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Flint Water Crisis: Interview with Lynn Mason — Transcript

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0:00hello welcome to another episode of GMO
0:02free news today we are covering again
0:05the Flint Water Crisis and today in the
0:07house we have Jack Olstead our
0:10producer we have Kathleen Halal joining
0:13us from the West Coast hello myself
0:17Rachel lyen on the east coast and we
0:20have our representative from the Flint
0:22area uh Lynn Mason Lynn is uh currently
0:26running for the Democratic uh
0:28representative for district 86 in
0:31Michigan she is an Apple farmer a mother
0:34a grandmother she was a is a retired
0:38school teacher she taught second grade
0:40and health Ed am I right physical Ed and
0:44and health Ed yes Len thank you so much
0:47for coming to the show I know you've
0:49been in the political scene in in
0:52Michigan UHF Flint area and you have
0:54sort of the inside scoop on really what
0:59what this this controversy and crisis
1:01boils down to politically and how we
1:04kind of got into this total pickle uh
1:07and I know that a lot of that revolves
1:09around the governor's office and around
1:11the emergency
1:12manager um Can can you give us a brief
1:15history politically of of where this
1:18went uh off the
1:20rails sure sure I can uh first let me
1:23tell you um I also was a a county
1:26commissioner for four terms and um I was
1:31known for working really hard in asking
1:33tough questions and and I'm pretty okay
1:37dealing with tough issues um I live
1:39about an hour and a half from Flint so
1:42and I have you know I don't want to come
1:45off as an expert on Flynn but I did go
1:48to Flynn and talk to some people there U
1:51I did go there when Michael Moore was
1:53there and I wanted to get right up close
1:57to some of the people who were dealing
1:58with this terrible tragedy
2:00so when we talk about the timeline
2:03because it seems like everybody wants to
2:05talk about the timeline I think it goes
2:08back to 2010 and maybe before but 2010
2:14when um the Republican governor was
2:17elected and the Republicans basically
2:19took control of our
2:21legislature and so when one party
2:24controls everything from the governor's
2:26office to the attorney general and
2:28everything in between there are no
2:30checks and balances and things are going
2:32to go wrong and I said myself as an
2:36elected official at that particular time
2:38when that emergency manager law began I
2:41read a paragraph that
2:43said that an elected board if an
2:47emergency manager takes over that City
2:49that county that school district or
2:52whatever the democratically elected
2:55board the only Power they have is to
2:58bring the media to
3:00order and nothing else no other powers
3:04the emergency manager the
3:07appointed um emergency manager has all
3:11of the Power and I said to people around
3:13me at that time that would be a c there
3:15would be a cold day if if as an as a an
3:20elected official where someone came in
3:22and told me that I didn't have the I
3:23didn't have any power I didn't have any
3:25rights anymore and I wouldn't take that
3:29well
3:31here we are yeah how does one become an
3:34emergency manager well that's a great
3:36question the governor in Michigan
3:38appoints this person and by the way I
3:41read somewhere that written in the law
3:45somewhere that an emergency
3:47manager if they hold a position longer
3:50than 18 months then it's like harder to
3:53get rid of them or something and so
3:56you'll notice that in Flynn there's been
3:58at least four different emergency
4:00managers and none of them stayed longer
4:02than 18
4:04months and so now the one the one has
4:07been transferred by our dictator
4:10Governor to the Detroit public schools
4:13so we could talk about the damage being
4:16done in the Detroit public schools now
4:19by the one of the same people that that
4:21had a large role in uh in the Flint in
4:26the terrible Flint crisis so
4:30that's some of my thoughts on the
4:31emergency manager right it seems like
4:34you know if you have an emergency you
4:36really want um quick action and I could
4:39see how the the logic might be to say
4:41one person would be good at that but we
4:43really I think need at least three
4:46because you do need to have some checks
4:48especially when you give so much power
4:51to one uh one decision maker that it
4:54just it leaves you really open for um
4:57for issues so let me see if I understand
4:59understand this so during this crisis
5:01time this 20 Monon period where Flint um
5:04has been going through its Water Crisis
5:06uh we've had they've had four emergency
5:10managers in that time frame okay so you
5:12really can't even point one finger
5:14you've kind of got you've got a series
5:17of folks coming through like you know to
5:20be honest with you uh I think uh Walmart
5:24keeps their employees longer you know I
5:26mean like I I well but look you got you
5:29got to ask yourself why did an emergency
5:32manager have to be appointed in the
5:33first place so if you look back when the
5:37Snider Administration
5:39began um one of their goals because they
