Kim Muller, November 3, 2021

Title

interviewee

Kim Muller

interviewer

Allison Bolam

Date

2021-11-03

Subject

Clarion Hotel

Democrat

Economic Revitalization

Environmentalism

Environmental Initiatives

Oneonta City Council

Oneonta, New York

Oneonta Susquehanna Greenway

Otsego County

Otsego County Board of Representatives

Politics

Recycling

Solid Waste Management

Women in Politics

Description

Kim Muller (née Kucharski) is a current Project Consultant and former Mayor of Oneonta, New York. Muller was born in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania in 1956. After studying Geology at Binghamton University, she moved to Washington, D.C. where she worked for the United States Geological Survey and entered public service in 1982 as a staff volunteer for Senator Paul Sarbanes.

She moved to Oneonta, New York, and she was elected to the Otsego County Board of Representatives in 1985. She was the second woman ever elected to the County Board, and the youngest representative ever elected. During her time on the County Board, she was recognized for her work on solid waste management issues and as a proponent of recycling and was appointed by Governor Mario Cuomo in 1989 to the NYS Solid Waste Management Board. She served four terms on the County Board of Representatives.

In 1997, Muller was elected Mayor of the City of Oneonta and re-elected Mayor for a second term in 2001. She was the city’s first – and to date only – woman mayor. During her terms as mayor, her administration focused their efforts on improving the economic climate of Oneonta. Some of her economically driven initiatives include projects such as the Clarion Hotel, the Oneonta Susquehanna Greenway, the beginnings of a performing arts center called Foothills, and the “Water Street Initiative,” a project to enhance Downtown Oneonta and improve public safety. She has been associated with the Democratic Party during her time in public service.

Muller was involved in public service in Oneonta in a time before environmental efforts like recycling were widely adopted, and her reflections on her time advocating for environmental action as a County Representative reflect that. She also began her first mayoral term when areas of Oneonta had sat vacant and unmaintained for years, or in some cases, decades.

Ms. Muller talks about her goals to incorporate strong environmental policies and the economic development of the City of Oneonta throughout her time in public service. She recalls tactics she used to garner public support for environmental initiatives, ways she built networks in order to enact economic development plans, and details some of the projects started and completed during her time in politics in Oneonta. She also recalls her experience as a woman in politics and shares insights into women’s perspectives in public service.

I interviewed Ms. Muller at her home in Oneonta, New York. I have attempted to transcribe her dialogue as accurately as possible but have made minor edits for clarity.

Transcription

KM = Kim Muller
AB = Allison Bolam

[START OF TRACK 1, 0:00]

AB:
This is Allison Bolam interviewing Kim Muller at her home in Oneonta, New York on Wednesday, November 3, 2021 for the Cooperstown Graduate Program's Oral History Project which is part of the Research and Fieldwork Course. Kim, could you tell me your full name and where you're from?

KM:
Sure. My full name with all the Catholic additions is Kim Marie Jean Kucharski Muller. I go by Kim Muller.

AB:
Can you describe your first job?

KM:
My very first job aside from some babysitting when I was in middle school was with Kentucky Fried Chicken in Owego, New York. I was a waitress, and it was just as you might imagine.

AB:
Did you enjoy it?

KM:
I did enjoy it. I've always liked working with people and it gave me some good experience. It was a summer job, and you know, just like any college student I worked off and on through my last years of high school and college. So, I did a lot of retail work and little bits and pieces here and there.

AB:
What did you think about politics before you became a politician?

KM:
Well, that's interesting. I don't think I thought a lot about it. My grandparents were involved in the Republican parties in Pennsylvania. Actually, my grandmothers, paternal and maternal grandmothers, were both members of the Republican Women's Clubs. I can remember they used to do trips and all. But my family was not politically engaged per se. So, it wasn't until I was in college, and I got more interested, primarily because of environmental issues. And then after I graduated and moved to D.C., which is where I had my first job, my first professional job. And it's hard to be in D.C. without getting politically involved. That's really how I got into politics per se.

