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, good afternoon or good morning, I guess I should say to everyone.
Um, my guest today is someone that many of the wb, uh,
the Wmb s listeners are familiar with Kendall Siler.
You normally hear her in the afternoon on what's on your mind. But, uh,
we have Kendall on with us today, and I'm gonna preface the show by, uh,
by apologizing to the listeners if I sound a little hoarse or a little under the
weather. Um, I'm actually joining the team via telephone, uh,
because just this morning I found out that, uh, that I'm suffering from Covid,
so you won't see me out in the public for the next, uh,
five to seven days or so. But, uh,
but we still wanted to be able to call in via telephone and, and do the show.
So, Kendall, how are you today?
Good, thank you, Matt. I hope that you, uh, feel better,
but I thought that you were gonna preface it with something else.
Um, well, you know, I, I have to explain to everyone, Kendall and i's,
uh, friendship and relationship. We go back, uh,
all the way to high school and, uh,
and both of us were members of the morning announcement crew.
Um, so we got our airtime training , uh,
in Pete O's office, uh, many years ago.
And then we had a lot of fun with that. Isn't that right, Kendall? Yeah.
It was morning and afternoon announcements, if you recall me, you and Dave, me,
you and Dave. Shout out to Dave.
Yep. And, and unfortunately, Dave's not with us today, but, uh,
but I think we'll be able to handle this down this, uh, this today. Now,
the topic that we had said that we're gonna discuss is, um,
is kind of, uh, one that people are, are talking about a lot right now,
because corporations are being forced to make calls
and to get involved with policy items.
And some people refer to this as corporate wokeness.
And what I draw to mind is, uh,
is one of the items that just happened this week. Um,
m and m decided that they were going to permanently shelf their spokes candies,
and they were no longer going to use those because they have become divisive.
And, uh, people have started, uh, attributing different,
uh, different things to the characteristic characteristics of those
spokes candies. Uh,
so instead they're opting to go with a human being as their spokesperson
for a while. But we're seeing this in a lot of different, uh,
corporate atmospheres. And, you know,
I kind of feel for the corporations themselves because, you know,
I don't know that it's always by choice that they get involved in these,
uh, items. It's more by force where individuals are saying, listen,
if you don't weigh in on this, uh,
we're gonna boycott your company and your product. And,
uh, and, and I think they puts them in a very difficult position. So,
Kendall, I don't know if you had any thoughts on that. I know we, uh,
we discussed this a little bit before the show.
Um, yeah. And are we taking calls today, Matt?
Yeah, we'd be happy to take calls.
So if you want to throw that number out there,
I think that would be great as well.
Okay. That's (724) 438-4593.
Call in and weigh in only on the topics, um, or the topic rather that,
that Matt is, um, has chosen for the, for his show today. Yes.
So I guess I've been wanting to talk to you about this, uh, since we,
earlier in the week, whenever I, we decided that I was gonna be your guest.
Who are these, these quote unquote people that are, you know,
putting the ideas into, um, the head of, you know,
corporate figureheads to come up with these decisions. Like,
are they boards of directors? Are they letters from concerned consumers,
or what are, like,
where does this start from an and I feel like you're experience in Harrisburg
would maybe give, uh,
me and the listeners a little more insight into where is this starting? Because,
you know, fortunately for us, I think, uh, we live in a, um, a small town,
um, in southwestern Pennsylvania where we've been really fortunate to not be too
affected by the, the wokeness of, of the world at this point in, in,
in a good way. I think, you know, um,
we all coexist peacefully and we're respectful to one another,
and we don't nitpick at little things that are so trivial. Um,
so where is this come? Where does this start?
You know,
I think this is all kind of a movement that's coming from consumers and
a thought that this social justice is extremely important,
and I wanna kind of, you know,
put in there that it, these are important issues. Okay?
So let's say that I'm a consumer that's extremely concerned
with the way that, uh, with these candies, for example, are,
uh, are portrayed.
And I am really concerned with rights for
all people regardless of sexual orientation.
And that's really what it came down to with the m and m, is that certain,
um, of the m and m characters were kind of be being portrayed as,
um, maybe being homosexual or so forth.