5:43have this this feeling of um let's let's
5:47make Cuts we have to we have to cut
5:50dollars we have to was a fiscal was a
5:53financial emergency it was a financial
5:56emergency and if you look back in two I
5:59think it was about
6:002010 that that our state
6:03legislature um cut Revenue sharing and
6:06if you look at Flint alone 8
6:09million of Revenue sharing was cut from
6:12the city of Flint so when there's sort
6:14of a setup to take away the resources
6:18whether it's from a city or whether it's
6:20from a public school and then the plan
6:24is let's come around and say see you
6:26can't do it you need help from the state
6:27let's have the state come in let's have
6:29the state emergency manager take over
6:32everything because after all they have
6:34all the power they know what they're
6:35doing and look at where we are now so
6:39you have to look back at at the the
6:42budget decisions the funding
6:45decisions um that got us to the point of
6:48even having an emergency manager there
6:50in the first place I I have a question
6:53um in listen listening to all this um
6:56how many of these emergency managers
6:58were told that there was lead in the
7:00water and ignored it and why was that
7:03one emergency manager that you mentioned
7:05given another job by the governor
7:07instead of like brought up on charges
7:09like why was that person rewarded with
7:11another job I I don't really understand
7:14it we were all of them approached by
7:16citizens and were all of them aware uh
7:19that the EPA scientists and the
7:21professor from Virginia Tech and so on
7:23and so forth that these tests were were
7:25coming positive and that the children
7:27were all having health issues so much so
7:30that they they they informed the doctors
7:32in Flint not to do blood tests for lead
7:35for these children I mean that was an
7:37official apparently government memo that
7:39these doctors were getting according to
7:41the the mom we had on uh I think last
7:44week or in the last couple weeks so um
7:46these people who knew about reports of
7:49lead being in the water and denied it
7:53um the one has another job in the school
7:57district uh what's happening to the
7:59others have there been any consequences
8:01at all for their
8:02actions I personally have never read
8:05about any
8:06consequences um I can tell you that um
8:11if because if you look in the state of
8:13Michigan where uh emergency managers
8:16have been
8:17placed you look at mosan Heights
8:20Michigan if you look at Benton Harbor
8:22Michigan if you look at Detroit Michigan
8:25and if you look at Flint some things
8:28that they all have in common is a a high
8:30African-American population a high
8:33poverty um citizenship
8:36and and
8:38so let's say that this Flint example of
8:43lead happened in a a
8:47wealthy more Caucasian neighborhood City
8:52Town County whatever fill in the
8:55blank do any of us here in this
8:58interview think that it would have taken
9:0020 months to get us out it wouldn't even
9:04have taken 20
9:05minutes because they would have taken
9:08one complaint took it seriously and did
9:10the right thing in Flint I've seen
9:13videos I've seen videos of people who
9:16went to the City Council meetings and
9:18said look at my water it smells bad it
9:22looks bad I can't I can't give this to
9:25my children I can't washing this so they
9:28had
9:29they had examples concrete examples but
9:33you
9:34see this Snider Administration is more
9:37concerned about dollars more concerned
9:41about
9:42data um to put that chemical in these
9:46pipes that would have made the the Flint
9:49River water acceptable I think would
9:53have cost what $100 a day that's what I
9:56heard it was a simple solution that they
9:58could have done to make the water less
10:00corrosive so that the lead situation
10:02would not have developed it would have
10:04been I heard that $100 a day exactly
10:08Lynn you touched on something really
10:09good um there may be uh a a race card
10:15here I think I think that's definitely
10:18an issue I think there is a economic
10:22issue you know it's easy to ignore the
10:24poor the poor can't fight the system
10:27it's set up against them
10:30and I think yes you you but I think
10:32ultimately when you start digging and
10:34digging and digging even more than those
10:37those very easy to see answers we have a
10:40deeper deeper problem here and that is
10:43that our
10:44politicians are making business
10:48decisions financial decisions and not
10:51Health decisions and the fundamental
10:54issue that I have and I don't mean to
10:56you know downplay those other issues
10:58those are very important issues that you
10:59brought up about race and and uh you
11:02know stat status I think that we have a
11:06fundamental issue of our politicians
11:10playing Banker as opposed to providing
11:13the the support for the will of the
11:15people so
11:17fundamentally set up in in a disastrous
11:20position and the worst possible business
11:23decision you can make okay so if we even
11:26just want to say well it's a business
11:28decision the fundamental worst decision
11:30you can make is to take money over
