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The Ron Verb Show - Full Broadcast from Monday, 07/20/26 · Ron Verb

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: On News Radio 570, WKBN.
• 0:03
  Speaker 2: All right, it's 3.06 in the afternoon.
• 0:06
  Speaker 3: News Radio 570, WKBN and Ron Ferb. Nice day out there. Pleasant,
• 0:10
  Speaker 3: 82 degrees. And this should be an interesting program I
• 0:14
  Speaker 3: want you to pay attention to because I am going
• 0:16
  Speaker 3: to do some follow-up over this yellow journalism that I
• 0:20
  Speaker 3: saw in... the Vindicator, of which I'm a subscriber, incidentally,
• 0:25
  Speaker 3: of the Vindicator on Friday. There was an article that
• 0:28
  Speaker 3: appeared in the Vindicator on Friday called Library Officials Respond
• 0:32
  Speaker 3: to Attacks. This has to do with the program that
• 0:35
  Speaker 3: we did the week, well, during the week, when we
• 0:39
  Speaker 3: had Bob Mastroianni on, and he's the architect. He is
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: the architect of the Paulan Library, okay? And he also
• 0:46
  Speaker 3: did the Walgreens program. Yeah, in Poland. Some beautiful architecture there.
• 0:50
  Speaker 3: I mean, the man just does wonderful, terrific work. There's
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: a couple of things that really upset me, and I
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: want to get to some of those, and I'll let
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: Bob speak here momentarily. There was posted on WFMJ's site,
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: it says, a public library of Youngstown in Mahoning County
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: is responding to the claims made by Save Our Library
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: Group and others. The public library issued a statement that
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: says over the last few months, PLYMC has been attacked
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: with unsubstantiated and false claims of fraud, inaccessibility, and lack
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: of transparency. It goes on to say the leaders of
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: Save Our Library, their anti-tax allies, along with the architect
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: who designed the deeply flawed Poland Library building, continue to
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: ignore the facts. So with that in mind, I bring
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: back on our program the architect who designed the deeply
• 1:47
  Speaker 3: flawed Poland Library. Here is Bob Mastriana.
• 1:51
  Speaker 4: Thanks a lot.
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: How's that for an introduction?
• 1:57
  Speaker 4: That's a great one.
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: Yes. I mean, what is your initial reaction to that?
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: Because I'm going to just give you my initial reaction
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: to that. When I read that, that somebody says something,
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: the guy that designed a deeply flawed Poland library, my
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: first thing was, correct me if I'm wrong. This is
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: an architectural masterpiece. This appeared on many publications in your industry, correct?
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: I want you to talk a little bit about, as
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: a deeply flawed architect, how this was hailed in your industry,
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: what you designed.
• 2:29
  Speaker 5: Well, that's what's interesting because the library, I went to
• 2:36
  Speaker 5: a school, I did a library design course on public library.
• 2:40
  Speaker 4: At Harvard University one summer.
• 2:42
  Speaker 5: Before we even got the job to make sure that
• 2:44
  Speaker 5: what we were designing was at the state-of-the-art for libraries
• 2:47
  Speaker 5: because no library had ever been built in Mahoney County
• 2:50
  Speaker 5: in probably over 50 years. And so I wanted to
• 2:52
  Speaker 5: make sure that we were really aware of all the
• 2:56
  Speaker 5: trends in library design and that. So we went to
• 2:58
  Speaker 5: the school in Harvard, and we ended up– learning quite
• 3:03
  Speaker 5: a bit. So many things that unless you had gone there,
• 3:06
  Speaker 5: you wouldn't really realize to incorporate in the libraries, especially
• 3:10
  Speaker 5: the local architects, because they hadn't had the experience or
• 3:13
  Speaker 5: the exposure that we had received. But from that point on,
• 3:18
  Speaker 5: then the library decided to, well, first of all, they
• 3:21
  Speaker 5: were going to build the library out at the high school.
• 3:24
  Speaker 5: And I wanted to, besides being a building architect, I'm
• 3:29
  Speaker 5: also very interested concerned about traditional town planning and to
• 3:33
  Speaker 5: make a town function. And that's why all the historic
• 3:36
  Speaker 5: towns that people go to vacation to and everything are
• 3:38
  Speaker 5: all tight-knit. Buildings are close to the street, and they
• 3:42
  Speaker 5: have all their town's core within walking distance of everything.
• 3:46
  Speaker 5: And so I knew by building it out at the
• 3:48
  Speaker 5: high school, it would have been a disaster, and it
• 3:51
  Speaker 5: would not have enhanced the community at all. So I
• 3:53
  Speaker 5: fought with the library director at that time and convinced
• 3:58
  Speaker 5: them that we needed to see if it could be
• 3:59
  Speaker 5: expanded at this site because the previous architect that they
• 4:04
  Speaker 5: were working with said it couldn't be. And I knew
• 4:06
  Speaker 5: it could be because we cared and we wanted to.
• 4:10
  Speaker 5: So what we did is the library director was able
• 4:16
  Speaker 5: to get me a set of the plans of the
• 4:17
  Speaker 5: original building that was there that was built in 1960.
• 4:22
  Speaker 5: And so I got their plans and site plan, and
• 4:25
  Speaker 5: I was able to come up with a library design
• 4:28
  Speaker 5: that was approximately 13,000, 14,000 square feet, And so it
• 4:32
  Speaker 5: proved to the library board that it could be expanded
• 4:34
  Speaker 5: at that site. And so since there was much controversy
• 4:39
  Speaker 5: between where it should be built, people didn't have an opinion.
• 4:42
  Speaker 5: They decided to have a major town hall meeting, a
• 4:45
  Speaker 5: big event at.
• 4:47
  Speaker 4: The high school at the auditorium.
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  Speaker 5: And they had it at the auditorium because there was
• 4:52
  Speaker 5: no place in Poland to really have a meeting for
• 4:56
  Speaker 5: the town. And so we met there, and there was
• 4:59
  Speaker 5: over 100 people that showed up that evening And everyone
• 5:02
  Speaker 5: got to speak, which is unlike today.
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: Did they have the alarm clock so after three minutes
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: the bell started ringing?
• 5:08
  Speaker 4: No, but the fire alarm did go off because there
• 5:10
  Speaker 4: were so many people there.
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: So basically they let people speak their piece.
• 5:15
  Speaker 4: Yes, it was wonderful. It was called communication, two-way dialogue.
• 5:19
  Speaker 3: Freedom of speech.
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  Speaker 6: Yes, yes.
• 5:20
  Speaker 5: So we had the meeting, and it was overwhelming. They
• 5:23
  Speaker 5: actually even voted that night. And they decided then to
• 5:27
  Speaker 5: listen to the people. Imagine that, listening to the people,
• 5:30
  Speaker 5: the board.
• 5:31
  Speaker 7: Shocking.
• 5:31
  Speaker 8: Yes.
• 5:32
  Speaker 5: And so they decided to listen, and they said they
• 5:35
  Speaker 5: were going to then keep the library where it was.
• 5:38
  Speaker 5: And so at that point in time, then they had
• 5:40
  Speaker 5: that plan set. So then they decided, well, let's send
• 5:43
  Speaker 5: out the library for an RFP, that's a request for
• 5:45
  Speaker 5: a proposal, and hire an architect and see what we
• 5:50
  Speaker 5: could come up with. And so they did send it out, and.
• 5:55
  Speaker 4: We were blessed. We won the job. because of our previous.
• 6:01
  Speaker 5: Time that we donated to keep it there and for
• 6:04
  Speaker 5: the benefit of the town. And so that's how it
• 6:06
  Speaker 5: all started, and that's how it ended up where it was.
• 6:08
  Speaker 3: But you went and got the latest schooling, state-of-the-art schooling
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: from a prestigious institute. You went to a prestigious institute
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: to get the latest schooling in designing this facility for
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: the town.
• 6:22
  Speaker 4: And the professors were two of the top.
• 6:24
  Speaker 5: One, they had written books on library design, and one
• 6:26
  Speaker 5: was from– Boston, another one was from the Midwest.
• 6:30
  Speaker 4: So they had a cross-section.
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: So the guys teaching are architects.
• 6:34
  Speaker 7: Yes, yes, yes.
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: So these are all architects. You're at Harvard.
• 6:37
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: So I get to this. Are you listening to this, folks?
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: Because I got a lot of ground to cover here
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: today with Bob. So I'm listening to this, and these
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: people who are just– I am deeply disturbed by people
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: that are basically on a payroll, a public payroll of
• 6:56
  Speaker 3: my tax dollars. A public payroll of my tax dollars.
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: All of these people are paid for by me. You
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: follow me? Through my property taxes and my state tax dollars.
• 7:07
  Speaker 3: These are the people who don't want to listen to
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: public opinion. And these are the people that are basically
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: saying that, gee, let's attack. You just heard how this
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: came about. And let's see, as a deeply flawed, let's see,
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: along with the architect who designed a deeply flawed Poland
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: library building. The people are saying that they're not architects,
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: are they?
• 7:32
  Speaker 4: Not to my knowledge.
• 7:33
  Speaker 3: So the people are saying that you designed a deeply
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: flawed building. They're not architects. They're just attacking you.
• 7:39
  Speaker 9: Correct.
• 7:39
  Speaker 3: And you designed it. The building's been there how long?
• 7:43
  Speaker 5: Well, actually, it started construction in 1999.
• 7:45
  Speaker 4: And then it was finished in 2001, completely finished.
• 7:48
  Speaker 10: And then..
• 7:52
  Speaker 5: So if you start with the foundation, which is what
• 7:55
  Speaker 5: they're complaining about, it's been in since, let's say, 2000
• 7:58
  Speaker 5: to 26, so 26 years.
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  Speaker 3: And when this was done, this building, the Poland Library,
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  Speaker 3: has been featured on numerous … Yeah.
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  Speaker 4: Two national awards.
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  Speaker 5: It was published in multiple magazines, which ….
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  Speaker 3: Excuse me, two national awards.
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  Speaker 8: Yes.
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: Just go slow with me on this, because I want
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: these people to hear, these people that are basically on
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: a payroll to try to just discredit everybody that disagrees
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: with them. Correct. I mean, this is their PR goal.
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: Let's just try this avenue with them. But this was
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: two national awards that you got on this, as this
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: deeply flawed architect.
• 8:41
  Speaker 11: That you are.
• 8:42
  Speaker 4: One for interiors and one for exteriors.
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  Speaker 3: Right. Is there anything else? I might not be an architect,
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: but I think that covers it all.
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  Speaker 4: I think it does, yes.
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  Speaker 3: So when it was done, people thought, this is spectacular.
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  Speaker 7: Right.
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  Speaker 3: And your peers thought it was spectacular.
• 8:59
  Speaker 5: And another thing I forgot to mention, the reputation of
• 9:03
  Speaker 5: it transcended all over the state. And Hudson, Ohio, one
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  Speaker 5: of the most prestigious historic towns and the most– supportive
• 9:12
  Speaker 5: of historic architecture in the nation, heard about the library,
• 9:16
  Speaker 5: and they rented a bus of over 40-some people from
• 9:21
  Speaker 5: the Historical Society, came down to tour our library. They
• 9:26
  Speaker 5: wanted to meet with us personally because they were not
• 9:28
  Speaker 5: happy with what their architect in Hudson was doing with
• 9:31
  Speaker 5: their library, and they wanted to see what we had
• 9:34
  Speaker 5: done and if we could help them with their library.
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  Speaker 3: You said something that I want to just go back
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: to that makes a lot of sense. Towns that have
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: close-knit things, town squares. I grew up in a city
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: of Medina. You ever see the square in Medina? Why
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: did you move? Because I wanted to be closer to you. Okay,
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: so I grew up in a city of Medina, and
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: you have the square. You have the park. You have
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: the gazebo. This is what makes Medina a special place.
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: You go to Canfield. You have the green in Canfield.
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  Speaker 3: It's what makes Canfield a special place.
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  Speaker 12: Right.
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: You go to Poland's and you have what you were
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: talking about, the area that you were talking about that
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: brings that community together in walking distance.
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  Speaker 7: Right.
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: So your initial argument, it should be located here, was
• 10:29
  Speaker 3: about the community.
• 10:30
  Speaker 13: Right.
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: And, I mean, this placement, don't– I don't– I want
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: you to talk about this more because this is a big–
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: makes a big difference to the community.
• 10:40
  Speaker 8: Right.
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  Speaker 4: See, the problem with Poland is– They don't have a
• 10:43
  Speaker 4: town square.
• 10:44
  Speaker 5: They actually have a village green, but it's way over
• 10:46
  Speaker 5: on the other side by the Presbyterian Church. And when
• 10:50
  Speaker 5: they put in 224, they relocated it. Instead of going
• 10:54
  Speaker 5: through or around the village green, they cut the town
• 10:57
  Speaker 5: in half, which destroyed the town. And they ended up
• 11:02
  Speaker 5: not having a town square like Medina and Canfield and things.
• 11:05
  Speaker 5: So we had a real deficit to try and deal
• 11:08
  Speaker 5: with architecturally. And so one way to do that was to..
• 11:11
  Speaker 4: Was to.
• 11:12
  Speaker 5: Recreate a center of a town, and the library did that.
• 11:16
  Speaker 5: And so we wanted to make it the community center.
• 11:19
  Speaker 5: So another thing that is interesting about the site was
• 11:23
  Speaker 5: that site being on Yellow Creek was already the site
• 11:29
  Speaker 5: of the library. And so it had a familiarity with everyone.
• 11:32
  Speaker 5: And then the historic building that was the– That was
• 11:37
  Speaker 5: the dormitory that was built in 1846. It was also
• 11:40
  Speaker 5: a special building that needed to be preserved. Most architects
• 11:43
  Speaker 5: probably would have torn it down and just started fresh
• 11:46
  Speaker 5: and new because that's so much easier. But we wanted
• 11:49
  Speaker 5: to take that building and incorporate that as the cornerstone
• 11:52
  Speaker 5: of the library. And so that's where the design evolved.
• 11:56
  Speaker 5: It dissolved from that historic building, and I tried to
• 11:59
  Speaker 5: keep it the same proportions, height, width, and architectural features
• 12:03
  Speaker 5: so that It looked like a continuation of the historic
• 12:07
  Speaker 5: buildings along the storefront. And then we recessed the courtyards
• 12:10
  Speaker 5: between them so that it looked like they were actually
• 12:13
  Speaker 5: a side yard between the buildings because it was a
• 12:16
  Speaker 5: 35,000-square-foot building, and I knew that would overpower the look.
• 12:21
  Speaker 4: Of the town. And so I needed to reduce the
• 12:23
  Speaker 4: scale of it.
• 12:23
  Speaker 3: The aesthetics.
• 12:24
  Speaker 5: Yes, to blend in with the community. And I think
• 12:28
  Speaker 5: it was very effective. Actually, it was done by another famous,
• 12:32
  Speaker 5: famous architect, Robert A.M. Stern, and he did that for
• 12:35
  Speaker 5: the University of Virginia, where he replicated– the multiple forms
• 12:40
  Speaker 5: of some of the historic buildings in Virginia University.
• 12:44
  Speaker 3: I get your deep thinking. I just want you to know,
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: I understand exactly what you're saying. Because when you look around,
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: and this is not to knock, I live in Austintown,
• 12:52
  Speaker 3: we don't have that. You follow what I'm saying? It's
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: a place to live. Boardman, I don't know that it
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: has that to a large extent. But when you go
• 13:03
  Speaker 3: to places that have what you're describing... It is a
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: game changer for a community.
• 13:08
  Speaker 6: Yes.
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: And you wanted to make sure Poland had that.
• 13:11
  Speaker 7: Yes.
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: And that's why you did what you did.
• 13:14
  Speaker 7: Yes.
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: And that's why it is where it is and should
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: stay where it's at, right?
• 13:17
  Speaker 14: Right.
• 13:18
  Speaker 5: But the site dictated a lot of things that forced
• 13:20
  Speaker 5: the design the way it was, not only with the
• 13:23
  Speaker 5: library deciding and the board deciding what they wanted to
• 13:27
  Speaker 5: incorporate in the library because, as I said earlier, we
• 13:29
  Speaker 5: did not have a meeting place that you could actually
• 13:33
  Speaker 5: bring the town together, and that's really important. And we didn't.
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: Have– I just want to go back to one thing.
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: And the town decided they wanted it where it is now.
• 13:43
  Speaker 8: Right.
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: They brought the town together, and the library was listening
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: to the town. It said, we want it right here.
• 13:48
  Speaker 4: That's correct.
• 13:49
  Speaker 15: Yes.
• 13:50
  Speaker 5: And then in addition to that, they also ended up–
• 13:54
  Speaker 5: we didn't have one restaurant in Poland either. And I
• 13:57
  Speaker 5: had seen at other various restaurants– and other ones, and
• 14:02
  Speaker 5: even with the bookstores, how much the, like Barnes & Noble,
• 14:07
  Speaker 5: how they've been enhanced by having a food service right
• 14:10
  Speaker 5: within the restaurant. And so, again, that was discussed at
• 14:13
  Speaker 5: the Harvard seminar, and that's why I thought, well, then
• 14:16
  Speaker 5: let's see about putting in a cafe-type restaurant in the
• 14:20
  Speaker 5: library to enhance it. And so that's why that's there.
• 14:24
  Speaker 5: And then as the project developed, The other thing was
• 14:29
  Speaker 5: they had all these scattered friends of the library, small
• 14:34
  Speaker 5: little outlets that were nothing more than a book cart
• 14:37
  Speaker 5: in all the different libraries, and they decided, the board,
• 14:39
  Speaker 5: through their vision, decided to put them all together so
• 14:43
  Speaker 5: that they could all share in the revenues of the
• 14:45
  Speaker 5: used bookstore. And so we had the space, and so
• 14:48
  Speaker 5: we were able to then have all the friends of
• 14:53
  Speaker 5: the library meeting rooms, used bookstores were all together now
• 14:56
  Speaker 5: in the library. So So that lower level, that really
• 14:59
  Speaker 5: was bonus space because the lot slope, naturally, it was
• 15:02
  Speaker 5: an easy way. We had to have a foundation to
• 15:05
  Speaker 5: go down that low anyway.
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: This is visionary, what you're saying. I mean, I want
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: everybody to think. I'm going to pause for commercials. This
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: is just visionary. See, this is why this is a
• 15:15
  Speaker 3: great man. This is visionary because it involves a library
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: and a town. We'll be right back. Back to it,
• 15:25
  Speaker 3: NewsRadio 570 WQEN, 324 in the afternoon. We're live here
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: this afternoon on NewsRadio 570 WQEN. And after I read
• 15:34
  Speaker 3: this article in The Vindicator and read that posting on
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: FMJ's site, I knew I needed to have Bob Mastriani
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: on the program again, the original architect of the Poland Library.
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: And there's so much here to talk about. Now, I
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: want to get to this article as I jump around,
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: but I want all of you to understand something. I mean,
• 15:59
  Speaker 3: the thinking here of this is where the people wanted
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: it located, it was not just the library. It was
• 16:04
  Speaker 3: part of making the town spectacular.
• 16:07
  Speaker 16: Right.
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: A gathering place for the community.
• 16:09
  Speaker 17: Right.
• 16:09
  Speaker 3: Similar to the Green and Canfield, similar to the Square
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: and Medina. This is the vision you, as this flawed architect, had.
• 16:16
  Speaker 3: It makes a community special.
• 16:18
  Speaker 4: And the board wanted what the town wanted.
• 16:20
  Speaker 7: Right.
• 16:21
  Speaker 3: The good old days, right?
• 16:22
  Speaker 18: Yep.
• 16:23
  Speaker 3: And what the taxpayer wanted. Okay, so we'll get back
• 16:27
  Speaker 3: to all of this. Now, let's go through this article
• 16:29
  Speaker 3: that was written here. And where do you want to
• 16:35
  Speaker 3: start on this?
• 16:36
  Speaker 4: Let's just start at the first paragraph.
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 16:39
  Speaker 5: The criticisms that we did on the last show you had,
• 16:44
  Speaker 5: they're taking a personal note because we use their names
• 16:47
  Speaker 5: and we shouldn't have maybe.
• 16:49
  Speaker 4: But they started using our names from the very first
• 16:53
  Speaker 4: time this was ever brought up to the public.
• 16:55
  Speaker 3: Aren't these people paid for by the public?
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 16:58
  Speaker 19: Okay.
• 16:59
  Speaker 3: So what's wrong with using their names? I see nothing
• 17:01
  Speaker 3: wrong with that.
• 17:02
  Speaker 4: Nothing as long as we don't do it.
• 17:05
  Speaker 3: Oh, I see. Well, I have no problem with it.
• 17:07
  Speaker 6: Okay.
• 17:08
  Speaker 5: So anyway, from day one, when this first appeared in
• 17:13
  Speaker 5: the Vindicator articles, our company, 4M Company, and then later
• 17:18
  Speaker 5: my name, We're always criticized and brought up front and
• 17:25
  Speaker 5: center as responsible for this.
• 17:28
  Speaker 3: Now, this guy, this chief stakeholder, and incidentally, I thought
• 17:32
  Speaker 3: I was a chief stakeholder. Explain this to me. Perhaps
• 17:38
  Speaker 3: this guy needs to explain to me his vicious– attacks
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: that he's doing here this chief stakeholder am i not
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: a chief stakeholder it because he uh... you know what
• 17:49
  Speaker 3: i am i've been the i've been here for forty
• 17:51
  Speaker 3: one years paintings property taxes you know and i've been
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: paying my state taxes for forty one years you know
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: so as as many of you listening have done as
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: many of you people have done in poland apparently uh...
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: we should just be ignored or not listen to so
• 18:06
  Speaker 3: this guy Let me see this. Chief Stakeholder Relations Officer,
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: Zach Kosberg. And he's on the library payroll?
• 18:16
  Speaker 20: Yes.
• 18:17
  Speaker 5: He's one of the new CEOs, administrators that they hired,
• 18:22
  Speaker 5: one of the dozens that they have now.
• 18:24
  Speaker 3: All right. So he's on the payroll. So he's going
• 18:28
  Speaker 3: to just write this vicious stuff.
• 18:31
  Speaker 5: So he's a political– he even calls himself a political–
• 18:37
  Speaker 5: and he is involved in a lot of political campaigns
• 18:41
  Speaker 5: and advocates for them, and that's why he was hired
• 18:45
  Speaker 5: by the library to try and influence the public in
• 18:50
  Speaker 5: all these campaigns. So he worked on a number of
• 18:54
  Speaker 5: Democratic candidates, even for the Ohio Democratic Party itself in 2011.
• 19:01
  Speaker 5: He worked for Sherrod Brown's campaign. He worked for Strickland's campaign.
• 19:06
  Speaker 3: He worked for– That was Sherry Brown that supported everything
• 19:09
  Speaker 3: Joe Biden believed in with the open border and all this.
• 19:12
  Speaker 3: Let's not call a man– ladies and gentlemen.
• 19:15
  Speaker 5: So he worked on a lot of things for the
• 19:18
  Speaker 5: benefit of the public.
• 19:20
  Speaker 3: Of the Democrats.
• 19:22
  Speaker 4: Yes, of the Democrats.
• 19:23
  Speaker 3: All right, so we kind of know his political tilt.
• 19:27
  Speaker 8: Right.