So I'm concerned with equal rights for all people regardless of sexual
orientation. Um, so I start a campaign and,
and we have things like change.org where I can get other individuals to sign
on. And we are,
we're now taking on m and m and we're making this point.
The issue that I have is, you know,
regardless of where you sit on this or other issues,
we are really kind of making something that's trivial
into a big item, excuse me, when,
when other things that, um,
could be more productive could take our time and focus.
And that's what really bothers me about this. You know,
we're not gonna win a social justice argument, uh,
about equality for, um,
the L G B T community by taking on m and m.
There's more that these people could be doing,
but they kind of get pigeonholed into focusing just on this
one, uh, microcosm of an IS issue.
And they take that on by head.
And I, I guess for me,
a lot of times my mind doesn't even shift to an issue until
some kind of ridiculous, uh, marketing campaign is, is,
or advertising campaign is switched over to,
we have to make this look more like that or make this less like that. I mean,
they're m and ms, you know, I think that, uh, and that's just a, a for example,
right? But I, I, to be honest, I have to say, I'm kind of tired of,
of hearing about it because what do,
what do little chocolate characters on a package
have anything to do with equal rights?
Because I'm pretty sure we are at a place right now where there are equal
rights. You can be a girl than a boy, then back to a girl, if you choose,
you can dress like a boy. If you're a girl, you can dress like a girl.
If you're a boy, you can be married to, to someone of the same sex.
You can have children, you can raise a family, you know, uh, you can move up in,
in, in the world of, uh, whatever your career is. Uh,
you can run for office and win. Uh, I just, I'm not seeing where,
where there's a lack of equal rights at this point. And I'm gladly,
I'm happy to say that, but I, I just don't, here's the thing. For me,
I would rather see there be a, um,
a movement to getting these silly little characters off of the,
the box cereal boxes. I mean, other, other countries have done that, right?
Because they don't wanna appeal to little kids because there's nothing but high
fructose corn syrup in there. We know what that does to, to people. And so,
like,
why is the movement about something we've already accomplished and not towards
something that we have a long way to go, you know?
Yeah. And, and you know, we're using the example of, um,
of the m and ms and the L G B T community,
but there are so many other corporations that are kind of being, um,
held hostage at the same time. And before the show,
I supplied Bill with an edited down clip, um,
that I believe was from Fox Business, that if he has ready, we could,
could go ahead and play.
And I think that will allow us to expand and add to our, uh,
to our conversations a little bit.
Look, Ian, I want your reaction to Kroger and another grocery store chain,
Harris Teeter. They're pulling, they're pro-American items from store shelves.
What they're pulling includes, I think I can show 'em on your screen, the,
the Cozies featuring guns and American flags and items that read,
give me liberty or give me death on the screen right now.
They pulled those items. What is going on here?
You can't be pro-American in the supermarket.
No. You know, you can't be pro-America, but you can be propri mark, right?
So you go to any supermarket, you go to any store, you're gonna see pride flags,
pride paraphernalia. But when it comes to American paraphernalia, patriotism,
American flags, you know, uh, statements from Patrick Henry, that's apparently,
you know, that's, that's over the line. And stores can't do that. And, you know,
you know the saying, uh, go woke, get broke. That's, uh, or get woke, go broke.
That's what we're seeing here. I mean, we're seeing these big stores, um,
from the,
from corporate America that are injecting wokeness into everything they do. And,
you know, ultimately they end up paying for it when, you know,
customers stop shopping there and stock prices start going down just like this
as Disney.
Well, I do you think that your winning this battle against c r t.
You know, it's a long fight and, uh, I think we're,
we're just at the start of it, and, and we've really, you know,
over the past year and a half have, have entered that fight.
And parents have have realized what's going on in schools.
But this is not the kind of thing that's gonna be solved in a year or two years.
It's gonna really take a generation to get our educational system back to the
basics.
That sounds absolutely awful. Ian Pryor, you're doing good work there.
Thanks very much for joining us today. Appreciate it, sir. Thank very much.
You got me, you got.