11:33Health to to leave behind safety and
11:36look for the five minute profit or the
11:38five minute savings ultimately that
11:41would be a financial disaster and I
11:42think we're only just now realizing how
11:46financially this is going to impact not
11:49just Flint not just Michigan but the
11:52country of the United States we've got
11:54now we have a emergency crisis Happening
11:57Here we have thousands of children
12:00thousands of children have been hurt
12:02you're exactly right Rachel I mean the
12:04job of government is to look out for the
12:06people and when the people make
12:08elections they're electing a person that
12:11they're entrusting with their care and
12:14when the governor steps in and says
12:16we're going to take away those people
12:18who the population elected in to care
12:21for them and I'm going to step in and
12:23I'm going to put my guy in Joe Smith who
12:25I like better then the governor is
12:28actually responsible for the Health and
12:30Welfare of the people and it's his
12:32responsibility to make sure that those
12:34people that he chooses to appoint you
12:37know stomping out the voice of the
12:39people who elected you know their
12:41representatives uh now he's responsible
12:43for their actions directly well if you
12:46look at when I was a a actually before I
12:50became a county commissioner um I was an
12:53advocate for educators for students and
12:57um I always believed that follow the
13:02money was something good to think about
13:05and unfortunately the state of Michigan
13:08on purpose elected this nerd as a
13:12governor without realizing
13:15that all right he's a businessman he
13:18might he might look out at the students
13:21in my building and see dollar signs
13:23instead of seeing
13:25people um he might look at he might look
13:28at Detroit public schools and only look
13:31at the the charts and not look at the
13:33toilet water running into kindergarten
13:36building or kindergarten rooms you know
13:39he's he's only looking at all right we
13:43gave you some money did you spend it
13:45wisely and it didn't take much for his
13:48administration to be critical and
13:50judgmental about all of this but when
13:53the deck is stacked
13:55against um our citizens when the deck is
13:58stacked against our children then it
14:00takes people who have integrity and and
14:05good character to go in there and do the
14:07right thing so one of the reasons I'm
14:09running for a state representative in
14:12the state of Michigan is because Landing
14:16is broken
14:18and and when it's broken our our
14:21children are going to suffer our the
14:24next generation is going to is going to
14:27suffer and I think what happened in
14:30Flint is a perfect example and I think
14:33what's happening in Detroit is a in
14:36Detroit schools is is a perfect example
14:40and
14:41hopefully all of this um attention to
14:45Flyn will get people thinking as they
14:48decide when they're going to vote all
14:51right maybe we need to look less at what
14:54the the candidate is saying and more at
14:57what the candidate actually does what
15:00has the candidate done in their past and
15:03so it's a time when um when I'm talking
15:07to citizens in my
15:09district um they want responsible
15:13elected officials they want a voice in
15:17their in their government they they want
15:20to be um thought about when you're
15:23making decisions that affect the quality
15:26of their life or their family's life so
15:29I'm I'm I'm hoping that as we you know
15:33as we move along in 2016 when hopefully
15:37we have a good turnout for people coming
15:40out to vote and that they start
15:42realizing that it matters if you stay
15:45home it matters who you elect it matters
15:49how much you get involved and so one of
15:53our one of my team's goals is to um
15:57engage as many people on those very
15:59topics as we possibly can and let's um
16:02let's not do the same old thing let's
16:04look let's truly look at the candidates
16:06and and what they stand for so so I've
16:10always been a real strong Advocate and
16:12people will will tell you that
16:15um um if Lynn Mason is on your board or
16:19Lyn Mason is uh chosen on your committee
16:22then she's going to ask the hard
16:25questions and you know I want to be a
16:27representative because I want to do the
16:30work some people want to be either a
16:32representative or a governor or or even
16:36a president of the United States
16:37sometimes and all they want is the power
16:39and the
16:40title I don't need that I'm a I'm a
16:43retired teacher I don't need a title and
16:45I don't need power what I need is to get
16:49involved in these um situations and and
16:53bring back some trust that has been
16:55shattered in the state of Michigan and
16:57and let's let's really think about it
16:59because I talked to a friend who lives
17:01in Arkansas the other day he's he
17:04brought up the Flint Water Crisis I
17:07didn't bring it up he brought it up and
17:10he
17:12says when are people going to start
17:14taking a Long View at what H what's
17:17happening in our cities and our
17:19townships and say look at our
17:21infrastructure everywhere because how
