Can you see the time from where you're all standing?

Yeah, okay.

Good afternoon, everyone.

And welcome to the 2021 Democratic primary debate in the race for the next Erie County executive.

I'm Eva Mastromatteo from Erie News Now and it is my pleasure to serve as the moderator for this event.

We've been working with our friends here at WQLN and students from Cathedral Prep, the group students for the advancement of Erie.

So we wanna welcome Michael Vera, the student council vice president, and Charlie Rakowski the co-chair of this county executive debate project.

They are both juniors in the Class of 2022 at Cathedral Prep.

Well, Charlie and Michael have compiled questions for our candidates and we will be getting to as many as time allows.

Candidates cannot address each other with any proposed pledges.

But we do wanna talk about how the job of the next Erie County executive, of course will be a game changer in getting our area to move forward from the COVID-19 pandemic that has essentially changed all of our lives.

So this debate will be providing questions to the candidates, not only about the pandemic aftermath but a variety of other issues that are key to our community.

And the hope is that it will let voters find out just a little bit more about our candidates ahead of the primary election day coming up on May 18th.

So, let's meet our candidates.

First off, Carl Anderson.

Carl is an Erie County Council member representing the fourth district.

He has been on council for nearly four years and served as chair since January.

And he's also worked as a financial advisor and self-employed historical consultant.

Carl Anderson.

Next is Rita Bishop.

Rita works with information technology within Erie County government.

She's done that since 2009.

Has also served as an instructor at the Erie Business Center and co-founded personal computer instruction which trains private and public employees.

Rita Bishop.

Let's also welcome Dylanna Grasinger.

She is the executive director of the International Institute of Erie, where she works with resettling refugees and she spent her career fighting for the rights of refugees in Pittsburgh, Akron, and now Erie.

Dylanna Grasinger.

Also, let's say welcome to Dr. Tyler Titus.

Dr. Titus has been serving on the Erie City School Board since 2017 and is the first openly transgender person ever elected to office in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Titus has held several positions in LGBTQ organizations as a licensed professional counselor and a small business owner.

Let's welcome Dr. Tyler Titus.

Well, of course we'd like to thank all of you for being here with us.

So we wanna get started without any further ado.

Michael and Charlie, again, both Cathedral Prep juniors will begin with the questions.

Now, every candidate will have one minute to reply.

They will get signaled when that time is over.

There will also be a 3O second grace period for any reaction as well.

So Michael will start us off.

And our first question is about the COVID-19 comeback, Michael.

Thanks Eva.

So I'd again, like to thank all of you for being here today.

My first question is that under Biden's American Rescue Plan, $52.3 million will be headed to Erie County.

Obviously, this is a monstrous amount of money coming to the county and a huge opportunity to get us out of this pandemic stronger than ever.

So my question is that, how will you, if elected county executive use these funds coming in to bring us out of this pandemic unified and stronger than ever?

When I was elected chair by my colleagues of Erie County Council, I put together immediately a COVID impact and recovery committee.

That committee has been working across all of Erie County, talking with nonprofits, business owners, all of the things that are important to all of our lives in Erie County to determine the priorities and the strategic planning that we need to do.

Now, the $52 million is really a drop in the bucket with the money that is gonna be coming forward.

There's potential for another a hundred million dollars in different silos coming forward.

And if the infrastructure plan passes, Erie County could get nearly a half a billion dollars in the fall.

Broadband of course, is at the top of our list.

Fiber optic broadband, moving this community into the future rather than being stuck in the past.

Working with all of our institutions to do that is critical and that's what we'll continue to do.

All right.

The question now goes to Rita Bishop.

That was Carl Anderson.

So Rita.

Well, $53 million sounds like a lot but it really isn't.

When you divide $53 million over 21 townships, 14 boroughs, city of Erie, city of Corry, it doesn't come out too much.

Now, if you look at the whole numbers of what has come out, the city of Erie is getting the biggest chunk of the money.

So the 53 million gets divided between everybody else.

Hopefully, we are going to get all this other money that's coming because all of these small communities need desperate help getting back from the pandemic.

Nobody was prepared for it, a lot of small businesses have gone under.

We definitely need to look all the places in the county and see what they need because some townships I've seen they've already got notices.

They're getting maybe $425,000.

$425,000 does not go very far to cover a township and their community and everything they need.

So hopefully, yes, the infrastructure thing comes through.

And when that comes through, yes, that will give us lots of money, plus it will give us jobs.

Also infrastructure always creates jobs.

Thank you.

That was Rita Bishop.

Next, Dylanna Grasinger.

Yeah, so this is a great question.

And I think, the first thing that we need to look at is, the money, we have until 2024 to spend this money.

So we need to be strategic about it and make sure that we're making long-term investments that really impact the community.

So, from my perspective, what we should look at is budgets that have been negatively impacted by COVID and righting those.

Looking at how to modernize infrastructure and what that means is making sure things like public health, moving from paper records to electronic records, right?