• 19:27
  Speaker 3: All right, so this is what he did. So let's
• 19:32
  Speaker 3: go through what this article has to say. So basically,
• 19:34
  Speaker 3: he's a paid mouthpiece is what this guy is. A
• 19:38
  Speaker 3: lot of times these people have no soul, in my opinion.
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: But on Thursday, library staff responded to the claims made
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: by members of the Savory Library Committee on this program. Cosby.
• 19:50
  Speaker 3: Chief Operations Officer. Jordan Shaver, Strategic Communications Officer. All these
• 19:57
  Speaker 3: guys got these long titles, don't they?
• 19:59
  Speaker 4: They have to justify that $ 150, 000 salary.
• 20:00
  Speaker 3: I mean, you know, these long titles. Chief Operation Officer,
• 20:06
  Speaker 3: Jordan Shaver, Strategic Communications Officer, Michael Stepp, and the members
• 20:13
  Speaker 3: of the library board. I'm Ron Verp, talk show host.
• 20:16
  Speaker 3: That's my big title. Okay, let's go. They first talk
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: about Frank Domain, who called the program. See, this program, well,
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: we'll pause for the headlines. See, we're live, and people
• 20:29
  Speaker 3: can call in live, including all these people whose names
• 20:32
  Speaker 3: I just read. I invite them to call. We'll be back.
• 20:34
  Speaker 15: Let's start here.
• 20:35
  Speaker 17: So good morning and welcome.
• 20:36
  Speaker 18: We are now underway.
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: We are following the events of the day.
• 20:40
  Speaker 17: What we're just now hearing about. This is new information.
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: Throughout the day.
• 20:44
  Speaker 16: Good day.
• 20:44
  Speaker 18: This is where it stands now.
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: Pick up the conversation.
• 20:47
  Speaker 15: We'll talk about what's happening anytime.
• 20:50
  Speaker 17: The deal we reached with Iran.
• 20:51
  Speaker 21: The devil's in the details. Bringing the price of gasoline down.
• 20:54
  Speaker 17: Maintain the Fed funds rate.
• 20:55
  Speaker 14: Tying Pfizer to the save app.
• 20:57
  Speaker 22: NATO has been a paper tiger for the very latest.
• 21:00
  Speaker 6: We'll see how that all plays out.
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: News Radio 570 WKBN.
• 21:04
  Speaker 22: A cause of death has been released for two young
• 21:10
  Speaker 22: girls found partially buried in suitcases earlier this year in Cleveland.
• 21:14
  Speaker 23: The Cuyahoga County medical examiner says the two girls, half-sisters,
• 21:18
  Speaker 23: ages 10 and 8, died of malnutrition. Their mother, Aaliyah Henderson,
• 21:23
  Speaker 23: has pleaded not guilty to charges that include murder. The
• 21:26
  Speaker 23: pilot of an ultralight plane that crashed Sunday in Montgomery
• 21:29
  Speaker 23: County suffered life-threatening injuries when the plane went off the
• 21:32
  Speaker 23: runway and overturned upon landing. 55-year-old Ernest Washington was flown
• 21:37
  Speaker 23: to the hospital. The Ohio State Highway Patrol is investigating.
• 21:41
  Speaker 23: Two Cedar Point guests are charged with disorderly conduct for
• 21:44
  Speaker 23: holding up a ride last week. The 66- and 72-year-olds
• 21:48
  Speaker 23: from Philadelphia refused to get off the SkyRide when it
• 21:51
  Speaker 23: came to an end, holding up other guests who were
• 21:54
  Speaker 23: left suspended above the midway. I'm Brian Engel.
• 21:58
  Speaker 17: Listen on the.
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: Free iHeartRadio app for all your music, news, talk, and
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: sports radio.
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: Podcast 2.
• 22:04
  Speaker 13: Download the app.
• 22:06
  Speaker 18: Free.
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: Never sounded so good.
• 22:08
  Speaker 13: A to Z dependable services. Plumbing, septic, heating, cooling, and
• 22:12
  Speaker 13: one-day baths.
• 22:13
  Speaker 24: Looks like you're still dealing with a road closure due
• 22:15
  Speaker 24: to fallen power cables and trumbull. Route 46 shut down
• 22:19
  Speaker 24: between North River Road and Wilson-Sharpsville. See something we don't?
• 22:23
  Speaker 24: Give our tip line a call.
• 22:26
  Speaker 3: 330-305-1159.
• 22:26
  Speaker 24: I'm Mike Ross from the Total Traffic Center.
• 22:30
  Speaker 11: This report is sponsored by Ohio Division of Unclaimed Funds.
• 22:34
  Speaker 3: Think about it.
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: Now, Ron Verb on News Radio 570 WKBN.
• 22:40
  Speaker 3: Well, hidey-ho, 335 in the afternoon. It's Monday, July 20th.
• 22:45
  Speaker 3: It's 83 degrees here on a pleasant day. And sitting
• 22:48
  Speaker 3: in my studio is Bob Mastriana, and he is the
• 22:52
  Speaker 3: architect of the Poland Library with a follow-up to what...
• 22:57
  Speaker 3: this article in The Vindicator, which was talking about your
• 23:01
  Speaker 3: last appearance on the program. And they start by talking
• 23:04
  Speaker 3: about one of the people who called into the program,
• 23:07
  Speaker 3: which incidentally, any of these people that I just mentioned,
• 23:10
  Speaker 3: feel free to call in and get on hold. We
• 23:13
  Speaker 3: actually are a live broadcast that takes calls as we
• 23:16
  Speaker 3: go along, and we will from a friend or foe.
• 23:20
  Speaker 3: So all of these people that have these things to
• 23:23
  Speaker 3: say take the opportunity to say them here on the radio.
• 23:28
  Speaker 3: I believe in dialogue here. So this chief operations officer,
• 23:33
  Speaker 3: let's see, what's his name? Kosberg. uh jonathan shaver the
• 23:38
  Speaker 3: strategic communications officer michael step and members of the library
• 23:43
  Speaker 3: board all of them are certainly available to call the
• 23:47
  Speaker 3: program and speak with you and speak with the public
• 23:49
  Speaker 3: uh as we go along here let's try to have
• 23:52
  Speaker 3: a dialogue instead of some one-sided thing that they have
• 23:55
  Speaker 3: here in in response and incidentally they were able to
• 23:58
  Speaker 3: call the program when you were on the first time
• 24:00
  Speaker 3: just so people understand that's that's uh Those phone lines
• 24:03
  Speaker 3: are always there and they're always available. One of the
• 24:05
  Speaker 3: people who did call that they pointed out to the
• 24:09
  Speaker 3: program was Poland Township Trustee Frank Domain, right? He called
• 24:13
  Speaker 3: the program that day, correct? Correct, yes. And let's see,
• 24:17
  Speaker 3: they seem to say, who told me that the library
• 24:21
  Speaker 3: has not responded to any of his efforts to discuss
• 24:24
  Speaker 3: the matter with them. And they said what he admitted
• 24:28
  Speaker 3: was that he had lunch with our board vice president
• 24:30
  Speaker 3: last week where they discussed the Poland branch and plans
• 24:34
  Speaker 3: are made to arrange a more formal discussion. All right.
• 24:37
  Speaker 3: So what do you make of that?
• 24:40
  Speaker 4: And that's the absolute truth. They did talk about it.
• 24:43
  Speaker 5: They were friends for over 20-some years, and they met
• 24:46
  Speaker 5: for lunch, and they talked about everything but the library.
• 24:51
  Speaker 5: But they wanted to get together– to see if they
• 24:54
  Speaker 5: could open up a shared perspective of their view as
• 24:59
  Speaker 5: the board and also as the trustee for the community.
• 25:03
  Speaker 5: And so the interesting thing is after they met or
• 25:06
  Speaker 5: after they had lunch together and did meet, he was
• 25:11
  Speaker 5: supposed to call him back and arrange a meeting with
• 25:14
  Speaker 5: the director and some of the other officials of the library,
• 25:18
  Speaker 5: and they never did call him back until he was
• 25:21
  Speaker 5: on the show here. And then after he was on
• 25:24
  Speaker 5: the show, then it was pertinent for them to counter
• 25:28
  Speaker 5: and to call back and ask for a meeting. But
• 25:30
  Speaker 5: before that, they weren't going to pursue anything that they
• 25:34
  Speaker 5: had talked about before as far as dialogue and do
• 25:38
  Speaker 5: a prospect of.
• 25:39
  Speaker 3: But they're interested in it now.
• 25:41
  Speaker 7: Yes, yes.
• 25:42
  Speaker 3: Isn't that interesting? All right.
• 25:43
  Speaker 4: Very interesting.
• 25:44
  Speaker 3: Now let's see. I'm going to go along. Frank Domain. Okay,
• 25:48
  Speaker 3: they go into that kind of stuff.
• 25:49
  Speaker 6: Let's see.
• 25:54
  Speaker 3: This Coasberg also said library officials– incidentally, you know what
• 25:59
  Speaker 3: I find interesting? The head of the library isn't speaking
• 26:01
  Speaker 3: here at all.
• 26:02
  Speaker 8: No.
• 26:03
  Speaker 3: I mean the actual woman that is in charge.
• 26:06
  Speaker 16: Right.
• 26:06
  Speaker 3: I mean it's all of these other people surrounding her. Right.
• 26:12
  Speaker 3: Where is she to speak? I thought she was in charge.
• 26:16
  Speaker 5: But Coasberg, when he told the Vindicator, members of the
• 26:19
  Speaker 5: State of Our Library Committee are willing to lie about that–
• 26:24
  Speaker 5: that Frank Domain actually did talk to their board people
• 26:30
  Speaker 5: and he said he didn't, then Carlsberg is saying then
• 26:35
  Speaker 5: if they're willing to lie about this matter, then their
• 26:37
  Speaker 5: assertions that the rest of their dispute must also be
• 26:40
  Speaker 5: called into question. And it's a brilliant political tactical move
• 26:45
  Speaker 5: and it's called a paradoxical defense. And he's very good
• 26:49
  Speaker 5: at this because that's his life politics. And what that is,
• 26:53
  Speaker 5: is just to, you throw the, you deflect the issue
• 26:59
  Speaker 5: to mask their own lies. And they are masterful at
• 27:02
  Speaker 5: laying and deflecting.
• 27:03
  Speaker 3: It's just vicious nonsense is what it is. I mean,
• 27:06
  Speaker 3: let's call it what it is. You know, it's vicious nonsense,
• 27:09
  Speaker 3: and it's not something I admire. So this Kosberg also
• 27:13
  Speaker 3: said library officials have met with the committee many times.
• 27:17
  Speaker 3: Not only did we meet with Save Our Library representatives
• 27:20
  Speaker 3: on April 9th, but members were also invited on a
• 27:23
  Speaker 3: guided tour of the Poland facility in November 2025, along
• 27:27
  Speaker 3: with elected leaders. This is in addition to the community
• 27:30
  Speaker 3: feedback meeting at Poland attended by a standing room only
• 27:34
  Speaker 3: crowd on June 24th, 2025.
• 27:37
  Speaker 6: Yes.
• 27:38
  Speaker 3: Comments?
• 27:39
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 27:42
  Speaker 5: The tour was very well controlled. They only took them
• 27:47
  Speaker 5: to areas they wanted to see. They didn't show them
• 27:50
  Speaker 5: around the exterior of the building and all the deterioration.
• 27:55
  Speaker 5: There were so many people there, they couldn't. They couldn't
• 27:58
  Speaker 5: control it, and they were all there to basically listen.
• 28:02
  Speaker 5: Only a couple actually got to speak from the public,
• 28:06
  Speaker 5: and it was, again, just a show of concern, but
• 28:12
  Speaker 5: empty promises and things like that. They wouldn't let me
• 28:18
  Speaker 5: even go in the back room where I've been begging
• 28:21
  Speaker 5: to go see. I wanted to see myself firsthand other
• 28:24
  Speaker 5: than the little door a threshold issue that I could
• 28:29
  Speaker 5: see from the outside, but they would not let me
• 28:31
  Speaker 5: go back into the area where they had done these
• 28:35
  Speaker 5: core samples for the..
• 28:37
  Speaker 3: Why not?
• 28:39
  Speaker 4: That's a good question.
• 28:40
  Speaker 3: I mean, you're an architect. I know. I mean, you
• 28:43
  Speaker 3: designed the building.
• 28:44
  Speaker 8: I know.
• 28:44
  Speaker 4: They wouldn't let me go in, though, because I wasn't invited.
• 28:48
  Speaker 3: That's just bizarre.
• 28:48
  Speaker 4: I wasn't invited to go to that meeting.
• 28:51
  Speaker 3: So let's not have a guy go back and look
• 28:53
  Speaker 3: who knows what he's looking at. Yeah, yeah.
• 28:56
  Speaker 4: That's how ridiculous it is.
• 28:57
  Speaker 3: Just I want to emphasize, none of these people are
• 28:58
  Speaker 3: architects that we're talking about here.
• 29:00
  Speaker 4: No, no.
• 29:01
  Speaker 3: Okay, and they wouldn't let you go back and take
• 29:02
  Speaker 3: a look, and you're the architect that designed the building.
• 29:06
  Speaker 6: Right.
• 29:06
  Speaker 5: Okay, so then he spends a lot of time, again,
• 29:10
  Speaker 5: talking about the slag. Okay, and we covered that before,
• 29:15
  Speaker 5: but we can talk about it again and put it
• 29:18
  Speaker 5: to bed. Again, I told you on this program last
• 29:23
  Speaker 5: time that the– The Begley family, they were the people
• 29:29
  Speaker 5: that owned Standard Slag, and they had a pristine reputation,
• 29:36
  Speaker 5: and they would never supply anything that wasn't of the
• 29:41
  Speaker 5: quality that it needed to be. And so the brother
• 29:46
  Speaker 5: of the Beagleys that I talked with, he actually called
• 29:48
  Speaker 5: me because he was very upset because their name was
• 29:51
  Speaker 5: being used also.
• 29:53
  Speaker 4: Horribly, and he told me, Bob, I.
• 29:55
  Speaker 5: Was personally, one responsible for quality control, and I can
• 30:00
  Speaker 5: tell you we never, ever sent out any load that
• 30:05
  Speaker 5: wasn't perfect. And the other thing is we never even
• 30:11
  Speaker 5: had slag delivered because it was in our specs because
• 30:14
  Speaker 5: of our outstanding geotechnical engineer, John Cernica, who was world famous.
• 30:20
  Speaker 5: He had written seven books on geotechnical engineering, design, and foundations,
• 30:25
  Speaker 5: and he did all of our foundations for our entire career.
• 30:28
  Speaker 4: And we had him involved in this.
• 30:31
  Speaker 5: From day one because we knew it was a sloping site,
• 30:34
  Speaker 5: it had bedrock, there was a lot of things that
• 30:38
  Speaker 5: had to be looked at.
• 30:39
  Speaker 3: So once again, this guy's credentials, I just want to
• 30:41
  Speaker 3: get it straight, say his credentials again to this..
• 30:45
  Speaker 4: Well, he was a dean of the School of Engineering
• 30:48
  Speaker 4: at Youngstown State for his entire career. He was also... world-renowned.
• 30:53
  Speaker 5: He wrote seven books on soils and geotechnical. There was
• 30:56
  Speaker 5: no one in this section of the country that had
• 30:59
  Speaker 5: the expertise and reputation that he had. He had his
• 31:02
  Speaker 5: own firm, and we hired him always when we were
• 31:05
  Speaker 5: doing buildings of this stature to inspect every load of
• 31:11
  Speaker 5: fuel that was brought out to make sure that it
• 31:13
  Speaker 5: was pure and clean and exactly as per the specs.
• 31:16
  Speaker 5: And he told us years ago, Bob, never, ever specify
• 31:20
  Speaker 5: slag because you can't control whether it's active or not.
• 31:24
  Speaker 5: Always specify wash, gravel, and then you'll be protected. And
• 31:27
  Speaker 5: that's exactly what we did. And so how this bit of,
• 31:32
  Speaker 5: and again, we didn't see this, but this was the
• 31:34
  Speaker 5: report that the library had from that other testing company,
• 31:38
  Speaker 5: that there was an active, some active slag there. But again,
• 31:43
  Speaker 5: they don't tell you how much, and all they tell
• 31:46
  Speaker 5: you that it was flammable. 4.5% to 4.7%, but I
• 31:53
  Speaker 5: don't know how they figured that because the slab is
• 31:55
  Speaker 5: only 4 inches, and if you take 4.5% of 4 inches,
• 32:00
  Speaker 5: then it means that it's a quarter of an inch.
• 32:03
  Speaker 5: I don't know how they figured it, but it sounds
• 32:07
  Speaker 5: more dangerous at that amount.
• 32:09
  Speaker 4: But anyway, so they ended.
• 32:12
  Speaker 5: Up doing the testing, and evidently and I showed you, Dan,
• 32:18
  Speaker 5: the last time where the building originally sat, and it
• 32:22
  Speaker 5: sat way back and very low, the original library.
• 32:24
  Speaker 3: The original one, okay.
• 32:26
  Speaker 5: Yes, and it was close to the creek also, and
• 32:29
  Speaker 5: so what happened possibly was that when they were doing
• 32:35
  Speaker 5: the excavation for this, we built the whole building on bedrock,
• 32:40
  Speaker 5: which is what John Cernico recommended, and so all the columns,
• 32:43
  Speaker 5: all the walls were, All the foundations are all on
• 32:46
  Speaker 5: solid bedrock.
• 32:47
  Speaker 3: So it's not sinking. Let's just emphasize that.
• 32:49
  Speaker 4: Only if the world sinks.
• 32:51
  Speaker 3: All right. So it's built on bedrock.
• 32:53
  Speaker 14: Yes.
• 32:54
  Speaker 5: And so the fill material that was there evidently was
• 33:01
  Speaker 5: left over from, unfortunately, some of the possibly the parking lot.
• 33:06
  Speaker 15: Okay.
• 33:06
  Speaker 4: And what happened was we had.
• 33:08
  Speaker 3: By the original structure.
• 33:09
  Speaker 4: By the original structure put in in 1960.
• 33:11
  Speaker 8: Okay.
• 33:13
  Speaker 4: So we're talking a small area. Yes, a small area.
• 33:17
  Speaker 5: And what it was was when the old building was built,
• 33:23
  Speaker 5: the new finished floor for the first floor, which is
• 33:25
  Speaker 5: the lower level, we had to match the existing historic
• 33:30
  Speaker 5: dormitory floor on the lower level because we wanted to,
• 33:34
  Speaker 5: for ADA and that, we wanted direct access to the
• 33:37
  Speaker 5: kitchen and the lower level. And so that was our benchmark,
• 33:41
  Speaker 5: they call it. We had to match that floor. And
• 33:43
  Speaker 5: so evidently, there might have been, it wasn't deep enough
• 33:46
  Speaker 5: maybe to get out all the possible active slag.
• 33:50
  Speaker 4: Or anything else.
• 33:54
  Speaker 5: So we matched that floor and maybe some of this
• 33:56
  Speaker 5: was left over innocently. But I don't know that for
• 34:00
  Speaker 5: sure because the other overriding factor that we know as
• 34:05
  Speaker 5: a fact is that for at least 20 years, the
• 34:11
  Speaker 5: library had no No issues at all. And that same base,
• 34:15
  Speaker 5: that same foundation, the same slag that was underneath those
• 34:19
  Speaker 5: floors was there all this time. And there was never
• 34:22
  Speaker 5: an issue until it became exposed when they built that wall.
• 34:28
  Speaker 4: And that wall that the library built, we.
• 34:30
  Speaker 3: Were long gone. Now, this is an important point, folks.
• 34:32
  Speaker 3: I want you to listen to this. I want to
• 34:34
  Speaker 3: make sure that... What's this guy? This Coesberg takes very
• 34:38
  Speaker 3: prudent notes here so that he can get this straight.
• 34:40
  Speaker 3: I want you to hear this. I'm sure he will.
• 34:42
  Speaker 3: Because it's very important. So for 20 years, the building
• 34:45
  Speaker 3: wasn't sinking.
• 34:46
  Speaker 16: Right.
• 34:47
  Speaker 4: Well, it never sank.
• 34:47
  Speaker 3: It never sank. But we didn't have any problems for
• 34:49
  Speaker 3: 20 years, right? That's right. Then we build this wall.
• 34:54
  Speaker 21: Right.
• 34:55
  Speaker 3: All right. To divert Yellow Creek.
• 34:57
  Speaker 7: Right.
• 34:57
  Speaker 5: Because of the flooding that was on Boardman that flowed
• 35:00
  Speaker 5: down from all the construction and development that was on
• 35:03
  Speaker 5: South Avenue all the way down through the natural.
• 35:05
  Speaker 3: A wall you had nothing to do with?
• 35:07
  Speaker 16: No, no, nothing.
• 35:08
  Speaker 5: In fact, I actually tried to stop it because I
• 35:11
  Speaker 5: thought they were wasting a fortune. I don't know if
• 35:13
  Speaker 5: it was $ 100, 000 or $ 200, 000, but it was a lot
• 35:15
  Speaker 5: of money, and I knew it wasn't necessary because I
• 35:18
  Speaker 5: had already talked to the Army Corps of Engineers about
• 35:21
  Speaker 5: widening that creek because at the corner of the library
• 35:24
  Speaker 5: where it turns 90 degrees, the creek chokes, and it's
• 35:27
  Speaker 5: very small, and that's where the library, the water builds up.
• 35:32
  Speaker 5: And if they had widened it out like I suggested,
• 35:35
  Speaker 5: and the Army Corps said if we worked on the
• 35:37
  Speaker 5: banks of the creek, we wouldn't have had any problems
• 35:40
  Speaker 5: going ahead and widening it. And I asked the library
• 35:44
  Speaker 5: and the village to get in touch with the adjacent
• 35:46
  Speaker 5: homeowner and see if we could purchase or he would
• 35:49
  Speaker 5: donate his adjacent side yard because it was at the
• 35:52
  Speaker 5: level of the creek. And he never can maintain it
• 35:56
  Speaker 5: or anything because it's always flooded and wet. And so
• 35:59
  Speaker 5: we could have expanded that. that got rid of the
• 36:02
  Speaker 5: choking of that creek, we could have had a beautiful
• 36:06
  Speaker 5: scenic pond there that we could have used for ice
• 36:08
  Speaker 5: skating in the winter if things ever froze or just
• 36:11
  Speaker 5: for the view from the adult reading balconies in the library.
• 36:16
  Speaker 5: And it could have been an asset instead of a detriment.
• 36:18
  Speaker 5: So all this that was created was done by the library.
• 36:25
  Speaker 3: When they put this wall up, which you were against
• 36:27
  Speaker 3: from the very beginning. So for 20 years, you didn't
• 36:31
  Speaker 3: have these problems at all. They put up this wall.
• 36:35
  Speaker 3: You weren't a part of this wall. And all of
• 36:37
  Speaker 3: a sudden, these problems are created when you said the
• 36:40
  Speaker 3: better idea is don't put the wall up. Or if
• 36:43
  Speaker 3: we're going to keep the wall, let's modify it so
• 36:45
  Speaker 3: we get away from these issues.
• 36:48
  Speaker 5: Yes, because the wall obviously– what happened with the wall
• 36:52
  Speaker 5: is it acted as a dam. It was built also
• 36:54
  Speaker 5: on the bedrock for stability. And then what happened is
• 36:56
  Speaker 5: the water would naturally migrate through the natural underground water
• 37:02
  Speaker 5: courses that are there everywhere, especially near a stream.
