 or kind of
got to be nominal, right?
Yeah.
But I'm a lunch, so big deal.
We're seeing Mayor Corey Mason
with me this morning.
We're talking about a variety of
topics.
We talked about the police and fire.
The contracts are ready to be
approved.
One day to get approved already.
Yeah, one's approving.
The other one's on the agenda for
next week.
So the house starts in fire.
You should feel comfortable about it.
Yeah.
You should feel comfortable at your
house.
But you can rest assured knowing
that someone's going to drink.
Yeah.
I show people around their way to
try to make sure you're safe.
Yeah.
I know in the, you see these pictures
when buildings burn down in Northern
cities, and they got to go in there
and the buildings covered in ice.
Yeah.
And they got to start looking for it.
I don't know how they do it.
I don't know what's to happen.
I mean, when that happens, too,
we'll bring a city bus around,
just so that people have space to be
warm and stand outside and be
wet and cold at the same time,
mother.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
She had a retreat center,
60th anniversary of the
Sienna Center.
Yeah.
My mother.
That's a rehab.
My mother was there.
Yeah.
So it's now got, you know,
memory care facilities out at the
Sienna Center.
But, you know, they're celebrating
their 60th year as a retreat.
And you think about, you know,
when you think about institutions
and groups of people that are
really, you know, help found the city
and make it what it is.
And, you know, really impacted
the broader community.
Those Dominican sisters have
just been, you know, an amazing,
an amazing, amazing part of our
community.
And I think that's one of the
most important things that I
think about is the same Patrick's
where I was baptized.
They were certainly involved.
And, you know, for people who
went to St. Catherine's high
school, they were involved in
that.
Dominican College was once here,
you know, long, long time ago,
my mother started her college
career there.
But if you just think of like groups
of people and organizations that
just have been so critical to
laying the foundation of what this
community is, and, you know, really
impacted so many people's lives
through the decades, really.
You know, so it's, you know, for
people, you might have a chance to
get out to the, to the center of
this afternoon and, um, and check
it out and celebrate their legacy
here, certainly encourage it.
They've done so many positive
things for so many countless
people for decades and decades
in this community.
And so, certainly wanted to
congratulate them on their 60th
anniversary on that retreat
center.
And, you know, in a heartfelt
way, really thank them for all
they've done for our community.
And wish all those sisters well.
I'm showing the mayor a picture
that was taken during the fall.
Oh, beautiful.
That's taken from my mother's
window.
Yeah.
And she said, take a picture
of that.
I love that picture.
And the leaves aren't going to
be there in a week.
Right.
Right again.
Yeah, looks like she should
have maple and in full fall.
She loved it.
That was taken from her room
window there.
And she loved it.
So I'll take a quick see in a
center story.
My mother told me.
So when they go in there and on
her nightstand, tons of candy.
I said, would you get all this
candy from?
She's not a big candy eater.
She says we had a contest, a
music contest.
These people are so stupid.
I answered every question.
She went all again.
Yeah.
She didn't know anything.
I said, what are you going to do
with it?
Oh, give it away.
You should not be.
I would not be candy eaters.
So she said, oh, they're so
stupid.
They couldn't get one answer.
So I got them all.
Okay.
So the 60th anniversary.
Yeah.
Then we have a retirement.
Parks director.
I told them all that.
A ton of that.
Yes.
I tried to prohibit it.
But I was told I'm legally
not allowed to prevent somebody
from retiring.
But town's been great.
I mean, he's been the Parks
director the entire eight years
that I've been the mayor.
And before that, he's been in the
Parks Department for decades.
And he's just been a great public
servant.
You know, they do all the work
with the community centers to do
all the parks, right?
But then they do the
cemeteries, the golf courses,
the forestry division is under
the Parks Department.
You know, the mediums in the street
that have the little plants on it.
That's all the Parks Department
that takes care of all those
things in the parkways there.
So they have a very dynamic
department.
And you know, when we're going
through the worst of COVID,
and we're trying to figure out,
all right, we need some people
to pivot and solve some problems
there.
The Parks Department was always
so helpful and willing to engage
people.
And that was thanks to Tom's
leadership.
So I really want to, in seriousness,
congratulate Tom on his pending
retirement.
But he will be missed.
He has certainly made the Parks
Department bigger and stronger
than when he found it.