17:23many of the rest of us are are just you
17:26know one click one one gauge away from
17:30from having the same kind of problems so
17:33absolutely I'm grateful that it's a
17:35national discussion
17:38yeah Rachel there's an
17:41echo there's an echo for you do you have
17:44two speakers or
17:45something there's a little oh well go
17:48ahead go ahead say I just wanted to tell
17:51you oh well okay I I think that what I
17:55was thinking was that this could be a
17:56national problem I mean this my ATT
17:59drawn just because of Flint but what are
18:01the other pipes like under all the other
18:03cities I mean I think we really need to
18:06look at this I'm sure President Obama
18:07has you know got a task force on this
18:10thinking oh no you know this could be a
18:12bigger problem that was what I thought
18:14but also I wanted to um go back to the
18:17Michigan politics um I wonder if do you
18:20think that they might resend that that
18:22that legislation that they have in
18:24Michigan allowing for these
18:26emergency uh uh you know appointees to
18:29come in and take over City governments I
18:31mean do you think that after this they
18:33can see how that might not be such a
18:36good
18:37idea uh I don't have a lot of faith in
18:39our current
18:41legislature um they took um over two
18:44years when the people told them they
18:46need to fix our roads and they came up
18:48with a solution that isn't even going to
18:50take effect until like
18:532018
18:54um the more than one time the people in
18:58Michigan voted a certain way and this
19:02legislature went around that vote
19:05attached an a a financial appropriation
19:08to the bill to their law so that it
19:11prevented this the citizens in the state
19:14of Michigan to come back and undo it so
19:17the current people that are in the
19:20Michigan legislature in the Republicans
19:22because it's a republican majority and
19:25unfortunately the
19:27Democrats have lost their voice because
19:29there's not enough there's not enough of
19:31them to stop some of this craz craziness
19:35that's going on well that's the that's
19:37the thing with this situation though
19:38it's not Republican or Democrat this is
19:40the safety of our children the safety of
19:42the future of our nation it goes beyond
19:45it really goes beyond political parties
19:46I mean it's sad that it seems as though
19:48it's come down to that but we're all
19:50human beings and and these people
19:52whether they're Republicans Or democrats
19:54if they're in power they're responsible
19:56for the care of the citizens and I
19:58really feel like this this just goes Way
20:00Beyond uh any political label it really
20:04is is a matter of caring for the
20:05citizens and you know can you tell us a
20:08little bit about your background and and
20:10why you're running for office what made
20:13you come forward to run for office it's
20:14not an easy thing to do that's a great
20:17question I'm a I'm a retired teacher and
20:20when I was a teacher I I got in the
20:23politics of public
20:25education um and then in a in
20:28approximately 2006 someone asked me to
20:31run for County
20:33Commissioner and I think sometimes
20:35that's all it takes to find good people
20:38is that someone should just ask them and
20:40so I got involved as a as a county
20:43commissioner and I got uh reelected
20:46three more times past that which is
20:48significant because I'm a Democrat and
20:51people told me a Democrat can't win in
20:53my district so once I got into um County
20:57policy politics um some people said to
21:01me Wyn if you were a representative you
21:03could help more people you could do so
21:06much good at the state level so why
21:09don't you try to run for state
21:10representatives so I tried in
21:132014 and uh while we we ran a really
21:17good race we um we raised uh
21:21$133,000 which is unheard of in this
21:24particular district and we knocked on my
21:27team and I knocked on 25,000 doors so we
21:31talked to a lot of people um but
21:33unfortunately less than 30% of the
21:36people voted
21:37so um that's how I got into politics and
21:42um people even when I was teaching some
21:44people said to me Lynn you're you're a
21:47fabulous teacher but you're seeing only
21:50you know as a fette teacher I saw about
21:52200 kids a day
21:55um um they said you do a fabulous job J
21:58with 200 kids but imagine how many kids
22:01you could help uh from the legislative
22:04perspective so I had a lot of
22:07encouragement over over my career um
22:11sure it's a it's an uphill battle like I
22:13said I the 86 district is uh Jerry
22:16mandard and we need to have all the help
22:19we can get we need to we need to raise a
22:22lot of money we need to get a lot of
22:23volunteers my website is behind me right
22:26there Lyn Mason works
22:28so check it out Lynn I was going to ask
22:31you what is it like what's the political
22:33scene like are you finding corruption
22:35are you finding really good people that
22:37want to do do the best for the the the
22:40population what are you finding what's
22:42the temperature like the temperature
22:44right now
22:46sure
22:49um I don't I don't know if I would say
