Starting now.
Commonalities where guests find common ground through uncommon
conversations, politics, religion, finances,
all the topics your grandmother told you not to discuss with friends.
And now your host, Matthew Dowling,
and today's guests on commonalities. Well.
Thanks for joining us again on commonalities. I'm Matt Dollinger host,
and my guest today is Robert Jean Grim.
He's currently a township supervisor,
but has recently thrown his hat in the ring, um,
as a candidate for Fayette County Commissioner. And, uh,
I thought that it would be good to not only meet him, but meet, uh,
some other candidates through the upcoming weeks.
So hopefully you will join us for those episodes as well. Um, gene,
I want to thank you for being on the program here.
Today. Yeah, thanks Matt. Thanks for having me. It's real,
real pleasure being here.
Now, you're a kind of a hometown boy, uh,
from what I understand about your background, you played, uh, sports and,
and kind of with the, the environment we're in,
in Fayette County right now with some amazing student athletes. Um,
you know, I didn't want to get us off track,
but I wanted to talk a little bit about kind of your sporting background and
the, the, uh, the coaches you played for and, uh,
and the schools you attended.
Yeah, no, uh, we, we can start off playing football. I, uh, I, um,
really enjoyed playing sports growing up. Um, grew, grew up on a,
on a small dairy farm, uh,
in Southern Faye County at actually Nicholson Township. Um, but, but I argue,
uh, my farm life and, and, uh, milk and cows and chasing calves, um,
actually, uh, opened some opportunities for me playing football and, uh, not,
not toot my own horn, but, uh, I, I, um, could run like the wind blue, um, went,
uh, attended, uh, some Merle Hodge football camps. Uh, Merle Hodge was at, uh,
running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers. But, um, I, I could, at a young age,
I could run, uh, uh, 40 yards and, um, about 4.6 seconds.
But, um, had had some opportunities.
I actually played for three different high schools. I played, uh,
for Albert Island, excuse me, one year. Played for, uh, um, Gobel.
I was a Gobel Gator, uh, had, you know, still have a, uh, soft spot spot for,
uh, watching, uh, gobel, uh, events. Um, but I played under, uh,
Jack Beaner, bill Beaner through Laurel Highlands, uh,
Tom Sandal and Kirk soho down at Gebel. Um, and, uh, when,
when at a young age, I played under, um,
Joanne Embar crowd at outta Albert Allen. And so, um, still, um,
keep in touch with a lot of my friends that I met along the way, um,
playing sports. So it's, um, again, you know, um, I tell everybody,
any, any young kid, um,
that's even thinking about going out for sports e even if you're a junior in
high school, and that's something that you, that, um, you,
you kind of feel like, well, I'm, you know, I'm pushing, I'm almost a senior,
you know, go out, go out for sports, you know, I, uh, encourage, encourage, uh,
people to play sports and, um, lot, lot of good memories there, especially,
like I said, Don Donette, Gobel, um,
lot of good memories down there playing sports as, as a Gobel Gator.
So go Gobel.
So, um, you know, before we get to the big question,
which is what made you decide to run for county commissioner,
I want to talk a little bit about your, uh,
your current background and the fact that you are a township supervisor in what
I think is a unique township in Fayette County, SpringHill Township.
Uh, and you guys are in the very far corner of the county.
Um, I had the pleasure of, uh,
when I was in the State House representing that township. Um, but, you know,
life's a little bit different there. You are a very agrarian society, uh,
but with ACLU conclusion of Route 43 or that section of
the southern section of Route 43, um,
I know that some of that agrarian lifestyle has
kind of been in jeopardy because of the development of some of
that property.
So why don't we talk a little bit about the challenges that, uh,
that you see in your township as you're currently a township supervisor?
Yeah, so, so currently, as you just said, I'm,
I'm a township supervisor for Spring Hill Township. SpringHill Township is,
is, uh, uh, the Southernmost Township in Faye County. Um, we're,
we're roughly right smack d in the middle between Uniontown and, and Morgantown.
Uh, lot of our residents, uh, do their shopping, you know, Morgantown,
you can be there in 15 minutes or, or Uniontown. Um, most people, um,
have not been down in a township. Uh, um, you mentioned, um,
43 coming through the Mon Monte Fayette Expressway. Um, I, you know,
prior to the expressway coming through, um,
there was no need for for people to come down into the area unless, um,
we have some great historic sites down there. Uh, friendship Hill Mansion, uh,
is, uh, one of 'em.