AB:
Did you start getting involved in politics at all while you were in college?

KM:
I went to some rallies I can remember. But even then, I was not really politically engaged. I would wear buttons for different candidates. But I still would say no. I mean I've always been in leadership positions. But those were not political, those were organizational.

AB:
Right. What draws you to working with people and being a political leader?

KM:
I think I learned over the years that if you want to do something, you need to get involved. Also, to learn more about the issues that are important and what's happening in your community and all. It's really important to just get to know the people and to identify stakeholders in different issues. Even when I was in middle school and high school and engaged in different youth organizations and student council and everything, I always made it a priority to get to know people and to create networks. I think that was one of my best skills even coming in as mayor, was that I developed a really broad network. And it really helped when we started tackling different projects.

AB:
How do you think your involvement in student organizations as a kid influenced your political or leadership style later on?

KM:
Well, I knew I was a leader. I was queen of my fourth grade. Things started early. People ask me "how did you become a leader?" I'm like, it kind of started early. I was the oldest of four children so that's really probably how it started. It did influence me, I think, because it gave me confidence, for one thing. I also learned some basic skills like how to run a meeting, how to organize people, organize events. And those are the kind of skills that translate through all areas in a profession and in a career. It certainly is helpful with politics. So, those are probably the biggest influences. I learned how to do public speaking and not to be so afraid giving speeches.

AB:
When you were living in D.C., how did you start getting involved in politics?

KM:
Well, again, I got involved because of being interested in the environment. I was working as a geologist for the US Geological Survey, and I did mine inspections and environmental impact studies. And so, I was out around the country quite a bit, seeing what was happening, especially with mining. I was working for the USGS during the Reagan era, and the Secretary of the Interior at the time, James Watt, was a real pro-mining person. He had interests in mining out West and in strip mining and all. And I thought it was very environmentally destructive, which it is. Then one day, he had this initiative where he actually changed the direction that the buffalo faced on the seal for the Interior Department from left to right. It sounds like a little thing, but that was a big thing for me because I was like, "This is incredible. This guy is so destructive to the environment, and he's taking petty politics into it." That really energized me. So, I went to work for Senator Paul Sarbanes, who was out of Maryland at the time. I was still working for the USGS, but I volunteered for his campaign. This is 1982. I was very actively involved in that. I did environmental position papers for him and worked at different events. That really lit the fire in my belly, then, to run for office when I moved here.

AB:
Can you talk more about the impact studies that you travelled around for?

KM:
Sure. There's a requirement that any kind of mining or drilling operations, pre-mining drilling to find out where things are, would require environmental impact statements. To determine what are the impacts on the environment of those kinds of operations. I would go around with some colleagues, and we would evaluate, based on criteria that we had, federal statute and all kinds of regulations. We would evaluate the operations and write impact statements. And then they'd get reviewed up the ladder to determine whether or not to issue permits for either the mining or the drilling operations. So, it was fun. I travelled all over and went into deep coal mines in Alabama and hard rock mines all over the place. It was quite an experience.

[TRACK 1, 7:50]

AB:
How did you bring your environmentalist ideologies into your work as mayor?

KM:
Well, one of the biggest things I did, and this is when I was on the County Legislature, was to get involved in the recycling effort and solid waste effort. Because a couple of years into my terms on the County Board, we had a problem with the waste disposal system in the county. There was a real split on the County Board because there was an interest in forming an authority – Montgomery, Schoharie, Otsego, it was called MOSA – to manage the solid waste for the three counties. I was opposed to it. I didn't think we needed to do it. I didn't think it was financially responsible. I didn't think it was environmentally responsible. The thing was, I was the only member of the County Board that actually had a scientific background to understand the environmental impacts of solid waste disposal. I was named by then Governor Mario Cuomo to a state solid waste management board. It was the first solid waste management board in New York. We worked on legislation for the state, including their recycling laws. Here in Oneonta, the environmental board, that happened to be chaired by my husband at the time, was tackling recycling. They drafted what ended being one of the first recycling laws in New York State. I was also engaged in that. I was engaged in trying to get stores to change from plastic to paper, which I guess was like, 20 years ahead of time because that recently was enacted here in New York. And it was successful at the time. There were a lot of stores locally that did shift. So, that was probably the main way that I brought my environmental experience to my legislative work.