22:52that people intentionally want to get
22:54elected so that they can do corrupt work
22:57I don't think I I don't think I believe
22:59that but I think where we are and where
23:03it's time to to do something different
23:06is that because this the system has been
23:09rigged um right now with Jerry
23:13Republican Jerry Mander districts with
23:16um onp purpose moves to uh mess with
23:21accessibility to voting and things like
23:23that I think
23:26that that some people run because they
23:30they like that power that they think
23:32they're going to get when they get there
23:34and I think that's the wrong reason to
23:36run and I think it's time that we change
23:39whether you're talking about Michigan or
23:41whether you're talking about some other
23:43state I really think um we need to be
23:46asking more people to run for the the
23:49down ballot seats as well as the the
23:53seats that are farther up the ballot and
23:55I think you really need to like I said
23:57before let's look at what these
24:00candidates have done before you can you
24:03can measure character by by some of the
24:07things done in the past in their past so
24:10if there's people coming in to run for
24:12an elected seat
24:13and such as a state representative and
24:16have no experience so so the people
24:19don't have anything to look back to it's
24:21sort of taking a risk I think so I'm all
24:24for uh looking for people who are
24:26experienced and have track record of uh
24:29working for the people being an advocate
24:32having their priorities straight so
24:35that's what my team is doing and we're
24:36trying to um talk to as many people as
24:40possible my uh team was uh joking with
24:43me last night because a month and a half
24:46ago they gave me 500 business cards and
24:50I told them that I need some more and
24:52they said you've already given out 500
24:54business cards in a month and a half and
24:57I said they they're like how do you do
24:59that and I said well look I like to talk
25:01with people and if they don't have some
25:04way to connect with me then shame on me
25:07and when I was a county commissioner I
25:10represented a city and I represented a
25:13Township and I went to the Township
25:17board meetings as a commissioner I went
25:19to the the City Council meetings as a
25:23commissioner and the people in those
25:25meetings said wow we've never seen a
25:29county commissioner so often at our
25:31meetings why do you do that and I said
25:34aren't we all better when each level of
25:38government speaks to each other shares
25:41information so that's how I ran my life
25:44be you know uh for the last 30 years so
25:49who do you blame for your problems do
25:52you who do you blame right now we have
25:55um Governor Snider's blaming being the
25:58EPA for the problems the state level EPA
26:01officials um he's throwing those guys
26:04under the bus absolutely is and today I
26:07understand he said he was blaming career
26:09civil servants as the problem he he's
26:15trying
26:16to uh distract from the problems at hand
26:20I believe he he doesn't want to talk
26:22about the emergency manager problem he
26:25doesn't want to talk about
26:29um some of the the shaky comments that
26:33were in those so-called emails that he
26:36released you know if he did really want
26:39to talk about those he would release
26:41emails from his entire Administration as
26:45opposed to just from his his uh email he
26:49wouldn't redact everything I don't know
26:51if you saw that but the first uh emails
26:54the first page and a half is all black
26:57totally redacted now I don't know I I
27:00kind of want if I were an elected
27:02official I kind of want people to have
27:04trust in me transparency
27:08transparency his administration I'm
27:11blaming his administration and the total
27:13control that uh his party has that's
27:16that's who I'm blaming and I'm going
27:18back thought really interesting I saw
27:21interview I
27:23think and they asked him about the GM
27:27auto Factory having to stop using the
27:29water because it it was corroding their
27:31materials and he knew about this this is
27:34big news they all knew about it and the
27:37question was kind of more or less why
27:39didn't you relate this to the water that
27:41that your citizens were drinking what
27:43was the answer do you remember he
27:46brushed it off he said that's a separate
27:48issue it had to do with the paint and uh
27:51let's talk about the Flint Water Crisis
27:53and I was kind of like wow that that was
27:55a he just kind of pushed it aside and
27:57and to me if your governor and an
28:00industry like GM that everyone's
28:02following in Michigan especially uh has
28:05to change procedures at a factory
28:07because of the water quality that that
28:10citizens are drinking I mean that should
28:12like make you wonder and investigate a
28:15little I mean lead testing is really
28:17inexpensive you can go like to Ace
28:19Hardware and pick up a kit so this was
28:22like intentionally not being curious it
28:26was it it's funny to me it's just I find
28:28it very odd and I think that there's
28:31probably more to the story and I just
28:32think that when children are involved