So a lot of people attend to Fall Fest down there in the fall,
which is a really good event. Um,
our our township is made up with, um, mostly small farms, rural,
rural communities, and that's why people have,
have chose to live in SpringHill Township. Um,
current issues going on in the township right now, right now,
which a lot of you know about or, or have heard, um, out in Gans, pa,
which is, um, just, just a mile or so off the, um, expressway there.
Um,
Faye Penn has some property out there that they're planning on doing an
industrial park. Um, now this, uh, prior to a few weeks ago,
this land was zoned a, a one, or there was a,
there was approximately a hundred and some acres that was still zoned a one.
And I argue it's, uh, some of the most beautiful land in our township. Um, this,
this land's been in corn and soybeans for the last 30 or 40 years. So, um,
my, my constituents residents out in a township are,
are basically just upset that we have, uh,
some of the most beautiful farmland in a township. And I argue in a,
in a county that, uh, that's basically gonna be destroyed.
And, and, uh, and factories and concrete is, is is what's gonna be, um,
currently what we've been looking at in corn and soybeans. So, uh,
and every time, and I drive through there on a daily basis and, you know,
through work with a township, but each day when I drive past,
there's corn fields. I mean, it just saddens me. And, and,
and I get frustrated that
I just feel that as a supervisor in our residents,
we didn't have a say in what was coming to our community.
And as a township supervisor, you know,
my number one job is to represent the community as a whole. Um,
I can't even go back to our residence and say, Hey, I, I got this for us.
I never had an opportunity to negotiate something better for the community. Um,
the, you know, a big issue with this, though,
not only are they destroying the farmland out in, out in SpringHill Township,
which, which again, that's why residents live out there. We, we,
we really enjoy our wide open spaces and, uh, in our farmland,
we're near and dear to our, to our land. Um,
but this is gonna create some other issues in, in a township, uh, water being,
water issues being front and center. Um, this is actually,
if this project goes through, it's gonna put us in a, uh, in a water crisis. Um,
there, there's three water, um, authorities in a township. We have a Gallatin,
uh, mountain Water Association, and then state line Authority.
All three of these water, um, authorities are in dire need of, uh,
waterline upgrades. Um, Albert Gallon's water plant needs rebuilt.
And, um, basically what Faye Penn and, and, um,
Slater Engineering is requested up to 3 million gallons of water a day if this
factory goes in. Um, and again, we, our,
our water plant, excuse me, is at max capacity,
unless we get some large grants or,
or some investment in our water system, um, we, we,
we can't provide the water. My biggest fear is the,
the burden is gonna go on the back of my residence, um, which a lot in,
in Spring Hill Township, we have a lot of elderly that,
that depend on social security. And we have, we have, um, a,
a fairly large percentage that, that are on assistance, um,
for, you know, for whatever reason. Um, but, um,
if their water rates go up, because Fay Penn wants this water, I mean, I, I'm,
I'm against that. I, I feel that there has to be another way and, and we,
we really need to set down, roll our sleeves up and,
and try to hatch us out and, and, uh, come up with something. And again, that,
that's basically why I've thrown my hat in the ring for, uh, county.
Commissioner. Well,
and and it sounds like what you're talking about is the kind of the preservation
of a way of life. And, uh, I know you're a conservative, uh,
you're a registered Republican, correct? Correct. Um, and you, uh,
you, you want the, to preserve not just traditional family values,
but also to preserve, uh, that,
that way of life on the farm. And, uh, and trust me, I'm no,
uh, I'm no farmer. Uh, we, uh, I grew up on,
um, the east end of Union town on a small city lot. Uh,
in my teen years, we moved out to Pinnell in township,
had a little bit more property, um, about 11 to 12 acres.
And, uh, and I once, uh, plowed down the swing set with, uh,
with the tractor that we had. So, uh, you know, I'm not a farmer,
but I have a huge appreciation for the farms that we have.
And I wanna circle the wagons back around because we were talking about
development and the loss of farmland. Uh,
and, you know, really when we look at farming, I,
I don't know that everyone, um,
realizes or appreciates the fact that, um,
the lacking number, the declining number, rather,
of farms throughout the United States is creating what could become
a real national security issue.
Because as we're forced to import more and more, uh,
goods of produce, um, you know,
we become dependent on other countries. And before the show,
I know you and I were talking in the newsroom for a couple minutes about, uh,
how the war in Ukraine, no matter where you sit on that issue, uh, and I,
and I know a lot of our conservative listeners are getting frustrated with the
amount that the Biden in, uh, administration has spent on that war.
