>> COMING UP ON NEED TO KNOW,
ROCHESTER BUSINESSMAN THOMAS
GOLISANO IS BACK IN STATE
POLITICS – BUT HE’S NOT RUNNING
THIS TIME.
>> See I’m not interested in
politics. I’m into government.
and how it functions.
You all try to make this
political. It’s not. We have
problems and I’m trying to get
them fixed.
>> ALSO, TWO PRESCRIPTIONS FOR
CHANGE IN SOME OF THE CHANGE IN
ROCHESTER’S MOST TROUBLED
NEIGHBORHOODS
Rochester's news magazine since 1997, this is “need to know.”
>> THANKS FOR JOINING US, I’M JULIE
PHILIPP.
LOCAL BUSINESSMAN AND
BILLIONAIRE THOMAS GOLISANO HAS
TRIED TO INFLUENCE STATE
GOVERNMENT BEFORE, RUNNING
UNSUCCESSFULLY FOR GOVERNOR
SEVERAL TIMES. THIS WEEK HE
ANNOUNCED A NEW TACTIC FOR
FIXING ALBANY. HE’S WRITING A
CHECK.
>> For $5 million.
The application for the pact is going to be applied for today,
and the funds will be deposited in a bank account probably
tomorrow.
>> GOLISANO HAS FORMED A POLITICAL
ACTION COMMITTEE CALLED
RESPONSIBLE NEW YORK. THAT MONEY
WILL BE USED TO SUPPORT AS YET
UNNAMED CANDIDATES WHO SUPPORT
HIS REFORM AGENDA
>> The platform of the pact is going to be pretty straightforward.
We want a responsible state budget.
We want a responsible process for coming up with a state
budget.
And we want to remember that we have to keep our expenses under
control because our economy is not growing as fast as before.
>> THERE ARE QUESTIONS ABOUT
WHETHER GOLISANO’S PLAN WILL
VIOLATE CAMPAIGN FINANCE RULES.
SUSAN ARBETTER, HOST OF “NEW YORK
NOW,” WILL HAVE MORE ON THIS
STORY. “NEW YORK NOW” AIRS ON
SUNDAY EVENING AT 6:30 ON
WXXI TELEVISION.
WE NOW TURN TO TWO MAJOR EFFORTS
TO FIX BROKEN NEIGHBORHOODS
RIGHT HERE IN ROCHESTER. THE
FIRST WAS LAUNCHED THIS WEEK. IT
IS A THREE-YEAR ENDEAVOR CALLED
THE NEIGHBORHOOD HEALTH STATUS
IMPROVEMENT PROJECT. IT IS
TARGETING FOUR NEIGHBORHOODS
SHOWN HERE ON THE MAP. THE FOCUS
IS ON THE HEALTH OF RESIDENTS IN
THESE AREAS. AND
SELF-IMPROVEMENT IS THE KEY TO
MAKING IT WORK.
>> People care about the health of their community.
They certainly care about their own individual health.
They care about the health of their family, about their
neighbors, and about the broader community.
So there is a resource that you can tap into, get people to the
table.
People care deeply about the health of their community.
What we like to call individuals in the community are producers
of health.
So they are not the recipients of medical care or services --
they may be -- but the full part of the glass is that
individuals can be actual producers of health in the
community.
>> THAT IS DEB PUNTENNEY, THE LEAD
TRAINER AND CONSULTANT FOR THE
PROJECT. SHE JOINS US NOW, ALONG
WITH JOHN URBAN.
>> I want to ask you about the intent of the grant.
When you went out looking for projects.
What were you looking for?
>> Well, the overall mission of the greater Rochester health
foundation is to improve the health status of the community,
and that's really about how healthy people are before they get
to the doctor's office.
This is an attempt to improve the health status of people in
very small grooms at the enabled level and see if we can bring
them together so that they can work together to improve each
other's health.
>> What about these four enables that you have identified in
the city?
I know there's one in an outlying area.