28:34you know I heard Michael Moore speaking
28:36he said you know in the city of Flint I
28:38think he said uh 8,000 children under
28:41the age of six were affected by this
28:438,000 children got lead poisoning these
28:46are just the kids under the age of six
28:49and it turns out that that's the entire
28:51population of all children under the age
28:53of six and Flint so every single child
28:56was how to how somebody can have some
29:01pretty fact-based data and just tell
29:05people to
29:06relax it's going to be okay blows my
29:10mind something else to think about is
29:13this is a forever problem for the city
29:15of Flint it's not just a a couple of
29:18weeks that's an issue that's just going
29:20to go away in a couple of weeks it's a
29:23forever issue I do want to bring up a
29:26couple of things that I was thinking
29:27about like for example um I know that
29:32there are like holistic methods to detox
29:37people from um heavy metal poisoning
29:40there are some there's the Cutler method
29:42method there are a few there are
29:44different ones well I'm hoping that
29:46there's there's some research being done
29:48and some some of that discussion taking
29:50place in Flint I uh also I was thinking
29:54there's been so much generosity from say
29:57the labor community and other
30:00organizations to provide water to the
30:03city of flint and like I happen to know
30:07that the the the schools are have have
30:11more water than they actually can store
30:14they're having storage problems but when
30:16I saw all of the water in in the bottled
30:20water you know like like this kind of
30:22bottled water I recycle at my house and
30:25so I got to thinking is somebody on the
30:28ball to recycling all the plastic from
30:32the water and so when a situation like
30:36this happens when a catastrophe happens
30:39it's so Broad and if if we didn't have
30:43uh people dealing with it correctly like
30:47the points you brought up a minute ago
30:49how are they going to deal with the
30:51long-term
30:52issues um if they if they couldn't deal
30:55with this issue in a timely manner it
30:57took him 20 months and and what really
30:59happened was it took the rage being
31:02expressed from the
31:04people to to bring it to light because
31:07as we all said right here there were
31:09people who told them it was going on but
31:11they weren't listened to they were blown
31:12off and told to relax so it took the
31:15rage it took it it took it being a
31:17national problem before they really got
31:20down to work so I'm concerned that that
31:25that somebody isn't getting on the ball
31:28right now and dealing with you know the
31:29simple Pro the simple issues that I was
31:32just talking about I understand they
31:34don't have garbage pickup at all and
31:38because of the crisis they're in
31:39financially and especially no recycling
31:42there's no recycling facilities for
31:44Plastics and Flint now however if you
31:47want to take um copper pipes out of
31:49somebody's abandoned home or recycle
31:52scrap the manhole covers in the streets
31:55which is being done like being busted
31:58for this stuff well by all means knock
32:01yourself out although I think they ended
32:03up having to put a law Banning it um
32:06just recently in Flint but no the
32:08plastic water bottles unless there's a
32:10value attached with them possibly like
32:13Hawaii and some other states where
32:15they're worth so much to recycle you're
32:17not going to see any any kind of effort
32:20um to do that I I feel so much for the
32:23people of Flint I mean we're having a a
32:25conversation about the par of plastic
32:27bottles which is important right but the
32:30Perils of having a a living a life of
32:33lead poisoning is a is some level of
32:36retardation for these kids some level of
32:39Life impairment and the parents the
32:41parents have to deal with it I mean we
32:43had uh Tamara Ruben on a few days ago
32:46talking about her lead damaged children
32:50and um
32:51extremely uh bad situation for her she's
32:54got two kids she has to deal with I
32:56can't imagine imine being a mom and
32:59having to deal with this every single
33:02day and and she her health problems too
33:06Rachel absolutely absolutely well I'm
33:09you know I'm not trying to to Discount
33:13the the the health concerns and
33:16everything by saying that my point was
33:19that all right here's where we are it
33:22got messed up to up to this point it's
33:26going to take responsible decisions to
33:28from here on out and who's going to do
33:31it and
33:34um when I first started really paying
33:37attention to this issue I turned on the
33:39video from um the hero mom I guess
33:42they're calling her she was standing in
33:44front of her home with a with her young
33:46son and she has twins and you know she
33:50did everything right they bought their
33:52home they replaced the pipes they they
33:55bought the filter and they did
33:58everything right and then look how it
34:02took a while for her to connect that
34:04there was the water that was causing her
34:06son's illnesses and but even then she
34:10did everything right yeah that's the
