Full Transcript for 11/6 Hour 3

but it will be worth it. It's a great opportunity to support the veterans in our county. 00:03:05 Speaker 1: Bring your children. These ladies and gentlemen need someone to wave to. And here's the deal. Seeing them pass lifts your spirits as a spectator. You feel tremendous. You feel proud of them. 00:03:20 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's like watching our history walk by us. Some of these men served many, many years ago in World War II in Korea, and they did things that made this world. The only reason our country is the way it is today is because of what these old men who look frail and vulnerable walking by were at one point some of the most badass humans on the planet. And they did that for us. It's a very small thing for us to just go and show some appreciation for them. 00:03:54 Speaker 1: And it is a gift to us to feel their spirit. Here's the thing. I want to see veterans, and I want to thank veterans, and I appreciate all these older folks, but I want to see a bunch of guys who are in their late 30s and 40s. I want to see your generation. I want them to see our faces and hear our applause. 00:04:15 Speaker 2: You know, that comes up with me constantly, Bob. And, you know, I suspect that the reason you don't see a lot of my generation at things like this is because we're right in the middle of our lives raising young kids and working jobs. And we are starting to come out more. But not only do I want to see them marching in the parades, but I want to see them getting involved in the Legion posts and the VFWs and what we do at the county and things like that because I'm lucky. I get to do it for a job. and I would do it for free. As a matter of fact, I'd pay to do it. It heals me. It's a real gift for me to be able to do that, and it will be for any of those others as well. 00:04:56 Speaker 1: Yeah, and I'm an idiot outsider. I don't know all these things. I want for the Global War on Terror veterans, there is a sense of community when you are around other veterans, and it may not feel like you need it, but when you have it, it is a tremendous blessing to you And as these men and women, again, are living their lives, raising their families, now they're mid-career people and many of them very, very successful. That connection, I think it can be important to them. I want them to have that blessing in their lives. 00:05:32 Speaker 2: It's everything to us. When I'm sitting in a doctor's office and I look at the guy next to me and I see he's got a Marine Corps hat on, we start a conversation. And it's like I found a long-lost cousin that I never had. You know, it's something that's really special. 00:05:46 Speaker 1: A hundred percent. Another thing, too, you mentioned, speaking of Nick Stefanovic, who is the Veterans Affairs Coordinator for Monroe County, tomorrow morning, 1030, down by Highland Avenue or whatever, where it turns onto South, a big Veterans Day parade. If you'd come out, bring your family, wear a coat, I think you'll enjoy it tremendously. You mentioned the Vietnam veterans, and I think about that route there where the lilac you know, a festival parade also runs. Over the years, going to those parades, watching it so often near the front, it's the Vietnam Veterans of America, that whatever chapter number is. And it's been interesting. You and I have both seen this. We've seen those men age. We've seen their numbers shrink. We've seen time take its toll. And saying thank you to those gentlemen in that era is something we better make sure and do now while we still can. 00:06:41 Speaker 2: Yeah, they're passing. I mean, you see it in my office. All of the illnesses that are coming from Agent Orange are really showing their impact right now. I got a call this morning from the Sonny Mike Foundation about a Vietnam veteran who's passing away in hospice right now who doesn't have anybody in his life. And so we're finding some people to go up there. to see him. But yeah, before you know it, they're going to stand amongst the ranks of the Korean and World War II veterans where you feel really lucky when you meet one because they're so rare. 00:07:12 Speaker 1: Is there a theme or a grand marshal or anything like that this year? 00:07:16 Speaker 2: Yes, there's a grand marshal, someone you know very well. This year I was really excited for the county executive to announce The grand marshal is a friend of mine and a friend of yours, Senator Rob Ortt, who is the minority leader in the New York State Senate, but more importantly for our purposes, is a Bronze Star recipient and Afghan war vet. 00:07:37 Speaker 1: Yeah. And here's the thing, not to suck up to your boss, that's your job, not mine, but for a Democrat county executive to honor in this fashion a Republican state legislator, that's a pretty straight up kind of noble thing. 