What about these neighbors made you select them for this
project?
>> Actually, they selected themselves.
We went through a process of inviting a wide array of community
organizations to make propose always, and we received about a
accident proposals from different organizations in the city.
Those proposals went through a review process that included
community folks from this community as well as people from
outside the community, and these were the organizations that
seemed to have the best grasp on what we were trying to
accomplish.
>> And how unhealthy are these neighborhoods?
>> Well, we don't know specifically yet.
We certainly do know that neighbors that have high rates of
poverty -- and all of these do -- almost by definition have
poorer health status.
So while we haven't established measures yet, we do know that
neighborhoods have serious health issues.
>> Getting into the process, that was sort of the first step
launched this week, is trying to figure out what the problems
are, doing an assessment?
>> Actually, Julie, almost the reverse.
I work with a group called the asset based community
development institute at northwestern university, and our many
years of research has shown us that if you do a typical
assessment of the community, that would be called a needs
assessment, and that would identify exactly what is wrong.
What are the dysfunctions and pathologies in the neighborhood.
We use the metaphor of a glass half full or a glass half
empty.
Institutions tend to look at the empty part of the glass.
When you describe a community based on the empty part of its
glass, what ends up happening is that the community
internalizes that view of itself as empty, unable to do
anything for itself and therefore always needed to rely on
outsiders to come in and fix the problem.
We take the opposite perspective.
We look at the full part of the glass and we know absolutely
that in every part of the community, no matter how
disadvantaged, there are many assets present locally of many
different types, and we have seen the most successful
community-building efforts, those that start with the full part
of the glass, reorient the people who live in those communities
to the positive things that they have to build on, and try to
identify and activate those towards, in this case, improved
community health.
>> You have done this in other neighborhoods.
Can you give some specific examples of how you change a mindset,
and what happens when you do that?
>> What we initially do is -- oftentimes they efforts are
launched by an institution, and I will tell you in advance that
institutions are a critical asset in every community.
What we often do is say let's get under the radar screen a
little bit.
We know who the institutions are.
They are oftentimes all at the table willing to work on the
issues.
But we tend not to see residents at the table talking about
their own concerns and their own priorities.
So that would be always a first step for us, starting at the
inside and moving out, trying to get those residents activated,
thinking about their own issues, thinking about what they want
to do.
As you build momentum from inside the community, what we always
see is that after a while, the residents are more ready to
engage with the institutions who are experts at many of the
issues that they are trying to address, but they meet the
institutions as more like partners than recipients of something
the institution has to offer.
>> Were you aware of this glass half full sort of approach?
>> We were.
And actually, once we had selected the grant recipients, we
invited them to participate in a process to select a consultant
to work with.
It is important to say that these folks were not just our
selection, but are the selection of the grantees themselves.
I think it is important to say that they have a track record in
a variety of communities across the country of successfully
leading these efforts.
What is most impressive is that they continue to go on well
after they are gone.
So what they are really looking to do is build a community
capability that will be lasting.
>> Can you give an example of some of the sort of strengths,
the assets of communities that can help improve the health
status of those neighborhoods?
What have you found?
>> Well, if I may, I will give you a quick run-down of the six
categories of assets that we look for, encourage people to look
for in their own communities.
Individual people.
Associations, which we consider the place that individuals come
together voluntarily to do something either for fun or as a
contribution to their community.
The local institutions.
The physical environment.
The economic environment and the cultural environment.
And again, we tend to use a lens that says all of things are
lacking in a community.
>> Yes.
A lot of things you can say where is the strength?
>> That there's a problem.
But we have discovered if you take away the negative lens and
start to really get to know people, look around, you can find
assets everywhere.
For example in the physical asset category, we can look at an
empty lot as a problem, a place where people gather to do
things we don't want them to do.
It is an eye sore.
But some communities have used a different lens and said wow, a
vacant lot.
We can turn that into a community garden, grow vegetables, teach
people how to garden.