Um, but really that's a, a bread basket of the world,
and we're seeing a direct reflection of, uh,
the cost of things like wheat and flour, uh,
in our grocery stores because of that war in Ukraine. And, uh, you know, I,
I am gonna turn it over to you in a second, to, to talk a little bit about, uh,
preserving those, those farmlands. But, you know, I pulled up, uh,
just as we came into the studio, uh,
an article on the USDA's, uh, government website, and it says,
uh, after peaking at 6.8 million farms in 1935,
the number of US farms fell sharply until the early 1970s,
rapidly following farm numbers during the earlier period
reflected growing production in agriculture and
increasing non-farm employment opportunities.
Now since then, the, uh,
number of US farms has continued to decline, uh,
kind of at a slower rate, but, uh, the,
the numbers as we're looking at them went from
2.01 million US farms, uh,
in 2021, back to just 2007 when we had 2.2 million,
uh, US farms. So, you know,
you're seeing in your township a microcosm of what's happening at a national
level, but it is very concerning, even for a non-farm like myself,
uh, that we are going to be forced to rely on importing, uh,
farm goods. So I, I know you were talking a little bit about subsidies and,
uh, and things like that.
I don't know if you have any comments to make about how important it is to
preserve, preserve that farmland.
And, and, and you, you touch on so many, um, points there, and you're,
and you're exactly right, but, um, basically over 2000 acres a day,
this country's losing.
And if you just think about that 2000 acres a day,
and we're on track o over the next 20 years, or, or less than 20 years, by,
by by 2040, we w will have lost over 20 Phil,
24 million acres of farmland. And, and this is prime farmland. This is,
this is land that, um, it, it again,
is some of the most productive farmland in the world that were destroyed. And,
and you mentioned in SpringHill Township, this is a micro of what's going on,
and that's why it's so upset and frustrating. Um, you know, you, you want to,
and I say this to the commissioners in Faye, Penn, you know, you, you,
you want to build a factory and, and create jobs. I'm all for that,
but I'm against taking some of the most productive farmland in the county and
put in your factory. Um, and, and again, that's where I draw the line. But, um,
you, you mentioned, uh, uh, the war in Ukraine,
look at what a loaf of bread is in a store that's a direct result.
And how we're affected here on, on a, on a home homeland.
This war in U Ukraine in the last two years on a global market,
wheat's doubled. I I, and I don't have the exact figures,
but I wanna say somewhere around wheat was 230, 200 $40 a ton.
It's now pushing $600 a ton because of what's going on in Ukraine. And I,
and I argue that Russia's there, um, because they want their,
their farmland and, and, and they want that bread basket of, of, of, of Europe,
so to speak. Um, so again, um, it, it sands me. And,
and the main reason I'm throwing my head in again, is due to,
to what's going on with the, with the farmland. Um, and I think, uh,
going back to Mr. Becker, I mean, I, I think, um, and, and Mr.
Becker's doing a great job, um, but I, but he,
he needs more help that, you know,
and I think basically it just boils down to he needs more funding to,
to go out and preserve these farms. Um,
I've had several Mr or several conversations with Mr. Becker, uh,
roughly what,
what the county is offering to preserve farmland is about $1,500 an acre.
And,
and basically what happens is they buy your development rights to where you can
no longer subdivide that build houses or, or develop. But if,
but if you think about they're offering $1,500 an acre,
and from a developer, you know, on the other hand,
they're willing to pay 10 or $20,000 an acre to take this same land and develop
it. We, we, we gotta get that $1,500 an acre.
And I argue these farmers should be offered a, a minimum of $5,000 an acre.
So if, uh, on day one, if, if, if the good people put me in office,
I'm gonna sit down with Mr. Becker and say, Hey, what can we do?
What can I do? And, or, you know, who can, who do I need to go meet with? Or,
um, to get you what you need to preserve more forms in Fayette County.
Now, you know, I, I know that we've touched on this already, uh, about the,
in the importance, but I'm sitting here listening to you talked, and, uh,
and you know, in, in my service, uh, as a state representative,
I met very frequently with the Farm Bureau from Fayette County, as well as the,
uh, the State Farm Bureau. And I was, uh, constantly, uh,
endorsed by them in my elections. Um, but that being said,
you're a farmer. You come from a farming family, a farming background.