• 37:05
  Speaker 4: And when it hit the wall, it had nowhere to go.
• 37:08
  Speaker 5: So it was just building up pressure and more pressure
• 37:11
  Speaker 5: and pressure. And so it would be forced to rise.
• 37:15
  Speaker 5: back into the building on the migration route that it
• 37:18
  Speaker 5: took and then it caused hydrostatic pressure to release the
• 37:23
  Speaker 5: pressure and it raised the slab an inch or two.
• 37:26
  Speaker 3: On that one little back section.
• 37:28
  Speaker 5: Yes, which isn't even open to the public or anything.
• 37:31
  Speaker 5: It's in the storage area and mechanical area behind the
• 37:34
  Speaker 5: friends meeting room.
• 37:37
  Speaker 4: And so it's a.
• 37:39
  Speaker 5: Big to-do about nothing and really... You don't even need
• 37:44
  Speaker 5: to address it, really.
• 37:45
  Speaker 3: It's not that the rest of the library is built
• 37:47
  Speaker 3: on slag from the steel mills. So let's not give
• 37:50
  Speaker 3: a false impression. It's on bedrock. We don't have slag
• 37:54
  Speaker 3: from steel mills. It's all washed gravel.
• 37:56
  Speaker 6: Right.
• 37:56
  Speaker 3: It's the person who supplied it can testify to. So
• 38:02
  Speaker 3: we have that. So in turn, when we're talking about...
• 38:08
  Speaker 3: it's a misconception to give the impression that this is
• 38:11
  Speaker 3: a huge problem created by this it was created by
• 38:14
  Speaker 3: the wall that you had nothing to do with that
• 38:17
  Speaker 3: you said we can remedy this problem right we can.
• 38:19
  Speaker 5: Fix it right because they didn't have an obviously um
• 38:23
  Speaker 5: i i checked with other uh engineers and the fact
• 38:26
  Speaker 5: that the uh the wall is only 10 feet off
• 38:28
  Speaker 5: the corner of the building and the fact that it
• 38:30
  Speaker 5: uh it obviously doesn't have enough drainage and weep holes behind.
• 38:35
  Speaker 4: It and through it to allow the water to escape.
• 38:38
  Speaker 5: And if it did, and it could probably be done now,
• 38:41
  Speaker 5: then you would eliminate the backup and the hydrostatic pressure
• 38:45
  Speaker 5: that is causing this.
• 38:46
  Speaker 14: Right.
• 38:46
  Speaker 3: Okay. So that's gone. All right. So that's where it
• 38:52
  Speaker 3: stands from you as an architect.
• 38:54
  Speaker 16: All right.
• 38:54
  Speaker 3: What's the next point that they cover here?
• 38:59
  Speaker 5: Well, he says, which is ridiculous, he says, well, I
• 39:05
  Speaker 5: shouldn't use this word, but he said it is an
• 39:07
  Speaker 5: incorrect statement to claim that poor maintenance is the cause
• 39:11
  Speaker 5: for the issues at Poland East and Austintown. All the
• 39:14
  Speaker 5: facilities in our library system are maintained to a high standard,
• 39:17
  Speaker 5: he said. The primary objective for all maintenance is to
• 39:20
  Speaker 5: ensure all buildings are safe for patrons and staff.
• 39:24
  Speaker 3: Now, I have pictures here. yes i just want to
• 39:27
  Speaker 3: i want you to know that a a woman has
• 39:29
  Speaker 3: taken some pictures and i have these pictures and they're
• 39:33
  Speaker 3: claiming that they did maintenance on this building all right
• 39:36
  Speaker 3: now i'm looking at these pictures and and i want
• 39:39
  Speaker 3: to present these to you after the break this is
• 39:42
  Speaker 3: not a sign of maintenance this is a sign of
• 39:44
  Speaker 3: decay from lack of maintenance stand by stand by back
• 39:47
  Speaker 3: in a.
• 39:48
  Speaker 2: Minute Your one stop for advertising, weather and talk station.
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: 570 WKBN.
• 39:59
  Speaker 3: Back to it. News Radio 570 WKBN. And Ron Verb,
• 40:02
  Speaker 3: the architect who designed the Poland Library, Bob Mastriana. is
• 40:07
  Speaker 3: with me. These are pictures that a woman took. They're
• 40:11
  Speaker 3: claiming they did maintenance. What I'm showing you pictures of,
• 40:15
  Speaker 3: and I'm going to pass these over to you, this
• 40:17
  Speaker 3: does not show maintenance. This shows decay from lack of maintenance.
• 40:21
  Speaker 3: Your comments, please.
• 40:22
  Speaker 5: These are the beautiful outdoor balconies off the adult reading
• 40:25
  Speaker 5: area that overlook Yellow Creek.
• 40:27
  Speaker 3: And what do you see?
• 40:28
  Speaker 5: Total deterioration from the columns on down. The railings are
• 40:34
  Speaker 5: just so deteriorated.
• 40:36
  Speaker 3: From lack of maintenance.
• 40:38
  Speaker 4: From lack of maintenance.
• 40:39
  Speaker 5: The stucco that was on the building has not been maintained,
• 40:43
  Speaker 5: and it has gaps and all rotting.
• 40:47
  Speaker 3: Once again, you're an architect. The people that are claiming
• 40:49
  Speaker 3: that they did maintenance, they are not builders. They are
• 40:52
  Speaker 3: not architects. They have no background in any of this.
• 40:55
  Speaker 5: If you show these in court, they would lose their
• 40:57
  Speaker 5: case immediately. One of the worst is the back of
• 41:00
  Speaker 5: the trellis, the deterioration of the..
• 41:03
  Speaker 4: Of those gorgeous Chatsworth columns.
• 41:05
  Speaker 5: And how they have just been left to deteriorate and rot.
• 41:09
  Speaker 5: And also then the magnificent pergola beams, the 4x12 rough
• 41:14
  Speaker 5: sawn cedar beams have have just gone beyond repair in
• 41:18
  Speaker 5: a lot of cases.
• 41:19
  Speaker 4: Right.
• 41:20
  Speaker 3: That should have been dealt with long before it got
• 41:22
  Speaker 3: to that. It's hard for you to tell me you're
• 41:25
  Speaker 3: doing maintenance when I'm looking at these pictures here.
• 41:27
  Speaker 4: It's obvious.
• 41:28
  Speaker 3: It's a lack of maintenance from that.
• 41:29
  Speaker 5: Yes, and there's no way they can defend this because
• 41:32
  Speaker 5: a picture is worth a thousand words.
• 41:33
  Speaker 8: Right.
• 41:34
  Speaker 3: All right. Let's go to the– well, let me go.
• 41:39
  Speaker 3: That covers the maintenance issue, I suppose so. Are you
• 41:45
  Speaker 3: okay with that? Yes. Bob, okay. Now this shaver said
• 41:49
  Speaker 3: it is an incorrect statement to claim that poor maintenance
• 41:53
  Speaker 3: is a cause for the issue at Poland's East and Austintown.
• 41:56
  Speaker 3: Yet the pictures would contradict everything this guy says. Is
• 42:03
  Speaker 3: he a carpenter? Is he an architect?
• 42:05
  Speaker 5: No, but the same issues you're viewing here in these
• 42:07
  Speaker 5: photographs are also duplicated at the other buildings but not
• 42:11
  Speaker 5: as bad because this was older.
• 42:14
  Speaker 4: But the East Library.
• 42:16
  Speaker 3: Well, this guy says all facilities in our library system
• 42:19
  Speaker 3: are maintained to a high standard. The primary objection for
• 42:22
  Speaker 3: all maintenance is to ensure all buildings are safe for
• 42:25
  Speaker 3: patrons and staff. Well, is this a high maintenance, the
• 42:28
  Speaker 3: picture I'm looking at there?
• 42:30
  Speaker 4: And it's not safe.
• 42:31
  Speaker 5: They don't even have the balconies open anymore because of
• 42:33
  Speaker 5: the deterioration.
• 42:34
  Speaker 3: But that's not high maintenance to let it get like that.
• 42:37
  Speaker 4: No, they've created high maintenance on everything.
• 42:40
  Speaker 6: Correct.
• 42:41
  Speaker 5: And the other problem is they're talking about the palladium
• 42:43
  Speaker 5: finish on the East Library.
• 42:45
  Speaker 3: Stand by with that thought. We're going to address this.
• 42:47
  Speaker 3: We'll get to calls and more ahead. I'm Dr.
• 42:51
  Speaker 4: Cheryl Figliano from.
• 42:53
  Speaker 10: Senate Talks Investment Coach John Arnold Studios. This is 570
• 42:58
  Speaker 10: WKBN Youngstown, an iHeart Radio station, guaranteed human.
• 43:05
  Speaker 25: From ABC News, I'm Michelle Franzen.
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: The U.S.
• 43:08
  Speaker 25: And Iran trading strikes for a second week of renewed hostilities.
• 43:12
  Speaker 25: Two service members were killed Friday in an Iranian attack
• 43:15
  Speaker 25: on a U.S.
• 43:16
  Speaker 26: Base in Jordan.
• 43:17
  Speaker 25: Another service member died in Iraq during a controlled detonation
• 43:20
  Speaker 25: of an Iranian drone.
• 43:21
  Speaker 27: President Trump on social media issuing a stark warning to
• 43:24
  Speaker 27: Iran today after the deaths of three U.S.
• 43:26
  Speaker 26: Service members over the weekend.
• 43:28
  Speaker 27: The president writing, quote, Every time Iran kills an American soldier,
• 43:31
  Speaker 27: they will pay for that killing many times over. He
• 43:35
  Speaker 27: wasn't specific on what this means for further U.S. military
• 43:38
  Speaker 27: action or whether the ongoing strikes will escalate.
• 43:41
  Speaker 21: The U.S.
• 43:41
  Speaker 27: Has hit Iran for nine consecutive nights. The president in
• 43:44
  Speaker 27: his post says he has issued a directive to Defense
• 43:47
  Speaker 27: Secretary Pete Hegseth and the chair of the Joint Chiefs
• 43:49
  Speaker 27: of Staff, Dan Kaine.
• 43:50
  Speaker 26: But he provided no details. Karen Travers, ABC News, the
• 43:53
  Speaker 26: White House.
• 43:54
  Speaker 25: In New York, the FBI says a man accused of
• 43:56
  Speaker 25: dousing a section of the federal building in Manhattan and
• 43:59
  Speaker 25: setting off a firework causing smoke and fire is a
• 44:02
  Speaker 25: former U.S. Army soldier. The suspect, now in custody, identified
• 44:06
  Speaker 25: as Andrew Arobach. The FBI says he was a mechanic
• 44:09
  Speaker 25: of Patriot Missile Systems between 2001 and 2005. The FBI's
• 44:14
  Speaker 25: James Barnicle says Arabach was known to authorities as an
• 44:17
  Speaker 25: anti-government extremist and targeted the building allegedly where immigration court
• 44:21
  Speaker 25: and other government agencies are located. He had two axes,
• 44:25
  Speaker 25: a hammer, a machete, and three knives. Authorities say several
• 44:31
  Speaker 25: people were injured during that incendiary device incident. In Texas,
• 44:35
  Speaker 25: the threat of flooding following major storms continuing. Governor Greg
• 44:38
  Speaker 25: Abbott issuing a state disaster declaration for 59 counties and
• 44:42
  Speaker 25: major disaster declaration seeking federal relief for 28 counties. Abbott
• 44:47
  Speaker 25: commended residents for their efforts to heed warnings.
• 44:49
  Speaker 3: I heard about the trademark resilience of this region always
• 44:54
  Speaker 3: shows whenever they face any type of challenge.
• 44:57
  Speaker 25: Abbott says the skies may be clear, but runoff remains
• 44:59
  Speaker 25: a concern for swollen rivers.
• 45:01
  Speaker 26: You're listening to ABC News.
• 45:04
  Speaker 13: If you haven't.
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• 45:34
  Speaker 1: These days, heading back to school means more than pencils
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: and notebooks.
• 45:37
  Speaker 28: It means laptops, tablets, online accounts, and a lot of
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• 46:05
  Speaker 25: The FDA says the one sample of Taylor Farms lettuce
• 46:08
  Speaker 25: that tested positive for the parasite was a false positive.
• 46:12
  Speaker 25: Taylor Farms says it's continuing the company's recall, though, out
• 46:15
  Speaker 25: of an abundance of caution. Here's ABC's Elizabeth Schulze.
• 46:19
  Speaker 29: Includes market-side brand iceberg lettuce from Walmart with use-by dates
• 46:24
  Speaker 29: of between July 18th and August 3rd, plus bagged iceberg salads,
• 46:28
  Speaker 29: shredded and chopped lettuce, and lettuce romaine blends that were
• 46:31
  Speaker 29: sold to grocery stores and restaurants.
• 46:33
  Speaker 25: It is not technically a precious metal, but the rising
• 46:36
  Speaker 25: value of copper has made it a target for thieves.
• 46:41
  Speaker 19: When a police officer spotted a man in a reflective
• 46:44
  Speaker 19: work coat walking along the West Seattle Bridge with armloads
• 46:47
  Speaker 19: of insulated copper wire, he was suspicious.
• 46:49
  Speaker 3: What is really going on here, man? I told you
• 46:51
  Speaker 3: I was up here working for him.
• 46:52
  Speaker 15: Working for who?
• 46:53
  Speaker 6: City Light.
• 46:54
  Speaker 19: Gregory Wayne Galetsik was arrested on charges of posing as
• 46:57
  Speaker 19: a city employee and stealing about 100 feet of wiring
• 47:00
  Speaker 19: from the light poles on the bridge. Some of the
• 47:02
  Speaker 19: lights are still out almost a month later. Galetsik failed
• 47:05
  Speaker 19: to appear at his arraignment. A warrant was issued for
• 47:08
  Speaker 19: his arrest. Jim Ryan, ABC News.
• 47:10
  Speaker 25: Nearly 800 firefighters are battling 25 blazes across northeastern Minnesota.
• 47:16
  Speaker 25: Firefighters are battling those wildfires and bracing for another challenging
• 47:20
  Speaker 25: stretch as strong winds, recent lightning strikes, and above normal
• 47:25
  Speaker 25: temperatures continue to threaten fire growth. That in addition to
• 47:28
  Speaker 25: the smoke that's billowing into the U.S. from Canadian wildfires.
• 47:32
  Speaker 25: Michelle Franz in ABC News.
• 47:34
  Speaker 13: A to Z dependable service.
• 47:37
  Speaker 2: Now, Ron Verb on NewsRadio 570 WKBN.
• 47:42
  Speaker 3: Back to it, NewsRadio 570 WKBN. Ron Verb with Bob Mastriana.
• 47:47
  Speaker 3: He is the architect of the Poland Library responding to this.
• 47:51
  Speaker 3: Some of these comments that were made in the Vindicator
• 47:54
  Speaker 3: by people that are on the library payroll and of
• 47:58
  Speaker 3: which they're not carpenters or architects. And you're just trying
• 48:02
  Speaker 3: to say from your architectural standpoint and your and your background,
• 48:05
  Speaker 3: this is what caused these problems. And you're just trying
• 48:08
  Speaker 3: to deal with the facts. And I showed you pictures
• 48:11
  Speaker 3: that a woman had sent me that show this decay. Now,
• 48:14
  Speaker 3: this is decay that's clear to me as a result
• 48:17
  Speaker 3: of lack of maintenance. Would you agree with that?
• 48:20
  Speaker 10: Totally.
• 48:21
  Speaker 6: All right.
• 48:21
  Speaker 3: And they're claiming, well, we did all of this maintenance.
• 48:24
  Speaker 3: And you would say.
• 48:26
  Speaker 5: Those products you're seeing on the pictures there, Dan, those
• 48:29
  Speaker 5: are from the finest product manufacturers in the nation and
• 48:32
  Speaker 5: even the world.
• 48:32
  Speaker 4: Tadsworth columns, which are the columns.
• 48:35
  Speaker 5: And you can see. column of that quality deteriorated to
• 48:39
  Speaker 5: the extent it is. It's just mind-boggling.
• 48:43
  Speaker 3: That would be from lack of maintenance.
• 48:44
  Speaker 21: Total, total.
• 48:45
  Speaker 5: In fact, they came, the president of Caswell Columns came
• 48:50
  Speaker 5: personally to see our libraries. He wanted to know how
• 48:54
  Speaker 5: we were using so many hundreds of columns in these,
• 48:58
  Speaker 5: and he would just be sick if he saw how
• 49:01
  Speaker 5: they are today.
• 49:03
  Speaker 3: So this whole maintenance thing is..
• 49:05
  Speaker 4: It's bigger than they're making it to be.
• 49:07
  Speaker 3: Right. I mean, the pictures are different than what they're
• 49:12
  Speaker 3: trying to tell us as far as maintained to a
• 49:15
  Speaker 3: high standard.
• 49:16
  Speaker 4: But what's sad is they just will not admit it.
• 49:19
  Speaker 5: They're still denying it. it, saying that poor maintenance is
• 49:22
  Speaker 5: not the issue. It's the building itself and things like this,
• 49:26
  Speaker 5: and it's just ridiculous. Another proof of this is the.
• 49:30
  Speaker 4: Doctor's office building we did on Applewood Boulevard.
• 49:33
  Speaker 5: At the very same time, we used the Palladian stucco
• 49:37
  Speaker 5: coating on the East Library building. And if you drive
• 49:39
  Speaker 5: by it today, it looks as good as the day
• 49:42
  Speaker 5: it was done, and yet the one in the East
• 49:45
  Speaker 5: Library had to be completely torn off and redone completely.
• 49:49
  Speaker 5: And that just shows the only variable difference, it was
• 49:52
  Speaker 5: even the same color, was the fact that they just
• 49:56
  Speaker 5: never maintained it where the doctor's office did.
• 49:59
  Speaker 3: And he's had no problems with it.
• 50:00
  Speaker 4: No problems at all.
• 50:01
  Speaker 5: And then also they were complaining about on the East
• 50:03
  Speaker 5: Library that there was no no ventilation and things like this. Well,
• 50:07
  Speaker 5: if they knew anything about SIPS panels, those are called
• 50:10
  Speaker 5: structural insulated panels. They don't require ventilation because they're a
• 50:13
  Speaker 5: solid panel. There's no attic airspace or anything like that.
• 50:16
  Speaker 5: And so that's one reason why there was no ventilation
• 50:19
  Speaker 5: on it because they're not required when you use structural
• 50:22
  Speaker 5: insulated panels, which are the same roofing system and everything
• 50:25
  Speaker 5: we put on at St. Charles Church and many other buildings.
• 50:28
  Speaker 5: It's the state-of-the-art structural roofing systems and also wall systems that...
• 50:34
  Speaker 5: this building was used. But if you don't maintain the
• 50:37
  Speaker 5: coatings on it, then it's naturally going to deteriorate. So
• 50:40
  Speaker 5: everything that's happened here is all related to maintenance and
• 50:45
  Speaker 5: lack of it.
• 50:46
  Speaker 14: Right.
• 50:47
  Speaker 3: And so this is pictures from Poland. They go on
• 50:52
  Speaker 3: to talk about Austintown and some, and what, east with
• 50:57
  Speaker 3: some issues. Okay, so it's maintenance, just like in your home.
• 51:02
  Speaker 3: If you don't do maintenance, you're going to have water intrusion,
• 51:05
  Speaker 3: to say the least. By the way, this idea where,
• 51:10
  Speaker 3: let me, you, the people of Poland, it seems to me,
• 51:15
  Speaker 3: overwhelmingly want this facility saved. I mean, overwhelmingly.
• 51:20
  Speaker 8: Yes.
• 51:21
  Speaker 4: In fact, people have never.
• 51:23
  Speaker 3: I mean they claim they talked to, what, 200 people
• 51:25
  Speaker 3: or did some survey of 200 people?
• 51:27
  Speaker 8: Yeah.
• 51:27
  Speaker 4: We have 4,000 people on petitions saying they want it saved.
• 51:31
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 51:31
  Speaker 4: So that's just the start of it. So there isn't
• 51:34
  Speaker 4: one person.
• 51:35
  Speaker 5: That ever said anything different that we're aware of. And
• 51:38
  Speaker 5: we'd love them to call in right now and see– If,
• 51:42
  Speaker 5: in fact..
• 51:43
  Speaker 3: Just call me Ron. That's all I ask, Dan Rivers.
• 51:45
  Speaker 8: I'm sorry.
• 51:46
  Speaker 3: You're on the hot seat, though. I like to make
• 51:49
  Speaker 3: people nervous. But needless to say, I mean, these are
• 51:53
  Speaker 3: some issues that we're having. Address some of the other
• 51:56
  Speaker 3: things in this article, and then we'll... that you found
• 52:00
  Speaker 3: and I found so troubling.
• 52:02
  Speaker 5: One other thing that's obvious is that they still... that
• 52:13
  Speaker 5: all the artwork in the bus were not removed and
• 52:17
  Speaker 5: that while some of the items were removed, many plaques, bus,
• 52:21
  Speaker 5: and artwork remain. And that is not the truth at
• 52:25
  Speaker 5: all because we were suppliers of all the bus. And
• 52:27
  Speaker 5: there's only three out of 40 that are still there.
• 52:30
  Speaker 5: All the beautiful artwork, the gorgeous oil paintings that Phyllis
• 52:36
  Speaker 5: Baird did for the adult reading area are all gone.
• 52:40
  Speaker 5: everything that was, all the pond yachts are gone, everything
• 52:44
  Speaker 5: that they say are still there or not.
• 52:46
  Speaker 4: Now, these are those, these are again.
• 52:50
  Speaker 5: Those, you might as well call it the way it is,
• 52:53
  Speaker 5: those lies that they try and deceive the people because
• 52:56
  Speaker 5: they have stripped the building of all of its beauty
• 52:59
  Speaker 5: and you can go in and see it for yourself
• 53:02
  Speaker 5: that what we're saying is the absolute truth.
• 53:04
  Speaker 4: And the problem is.
• 53:05
  Speaker 5: They, in 2003, They instituted a new policy, which should
• 53:13
  Speaker 5: not have happened because it was done way after all
• 53:17
  Speaker 5: these dollars were donated. And they didn't even have any
• 53:22
  Speaker 5: retroactive consideration to all the people that gave all that money,
• 53:26
  Speaker 5: like a million, million and a half. And what they
• 53:28
  Speaker 5: did is they said from this point on, 2003, there
• 53:31
  Speaker 5: would be no more– items that have been donated required
• 53:38
  Speaker 5: to be left there in the building. And they have
• 53:41
  Speaker 5: the total control and choice of whatever they want to
• 53:44
  Speaker 5: do with it. And that just appalled me and everyone
• 53:49
  Speaker 5: else who donated because it's not at all what we
• 53:52
  Speaker 5: were told. And what we were told is what we
• 53:55
  Speaker 5: saw in the brochures and the contracts that we signed
• 53:58
  Speaker 5: with them. And, for instance, one of the most grievous
• 54:04
  Speaker 5: things that they did was They agreed, the library board,
• 54:09
  Speaker 5: the old library board, had made a contract with the
• 54:12
  Speaker 5: recycling division of Mahoning County to help offset the cost
• 54:16
  Speaker 5: of using recycled materials. We talked about that before because
• 54:19
  Speaker 5: that was their mission, and they wanted to expose that
• 54:22
  Speaker 5: we were the very first building in the area to
• 54:24
  Speaker 5: use recycled products. And we had done a lot of
• 54:28
  Speaker 5: research on them, and so we weren't specifying them blindly
• 54:32
  Speaker 5: at all, but... but they were going to give us
• 54:36
  Speaker 5: a $ 400, 000 grant, $ 250, 000 outright, and $ 150, 000 in matching funds
• 54:41
  Speaker 5: if we agreed to use recycled materials. And for that,
• 54:46
  Speaker 5: all the library had to do was to provide a
• 54:49
  Speaker 5: permanent display in the library's lower level as an educational
• 54:53
  Speaker 5: tool for students and those concerned with environmental issues. All
• 54:56
  Speaker 5: these years, that beautiful, and it was very professionally done,
• 55:01
  Speaker 5: display was... It was in the lower level of the
• 55:03
  Speaker 5: library right by the meeting room. And then all of
• 55:09
  Speaker 5: a sudden, it's gone. And that's not at all what
• 55:13
  Speaker 5: they had agreed to and the recycling division in Mahoning County.