So that those that are responding to the pandemic scene have the data readily available and can make those data form decisions on the spots.

The other thing I think we need to look at, which has been brought up is, is broadband.

But, what does that actually mean?

So broadband is really an opportunity to give access to some of the areas that individuals working at home can continue to do that.

We've seen that.

We're hoping that increasing broadband access will bring folks back into the community and grow that population.

So thank you.

All right, Dylanna Grasinger, thank you so much.

And next up, Dr. Tyler Titus.

Thank you.

And I think that this is a wonderful question.

So thank you all for asking it.

Over the past 15 years I've been working on the frontline and I've been out meeting with families, talking to the people who live in our county especially on this campaign.

And there are three issues that continue to come up.

And that is A, what are we gonna do with this money?

But how are we gonna spend it?

It is undeniable that parts of our community have been left behind.

This is a moonshot moment and Kathy Dahlkemper has even used that terminology, she referred to it.

This is a moonshot moment, a once in a lifetime opportunity to right some of the wrongs of our past.

And we need to do that.

And we need to invest like Ms. Grasinger has said, we need to invest responsibly.

We need to invest in the infrastructure that's moving all of us forward, in roads, in bridges.

We may need to make sure we have broadband throughout the county.

We saw what happened during the pandemic when we didn't.

This will help us get better healthcare, resources for everybody in the county, better education for every student.

This will help us build up better jobs.

When you're investing in infrastructure, you are building good paying union jobs.

That is how we need to invest this money.

Thank you much, Dr. Tyler Titus.

All right.

We will move to our second question right now, and it is dealing with young people.

Yes, thank you, Eva.

So this question is gonna come from both of us.

We're both high school juniors right now at Cathedral Prep obviously looking at future careers and future colleges.

So my question starts with a little introduction saying that people from Erie County, especially young people are looking at opportunities in cities, such as Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and Cleveland, even outside of the state and things like that.

And possibly seeing those opportunities as better than those in Erie County when it comes to jobs and colleges.

So Charlie's question deals with that here.

Yeah, so with that being said, what would you say to young people who are going to cities like Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Buffalo for college and job opportunities, as opposed to Erie?

How would you ensure that more young talent stays here in Erie?

Okay, and to start us off with answering this question we'll head over to Rita Bishop, Rita.

Well, a lot of jobs that people are leaving for are jobs and professional jobs in those cities.

Erie County, we need to build jobs in Erie County.

Now, the way we do that is first, we have to have young people trained.

We have to have young people trained in jobs, in trades, things that they can get a job in.

Now, this county, right now, we are desperate for trades.

And people always laugh and say, what do you mean by trades?

I'm talking about like carpenters, plumbers, electricians.

These jobs here are family sustaining jobs.

And I know this because I live in the county, I'm friends with, I know many, many people that work in the trades and they make more money than a lot of people in professional jobs.

So we've got to quit discounting trades and thinking that everything has to be a professional job.

If that's what you wanna do, fine.

But Erie County needs to get more trades.

And so that if we get more trades, we will have more jobs.

Thank you very much, Rita Bishop.

Next we'll have this question answered by Dylanna Grasinger.

Certainly, yeah.

So, having been someone in my current line really, on the forefront of making sure that we're growing the community, right?

That's been part of what we do with my work.

You know, I understand this question that comes up a lot.

How do we keep young folks here?

So I would really look at a couple of things, right?

Smart growth strategies are a great thing.

They come out from the EPA.

There's lots that goes into that to making communities walkable, bikeable, broadbands.

You know, really that livable community where people can thrive, right?

Going back to broadband, we bring it up, we bring it up again, right?

People are working at home and we need to make sure that young folks have access to do that, right?

Bringing individuals back into the community, keeping individuals here, and really that family sustaining job.

The county needs to be a voice instead of vision and really make sure that we're advocating with Harrisburg to make sure that as much money as we possibly can get is coming back into Erie County to make sure our population grows.

So thank you.

All right.

Thank you, that was Dylanna Grasinger.

And the next up answering this question about keeping youth in Erie County is Dr. Tyler Titus.

Thank you.

And first, I just wanna apologize that this even has to be a question.

We have left youth behind and we're seeing that with the population decline, continuing to happen.

We need to do a better job of keeping those innovative ideas here.

And we do that by laying down the infrastructure.

It's quality education, it's quality healthcare, but it's good paying jobs once they get the quality education.

It's creating spaces where they can envision a future for themselves, the families that they wanna build so that we're not just a city or a county that people pass through.

But there's a place for them here and then they can imagine their own future and they get excited to be here.

We have an innovative hub.

We have brilliant minds in Erie County.

So now we have to activate and give them the resources that they need, so they want to stay here, they want to build here.

That comes back to quality education, quality jobs and the infrastructure to support those.

Thank you.

All right, thank you.

And finally, on keeping youth in Erie County, we head to Carl Anderson.

Thank you very much for this question.

I would say to young people today that the doors to hope and opportunity in Erie County are just being opened for you.