AB:
Was there any pushback in the community during your recycling and solid waste efforts?

KM:
Oh, yes. There was a lot of pushback. Because it hadn't really happened before. First of all, you're trying to change behavior. Second of all, there are people that didn't believe in recycling. Third, it was initially confusing. You know, there weren't as many operations that used recycled goods at the time. So, finding markets for whatever would be recycled was a challenge to begin with. We recycle a lot more now than we did at the time. I think we started out just with paper and then moved to things like metal and paper and eventually were able to introduce plastics. So, a lot of it is just, like anything when you try to change human behavior. And especially if it's regulated, you know there are people that will just push against regulations. It wouldn't matter the degree to which it benefits them. So it was that kind of challenge, mostly. But it was also a systematic challenge in terms of how you collect the recyclables. And that's when we built the transfer stations and had them set up recycling operations in addition to trash disposal. And again, finding markets for recycling. And we also had issues, then, it's funny now that I'm talking about it, with burn barrels. I mean, now it's against the law to burn a lot of materials in burn barrels in Otsego County, it might even be statewide. But at the time, a lot of people, especially in rural areas burned things in burn barrels. So, I can remember bringing in some experts to talk about the dioxin release that comes from burning plastics and things like that. So, we tried to do a lot of education tied in with recycling. I can remember on the County Board some very vocal opponents to us trying to mitigate burn barrels, but we were successful, eventually.

AB:
What type of tactics would you use to try and combat the pushback for the recycling initiatives?

KM:
Well, I always tried to educate. That doesn't always matter [laughs]. That's always a good first thing to try to do, to educate people about the impacts on them personally and on the environment. Some people understand public good, some people don't. Then, we took an economic approach because I've always tried to tell people that if you have an environmental argument or environmental issue, try to make it an economic argument because people tend to embrace that. More people embrace that than they will embrace an environmental argument. So, we would break down the environmental issues into economic arguments. That helped a lot.

[TRACK 1, 13:17]

AB:
Can you talk more about the economic efforts that you instituted as mayor?

KM:
Like economic development?

AB:
Yeah.

KM:
Sure, because that was my thing – my mantra – was economic development. When I came in as mayor, the place on Main Street, actually where my plaza is now – the plaza named after me I should say, it's not my plaza – had been a vacant lot for 23 years. Because when they did urban renewal, that was Broad Street, they knocked down all the buildings, and they did not have a good redevelopment plan. They had passed the property on to a private owner, and they didn't put any reversion clauses in. So, the city didn't have a way to take back the property even though it sat undeveloped for a couple of decades. When I came in, there had been some interest in a hotel under the prior mayor, but it had not been fully explored. So, we started conversations with the property owner, who was a hotel developer out of Ithaca. Long story short, we were able, eventually, to work with him through sort of a good guy, bad guy approach and convince him to start moving forward on actually building the hotel. That worked – the Clarion [Hotel]. That was my first big economic development project. Then, again, because I had a really good network with state and federal leaders, I was able to get a lot of money from both resources for other projects. We redid Water Street because at the time Water Street was really a hot mess. There was trash, the dumpsters were exposed, there were a lot of gang fights and fraternity fights and all in the alleyway there. So, we realized we really needed to upgrade it both to deal with the crime and to deal with the overall appearance. We got a really good HUD [U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development] grant for that in addition to state and some local money. I kicked off the Damaschke Field project which was completed by my successor John Nader. We started Foothills [Performing Arts Center]. We had the West-Nesbitt building, which was an old mill, and we had to take that down. That's where Foothills is located now. That was a pretty big issue because some people didn't want to take it down because they said it was historic. And it was, but it was also really decrepit. I remember when we took it down because one of the towers was so full of molasses. It was a really difficult situation. So that was another good project. We started the Rail Yards project which was just researching opportunities there. We did some environmental studies to figure out exactly what was there. We started looking for possible developers, and that's an ongoing project. I guess those are the biggest ones.