00:07:56 Speaker 2: That's always what I've experienced with Adam, is that when it comes to things that are really important, like the fundamental character of somebody, he has never really cared much for what their politics are. And Rob is a great guy. He's an honorable person. He does a great job for his community. And he did some really special things in the military that he needs to be recognized for. So we're happy to have him. 00:08:22 Speaker 1: Now, here's the thing, just you and me talking, is he going to speak at the ceremony after? 00:08:26 Speaker 2: Absolutely. 00:08:27 Speaker 1: Okay. That or it can talk. You know what I'm talking about? 00:08:32 Speaker 2: We can. 00:08:33 Speaker 1: Absolutely. There'll be great remarks, though. Other speakers at the event? Congressman Morelli be out there? 00:08:39 Speaker 2: The congressman will be there. Obviously, the county executive will be there. I believe General Babcock will be there. 00:08:47 Speaker 1: That's that lady you have, right? 00:08:49 Speaker 2: Yep. 00:08:50 Speaker 1: And the mayor coming? 00:08:52 Speaker 2: I believe the mayor is coming. 00:08:53 Speaker 1: Here's the thing,

and don't tell him I said this. In all honesty, again, Congressman Morelli gives a great talk, but the county executive and the mayor, year after year, they honestly give excellent talks. They touch your heart. You sense a real sincerity from both of them. 00:09:11 Speaker 3: Yeah, it is. 00:09:12 Speaker 2: With Malik, it's interesting because Malik, almost everyone in his family was in the military, and he tells this story about his uncle who was in Vietnam and how– He did this school project on Vietnam, and he chose to interview his uncle. And he had recognized that his uncle, who was very close to him, had never talked to him about any of these things before and how that changed his life. The county executive, the same thing. You know, Adam's big thing is he wants our youth to see what a real role model is and to take after them. And our veterans are a great opportunity for that. 00:09:50 Speaker 1: Do you know if the mayor's dad was in the service? I don't know. 00:09:54 Speaker 2: I just asked because. 00:09:56 Speaker 1: I used to know i used to know his dad and it never came up i. 00:09:58 Speaker 2: Didn't know that i don't know his siblings were i think almost all his siblings were of. 00:10:04 Speaker 1: The mayor's siblings or his dad's like his the mayor's siblings or his aunts and uncles the mayor's okay wow very cool very cool Well, outstanding 1030, uh, come cheer folks on and then come over if you, if folks want to listen to the remarks and stuff like that, grab a little music or something. 00:10:24 Speaker 2: Uh, we'll, we'll have some stuff out there, uh, but we're not going to do the, the live bands. I always felt bad for the live bands because it's, uh, you know, by the time we get to that point, um, you know, people are, they've already had the experience there. They've been there for the day is for the veterans. Um, and, and, um, So once that event's done, it'll be done. 00:10:47 Speaker 1: Very good. Very good. Anything else we should know? Anything else going on? 00:10:52 Speaker 2: I would just say this because I'm saying this to everybody right now. The New York State tax exemption, we're going to be sending letters out from the county to all the veterans in Monroe County and the towns and the school districts, just telling them about your ability now to opt in to the New York State tax exemption for 100% disabled veterans. Download your form on the New York State website. You can get your letter to show you're permanently totally disabled from us and bring it to your town assessor. That's got to be done before March. 00:11:21 Speaker 1: Was there, not to kick anybody in the head, was there a town or something here a few days ago where they said they weren't sure they were going to do that because 100% disabled didn't mean what it used to mean or something like that? Does that ring any bells? 00:11:36 Speaker 2: I haven't heard that exact statement, Bob, but there's a few towns in the county that have. 00:11:42 Speaker

2: That either are saying they haven't had a chance to look at this yet or are not going to do it. I've been pretty surprised about it, but we're still working with all the towns, and I'm hopeful that everyone in all of the towns in Monroe County will opt into this. It's a small gesture, and what I'm telling town supervisors is this is not a cost to their budget. This is simply a shift in the tax levy, and if you want to know whether your town wants it, go out and talk to your people and ask a $ 8 more a month so that someone who is 100% permanently and totally disabled due to their military service can live life a little bit easier in their town. 00:12:20 Speaker 1: Nick Stefanovic is the Veterans Affairs Coordinator for Monroe County. Again, 1030 tomorrow morning, Veterans Day, a parade down by Gary Bykirk Park at Highland Park, Highland Avenue and South Avenue. A last question again, if people don't know what your office does, what does it do and how do they contact it? 00:12:39 Speaker 2: Yeah, biggest thing for us, if you don't know whether or not you qualify for VA benefits, those benefits are life-changing. The worst thing that can happen is that the VA says no, so it's always worth exploring. You come to us, and we take care of the whole thing. We do it for you as your representative. You can contact us, 753-6040, or go on the MonroeCounty.gov website. 