• 55:17
  Speaker 4: Had agreed to.
• 55:19
  Speaker 5: That is another example of not honoring the commitments they did.
• 55:23
  Speaker 3: Like removing the brickwork that Moransky's family donated, the bus
• 55:29
  Speaker 3: that your family donated, the green team here. All of
• 55:34
  Speaker 3: this stuff that citizens paid for for the library is gone.
• 55:39
  Speaker 7: Right.
• 55:39
  Speaker 5: And why would you institute a retroactive type policy when
• 55:46
  Speaker 5: it was done by the other boards previous to them
• 55:48
  Speaker 5: and that It seems like it should be honored. It's
• 55:52
  Speaker 5: just not right that this board can do whatever they
• 55:55
  Speaker 5: want and have taken these actions just for whatever reason.
• 56:01
  Speaker 10: But..
• 56:02
  Speaker 3: My biggest concern with this board is it seems like
• 56:04
  Speaker 3: it's not responsive to the citizens of Poland. This library
• 56:08
  Speaker 3: is in Poland.
• 56:09
  Speaker 7: Right.
• 56:10
  Speaker 3: And it is certainly my impression from being here in
• 56:14
  Speaker 3: the catbird seats and yours from being there that the
• 56:17
  Speaker 3: majority of people in Poland would like this library to
• 56:19
  Speaker 3: stay exactly where it's at, would like the situation to
• 56:22
  Speaker 3: be fixed. And why is it okay– let me ask you, Mr. Architect,
• 56:26
  Speaker 3: to put whatever, $ 26 million or whatever they did in
• 56:29
  Speaker 3: the downtown library. They spent an exorbitant amount of money
• 56:32
  Speaker 3: down there and didn't even match the architecture. Why is
• 56:35
  Speaker 3: that okay to do that? But it's not okay to
• 56:38
  Speaker 3: put $ 5, $ 6, $ 7 million into fixing this problem. Can
• 56:41
  Speaker 3: you explain that to me?
• 56:42
  Speaker 4: Yeah, because it was the pet project of this library director.
• 56:46
  Speaker 3: To get rid of this one.
• 56:48
  Speaker 5: Yes, and it shows just because of the architectural firm
• 56:52
  Speaker 5: that he ended up– uh, forcing on the board, uh,
• 56:56
  Speaker 5: this contemporary firm out of Cleveland. They're the ones that
• 56:59
  Speaker 5: are really at fault at a lot of this. They
• 57:00
  Speaker 5: were at fault for, uh, suggesting all these changes on
• 57:03
  Speaker 5: the Poland library and they're at fault for the, uh,
• 57:06
  Speaker 5: the design of how, uh, how, um, uh, irrespectful they
• 57:10
  Speaker 5: were of the Carnegie building downtown.
• 57:12
  Speaker 3: And, um, um, they did, in your opinion, they didn't keep, uh, with,
• 57:17
  Speaker 3: with the original design of the building, right?
• 57:19
  Speaker 4: Or the streetscape, right? The street is as important as
• 57:22
  Speaker 4: the building itself.
• 57:23
  Speaker 12: And, uh, uh..
• 57:24
  Speaker 4: There's no uh..
• 57:25
  Speaker 5: It's just a an eyesore when you drive up wick
• 57:28
  Speaker 5: avenue now and uh..
• 57:30
  Speaker 18: Uh..
• 57:30
  Speaker 12: And uh..
• 57:31
  Speaker 3: But I'm just trying to figure, well, you know, we
• 57:32
  Speaker 3: spend 20-something million dollars downtown. So if we have to spend,
• 57:36
  Speaker 3: if we can solve this problem, like you say, by
• 57:38
  Speaker 3: dealing with this wall, and we can fix this issue
• 57:42
  Speaker 3: and get to this building on a maintenance program, let's
• 57:44
  Speaker 3: say that's $ 5, $ 6, $ 7 million to do that. That's
• 57:48
  Speaker 3: certainly a lot less than the 20-something million they spent downtown.
• 57:52
  Speaker 5: And remember, the downtown library only serves 9% of the population.
• 57:56
  Speaker 4: Poland serves 25% of the population.
• 58:01
  Speaker 5: And they have five libraries in the Youngstown district community,
• 58:06
  Speaker 5: five libraries. And they spent that much just on the
• 58:10
  Speaker 5: one where all of our other communities have– there's only
• 58:15
  Speaker 5: five other libraries that are not part of the downtown
• 58:18
  Speaker 5: library system. And yet they spend all that money down
• 58:20
  Speaker 5: there and it's just not– it doesn't even make sense.
• 58:25
  Speaker 5: So they– there's no transparency or accountability or respect for
• 58:30
  Speaker 5: the community. and they say they have, but there definitely isn't,
• 58:34
  Speaker 5: not like it was in the past with the library board.
• 58:37
  Speaker 5: They have personally, I think, destroyed the reputation of the library,
• 58:42
  Speaker 5: and all the years that it was such a significant
• 58:47
  Speaker 5: asset to the community and loved by everyone has just
• 58:51
  Speaker 5: gone by the wayside now because of their actions of
• 58:54
  Speaker 5: the board and the director.
• 58:57
  Speaker 3: Well, they claim, you know, they did these outreach programs.
• 59:00
  Speaker 3: The library's director and CEO and strategic communications officer spoke
• 59:04
  Speaker 3: with more than 200 people in our community, engaging them
• 59:08
  Speaker 3: as they visit the library or community events. They created
• 59:12
  Speaker 3: an online survey that was shared with cardholders and patrons
• 59:17
  Speaker 3: in their branches, 800 responses. They held town halls in
• 59:21
  Speaker 3: every branch with more than 200 staff members.
• 59:24
  Speaker 5: You remember what we talked about, what– what the comedy
• 59:29
  Speaker 5: of errors it is when you go in and ask to, uh, uh, uh,
• 59:33
  Speaker 5: present yourself, uh, and want to have, uh, communication with
• 59:36
  Speaker 5: the board meetings. Remember you have to, you have to,
• 59:39
  Speaker 5: first of all, call, call in or write in, uh,
• 59:41
  Speaker 5: three days ahead of time. You have to give them the, uh,
• 59:44
  Speaker 5: subject matter you're going to talk with. Um, you're only
• 59:46
  Speaker 5: allowed to talk for three minutes. Um, if you have
• 59:49
  Speaker 5: a group that is going to talk, uh, the total
• 59:51
  Speaker 5: of the time cannot be more than 20 minutes.
• 59:53
  Speaker 4: And, um, And if they approve what you're asking.
• 59:56
  Speaker 3: So it doesn't seem they want to hear the public
• 59:57
  Speaker 3: very much.
• 59:58
  Speaker 4: No, they don't. But this is what they're saying. They're
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 4: so responsive and attentive and things like this.
• 1:00:03
  Speaker 5: So you go there, and then you have to sign
• 1:00:05
  Speaker 5: in again, and then you're given that time. And I
• 1:00:10
  Speaker 5: hadn't heard an old-fashioned alarm clock like that since I
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 5: was a kid. It's something you see in the old-fashioned movies. Anyway,
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 5: so they ring that bell, and while you're talking, they're
• 1:00:19
  Speaker 5: just sitting there like.
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 4: And I'll be honest, like zombies.
• 1:00:23
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 1:00:23
  Speaker 15: Okay.
• 1:00:24
  Speaker 4: There's no expression.
• 1:00:25
  Speaker 3: In other words, you're going through the motions.
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 8: Yes.
• 1:00:27
  Speaker 5: And they do not answer you. They're not supposed to.
• 1:00:32
  Speaker 3: See, here's my problem with this arrogance. My problem is
• 1:00:35
  Speaker 3: this is paid for by taxpayers.
• 1:00:38
  Speaker 25: Correct.
• 1:00:38
  Speaker 3: And you can say whatever you want about the anti-tax groups,
• 1:00:42
  Speaker 3: of which I'm paying enough in property taxes. I've said
• 1:00:45
  Speaker 3: it before. I'll say it again. The library has more
• 1:00:47
  Speaker 3: money than it knows what to do with.
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 30: Right.
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 3: But the problem, and I'll say that to all of you,
• 1:00:52
  Speaker 3: the library has more money than it knows what to
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 3: do with. And you are seeing, from a taxpayer standpoint,
• 1:00:57
  Speaker 3: arrogance like I've never seen before. You are seeing people,
• 1:01:01
  Speaker 3: clearly to me, overwhelmingly in a community that want this
• 1:01:03
  Speaker 3: facility fixed and stay right where it is. And it
• 1:01:06
  Speaker 3: is very fixable. It is extremely fixable as opposed to
• 1:01:11
  Speaker 3: a new facility. And there's more to this. There's the library.
• 1:01:14
  Speaker 3: There's what it's done to the town. And they would
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 3: like to see this fixed. And yet they're just simply ignored.
• 1:01:22
  Speaker 3: Sit down. Shut up. Pay your taxes. Let's hire a
• 1:01:25
  Speaker 3: bunch of people that aren't architects, that aren't carpenters. Let's
• 1:01:29
  Speaker 3: try to go after Bob here, who is an architect
• 1:01:33
  Speaker 3: whose heart is in your community. I mean, you love it.
• 1:01:36
  Speaker 3: You designed Walgreens. Poland has a standard. And you've done
• 1:01:41
  Speaker 3: all of this stuff.
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 4: Peterson Park, everything.
• 1:01:43
  Speaker 3: You've done all of this stuff. So let's attack him.
• 1:01:48
  Speaker 3: Being attacked from people that aren't architects or aren't carpenters
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 3: or don't understand maintenance when the pictures speak for themselves.
• 1:01:54
  Speaker 3: But we're on the payroll. We're collecting. So I'm paying
• 1:01:58
  Speaker 3: these people with my tax dollars to attack a person
• 1:02:02
  Speaker 3: of credibility like you. And I'm sitting back saying, well,
• 1:02:05
  Speaker 3: wait a minute. This is insanity. These are my tax dollars.
• 1:02:09
  Speaker 3: in this community right that i'm paying in in the
• 1:02:11
  Speaker 3: state is paying i got a library director who's unresponsive
• 1:02:15
  Speaker 3: i got people that are attacking you you come on
• 1:02:17
  Speaker 3: this program live they can certainly call in and talk
• 1:02:20
  Speaker 3: to you directly when you're sitting right in that chair
• 1:02:22
  Speaker 3: right there period.
• 1:02:24
  Speaker 5: Right the thing i don't understand is if this uh
• 1:02:27
  Speaker 5: renovation uh to uh uh to redo all the lack
• 1:02:31
  Speaker 5: of maintenance on the library is five to six million
• 1:02:33
  Speaker 5: dollars and that was confirmed by uh Ted Downey of
• 1:02:36
  Speaker 5: Downey Construction, who's well-respected in the construction world. Why would
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 5: they want to spend $ 9 million to $ 9. 5 million? Because
• 1:02:48
  Speaker 5: I know it's going to be that. I already calculated
• 1:02:50
  Speaker 5: that based on their figures, which they said they had
• 1:02:54
  Speaker 5: in their report that they were indefensible. I mean, defensible,
• 1:02:59
  Speaker 5: you couldn't– that they were the honest, true figures of
• 1:03:02
  Speaker 5: They're going to be spending, we spend $ 185 a square foot,
• 1:03:05
  Speaker 5: including furnitures. They're going to spend over $ 400 a square
• 1:03:08
  Speaker 5: foot for half the size. But the point is they're spending.
• 1:03:12
  Speaker 3: Well, back in a minute. Stay tuned.
• 1:03:18
  Speaker 1: Station 570 WKBN.
• 1:03:20
  Speaker 17: All right.
• 1:03:20
  Speaker 3: So now I will open up my phone lines. Bob
• 1:03:23
  Speaker 3: Mastriana is sitting right there, the architect. If you agree,
• 1:03:28
  Speaker 3: if you disagree, you know what? Let's see here. So
• 1:03:31
  Speaker 3: my phone lines are open, and if any of these
• 1:03:33
  Speaker 3: people would like to talk to Bob directly on the air,
• 1:03:37
  Speaker 3: I invite them to do so. This Kosberg, this Shaver,
• 1:03:44
  Speaker 3: and any of the other names that are in this
• 1:03:50
  Speaker 3: article that are with the library system. If you have
• 1:03:54
  Speaker 3: a problem with what Bob has been saying, then pick
• 1:03:58
  Speaker 3: up the phone and call him right now. and speak
• 1:04:01
  Speaker 3: to him directly on the air and to the people
• 1:04:04
  Speaker 3: of our community here. about if you have specific issues
• 1:04:09
  Speaker 3: that you would like to address, whether that's the woman
• 1:04:13
  Speaker 3: that's in charge of the library who doesn't seem to
• 1:04:15
  Speaker 3: say too much. She has all these other people speaking
• 1:04:19
  Speaker 3: that are on the payroll. Or anybody else that has
• 1:04:23
  Speaker 3: a thought that you would like to express to Bob here, 330-729-9977.
• 1:04:26
  Speaker 10: 330-729-9977.
• 1:04:26
  Speaker 3: I have a line open if you want to get through.
• 1:04:35
  Speaker 3: and you want to speak pro or con and ask
• 1:04:38
  Speaker 3: a question to the architect, feel free to do so, 330-729-9977.
• 1:04:45
  Speaker 3: Why not speak directly to him? Why not have a
• 1:04:49
  Speaker 3: forum where you can engage with him? And you're on
• 1:04:51
  Speaker 3: the air.
• 1:04:51
  Speaker 7: Hello.
• 1:04:53
  Speaker 17: Hey, Ron.
• 1:04:54
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 1:04:55
  Speaker 31: Yeah, I'm listening to this man. You can just tell
• 1:04:57
  Speaker 31: by listening to him this guy is not a joke.
• 1:05:00
  Speaker 20: He's very credible.
• 1:05:02
  Speaker 31: And one of the guys, the people had made a
• 1:05:04
  Speaker 31: comment in social media saying, and I'd like to know
• 1:05:07
  Speaker 31: from his perspective, because I think I know the difference.
• 1:05:10
  Speaker 31: But they're saying he's speaking from an architect position versus
• 1:05:14
  Speaker 31: an engineer position. And that was one of their critiques,
• 1:05:18
  Speaker 31: that he is not a structural engineer. So maybe he
• 1:05:21
  Speaker 31: could talk about how architects still have to have that knowledge.
• 1:05:27
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 1:05:29
  Speaker 31: Or help people to understand that.
• 1:05:31
  Speaker 3: All right, stand by. He'll answer your question. Go ahead.
• 1:05:34
  Speaker 4: That's a good question.
• 1:05:36
  Speaker 5: Really, one way to look at it is the architect
• 1:05:38
  Speaker 5: is the orchestra leader, just like in a symphony. He
• 1:05:42
  Speaker 5: directs and controls everyone, and he admits, if he's a
• 1:05:46
  Speaker 5: good architect, that he needs to bring on the experts
• 1:05:49
  Speaker 5: in all the different disciplines that are necessary.
• 1:05:51
  Speaker 1: As you did.
• 1:05:53
  Speaker 5: So we bring in the technical soil, the geotechnical people.
• 1:05:57
  Speaker 5: We bring in the structural engineers. We bring in the
• 1:06:00
  Speaker 5: heating engineers, the electrical engineers, landscape architects. We bring in
• 1:06:04
  Speaker 5: everyone and form a team that we all work together
• 1:06:07
  Speaker 5: then to make sure that there aren't any oversights or
• 1:06:10
  Speaker 5: anything like that. And that's exactly what we did in
• 1:06:12
  Speaker 5: this case and we do with all of our major
• 1:06:15
  Speaker 5: commercial buildings.
• 1:06:17
  Speaker 3: Next question. Go ahead.
• 1:06:19
  Speaker 31: Yeah, I mean, well, I don't really have another question.
• 1:06:21
  Speaker 31: I guess my next statement would be that if they
• 1:06:24
  Speaker 31: do not want, if they want to do all, if
• 1:06:26
  Speaker 31: they want to kick this, tear this library down and
• 1:06:28
  Speaker 31: relocate it somewhere else in Poland, that to me is insane.
• 1:06:35
  Speaker 31: We have 251 public library systems over 88 counties in
• 1:06:40
  Speaker 31: Mahoning County alone. We have 15 library locations. If you
• 1:06:45
  Speaker 31: don't want this one, we don't want to buy another one.
• 1:06:48
  Speaker 31: We want this library.
• 1:06:49
  Speaker 7: If you don't want.
• 1:06:50
  Speaker 31: This library and you're so hellbent about getting rid of it,
• 1:06:55
  Speaker 31: nobody wants another one. I don't know anybody who is like, yeah,
• 1:06:58
  Speaker 31: sign me up. You can throw a stone and hit
• 1:07:01
  Speaker 31: a library in this county.
• 1:07:02
  Speaker 3: Do you feel that the public is not being, the
• 1:07:05
  Speaker 3: taxpayer is not being listened to by this group?
• 1:07:10
  Speaker 31: Listen, it's apparent. I'm not even with this library group
• 1:07:13
  Speaker 31: and just listening to all of this and reading everything.
• 1:07:16
  Speaker 31: It's apparent nobody cares what Poland wants. And these people
• 1:07:21
  Speaker 31: have donated a lot of time and money to this
• 1:07:25
  Speaker 31: particular library, and nobody cares what they say. The way
• 1:07:28
  Speaker 31: that this whole organization is set up is astonishing that
• 1:07:32
  Speaker 31: this is even a thing. Like, how could this have
• 1:07:34
  Speaker 31: happened that they can exist this way and totally disregard
• 1:07:38
  Speaker 31: people It honestly is mind-blowing how we got here.
• 1:07:44
  Speaker 7: Right.
• 1:07:44
  Speaker 31: With our tax dollars, how did this even evolve to
• 1:07:49
  Speaker 31: them being so insulated? They don't have to answer questions.
• 1:07:52
  Speaker 31: They don't have to... And I don't know. Honestly, it's
• 1:07:56
  Speaker 31: so frustrating. But you can tell that this man is
• 1:07:59
  Speaker 31: not a joke. I mean, anybody who's listening, you can
• 1:08:02
  Speaker 31: listen to this man and tell that he is a professional.
• 1:08:07
  Speaker 3: Yes, he is.
• 1:08:07
  Speaker 18: He's not lying.
• 1:08:08
  Speaker 31: I don't understand where the disconnect is. I want somebody
• 1:08:11
  Speaker 31: to call. Please, I hope somebody calls in. Prove me wrong.
• 1:08:16
  Speaker 31: Tell me why this man is so out of his mind.
• 1:08:20
  Speaker 31: I want somebody to call in on the other side.
• 1:08:22
  Speaker 3: Thank you. Appreciate your time. Back with Bob and Maura
• 1:08:25
  Speaker 3: in a minute.
• 1:08:26
  Speaker 15: Let's start here. So good morning and welcome.
• 1:08:28
  Speaker 18: We are now underway.
• 1:08:29
  Speaker 1: We're following the events of the day.
• 1:08:32
  Speaker 17: What we're just now hearing about. This is new information.
• 1:08:34
  Speaker 1: Throughout the day.
• 1:08:36
  Speaker 15: Good day.
• 1:08:36
  Speaker 18: This is where it stands now.
• 1:08:38
  Speaker 1: Pick up the conversation.
• 1:08:39
  Speaker 15: We'll talk about what's happening.
• 1:08:41
  Speaker 6: Anytime.
• 1:08:41
  Speaker 17: Deal we reached with Iran.
• 1:08:43
  Speaker 21: The devil's in the details. Bringing the price of gasoline down.
• 1:08:46
  Speaker 17: Maintain the Fed funds rate.
• 1:08:47
  Speaker 14: Tying Pfizer to the save app.
• 1:08:49
  Speaker 9: NATO has been a paper tiger for.
• 1:08:51
  Speaker 1: The very latest.
• 1:08:52
  Speaker 6: We'll see how that all plays out.
• 1:08:54
  Speaker 1: News Radio 570 WKBN.
• 1:08:55
  Speaker 22: The Canadian wildfire.
• 1:09:00
  Speaker 32: Smoke is still lingering in parts of Ohio today with
• 1:09:02
  Speaker 32: air quality alerts in effect for northeast Ohio, including the
• 1:09:05
  Speaker 32: cities of Cleveland and Akron, along with counties in the
• 1:09:07
  Speaker 32: Columbus and Dayton areas. Northeast Ohio has seen the worst
• 1:09:10
  Speaker 32: of the smoke, causing the Cleveland Guardians game Friday night
• 1:09:13
  Speaker 32: against the Pittsburgh Pirates to be postponed to Saturday.
• 1:09:15
  Speaker 3: Made up during a doubleheader.
• 1:09:17
  Speaker 32: Meantime, a man who Toledo police say was waving and
• 1:09:19
  Speaker 32: pointing a gun at others at a gas station overnight
• 1:09:22
  Speaker 32: was shot and killed by police officers. The call coming
• 1:09:25
  Speaker 32: in from a Sheetz just after 3.30 yesterday morning with
• 1:09:28
  Speaker 32: a suspect dying at the hospital and the officer involved
• 1:09:31
  Speaker 32: has been placed on paid administrative leave as the investigation
• 1:09:34
  Speaker 32: takes place. In the meantime, entering the new week, Ohio's
• 1:09:37
  Speaker 32: gas price averages at $ 3. 89, which is up 5 cents
• 1:09:41
  Speaker 32: compared to last Sunday. And when looking back a month,
• 1:09:44
  Speaker 32: the price is just a penny less and 94 cents high.
• 1:09:47
  Speaker 3: Compared to a year ago. I'm Brady Hopkins.
• 1:10:02
  Speaker 1: On NewsRadio 570 WKBN.
• 1:10:04
  Speaker 2: All right, with Ron Firm at 435 in the afternoon,
• 1:10:08
  Speaker 2: NewsRadio 570 WKBN.