AB:
Could you talk more about the Damaschke Field Project?

KM:
Sure. It was an old facility, and we wanted to improve it. NYSEG [New York State Electric and Gas] had owned what was called a gashouse that was right adjacent to Damaschke Field. It was a contamination site, so early on in my mayorship, we had to work with NYSEG to get them to come in and clean it up. They put in a whole system for getting the tar out of the ground and cleaning it and then injecting it back in. Eventually, we had to have the gashouse taken down because it was so contaminated. Then in the last year or two of my second term, we went into negotiations with NYSEG for funding, which we applied toward the Damaschke Field project. I remember that negotiation too, and I pushed really hard on it because I had an understanding of the value of their damages and what it would take for us to do the improvements on Damaschke Field. So, they ended up negotiating a reasonable settlement that we accepted. Then that project was also completed by John Nader. We kicked it off and then it was under his mayorship that it was finalized.

AB:
How do you feel that your economic goals as mayor aligned or didn't align all the time with your goals as an environmentalist?

KM:
That's interesting. We tore down a lot of buildings while I was mayor, which is interesting because I actually have a very strong interest in preserving buildings and preserving property. The ones that we took down were damaged beyond reasonable repair. I would never just take down a building, you know, for the sake of taking it down, obviously. We made sure that we documented them, and we worked with state historical preservation. In fact, we have beautiful photos in the West-Nesbitt Building that we took down for Foothills. We had to follow environmental regulations and do environmental impact studies for all of the projects. We definitely adhered to requirements. Other projects, for example the Susquehanna Greenway, which was something we undertook, that certainly was an environmentally positive project. It opened up part of the area for people to enjoy recreation. So, I did have an interest in trying to make sure that whatever we did blended with the environment, was appropriate in terms of regulations even above and beyond to the extent possible. We did a lot of park improvements while I was mayor, which gives people more access to the environment. That's one of the things in Oneonta we're so fortunate for, having a great environment, a clean environment. And also, we did have some proposals, now that I think about it, even in the Rail Yards, that I thought were going to be environmentally destructive. Well, I didn't just think they were, people thought they would be, and others thought they weren't. And I did fight those. I was always attuned to environmental impact in the projects that we considered. I also was always a big proponent of recycling in any of the projects, even recycling materials as things were being built. This was before LEEDs [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design] – before any of those kinds of requirements came into building – so, we didn't have the chance to institute those kinds of things into the buildings we contracted for. But aside from that, I think we tried really hard to be environmentally responsible.

AB:
Could you talk more about the Susquehanna Greenway Project?

