Today, Aquasight CEO Mahesh Lunani is joined by OJ McFoy, CEO Buffalo Sewer Authority and Chairman of Buffalo Water. OJ is a Professional Engineer, on the board of NACWA, and is a member of the US Water Alliance Equity Taskforce Team. OJ and his team is treating wastewater for over 500,000 residents in the State of New York and recharging Niagara River. Throughout our conversation, you'll hear OJ's passion for his work shine through.
OJ discusses the relationship between Buffalo Sewer Authority and the community it serves, upcoming challenges and investments, and how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will help. We also talk about wastewater technology and its use as an enabler for a circular economy.
Social justice is an important topic for McFoy. Buffalo is majority minority city, with 30% of its population living below the poverty line. And it's not secret why wastewater treatment plants often end up in communities of color. OJ is working to serve those communities, and make sure that his board looks like the city it serves.
We touch on how OJ has changed as a CEO since he started, and how Buffalo Water was better equipped to pivot during the pandemic than many other municipalities.
Finally, Mahesh and OJ talk about the future of the water industry, and OJ's passion for recruiting talent at a young age. This includes working with elementary and middle school students to get them excited about water.
OJ McFoy is in the unique position of having served the community he was born and grew up in. Throughout this episodes, you'll learn how that informs his perspective.
Buffalo Water Website: https://buffalowater.org/
Buffalo Sewer Authority Website: https://buffalosewer.org/
Aquasight Website: https://aquasight.io/
Mahesh: Well, good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening. I'm with OJ McCoy, CEO of Buffalo sewer authority and chairman of Buffalo water. OJ is a professional engineer on the board of NACWA and as a member of the U S Water Alliance Equity Task Force Team. OJ and his team are treating wastewater for over half a million residents in the state of New York and recharging Niagara river. It's going to be an exciting conversation with OJ on the future of wastewater infrastructure. Welcome OJ.
OJ: Thank you very much for the invitation.
Mahesh: I really, I look forward to it. Can you describe Buffalo sewer authority, especially the relationship between the infrastructure you manage and the community and the businesses and the economy?
OJ: Absolutely. Buffalo Sewer authority has been around since 1935.
We are a state organized public authority, was really brought about because of our neighbors to the north and west of us. Canada had a little problem with typhoid due to our sewage discharges. So here along comes the Buffalo sewer authority to solve that issue. And in that we actually have more than 850 miles of pipe. We serve over half a million residents within the Western New York area. We really take up the central portion of our county here, Erie County. And the way we work is we actually have the second largest treatment facility in the state of New York with a wet weather capacity of 563 million gallons per day.
So we operate the trim facility as well as all of the collection. And interceptors within the city. And we connect and serve many of our outside districts, kind of the suburban, inner ring area.
Mahesh: Well, you're taking care of the neighbors. So what are the challenges you must address at the BSA in the coming years? What's hot. What's important to you?
OJ: I think everybody is struggling to address the same ones and we always get back to why we're here. Right? So whether that's from a water quality standpoint from sewer is whether that flooding, or even on the drinking water side, whether we're talking about lead and lead service lines and getting into childhood blood lead levels, we are all trying to address the same thing. This is why we're here.
And we've had to change the way we do things because we have to maintain and really build that value. For far too long, we've been out of sight out of mind. But there's no way that utilities in today's world can be out of sight out of mind. We have to make sure that we're garnering that value.
We have to tell the story of, yes, we're the ones out in the middle of the night when it's 10 degrees out, replacing a water meter or where the ones, when it's a hundred degrees out in the hole trying to repair a sewer line. We're a 24x7 operation. So for us, really the challenge that we have to address is just continue to grow. And then you layer on top of that kind of climate change. And then it just even becomes that more difficult to address many of the things that we already have. For far too long, we've maintained our systems at the bare minimum levels. And it's really important that we not only mature our systems, but we seek out new technologies and new way of doing things to make sure that we are getting ready for that next century.