So I think there was some good information there in that clip. Um,
if nothing else, but hearing a British man say the word cuis, um,
you know, I, I think that was, uh, that was entertaining. But we,
we are seeing now where institutions or organizations like grocery
stores are now removing, uh,
American items from their shelves because they don't want to be seen
as, um,
as being pro-American or anti, um,
black Lives Matter, et cetera, like that. Um, and, and so it,
it puts these organizations in a really difficult position. Um, you know,
bill Kendall, what are your thoughts?
I, I, you know, and you're, you're, you're much more tapped into the political,
the political sphere on a much more official level. Um,
what I just don't know where it's coming from.
And that's my biggest, biggest question. You know,
where is this starting from? And it has to be more than change.org, right?
I mean, and, and, and then you have to wonder as well, I know that corporations,
they're, you know, they have to, they have to generate revenue. They have to,
they have certain things that they have to be,
they're held accountable for on their level.
But aren't they concerned that there's a number, uh, uh,
just as many people who will turn their backs on that,
on that corporation if they play along, play into this,
um, fiasco, if, if you will?
Well, I think that's a real and serious issue that corporations face,
and this is why I, I kind of feel for them because, you know,
there is a backlash that happens when they do go to
the woke side, or let's,
let's look at this not only for organizations that go,
um, with movements towards the left,
but let's look at Chick-fil-A and, uh, hobby Lobby,
where, you know, your overhead music at Hobby Lobby is all Christian music.
Chick-fil-A is not open on Sundays,
and both of those organizations get pushed back from the left
because of the stance that they take that's on the right.
And you almost wanna say, you know, can't my chicken,
you know, fast food chicken place stay out of politics?
But they do have, as a private organization,
every right to make a statement if they so wish. Um,
but there, there is backlash that happens on both sides.
And I think the ultimate irony is that Harris Teeter is based out of
North Carolina, where you just don't do these kind of things. ,
if you want a majority of your, uh,
clientele to go shop at Lowe's or at, uh, picky Wiggly,
we have to take a quick break here, then we'll be back. Uh,
this is commonalities with Matt Doley.
Kendall Siler is our guest on your local station, W n b.
You are listening to commonalities.
We're guests find common ground through Uncommon Conversations.
We'll be back after this brief break to recognize our sponsors.
Hello, Uniontown Mayor, bill Gerkey here.
There's nothing quite like the feeling of home, that's sense of belonging.
Those fall Friday nights under the lights, those winter nights in the gym,
watching our red Raiders, those refreshing spring afternoons at Bailey Park,
rooting on our Red Raider softball and baseball teams.
I am grateful for those memories and hope our community's children and
grandchildren can enjoy those memories too. But to do that,
we have to plan for the future. During my first term in office,
the city has got Bailey Park back to a place where we can be proud of.
Begun our city's first comprehensive plan in over 20 years.
Started work on the city's section of the Sheep Skin Trail,
worked on eliminating blighted properties and are rebuilding the city's
neighborhoods. We've updated the faulty equipment in the parking garages,
and we're bringing a more competitive, reliable, faster,
and less expensive internet service to our city residents. We've done a lot,
but there's still more to do. So, I Bill Gerkey. I'm running for a second term.
We're Uniontown proud, we're Uniontown strong,
and together we can continue to rebuild Uniontown for the next generation.
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You are listening to commonalities where guests find common ground through
uncommon Conversations.
And this is commonalities with Matt Doley on your local station W mbs.
The discussion now is corporate wokeness with a companies
basically having woke policies,
and are they doing themselves a favor or not?
If you'd like to get in on the discussion,
it's 7 2 4 4 3 8 4 5 9 3.
Now back to our host Matt Dowling and his guest, Kendall Siler.
Hello. Thank you for having me, Matt.
Hey, uh, you know, thank you guys and, uh,
thanks for staying with us through the commercial break. You know,
this is an important conversation,
I think because we are seeing how these policies
ultimately are affecting the corporations,
and then in turn, they affect, uh,
employment for those who work for the corporations. Um, you know,
not necessarily because of of wokeness or a cancel culture,
but we saw Google this week lay off 25,000
employees. Um, you know,
so we know that these large corporations at a
whim can take a turn that can really hurt the job market.