00:13:03 Speaker 1: If people live outside Monroe County, does every county have an office like yours, or Every. 00:13:09 Speaker 2: County in New York, by law, must have a veteran service agency. That doesn't dictate how big it is. We're one of the biggest in the state. A lot of other states also have that law. So if you live in another county in New York State, yes, your county does have a veteran service agency. You're still welcome to call us. We can still work with you. 00:13:26 Speaker 1: And another thing, forgive me for asking all these questions. Your congressperson, whoever that is, is it true that their office will also have someone who's assigned to work with Veterans Matters? 00:13:38 Speaker 2: Yes. Actually, John Pulido, Congressman Morelli's office, has been probably the biggest advocate and supporter for us. When we get into trouble with the VA and can't figure something out or we're hitting a wall, your congressperson's office does have a constituent advocate who will work your case. So we work with John every day to get through those tougher cases. 00:14:02 Speaker 1: So here's another question. Forgive me. Nick Stavanovic, Monroe County Veterans Affairs Coordinator. If you have any military questions, just call up and ask. But grandpa died or dad died. Dad was in the service. Can we get an honor guard? Can we get a flag? How does that all work, sir? 00:14:21 Speaker 2: Most important thing to do is whatever funeral director you're working with, whether it's going to be a funeral or not, you should still work with a funeral director. The first thing that funeral director

is going to ask you for is a DD-214 for that person. If you have that, give it to the funeral director. The funeral directors are great. They take care of this whole thing. If you don't have it, call us and we'll work with the funeral director to help find that DD-214. 00:14:46 Speaker 1: There was a time when I was in the service, one of the extra details that would sometimes come is to go out and do funeral ceremonies. Does that happen? if there are military honors or whatever, what happens? Who comes or doesn't come, sir? 00:15:03 Speaker 2: Yep, that funeral director emails a package out to whatever active duty branch that veteran was from, and that branch has an office that will send active duty service members right out to the funeral, and they do the whole honors. 00:15:17 Speaker 1: Outstanding, outstanding. Every now and again, forgive me, you'll see there'll be a picture out of Congressman Merrily's office where he's given, you know, here's some Vietnam guy, and he lost his medals or something like that, and he'll, like, re-give the medals. What if we've lost Grandma's medals or something like that? 00:15:35 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a very simple process. Again, that's something we do in our office. There are specific forms. We take the Veterans DD-214. We take whatever information there is. I upload that into the system, and the military, the Department of War, will have a committee that will investigate those confirm it, and then they will, if you want metals added to the documents, they'll do that, or they can send metals, the physical ones. 00:16:05 Speaker 1: To the house. And a last question. I live in Livingston County. I think it's the clerk there, whatever. You take your DD-214 to the clerk, and they'll put it on their records and, like, keep it permanently in case you lose yours. Monroe County and other counties do that? 00:16:20 Speaker 2: We do. Yep, we've done that for a long time. You can either bring it to the clerk's office or you can bring it to our office, and we'll make sure we have a permanent record of it. 00:16:27 Speaker 1: Outstanding. That's Nick Stefanovic. You were in the Marine Corps when, sir, and went where? 00:16:32 Speaker 2: Long time ago, 2002 to 2006. I spent most of my enlistment in Afghanistan. 00:16:37 Speaker 1: God bless you, my brother. And thanks for all you do, and we'll look forward to seeing you at the parade tomorrow. 00:16:42 Speaker 2: Thanks. See you then, Bob. 00:16:42 Speaker 1: You betcha. Nick Stefanovic and the parade, 10.30 tomorrow morning at Highland Park. It's, you know, where like that rainbow thing is or whatever, the purple crosswalk, whatever. Highland Avenue, turn left on south, and it ends up over by the Vietnam Veteran Memorial. They'll have some seats in the tent, and they'll have some speakers. I think you'll probably appreciate them. Back in a moment on NewsRadio WHAM 1180. 00:17:06 Speaker 2: Thanks to the free iHeartRadio app, you can now afford that fancy cup of coffee.