So of course you are worried about, uh, about these issues.
But really it comes down to the everyday person.
And when I look at the population of Fayette County, uh,
being an aging population, we have a lot of senior citizens in this area. Uh,
Pennsylvania as a whole has a lot of senior citizens.
And those senior citizens are on fixed incomes.
So when we talk about, uh,
issues that directly involve farming and the cost of good sold going up,
uh, that means that that dollar,
that those senior citizens on that fixed income have goes a little bit, uh,
less than it it used to.
Yeah. And, and, um, you know, what's interesting about, you just mentioned that,
you know, with, with inflation and, and, um, the price, uh, uh,
groceries and your basic goods in a store, uh,
this also creates some opportunities for small farms. Uh,
we were talking about eggs. Uh, you, you got the, uh, proggy, uh,
Cookoff coming up, and you were talking about the, you know,
just the price eggs in a store. Well, you know, um, um, my job when,
when, uh, growing up, and this is all through elementary school,
we had about a hundred lane hens. And my job every evening when,
when I got home, was to water 'em, gather the eggs. And I'll never forget, uh,
um, on Saturday mornings, my, uh, mother and father would be cooking breakfast,
you know, you know, frying eggs. Well, I was the one that gathered those eggs,
and, and I, and, uh, I was putting bacon or sausage on toast.
I couldn't eat 'em cuz I was the one up in the chickening coop getting,
getting eggs. But, um, there's, there's actually opportunities for,
for small farms. Um, and again, going back to, um,
just recently my wife was, uh, up in Morgantown running errands, and she, uh,
got a couple gallon of milk. She got a gallon of whole milk in,
in West Virginia for $3 a gallon.
A a farmer cannot create that gallon of milk for $3.
And what happens is the government, through, through subsidies and, and,
and different programs, which are good programs, they keep the,
the price of milk low. So your, your average family are,
are getting basically the nutrients and, and, and things they need. Um,
and we just talked about everything going up from wheat eggs. Do you know,
something that hasn't went up is a price of milk. And, uh,
I still get a Lancaster farmer and a farm and dairy. But what's upsetting, um,
milks, milks still right around 20, $22 a hundred weight. Now,
these forms are getting some subsidies from, from the government, um,
but there's a negative side on the, with the subsidies, um, for one. And, um,
let me tell you about my personal experience.
My wife and I milk counts for about 15 years. Um, at the, at the height of the,
of or dairy operation,
we were milking about 65 head of Holstein and some Jersey crosses, a couple zis.
Um, but when Covid hit milk,
prices dropped all the way down to $13 a hundred weight. Um,
my neighbors at Milk Cows back in the seventies,
that's what they were getting for milk. And, and in the 1970s, we were,
we were dependent upon the subsidies each month
to determine whether we were profitable or not, and just, um, um,
and I mentioned to you about, um, you know, the, the, the,
the pride of being independent was taken away from us. And, um, it, it, um,
I went through some hard times, but I come out, you know,
stronger and more educated on other end. But my biggest fear with the subsidies,
and let, let me, let me end with this point.
When our farmers are dependent on them, the subsidies,
what happens one day in the future when, when no subsidies aren't there.
And I just think that we're, we're, we're,
we're propping our farmers up for disaster on the other end. Um, I,
I think we need to, um, get our, get our farms profitable and sustainable,
however we do that. But I think, um, you know, I think there's some,
there's some good area leaders. Um, I know ri uh,
when it's shout out to Richard Bird that was on a, um,
radio station here a few weeks ago. Um, and Richard's somebody that,
that understands, uh, I, I would argue more than anybody,
the bigger picture and, and issues that are going on. Um, you know, one thing,
uh, rich stated was, um, first time in American history,
south America's exporting more, more soybeans than the United States is. And,
and if you think about that, these other countries are surpassing us, it's,
it's alarming. And, and, um, the,
there's no reason why the United States shouldn't be number one in ag in, in,
at, at the global market. And I just, um,
but we can't do that if we continue destroy over 2000 acres of,
of prime farmland each day. And I'm, and I'm, um, again,
I drew drew a line in the sand and that,
that land in SpringHill Township, we need to preserve that. Um,
and I even have people that are, are willing to, to, uh,
purchase that property back from Fay Penn and to preserve that farm land. And,
and, um, you know, God only made that land one time so.
Well, and, and we were talking milk.