• 1:10:10
  Speaker 3: Before I go back to my phone calls, when they
• 1:10:11
  Speaker 3: talk about the new building and the maintenance costs versus
• 1:10:15
  Speaker 3: the old building, I've always learned that systems have a
• 1:10:19
  Speaker 3: lifespan on them. Just like in my house, my furnace
• 1:10:21
  Speaker 3: is good for 20, 25 years. Then when I replace it,
• 1:10:24
  Speaker 3: I get another one for another 25 years. So if
• 1:10:27
  Speaker 3: we replace, let's say, the heating and cooling system on
• 1:10:30
  Speaker 3: the existing Poland library, And we put a new one
• 1:10:33
  Speaker 3: in because it's 25 years old, then that system is
• 1:10:37
  Speaker 3: going to be good for another 25 years. Now, if
• 1:10:39
  Speaker 3: we go build a new building and we put a
• 1:10:41
  Speaker 3: new system on, that system is going to be good
• 1:10:43
  Speaker 3: for 25 years.
• 1:10:44
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 1:10:45
  Speaker 3: So it doesn't matter. No, it's a wash. It's a wash. Yeah.
• 1:10:49
  Speaker 3: I mean, so you can fix the building you have,
• 1:10:52
  Speaker 3: put a new system on, and you got the same
• 1:10:54
  Speaker 3: expiration date as the new one.
• 1:10:56
  Speaker 14: Right.
• 1:10:56
  Speaker 3: I mean, that's the mechanics of it.
• 1:10:58
  Speaker 5: But their scenario is that the maintenance costs don't decrease.
• 1:11:02
  Speaker 5: They stay current and keep growing when actually they were eliminated.
• 1:11:05
  Speaker 5: Every time they fix something, it's no longer part of
• 1:11:08
  Speaker 5: an expense.
• 1:11:09
  Speaker 3: It resets the clock. Yes. And if you do basic
• 1:11:12
  Speaker 3: maintenance and maintain the building, then your maintenance costs are
• 1:11:15
  Speaker 3: just routine maintenance that you would have on a new facility, too.
• 1:11:18
  Speaker 6: Yes.
• 1:11:18
  Speaker 3: You build a new facility, you should have routine maintenance
• 1:11:22
  Speaker 3: on it, too.
• 1:11:23
  Speaker 10: Right.
• 1:11:24
  Speaker 3: If you have an old facility or an older, you
• 1:11:26
  Speaker 3: still have routine maintenance on it.
• 1:11:27
  Speaker 7: I know.
• 1:11:28
  Speaker 4: And that's so elementary.
• 1:11:29
  Speaker 5: And that's why I can't understand this board, if they're
• 1:11:31
  Speaker 5: using that as their major reason for leaving.
• 1:11:34
  Speaker 3: I don't think they understand contracting.
• 1:11:36
  Speaker 4: I don't think they understand life.
• 1:11:39
  Speaker 3: You might be right about that. All right, you're on
• 1:11:41
  Speaker 3: the air. NewsRadio 570.
• 1:11:43
  Speaker 7: Hello.
• 1:11:44
  Speaker 16: This is Tom. I was just holding on to see
• 1:11:46
  Speaker 16: if you had any questions. I do have a question
• 1:11:50
  Speaker 16: about the building. That building was built 25 years ago
• 1:11:54
  Speaker 16: for $ 7. 5 million, as I understand it.
• 1:11:57
  Speaker 21: Correct.
• 1:11:57
  Speaker 16: What would it cost to build that building today?
• 1:12:02
  Speaker 4: It could be, I would think, at least equal to
• 1:12:07
  Speaker 4: what they spent downtown.
• 1:12:08
  Speaker 3: $ 20- something million?
• 1:12:10
  Speaker 18: Yeah.
• 1:12:11
  Speaker 16: So you're going to trash this building, which today would
• 1:12:14
  Speaker 16: cost you that much money, when you only paid $ 7. 5
• 1:12:18
  Speaker 16: million for it. It doesn't make sense. Why not invest
• 1:12:22
  Speaker 16: the amount of money it's needed to fix it to
• 1:12:24
  Speaker 16: keep that building? Because it's much more valuable today than
• 1:12:28
  Speaker 16: it was 20 years ago, 25 years ago. That's my opinion.
• 1:12:31
  Speaker 16: They don't think about stuff like that. I have one
• 1:12:34
  Speaker 16: other question myself, and that is, Bob, was that a
• 1:12:39
  Speaker 16: Vindicator article? I was kind of preoccupied the past weekend.
• 1:12:45
  Speaker 16: Was that a Vindicator article?
• 1:12:47
  Speaker 17: Yes.
• 1:12:48
  Speaker 16: Did the person who wrote the article contact you and
• 1:12:51
  Speaker 16: ask you for a pardon?
• 1:12:53
  Speaker 4: No, they just used what we spoke on the program.
• 1:12:57
  Speaker 16: Right, not what the comments were about you. And the
• 1:13:01
  Speaker 16: other thing is, why isn't the trustees... Why don't the trustees...
• 1:13:05
  Speaker 16: They made the decision... not Amy, not Jack Cosberg, not
• 1:13:11
  Speaker 16: anyone else. They made the decision, and yet for some
• 1:13:14
  Speaker 16: reason they don't answer any of the questions. So this
• 1:13:18
  Speaker 16: is what I was speaking about the last time I
• 1:13:20
  Speaker 16: talked on this, control. Is the board really in power
• 1:13:28
  Speaker 16: down there? Is the board making the decisions, or are
• 1:13:32
  Speaker 16: they just writing off whatever, agreeing to whatever is done by...
• 1:13:37
  Speaker 16: the CEO and other people on that board. That's what
• 1:13:40
  Speaker 16: it sounds like to me. I have yet to hear
• 1:13:43
  Speaker 16: maybe one person had some comments, but when you get
• 1:13:47
  Speaker 16: into making a decision like this involving tens of millions
• 1:13:51
  Speaker 16: of dollars and you're the one who made the decision,
• 1:13:53
  Speaker 16: you should be able to talk about that decision. And
• 1:13:56
  Speaker 16: I haven't heard that from the Board of Trustees. And
• 1:13:58
  Speaker 16: that's why you need somebody who's accountable to the taxpayer
• 1:14:03
  Speaker 16: because then they have to answer to the taxpayer if
• 1:14:05
  Speaker 16: taxpayers don't like the decision. but that's not the case here.
• 1:14:09
  Speaker 16: So those are the comments I had to make right now.
• 1:14:12
  Speaker 16: If you have any other questions for me on... I
• 1:14:15
  Speaker 16: have one article here I was reading that I would
• 1:14:18
  Speaker 16: like to just quote a little bit.
• 1:14:20
  Speaker 8: It's from..
• 1:14:20
  Speaker 16: It says WKBN. I don't know which part of WKBN.
• 1:14:23
  Speaker 16: It says Jacob Thompson, and it was written in August
• 1:14:27
  Speaker 16: of 2023. And it said they're talking about... The reopening
• 1:14:35
  Speaker 16: of the Poland Library, and I'll just quote parts of it,
• 1:14:38
  Speaker 16: it's a really large building. If you've been in here before,
• 1:14:41
  Speaker 16: especially when some kids are here, the sound carries. Okay,
• 1:14:44
  Speaker 16: and so the library, if you say the 23-year-old building
• 1:14:47
  Speaker 16: needed some work done on the inside, the building really
• 1:14:51
  Speaker 16: hadn't really been renovated since it was built and opened
• 1:14:55
  Speaker 16: around the year 2000. It was really overdue for some
• 1:14:58
  Speaker 16: refresh work on the outside, but they mentioned that they
• 1:15:01
  Speaker 16: did architectural design and consultation, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, electrical upgrades,
• 1:15:08
  Speaker 16: clock tower repairs, painting, carpeting, and furniture. So I don't
• 1:15:12
  Speaker 16: really know whether they meant that the building hadn't received
• 1:15:16
  Speaker 16: any renovation work in the 25 years or whether they
• 1:15:22
  Speaker 16: were talking about just the inside. But, you know, it's
• 1:15:25
  Speaker 16: just something you notice there. So I had a question.
• 1:15:29
  Speaker 16: It doesn't make sense to, you know, I just think,
• 1:15:31
  Speaker 16: why would you take a building that's worth as much
• 1:15:36
  Speaker 16: as it would be to cost to build it today
• 1:15:39
  Speaker 16: and get rid of it when all you have to
• 1:15:40
  Speaker 16: do is fix it and you still have that beautiful building?
• 1:15:44
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 1:15:46
  Speaker 3: No, I think that makes perfect sense. My biggest concern
• 1:15:49
  Speaker 3: is I think the taxpayers of the community are totally
• 1:15:52
  Speaker 3: being ignored. The vast majority that say exactly what you've said...
• 1:15:56
  Speaker 3: They are simply being ignored. And you seem like you
• 1:16:00
  Speaker 3: have a library director who's insulated herself by hiring a
• 1:16:03
  Speaker 3: bunch of people. We give them big titles and we
• 1:16:06
  Speaker 3: give them a salary and benefits. These are your tax dollars,
• 1:16:09
  Speaker 3: as you well know, Tom, that's paying these people basically
• 1:16:12
  Speaker 3: to attack you. The man had designed this beautiful building
• 1:16:15
  Speaker 3: and basically to attack the people that are opposed to
• 1:16:20
  Speaker 3: moving this facility. If you are not moving, it's to
• 1:16:23
  Speaker 3: building a different facility. I mean, these are your tax dollars.
• 1:16:28
  Speaker 3: And should they be surprised when us anti-tax people are saying,
• 1:16:33
  Speaker 3: guess what? Don't vote for a library levy. And hopefully
• 1:16:39
  Speaker 3: people can be more successful at the state level. because
• 1:16:42
  Speaker 3: you're totally being ignored. Basically, their attitude is pay our
• 1:16:46
  Speaker 3: salaries and sit down and shut up. Is that your impression, Tom?
• 1:16:52
  Speaker 12: Absolutely.
• 1:16:52
  Speaker 16: I think it's totally ignoring. Like Bob said, you have
• 1:16:56
  Speaker 16: 4,000 people on a petition to keep the library there.
• 1:16:59
  Speaker 16: I mean, what do you want? And why aren't you
• 1:17:04
  Speaker 16: out there speaking on behalf of your decision instead of Mr. Kozberg,
• 1:17:08
  Speaker 16: who I think has only been there, a couple years
• 1:17:11
  Speaker 16: his background is in political work for different political candidates.
• 1:17:18
  Speaker 3: Democrat candidates.
• 1:17:19
  Speaker 8: I agree.
• 1:17:20
  Speaker 16: They're not at all responsive to the public, and this
• 1:17:23
  Speaker 16: is why the legal structure of that, you're never going
• 1:17:26
  Speaker 16: to solve this problem as long as that library is
• 1:17:30
  Speaker 16: governed by that provision of the Ohio Revised Code and
• 1:17:35
  Speaker 16: not the provision of the law that governs libraries. It
• 1:17:38
  Speaker 16: should be whatever it takes legally by the Ohio legislature.
• 1:17:43
  Speaker 16: They need to change that structure of that library to
• 1:17:47
  Speaker 16: make it accountable to someone who is elected by the people.
• 1:17:52
  Speaker 16: And Ms. Vifrek, however she pronounces her name, says she
• 1:17:57
  Speaker 16: was glad it didn't have anybody from the government involved
• 1:18:00
  Speaker 16: because she didn't want to be political. You've got to
• 1:18:03
  Speaker 16: be kidding me. With the kind of answers you have now,
• 1:18:07
  Speaker 16: It's the most political type stance I've heard in a
• 1:18:09
  Speaker 16: long time. So she's being hypocritical. And I need to
• 1:18:13
  Speaker 16: change her structure.
• 1:18:16
  Speaker 5: When you were on last, Tom, you did a beautiful
• 1:18:20
  Speaker 5: job explaining to the public about the sources of the
• 1:18:23
  Speaker 5: library funds, $ 100 million every five years. And that's what
• 1:18:29
  Speaker 5: people don't realize. So when they approve this little, what
• 1:18:33
  Speaker 5: is it, 2.4 mill levy, That gives $ 50 million a
• 1:18:37
  Speaker 5: year from our local tax dollars and $ 50 million a
• 1:18:40
  Speaker 5: year for five years, I'm sorry, from our state monies,
• 1:18:46
  Speaker 5: still our monies.
• 1:18:48
  Speaker 4: And then I don't understand, and you.
• 1:18:50
  Speaker 5: Were talking about the structure of the legal system of
• 1:18:53
  Speaker 5: the Board of Trustees, which you just talked about now,
• 1:18:55
  Speaker 5: but I don't understand how a Board of Trustees can
• 1:18:59
  Speaker 5: overrule all the previous Boards of Trustees and what commitments
• 1:19:04
  Speaker 5: they made. I mean, they they, this building was built
• 1:19:07
  Speaker 5: based on the approval of all the trustees before and
• 1:19:09
  Speaker 5: all the people and, and everyone before and why, and
• 1:19:13
  Speaker 5: they just, um, throw that all away. And, um, uh,
• 1:19:17
  Speaker 5: and they're, you know, they're spending seven to 9 million, uh,
• 1:19:21
  Speaker 5: or there's on the new Poland branch, which I, uh,
• 1:19:24
  Speaker 5: I know it's going to be nine and a half
• 1:19:25
  Speaker 5: million because I did a complete cost takeoff based on
• 1:19:28
  Speaker 5: their costs.
• 1:19:29
  Speaker 3: When we can fix the existing one.
• 1:19:30
  Speaker 8: Yeah.
• 1:19:31
  Speaker 4: It just makes no sense.
• 1:19:33
  Speaker 5: And then like you said, Tom, um, they spent $ 27
• 1:19:37
  Speaker 5: million to renovate the main branch for 16,000 square feet,
• 1:19:41
  Speaker 5: and they're going to be building 16,000 square feet here,
• 1:19:44
  Speaker 5: so maybe it won't even be $ 9. 5 million. Maybe it
• 1:19:47
  Speaker 5: will be up in the neighborhoods of the downtown branch.
• 1:19:51
  Speaker 5: And there's just so many inconsistencies. Like you said, the
• 1:19:55
  Speaker 5: culinary kitchen, the charging stations. You know, I think I
• 1:19:59
  Speaker 5: know why they put the charging stations in now, because
• 1:20:02
  Speaker 5: all of the people– it's not for the– the users
• 1:20:05
  Speaker 5: of the space, it was for the board because a
• 1:20:07
  Speaker 5: lot of them have electric vehicles. And so while they're
• 1:20:09
  Speaker 5: at a board meeting, then they can get completely charged
• 1:20:11
  Speaker 5: up and off they go at our taxpayers' cost. So
• 1:20:17
  Speaker 5: the other, it's just amazing that the, and then the
• 1:20:21
  Speaker 5: one thing that is the most dramatic thing, Tom, you
• 1:20:23
  Speaker 5: brought up before was that the annual cost for the
• 1:20:25
  Speaker 5: employee salaries and benefits have increased from 50% of the
• 1:20:28
  Speaker 5: annual revenues to 75% of the library's annual revenues now.
• 1:20:35
  Speaker 5: And so the expenditures of salaries and personnel never reached
• 1:20:40
  Speaker 5: $ 10 million per year until 2019 when it reached over
• 1:20:44
  Speaker 5: $ 10 million. And now it's closer to $ 15 million.
• 1:20:48
  Speaker 4: It was only $ 40, 000 under $ 15 million in 2025.
• 1:20:50
  Speaker 21: I'd like to see the 2025.
• 1:20:51
  Speaker 16: The tax returns won't be out until... later this year
• 1:21:03
  Speaker 16: from 990. There's just so many things wrong with that
• 1:21:06
  Speaker 16: structure down there, you know, and I just think the
• 1:21:09
  Speaker 16: board hasn't done its duty. It should be accountable to
• 1:21:14
  Speaker 16: the public. And if you didn't have the tax, if
• 1:21:17
  Speaker 16: you didn't have the Mahoney County property tax, and if
• 1:21:21
  Speaker 16: you didn't have the state library fund tax, there would
• 1:21:25
  Speaker 16: be no library. And yet the people who are paying
• 1:21:28
  Speaker 16: that bill are being totally ignored.
• 1:21:31
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 1:21:31
  Speaker 16: That's not what you want. That's not what you want
• 1:21:34
  Speaker 16: in a government.
• 1:21:35
  Speaker 33: Right.
• 1:21:35
  Speaker 7: Amen.
• 1:21:36
  Speaker 3: Thank you, Tom. Appreciate it.
• 1:21:37
  Speaker 33: All right.
• 1:21:38
  Speaker 3: All right. You're on the air. News Radio 570.
• 1:21:40
  Speaker 13: Hello.
• 1:21:41
  Speaker 3: Hi, Ron.
• 1:21:41
  Speaker 33: How are you doing?
• 1:21:44
  Speaker 17: Good.
• 1:21:44
  Speaker 3: Go ahead, please.
• 1:21:44
  Speaker 33: Yeah, I just want to say thank you to you
• 1:21:48
  Speaker 33: and Bob and Tom. We're not getting a lot of
• 1:21:52
  Speaker 33: help in pulling from the media. The vindicator is squarely
• 1:21:56
  Speaker 33: against us. Their editorials, their articles, not helpful. And these
• 1:22:01
  Speaker 33: shows this week and last week were so right on
• 1:22:05
  Speaker 33: the mark.
• 1:22:06
  Speaker 6: Mr.
• 1:22:06
  Speaker 33: Mestrema got his facts down, and they are what we
• 1:22:11
  Speaker 33: know from the State of Our Library Committee to be true.
• 1:22:16
  Speaker 33: I just want to say, I want to add that
• 1:22:18
  Speaker 33: last week they said they had $ 50 million in excess.
• 1:22:22
  Speaker 33: I think it's more like over $ 90 million in excess
• 1:22:25
  Speaker 33: funding on their books.
• 1:22:27
  Speaker 3: I don't know, to be exact.
• 1:22:29
  Speaker 33: They have a public balance sheet, and I think it's
• 1:22:33
  Speaker 33: from 2024. My accountant's friends dug it up in less
• 1:22:36
  Speaker 33: than two hours, and they show $ 60 million in investments
• 1:22:41
  Speaker 33: and over $ 30 million in cash. I believe it's a
• 1:22:45
  Speaker 33: 2024 balance sheet. It could be a year before that.
• 1:22:48
  Speaker 33: I'm not sure.
• 1:22:49
  Speaker 3: Well, take that.
• 1:22:49
  Speaker 4: I have that here.
• 1:22:50
  Speaker 11: Do you?
• 1:22:51
  Speaker 3: Get that to Tom Zammery, too, caller.
• 1:22:53
  Speaker 4: Well, Tom has it.
• 1:22:55
  Speaker 3: Oh, does he?
• 1:22:55
  Speaker 4: Yeah. That's how he came up with all these numbers.
• 1:22:59
  Speaker 5: What you're talking about, though, is their total values of
• 1:23:01
  Speaker 5: all the assets of all the buildings and everything. That's
• 1:23:04
  Speaker 5: where they're up to, that $ 900, 000 or whatever that was.
• 1:23:08
  Speaker 3: I think Tom was just talking about cash reserves, right?
• 1:23:10
  Speaker 4: Yeah, the cash reserves.
• 1:23:11
  Speaker 5: So the cash they have, and they make close to
• 1:23:15
  Speaker 5: $ 4 million to $ 5 million a year just on the
• 1:23:17
  Speaker 5: interest income on those cash things also.
• 1:23:20
  Speaker 3: Which is my tax dollars.
• 1:23:21
  Speaker 6: Yes.
• 1:23:23
  Speaker 16: Right, exactly.
• 1:23:23
  Speaker 5: So the thing that they're paying themselves so much more
• 1:23:27
  Speaker 5: in salaries now, that unless they turn it around, they're
• 1:23:30
  Speaker 5: actually going to be in the hole now. And they're
• 1:23:34
  Speaker 5: not going to be, right now they're clearing a couple
• 1:23:37
  Speaker 5: million a year, but shortly with the salaries they're paying themselves.
• 1:23:41
  Speaker 3: And benefits.
• 1:23:42
  Speaker 4: And benefits.
• 1:23:42
  Speaker 5: They're not going to have that positive cash flow anymore.
• 1:23:45
  Speaker 5: That's how gross they are.
• 1:23:46
  Speaker 3: How about less salaries and more maintenance on the facilities?
• 1:23:50
  Speaker 4: Well, they couldn't afford the more.
• 1:23:51
  Speaker 33: Yeah, how about that?
• 1:23:52
  Speaker 3: I mean, here's a novel idea. How about less guys
• 1:23:55
  Speaker 3: with these long titles and some more painters? and some
• 1:23:58
  Speaker 3: more guys to caulk windows. How about those guys? You know,
• 1:24:01
  Speaker 3: guys that actually know how to do something, that have
• 1:24:04
  Speaker 3: a trade and a skill and actually know how to
• 1:24:06
  Speaker 3: do something instead of some people sitting around saying, well,
• 1:24:09
  Speaker 3: how can we word this to muddy the waters or
• 1:24:14
  Speaker 3: try to besmirch a wonderful man's reputation? It's reprehensible.
• 1:24:21
  Speaker 33: It truly is. And I just want to say one
• 1:24:23
  Speaker 33: more thing. Well, I forgot my train of thought.
• 1:24:26
  Speaker 7: I'm sorry.
• 1:24:28
  Speaker 33: Bob, I have a question for you. All those things
• 1:24:30
  Speaker 33: that have disappeared from the library, a lot of that
• 1:24:32
  Speaker 33: stuff was donated.
• 1:24:34
  Speaker 4: Yes, all of it.
• 1:24:34
  Speaker 33: It was private collections.
• 1:24:36
  Speaker 23: Right.
• 1:24:37
  Speaker 33: It means nothing to anyone except the people of Poland.
• 1:24:39
  Speaker 33: They're kind of priceless, actually. They're irreplaceable, at least that.
• 1:24:44
  Speaker 33: What happened to those things?
• 1:24:46
  Speaker 4: Where are they?
• 1:24:47
  Speaker 21: Were they tossed?
• 1:24:48
  Speaker 5: That's the question we need to know. We've asked, and
• 1:24:51
  Speaker 5: they won't say. The only thing I know is we
• 1:24:54
  Speaker 5: all got a letter saying that you had to pick
• 1:24:56
  Speaker 5: up your stuff by a certain date, otherwise they were
• 1:24:59
  Speaker 5: going to dispose of them. And they sent that out. Um, and, uh,
• 1:25:03
  Speaker 5: they changed the law in, uh, 2000, um, what did
• 1:25:06
  Speaker 5: I say?
• 1:25:07
  Speaker 8: 2003.
• 1:25:08
  Speaker 5: And yet all this money was donated in, in, uh,
• 1:25:10
  Speaker 5: way before that years before that 2001, all of the
• 1:25:13
  Speaker 5: money was pretty, pretty much in. And, uh, and, uh,
• 1:25:17
  Speaker 5: so they had no right to do that. The contracts that,
• 1:25:19
  Speaker 5: that we, we all donated the money were for, uh,
• 1:25:22
  Speaker 5: legacy projects and for perpetuity. And, um, And same with
• 1:25:26
  Speaker 5: the solid waste. They were supposed to have a permanent
• 1:25:28
  Speaker 5: display for their 400,000, and they ignored all that. Now,
• 1:25:31
  Speaker 5: what gives these people the right to do all that
• 1:25:34
  Speaker 5: when that's not at all? And none of these people
• 1:25:37
  Speaker 5: would have donated the money they did if it was destroyed.
• 1:25:41
  Speaker 4: The only people.
• 1:25:42
  Speaker 5: That have benefited or that they couldn't do it was
• 1:25:45
  Speaker 5: like the Alexovs because they donated the cupula, and they
• 1:25:48
  Speaker 5: couldn't get rid of that and some of the others.