00:17:11 Speaker 3: Keeping you informed and making you look cool for free. 00:17:15 Speaker 1: NewsRadio. 00:17:16 Speaker 2: Wham! 1180. 00:17:18 Speaker 1: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. His was a genius that would reveal itself early, develop swiftly, vanish all too soon. 222-1180 is the number, Don. I appreciate your call, sir. Welcome to NewsRadio. 00:17:32 Speaker 2: Wham! 00:17:32 Speaker 1: 1180. 00:17:34 Speaker 3: Yes, good morning, Bob. Glad I got through. 00:17:37 Speaker 2: Yes, sir. 00:17:39 Speaker 3: I grew up in Livingston County, and I currently reside in Monroe County. I'm 100% permanent and total disabled and a veteran of the U.S. Army. I just happened to be in Geneseo about a month ago, so I stopped at Livingston County Tax Assessor's office. And I was asking the tax assessor actually questions about the property tax exemption. And to my surprise, I don't think he has a full understanding of it. His response to me was, I go, are you going to offer that? He goes, we're such a small county. I can't afford to give up $ 1. 3 million in tax revenue. And Bob, like you pointed out earlier, he's not giving it up. He's just redistributing it. He doesn't understand. Yeah. 00:18:33 Speaker 1: You know what I mean? Again, I agree with that point. He also, you know, you almost want to say, I'm sorry, sir, we're talking about 100% disabled veterans. You know what I mean? There's an aspect of gratitude and recognition of service in that. It's not about the money in his pocket. It's about the feeling in his heart. And he apparently doesn't have it. 00:18:59 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:18:59 Speaker 3: And he just doesn't. And that, that bothers me because, you know, I grew up a long time. I grew up in Avon and, and now I'm in Merrill County. I'm just recently now retired and I'm thinking about moving back, you know, and, and I'm not going to move back if I, if that's the kind of response and appreciation we get. 00:19:18 Speaker 1: Well, here's the deal. I, they, they, I've had very limited things, you know, contact veterans-wise with the county, but they've been wonderful with me. Here might be the thing. This guy may not be the one who knows. There's a board of supervisors. That's the legislative body. There's a county manager. I don't know who that is now, but that's functionally the boss. Those would be the people making decisions. The assessor's office or whatever that was, this is above his pay grade. Whether or not to give that is, I don't know, again, it may be town by town. or county by county, but someone above him is going to make that decision. 00:19:55 Speaker 3: To my surprise, Bob, I actually approached the receptionist at the counter. She goes, well, let me get the assessor himself. And he took me in his office. And then we sat there and looked up on the computer and that's when he said, listen, we got a I forgot, Bob. Don't hold me to it. He said either 260 or 360 100% permanent and total veterans in Livingston County. And that's when he

came up with that number. I think it was 1.3 million. He goes, I can't afford to give up that. 00:20:22 Speaker 1: Which is an interesting kind of deal. And again, I wasn't there. I don't know what he said. But it's like, okay, so you appreciate veterans, but how many will you appreciate? Clearly you have too many to appreciate now. If you had 200, would you appreciate them? Or what if it was just 100? I mean, and if you're the 101st veteran, are you not– it makes no sense. And what you're doing is giving a middle finger to people. 00:20:45 Speaker 3: I think, you know, I went in there and I wasn't, I was very nice. 00:20:49 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:20:49 Speaker 1: It's, I don't think it's an assessor thing. I, uh, here's the thing. I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll reach out to the County and try to get an answer from them. 00:20:57 Speaker 3: Okay. 00:20:58 Speaker 1: Okay. I don't know what their policy is. If you did move back to Livingston County, where would you go? 00:21:02 Speaker 3: Uh, you know, I'd like to go back to my hometown of Avon. 00:21:06 Speaker 1: Um, great place. 00:21:08 Speaker 3: Yeah. 00:21:08 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:21:09 Speaker 3: Yeah. 00:21:09 Speaker 2: Definitely. 