And that is so important for our entire population. The, uh,
most recent census data says that 69% of US adults
drink, uh, milk most frequently, um,
15% of Americans drink alternative kind of milks.
And, uh, we will save this topic for another point in time. But, uh, you know,
when I was in the legislature, I always thought that it was important for, um,
our actual milk that comes from cows to be called milk.
And I would really like to see a reclassification of things like, uh,
almond milk or soy milk, um, because in my book,
those aren't really milk products. Um, but, uh,
but that's a discussion for another day. We have to get our first break in to,
uh, today.
But I did wanna make the announcement that if you are a candidate for any public
office, whether you be a Democrat or a Republican,
I invite you to email me at info coordinated three
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You can also find that information by visiting my website@matthewddowling.com,
and let me know you'd like to come on the program because in the next, uh,
month or so, we wanna share as many of our candidates, uh,
opinions and background with the voters at large throughout Fayette County. So,
again, shoot me an email or let me know you'd like to come on the program and,
uh, and we'll get you on.
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You are listening to commonalities where guests find common ground through
uncommon conversations.
Well, thanks for sticking with us on commonalities. I'm your host Matt Dowling,
and my guest today is, uh, Robert Jean Grimmy goes by Jean, uh,
township supervisor down in the southernmost corner of Fayette
County currently, but he's recently thrown his name in the ring, uh,
to run for township supervisor. And we, uh,
talked a little bit about his background as well as the background of Spring
Hill Township. Uh, the fact that that's a, an agrarian, uh,
kind of community down there, and the fact that he is, uh,
very interested in preserving their current way of life, their, uh,
conservative values, as well as, uh, preserving the farmland there. Gene,
I'm gonna ask you a question that, uh,
is based in solution focused therapy. Uh,
and, and it may sound like a strange question, but you know,
sometimes when we set goals for ourselves, it can be very challenging to,
uh, envision a world that's completely without problems. Uh,
so my question to you is, uh, is what they refer to as the magic wand question,
and that is, uh, if you went to sleep tonight and, uh,
all of your problems were solved when you woke up tomorrow,
what would the world look like? And and I ask that because, uh,
as a county commissioner, you will have to be that magic wand to, uh,
to a good night, uh, a good number of people. So what would the world look like,
uh, if all the problems of Fayette County were solved?
What? Well, I'll tell you what, um,
you know, and that's hard to envision. I, I've, uh, um,
just over the last few years, and especially through through farming, I, um,
you know, I, i, uh, faced many challenges and, uh, and,
and when I talk about challenges, um, these, these were,
these were challenges just to pay the bills each month. So, uh, I,
I would start right there and say, you know, it, it, um, it would be nice for,
for all residents in Fay County, um,
not to have to stretch those paychecks to be able to go to the grocery store
and, and, and not have to pick a, a product up and say, well, maybe next time,
or, or, or have your young kids want a bag of candy and say, uh,
no, uh, we're gonna get a cheeseburger on the way home. So, um, um,
I would start right there and say, you know, it'd be nice if, if, uh,
if people had the, the paychecks to provide for their family, like,
like they should have, um, you know, and, and jobs. Um,
you know, I know, I know people that wake up early every day and, and they,
they put in their eight hours, 10 hours, a lot of folks work a second job. And,
um, and again, at the end of the month, they, they,
there's still always one bill that they can't pay, whether it's a,
a water electric. Um, so, uh, I would start there with just, just jobs,
you know, uh, creating good decent jobs for folks that,
that they can raise their family and, and provide their, their family.
Like they should be able to, um, wanna talk about,
um, our tech schools and opportunities at our tech schools. When, when,
um, I graduated, um, early 2000, um,
2001 actually. Um, and, and I, and I wanted to,
to go to a tech school and take diesel mechanics or welding, and, but back then,
I, I had teachers that kind of said, well, uh, you know, this is gonna,
this is gonna, um, cut off avenues and roads if you want to go on a school.
And, and looking back now, that wasn't true. Um, I, I regret taking, uh,
advantage of the opportunities that our tech schools provide. So I,
I think that, um, we need to do more, uh, for,
for tech schools and that there's great opportunities out there for young
individuals that, that want to go for autobody and,
and welding or diesel mechanics. And, and, and I would tell her,
use this just because you go to a tech school and you attend that,
that you're not, you're not thrown in your hand and saying, okay,
I'm gonna be a diesel mechanic or a welder for the rest of my life. But,
but I'll tell you this, you, you're,
you're gonna get taught a trade that you'll have for the rest of your life. And,
you know, may maybe, um, maybe down the road you get laid off from a job or, or,
or you have an opportunity to do some side work or something. So, um, um,
I didn't attend tech school, but right after high school, I went to a, um,
three month, three month horseshoeing school. I'm a certified farrier.