• 1:25:51
  Speaker 5: But everything else that they could get rid of, they did.
• 1:25:54
  Speaker 4: And that was all.
• 1:25:55
  Speaker 5: Through those contemporary architects from Cleveland. They were the ones
• 1:25:59
  Speaker 5: that gave them all this false direction of how to
• 1:26:05
  Speaker 5: clear the building and make it much more contemporary and
• 1:26:08
  Speaker 5: more up-to-date for today's library, which we aren't interested in
• 1:26:13
  Speaker 5: in Poland at all.
• 1:26:14
  Speaker 3: I understand, Collar, that they even took the plaque down
• 1:26:17
  Speaker 3: over the urinal that said this is the Ron Verb urinal.
• 1:26:20
  Speaker 3: that was actually removed.
• 1:26:21
  Speaker 33: That's rough, Ron.
• 1:26:22
  Speaker 7: I know.
• 1:26:23
  Speaker 3: I'm very disturbed by that. It was never returned to
• 1:26:26
  Speaker 3: my family.
• 1:26:27
  Speaker 33: There's an element of crime there that I can't even describe.
• 1:26:31
  Speaker 3: Thank you for your sympathies. I've got to pause. I
• 1:26:33
  Speaker 3: appreciate it. More calls straight ahead. News Radio 570 WKBN.
• 1:26:49
  Speaker 3: More of your calls straight ahead on NewsRadio 570 WKBN.
• 1:26:53
  Speaker 3: Friend or foe on this live broadcast can call Bob
• 1:26:58
  Speaker 3: Mastriana at The Architect. I mean, folks, you know as
• 1:27:02
  Speaker 3: well as I do, this doesn't make a lick of sense.
• 1:27:07
  Speaker 3: There's nothing that I find more frustrating than these are
• 1:27:09
  Speaker 3: your tax dollars, as I've said. Your tax dollars. And
• 1:27:14
  Speaker 3: I've said it for years, the library has more money
• 1:27:16
  Speaker 3: coming in than they know what to do with. And now, obviously,
• 1:27:18
  Speaker 3: they're spending so much on salaries of people, salaries and benefits,
• 1:27:24
  Speaker 3: that it's just ridiculous. And as opposed to spending more
• 1:27:31
  Speaker 3: on routine maintenance, it's just deeply disturbing what is going
• 1:27:38
  Speaker 3: on and how the taxpayer... And particularly the people of Poland,
• 1:27:42
  Speaker 3: this is their library in Mahoning County, and it seems
• 1:27:48
  Speaker 3: they're just totally being ignored. There seems to be a
• 1:27:55
  Speaker 3: lack of respect for the taxpayer and the people in
• 1:27:57
  Speaker 3: the community. You're on the air.
• 1:28:00
  Speaker 9: First off, the structure of the building, that plaque you're
• 1:28:03
  Speaker 9: talking about was moved to the commode years ago.
• 1:28:05
  Speaker 3: Oh, did you move it?
• 1:28:07
  Speaker 9: No, but it had fallen in because there was no maintenance.
• 1:28:11
  Speaker 3: The super glue on the Ron Ferb urinal came off.
• 1:28:14
  Speaker 3: I wonder if Zach Kosberg will address what happened to
• 1:28:18
  Speaker 3: my plaque on the urinal. I would like him to
• 1:28:20
  Speaker 3: address that.
• 1:28:21
  Speaker 9: A couple things, structurally and then just politically. Number one,
• 1:28:25
  Speaker 9: they need to move this library because they need an
• 1:28:27
  Speaker 9: excuse to spend money so that they can continue to
• 1:28:30
  Speaker 9: get more money. It is a joke.
• 1:28:32
  Speaker 8: It is bureaucracy.
• 1:28:34
  Speaker 9: First of all, the library, everybody is very educated talking
• 1:28:37
  Speaker 9: right now. I'm not probably going to be so nice.
• 1:28:39
  Speaker 9: You need a janitor to unlock the door and lock
• 1:28:41
  Speaker 9: the door at the end of the day, and you
• 1:28:43
  Speaker 9: need one 90-year-old blue-haired lady with big glasses to stamp
• 1:28:46
  Speaker 9: when your book needs to come back. You don't need
• 1:28:48
  Speaker 9: nine people working there. All the tax dollars and waste
• 1:28:51
  Speaker 9: that goes there is a joke. I've been educated so
• 1:28:53
  Speaker 9: much in this program right here, it's eye-opening. But the
• 1:28:58
  Speaker 9: simple fact that all this money is being wasted is just,
• 1:29:02
  Speaker 9: it goes to, I blame not only the library board,
• 1:29:05
  Speaker 9: but you know who I blame? I blame the tax,
• 1:29:08
  Speaker 9: the voters of Mahoning County who gave them all this
• 1:29:11
  Speaker 9: money for them to be able to waste it away.
• 1:29:13
  Speaker 9: It is a microcosm of what our whole entire country does.
• 1:29:17
  Speaker 9: If you don't use the money, you're going to lose it.
• 1:29:19
  Speaker 9: And I'd be cautious to the people in Poland because
• 1:29:21
  Speaker 9: if that library goes, that building sitting there, The only
• 1:29:24
  Speaker 9: other entity in this county that has enough money to
• 1:29:26
  Speaker 9: buy it and fix it is going to be WRTA.
• 1:29:29
  Speaker 9: And you're going to have a mighty nice bus stop
• 1:29:31
  Speaker 9: sitting in the middle of Poland if you don't, you know,
• 1:29:33
  Speaker 9: fix the problem that's there.
• 1:29:35
  Speaker 3: And the thing is, it's fixable. It's fixable, and I
• 1:29:40
  Speaker 3: think to build that today, maybe $ 20 million. So you
• 1:29:43
  Speaker 3: can fix this building for less money than to build
• 1:29:46
  Speaker 3: this new facility, and you save something that has made
• 1:29:50
  Speaker 3: that community proud. But you have a board, and you
• 1:29:53
  Speaker 3: have people on a payroll that seem to have an
• 1:29:56
  Speaker 3: agenda that's against what the citizens of the community are
• 1:29:59
  Speaker 3: interested in. And for the life of me— I'll be
• 1:30:02
  Speaker 3: damned if I understand that mentality at all. To attack
• 1:30:06
  Speaker 3: this fine man sitting here is reprehensible to me. I mean,
• 1:30:10
  Speaker 3: all he's done for that community.
• 1:30:13
  Speaker 9: Yeah, just like along the creek, that wall that was
• 1:30:17
  Speaker 9: put there, the board did that. That wasn't even by
• 1:30:20
  Speaker 9: somebody qualified to put that there. And for him to
• 1:30:23
  Speaker 9: have even said this is a horrible idea to waste
• 1:30:25
  Speaker 9: hundreds of thousands of dollars doing it to cause the.
• 1:30:28
  Speaker 8: Problem, the lack of maintenance.
• 1:30:30
  Speaker 9: All of that is just an abysmal joke, and it
• 1:30:32
  Speaker 9: just goes to show how much– we have so much
• 1:30:35
  Speaker 9: fraud and waste in this country. Look what we have
• 1:30:36
  Speaker 9: just right down the street. I don't know how you
• 1:30:38
  Speaker 9: walk around town saying that you need to waste your
• 1:30:40
  Speaker 9: neighbor's tax dollars like this and not even have– if
• 1:30:44
  Speaker 9: you have that much conviction, it should be no problem
• 1:30:46
  Speaker 9: to call in and state your case just like this
• 1:30:48
  Speaker 9: gentleman is doing. And you know why he's doing this?
• 1:30:51
  Speaker 9: Because he knows he's right. Anybody could call in and..
• 1:30:54
  Speaker 3: Oh, no. They'll attack him when he... See, I don't
• 1:30:58
  Speaker 3: run a clock here. They can call in and say
• 1:31:00
  Speaker 3: what they agree with or disagree with them right now
• 1:31:02
  Speaker 3: on the program. Thank you. I appreciate your call. We'll
• 1:31:05
  Speaker 3: be back after the break at 5. Stay tuned.
• 1:31:13
  Speaker 10: It's Money Talks Investment Coach John Arnold Studios. This is
• 1:31:17
  Speaker 10: 570 WKBN Youngstown, an iHeartRadio station guaranteed human.
• 1:31:26
  Speaker 13: From ABC News.
• 1:31:29
  Speaker 34: I'm Lindsay Davis, anchor of Prime Streaming Week Nights on
• 1:31:32
  Speaker 34: ABC News Live.
• 1:31:33
  Speaker 8: U.S.
• 1:31:33
  Speaker 34: And Iran are entering a second week of renewed strikes
• 1:31:36
  Speaker 34: and attack by Iran at a U.S.
• 1:31:37
  Speaker 26: Base in Jordan killed two U.S. service members.
• 1:31:40
  Speaker 34: A dignified transfer will take place tomorrow in Delaware. President
• 1:31:44
  Speaker 34: Trump will attend. The war is fueling hostilities and uncertainty
• 1:31:47
  Speaker 34: for oil and gas prices.
• 1:31:48
  Speaker 26: ABC's Karen Travers has more.
• 1:31:50
  Speaker 35: We're now seeing gas going back to that $ 4 a gallon.
• 1:31:53
  Speaker 26: Average, according to AAA.
• 1:31:55
  Speaker 35: Traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has essentially slowed down
• 1:31:58
  Speaker 35: significantly again because.
• 1:32:00
  Speaker 26: Of this week and a half now of ongoing strikes.
• 1:32:03
  Speaker 35: There were 30 verified crossings in the Strait of Hormuz
• 1:32:07
  Speaker 35: over the last three days, according to data.
• 1:32:09
  Speaker 34: In Ocean Springs, Mississippi, family and friends gathered at a
• 1:32:12
  Speaker 34: memorial service for Nolan Wells. The 18-year-old died while on
• 1:32:19
  Speaker 34: a boating trip to Horn Island with friends on Fourth
• 1:32:21
  Speaker 34: of July weekend. He did not return with his friends.
• 1:32:25
  Speaker 34: The family is calling for justice and a transparent investigation.
• 1:32:28
  Speaker 17: A former U.S.
• 1:32:29
  Speaker 34: Army veteran is in custody after the FBI says he
• 1:32:32
  Speaker 34: targeted Manhattan's federal building that houses immigration court and other agencies.
• 1:32:36
  Speaker 34: He's accused of dousing an outdoor stairwell with gasoline and
• 1:32:39
  Speaker 34: igniting it with a firework.
• 1:32:41
  Speaker 26: ABC's Aaron Katursky has more.
• 1:32:42
  Speaker 36: They identified Andrew Arabaca as the suspect, 43 years old,
• 1:32:46
  Speaker 36: lives in Poughkeepsie, New York upstate with an address also
• 1:32:49
  Speaker 36: in Harlem. It turns out that he served in the
• 1:32:52
  Speaker 36: United States Army for four years between 2001 and 2005,
• 1:32:56
  Speaker 36: worked on Patriot missile systems during that time in the service.
• 1:33:00
  Speaker 36: And at some point, according to the authorities, he became anti-government, anti-ICE.
• 1:33:06
  Speaker 34: In Madrid, jubilation as fans welcome their FIFA World Cup
• 1:33:09
  Speaker 34: champions following Spain's epic World Cup victory against defending champions
• 1:33:13
  Speaker 34: Argentina yesterday.
• 1:33:18
  Speaker 26: Crowds filled the.
• 1:33:19
  Speaker 34: Streets for the parade for players and to get a
• 1:33:21
  Speaker 34: glimpse of the World Cup trophy, you're listening to ABC News.
• 1:33:26
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  Speaker 1: These days, heading back to school means more than pencils
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  Speaker 28: It means laptops, tablets, online accounts, and a lot of
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  Speaker 26: I'm Lindsay Davis.
• 1:34:26
  Speaker 34: For the latest on today's headlines, be sure to watch
• 1:34:29
  Speaker 34: Prime tonight starting at 7 Eastern on ABC News Live.
• 1:34:32
  Speaker 26: Now with more news, here's Michelle Franzen.
• 1:34:34
  Speaker 25: A new setback in that massive lettuce recall amid the
• 1:34:36
  Speaker 25: nationwide cyclosporiasis outbreak.
• 1:34:39
  Speaker 37: The FDA now says the one sample of Taylor Farms
• 1:34:41
  Speaker 37: lettuce that had tested positive for the parasite was a
• 1:34:45
  Speaker 37: false positive.
• 1:34:46
  Speaker 26: But the recall is still on.
• 1:34:48
  Speaker 37: Taylor Farms is pulling dozens of products sourced from central
• 1:34:51
  Speaker 37: Mexico and distributed across 27 states, including bagged lettuce sold
• 1:34:56
  Speaker 37: at Walmart under the MarketSide brand. Health officials have already
• 1:35:00
  Speaker 37: linked more than 1,600 illnesses to shredded iceberg lettuce served
• 1:35:04
  Speaker 37: at Taco Bell locations in five states.
• 1:35:06
  Speaker 25: ABC's Hannah Batta, a federal judge setting former Olympian David
• 1:35:10
  Speaker 25: Hearn's trial date for September 28th in the felony case
• 1:35:13
  Speaker 25: for allegedly damaging the reflecting pool at the Lincoln Memorial.
• 1:35:16
  Speaker 30: Hearn's lawyers argue that the case should be dismissed, in
• 1:35:19
  Speaker 30: part because the Trump administration's repairs to the reflecting pool
• 1:35:22
  Speaker 30: have altered evidence in the case, writing, quote, The Constitution
• 1:35:26
  Speaker 30: simply does not permit the government to charge a man
• 1:35:28
  Speaker 30: with destroying an object, retain exclusive custody of that object,
• 1:35:32
  Speaker 30: then drain, disturb, and alter that object before the defense
• 1:35:34
  Speaker 30: may examine it. The Trump administration poured more than $ 16
• 1:35:37
  Speaker 30: million into renovating the reflecting pool and has blamed issues
• 1:35:41
  Speaker 30: with it, including the sealant peeling and algae overtaking the water,
• 1:35:45
  Speaker 30: on vandals without providing evidence.
• 1:35:47
  Speaker 25: ABC's Peter Harlambous, an epic weekend for Odyssey, Christopher Nolan's
• 1:35:51
  Speaker 25: adaptation making a $ 264 million world record.
• 1:35:54
  Speaker 13: A to Z dependable services.
• 1:35:57
  Speaker 1: Now, Ron Verb. On News Radio 570, WKBN.
• 1:36:05
  Speaker 3: Front News Radio 570 WKVN 506 in the afternoon. On Monday,
• 1:36:09
  Speaker 3: Bob Mastriana is here. He's the architect for the Poland Library,
• 1:36:13
  Speaker 3: and so we're making a case. Yay or nay, don't
• 1:36:18
  Speaker 3: let the cat get your tongue, any of you library,
• 1:36:21
  Speaker 3: overpaid library folks that are sucking up all my tax
• 1:36:25
  Speaker 3: dollars down there. You got something to say to Bob?
• 1:36:29
  Speaker 3: Bring it on. Talk is cheap. Deeds are precious. You're
• 1:36:33
  Speaker 3: on the air.
• 1:36:35
  Speaker 20: Hi, just a couple of questions for your guests. I
• 1:36:37
  Speaker 20: do not live in Poland. Is this library in Poland
• 1:36:42
  Speaker 20: Village or Poland Township?
• 1:36:44
  Speaker 4: The village, the center of our community, right on Main Street.
• 1:36:49
  Speaker 20: Yeah, I was there one time about 20 years ago.
• 1:36:51
  Speaker 20: I just wasn't sure.
• 1:36:52
  Speaker 4: It was still nice then. You were lucky.
• 1:36:55
  Speaker 20: My question is going back to the very beginning. Did
• 1:36:59
  Speaker 20: the village have riparian setbacks on the stream?
• 1:37:04
  Speaker 8: No.
• 1:37:06
  Speaker 33: Okay, and I.
• 1:37:07
  Speaker 20: Missed both the beginning of last week and the beginning
• 1:37:11
  Speaker 20: of this week. About how far off of that stream
• 1:37:14
  Speaker 20: is the building?
• 1:37:16
  Speaker 5: The one corner is only 10 feet off, and then
• 1:37:21
  Speaker 5: the other, the way the stream curves around it, it's
• 1:37:25
  Speaker 5: quite far then, enough that there's huge areas of green
• 1:37:29
  Speaker 5: area and lawn and plantings and parking. So it's just
• 1:37:34
  Speaker 5: the one corner where we have this issue of..
• 1:37:39
  Speaker 3: It's the one corner where he said you can modify
• 1:37:43
  Speaker 3: this wall that he had nothing to do with to
• 1:37:46
  Speaker 3: solve the problem and or widen that area. There's a
• 1:37:50
  Speaker 3: solution to it.
• 1:37:52
  Speaker 20: Okay, and just once again, going back to the history
• 1:37:54
  Speaker 20: of it, what was it about this site that was
• 1:37:59
  Speaker 20: appealing to... both to the library board, the architect, the engineer,
• 1:38:03
  Speaker 20: and the community, when you're on Yellow Creek, which is
• 1:38:06
  Speaker 20: a major water tributary in Mahoney County.
• 1:38:11
  Speaker 3: Well, you talked a little bit earlier about why this site.
• 1:38:14
  Speaker 5: Well, first of all, this was the original site of
• 1:38:17
  Speaker 5: the other libraries. Since 1960, all the libraries were located there.
• 1:38:23
  Speaker 5: It's also within walking distance of all the elementary schools,
• 1:38:26
  Speaker 5: and it's the center of town next to one or
• 1:38:30
  Speaker 5: two buildings down from the historic Old Stone Tavern and
• 1:38:33
  Speaker 5: also the original seminary that McKinley, President McKinley, when he
• 1:38:39
  Speaker 5: was a student there at Poland, attended, is there. It
• 1:38:43
  Speaker 5: has this centralized location where all the libraries streets converge
• 1:38:51
  Speaker 5: and the lights converge and the schools are there and
• 1:38:54
  Speaker 5: the town hall is directly across the street. It's the
• 1:38:56
  Speaker 5: center of our community since we don't have a town
• 1:38:59
  Speaker 5: square like Medina or Canfield has. And so we needed
• 1:39:05
  Speaker 5: to create something that would be a centerpiece and we
• 1:39:08
  Speaker 5: needed a building that was something that would bring the
• 1:39:12
  Speaker 5: community together because for a number of years, I've lived
• 1:39:16
  Speaker 5: there since 1975. and we restored an old historic home
• 1:39:20
  Speaker 5: just a couple of streets behind the library. And there
• 1:39:25
  Speaker 5: was a lot of things that the town was lacking,
• 1:39:28
  Speaker 5: and one of them was a place to get together.
• 1:39:30
  Speaker 5: And if you don't have a place that is centralized
• 1:39:33
  Speaker 5: and open to all the public and things like this,
• 1:39:37
  Speaker 5: the town can't function. And so that's one reason why
• 1:39:41
  Speaker 5: we have the community meeting room there. And so our
• 1:39:44
  Speaker 5: library was designed... with the blessings of the library board
• 1:39:49
  Speaker 5: and everyone in town to be a community center. And
• 1:39:53
  Speaker 5: that's the way it was designed to be, much more
• 1:39:55
  Speaker 5: than a library, a shelter for books.
• 1:39:58
  Speaker 3: I mean, in all seriousness, I say with honor, this
• 1:40:00
  Speaker 3: man's a visionary to me here. I mean, everything he
• 1:40:03
  Speaker 3: just said is, if you dissect it, is so important
• 1:40:07
  Speaker 3: to that community. And he succeeded in the mission of
• 1:40:10
  Speaker 3: that community in doing that. Go ahead.
• 1:40:14
  Speaker 20: Well, as a voter and a taxpayer, I would hope
• 1:40:18
  Speaker 20: that the library board will do the necessary repairs. But
• 1:40:22
  Speaker 20: I also think in the long run, looking at development,
• 1:40:26
  Speaker 20: whether residential or commercial, you don't put a building 10
• 1:40:30
  Speaker 20: feet from a stream, any stream, let alone.
• 1:40:33
  Speaker 3: It's only one corner, like you said.
• 1:40:36
  Speaker 4: And it sprays.
• 1:40:38
  Speaker 5: It gets really quickly. It gets pretty far away from
• 1:40:42
  Speaker 5: the rest of the streams.
• 1:40:46
  Speaker 3: All right.
• 1:40:46
  Speaker 8: Well, I hope they can fix it.
• 1:40:48
  Speaker 9: I hope they can fix it and not build new,
• 1:40:50
  Speaker 9: because I.
• 1:40:51
  Speaker 20: Was only there one time, but it's a very nice building,
• 1:40:54
  Speaker 20: and you have all these private.
• 1:40:55
  Speaker 8: Donations from people in the community.
• 1:40:58
  Speaker 20: Hopefully the library board will make the necessary repairs.
• 1:41:01
  Speaker 3: You can only hope. For whatever reason, they don't seem
• 1:41:04
  Speaker 3: very responsive. I mean, this is what the citizens overwhelmingly...
• 1:41:10
  Speaker 3: certainly my impression of Poland would like to see happen.
• 1:41:13
  Speaker 3: And when I would watch the, when they were doing
• 1:41:17
  Speaker 3: this vote, it was almost like the decision was made.
• 1:41:20
  Speaker 3: It didn't matter what any of these people had to say.
• 1:41:23
  Speaker 3: And it's deeply troubling when these are your tax dollars.
• 1:41:27
  Speaker 3: And there's so, there is, from reading these articles, there's
• 1:41:33
  Speaker 3: just an arrogance that's going on here. There is just
• 1:41:36
  Speaker 3: such an arrogance and an attitude that of let's be arrogant,
• 1:41:41
  Speaker 3: let's attack these people, and let's tell them this is
• 1:41:44
  Speaker 3: the way it is. Pay us your tax dollars, sit
• 1:41:46
  Speaker 3: down and shut up. And it's why you should never
• 1:41:49
  Speaker 3: vote for another library levy. How do you have all
• 1:41:52
  Speaker 3: this extra money collecting interest? Those are my tax dollars.
• 1:41:55
  Speaker 3: And then you're eating it up on all these excessive
• 1:41:57
  Speaker 3: people that you're hiring and paying them all this money
• 1:41:59
  Speaker 3: and everything to do this dirty work. It's amazing.
• 1:42:03
  Speaker 5: And it's funny, but when people have money, their personality changes.
• 1:42:07
  Speaker 5: They become arrogant. They feel better than thou in every way.
• 1:42:12
  Speaker 5: And the old boards weren't like that. They were so
• 1:42:16
  Speaker 5: responsive and such a part of the community of the
• 1:42:19
  Speaker 5: Mahoning Valley.
• 1:42:20
  Speaker 6: Thank you.
• 1:42:20
  Speaker 4: And that's why the library was great then.
• 1:42:22
  Speaker 7: Caller?
• 1:42:23
  Speaker 8: Thank you for taking my call.
• 1:42:24
  Speaker 13: You're welcome.
• 1:42:25
  Speaker 3: You're on the air. Wait a second here. Hang on.
• 1:42:27
  Speaker 3: Hang on a minute.
• 1:42:27
  Speaker 8: Hang on.
• 1:42:27
  Speaker 3: I've got to do this. Are you there? Okay, go ahead.
• 1:42:33
  Speaker 7: I am here.
• 1:42:34
  Speaker 3: Go ahead.