And, you know, we're building
the new King Community Center
over there on.
I'm Martin Luther King.
And he was certainly critical
to getting that off the ground.
So he does retire.
And he will be missed.
But I wanted to take a couple
minutes just to wish him will
and thank a great Racine
Public Servant for a great career.
You know, I used to hate when people
left where I worked.
I just don't leave.
We got to, we got to, we're doing
everything I said.
I mean, it is a compliment.
The gear that we're all running,
they're all on them.
We're shooting all the cylinders
and you got to go stick a wrench
in it by leaving.
By enjoying his retirement.
I know.
Which he's earned.
Any deserves.
I know.
And still for him.
But it'll be, but she's to fill
no doubt.
Now, how do you, what have you
replaced him?
So we've been doing interviews
this week and we'll have an
announcement very soon.
But, but today is about just
acknowledging talent.
Well, good.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Yeah, it's my, it's being
public servant.
That's good.
You know, I love that.
Okay.
Enough with the good stuff.
Let's talk about the potholes.
Now,
all of because everybody's
hitting them.
Now, some of the roads you're
not responsible for.
The county's responsible for
those like spring street.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And anything with a.
A letter or a number on it
that's.
That's not your problem.
I hit some on main streets.
I mean, yeah.
And I, I don't understand the.
The manhole cover thing.
Now, one of the former
aldermen explained it to me.
They said, well, they do that
because the roads going to sink
and they want it to be level
with the road.
When they, when they make it.
I said, yes, but it's been
five years.
The roads not sinking anymore.
Yeah.
Well, there's a specific
manhole cover we can look into
that.
I will say when we have to do
this much snow and ice removal
and all the salt and all the
extremely cold weather.
Is the perfect condition to create
potholes, right?
I mean, when, when those, you know,
snowplow blades go over it and
it's this cold out.
I know.
The chunks of ice.
It'll, it'll take part of the
pavement with it.
And so we'll no doubt have
once it, you know, I do believe
that eventually it will not be
this cold every day.
At some point in March, we
will start to see things
though again.
And when we finally get through
the worst of the snow season,
no doubt, DPW will have the
work cut out with them.
Now, is it the street maintenance
repair that we'll need to do?
Does it help if people
like, who do they let know
where there's a huge pothole?
So yeah, you should call, you
should call the city directly
at customer service.
That's the quickest and best way
to do it.
It allows us to track like
where we go.
2626369171 is the general
number to call there.
And let them know where it is.
Like, hey, I live on this street.
And there's a big, you know,
again, in the height of snow
and ice removal, it might be a bit
before we get to the street repair
because the season we're in right
now is there.
But it's important for us to know
about them.
And if we get a break in the weather
or if it's a, you know, a large
enough concern, we'll certainly
know about it and take a look
at it.
Yeah, this winner has been, you
know, I mean, we had a couple
DPW guys.
It's been decades since we've had
this much snow and this much cold
and so many snow events that we've
had to deal with.
So, you know, I know, I urge
patients amongst citizens.
We're getting out there as quickly
as we can and need to make it safe
for people to first and foremost
for the emergency vehicles to move
around.
And then we get to all the local
streets within 24 hours of the
snow stopping.
But, man, it has been a doozy
of a winter, both in cold and in
snowfall.
So again, you know, last year
we were like, man, I don't know
if we'll ever see an accumulation
of snow ever again.
I don't know if that's, you know,
maybe that's something in the
past.
And what do you, mother nature?
We're pretty lucky.
Have you seen what's going on in
the East Coast?
Oh, where they get.
I mean, New York City got a
foot of snow.
Now, the probability of city getting
a foot of snow.
There's no way to put it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, it's not like here where
you can push it off to the,
there's no where.
And Buffalo and like two feet of
three feet of snow.
Yeah.
By the way, we're coming up to the
big groundhog day.
Yes.
Snowstorm anniversary.
I remember that one.
Yeah.
Well, and you know, we've been
having with, you know, we had a
very early big November snowfall,
right?
I mean, the leaves were barely
off the tree at that point, right?
It'd been pretty mild.
Also, then you get 14 to the
snow.
So yeah, it's been tough.
But we've also had in the last
few years more snow and March
than we'd had in January and
February.