A vacant building is the same kind of a thing.
There's an opportunity there if you are looking for it.
But if you come with the deficit lens, then what you will see
are the deficits.
>> It is a glass half full and half empty.
We recognize this.
There is a way to look at the community that would give you
this negative picture.
But we find that when you look for the positives, you will come
up with them.
>> But you can look at that lot after have great ideas for it.
It still requires money and the economy is tough.
Does this grant include funding for projects that are
identified during the process?
>> Well, first of all, these projects ultimately will require
money.
This is a long-term commitment on the part of the foundation.
The initial focus is mostly going to be on identifying those
assets and taking small actions.
I do think it is important to say that this is first of all not
about money.
In is first of all about people coming together saying this is
our neighborhood.
This is the community I live in, and we are going to take
ownership of it.
Even without money, that has an enormous amount of power.
So that while ultimately funds will be required, and we would
expect these groups will approach city government, state
government and existing sources of federal funds, first of all
they really have to change the mindset.
>> That is more the status of the health of the neighborhood?
>> Absolutely.
One of the things critical to the health of people is the
degree to which they are socially connected in their own
lives.
And people who have a lot of social connections, whether those
be in their family or in the neighborhood, actually tend to be
helter people.
So simply -- healthier people.
So simply creating connections among people will help their
health state us.
>> This is a three-year process.
I want to see some action fairly soon in the process, yes?
>> Yes.
We have three steps, what we would call asset mapping, looking
at what is out there.
Planning.
What are you going to do, how are you going to create
relationships and what will I do with the assets?
And then implementing some kind of a plan.
We have encouraged sort of a cyclic moving through those
statements rather than a linear model.
So yes, we are expecting some mapping and engagement.
>> Thank you for being here.
>> John Urban is president of the GREATER ROCHESTER HEALTH
FOUNDATION WHICH IS FUNDING THE
INITIATIVE.
JOHN URBAN, PRESIDENT OF THE
GREATER ROCHESTER HEALTH
FOUNDATION AND DEBORAH
PUNTENNEY, CONSULTANT AND
TRAINER FOR THE NEIGHBORHOOD
HEALTH STATUS IMPROVEMENT
PROGRAM LAUNCHED THIS WEEK IN
ROCHESTER.
>> THE WXXI CENTER FOR PUBLIC
AFFAIRS IS LAUNCHING A NEW
EFFORT FOR PEOPLE W ARE UNDER
FORTY AND LIVING IN ROCHESTER.
IT IS CALLED GENERATION XXI
VOTES AND IT IS DESIGNED TO
CAPTURE YOUR ISSUES AND CONCERNS
AS WE APPROACH ELECTION 08. FOR
MORE DETAILS GO TO OUR WEB SITE,
wxxi.org/citizen and click on Generation XXI Votes.
>> NOW WE TURN TO ANOTHER MAJOR
NEIGHBORHOOD IMPROVEMENT
PROJECT. THIS ONE HAS BEEN
AROUND FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS,
BUT ITS FIRST PERMANENT
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR JUST STARTED
THIS WEEK. HER NAME IS IRIS
BANISTER – AND SHE IS A LONGTIME
CHILDREN’S ADVOCATE IN THE CITY.
MS. BANISTER JOINS US IN
STUDIO.
welcome.
>> Thank you.
>> Rumor has it that there is a new name.
It is no longer the Rochester children's zone?
>> That is absolutely correct.
We are going back to the original name, which is Rochester
surround care.
We are adding to that community.
So it is the Rochester surround care community corporation.
>> What is the reason for the name change?
>> There are a number of reasons actually.
The whole concept of children's zone is a tad bit different
from what we are trying to do here in Rochester.
Many people go to Harlem and expect to come to Rochester and
see the identical same thing, and that is not true.
Also, the whole concept of what children have to do with what
we are trying to do, they are pivotal to what we are trying to
do, but we are looking at the whole family and surrounding the
families and neighborhood with care.