• 1:42:35
  Speaker 7: I am a structural engineer.
• 1:42:37
  Speaker 25: Yes, sir.
• 1:42:39
  Speaker 7: Now, everything he just said about the– just going off
• 1:42:44
  Speaker 7: to the political about Poland not having a center gathering
• 1:42:48
  Speaker 7: space as opposed to Canfield is absolutely correct. That is
• 1:42:51
  Speaker 7: one of the problems with Poland, the way the highways intersect,
• 1:42:54
  Speaker 7: and it becomes you need something in that knuckle to
• 1:42:58
  Speaker 7: be that focal point, and that has always been one
• 1:43:00
  Speaker 7: of Poland's problems. You talk about a choke point on
• 1:43:04
  Speaker 7: the river, it's a choke point in traffic.
• 1:43:06
  Speaker 8: Mm-hmm.
• 1:43:07
  Speaker 7: And, you know, when I saw the plans when the
• 1:43:12
  Speaker 7: thing came out, I thought to myself, why was the
• 1:43:17
  Speaker 7: board choosing to put this on the site? And I
• 1:43:19
  Speaker 7: found out, okay, it is because that was the place
• 1:43:22
  Speaker 7: of the library. And it makes sense.
• 1:43:25
  Speaker 8: It's a beautiful building.
• 1:43:26
  Speaker 7: So as far as the height of the water and
• 1:43:28
  Speaker 7: all that coming down there, that gets controlled by the
• 1:43:31
  Speaker 7: Army Corps of Engineers. If they could widen it out,
• 1:43:34
  Speaker 7: that would help, you know, the reduce the headwater.
• 1:43:38
  Speaker 4: That's exactly what I wanted him to do.
• 1:43:40
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's what Bob wanted him to do.
• 1:43:42
  Speaker 8: Yeah.
• 1:43:42
  Speaker 7: Now, he mentions John Cernica was the soil engineer. Correct.
• 1:43:49
  Speaker 7: My whole career, John Cernica is responsible for. He educated
• 1:43:53
  Speaker 7: me at YSU over 40 years ago and pretty much
• 1:43:57
  Speaker 7: put his name into any job I ever got, including
• 1:44:02
  Speaker 7: consulting for myself for a while. Now, to be honest,
• 1:44:06
  Speaker 7: I did do a little design work on the courthouse
• 1:44:09
  Speaker 7: for West Midgley, and I actually drew some of the
• 1:44:14
  Speaker 7: steel up for Federal Iron Works, I think, on the
• 1:44:16
  Speaker 7: Awesome Town Library a long time ago. I can't remember
• 1:44:19
  Speaker 7: all that stuff. But there's no way John Cernica would
• 1:44:23
  Speaker 7: have ever allowed any flag to be used under a flag.
• 1:44:28
  Speaker 7: on a site, because I know he got burned with
• 1:44:31
  Speaker 7: that years ago on an airport runway where it was
• 1:44:34
  Speaker 7: put in, either in the sub-base or in the mix,
• 1:44:38
  Speaker 7: and it just exploded when water hit it. Engineers know that.
• 1:44:43
  Speaker 7: We know that this is not a... It can be
• 1:44:45
  Speaker 7: inert if it's stockpiled long enough and turned. And Standard
• 1:44:49
  Speaker 7: Slag would do that in a day. Standard Slag's gone.
• 1:44:54
  Speaker 7: Whatever their name from... They are now. But John Cernico
• 1:44:59
  Speaker 7: was world-class engineering geotechnical, and I'm sure if he was
• 1:45:04
  Speaker 7: the one doing the soil testing and material testing and certification,
• 1:45:09
  Speaker 7: that stuff on the site, this would have never been
• 1:45:11
  Speaker 7: in his purview that he would have ever allowed.
• 1:45:16
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 1:45:18
  Speaker 4: We even have a drawing showing washed gravel.
• 1:45:22
  Speaker 8: Yeah, that was, believe me.
• 1:45:24
  Speaker 7: He preached that too many times to us in class,
• 1:45:26
  Speaker 7: and that was something that I to this day still
• 1:45:28
  Speaker 7: put in my details, and I do as always, you know,
• 1:45:32
  Speaker 7: washed gravel. But how did that flag end up in there?
• 1:45:40
  Speaker 5: We don't know, other than the fact that the new
• 1:45:44
  Speaker 5: location of the library versus the old location of that
• 1:45:47
  Speaker 5: 1960 library had moved up substantially, so it could be
• 1:45:51
  Speaker 5: in line with the existing historic buildings. And that area
• 1:45:56
  Speaker 5: was not part of the original 1960 library.
• 1:46:00
  Speaker 4: It was set way back.
• 1:46:02
  Speaker 5: And so it had to be part of a gravel
• 1:46:05
  Speaker 5: base that was maybe for the parking lot or the driveway.
• 1:46:11
  Speaker 7: That would all make sense. But even at that point,
• 1:46:13
  Speaker 7: you would have think that... They would have become inert
• 1:46:17
  Speaker 7: by then. There would have been enough water that would
• 1:46:19
  Speaker 7: have hit that. That would not have been an issue.
• 1:46:22
  Speaker 7: Whatever the case, my whole thing with this is, I
• 1:46:27
  Speaker 7: can't stand the Youngstown Vindicator anymore. When I read that
• 1:46:31
  Speaker 7: article a while back, and it seemed to point out
• 1:46:36
  Speaker 7: that the only libraries that they were having trouble with
• 1:46:40
  Speaker 7: in this town were those done by Bob Mastriana, and
• 1:46:44
  Speaker 7: that just, wait a minute, I've seen his work, and
• 1:46:48
  Speaker 7: I know he knows what he's doing. Somebody has it
• 1:46:52
  Speaker 7: out for this man.
• 1:46:53
  Speaker 17: Oh, I would agree with that.
• 1:46:56
  Speaker 7: And the vindicator is not doing their job and holding
• 1:47:01
  Speaker 7: the press's responsibility is to hold the government's feet to
• 1:47:07
  Speaker 7: the fire, not Bob Mastriana. If you want to hold
• 1:47:11
  Speaker 7: his feet to the fire, that's fine. He'll be out
• 1:47:13
  Speaker 7: of business if.
• 1:47:14
  Speaker 13: He's no good.
• 1:47:15
  Speaker 3: Listen, he's sitting in that chair live. Any of these
• 1:47:17
  Speaker 3: people that say these nasty things about him can pick
• 1:47:20
  Speaker 3: up the phone and call him right now. Not a
• 1:47:22
  Speaker 3: single one of them have done so. I mean, this
• 1:47:25
  Speaker 3: is a good, decent, honorable man sitting over here that
• 1:47:28
  Speaker 3: they say those vicious things about. It's reprehensible to me.
• 1:47:33
  Speaker 3: And if that's how you earn your paycheck, so be it.
• 1:47:37
  Speaker 3: But this is a good, decent human being sitting over here.
• 1:47:41
  Speaker 7: To not even have the courtesy to call and ask
• 1:47:44
  Speaker 7: him for his opinion on this.
• 1:47:46
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 1:47:47
  Speaker 7: You know, that's... I just don't understand what's going on.
• 1:47:52
  Speaker 3: I'll tell you what's going on. They don't want to
• 1:47:56
  Speaker 3: just believe what we tell you, pay your taxes, sit
• 1:47:58
  Speaker 3: down and shut up. That's the new attitude that they have.
• 1:48:03
  Speaker 3: And we don't care what you people in Poland want.
• 1:48:05
  Speaker 3: Here's what we're going to do. I'm going to define
• 1:48:08
  Speaker 3: it for you. And we're going to hire all these
• 1:48:10
  Speaker 3: people and put them on a payroll so that we
• 1:48:11
  Speaker 3: can insulate ourselves from any of our critics and apparently
• 1:48:15
  Speaker 3: belittle our critics. All I can tell you is I'm
• 1:48:18
  Speaker 3: honored by your call. This is a good, decent man.
• 1:48:22
  Speaker 7: Well, here's the other thing. I don't understand why the
• 1:48:26
  Speaker 7: board needs to be going to Cleveland to get architects
• 1:48:29
  Speaker 7: when Youngstown still has plenty of competent architectural firms who
• 1:48:34
  Speaker 7: can do this kind of stuff.
• 1:48:35
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 1:48:35
  Speaker 4: You want me to tell you how that happened?
• 1:48:37
  Speaker 7: But they don't have this new way of thinking like
• 1:48:39
  Speaker 7: what you're talking about. Hang on a second.
• 1:48:40
  Speaker 3: Bob will tell you how that happened.
• 1:48:41
  Speaker 10: Go ahead.
• 1:48:42
  Speaker 4: All right.
• 1:48:42
  Speaker 5: So when they sent out, first of all, the local
• 1:48:47
  Speaker 5: architects knew that this building was coming up and other
• 1:48:50
  Speaker 5: large buildings like this, and they knew the only way
• 1:48:52
  Speaker 5: they could compete to get this work since most people
• 1:48:55
  Speaker 5: think you have to be an expert from afar to
• 1:48:57
  Speaker 5: be worthy. So what happened is these three of the
• 1:49:01
  Speaker 5: bigger firms in town joined forces and set up a
• 1:49:05
  Speaker 5: new architectural firm. And they submitted an RFP to the
• 1:49:10
  Speaker 5: library when this building came out. And they, unfortunately, were
• 1:49:15
  Speaker 5: number two on the list. And so they wrote a
• 1:49:18
  Speaker 5: letter because they were taxpaying citizens. They've worked here in
• 1:49:22
  Speaker 5: Mahoning Valley all their life, and they wanted to be
• 1:49:25
  Speaker 5: reconsidered because it just wasn't right. And the library director
• 1:49:32
  Speaker 5: intercepted the letter because it was addressed in going to
• 1:49:35
  Speaker 5: the library board. She intercepted the letter, never let them
• 1:49:39
  Speaker 5: see it, and then she had them vote for the
• 1:49:43
  Speaker 5: out-of-town board. And the out-of-town board was the out-of-town library
• 1:49:52
  Speaker 5: architectural firm that they picked was a contemporary firm. and
• 1:49:56
  Speaker 5: they pride themselves in contemporary libraries, and they think they've
• 1:50:02
  Speaker 5: done 100 and some libraries, and so they had credentials
• 1:50:06
  Speaker 5: of outstanding for library design except for one thing. Everything
• 1:50:10
  Speaker 5: they do is contemporary. And obviously that was what she
• 1:50:14
  Speaker 5: was looking for, but it wasn't what was.
• 1:50:17
  Speaker 4: Right for the building.
• 1:50:18
  Speaker 5: So she had this contemporary firm design this building, And
• 1:50:23
  Speaker 5: all the other people, the construction manager, everyone else was
• 1:50:26
  Speaker 5: from out of town. So out of that $ 27 million
• 1:50:29
  Speaker 5: that local taxpayers paid, less than probably $ 500, 000 in.
• 1:50:37
  Speaker 4: Fees was ever paid local. And that's a disgrace.
• 1:50:41
  Speaker 5: And there was no reason for that. And that's another
• 1:50:44
  Speaker 5: thing that they should be reprimanded on. And so this firm,
• 1:50:48
  Speaker 5: if you've seen the job they did downtown– They did
• 1:50:51
  Speaker 5: not take into any consideration the historic Carnegie Library that
• 1:50:55
  Speaker 5: was there.
• 1:50:55
  Speaker 4: They just.
• 1:50:58
  Speaker 5: Totally ignored everything about it and just came up with
• 1:51:01
  Speaker 5: the god-awful recreation of what they felt the library should
• 1:51:06
  Speaker 5: be today. And then we got all the minutes of
• 1:51:09
  Speaker 5: their meetings from the Poland Library, and they were the
• 1:51:15
  Speaker 5: ones that recommended to the library board to get rid
• 1:51:18
  Speaker 5: of of everything, the bus, the pawn yachts, the pictures.
• 1:51:21
  Speaker 5: They were even trying to get rid of all the
• 1:51:23
  Speaker 5: beautiful J.L. Treehorn bookcases, but someone had enough sense to
• 1:51:27
  Speaker 5: stop them from doing that. And all the furniture was removed.
• 1:51:30
  Speaker 4: They did everything.
• 1:51:31
  Speaker 5: They ruined the Poland Library personally. And because the board
• 1:51:35
  Speaker 5: doesn't have enough intelligence and sense to recommend these things,
• 1:51:39
  Speaker 5: so they just listened to this architect who just... led
• 1:51:43
  Speaker 5: them astray and ruined the building.
• 1:51:46
  Speaker 7: It's unfortunate.
• 1:51:47
  Speaker 3: Thank you.
• 1:51:51
  Speaker 1: WKBN.
• 1:51:52
  Speaker 3: I'm back, too, at NewsRadio 570 at WKBN. You're on
• 1:51:55
  Speaker 3: the air.
• 1:51:57
  Speaker 38: Ron, I don't know if I'm on subject or not,
• 1:51:59
  Speaker 38: but I just opened my wife's Medicaid statements.
• 1:52:04
  Speaker 3: Well, you've got to call me. I'm not talking about Medicaid.
• 1:52:07
  Speaker 3: You're on the air.
• 1:52:07
  Speaker 10: Hello.
• 1:52:10
  Speaker 8: Hello.
• 1:52:12
  Speaker 12: Hello?
• 1:52:12
  Speaker 3: Yes, go ahead.
• 1:52:14
  Speaker 12: Yes, I've been a lover of libraries since my mother
• 1:52:19
  Speaker 12: took me when I was five to the Westside Library.
• 1:52:22
  Speaker 6: Yes.
• 1:52:23
  Speaker 12: And then downtown, when on the second floor, they had
• 1:52:27
  Speaker 12: the glass block on the second floor, and they tore
• 1:52:30
  Speaker 12: that out.
• 1:52:31
  Speaker 8: Okay.
• 1:52:33
  Speaker 12: Last year was the first year I never voted for that,
• 1:52:37
  Speaker 12: and I won't. I won't vote for another levy. And
• 1:52:40
  Speaker 12: I've called several times asking all the periodicals, all the
• 1:52:45
  Speaker 12: magazines are gone pretty much. The New Yorker, all the
• 1:52:52
  Speaker 12: magazines really. And I've called several times and really got
• 1:52:57
  Speaker 12: the brush off and was told, well, they can't afford
• 1:53:01
  Speaker 12: it anymore. So it seems to me that I never
• 1:53:06
  Speaker 12: was able to get through to Amy, but it seems
• 1:53:09
  Speaker 12: to me that what he said is she does tell untruths.
• 1:53:14
  Speaker 12: that they can't afford it with that much money. And
• 1:53:17
  Speaker 12: we in this area have an elderly population, and we
• 1:53:22
  Speaker 12: can't all look at our blue light all day long.
• 1:53:26
  Speaker 12: And it's nice to go to the library and read
• 1:53:29
  Speaker 12: newspapers and magazines. And so it just seems like you're
• 1:53:36
  Speaker 12: fighting against a big beast.
• 1:53:38
  Speaker 3: Well, you can't say it's, it's your system and it's
• 1:53:41
  Speaker 3: your tax dollars. And, uh, I think it really, in
• 1:53:44
  Speaker 3: all sincerity, you made a really good point. You'll battle actually.
• 1:53:47
  Speaker 3: I mean, sweetheart, you really did. God bless you. She
• 1:53:52
  Speaker 3: made an excellent point. I didn't mean insult her. They're
• 1:53:56
  Speaker 3: just kind of slipped out. I'm sorry. Uh, all right.
• 1:54:01
  Speaker 3: I'll just make this observation. First of all, I thank
• 1:54:03
  Speaker 3: you for being with me because I'm just about out
• 1:54:06
  Speaker 3: of time here. Um, Interesting to note, not a single
• 1:54:11
  Speaker 3: person from the library system called in to address anything
• 1:54:14
  Speaker 3: you had to say.
• 1:54:15
  Speaker 4: Did you give them your number?
• 1:54:16
  Speaker 3: I give it out here on the air. I mean,
• 1:54:20
  Speaker 3: this is what amazes me. Your critics here that criticize you,
• 1:54:26
  Speaker 3: but they don't want to criticize you in a public
• 1:54:28
  Speaker 3: forum where I don't have a clock running and talk
• 1:54:32
  Speaker 3: to you on a personal level, on a one-to-one human basis.
• 1:54:34
  Speaker 5: Well, you know what they're going to do? They're going
• 1:54:37
  Speaker 5: to call tomorrow the other group. that they can get
• 1:54:40
  Speaker 5: a response from and sympathy from, not from us.
• 1:54:42
  Speaker 3: But, I mean, let's have a dialogue. You're here, and
• 1:54:46
  Speaker 3: you're open to their calls. Not a single call from
• 1:54:50
  Speaker 3: Zach or any of these other people that say these
• 1:54:54
  Speaker 3: things about you. Not a single call.
• 1:54:56
  Speaker 4: I know.
• 1:54:57
  Speaker 3: Isn't that interesting? Not a discussion. Where's the head of
• 1:55:00
  Speaker 3: the library? Where's this Zach guy and all these other people?
• 1:55:02
  Speaker 17: Vanished.
• 1:55:04
  Speaker 3: Totally gone.
• 1:55:05
  Speaker 4: But what's the other interesting thing that we talked about earlier?
• 1:55:08
  Speaker 5: All they've been talking about is slag in this article
• 1:55:11
  Speaker 5: and all this, and not one mention of any of
• 1:55:14
  Speaker 5: the issues of the actual financial situation with them. Not
• 1:55:18
  Speaker 5: one mention of any of that to try and defend
• 1:55:22
  Speaker 5: any of their expenses and stuff.
• 1:55:24
  Speaker 4: And income and stuff like that.
• 1:55:25
  Speaker 3: Well, vote against these library issues. First of all, let's
• 1:55:28
  Speaker 3: get a lot of these people off the payroll who
• 1:55:30
  Speaker 3: we don't need on the payroll in the first place.
• 1:55:32
  Speaker 3: Let's hire some maintenance people to do some painting and
• 1:55:35
  Speaker 3: caulking and people that actually do something for a living.
• 1:55:38
  Speaker 3: Not some people whose goal is how do we muddy
• 1:55:40
  Speaker 3: up a good honorable man? How do we insult some guy?
• 1:55:44
  Speaker 3: We don't need any of that. I don't need any
• 1:55:46
  Speaker 3: of that. These people are worthless to me, whatever their
• 1:55:49
  Speaker 3: salary and benefits are. I need maintenance people to maintain
• 1:55:52
  Speaker 3: this facility and And take pride in this community. That's all.
• 1:55:58
  Speaker 3: And I say this to you. I have a world
• 1:56:01
  Speaker 3: of respect for you.
• 1:56:03
  Speaker 6: All right.
• 1:56:03
  Speaker 3: I mean, I have a world of respect for the
• 1:56:05
  Speaker 3: person that you are. And I want you to understand that.
• 1:56:07
  Speaker 3: I think you are a good, decent man. You're a good,
• 1:56:10
  Speaker 3: decent human being. You're a great architect, but you're a
• 1:56:13
  Speaker 3: good person. And the fight that you're making is for
• 1:56:17
  Speaker 3: the community in which you love so much and the
• 1:56:19
  Speaker 3: building you love so much. And you've given so much
• 1:56:22
  Speaker 3: to that community and you've done so much to that
• 1:56:24
  Speaker 3: community that you're an honor to sit in this room
• 1:56:28
  Speaker 3: with and that you should be listened to. I find
• 1:56:31
  Speaker 3: you to be an extremely patient, articulate person. Good human being.
• 1:56:36
  Speaker 3: And it has been my pleasure and honor to sit
• 1:56:38
  Speaker 3: here with you for these hours. And I am offended
• 1:56:41
  Speaker 3: by anyone who says anything different than that. I'm offended
• 1:56:44
  Speaker 3: by that you're not being listened to. And I just
• 1:56:47
  Speaker 3: support what you stand for. And I leave you with that.
• 1:56:50
  Speaker 4: Thank you very much, Dan. It's been a pleasure being here.
• 1:56:53
  Speaker 3: Don't call me Dan. All right.
• 1:56:57
  Speaker 15: Let's start here.
• 1:56:58
  Speaker 6: So good morning and welcome.
• 1:56:59
  Speaker 18: We are now underway.
• 1:57:01
  Speaker 1: We're following the events of the day.
• 1:57:03
  Speaker 17: What we're just now hearing about. This is new information.
• 1:57:05
  Speaker 1: Throughout the day.
• 1:57:07
  Speaker 8: Good day.
• 1:57:07
  Speaker 18: This is where it stands now.
• 1:57:09
  Speaker 1: Pick up the conversation.
• 1:57:10
  Speaker 15: We'll talk about what's happening.
• 1:57:12
  Speaker 14: Anytime.
• 1:57:13
  Speaker 17: The deal we reached with Iran.
• 1:57:14
  Speaker 21: The devil's in the details. Bringing the price of gasoline down.
• 1:57:17
  Speaker 17: Maintain the Fed funds rate.
• 1:57:18
  Speaker 14: Tying Pfizer to the Save Act. NATO has been.
• 1:57:21
  Speaker 1: A paper tiger for the very latest.
• 1:57:23
  Speaker 6: We'll see how that all plays out.
• 1:57:25
  Speaker 1: News Radio 570 WKBN.
• 1:57:26
  Speaker 22: The wildfire smoke is still lingering in parts of Ohio
• 1:57:33
  Speaker 22: today with air quality alerts in effect for northeast Ohio,
• 1:57:36
  Speaker 22: including the cities of Cleveland and Akron, along with counties
• 1:57:38
  Speaker 22: in the Columbus and Dayton areas.
• 1:57:40
  Speaker 32: Northeast Ohio has seen the worst of the smoke, causing
• 1:57:42
  Speaker 32: the Cleveland Guardians game Friday night against the Pittsburgh Pirates
• 1:57:45
  Speaker 32: to be postponed to Saturday, made up during a doubleheader. Meantime,
• 1:57:48
  Speaker 32: a man who Toledo police say was waving and pointing
• 1:57:51
  Speaker 32: a gun at others at a gas station overnight was
• 1:57:53
  Speaker 32: shot and killed by police officers. The call coming in
• 1:57:56
  Speaker 32: from a Sheetz just after 3.30 yesterday morning, with a
• 1:57:59
  Speaker 32: suspect dying at the hospital, and the officer involved has
• 1:58:02
  Speaker 32: been placed on paid administrative leave as the investigation takes place.
• 1:58:06
  Speaker 32: In the meantime, entering the new week, Ohio's gas price
• 1:58:09
  Speaker 32: averages at 3%.
• 1:58:10
  Speaker 17: $ 3.
• 1:58:10
  Speaker 32: 89, which is up 5 cents compared to last Sunday.
• 1:58:13
  Speaker 32: And when looking back a month, the price is just
• 1:58:16
  Speaker 32: a penny less and 94 cents high.
• 1:58:18
  Speaker 3: Compared to a year ago. I'm Brady Hopkins.
• 1:58:21
  Speaker 2: Listen on the free iHeartRadio app for all your music, news, talk,
• 1:58:25
  Speaker 2: and sports radio.
• 1:58:26
  Speaker 15: Podcasts, too.
• 1:58:28
  Speaker 13: Download the app.
• 1:58:29
  Speaker 2: Free never sounded so good from the A to Z
• 1:58:32
  Speaker 2: dependable services. Now Ron verb on news radio, five 70 WKVN.