And, uh, and that's something that, uh, that I'm concerned with and,
and I think our viewers at home would be concerned with as well. Um,
you know, we've been talking about m and m and their policy, um,
but you know, Disney decided to, uh,
to weigh in on the Florida, don't say gay bill, uh,
that was being pushed by Governor Ron Des Santos. Um,
obviously a hard right, uh,
individual who's looking to run, uh,
potentially for president of the United States in, in the next, uh,
campaign cycle. Um, but you know,
Disney made some fatal flaws in weighing in on that
bill because they were being hit from one side,
saying they didn't do it soon enough.
And from the other side saying that they made changes at all,
uh, based on that legislation. And, uh, Bob Cheick,
who was the, uh, CEO and president of the Disney organization,
ultimately lost his job. And a lot of people are, um,
attributing Mickey, firing him, uh,
to that decision that was made. Um, so again,
Kendall and Bill, you carried a weigh in. And again, if you're at home,
you can call us. Uh, and, uh,
and I'll get one of them to throw the number out if you wanna join the
conversation.
7 2 4 4 3 8 4 5 9 3. I do have some things to say, bill,
do you have anything about this? Don't, but for one, I the don't say gay bill.
I'm not sure how it even got to be called that,
because it doesn't say anywhere in the bill. Don't say gay.
It's simply not to teach. Um, what is it, sexual orientation, um,
discussion or instruction of sexual orientation in elementary schools. I mean,
is since when did we ever learn about that in the first place?
Whether I'm heterosexual or a homosexual?
Yeah, I've, I just, you know,
this is the same country where we are feeling magnificently in
math.
In.
Science, in science, yeah, yeah. And things like that. Uh, so, uh,
and you,
you developed good mathematicians in the first and second. Great.
Yeah. And, and what,
does that have anything to do with the elementary school?
I don't have children, God-willing. I do someday,
but the last thing I care for them to learn in school is don't say,
is to be taught about sexual orientation or any discussion at all.
And I think that there was an article that Matt had sent me. Um, it says,
the bill sponsors have e empathetically stated the bill would not prohibit
students from talking about their b lgbtq families or bar classroom discussion
about L lgbtq Q history,
including events like the 2016 deadly attack on the pulse nightclub,
a gay club in Orlando. Instead, they argu argue that the bill would be,
excuse me, bar the instruction of sexual gender and identity.
And when I say good, I do, and, and listen, another thing,
why does that opinion of mine that is shared by many others,
why does that turned into anti-gay or anti L lgbtq? Because it is,
couldn't be any further from from that. You know.
I think we, I think we're just say,
say nobody here really cares whether anybody is gay or not.
At all. Yeah.
You know, I, everyone, and, and I say this probably on all of my shows,
that, you know, I've taken votes so people know how far right I am.
Um, but you know, that's a topic that doesn't even bother me.
I I have friends that are gay. I, I communicate with people that are gay. I,
I support their rights. You know,
my faith background wouldn't allow them to get married in my church.
But I think as far as the government is concerned, if two individuals of the,
of the same orientation or, or the same sex one to get married,
they should be able to in the eyes of the government. Um, you know,
so as a far right individual, this isn't even an issue for me,
but I do have issue with the rights of parents being
taken away and for this to be educated within our classrooms.
And I also look at it from the perspective of that teacher. Now, you know,
let's be honest, we have some far left teachers that are there, but, you know,
Kendall, we went to school together for many years.
Most of our teachers didn't want to project their
political, uh, affiliation or, or thoughts on any of us.
You know,
that teacher that's being mandated to talk about sexual orientation,
does they really even wanna be part that discussion?
Well, and let me ask you this. I I, I agree. Um, and I,
I highly doubt it. However, how much of this topic,
you know, because, because for me and, uh, many others, like, and I, you know,
I talk to a lot of people being, um, with, with what I do for a living.
And so how much of this is being perpetuated by the media?
Like how much of this is actually an issue when it really comes to schools and,
uh, what kind of education they're being provided as far as, uh,
discussions of sexual orientation or not? I mean, is it,
is that really as big of a thing?
Or is it because Fox News wants to perpetuate that they, that they want to,
or CNN wants to say it, that they don't, you know, beyond that? Is it a true,
I mean, is it a true issue?