>> Ok.
Now, this was announced with great fanfare in the beginning of
2005.
So it has been three years, and they are behind schedules set
over the years in naming an executive director.
Do you feel like you are taking over a ship that has lost a bit
of momentum?
>> Actually, no.
That is what took me some time to decide this is what I wanted
to do.
I have had opportunity to go around and meet with the various
groups that are meeting, the action teams, and I am just
impressed with the thought that they have put into projects and
the work that they have done, and the enthusiasm that they
have.
And if I thought that, I don't think it now.
>> So the interim directors and transition teams have carried
on activities sort of below the radar, and now you're here.
I know I are eager to get going.
>> Right.
>> You are going to start setting fires and doing some things.
What do you plan first off?
>> Well, I can tell you what we have already done.
On Monday I had said that I wanted to walk through the
community, and we had that opportunity.
I'm finding that in spite of things going on in the community,
there are still people not that aware of what it is that we are
trying to do.
So my big rally is around residents.
They have to be involved.
When you think in terms of surround care, it is not what you do
to people or for people.
It is what you do with people.
So you look at the residents, all of the assets of the
community, you look at all of the neighborhood situations that
are going on and look at the positives aspects of how you can
change a community rather than address every negative thing
going on.
>> It sounds a lot like our previous interview.
Similar idea, but you are doing it on a much greater scale.
They are focusing on two neighborhoods, two of which are in the
surround care.
>> Yes.
>> It seems Daunting.
How do you start getting residents connected to the surround
care community?
>> We are off to a great start.
There are 17 centers working.
The intent is to have more residents on those teams than
anybody else.
I went around this week giving the teams a little home work.
That is each one getting one to make sure we really are
inciting or residents that it is time for a change.
Change cannot happen until everybody is engaged in it, and that
is those people that live there as well as the institutions,
organizations and agencies that are also there.
If we really understand, it is really not Daunting because the
fact of the matter is if you live somewhere, you care about
where you live, and you want the change.
So I think I have an army.
We have to make it happen.
>> I know jana Carlisle who was temporarily in charge when the
school district ran this project struggled in getting residents
involved simply because although they cared about improving
their neighborhoods, they were working two jobs, they had
children that made it difficult to get it meetings.
Life itself kind of gets in the way of looking at ways you can
help your community.
How do you deal with that?
>> I think that is a misnomer, number one.
I don't think anything can get in your way of making your life
better.
I think there are times that we have to do things differently.
Sunday is a good meeting day.
Saturday late afternoon after you have done your chores.
So we have to be more creative as to find out what the lay of
the land is, where people are and what is good to engage them.
Having a meeting at 7:00 in the morning prior to going to work
is a good idea.
Popping in, going to places where people work to see if you can
get groups together.
We have to say we are not going to be stopped.
It is going to happen.
And if we have to do it 24/7 then that is what we are going to
do because it is just that important.
>> What kind of time frame are you looking at?
Have you set some goals that by three months from now you want
to see this happening?
>> Actually, yes and no.
I have set goals that are personal to myself.
I gave myself six months, and I presented to the interview
committee what we would be doing for the first six months of my
tenure.
And that is to get people engaged, to get things off the
drawing board and really, really get them inspired and ready to
go.
We met with a youth group the other night.
They are super excited and ready to go.
They have a project that they are going to hopefully be on some
of our places to explain of actually getting into the
community, talking to their pierce, finding out what they are
thinking about, and then taking that data and doing a number of
things.
They are going to share it with the city school district and
the city council.
They are also going to do skits to talk about what they could
do to prevent or to change attitudes.
They are going to go back to the community.
There are a host of things they are going to do.
Just to get that started would be something phenomenal.
There are other groups such as the people you just met with who
are going to be working in the community.
>> So you see lots of little fires going on throughout the
community?
>> There has to be.
And then there are people who only want to concentrate in a
particular area, fine.
As long as there is progress.
>> Not much time left.