I have used, uh, shoe and horses throughout my whole life and many a times, um,
between paychecks or if I got a low milk check, I, I always kept a, a list of,
of people that had horses. And I, and I fell back on that, um,
training that I, that I, that I got that,
that I found out later in life that was so valuable. Um,
and I used that I could, I could at the spur of a,
the moment I could call a half a dozen people and I could go make a couple
hundred dollars. So I, um, um, our tech schools, I think there needs to be,
um, again, through, through tools and thinking outside the box,
um, we need to give our tech schools and our,
our leaders that are running these tech schools, all, all the,
everything they need, whether it's funding or, um, even bringing in,
you know, you know, some outside to, to think outside of the box and,
and do that sort of thing.
You know, and I,
and I think a big piece of that is just de-stigmatizing what a tech school is.
And, and you mentioned the fact that, you know,
you were kind of steered away from that. Um, you know,
we say this partially in jest, but my wife and I talk all the time and say that,
uh, our boys,
I have a nine year old and a 10 year old can do anything they want to do as long
as it is, uh,
becoming a plumber or an electrician because we just don't have enough of, uh,
of those people in the skilled trades.
And that tech school is a great place to start. And, uh, as a,
as a conservative like yourself, uh,
I was never a big fan of the public sector unions, uh, that exist out there,
but some of those private sector trade unions are a great way that someone
coming out of the tech school can get a,
a trade job with a union and then get up trained from that point in time
to learn even more in their background. So I, you know,
I completely agree with you that, uh,
that our tech schools are a resource that we should be steering even more of
our, our students, uh, to, because, uh, really they can,
they can build a life and a career, uh, directly from there.
And Matt, these are, these are, these are jobs that are paying 30,
$35 an hour, and I mean, there's, there's a need and, and, uh, you, um,
and I see it even at a township level that, um, um, we upgraded our, uh,
electrical system, um, at the, at the township building.
We couldn't get somebody. Now we called around and then, and then, um,
finally we had, uh, a local company here, all, all American Electric, Kurt, um,
they come in, but, um, they, and, and,
and Kurt even told me he can't get enough guys, and, and,
and he's turning down jobs. So there's, there's a,
there's a need for these jobs. Um, and you just said, you know, plumbing,
electrical, um, and again, these are good paying jobs where, um, and you know,
in nursing, we, we could get into the nursing programs.
There's a shortage of nurses. My mother, uh, is a lifelong nurse,
still still a nurse to this day. She runs a care facility in, uh, West Virginia.
But, um, you know, my mother worked two jobs. She was a traveling nurse when I,
when I was young growing up. Um,
and then she wor she was a trauma floor nurse at Ruby Memorial, but she, uh,
basically put my father through law school. But, uh, we, we never seen my mom.
She was always working, and then when she was home,
she was resting to get ready to, to, uh, do her, you know, do her other shift.
But, um, so lot of opportunity's already here. Um, it's just, um,
again, uh, we have to do more though. There's a, there's a, and,
and I think that going back to the transparency and just, um,
communication on all levels between the, between the, the county and,
and our schools and our townships. So as a, as a county commissioner,
that's the big thing I would do is just the communication and the transparency.
Uh, but I tell you in SpringHill Township, what we experienced, the,
the lack of transparency in the,
in the backroom deals and finding out about a major project coming into your
township when it, when it, when a deal was already brokered and made,
and not having an opportunity to negotiate something better for my residents,
that tho those days need to end. And I understand, you know,
and a lot of people say, well, well, gene, this is Faye County.
This has been going on. This is how it is. Well, it,
it doesn't have to continue that way. And listen, we got, um,
we got three good commissioners. I'm, I'm not here, uh, to,
to say any ne anything negative about Vince Vati or Scott Dunn or Dave Lure. Uh,
do I think I could do better in some areas? Yes, sir. I wouldn't be running.
Well, uh, we have to get our second break in here, and, uh,
and so we'll go to that, and then we will come back for final thoughts.
You are listening to commonalities where guests find common ground through
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You're listening to commonalities where guests find common ground through
uncommon Conversations.