And I'm proud to be the only one standing here today that has actually been working tirelessly to create a community college in our community, to get the community college approved and passed by the Pennsylvania Board of Education.

No one thought we could do it, but we did.

We've been way too late in this issue and we've lost many to brain drain, but we now have the opportunity to stop the divisiveness, and create a pathway to young people to stay in our community, to raise a family here.

Businesses, educators, employers, employees, all understand that no one can ever take education from you.

And the value of education brings on the opportunities for people to see that we have fresh water, we have a livable community, we have the things here in Erie County that can attract everyone as long as we have the means to sustain family sustaining jobs.

And that time is now.

Thank you.

Can I request for a 30 second rebuttal?

I would like to say that I don't think that it's accurate to state that Carl Anderson is the only one up here on the stage that has been working tirelessly to move the community college effort forward.

And many of us have had a critical role and a part in making sure the funding, making sure people understood, making sure our community surrounded and engaged and became invested in this process.

So though we may not have served on county council where he had sat, many of us have all played a very critical role in making sure the community college comes to Erie.

Thank you.

CARL: May I request a 30 second rebuttal?

Yes.

Where were the voices of any of these people when that was happening?

They may claim they were there but they weren't.

The people who were there were those people involved with Empower Erie and the endless amount of people in this community that joined together in unity.

The people like Ron DiNicola and myself brought together, Andre Horton, Kim Clear and so many others.

Throughout this community, none of these voices were heard, but ours was and Carl Anderson's was fighting for Erie County.

I just read an article today that the state universities are all gonna combined because even our local university, Edinburgh enrollment is down, 50%.

So I'm not sure a community college is the way to go.

I think a trade school is more adaptable to this community, outside the city.

I will chime in lastly.

So, I'm gonna agree with Dr. Tyler that there have been voices at the table.

I know from my perspective and the minority populations that I represented that we were definitely advocating on behalf of the community college and making sure, that that those individuals that I work with on a daily basis have access to the education that they need as well to stay here in Erie County.

So, the voices weren't heard then.

Again, I think we need to look at being more inclusive and ensuring that all those voices are being heard and are at the table because I certainly know that we were there.

So, thank you.

Thank you all.

We're moving onto our third question right now, and it deals with unity and diversity after protests and social unjust and many things going on over the course of more than last year during the pandemic.

Our next question from our Cathedral Prep students, again, will be about unity.

Go ahead and take it away.

Yes, as Eva just said, the county has been through a lot this past year.

And our last question will speak to who you are as a person, how you will work bring out the best in Erie County.

How are you the unity candidate that we need?

Okay, we're gonna start now with Dylanna Grasinger.

If you will, please take the question.

Yeah, certainly.

So what does this speak to?

I think this speaks to integrity, I think it speaks to experience working with diverse populations.

This is something that I've done for over 23 years.

It speaks to building public private partnerships, which, you know, it can have many voices in really bringing those individuals to the table, making sure that that there is a voice.

Despite a challenge that there are honest conversations that are going on, that solutions are being found and that action is being taken.

And I really think when you talk about unity, that's what it is.

We can have a variety of opinions, but at the end of the day, we're coming together because there's a common cause and we all want that to continue forward.

So again, in the line of work that I've been doing, we work with individuals who have come from trauma in situations that, extreme trauma and what that brings.

It doesn't always bring a peaceful solution to things.

But again, it's navigating those things.

It's working with those individuals.

And again, being that voice, that can bring folks together.

So, thank you.

Thank you.

Next up, Dr. Tyler Titus.

Black and brown people have been fighting for centuries.

And what we have seen recently, is finally people are starting to listen.

Unity is action, it's not just a resolution.

It's action in uplifting voices, it's action in implementing policies and procedures that protect, that work for everyone, that include everyone.

It's making sure all the voices are at the table and permitting the access that they need to the resources and the capital that they need to keep their missions and their momentum going forward.

I am very proud of the work that I have been able to accomplish as a school board president, where we went in and we tackled some of the disparities across the district.

We're still working, we've got a long way to do, but we are facing it head on.

And when we are looking to a candidate who's gonna sit at the highest realm of county government.

We need somebody who's not gonna just show up to marches, who's not just gonna pass resolutions but who understands because they have been in it, they have worked in it, they have talked with and they're going to elevate all the voices, not just some.

All right, thank you.

Next to answer the question is Carl Anderson.

Thank you.

It's great that Dr. Titus is speaking of me when we talk about somebody that is prepared for being in the county executive's office to hit the ground running and to be a unifier.

I've been elected to leadership posts by the people that we elect to office and they elect me their leader.

And the reasons that they've elected me the leader, the chair of the election board, the chair of Erie County Council, the chair of finance committee is because they know that I'm a unifier and I bring diverse groups of people together to solve complex problems.

That's why I've proposed as one of my initiatives as your next county executive to create a bureau of immigration, inclusion and equity.

This will be a policy driven bureau that changes policies in Erie County, changes the way our court system interacts with all the multicultural nature communities throughout Erie County.