Mahesh: Well , growth and water. They're not synonymous. And it's interesting for me to hear from you that you're trying to figure out how to grow while keeping your basics in place. Public health lead, et cetera, which is a great, great challenge. What I call ambidextrous. One side you're trying to grow. And the other side you want to make sure your basics are solid.
Well, let me shift, let's talk about money for a second. There are your operational capital investments. Our focus in the next five years, but more importantly, the BIL, that bi-partisan infrastructure law. How is this going to help BS?
OJ: Absolutely. So we could start right there. That's a great question.
When we talk about the bipartisan infrastructure law we have been advocating for a number of years in the water sector to say, Hey, don't forget about us. Transportation gets its share. And really we have been pushing for that out of sight, out of mind, utility water, sewer, stormwater, to really be given its fair share, because we know that we are integral not only to the transportation corridors, but to the lifeblood of our cities and towns and villages. So for us looking at this increased generational investment, that's coming this way and we expect to see more. So whether that's coming from the American rescue plan and how cities have been divvying that up.
Or whether that's coming from the bi-partisan infrastructure law with the major increases to the the dollars that are associated there, we are going to use these dollars in the best way we can, but we look at this bipartisan infrastructure law as a down payment. It still is not going to reach the various levels that we need for funding.
So I look at a city like Buffalo, who has over 30% of our city in poverty. It just become such a hard thing to do to set our rates at an effective amount so that we can actually improve upon the assets that we have varied throughout our city. These aging assets that have been holding on for over many cases over a hundred years. We have pipes that date back to the civil war.
But it's imperative that these pipes are maintained, that these pipes are improved, that these pipes are renewed and we need the federal government as a partner. We are welcoming to see the dollars that are coming through the EPA, and that are going to go through the state revolving fund. And it's about time.
But again, this is simply a down payment and that we're looking at because much more is needed in our cities, towns, and village.
Mahesh: So it sounds like patience is paying off, down payment is coming and I can see the passion in you and your voice. And what this could mean for BSA and the residents within Buffalo, especially when you have a 30% below th poverty line.
OJ: We do. And that's a major issue for us and that gets right into the effects of affordability, Mahesh. That's something that we have been championing for a number of years. Because when we talk about affordability a lot of times we're looking at all, all of our rates, right?
We're, breaking down all of our schedule of rates to say, Hey, how is this hitting our residents? How is this hitting our companies, houses, hitting our industrial areas? And what is the equitable way of making sure our rates are established? So here in Buffalo, we've taken a deep dive in that we actually work with the U S water Alliance and our six other peer cities to really look at and look ourselves in the mirror and say, Hey, how is this working here in the city of Buffalo?
When we talk about dollars and we talk about affordability because as everything is connected, right? So the dollar we saved here from an efficiency standpoint is the dollar we're spending here in operational. The dollar we're saving and operational is,a dollar we're spending in CapEx.
So everything for us is connected, but it also gets down to affordability. So when you have a city that has over a 30 plus percent poverty rate, you get into a population that is having trouble affording water, but it's not just that they're having trouble affording water. They're having trouble affording a roof over their head, food on their table for their families and clothes on their back. So we as a utility and as an anchor utility, as an anchor partner in our city have made it our point to be part of that solution. So we've stood up a number of residential affordable water programs that deal with affordability for our low income individuals. It really deals and gets right to the heart of it, whether that's a 20 to a 60% reduction in the rates, or is that just the flexibility of varying payment schedules and things of that nature that we can address.
Mahesh: As I was listening to you, it's not this is like a third world definition to have 30% poverty.
If you listened to Harvard business school, the separation between the haves and have nots, it's going to continue to increase. So this isn't going away anytime soon. So public health, while driving affordability, it's an intellectual challenge, but in the best interest of the community, and to find that balance to make it happen, it's a dream for a water administrator to think along those lines. And to execute strategy, isn't it?
OJ: Yeah. I want to say a dream, but yeah. Well it's our greatest challenge, right? And you're right. I do dream about it. I often talk about people like we lived this job like day in, day out we're here at the office and we're sitting at our desk and we're thinking of the strategies, but I'm at home and I'm thinking of the strategies you ask my wife and many times I'm not paying attention like I should be to her, because I'm thinking of the strategies and how we can all come together. Solutions right. Solutions that are going to affect our community. Solutions that frankly have to be co-created with our partners throughout our city where frontline. That have direct connection to many of our neighborhoods.