So there's always the weird,
you know, one day where like
affects snow comes in and you
get three or four inches in
March.
So yeah, it is winter in Wisconsin
and, you know, our men and women
at DPW doing everything they can
to get everything clear.
But the snow is frustrating, but
the cold can really, really be
dangerous.
So if you see people out there
in the elements, please give
the Fire Department a call.
You know, I just saw an
interesting news story on ABC
World News last night.
I've tried to remember, I know
it was in Pennsylvania.
They had like three feet of
snow.
This little baby had to get to
the hospital and there was no
way for that ambulance to get
through.
So a snow plow driver heard about
it.
He brought his plow.
He worked for the city.
He brought his plow.
He got on the interstate and he
plowed a whole lane just so that
ambulance can get through.
Wow.
And he plowed it right to the
hospital.
First, he plowed it to their house
to get the baby.
Yeah.
And then he plowed from their
house and you can see on the
video, all he is, he's just a
few feet ahead of that ambulance.
And the ambulance just followed
him wherever he was.
We can plow through babies in
the hospital.
Baby will be fine.
Wow.
That's amazing.
That's your DPW people.
Yeah.
That's exactly what they do.
Yeah.
And remember, when they get to
work, there's no plowed streets.
It's right.
They have to get through without
it.
I mean, the jobs these people in
the city do that got fire.
Police.
Snow plow.
The garbage pickup.
There is cycling people.
Yeah.
And you know, I'm watching this
guy yesterday pick up the
recycling.
It is.
It's one below zero outside.
It's so cool.
And this guy is operating the
truck by himself.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's just one person per truck.
I mean, I think so.
Oh, it's a crew of two or three
like, no, it's just one person.
Um, you know, they move the
car for the truck forward and
hop out and put the.
The pales on and dump it and
then move ahead and do the next
one.
So it's it's pretty, um, you
know, it's more automated than
it was.
Yeah.
You know, the trucks have
There's a lift to help move it
on.
You're still outside.
But you're still outside in those
elements all day.
And then you got to go get the
garbage panels that people leave
on the sidewalk instead of.
Now, I can understand if you
have a whole big mound of snow,
you put it in the street right
in front of your curb there.
So it's easy to get to.
But some people don't do that.
Yeah.
They put it on the sidewalks and
now he's got to get out.
He's got to walk all around that
he's got.
And just I will get that I wouldn't
want that job.
Um, make sure gel.
Look pretty easy by comparison.
Oh.
All my meetings are indoors.
Except for that one you met the
first.
Yeah.
The reminder of like it's
really, really cold.
Okay.
What are we looking forward to
anything coming up that we
should.
So black history month is coming
up.
Yeah.
We're just around the corner.
So, you know, we've got a
number of obviously, you know,
people, of course, will think
of Martin Luther King, Jr.
And other big not a Philip
Randolph.
Other national figures that are
there.
But there's some really great
local folks that are that need
to be acknowledged that are part
of African American history month
too.
So, you know, people like Chuck
Tyler or Corinne Readowans or
you know, Blue Jenkins and
some of these other, you know,
Gwen Moore was the congressman
from Milwaukee.
She grew up here and we're
seeing a lot of great people that
we want to acknowledge that the
course of the month.
So as part of our celebrating
America's 250th anniversary, we're
going to take time to talk about
all the great people that make
black history month an important
thing, not just nationally, but
here locally too.
On February 10th, the
Racine Public Library is bringing
us Joanna Jackson and
Kionte Reading.
They're talking about the black
history month reading at the
Racine Public Library.
That's great.
So they'll be in talking about
that.
Yeah, look at that.
Yeah.
And in terms of things to the
four or two, spring, I would
really like to look forward to
spring.
I'm hoping when we meet next
next month, it's not quite so
cold.
One year we had a big snow storm
and I put my chair right on the
mound of snow between the
sidewalk and the street.
And I said, I'm ready for the
fourth of July parade.
Yeah, I got my seat ready to
go.
Because it's going to be here
before you know it.
Yeah.
Well, thanks for coming in, Mayor.
Yeah, my pleasure.
And always interesting to hear
what's going on in the city of
Racine.
Yeah, stay safe out there.
Stay warm out there, everyone.
I had so much hope for that
global warming.
I really, I put my whole
basket of eggs in that global
warming.
It let me down.