I know your constituency was probably not as hyped up about that topic,
um, maybe with concerns that it would become a topic, but you know,
just talking to other representatives and even other areas or paying attention,
which you probably do more than I do on a national level,
do you really think it's that big of an issue,
or do you think it just makes a headline really good and it's an easy share?
Well, you know, I, I have to jump back a couple episodes to,
to this program where we had John Steigerwald on,
and many people in the Pittsburgh region know John and his brother for being,
um, you know, epic sportscasters over the years,
but John now has a conservative talk radio show,
and he was a guest on my program, and he talked a little bit about, um,
the sweeps that the media goes through and the fact that they are being
forced for ratings, ratings, ratings.
And John was sympathizing for the young guys and
gals that are in the media now, um,
who really want to do good investigative reporting
and be good journalists,
but they are being forced to go out and,
and get the ratings. Now this, you know,
doesn't have to do with wokeness or with a political agenda,
but think about the days when we have bad weather and they have five
different journalists on the same news program,
all reporting on the weather from a gas station, um, you know, at,
at all points of the Pittsburgh region. Um, these,
these people in the media are being forced to just report what they know will
get ratings mm-hmm. and mm-hmm. , you know,
blood guts, gore, and, uh, in bad weather,
bring in the ratings, but also, um, you know,
when they can kind of stoke the fire to be able to,
to cause controversy. That brings in ratings too. And,
and so I I just go back to that conversation with, with Steigerwald where,
you know, these, these young journalists don't want to do it,
but the owners of these broadcasting networks and newspapers are forcing
them, uh,
to go that direction because they need the ratings and they need the ratings so
that they can get the sponsorship. Yep. And they can bring in the dollars. Yep.
Yeah. And, uh, an old saying in the newsrooms, if it bleeds, it leads,
you would know, bill. And with that, uh, we have a caller waiting on the line.
We'll get to you right after we take this break on commonalities on your local
station. Wm.
You are listening to commonalities where guests find common ground through
uncommon conversations.
We'll be back after this brief break to recognize our sponsors.
Hello, Uniontown Mayor, bill Gerkey here.
There's nothing quite like the feeling of home. That's sense of belonging.
Those fall Friday nights under the lights, those winter nights in the gym,
watching our red Raiders, those refreshing spring afternoons at Bailey Park,
rooting on our Red Raider softball and baseball teams.
I am grateful for those memories and hope our community's children and
grandchildren can enjoy those memories too. But to do that,
we have to plan for the future. During my first term in office,
the city has got Bailey Park back to a place where we can be proud of.
Begun our city's first comprehensive plan in over 20 years.
Started work on the city's section of the Sheep Skin Trail,
worked on eliminating blighted properties and are rebuilding the city's
neighborhoods. We've updated the faulty equipment in the parking garages,
and we're bringing a more competitive, reliable, faster,
and less expensive internet service to our city residents.
We have done a lot, but there's still more to do. So I Bill Gerkey,
I'm running for a second term. We're Uniontown proud, we're Uniontown strong,
and together we can continue to rebuild Uniontown for the next generation.
Paid for by Mayor Ky.
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When it comes to buying a home.
What you see isn't exactly what you get.
That's why home buyers should call Dave Dowling at Grandview
Inspections at 7 2 4 2 0 8 4 1 0 8.
You'll see colorful flowers, freshly painted walls, granite countertops,
gleaming hardwood floors, and other touches.
What you can't see is the cracks, ancient plumbing,
dangerous wiring,
or broken appliances that might be revealed when you hire a
home inspector. And when it comes to home inspectors,
knowing yours has the qualifications and experience needed,
should be your number one concern.
Dave Dowling with Grand View Inspections is an architectural engineer
with over 30 years of commercial construction experience and hundreds
of inspections under his belt.
A home inspection is an opportunity for you to hire an expert to walk
through the home and prepare a report outlining the home's major components.
What needs immediate attention and what will require maintenance after you
move in your home is one of your biggest investments.
So make sure your invest is everything you hoped it to be.
Call Dave Dowling at Grandview Inspections at
7 2 4 2 0 8 4 1 0 8.