And will bring change and unity as we move forward through the 21st century.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And finally, for this question on unity and diversity we turn to Rita Bishop.

Well, what we need is fairness, equality.

Everybody needs a fair chance, regardless of race, sexuality, whatever.

The county executive's job, I don't mean to correct Carl but is not to do anything with the court system.

The court system is totally separate from the county itself and it's run by the state.

He should know that being with the county.

But we need to bring all participants from every small town, borough, township in this county together so that we can talk to them as a group so that we can find out what they need and what their problems are because everywhere in this county has problems.

Some are the same, some are different but we need to bring them together as one unit so we can solve some of these problems.

Okay, thank you very much all of you.

CARL: Can I have a rebuttal, please?

Yes.

Thank you.

I would just like to express, the county executive wears many hats and it's a very diverse position as the administrator of Erie County.

Contrary to the lack of knowledge that Ms. Bishop has, county government does have a role in our court system.

We fund our court system, we pay for our court system and we're responsible to the taxpayers for how those funds are done.

Now, the laws and the way in which the judges sent down sentences, that's an independent branch of our government.

But we're responsible for the overall wellbeing of our court system.

One of the issues that I'll talk about in the near future is minor judiciary reform.

Only the county executive and county council working together can make that happen.

Not anybody outside of Erie County.

But this is why I'm in the best position to be the county executive because I understand and have the knowledge of the multiple levels of issues that the county executive has to deal with.

Thank you.

DR. TITUS: I'd like to request a rebuttal.

EVA: Okay.

I think that it's important that we just take note of some of the things that were just said primarily that one, I was not speaking to Carl's ability to unite and two, that Carl just noted that it's important for us to be responsible to the taxpayers.

With recent news that just came out around Carl's self-promotion, his misrepresentation and then him also Photoshopping himself within his own mailers, I find it very hard to believe that he's going to be the individual who's going to unify, who's also not going to be the person who's up here going to return the favors that were given to him.

So we do need to be responsible to our taxpayers and we need to be accountable and transparent as to who is going to be representing for all of us or who is going to be representing for a few of us.

Okay.

Would anyone else like to have a rebuttal for 30 seconds?

No, okay, we're good.

All right, well, I believe we have another question that we will be able to ask.

And this question, again, has been compiled by our Cathedral Prep students, Charlie, and Michael.

And this is regarding a meeting with a local leader that they had.

So we'll let them take it away.

Thanks Eva.

So over the course of planning for this debate in the last couple months, we've met with several local leaders to discuss issues that they find is most important to this election, both public and private.

And some things that were kind of in common with those were three sectors and those are education, technology and medicine.

So those are isolated as areas that could experience significant job growth in the next couple of years.

So my question to all of you would be, how will you invest and partner with those industries to keep Erie's economy going up and unemployment rate going down in your term as county executive?

All right, thank you for the question.

We'll have Dr. Tyler Titus start us off with this.

I think that these are three brilliant points.

I couldn't agree more that we've got to focus on education, we've got to implement the infrastructure so we can build up our technology and medicine and medicine.

We have got to have access to quality healthcare for everyone here in the county.

If we want to have a prosperous economy, we've got to have a healthy economy.

We're going to do through, again, investment in the infrastructure, quality education for every student, regardless of what zip code you're in and opportunities for them to have a good paying job once they graduate.

So I'm in full agreement that these are spot on; education, technology and medicine.

We've got to set forth the infrastructure to make sure we can make these things happen.

We are only going to move forward with the pace of our own community's health.

We have got to invest in our health care and making sure that regardless of what municipality you're in within our county you have access, you have access to great healthcare.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next up, Carl Anderson.

Thank you very much.

This really is the heart of what we're all about here and what we need to accomplish here in Erie County.

And it really comes down to jobs, jobs, jobs, more jobs, family sustaining jobs in our community.

And through all of those segments of what you're talking about we need to ensure that we have the types of jobs available in Erie County to have the people put in place to continue to bring those services forward.

We are very fortunate in Erie County to have a health department.

One of only 11 in all of Pennsylvania.

This is one of the geniuses of past county executives and county councils to invest in a health department.

We need to continue to invest in our health department.

One thing for sure, the pandemic has shown are some of our weaknesses, and we need to continue to turn those weaknesses into strengths.

So continued investment in the health department, collaboration and working together with our medical institutions that we have throughout Erie County.

Certainly, as we've talked about moving forth with broadband.

And of course, as I've said, the education through a community college and creating and opening up hope and opportunity, are really at the heart of how we can work together in unity to accomplish these things.

Thank you.

Rita Bishop?

Health is very, very important and we do know this because of the COVID.

And unfortunately, our health department, like many others across the country were not prepared for COVID.

Our health department has learned many, many things on how to rectify this should this come again.

Technology is one of the big things we need to take care of because we needed to get our employees out so they could work from home.

And I don't mean just the county employees, I mean, employees everywhere needed to work from home but companies weren't prepared for that.