00:21:09 Speaker 3: And my whole family grew up there. Good. 00:21:11 Speaker 1: You'll, you'll love it. Um, let me take a break back in a moment. I want to, I want to take a break and come back, and I want to read something to you from the town of Irondequoit. That may impress you. That's coming up next on NewsRadio WHAM 1180. This came out of the– check that– Irondequoit Town Supervisor John Perticone. This was Monday morning this came out, and it says, On Saturday night, the Irondequoit Police Department was dispatched to three separate locations to disperse large crowds, 53 Madison Terrace, 96 Fairleigh Drive, and a location on Nixon Drive. An RTS bus was brought in to assist with the dispersal of partygoers at the Fairleigh Drive location, while police were dispatched twice to the Madison Terrace property. Here's a quote from John Perticone. Before I even took office, the town board had been working on revising our town code governing short-term rentals, specifically those operating as Airbnb properties. These revisions were enacted into law last September. A little over a year later, we have been put in the position where enforcement of this code is necessary, and that is exactly what we are doing, close quote. And then the press release from John Perticone, Irondequoit Town Supervisor, continues, Fairleigh Drive was registered as a short-term rental and permitted as an Airbnb. The location at Madison Terrace has a pending application, which has immediately been denied. The town has notified the Fairleigh Drive and Madison Terrace property owners and posted each property as, quote, not to be occupied for the purpose of short-term rental, close quote. Additionally, The town has immediately suspended the short-term rental permit for 96 Fairlea, which had been registered since July of this year with the intent to revoke said permit. Which all boils down to, we're taking the permits away from each of these three properties. Saturday night, you screwed up. You had big parties, made a ruckus. Monday morning, your permit's gone. Last paragraph is a quote, again, from John Perticone. We understand that everyone wants to celebrate holidays. in this instance, Halloween. We also recognize that property owners have the right to use their property and earn additional income, as long as they are operating within the town code. However, neighbors have rights too. Our code explicitly prohibits any conduct on the premises which disturbs the health, safety, peace, or comfort of the neighborhood or which otherwise creates a public nuisance. Let me be clear. If you are violating this or any other provision of town code, we will hold you accountable, close quote. And here's the deal. That impresses the hell out of me. That's leadership, right? They saw, did the town board last year, an issue that a lot of people have faced. Here's the thing. Airbnbs are like the best idea in the world. If you're a family traveling someplace, You can rent a house typically, especially if you got family getting together, you can rent a house and put everybody up and save a lot of money off a, off a hotel. Uh, whenever our family gets together out traveling or go visiting somebody, uh, we go in together on a house. It's a wonderful blessing, but, uh, some people rent them out, not for temporary lodging, but for parties, often illegal parties. Uh, I don't know if that was the case here in Irondequoit, but, uh, There's a cover charge and there's a charge for alcohol. In effect, you create a short-term bar or party house. And you put that right smack in the middle of somebody's neighborhood. And you have hell raisers and everything else like that. Very disruptive. It's been a problem different places. Irondequoit came up with an ordinance. Saturday night, people violated that ordinance. By Monday morning, they had Irondequoit's boot in their ass. And you had Monday as well. This very clear explanation from the town supervisor of exactly what happened with the problem, exactly how the town responded, and a firm statement of we're not going to take this crap. And they also, I appreciated, they put in there, yes, folks like to celebrate holidays. Yes, you've got a right to make some money with your property. But other people have rights too, like the neighbors. And so we have rules. Follow the rules. We're good. Don't follow the rules. We're coming down on you like a ton of bricks. I love this example. That's leadership. That's the sort of thing, if that's what your town hall is doing, I mean, you just feel comfortable about the attitude there. So anyway, two thumbs up on that. Pete Hegseth. Marsha Blackburn was a United States senator. She just ran for and was elected. to be the governor of Tennessee. That will create an opening for her seat.