34:12story of Leanne Walters if somebody's
34:15watching this look look how long it took
34:20when she and other citizens in Flint did
34:22the right
34:24things this is a problem yes the lead an
34:27issue um and could be an issue in other
34:29cities as well but this is a fundamental
34:31political issue that we're having all
34:33over the us we have really bad political
34:37choices being made we have we have a
34:41lack of leadership and we have here's
34:43the deal I think we really do we need a
34:46mom maybe even a single mom in office
34:48and let me tell you why and this is by
34:50no means an endorsement for Hillary
34:51Clinton believe me it's not but here's
34:54my here's my my sitch with this
34:57a mom is thinking about other people
35:00when she wakes up in the morning her
35:01first impulse is how are the kids what's
35:04the state of the union what have we got
35:07going on that I need to deal with today
35:09let's make sure the family's running
35:11right everybody's healthy these are the
35:13concerns of a mother and I'm not saying
35:15that men don't think this too but I
35:17think the politicians that we have in
35:19office right now that is not what
35:21they're thinking about they are thinking
35:23about their careers they are thinking
35:25about uh contributions they are thinking
35:28about lobbyists they are not thinking
35:30about what is important for the people
35:32and the citizens of the United States
35:35whether that's in Flint whether that's
35:37in DC uh New Jersey you name it it's
35:40just a it's a chronic fundamental issue
35:43that I have with our entire political
35:45system right now and I hope that that
35:47changes I mean I hope that we get some
35:50change on the way I voted for change
35:53last time around and to be quite Frank
35:55with you I think we got Short Change
35:56changed but I I I hope that we do get
36:00some politicians in that really want to
36:02change things for the better and will
36:04abandon the structure that we've created
36:07that is failing the people miserably
36:09well I mean it's the whole reason for
36:11this show it's why we do this Rachel
36:13it's why we take time away from our
36:14families to do the show uh it's because
36:17we want to see change and especially for
36:19the benefit of the children and the
36:21future of this nation and it really goes
36:24Way Beyond any political party it it's
36:26really about the fact that one and two
36:27children in America today have a chronic
36:31illness I mean and we're heading towards
36:34you know we have skyrocketing numbers of
36:35autism ADHD food allergies have jumped
36:39400% in our kids I mean now kids can die
36:42from eating rice I mean allergists have
36:44never heard of this we have all kinds of
36:46Crisis going on with our n nation's
36:49health and especially our children and
36:51this is just sort of one glaring example
36:53of politicians just not caring they were
36:56get getting reports they were having you
36:58know valid credential scientists come
37:00forward they were having all kinds of
37:02parents complaining they were having
37:04citizens tell them there were problems
37:06with the water and they just didn't want
37:08to look and that's the problem that's
37:11what we need to change that mentality
37:13and I I think there should be
37:15consequences for uh if if you're in a
37:18public office and you are told that
37:20there's a risk to the public and you do
37:22not look into it further I think you
37:24should be
37:25punished I agree I agree by the way and
37:30I'm personally hoping that the that the
37:34the people of Michigan are watching this
37:36is this terrible tragedy
37:39health humade health crisis in Flint
37:44okay um
37:48and I hope that they're they're they're
37:52saying let's let's do some recalls you
37:55know let's look at the people that the
37:58facts prove that that they made
38:00dangerous decisions and let's join
38:04together because I think that's when it
38:06works best and as a as a former teacher
38:11and I taught health I taught physical
38:14education and we talked about um all the
38:19potential dangers that are out there for
38:21them and how to keep them themselves as
38:23safe as possible and I'll have to say
38:26that I got a lump in my throat the other
38:28day because I substitute teach a little
38:30bit and a sixth grader came into into
38:33the classroom and he said um evidently
38:36in his health class he had been studying
38:39germs and so he said Mrs Mason guess
38:42where the guess where the dirtiest part
38:45of is in this building where most of the
38:48germs are and I guess a door handle and
38:51he said the drinking fountain so the
38:56thought that came back to me
38:58was the children in Flint were drinking
39:02poison water lead filled water out of
39:06the drinken fountains if they even were
39:08INF flint and the innocence of the sixth
39:12grader that said to me that the dirtiest
39:15part in the or the dirtiest piece of
39:18equipment in in any school is a drinking
39:22fountain uh sort of gave me a
39:27like I said it sort of turned my
39:28stomach because I couldn't go right into
39:31a lecture with him and say at least we