You're listening to commonalities where guests find common ground through
uncommon conversations.
Commonalities with Matt Dowling. And, uh, Matt, we are going to,
we are going to, uh, go to the phones and say, hi,
you are on commonalities. Who are we speaking with?
Well, maybe I can throw a little light on this and, uh,
answer a question posed by Kendall.
She was asking where all this comes from.
If you trace back the story of American Brands,
Reuters,
which is a British news service similar to our Associated Press,
did a survey, this was a few months ago,
and I called in Russ and told him about it,
did a survey of Southern grocery stores and found three brands
that, uh, were politically incorrect, notably Dixie Beer.
And those brands were all hounded off the shelves.
Uh, Dixie Beer, of course, you know,
makes us all think we're slave owners if you drink that.
So Reuters is one of those news services, and this is what's interesting.
Um, Reuters is, uh, a new service.
They generally report news. They don't go out and do investigative reporting.
So it's a lot of, it's coming from this British news service,
which used to be very objective. Now look at Kroger's,
chief director, chief owner, Warren Buffet, uh,
the so-called Oracle of Omaha. He's a brilliant, brilliant financier.
Uh, Warren Buffett, a former owner of the Washington Post,
I'll let you guess his politics.
This is how this stuff goes on.
Certain people who own companies, news services,
newspapers, uh, are proactive.
Jeff Bezos now is an owner of the Washington Post.
Take a look at their politics. Take,
take a look at what we're being told by those papers. Uh,
it's very simple. If you look at the people behind this, uh,
bill Gates as well is very, uh, proactive.
So that's where this is coming from. Kendall, to answer your question, mate,
does that help a little.
Yes. Thank you, Frank. Thank, thank you, Frank, thank you for the call,
and I'm sure we'll be talking with you again. Who knows,
maybe later this afternoon.
You never know. Do you.
?
Thank.
You, Frank. Thank you, Frank. So this is, this is commonalities with Matt Doley
7 2 4 4 3 8 4 5 9 3. And,
uh, also are, are they, are they playing a game of gotcha here too?
For instance, the whole thing about the don't say gay bill,
was that more to maybe throw a few arrows into Rhonda SANEs
than maybe really concerned about the don't say gay bill, you know,
so.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I, and it goes to the, uh, we all say, you know,
we think it's people in, uh, Washington that are running the show. It's not,
they're, they're puppets too, right? And you know, Matt,
you can speak to the fact that you were, um, in office and, you know,
while you, while you can say all you, all,
you want that you go to Harrisburg and you vote exactly what you believe in and
what your constituents want, you also know that you wanna get reelected, right?
So there's certain times and certain, uh,
groups of people that you have to work for, quote unquote,
and sometimes that might not align with your personal beliefs,
but you're not in there for your personal beliefs.
You're there to represent the people. And so it's no different, I mean,
it's no different on a, on a local level, right? I mean,
we know there's certain people in this town that run the show, or, you know,
you can make a call to this person and get that changed or,
and it just trickles, it trickles up and, uh, or down either way. Um,
what are your thoughts on that, Matt, when it comes to just the politics, um,
corporate controlling the poli the politics as well?
You know, I, I think that it puts, uh,
it puts people that are in politics into a difficult position,
because you're completely right. You're always looking at reelection and,
you know, we,
we could have a different conversation at another time about term limits and
about, um, about the length of, of time in office.
You know, I was serving a two year term,
so every other year I was constantly running for reelection mm-hmm.
, mm-hmm. , um, you know, and,
and that becomes bothersome.
But even when you're looking at this from a corporation's point of view,
you know, their goal is to make money.
So they're hedging a bet on, you know,
do I get more points for weighing in on this, not weighing in on this,
should I be on the left or the right of this issue? Who are my, uh,
my consumers and how am I pleasing them? Um,
so it puts them in a very bad position as well. And it,
it's even worse with the corporation because as an individual, you know,
Matt Dowling elected to the office,
I know right from wrong, and I'm gonna make a decision based on that. Yeah.
Sometimes my decision making skills are tainted by
what my constituency wants,
but a corporation doesn't have the mindset to say this is
right or wrong. Their only mindset is,
does this make me money or lose me money?
