By RICK MILLER
Olean Star
OLEAN — Mayor Bill Aiello said unfinished business like the upcoming $25 million rebuilding of West State Street are the reason he’s running for re-election to a fourth term.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Olean Star, Aiello said his decision to run on the independent Lincoln Party line after losing the Republican mayoral primary to Amy Sherburne was a decision he made with his family. His wife, Patty, told him if there were things he wanted to see through, he should run again.
“You know, my heart and soul is here (Olean). After a long conversation with my family, I decided that there’s things that I want to continue to see get finished.”
Aiello said people came up to him after his primary loss and told them they hadn’t voted because they thought he had the primary sewed up. Some didn’t know he was still running.
The mayor is hoping those Republicans who have backed him in the past, Democrats and independents will see the value in his 12 years of experience in the office.
There are a host of issues affecting the city: homelessness, eliminating sewage overflows, housing, reimaging Olean Center Mall, the City Garage on North Barry Street, city parks and others.
The $25 million federal RAISE (Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equality) grant is one project Aiello said he would like to see through to its conclusion. “It’s going to bring life back to West State Street. It’s going to bring infrastructure, which we really need.” It’s not a project the city could afford on its own, he added.
Aiello pointed to progress in the city parks, from the new splash pad and the Marcus Park upgrades including the InTandem playground project. Both projects will open in the spring, he said.
On the homelessness issue, Aiello agreed, “We have a problem with the homeless. We are working on that. You are always going to have a percentage of people who are homeless. People seem to be noticing more people who don’t seem to have a place to go.”
While poverty, mental health issues and drugs are some of the reasons people are homeless, Aiello said. Many of these people don’t want to be told what to do. “They don’t want to go by the rules. That’s a lot of it. And they like being out in the open.” Some don’t like shelters.
Aiello said the Homelessness Task Force he appointed last year has been meeting regularly and groups are coordinating their efforts.
A city patrolman who has gained the trust of many homeless people in the community, “keeps watch on them,” Aiello said. He estimates a couple of dozen people are staying in the city. “It’s not busloads of people being dropped off,” he said. “Most are not dangerous individuals.”
The number of homeless will drop this winter, the mayor said. It is much more dangerous to sleep outside in winter. When the temperature drops below 32 degrees, a Code Blue is declared. Genesis House has only eight beds to offer during a Code Blue event. The John J. Ash Center on North Barry Street will open during the day in Code Blue temperatures. The county offers housing to those who are homeless as well at these times, Aiello said.
When the colder weather arrives, Aiello said the encampments on public land will likely disappear. When Social Services conducted their annual homeless count last January there were three contacts in the county, one of which was in Olean.
The mayor noted that new apartments have opened on East State Street and construction on more housing is slated to begin soon on South Barry Street. “We’re working with Codes to see how inspections can be strengthened. Some landlords are “less civic minded” than others and offer better housing, he added.
The Cattaraugus County Land Bank has also helped the city with houses that have deteriorated so bad they must be taken down, the mayor said.
The mayor and Common Council sought out a developer with experience reimagining dying shopping malls. They selected Angelo Ingrassia, who developed a Rochester-area shopping mall that combined retail, commercial and residential elements.
“Angelo is working hard,” Aiello said. The council voted earlier this year to allow the use of eminent domain to eliminate some of the existing contractual restrictions on development with anchor tenants JC Penney and Kohl’s. “They are still in negotiations,” the mayor said.
Ingrassia, Aiello said, not only wants the reimagined mall to be profitable, he wants to help downtown Olean as well.
On the longstanding issue of city sewage overflowing into the Allegheny River during heavy rains, Aiello noted the consent order with the state Department of Environmental Conservation has been revised to remedy the problem in the next few years instead of 2042 as in the initial order.
The mayor initiated a task force with the Seneca Nation to address the sewage overflows, which was very helpful. Seneca President J. Conrad Seneca spoke up on the city’s behalf to Gov. Kathy Hochul and DEC officials. The city is receiving $500,000 in funding for engineering for the project.
Aiello thanked the Senecas. “I’m very pleased they got involved. It got everybody at the state level talking about this and moving it forward. Knock on wood,” he said. “We haven’t had a discharge in over a year now.”
There was concern for the city’s water supply with this summer’s discharge from Great Lakes Cheese in Franklinville that killed tens of thousands of fish in Ischua Creek and other aquatic animals, Aiello said.
The city’s water treatment plant on Olean Creek stepped up monitoring for any signs of impact from the discharge from the cheese plant. Ischua Creek flows into Olean Creek. “I was in weekly contact with the DEC and they would call me when there was an update.”
What is the mayor doing to get out the word on his uphill battle for re-election?
“We’ve upgraded my website on, you know, social media stuff,” Aiello said. “ Also, we’ve been out the last two weeks covering every house in the city and putting out a pamphlet. We’ve been out talking to people.”
Aiello said, Ever since I’ve been mayor I can remember being accused of all I ever do is go to ribbon cuttings. Well, you know, to me, we’re doing ribbon cuttings because that’s progress. If I’m invited to an event, then it’s important to those people running the events. So I’ve been very visible, always talking to people.”
Aiello is counting on the “silent majority” that aren’t on Facebook or social media to propel him to a re-election victory on Nov. 4. Early voting starts Saturday.
Voter turnout will be the key, Aiello said.
With an uncontested election for Cattaraugus County district attorney and no sheriff’s race this year, the race for Olean mayor is the marquee local contest.
“I’ve met a lot of wonderful people and I’ve got the respect of my peers who voted for me for president of the New York Conference of Mayors,” Aiello said. “My heart will always be with Olean and Olean has been good to me.”