KM:
Sure. That project actually came about because there was a gentleman named Leon Kalmus, who was an Oneonta town resident, and he had had the idea for something like a greenway for probably a couple decades before I became mayor. He was never able to get an audience for it. I knew Leon from Democratic Party activities, and I thought it was a really good project. So, I pulled together people who had similar interests in terms of the outdoors and enjoying the environment. We created a Susquehanna Greenway Committee and got funding for it and were able to build the Greenway trails. We had a lot of community support for that. We would have different groups volunteer to go work on the trails. We had some local landscapers who helped build parts of it. We got funding from the State DOT [Department of Transportation]. That was another thing I forgot – there was a Department of Transportation grant to look at some highway renovations, I think. No, they were looking at alternative transportation. And so, we were able to incorporate funding for the Greenway into that plan because we demonstrated how it could provide an opportunity for some alternate transportation since it's a bikeway, also. So that really helped, but then in the long run, they ran into funding obstacles in some places where it was too expensive to build bridges or conduits over some of the waterways because it runs along the Susquehanna River. And also, when it hit Main Street, trying to figure out how to create safe crossings on Main Street ended up being impediments. I think it's actually still a live project. I think people work on it periodically, and they're still struggling with funding opportunities. Originally when it was proposed, it was supposed to be a loop from where it starts – which is down near Exit 13 – up to Exit 16 and then loop around and come back down the far side of the river. The problem is the far side of the river has a lot of private property owners and so trying to work with them to give easements for the riverfront property also proved to be a challenge. Some people did, some people didn't. I think that's part of the ongoing challenge.

AB:
How often would you say you worked with citizens who had ideas when you were mayor?

KM:
All the time [laughs]. Everybody always has an idea of what you should be doing. I had a community development committee, and it included some City Hall department heads and some developers from in the city and other individuals. First of all, I believe in "friends close, enemies closer." So, in some cases where there were developers who some other people thought they were really oppositional to me, but I think those are voices that are really important to hear. So, I did have some developers on the community development committee. And they actually proved to be really helpful because, to me, if you're going to take on a project and you don't listen to the range of voices on it, you have less chance of success. So, I did believe in bringing in stakeholders. There were so many projects, large and small. For example, we built the skatepark that's down in Neahwa Park. We built that on my watch, and that was a big group of parents and teenagers, actually, kids that wanted to have a skatepark. Then we worked with the Job Corps because they have a masonry program. They're the ones that actually built the skatepark, so it was professionally designed by them, along with the kids. It turned out to be a really, really good project. That might've been the largest one. That might have been the one project that involved the most citizens, but, for any project, you have to have public input. So, we had all kinds of hearings on any of the projects that we did.

AB:
Your policy of "friends close, enemies closer," did you learn that on the job?

KM:
I think I learned that growing up, too. But definitely over the years, it's something that I have found to be valuable both in politics and just in life, sometimes. Obviously, sometimes there are some enemies that are not good to have too close, but in general I think it pertains more to being open to hearing oppositional views, regardless of what it is. You know, if you're always just talking to people that agree with you, you're not going to necessarily get a good perspective on whatever it is you're going to do.

AB:
What were some of the challenges that you faced as mayor?

KM:
Well, one of the biggest challenges was the way the Mayor and Council are structured. It has since been changed a little bit, but still not enough. It was a weak mayor system, which means that most of the power was with the legislature. But, in the city charter at the time, the mayor had responsibility for hiring and firing, but not for oversight. That's a ridiculous personnel structure. So, there were a lot of challenges within city government because the staff, the department heads, were used to working a certain way. There were a lot of issues where they would work with certain council people, and it could be in opposition to a project that we were trying to run with. So, it fostered a lot of confusion and division within city government, and that definitely made things more challenging. So, I had to learn how to work through the system. One thing I learned, and I pretty much knew this from the outset, was with leadership courses, you learn about formal and informal authority. So, formal authority would be the charter – it tells you exactly what it is you can do. Like, I could hire and fire. Informal authority is when you get support, or you build support somewhere else. My style was to get public support and get support of stakeholders on a project or to identify who key people might be outside of city government who could help influence the process within city government. That was a strength of mine, I think, and as they say, I guess the proof is in the pudding because we were successful with so many projects. But that definitely was a challenge, the internal structure. It was probably one of the biggest challenges. Being a woman was not,

[START OF TRACK 2, 0:00]

it was occasionally a challenge, but I actually found it to be a strength. Because people didn't always know what to expect or they had expectations that maybe I wouldn't be able to deal with certain situations or whatever. But I think I was a little tougher than some people might have thought, and I also learned, even from before ever being elected to anything, that you have to learn your stuff and try to know what you're talking about in order to build credibility. And again, networking and building support like that, I think, really, really helps to succeed on any kind of project, really.

