PUBLIC NOTICE PAGE 5 K Oe ee RAISING TALKING WITH THOSE 1%¢###1! 2'1**! UNION GUYS AN INTERVIEW WITH D. SMITH AND PHIL BOHLANDER, SANITATION WORKERS INTERVIEWER: When did the divisions between you, Alvin and Murial on one side, and Don, Marnie and Butch on the other, begin ? Was the division there from the beginning, or what ? D. SMITH: It was probably about half-way from my point of view. «. because a lot of heavy allegations were made early in the investigation... "Purdy (sanitation superinten- dent) has to go, he's gonna have to be fired; Arnold Wiley (street department superintendent) he's just a com- plete failure, you know; if we can't get it straightened out, Buford Watson (city manager) will have to be fired, " But, then when we started getting down to the pcint where we were gonna have to start writing a report and making some heavy recommendations then they started Saying, "Uh, well, maybe we can put them on a six- month probation or maybe we can give Watson a cer- tain length of time to get these things changed, "' I: Was that the initial disagreement ? D: Yeah, the whole way it was handled. Because their whole theory was that we weren't there to investigate man- agement, we were there as a grievance committee. The investigation started in November and last May everybody in the city and the Commissioners and the Mayor and Buford knew we had safety problems. We started talking about safety in May--they should have started making corrections in June. They didn't have to have a special investigating committee to report that we need a safety program I: So why didn't they investigate management ? D: Because they were scared. They're afraid to go against Buford, you know. . . I don't think they have any power. I: The commissioners ? D: Yeah, I don't think they have the power everybody puts onthem. Buford runs the whole show. BOHLANDER: The reason we wanted an investiga - tion of management was to show the City and Com- mission that all the things we had been Saying since May were true. Those twenty-four charges of mismanagement A STINK! were charges that had been made continually since May and all we wanted to say was, "Al- right, you're not going to give us recognition, but at least check out the stuff we've been say- ing and find out if what we've been saying is true. '' And what I think happened was that some of the people on the Commission turned it into a grievance hearing and that wasn't our intent. D: Yeah, but how can you have a manager on a committee that is investigating management ? That's like having Nixon on the Watergate thing, on a board that decides if he gets fired or not. I: So do you think that the heart of the problem with the investigating committee was the fact that there were two city commissioners on it? B: No, I don't think that's true. I: Do you think Don Binns yells too much? D: I don't think that’s true. D: I think Don is a ball. He bounces both ways. I think that deep down in his heart, since he's worked hard all of his life, he sees that work- ing men have to have rights. But at the same time I don't know what his plans are for his life, his political ambitions, or what his goals are. But how can you see the needs of somebody and then turn around and cut their throats, you know? We never asked for any money in eight months, We finally got into a money fight because of the changeover from the in- centive system, I: What did you think of the presence of the Rever - end on the side of the Commissioners ? D: He shocked me, And I told him that to his face. I said, "Butch, you really disappoint me, '' But you know, I figure Butch is in the power: structure too. You know, I kind of base my life on the truth, Everybody tells little white lies but when it comes down to dealing with people's lives and their futures I just can‘t lie about it. I’m not saying they lied, because I don't think they did lie, but I think when . it comes down to who do you fight for. . . do you fight for thirty people or do you fight for one person you have to make a decision. And who's it left up to? I can't fire Don Purdy, Murial Paul can‘t fire Don Purdy, Reverend Henderson can't fire Don Purdy. Everything lies with the Commissioners. And then you go back to the same old thing, and that's the power structure. And that's why the two reports had to be, because they didn"t want to bring the dirt out, because they were scared. B: I think when Murial read her report, the feeling I got from Binns, Argersinger and Henderson wasn't that what Murial said was not true but that it appeared to them to be vindictive. I find it interest- ing that nobody yet has come out and said "We want to publicly discredit this report."' They've all said : "We think we're in agreement we just think the second report goes into more detail than is good for the public." B: Yeah, I think that on the Commission there seems to be a tendency...well, not just on the Commission but among Lawrence leaders to not want anybody to rock the boat. And I think they feel we're rocking the boat, AndI think sometimes you have to. I don't think the status quo is working in this case. D: I think the Commissioners are all honest people, basically. ButI think when it comes down to making a decision, an individual de- cision, they just can't do it. They've got to always relate back to the power structure, the hidden structure, in Lawrence. The City Commissioners don't run Lawrence. The people don't even run Lawrence. So you get what they want to give you, even if you're right. I: Let me get back to the investigating comm- D: f oe ittee. How could you as a group of six people, : If you remember when the investigating all having heard the same witnesses, all having committee was formed, at the commission meeting the same input, essentially, disagree so vio- Carl Mibeck stood up and said, "Dammit I'm tired lently at the end that there had to be two different ae these smartass remarks. I want facts, I want reports? At the last City Commission meeting raat pete REE: And that's what we set our was it Watson who hinted that the board was Pere e tee - That's what he Wanted: speciiies, and stacked in favor of labor ? at's what we gave them. That's why I didn't sign : the first report because it didn't make specific rec- al MON.-FRI. : 8:30-5:00 SATURDAYS 10:00-1:00 VeOPPPeeEPEerePeleeee| J HOOD "2, BOOKS PAPER BACKS Dé oricinar PRice] also HARDCIVER pRnTs L MAGAZINES RECORDS. IIAP IAI AID LIS DOLD LF SILI AMPSS SF LIP LI LIP IP LP ALAFIA MD ADP SSIS DP LIMP, Fs BOX 114 2 ]ues— Thurs { 6 \Oam- pm es i Friday << Saturday Closed on Monday 1Oam-6e™ HMMS 41-4644 AEDDAUAAADESADEASOUREEEEAUAUTAERCOUEUEUUASCED EEE UAE EEE CUTE LPL ME SOLE” MEI LI AF DPMP MI PLUTO LILES LIAL ILE EFM A eett? > YOU THINK? What do you think ? | That's a question that isn't asked of anyone | much anymore. Our - | society has become so = complex, so jumbled with numbers, letters, wires, plans and dia- grams, that almost everyone has given up their right to make de- cisions about things affecting their lives. a ~a be eg WHAT DO |f} == Lh PUBLIC NOTICE wants to turn things around a bit. We feel that the so-called experts and professionals are run- ning this town into the ground, While they are good people themselves, the institutions they in- habit serve only to iso-= late them from the hearts and minds of the general public. End your silence. We live in a big empty house. Come see us, THE PRINT SHOP OF THE FUTURE —e0I$ HERE TODAY! THE QUICK COPY CENTER UNVEILS THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY IN QUICK-PRINTING TODAY — THE FABULOUS XEROX 9200 DUPLICATING SYSTEM. THE FUTURE IS HERE TODAY AT 838 MASSACHUSETTS — COME IN AND SEE ALICE, OUR NEW 9200, AND WHAT SHE CAN DO FOR YOU! 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