Hi, I am your host, Matt Dowling. And I'm aci, uh, beside our guest for today,
Jean Grim. And Jean, uh, back in January,
I wrote a letter to the editor that was, uh, published, and, uh,
one of the things that touched on was, uh,
a fact from the Pew Institute that said, uh,
that Americans, uh,
say political leaders expressed their faith too little by
37% rather than too much by 29%,
which means that, uh,
the average voter out there wants to know about your, uh,
your faith background. So I wanted to close out the program and, uh,
and let you talk a little bit about, uh,
your faith and maybe what church you belong to and things of that nature.
Yeah, that, um, um, the, the church, my, uh,
family's currently going to is the Point, Marian Church of Christ, pastor, uh,
Rick Semanski. And, um, I, uh, I'm, now, I'll be honest, um,
I wasn't always a, a church goer. Um, um,
especially when my wife and I, we milk cows for about 15 years, uh,
Sunday mornings. Uh, and, and Matt, you know, when, when you milk cows,
it's 365 days a year, twice a day. So, um, um, especially when, um,
seem, it just seemed like we were always trying to catch up or always behind.
Um, it, it wasn't until after we decided to sell the cows that, uh,
we started going to church. Um, it, but I can tell you this, it's, it's, um, I,
I wouldn't be who I am today and where I'm, where I'm at,
if it wasn't for my church family and Pastor Rich. Um, um, I have, I have,
let me step back for a minute. Um, my wife's name's Amy. Um,
she's been beside me, you know, since we were married. And, um, she,
she gave me a little bit of heck when I decided to throw my hat in the ring for
county commissioner, but she's, she's behind me now. I wouldn't,
wouldn't have decided to run, but, uh, three kids, Ethan, Katie, and Eli,
um, my daughter, Katie, every Sunday morning is up bright and early, uh,
sound, sound an alarm that everybody get up and go to church. Um,
through the rough times of my life,
and especially when we threw the town with the, um, with the cows, one of the,
one of the hardest things I've ever went to, you know, went through a,
as a father and, and, um, even, you know,
closing a business that we were so near and dear, um,
the church family was there for me, um, through those hard times. So, uh,
give a shout out to, again, point Marin Church of Christ, and, um,
very, very well, you know, we look forward to going to church every Sunday. Um,
and, and with that there, so.
Well, uh, the last thing I wanna ask you, Jean,
is if someone wants to get involved with your campaign, how can they do so?
How can they get ahold of you? Um, things of that nature.
Yep. Um, I, there's a, um, there's a webpage right now, uh,
Robert Jean Grim for County Commissioner. Uh, there's,
there's gonna be some more activity on that page. So aside, uh,
people that are on, uh, social media, you know, look up my page. Um,
I'm gonna be running a grassroots campaign, um, and, and you'll probably see me,
I, I, um, I got a great big, beautiful buckskin horse, a Tennessee walker.
I'm gonna be out campaigning on my horse,
so if you see a guy with a cowboy hat on and, and you're town, uh,
gimme a shout out or come up and introduce you. You know, I,
I'll let you meet my horse. Um, um, also, um,
you know, through events, if, um, we're gonna be throwing an event probably, uh,
next month sometime, uh, probably at a fire hall. Uh,
love to meet as many people as I can and, and, um, um, you know,
and even call me, you know, call me on the phone.
I don't wanna give my my personal cell phone out this early, but, uh, my,
my phone is always open, uh, you know, for folks that wanna call.
Well, gene, we wanna thank you so much for being on the program here today.
Again,
if you're running for public office in Fayette County or within the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania, uh, and you would like a chance to, uh,
to come on my program where we can share your thoughts and opinions with the
voters, uh, please reach out. Visit my website,
matthew d dowling.com,
and shoot me an email at info coordinated three sixty.com and we'll
get you lined up to be on the program.
1, 1, 1 Last thing, Matt. What, uh, when, when are, are we making these PGIs?
We're excited about these pierogis.
So March 25th, I know you've heard a couple pro mos during this episode, but,
uh, come out and, uh, and help us at the Uniontown Sea Center.
This is all for today's episode of Common Analysis.
This has been commonalities,
a show where guests find common ground through uncommon conversations.
Copyright 2022 Coordinated 360.
All public rebroadcast should be done with prior written approval from Matthew
Dowling. All requests should be sent to info@coordinatedthreesixty.com.
Thank you for listening to commonalities.