Broadband is something that the IT department at Erie County has been working on and testing in the outside areas for the last couple of years.

We need to get that going because that to be out there so that we're prepared for this.

Education again, education, we need to train people, and it's very important to me.

We do have colleges, you can be trained in any profession.

We don't have good places to train people in the trades.

All the unions, they help out, they'll take people in, they will give them classes for nothing and carry their education.

All right, thank you.

Next up is Dylanna Grasinger.

Yeah, so I'm gonna take this question and kind of break it down into two parts.

So, first of all we have education, technology, medicine, right?

We know that the pandemic has highlighted that minority low-income populations really carried the brunt of that.

Not having access to the things that were needed, right?

So first and foremost, we're talking about creating equitable access for all the Erie County residents.

And by doing that, we need to have a vision.

We need to have a vision for Erie County.

We need to have a strong cohesive vision that really moves us forward.

And to be an advocate, to take what we want to Harrisburg again, and bring that back.

Harrisburg trickles down money, and we need to be there to capture it in order to address these three things.

Secondly, we're also talking about jobs, right?

Because underneath us is creating family sustaining jobs and that's public private partnerships.

Through my line of work, we've been able to get over half a million dollars into the hands of small business owners to create those jobs for themselves and their families.

And so really we're talking about what that means as well, and bringing those two together into one cohesive components.

So, thanks.

Thank you.

Any rebuttals from anyone?

CARL: I have a rebuttal, please.

Carl Anderson.

Thank you.

First, I want to applaud Ms. Grasinger for the work that she's doing inside her institution.

But we need to get tens of millions of dollars on the street, not just a couple of hundred thousand.

I've done that as a member of Erie County Council and as a leader in this community We've been able to do that through a compromise and hard work, through strategic planning and initiatives and through unifying different groups of people to understand exactly what it is that they are hurting from.

We got over $8 million to small businesses, over $6 million to nonprofits and et cetera.

But, again, we must understand if we're gonna move this community together in unity, that education is really an aspect that supersedes all of those elements and brings them all together as one.

You only need to look at the Amazon RFP when they were looking for an East Coast headquarters, where it says, if you don't have a community college, you need not apply.

So we need to have the tools in this community, we need to give the business owners and the workers the tools to succeed and we can do that working together in unity.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I think we have time for another question here.

And just to let you know that, oh... A rebuttal?

Okay and just to note too, the rebuttals are 30 seconds.

Yeah, no problem.

So, yeah, I just wanted to comment on the numbers.

Millions of dollars, it does not scare me, it's something that I've managed over the course of my career.

When we talk about getting money into the economy, right?

We're just scaling up what I do on a local level, right?

I'm in that impact, I know what those dollars means, I see what they do, right?

I have that direct experience.

And, so, again this is just something that's scalable, something that I'm comfortable with and something that I'm doing.

So, I appreciate the acknowledgement there but yeah, the millions of dollars does not alarm me in that sense, so.

EVA: Thank you.

DR. TYLER: Can I take my 30 seconds rebuttal?

Absolutely.

[indistinct] Dr. Tyler.

Thank you.

I would also just like to say on the school board, we faced an enormous amount of deficit and we have been able to rebuild up.

Now, we're getting to a space in a place on the school board where we are approaching a much better standing, millions of dollars within this budget that we're managing every year and trying to build better infrastructure and more equity for our students and the families of Erie County.

Additionally, I would never want to see an Amazon come to Erie County, what they have done to their workers, the amount that they have exploited, those are not good union paying jobs.

Those are jobs that are built on the backs of primarily, black and brown people.

All right, thank you.

Let's move on to another question.

Again, all these questions compiled by our Cathedral Prep students, Charlie and Michael.

And this is one that they wanted to talk about when it comes to the phased reopenings.

We know that we were in a yellow phase for quite a while, red phase for quite a while in Erie County.

And now come Memorial Day, we're going to fully reopen with the exception of the mask mandate.

So, right now they have a question regarding potential help for business owners.

And so I'll let them ask that question.

Yeah, a year ago on Saturday the county moves from the governor's red phase of COVID reopening into the yellow phase.

Obviously today more has opened.

So the county and state governments have faced backlash from both sides of the aisle for their responses to the pandemic.

What are your thoughts on the length of the lockdown?

And secondly, some businesses are greatly affected by the lockdown and are in need of assistance.

How do you plan on helping these businesses to recover?

All right, Carl?

Thank you.

Well, I've been there to work with the businesses and help them recover.

We created through the CARES money, $8 million pot of money to help small businesses.

And we know that they're suffering and we know that they need more help.

And they're the backbone of our community by the way.

Over 28% of small businesses were affected in a negative manner.

And we need to make sure that we stick by those small businesses and we continue to help fund them with the proceeds that we have coming in.

None of this is really a windfall, we're gonna pay for this down the road as taxpayers.

We have to make sure that the leaders that we elect and the leaders who are in place are strategically using this money and leveraging the funds that we have for the long-term viability of this community.