• 1:58:40
  Speaker 3: And from news radio, five 70 WKVN. Thanks to Bob
• 1:58:43
  Speaker 3: Mastriana for being with us for two and a half hours.
• 1:58:49
  Speaker 3: Just some reflections on, on all of this, if you will. And, uh,
• 1:58:56
  Speaker 3: I want all of you to know a number of things.
• 1:59:02
  Speaker 3: I can tell you from sitting here, and I meant
• 1:59:06
  Speaker 3: it when I said it to him, and I say
• 1:59:08
  Speaker 3: this to all of you, that is a good, decent
• 1:59:11
  Speaker 3: man that just left the studio. That is a good,
• 1:59:16
  Speaker 3: decent human being. And he's a smart guy. He's smart,
• 1:59:25
  Speaker 3: He's a damn good architect. He's a smart man. He
• 1:59:31
  Speaker 3: got some of that knowledge in building the Poland Library
• 1:59:38
  Speaker 3: by some Harvard backgrounds in making it the spectacular facility
• 1:59:43
  Speaker 3: that it is. I mean, you sit here I sit
• 1:59:51
  Speaker 3: here and I listen to him and I can tell,
• 1:59:53
  Speaker 3: I can tell all of you, you know, I can
• 1:59:56
  Speaker 3: say this to all of you sitting down there on
• 1:59:58
  Speaker 3: the public payroll, working for the library or running the library.
• 2:00:09
  Speaker 3: This is a decent human being whose heart and soul
• 2:00:13
  Speaker 3: is into that, into that community. Who's done so much
• 2:00:18
  Speaker 3: for that community. And he's just a good man. And
• 2:00:25
  Speaker 3: he's damn good at what he does. And he built
• 2:00:29
  Speaker 3: a facility that that community is damn proud of and
• 2:00:33
  Speaker 3: was praised way beyond that community. He's done all of that.
• 2:00:39
  Speaker 3: And for any paid yellow journalists that want to slam
• 2:00:42
  Speaker 3: the guy, I just think that's reprehensible and evil. He
• 2:00:53
  Speaker 3: cares about the Poland Library. He cares about that community.
• 2:00:57
  Speaker 3: He cares about why it's there and what its purpose is.
• 2:01:05
  Speaker 3: And for the life of me, I sit back as
• 2:01:07
  Speaker 3: a taxpayer because this does affect all of us in
• 2:01:10
  Speaker 3: Mahoney County. I do not understand. First and foremost, you
• 2:01:14
  Speaker 3: have people that don't have a background in this stuff
• 2:01:17
  Speaker 3: that aren't listening to this man. They're attacking him. They're
• 2:01:20
  Speaker 3: not listening to him. I don't know what the agenda
• 2:01:24
  Speaker 3: is of this library system. I don't know what the
• 2:01:29
  Speaker 3: agenda is. But I'm always deeply disturbed when some things
• 2:01:35
  Speaker 3: are taking place when you, the taxpayer, are ignored. I've
• 2:01:39
  Speaker 3: spoken to you about it in the past before. It's
• 2:01:42
  Speaker 3: just like this $ 60 million plus boondoggle with Eastern Gateway.
• 2:01:50
  Speaker 3: that the commissioners are committed to without asking the citizens
• 2:01:53
  Speaker 3: of the community.
• 2:01:56
  Speaker 13: For any input.
• 2:01:57
  Speaker 3: It's just like, here's the decision we made and this
• 2:02:00
  Speaker 3: is the way it's going to be. And you're on
• 2:02:04
  Speaker 3: the hook for the bonds of it. As disturbing as
• 2:02:11
  Speaker 3: that is to me, this is even more disturbing. This
• 2:02:18
  Speaker 3: is your community. These are your tax dollars. And there
• 2:02:26
  Speaker 3: seems to me to be an arrogance here and an
• 2:02:33
  Speaker 3: untouchability that needs to be changed. Now, there's many ways
• 2:02:40
  Speaker 3: that you can change that. You can change that through
• 2:02:42
  Speaker 3: the funding. And I suspect and suggest that that be done.
• 2:02:52
  Speaker 3: When you're starting to pad a payroll with a bunch
• 2:02:54
  Speaker 3: of people with these long titles that really aren't necessary,
• 2:03:00
  Speaker 3: when you start stacking it with them, with their titles
• 2:03:03
  Speaker 3: and their paychecks and their benefits, and they're really not necessary.
• 2:03:14
  Speaker 3: They're just not necessary. They're a waste of our tax dollars.
• 2:03:20
  Speaker 3: And it is your tax dollars. So I think you
• 2:03:28
  Speaker 3: need to take a serious look at this entire situation.
• 2:03:37
  Speaker 3: If you can fix this magnificent structure that would cost, what,
• 2:03:40
  Speaker 3: $ 20 million to build today? for five, six, $ 7 million,
• 2:03:44
  Speaker 3: and solve the problem that was created by this wall,
• 2:03:47
  Speaker 3: that he had nothing to do with being put up,
• 2:03:50
  Speaker 3: then why wouldn't you do it? Why wouldn't you say,
• 2:03:52
  Speaker 3: we're gonna do that, and let's see what happens? And
• 2:03:58
  Speaker 3: make the community happy, the vast majority of the community,
• 2:04:01
  Speaker 3: and keep that beautiful facility functioning. And at the same time,
• 2:04:05
  Speaker 3: have a maintenance program. See, here's the lunacy that you
• 2:04:08
  Speaker 3: get from the library. Well, you know, the ongoing maintenance costs.
• 2:04:11
  Speaker 3: If you build a new library and you have a
• 2:04:14
  Speaker 3: new HVAC system, that should be good for, what, 20 years? Well,
• 2:04:20
  Speaker 3: if you replace the HVAC system in this existing building,
• 2:04:23
  Speaker 3: which lasted that period of time, that new one will
• 2:04:26
  Speaker 3: be good for 20 years. It is a wash. Any house,
• 2:04:34
  Speaker 3: any building needs maintenance. If it doesn't get it, it
• 2:04:39
  Speaker 3: will decay. It's basic knowledge. It needs maintenance. All of
• 2:04:48
  Speaker 3: these people that this woman has hired are insignificant. And
• 2:04:52
  Speaker 3: as I said, we should be hiring more craftsmen, more
• 2:04:56
  Speaker 3: people that understand maintenance and can do the maintenance and
• 2:05:00
  Speaker 3: maintain these facilities for the sake of the taxpayer so
• 2:05:05
  Speaker 3: that they continue to last forever. That's what you need.
• 2:05:11
  Speaker 3: You need carpenters, painters, craftsmen that have pride in their
• 2:05:19
  Speaker 3: work and can maintain these beautiful facilities. Not some overpaid
• 2:05:26
  Speaker 3: people whose goal is to try to justify something that
• 2:05:29
  Speaker 3: the public doesn't want, overwhelmingly doesn't want. There's an arrogance
• 2:05:35
  Speaker 3: going on here.
• 2:05:39
  Speaker 8: And I.
• 2:05:41
  Speaker 3: Just don't much care for it. As I've said to
• 2:05:42
  Speaker 3: you numerous times, as I will say to you again,
• 2:05:45
  Speaker 3: I want what's best for all of you. I want
• 2:05:47
  Speaker 3: all of you to live a long, good, healthy life.
• 2:05:52
  Speaker 3: I hope you'll always be blessed with two of God's
• 2:05:54
  Speaker 3: greatest gifts, good health and life itself. But I'm deeply
• 2:06:02
  Speaker 3: disturbed when you are taken for granted. And I believe
• 2:06:11
  Speaker 3: you are being taken for granted in so many ways.
• 2:06:16
  Speaker 3: As a taxpayer of the community, you're taken for granted
• 2:06:19
  Speaker 3: when it is almost sinful to many of these politicians
• 2:06:23
  Speaker 3: to give you a small portion of your property tax
• 2:06:25
  Speaker 3: money back. After a huge increase went the way, went
• 2:06:34
  Speaker 3: to the community. It's just... Unbelievable to me that the
• 2:06:40
  Speaker 3: taxpayer is in too many cases is viewed last. And
• 2:06:44
  Speaker 3: certainly that seems to be the case in this situation.
• 2:06:48
  Speaker 3: You've got a group of people trying to sell you something,
• 2:06:50
  Speaker 3: which is absolute nonsense. It just doesn't make common sense
• 2:06:54
  Speaker 3: at all. There's no common sense in what they're trying
• 2:06:56
  Speaker 3: to pitch your way. And all you got to do
• 2:07:00
  Speaker 3: is sit back and think about it. What's interesting is
• 2:07:02
  Speaker 3: when he's sitting here on the broadcast, not a single
• 2:07:04
  Speaker 3: one of those people picked up the phone to talk
• 2:07:07
  Speaker 3: to him about on our airwaves at the time he
• 2:07:10
  Speaker 3: was on to discuss their criticism of what he had
• 2:07:13
  Speaker 3: to say. See, they only respond to Bob when he's
• 2:07:17
  Speaker 3: not here. They only respond to him when he's not
• 2:07:23
  Speaker 3: here to listen to what they have to say and
• 2:07:25
  Speaker 3: respond to it. It's the great thing about when he's
• 2:07:30
  Speaker 3: sitting here for two and a half hours on our
• 2:07:34
  Speaker 3: airwaves and our phone lines are open. All those people
• 2:07:39
  Speaker 3: who were critical of him lack the backbone to call
• 2:07:44
  Speaker 3: and say it to his face. His face. That says
• 2:07:52
  Speaker 3: all you need to know. I will not vote and
• 2:07:58
  Speaker 3: have not vote for a library levy. for the sake
• 2:08:01
  Speaker 3: that they have all this money sitting in a savings account,
• 2:08:04
  Speaker 3: which is my tax dollars. I will not vote for
• 2:08:07
  Speaker 3: a library that stacks itself with the caliber of people
• 2:08:10
  Speaker 3: that are collecting these paychecks and benefits that are, in
• 2:08:15
  Speaker 3: my estimation, unnecessary. Totally unnecessary. I cannot, will not support
• 2:08:25
  Speaker 3: a library system that doesn't do ongoing regular maintenance. I
• 2:08:30
  Speaker 3: saw the pictures of things that have been ignored, not
• 2:08:33
  Speaker 3: for a short time, but for a long time that
• 2:08:35
  Speaker 3: led to some decay. It should be addressed. But I
• 2:08:44
  Speaker 3: will say to you once again, the man that was
• 2:08:46
  Speaker 3: sitting in his studio is a good, decent human being.
• 2:08:48
  Speaker 3: He's a good man. And he cares about his community.
• 2:08:57
  Speaker 3: And anybody that attacks him in any way tells me
• 2:09:01
  Speaker 3: something deep about their character and what they think about
• 2:09:05
  Speaker 3: him and, frankly, what they think about the community and
• 2:09:11
  Speaker 3: what all these people have to say. Do not tolerate
• 2:09:13
  Speaker 3: this arrogance. Do not tolerate it. You're on the air.
• 2:09:19
  Speaker 8: Good evening, Ron.
• 2:09:20
  Speaker 3: How are you? I'm well, thank you.
• 2:09:23
  Speaker 8: Well, I've got to tell you, I'm a little confused.
• 2:09:25
  Speaker 11: So..
• 2:09:27
  Speaker 8: I've been listening to some of this discussion you've had
• 2:09:30
  Speaker 8: now over these two shows. So I went to the
• 2:09:33
  Speaker 8: library's website, and I started looking at the titles and
• 2:09:38
  Speaker 8: the number of people involved in executive positions and administrative roles.
• 2:09:46
  Speaker 8: You've got an organization here that's got titles and positions
• 2:09:52
  Speaker 8: and the number of people involved that could manage a $ 5,
• 2:09:54
  Speaker 8: $ 10 billion company. I mean, this is incredible. You've got
• 2:09:59
  Speaker 8: a chief technology officer, chief operating officer, chief financial officer,
• 2:10:02
  Speaker 8: chief experience officer. You've got to have that. Of course,
• 2:10:05
  Speaker 8: you have a chief human resource officer. You just can't
• 2:10:07
  Speaker 8: have an HR clerk. You've got to have a chief.
• 2:10:11
  Speaker 8: You've got, of course, this director and chief executive officer
• 2:10:14
  Speaker 8: who's worked at other library systems, a chief stakeholder relations officer. Chief,
• 2:10:22
  Speaker 8: you've got an IR, an investor relations person at the library.
• 2:10:28
  Speaker 8: I mean, this is incredible to me. And then you
• 2:10:30
  Speaker 8: start working through the administrative offices, and it just goes
• 2:10:33
  Speaker 8: on and on. And so I haven't, you know, taken
• 2:10:38
  Speaker 8: the time to go through the budget for this place.
• 2:10:41
  Speaker 8: But we do know that almost all the library systems
• 2:10:45
  Speaker 8: have been taken over by an extremely woke army. And
• 2:10:51
  Speaker 8: that goes all the way up to the Library Association.
• 2:10:53
  Speaker 8: I mean, this is a national problem. So I guess
• 2:10:58
  Speaker 8: the question is, is this about making books and information
• 2:11:01
  Speaker 8: available to people, or is this about raising money, hiring
• 2:11:05
  Speaker 8: a bunch of people? And then the question, I don't
• 2:11:07
  Speaker 8: know if you got to, which is, are they just
• 2:11:09
  Speaker 8: advancing an ideology? I don't know that, because I haven't
• 2:11:13
  Speaker 8: been in that library in a long time. But I
• 2:11:16
  Speaker 8: have been in the Poland Library, which was great, and
• 2:11:18
  Speaker 8: I've been in the Downtown Library, which is great. But
• 2:11:25
  Speaker 8: some of what you have talked about is troubling. Because
• 2:11:28
  Speaker 8: it doesn't sound like this is being run by practical
• 2:11:31
  Speaker 8: people with common sense approaches that are fiscally resource-focused. It
• 2:11:38
  Speaker 8: sounds more like it's just a sprawling bureaucracy rolling around
• 2:11:42
  Speaker 8: in taxpayer money. So I'm curious about how voters will
• 2:11:50
  Speaker 8: continue to support levies. Now, is there a levy on
• 2:11:53
  Speaker 8: the ballot this year?
• 2:11:54
  Speaker 3: I don't believe so.
• 2:11:59
  Speaker 8: Because it just passed like in 23 or something. They
• 2:12:03
  Speaker 8: passed a big one, 24, something like that. They passed
• 2:12:05
  Speaker 8: a big levy. And so, you know, I look back
• 2:12:08
  Speaker 8: at that, and I looked at the cost. And the
• 2:12:11
  Speaker 8: cost was like $ 7, $ 100, 000.
• 2:12:12
  Speaker 38: If you have a home that's $ 300, 000, you've got a
• 2:12:20
  Speaker 38: library membership fee of $ 21 a month, whether you use
• 2:12:24
  Speaker 38: it or not.
• 2:12:25
  Speaker 8: Now, that doesn't sound like a lot, except you pay
• 2:12:27
  Speaker 8: that every month. across every home, every apartment, and then
• 2:12:32
  Speaker 8: you add in the commercial, right, because businesses pay this too,
• 2:12:36
  Speaker 8: this is a massive amount of money. If the YMCA
• 2:12:40
  Speaker 8: could go out and say, listen, we don't care if
• 2:12:42
  Speaker 8: you're members or not. We're just going to hit everybody
• 2:12:44
  Speaker 8: up for $ 21 a month across the whole year, and
• 2:12:49
  Speaker 8: you really can't opt out. We're going to have that
• 2:12:52
  Speaker 8: money to do with as we please. And by the way,
• 2:12:54
  Speaker 8: we're not necessarily going to be responsive to you. I mean,
• 2:12:58
  Speaker 8: that's an amazing amount of money to have access to. Now, again,
• 2:13:01
  Speaker 8: I haven't looked at the total financials to see how
• 2:13:03
  Speaker 8: much the annual take is. But what did you say? Like,
• 2:13:07
  Speaker 8: how much money are they sitting on now?
• 2:13:11
  Speaker 3: From the last report that they had, you were just
• 2:13:15
  Speaker 3: under $ 50 million in that ballpark.
• 2:13:18
  Speaker 8: Did you say 5-0 or 1-5?
• 2:13:18
  Speaker 6: 5-0.
• 2:13:18
  Speaker 8: That's astonishing. Because when you said that, I heard that
• 2:13:27
  Speaker 8: the first time, and I thought I misheard it. I thought,
• 2:13:30
  Speaker 8: my God, how can they have $ 15 million in cash reserves?
• 2:13:33
  Speaker 3: I think $ 50 million, if I'm not mistaken from what
• 2:13:35
  Speaker 3: they said, $ 50.
• 2:13:36
  Speaker 8: I just couldn't possibly process that number.
• 2:13:40
  Speaker 3: I mean, Tom Samery can correct me if that's wrong.
• 2:13:42
  Speaker 8: Go ahead. I mean, that's astonishing. Now, I've seen the
• 2:13:47
  Speaker 8: same kinds of things happening in school boards. where they
• 2:13:51
  Speaker 8: only let you speak for a couple of minutes and
• 2:13:53
  Speaker 8: they don't respond to anybody, there's no answering of any
• 2:13:56
  Speaker 8: questions or communications, and they start accumulating large amounts of cash. Now,
• 2:14:02
  Speaker 8: I'm not sure that's in the school systems in Northeast
• 2:14:04
  Speaker 8: Ohio there, but in other areas, I've seen places where
• 2:14:08
  Speaker 8: they do that. And even though they might have a
• 2:14:10
  Speaker 8: huge cash balance, they'll still go out and ask for
• 2:14:13
  Speaker 8: additional taxes. There's just this illness we have in this
• 2:14:16
  Speaker 8: country where... Anybody that's living on the taxes believes that
• 2:14:20
  Speaker 8: there should be no limit to how much they can take.
• 2:14:23
  Speaker 8: And for some reason, we've got voters who are okay
• 2:14:26
  Speaker 8: with that. Now, let's say they have $ 50 million. Okay.
• 2:14:31
  Speaker 8: Could you not use that in some better way? You know,
• 2:14:34
  Speaker 8: and I'm not one that says when the digital age
• 2:14:37
  Speaker 8: library should go away. I do think they should adapt
• 2:14:40
  Speaker 8: to the digital age. And that means they should still
• 2:14:42
  Speaker 8: have books because there's no replacement for books. There's just none.
• 2:14:47
  Speaker 8: And you need a place to go where you can
• 2:14:49
  Speaker 8: take your kids and read some children's books and things.
• 2:14:51
  Speaker 8: I was in a library with some families a couple
• 2:14:55
  Speaker 8: of months ago. It was a blast. It was so
• 2:14:57
  Speaker 8: much fun with these little kids. But, you know, that's
• 2:15:02
  Speaker 8: great stuff, and it helps the community have a place.
• 2:15:04
  Speaker 8: I mean, there's some goodness to this. But it's got
• 2:15:06
  Speaker 8: to be run with common-sense approaches, with a real care team.
• 2:15:13
  Speaker 8: focus on this financial responsibility. And I just don't understand
• 2:15:19
  Speaker 8: this massive bureaucracy.
• 2:15:21
  Speaker 3: Hold that thought. Hold that thought back in a minute.
• 2:15:24
  Speaker 3: Stay tuned. We're on Verb News Radio 570.
• 2:15:29
  Speaker 32: It's the big building supply auction in North Lima.
• 2:15:34
  Speaker 3: When you were going through that list of people that
• 2:15:35
  Speaker 3: were hired and their titles, I thought your observation was
• 2:15:39
  Speaker 3: interesting because As you said, is this a Fortune 500 company? No,
• 2:15:43
  Speaker 3: it's your public library.
• 2:15:46
  Speaker 8: Yeah, I mean, that's incredible. I don't know if they
• 2:15:49
  Speaker 8: have volunteers or not, but their total expense, I'm looking
• 2:15:51
  Speaker 8: at their 25 financial payments, their expense for employees is
• 2:15:55
  Speaker 8: like $ 15 million. And when you see these balance forward numbers,
• 2:16:02
  Speaker 8: you know, coming into 2025, in the building repair fund,
• 2:16:04
  Speaker 8: $ 23 million. It's a massive amount of money. And then
• 2:16:10
  Speaker 8: the balance forward on the general fund is $ 10 million.
• 2:16:14
  Speaker 8: You're at $ 33 million just between those two funds. There
• 2:16:17
  Speaker 8: are two other funds. I haven't gone through all these numbers. But,
• 2:16:20
  Speaker 8: you know, this is a really significant financial firm. And
• 2:16:26
  Speaker 8: I wonder, you know, like who's managing all this cash? Now,
• 2:16:29
  Speaker 8: they have a chief financial officer, and so hopefully he's
• 2:16:32
  Speaker 8: got a treasury function. This is a, you know, small company,
• 2:16:38
  Speaker 8: but a– but it's got the staff of a Fortune
• 2:16:41
  Speaker 8: 500 business, and it's got cash flows well in excess
• 2:16:44
  Speaker 8: of what it needs. So here's the question. Given the
• 2:16:49
  Speaker 8: responsibility that these people have to the taxpayers who are
• 2:16:53
  Speaker 8: funding this thing, is now the time for them to
• 2:16:56
  Speaker 8: go back with an amendment, put an amendment on the
• 2:17:00
  Speaker 8: ballot for this November, to reduce the property taxes to
• 2:17:06
  Speaker 8: match the actual needs of the facility. And I would
• 2:17:09
  Speaker 8: say that need might come after taking a hard look
• 2:17:12
  Speaker 8: at the structure of the management team and the administrative
• 2:17:15
  Speaker 8: staff and really figuring out who's doing the work and
• 2:17:20
  Speaker 8: why they have an investor relations officer for the library system.
• 2:17:25
  Speaker 8: What is that, chief stakeholder relations? What are you doing? Now,
• 2:17:30
  Speaker 8: the woke element, I don't know about. I haven't. gone
• 2:17:33
  Speaker 8: into the libraries to check that out. But if that
• 2:17:36
  Speaker 8: woke element is present, then it's incumbent upon the board
• 2:17:39
  Speaker 8: to take it out, because you cannot have that kind
• 2:17:41
  Speaker 8: of religion permeate a library. And I don't know that
• 2:17:45
  Speaker 8: it is. I just know that if you go into
• 2:17:47
  Speaker 8: the libraries in larger cities, you'll start seeing the minute
• 2:17:50
  Speaker 8: you walk in, signs that they are completely aligned with.
• 2:17:54
  Speaker 8: You'll see the child pornography books up front, you know,
• 2:17:56
  Speaker 8: all the molestation books and all that, the grooming books.
• 2:17:59
  Speaker 8: They're all over the place. So, you know, it's a pretty...
• 2:18:03
  Speaker 8: places where it should be an environment for learning and
• 2:18:06
  Speaker 8: where people are comfortable.
• 2:18:08
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I got to pause.
• 2:18:09
  Speaker 8: It'll be interesting to see where it goes.
• 2:18:11
  Speaker 3: Thank you, G2. Continue the research. I appreciate it, my friends.
• 2:18:15
  Speaker 3: The great G2 callers on the line, you're going to
• 2:18:17
  Speaker 3: have to call me tomorrow. Appreciate your time. Thank you, Bob.
• 2:18:21
  Speaker 13: Stay tuned.
• 2:18:21
  Speaker 3: Guardians coming up next.
• 2:18:24
  Speaker 13: Work days work better with food.