Are you concerned at all that changing the name will confuse
people, that they are not quite sure what they are working on
or working towards?
>> Absolutely name.
The name is the name.
You teach them the name and then show them what you are doing.
>> Thank you so much.
And thank you for coming in today.
>> Thank you.
>> That is Iris Bannister, executive director of the Rochester
children's zone.
I will change that to Rochester surround care community.
IT’S TIME NOW FOR THE BUSINESS
SECTION WITH THE DEMOCRAT AND
CHRONICLE.
>> MATT DANEMAN JOINS US.
MATT DANEMAN IS A BUSINESS
REPORTER FOR THE DEMOCRAT AND
chronicle.
>> Good to see you.
>> Consumer confidence at an all-time low right now.
>> There is probably one consumer in New York state feeling
good right now, but that person is not registering on the
college survey.
Sienna college does this survey of consumer confidence across the
state.
If you are going to buy a house, car or furniture, you need to
feel good about the economy and where it is going.
>> So they are asking what you plan to do?
>> Exactly.
June of 2008, record low.
Lowest it has ever been in the decade that sienna college has
been recording this.
For retailers and the companies that produce the products that
consumers buy and thus for employees too.
What you are finding is that New Yorkers cited particularly gas
prices and food prices, which as we all know have been
escalating through the roof as to major reasons why they are
not feeling good about making major performs.
>> These are New York numbers.
Similar numbers nation-wide?
>> Similar numbers nation-wide.
New York numbers are somewhat worse than national numbers, and
up state numbers are worse.
They had similar sorts of drops in consumer confidence from may
to June, but we remain far less confident.
>> Reflecting the economy and the business climate in this
area?
>> Precisely.
It is not just food and gas prices.
You have issues that impact how up state feels about itself.
Citigroup, a major financial institution announced it is
cutting close to 90 jobs.
In the student loan area, and part of massive cuts it is doing
in student loan applications across the nails.
It all adds up.
>> Auto sales are being impacted by the rising fuel prices in
the area?
>> Exactly.
Both nationally and locally what you are seeing is that --
nationally, auto sales are off all over the place.
Locally, we have bucked that trend somewhat.
But what people are buying locally and nationally all match
up.
Everybody is buying small four-cylinder cars.
The S.U.V.s and pickups that were racing off the lots are now
gathering dust.
>> Are the smaller cars getting more expensive now?
>> At least those already in the used market.
Yes.
You can't bargain down as much on a Honda civic as much as you
could two years ago.
No need for the dealer to knock money off.
>> Moving on to wine sales, a little bit of positive news there
for the finger lakes wineries.
There were changes the legislature did?
>> There bad news we talked about, maybe people will drink away
their problems a bit.
>> We don't encourage that.
>> Of course.
What the legislature did this week was enact new laws to help
facilitate wine sales in New York a little bit.
One of them is that the wine and culinary center will be able
to start carrying New York beer and spirits in order to promote
those more.
The state fair, now you will be able to have win, consume wine
and purchase wine throughout the state fair.
Before it was limited in certain areas whereas beer was more
omni present.
And they got legislative approval to begin marketing an ice
cream made with wine.
>> It actually has the alcohol in it?
>> Exactly.
There is a red raspberry and two other flavors.
>> I will have to give it a true.
Thanks, Matt.
>>'s reporter for the Diem and chronicle.
Ruff and I am Julie Philipp.
That's all for this edition of “Need to Know.”
Next
WEEK, WE LOOK AT A RENEWED
INTEREST IN NEW YORK’S RAILROAD
LINES…NOW THAT FUEL PRICES ARE
SOARING AND GREEN IS IN…SOME
BUSINESSES ARE LOOKING AT TRAINS
INSTEAD OF TRUCKS. UNTIL THEN
HAVE A GREAT WEEK
Previous need to know broadcasts can be seen if you have
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Go to Rochester on demand, channel 111, then look for WXXI
news.
There you will find a selection of recent need to know
programs.