We've had some bumps in the road with the differences of openings and the red and yellow phases and different things.

But we had to rely on science to do that.

We did that for the safety of everybody in our community.

And the quicker we can get out of the pandemic, the quicker we can get back on our feet to what we will know as a new normal.

All right, thank you, Carl Anderson and now Rita Bishop.

Well, we all know that nobody was prepared for COVID at all.

Our health departments, our government, nobody, the federal government, all the way down.

The one thing that I think people need to take a little more responsibility for their actions.

We could have probably opened a little sooner if people would have followed the mask mandates.

Now, a lot of people wanna blame Kathy Dahlkemper for this things in Erie County.

She takes her directive from the governor, she didn't have a choice in some of this but some of the things we could have done.

The county, the government, everybody, there was so much money out there for small businesses.

We should have taken and created a small group of financial people or people that are used to doing grants and told these small businesses, these mom and pops, if you don't understand how to fill out this paperwork, come, call us, we'll give you a hand.

I've talked to several small businesses, never even got any money because they didn't know how to fill out the forms.

So we have to make sure that in any of these things that we help people, if there's more money available as it comes in, we need to make sure it gets out there and the people get help applying for it.

Thank you.

All right, that was Rita Bishop and now on to Dylanna Grasinger.

Certainly.

So I think the first thing that we need to look at is making sure that we're creating equitable access to the money that we have coming in and that folks understand how to access.

I think the point was just made there.

But, we create systems sometimes that we think are beneficial to folks that in the end, they don't really understand how to access because we haven't made them user-friendly, right?

So, I think if we back ourselves up, we take a look at what we've actually created and really how that's rolling out to individuals, particularly small business owners, right?

Are we doing the best that we can do to make sure that they have access to that?

You know, again, looking at loan money, grant money, any of that stuff, right?

Grants can be complicated, loans can be complicated and really creating those resources to make sure that we're supporting those small businesses so they can get the support that they need as we begin to come out of the pandemic and look at this new phase after Memorial Day where things become less restrictive.

I really think again, backing ourselves up and looking at those systems is key.

Thank you so much Dylanna Grasinger and next, Dr. Tyler Titus.

Thank you.

I think it's important to acknowledge that our county is still actively hurting.

We're still actively grieving the loss of life, the loss of income, the loss of dreams, the loss of possibility for some of our members.

These were unprecedented times.

We weren't ready as Ms. Bishop had noted.

That this is something we had not faced before.

However, our Erie County health department led the state.

They led the state.

We were the model.

We were the model, the health department to look at on how to answer and respond to COVID.

We've got to make sure that our community members are getting vaccinated.

That we're still following the rules because we are so close, we are so close to being on the other side of this and we've got to do what we can to elevate and lift up the small businesses.

The small businesses, those entrepreneurs, those innovators are going to be what move our county forward.

And we can do that by helping build the infrastructure they need to succeed.

Thank you.

Thank you, Dr. Tyler Titus.

Okay, we have a rebuttal from Carl Anderson.

Yeah, thank you.

I just wanna mention a couple things.

One is, nobody across the country was ready for this pandemic.

We couldn't possibly have foreseen what was in front of us.

But how we get up and move and take a direction and impact what has happened has been the key to how Erie County has gotten through to this point and will continue to get through.

Erie County, and I'm very proud of the colleagues that I serve with on county council and the people that have working for Erie County, they're very dedicated to the work they do.

We put in place several grant writers to assist small businesses and nonprofits in ensuring that they had the ability to fill out the grant applications, volunteer fire companies.

I was insistent that that was one of the things that we would put in place.

We did that through the planning department, we did that through the human services department and we did that through the redevelopment authority.

Thank you Carl Anderson.

Thank you.

Would anyone else like a rebuttal?

All right.

We have a short time left during this debate here.

So I actually have a question.

We've been answering things on the COVID-19 pandemic, on jobs, on youth, on unity, but to look into the window of our candidates, our for Democratic candidates just a little bit more.

My question to all of you is, what is one thing that you can tell us about yourself that we might not know, that might not be on any brochure or flyer that has been set out or something that could set you apart, whether it be a very short story, remember this is one minute only or something that just makes you, you.

Let's start with Rita.

Well, I born and raised in Erie County, I've lived in Erie County my entire life, I've lived out in the county.

I also have worked in the trenches, I've worked in industry, manufacturing, medical field.

I've been an IT person, I am very well-rounded.

I have worked with all kinds of people and I know how the county works.

I know everything that goes under the umbrella of the county.

Thank you Rita Bishop.

Next, Dylanna Grasinger.

Oh my, something that's not on a brochure, all right.

We'll start with easy ones.

So I've been a beekeeper for seven years.

So I throw that out there because it gives me an appreciation and something that really fond of is, is making sure that our rural farmers and that infrastructure stays in place.

And that we're really looking at that as we move forward with the counties, especially coming out of this pandemic and how to make that work.

Let's see, I've worked at two different universities.

It's probably on a resume somewhere.