39:34have drinking you know fairly safe
39:36drinking water right now you know you
39:39can't have that kind of discussion from
39:41there because their perspective is is
39:43too narrow but those of us adults that
39:46don't get bothered by and get pains in
39:50our stomach and knots in our throat over
39:54the the this terrible tragedy I don't I
39:56don't know what to say but one thing
39:59that's really frustrating for me is as a
40:02teacher we had to deal with a lot of you
40:05know tattling whether I taught second
40:08grade or whether I taught seventh
40:09graders there was tattling and so I we
40:12had to come up with a method to deal
40:14with that so I always told them think of
40:173DS dangerous destructive and disturbing
40:21so if you see something hear something
40:25that that fits one of those categories
40:27dangerous destructive or disturbing that
40:30it's okay to tell it's not tattling if
40:33you do that so let's look at some of the
40:36people in the Snider Administration do
40:39you think they missed that lesson in
40:41elementary school or middle school when
40:45is it okay to tell I think you're right
40:47but I have to say Lynn I think that uh
40:50Governor uh Snyder along with his crew
40:54those that made bad decisions will have
40:56to get behind uh Leman brothers and
40:58Goldman Sachs and a long line of
41:02unenforced
41:03unpunished uh guys that just basically
41:07got away with it so I I absolutely have
41:10no faith I mean here it is we have a
41:12system that couldn't even correct a
41:13horrendous health issue as it was
41:15unfolding do you think we have a system
41:18that will really
41:19enforce what you know our existing laws
41:22we don't even have one that that can can
41:24stop a train wreck from going slow
41:26motion over the course of 20 months I
41:29really have no fa people
41:31elected good luck I wish you well I'm
41:34sorry in a way that I I I'm I'm sorry in
41:37a way that my vote uh can't I can't vote
41:39on this situation in Flint um but um I
41:43wish the public well I believe they're
41:44going to have to get active and get
41:46angry and start showing up and it's the
41:48only way to affect change and I wish it
41:50weren't that way I wish we didn't have
41:52to leave our jobs leave our families and
41:54what we're doing to start pushing around
41:56the politicians that should be doing
41:58their jobs in the first
42:00place
42:01so glad that we have you I'm glad that
42:04there are a lot of good people rising up
42:06like you um and I'm glad they're coming
42:08from both parties from all parties
42:10because there's more than two and um
42:13they're really solution orientated and I
42:15wish you the best of luck in your in
42:17your campaign and any parting words
42:20because we've run out of time friends
42:22well that went really fast I do want to
42:24say um we chose linmon works.com as our
42:29title of our website because uh that's
42:32who I am I work hard and if if the
42:36people like what I do they reelect me if
42:39I do things that don't deserve to be
42:41reelected then I shouldn't be so I
42:44should be I should have consequences so
42:48um when you're running a campaign you
42:50need people you need dollars um so any
42:54any of that that you can push my my way
42:56that would be terrific and again check
42:58out my website linmon works.com
43:01brilliant we'd also like to offer an
43:03opportunity to any of our viewers from
43:05the Republican party that would like to
43:06come on and make a statement uh if
43:08you're a representative in the Flint a
43:10greater Flint uh Lancing area please uh
43:13let us know we'd love to hear what you
43:14have to say on the issue Kathleen any
43:16last questions or parting uh comments no
43:20I think you covered it I I have a friend
43:22who uh has a water filtration company
43:25who I'm going to try and get involved
43:26with the situation to really help the
43:28families he has a very kind heart and he
43:31he started his business because he had a
43:33son who had health issues so he comes
43:35from the right place and um I hope that
43:38your city or that Flint not your city
43:40but that Flint finds the answers and
43:41that that actually that that that this
43:45tragedy at least leads to something good
43:47in that all the water and all the cities
43:49are inspected and we start paying
43:51attention to our
43:52infrastructure and also that we start
43:55holding people accountable that make
43:56these decisions that uh really affect
43:59all of these children in in such a
44:01horrible way I I hope that there will be
44:03investigations and I hope that uh the
44:06the children can be treated uh in detox
44:09from their their metal poisoning and um
44:12very good luck with the election thank
44:14you for stepping forward and and coming
44:16you know from your heart to run for
44:17office to help these people thank you so
44:20much for for the opportunity thank you
44:23Lynn and thank you to our viewers for
44:25tuning in to here more about Flint we
44:27are going to be covering the crisis
44:29until it's no longer a crisis thank you
44:31for your time see you next
44:33week

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