That, that being said, if Chick-fil-A was open on,
on Sundays that think how much extra money they would make, you know,
so you also do sometimes stand up, but, uh, to your point, Matt,
if a gay couple comes to you as the state representative and says,
we're having a trouble with the state licensing board,
we wanna open a hardware store and we can't get things moving, then you,
you don't care whether they're a gay couple.
You care that they're a business trying to get something accomplished.
Sure. And.
That's totally different, right? Like,
those are the kind of people I wanna represent, you know,
or those are the people I wanna fight for, you know, people that have the, the,
the same rights as every other American, regardless of their sexual orientation.
But that's far different than hurting someone's feelings because an m and m
character doesn't look gay enough, looks too gay, looks too much as who.
Cares, actually wears Gogo boots. That's what the objection was.
That they were.
Or weren't. They, they were wearing Go-Go boots and they put 'em in sneakers.
Anyway, that's insulting.
And we're gonna take our final break and then wrap things up with a
commonalities with Matt Dowling.
You are listening to commonalities where guests find common ground through
uncommon Conversations.
We'll be back after this brief break to recognize our sponsors.
Hello, Uniontown Mayor, bill Gerkey here.
There's nothing quite like the feeling of home, that sense of belonging,
those fall Friday nights under the lights, those winter nights in the gym,
watching our red Raiders, those refreshing spring afternoons at Bailey Park,
rooting on our Red Raider softball and baseball teams.
I am grateful for those memories and hope our community's children and
grandchildren can enjoy those memories too. But to do that,
we have to plan for the future. During my first term in office,
the city has got Bailey Park back to a place where we can be proud of.
Begun our city's first comprehensive plan in over 20 years.
Started work on the city's section of the Sheep Skin Trail,
worked on eliminating blighted properties and are rebuilding the city's
neighborhoods. We've updated the faulty equipment in the parking garages,
and we're bringing a more competitive, reliable, faster,
and less expensive internet service to our city residents.
We have done a lot, but there's still more to do. So I Bill Gerkey.
I'm running for a second term. We're Uniontown proud, we're Uniontown strong,
and together we can continue to rebuild Uniontown for the next generation.
Paid.
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You are listening to commonalities where guests find common ground through
Uncommon Conversations.
This is commonalities with Matt Delling. Our, the guest is Kendall Siler,
and we'll get the final thoughts as we have about two minutes left.
Yeah, so I'm, I'm, I'm not used to being a guest, um, but it, and I was,
I told Matt earlier, I was nervous and I told Bill as well, but Matt,
I really appreciate you having me on. I think this is, um, a very, it is,
you know, not to plug, but a hot topic. And I think that, you know,
like I said to you, um, I, I had said to Bill off the air and I text you,
I think we should do an interview on our show with you, um, because I do wonder,
and don't answer now,
but would this be a conversation you would be having publicly if you were still
in office or running for office? And, and how does that change, um,
once you're post, um,
service in office and you're able to just be a part of the people like we are
all the time and, um, to have more open conversations about things that are,
you know, they can, they are hot button issues.
Sure. Well, I, you know, I think that's a great final thought and, and, uh, and,
and something that we could do on a, on another day, on on your program. Um,
you know, when you're in your office, you are kind of,
your tongue is held a little bit because you have to be careful what you say.
Um, and that's why I'm enjoying this show so much, uh, now in my post,
uh, legislative service days, because I can be, uh, open and,
and more free with, uh, with my thoughts and opinions. Um,
but ultimately through the show commonalities, uh,
I want to bring all of that transparency to light, um,
with our current elected officials as well. And, you know,
we go in and we vote for these people.
We should know what their thoughts and opinions are. Um, you know, it's, it's,
uh, a glossy, uh, mail piece that you get in the mail with, uh,
with a beautiful wife and a dog and 2.5 kids.
doesn't really tell you what that person thinks or believes. And,
uh.
And with, and with that, Matt, we've gotta wrap it up. Uh,
we'll see you again on Tuesday.
Thank you, Matt.
This has been commonalities,
a show where guests find common ground through uncommon conversations.
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