She, as the governor, will have the ability to appoint a replacement. And President Trump has dropped the hint more than once that he'd like her to appoint Pete Hagseth, perchance, to be senator from Tennessee. She yesterday let it be known that, no, Pete Hegseth is not under consideration to be appointed senator from Tennessee. There remains the Pete Hegseth question. Folks in the administration looking at Tuesday's outcome, instead of recognizing that that's a function of President Trump, they say, oh, okay, it was the war. And so instead of looking at the guy who declared the war, Trump, um, they look at the people who ran the war. Now here's the deal. Pete Hegseth has been incompetent every single day. He's been in office, right? He, he, he, you know, he's the least qualified guy ever to hold the office. I'm not a fan. And I said that right from the start, but, um, you know, he's kind of being looked at, uh, they're thinking about this, uh, uh, CENTCOM Admiral, uh, Brad Cooper, they're thinking about hanging it around his neck. Um, There's, you know, the chief of staff, Raisin Cane. They're thinking about hanging around his neck. You know, one person declared the war. One person is a decision maker. Harry Truman said the buck stops here. So at any rate, Hagseth is broadly despised because, one, he's a prick. Two, he has gone through and destroyed careers of officers, senior officers, who I know the Trump line is they're all traitors, they're all traitors. But these traitors gave 30-plus years of their life, fought the entire global war on terror. I mean, they were there for every year of it. And they got thrown away for no reason other than maybe Pete Hegseth didn't like them, or maybe they were the wrong color, the wrong gender, whatever else like that. It is worth noting that a three-star admiral fired without cause or warning by Pete Hegseth the lady who was in command of the Naval Reserve, she kicked out of the military by Pete Hegseth after 30 plus years. She ran for Congress here as a Democrat in South Carolina. Remember Nancy Mace? That seat was vacant. And a Democrat by the name of Nancy LaCour, a former vice admiral, grew up in Albany, went to school there, was elected to Congress. So There's talk about, you know, we mentioned yesterday this fellow Massey uh, wants to push forward articles of impeachment. Um, as soon as the house reconvenes, will the Democrats go along with that? Um, who knows? Will they want to wait and do it themselves? I think though that Hakeem Jeffries, um, Hakeem Jeffries has for like a year and a half now been saying Hegseth ought to go. So, um, Hegseth probably ought to go soon. I also, a little bit further on the war, supposedly the president right now is deciding whether or not he wants to escalate the war and engage in high-intensity military action against Iran again. I just say this. We just had an election where the country, the people, said some things. One of the things they undeniably said is, we don't want this mother frigging war. And to ignore that voice of the people, and then to set out on a re-escalation of this war, certainly doesn't sound very small-D democratic. And it doesn't seem, again, remember the Constitution gives the House of Representatives, the Congress, the power to declare war. Because the framers and the Alexander Hamilton, when he wasn't rapping, specifically in a Federalist paper, made the argument that you must not give the power to start war to the executive because tyrants will entangle the nation and its sons doing the fighting then and its treasure in a war that the people will have to bear the burden of the war. And so it entity in our government that starts a war must be that entity most directly responsive to the people that's the congress specifically originating in the house of representatives um this never went through any of that this was pulled completely out of trump's hind end and the people just kind of indicated they don't want any more and to ignore the constitution and to ignore the statement of the will of the people on tuesday and it's pretty hard to justify and um And I sure hope that Trump doesn't do it. I sure hope he doesn't. It's time for news. Dave Debo will give that to us. We'll be back with Thad Brown when he's done on NewsRadio WHAM 1180. W-H-A-M, Rochester. W-A-I-O-H-D-2, Honeyoy Falls. W-2-4-1-D-G, Rochester. 00:32:15 Speaker 3: Amherst fans, get your custom Amherst debit card today at Advantage Federal Credit Union. 00:32:20 Speaker 1: First, fast, accurate. Rochester's news, weather, and traffic station.