That's, I've worked at two different universities.

So I have a strong connection to education and really what that means and delivering that.

I've led several initiatives around making sure that single headed households particularly those headed by women have been supported and that those women have gotten the education they need in order to take care of their families.

And I would say, lastly, I am not from Erie, but I chose to be here.

And I come from not a city setting but originally more rural area of our county back home.

So thanks.

Thank you so much, Dylanna Grasinger.

Next up, Dr. Tyler Titus.

Thank you.

Well, I know on my flyer it says I'm the oldest of 12.

However, recently, I'm now the oldest of 13.

My parents are still foster parents.

And so I've now got a younger sibling who's now four years old, which I'm really excited about.

And my kids are also very excited about.

Things that others may not know about me though is also that my sister is a state trooper and I'm proud of her.

And I want to work to build reforms so that she is safe and that we are serving in a community that is building up everyone, that everyone is protected.

My other sister is a nurse.

She worked directly in the COVID units.

The stories that I heard and the stories that she's shared will stay with me forever.

My mom went back to school when I was in college and we graduated right around the same time to also become a nurse because she wanted to give back and be able to help the community.

My stepfather is a logger, self-employed, dropped out of school in 10th grade and built up his own business.

So I understand what it's like to be born into poverty, to have different family dynamics and to still find a way to make it all work.

Thank you very much, Dr. Tyler Titus.

And finally, Carl Anderson.

Thank you.

As the one candidate that's been born and raised and has a lifelong dedication to Erie County and being involved in the community, I must say that the most important thing that anybody could ever call me is father.

I'm so proud of my children who I know I don't look this old but I have a daughter who's 30 and a son who's 25.

So, they understand what it's like to grow up in our community, the loyalty that people have, the friendships that people build, the lifelong commitment people make.

And we have that uniqueness right here in Erie County.

I'm proud to be a part of that and I will continue to be a part of that.

And I will promote that as your next county executive.

As we move forward, we can move forward together in a positive manner with hope and opportunity and dreams for better tomorrows.

And that's what you'll get when I'm your next county executive.

Thank you.

All right.

Thank you very much.

And right now I'm looking at the time clock here.

We surely wanna make enough time for closing arguments.

So we are going to be doing closing arguments starting with Dr. Tyler Titus, going on to Rita Bishop, Dylanna Grasinger and also Carl Anderson.

So that is the order that the closing arguments will take place in.

Before we do that though, again, our Cathedral Prep students that have been here working tirelessly to compile questions for this debate want to say a few words.

Charlie and Michael?

Oh, yeah, thank you so much for having us.

It's been a really interesting experience and it's been nice to learn a lot more about this county and how it works and who's vying for the top spot.

Absolutely.

Just like some of you, we were born and raised in Erie County and obviously going to school here now and obviously could have jobs here someday.

It was good to hear those that will really be putting forth policies to help us.

Also, both of us will be voting in the general election for the first time.

Lastly, I wanna thank Erie News Now, Eva, Mr. Scott McDowell, the news director for all of your guys's help along the way, Mr. Fleming over at Cathedral Prep, everyone who's believed in us, helped us along the way and all the local leaders that we've met with.

Obviously, we have so many people to thank for getting us to where we are today.

And this was a really great opportunity to learn more about the four of you and see what's going on in the county and how we can get involved in local politics as young people.

Well, I think they've done a fine job and it was really great working with them.

And we also want to say thank you, a big thank you to our friends here at WQLN which is the site of this Democratic debate.

So we wanna say thank you to Tom New, his staff here, everyone in the control room.

So we are very thankful that we have had this opportunity to provide a little bit closer look at our candidates for our voters.

So without further ado, we want to, again, end with closing arguments and we'll start with Dr. Tyler Titus.

Thank you.

So today, it's been made abundantly clear that there are some very different visions that are up here on this stage.

And myself, like the voters of Erie are tired of the same old.

Of people who put themselves and a few others in front of everyone else, who invest in themselves and a few others.

We are ready, I am ready.

And I know the voters are ready 'cause I have been out talking to them for change, for things to be different.

We have seen, and we cannot deny the inequities that we have seen laid out in front of us through this pandemic.

We are watching our families still struggle to get back up on their feet.

My family are still struggling.

I'm watching my sister and my mom still struggle to piece together things that they have seen.

I'm watching families as I sit as the school board president, try to put things back together, to get back into the workforce and piece things that they lost through this pandemic.

We've got a choice on May 18th.

We can continue to go down this road of the same party, people returning party favors to, some will say loyalty.

Again, I will go back to say party favors or we can make a choice to lead differently.

We can elect a county executive who has worked in the county, who has been with the families, who has sat in the same rooms and heard the stories and helped build real solutions.

We can elect a county executive who believes in healthcare for all, a county executive who knows the importance of quality education and how to get the barriers out of the way so that kids and parents and families have access to that quality education, regardless of what zip code they're in.