[TRACK 2, 0:51]

AB:
On the topic of being a woman in politics – I read an interview online where you had a story about the men's restroom. I was wondering if you could tell that story.
[Construction noise in background]

KM:
[laughs] Sure. Well, when I was on the County Board, I was the second woman ever elected and I was the youngest person at the time ever elected – I was 28 years old – and my female colleague who was a good friend was quite a bit older. So, there were 14 of us, so 12 men and two women, and most of the men were Republicans. My female colleague and I were Democrats. I think there were two other Democrats on the Board. Regardless, they [the male Democrats] still caucused a lot with the Republicans. So, the men would just dismiss me, especially in my first year, and periodically they would break up the meeting and they would all go in the men's room to caucus in the men's room. That went on for a while, and finally I was like, "I'm done with this." And one day they all went in, and I went in and joined them. Of course, they reacted to it, and then we all laughed. And then they stopped doing that because I just basically called them out. So, it was ok. I was friendly with most of them. Just like with anything else, what I learned is that if you can learn something personal about people and develop a personal relationship aside from whatever professional situation you're in – political, professional, whatever – it helps. Even after you go through your arguments or battles or whatever, at the end of the day if you can go have lunch together or whatever and still talk with these people, you're going to be a lot more successful than if you really have strong, negative, adversarial relationships with them. Which I certainly had in some situations, but pretty much not on the County Board. That happened more when I was mayor.

AB:
Can you talk about those?

KM:
Sure. There were a couple people. One especially when I was mayor, he was a councilman who was just very unpleasant to me. Especially in the year before I ran for my second term, he took on a pretty active campaign against me. Pretty aggressive. He would end each of the council meetings with personal statements, and he had gotten sort of a letter to the editor writing campaign against me. Most people I think didn't really know that much about what they were talking about, but they were friends of his. That was hard sometimes because it was very personal, very public, and aggravating, to put it mildly. But aside from one time when I challenged him in a meeting, I just took the high road. I just let it go. And in the end, I ran, and I won a second term. Which I think was the best outcome because he was unsuccessful despite himself. Unfortunately, he also carried it over to negatively affecting some of the projects we wanted to do. Fortunately, I had developed a really good relationship with the senior Republican on the council, and he was also chair of the finance committee. He really helped move some things through and deal with some of the negativity. That helped us make some of the projects more successful.

AB:
How do you feel that negative experience affected your term as mayor?

KM:
Well, the main thing was the frustration with the fact that it affected projects. In some cases, I had to work a lot harder than we should have had to, just because we had to deal with the negative, and often false, information that he was generating. It also forced me to negotiate more, to have to deal with different aspects of projects that might have gone a little smoother if he hadn't introduced those kinds of issues. I think it also had some influence on my decision to run for a third term. Although that was really dictated more by the fact that I had to start working full time. Up until then I worked part time at the college, and I was in a situation where I had to start working full time. And that was really hard to do with being mayor, also.

AB:
Do you feel that those issues arose because you were a woman?

KM:
Yep [laughs]. And, also, because I was a Democrat. And this person was not. I think he would have gone after anyone who was a Democrat, but definitely because I was female, I think he felt he could go after me even more. There was one day I remember he came into my office, and he was really vulgar and everything to the extent that the deputy city clerk – I always called her the Palace Guard – she almost called the police on him. Because it was a pretty unpleasant encounter. Yeah.

AB:
How do you feel about the fact that, as a woman in a negative situation in politics, you were the one who had to take the high road?