On May 18th when we show up to vote, I ask that you cast your vote for Tyler Titus for the next county executive because in me you will get somebody that will fight for all of us, because I know, I know Erie County is worth fighting for.

Thank you, Dr. Tyler Titus.

Next up is Rita Bishop with closing arguments.

Hi, thank you for having me.

One of the most important things I think in a county executive is you have integrity, honesty.

And like Tyler said, we need to change the way things are done.

We need to get away from the good old boy thing.

We need to get away from people making deals on the side.

And we've all seen the paper this week.

We know what issues have come up about Carl and there's other things too.

But, beyond that the important things is, we have to be responsible for all of the millions of dollars that come into the county from taxpayer money.

And that taxpayer money is the county executive and county council's responsibility that it is used for the services for the county.

And what I mean by services, the health department, human services, your libraries, your corrections, and a big one is public safety.

Now, when people think about public safety, they think of the 911 center that we just spent $26 million putting in a new radio system.

And that's great, but we need to take some of that money and we need to invest some of that money out in our counties.

For one thing, our volunteer fire departments.

There's 47 fire departments and stations in Erie County, over 35 of those are volunteer fire departments which means they're unpaid.

These people have to raise their money through fundraisers, whatever.

Because of COVID they couldn't do any of that.

You didn't see them having raffles or events because they couldn't do that.

[indistinct] fire departments in this county are hurting so bad.

The enrollment is down because the cost is too much.

In some fire departments if you wanna be a fire man, fire woman, whatever, you have to pay for your own classes because some departments cannot afford it.

Education, the gaming money is one of the big things I think we could use to support those.

We don't need to take 3.4 million out of it to go to a community college that we don't even have yet.

So on May 18th, I hope you look at me and I hope you see that I am for all of Erie County.

Thank you.

Thank you, that was Rita Bishop.

And next with closing arguments, we'll turn to Dylanna Grasinger Yeah, so thank you.

Over this forum we've heard a variety of different opinions, different views on how to really shape Erie County.

However, I think if we're going to continue to move Erie County forward and not just manage the decline that we're coming out of but really also to thrive, that we need to take a look at a few things.

A, having a cohesive voice and as voters for you to all consider a couple of things.

Ask yourself, do you want a county executive who has leadership experience, who has managed multi-million dollar budgets, who has acted fiscally responsible and with integrity?

Do you want a county executive who has been in the community working to increase diversity, lessen our population decline and really creating family sustaining jobs?

And lastly, I'd encourage you to ask yourself, do we want a fresh perspective?

Do you want a county executive that's going to bring a perspective to the table, that's not what we've been seeing that is inclusive, that looks at all residents, wants to hear from all residents and really listens and then acts on that?

And I think if you take everything you've heard today and you ask yourself those questions and you come to the answer as yes, that, you're really looking on May 18th.

So vote for me, Dylanna Grasinger as your next county executive.

I will work hard, harder than anyone else to make sure that we continue to move our county forward.

So thank you again for the opportunity to be here and to WQLN and everyone involved.

All right, Dylanna, thanks so much.

Dylanna Grasinger.

And finally with closing arguments, we have Carl Anderson.

Thank you.

As I have talked about so many times, this is really about community service, not self-service.

This is about working for our community together in unity.

This is about experience, this is about knowledge, this is about relationships.

This is about somebody that can get things done.

Carl Anderson can get things done.

That's not me saying that, that are the people that I work with.

My colleagues, other elected officials who stand by me and work with me because they know that I work tirelessly on behalf of this community, and I will persevere when I work.

And this is about temperament and it's about how you can work with others.

I'm the one that has the experience and the knowledge in county government to move our community forward in unity.

It's interesting that as the front runner, certainly, or at least my colleagues by their consistent attacks on me certainly fear me as the front runner because they know how strong of a candidate I am.

And they know that I will continue to forge forward, not look behind, not be divisive.

Single issue candidates that have specific agendas that they're driving, raising money outside of Erie County, not having the support in our community, having their PR materials printed and mailed outside of Erie County, not supporting the people that they talk about, the jobs that they wanna support.

I do all of that right here in Erie County.

The money that I've raised, the support that I have is widespread.

And it's from right here in Erie County.

I have the temperament to be your next county executive.

I leave that to you, the voters to decide and I ask for your support on May 18th to vote for Carl Anderson as your next county executive.

Thank you.

And thank you.

This concludes our Democratic debate.

That was Carl Anderson.

Also, we wanna say thank you to Rita Bishop, Dylanna Grasinger and Dr. Tyler Titus.

And we hope this Democratic debate with our Erie County executive candidates held right here in the WQLN studio helps voters in the upcoming election on Tuesday, May 18th.

Many thanks to WQLN and the Erie News Now partnership also with Cathedral Prep, the student hosts, Michael Vera and Charlie Rakowski, also Mr. Fleming from Cathedral Prep as well.

So again, stay safe.

We are still in this ongoing pandemic and we know that there's precautions at the polls when you do go out and vote.

But again, we appreciate you watching and again, thanks.