KM:
You battle with yourself sometimes because you want to get in there and throw the punches and all, but in my experience, I would say 99.9% of the time, taking the high road is absolutely the way to go. Because when you get into the weeds on a fight like that, you're lowering yourself to that person or that entity. You know, taking the high road, you're not. Now, taking the high road doesn't mean that you can't argue, or you can't put out facts. To me, a lot of it is about style, and it's also about trying to see above pettiness. You try to fight with substance, and you fight with facts. So that's what I did. I put together information. I also would use third parties, other individuals, or experts, or whatever, to build an argument. So that, I guess, is part of the high road thing. I think high road isn't just about "Well I'm not going to engage in this conversation." It's really about how you approach a challenge or how you approach a negative situation. But sometimes, your urge is not to take the high road [laughs].

AB:
How do you feel your relationship to male politicians changed throughout your career?

KM:
Well, I've always been comfortable working with men. But I think it probably changed some. First of all, I had an affinity for other female politicians because we certainly had that in common. You know, Hillary Clinton or Mary Goodhue – different people in state or federal office – one of the things we had in common was our experience as a female in these positions. So, I also learned from them. But in dealing with men, for one thing, you kind of get the power trip after a while. I think, again, just coming to understand them as people and not seeing them as any more powerful than I was, especially if we were in the same position. [Laughs] I don't want to say anything sexist or negative, so, I guess I have to think about this. You know, recognizing their knowledge and understanding when they're being just boisterous or when they actually know what they're talking about. You just put them in context. I don't know that my perspective of them changed much over time. I think I always was comfortable enough to, again, to deal with them. Except if they became aggressive. And then that was a challenge.

AB:
What are your thoughts on the fact that you've been the first, and so far, only, female mayor of Oneonta?

KM:
Yeah. My thought is that's unfortunate [laughs]. Still the only one. And I hope that we have another female mayor soon. I think women do bring a different perspective because of life experiences, and I think help see things and bring a focus on issues that men don't necessarily experience. That's changing some as the world changes, as more men are involved in childcare and all the social changes that we're going through. But predominantly, there's still a big difference in women's perspectives and men's perspectives in a lot of cases. Did that answer the question?

AB:
Yeah. What were some instances where your perspective as a woman helped you as mayor?

KM:
It's funny because I always said that two of the things that helped me be a good mayor were one, being a mother, and two, being a cheerleader. Because a lot of being mayor is promoting the city. And then as far as the mother piece, especially with the department heads, who were predominantly male – I think we had two, maybe three female department heads at the time – using some of my skills as a mother just in terms of tending everybody and trying to recognize when things are going on or when there are issues internally and then how you deal with them. I think that helped. I think, also, having a different perspective on how to take on challenges, not thinking that you always have to be in there throwing punches, but networking and listening. That whole idea of building the network and not being afraid to talk to people and all. I think that helped.

AB:
What are some of the projects or initiatives that you're proud of from your time as mayor?

KM:
Well, certainly dealing with the Ford Block, the Broad Street issue there and building the hotel. That really helped downtown, because prior to that, again, it was a mess. The Water Street project, I think, was one of the best because it really made a difference in terms of mitigating crime. You know, we put a lot of lights up, we just dressed it up. And also, taking care of the dumpsters. I mean it really was a mess back there. Being willing to tackle the West-Nesbitt building and start Foothills was, I think, a good project. It's still not finished in some ways, you know, there's still vacant property there, but that was really a blight situation. So, that helped. You know, again, the Greenway, and I think in some ways just changing the focus of downtown and of the city on recognizing the opportunity to fortify areas as a sort of arts and entertainment cultural center to be a place where the community can celebrate and all. Just kind of introducing that as a perspective that's carried through now, I mean that was a big part of the recent mayor's race, was talking about that.

AB:
How do you think the economic development that you started has continued to influence or will influence the future of Oneonta?

KM:
Well, some of the projects that we wanted to do even then are still under consideration. I think it did show how you can attract external funding. I mean, we were very successful when I was mayor in bringing in state and federal monies and then private monies. They've continued to pursue that to the advantage of the community. It's not that that didn't happen prior, I mean, in the way back when Sam Nader was mayor and he brought in all the money that put in the Lettis Highway and started urban renewal. For example, when I talked earlier about the reversion clause and how that was such a problem for the urban renewal lot, I made sure that any time we did anything with properties – if we were transferring property or whatever – that we had reversion clauses in. So that if a developer came in and, say bought a property like Foothills, and then didn't do what they said they were going to do, that the city, within a few years, would have the opportunity to take the property back so that the properties were always protected in our negotiations with private developers. So, I think it's not as much even about the specific projects. Although they certainly were important to make some changes, but it's also in terms of how we did the projects that I think has carried on and had some influence.

AB:
How do you personally continue to be involved in the town or in the development of the town?

KM:
Well, I chaired the Downtown Revitalization Initiative project. The piece that we had 2.3 million dollars to distribute for façade and signage developments and for upper-story housing. So, we started that two or three years ago, I forget. So basically, I get involved now on an ad hoc basis, or as needed basis, you know kind of brought in as a hit person [laughs] to help on different projects. I'm still involved in Democratic Party politics, though I'm easing my way out of that.

AB:
So, the Downtown Improvement Fund Committee that you chaired, were you able to continue that economic revitalization that you started as mayor through that?

KM:
Yes, I would say that what we did through that project was a continuation. So, when I first ran as mayor, we had a plan that was called Downtown Rebound. That was my economic development proposal. And it was about exactly that, you know, tackling those big areas like the urban renewal lot and the West-Nesbitt lot and different issues. But it also had smaller components, and so, I think the work of the DRI, as it's called, I mean they still have some big projects that they're working on with it. But I always believe that little things make a big difference too. Like, I don't like plastic signs all over the place, so if they were on public properties, I would have the DPW pick them up. Or, you know plantings, we did a lot with just plantings on Main Street and plantings throughout the community. Because people see little things, too. I mean, big projects are really important but so are little things because if you're not taking care of the little things in a community then it looks sloppy or it looks like you don't care about it. So, you have to care about little things, hanging baskets on light posts, you know. Or adequate lighting or, just looking at blight areas and how you can help. Then that doesn't only help people's living situations and all, which of course is really important, but it's also how you attract people, how you attract money to the community that then you can infuse in improving the community.

AB:
Could you describe some of the rewarding parts of your involvement in political and community life?

KM:
Oh sure. I mean, I did enjoy it very, very much. I enjoyed meeting people. I enjoyed challenges; I always like a challenge. So, I liked having projects to work on and finding ways to pull together the resources to make the project happen. I liked finding people who were interested, you know, getting stakeholders involved. And I really love Oneonta. I always say it's a great place to live, and work, and raise a family, and I wanted to make that true – or truer, I should say – and just make it a place where people do want to live here, where they can live safely and enjoy the environment and have good jobs and good housing. And for students, I mean, I didn't even talk about that. But I worked at the college [SUNY Oneonta] for almost three decades and so being involved in Town-Gown and recognizing the importance of the college to Oneonta and how it makes such a big difference, and Hartwick [College], of course. I think I got off track there, sorry.

AB:
Well, I think that's a really nice place to end. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me today. It was a really rewarding experience for me so, thank you.

KM:
Well, thank you, it's always fun to remember things.

Coverage

Upstate New York

Oneonta, New York

1956-2021

Creator

Allison Bolam

Publisher

Cooperstown Graduate Program, State University of New York-College at Oneonta

Rights

Cooperstown Graduate Association, Cooperstown, NY

Format

audio/mpeg

28.8mB

21.2mB

image/jpeg

49kB

Language

en-US

Type

Sound

Image

Identifier

21-002

Abstract

Track 1, 07:50 - Environmental Initiatives

Track 1, 13:17 - Economic Revitalization

Track 2, 00:51 - Women in Politics

Item

Kim Muller, November 3, 2021