That's something that we've been trying to do here in Buffalo, really to address not only the affordability concerns, but you know, it gets right down to the public health concerns because you're having difficulties in paying your bill and that it gets you into a vicious cycle. And we don't want any part of that.
Mahesh: So I want to take this discussion, at least the next set of questions in a futuristic view. Okay. And you had an engineer. So I think you're also thinking about where the puck is heading, being from Buffalo. Of course you think about ice hockey, right? So what have you views on a wastewater system enabler for a circular economy?
And what I mean by circular economy is recycle reuse of the liquid. It's the solids and the nutrients in your community. Does this fundamentally change? How city views a wastewater system, like you said, Out of sight out of mind. Well, this changes the game. What is your views on that?
OJ: That's an excellent question. I often say the old is new again, right? We all learned about the water cycle when we were coming up in grade school and that's one of the concept that we've taken. And we borrow from the U S waterline that One Water concept, right. That water cycle, it rings true. Whether we're talking about what we do eliminating waste and pollution and making sure that we are regenerating our water through our matrix. I look out my window and I get to see Lake Erie and the Niagara river and 20% of the world's fresh water goes right past our doorsteps here in the city of Buffalo, but that is what we're talking about here. Trying to get away from the wastewater and because it's not wastewater, right?
We're reusing this. We're making sure that not only can we generate energy off of it, but that we can, in our processes and things of that nature but it has to, we have to keep that in mind, if we're really, truly going to be a resilient entity. And if we focus in on sustainability, right? We have to make sure that we are completing that circle that nothing goes unused and everything has a value.
Mahesh: And it will change the way you run the business today. It might change the way how you think about solids. Absolutely. You've been a CEO for seven years. Okay. And I can tell you my own example. I've been CEO for seven years. I changed in last two years and how I run the company. This is not about how I change. It's about how are you different now? The way you lead than when you started in this role?
OJ: That's a great question. I always start with I was birthed in the consulting sector and that was kind of my foundational view. In 2006, I actually came over here to the Buffalo sewer authority and I came over initially as the chief operating officer. Then our CFO retired and I slid over into the CFO role. And then our chief engineer retired and I slid over into the chief engineer role. And then of course our general manager retired and the board selected me to do the next general manager. And again, that was nearly seven years ago.
When I first became the CEO and general manager, my first thing was, okay, I've read this book and I've read that book. I'm going to be very stoic and that lasted for a bottle a month maybe. And that's it. You know what? My name is OJ. I'm just a kid from Buffalo. I have to get back to being OJ.
I wear it all out. I try to be as authentic as I can. This is just who I am and that's who I am. That's the change that I've had to do. Now, when we talk about this pandemic, this gets into the, midst of change on change on top of change on top of change. I mean, this pandemic has really forced us to stare some of the grounded truth in the face and say, yeah, that's not true anymore. And have to pivot and have to adjust on the fly. Many of the things that we said we could never, ever do, we did in 30 days, especially here in the city of Buffalo. Many of the things that we said, this can't happen. We can't do it this way.
That's gone. We have been able to really do a lot of changes and that thought about some kind of some heartburn for some folks, but we were able to do it. We were positioned, we are in a good place, but we've been able to do some things. So when I look at change and what I say change is the only kind of.
We are always changing. We are always modifying how we're viewing the world, how we're performing in this world, but it always gets back to us to be better, right? To do better. Whenever we talk about change, talk about whether it's personally when I first came into the role as CEO I just want to make sure that as a sewer authority, as water as the city, that we're just doing the best that we can for that time.
Mahesh: So what I hear OJ, you're saying is you try to put the cuff shirts on for the first one month. You took this out, you rolled up the sleeves and let me just be me.
OJ: It was my fridge comes to it. You see no longer, longer straight. Absolutely. I have to be me and we run in the same circles and, but this is who I am.
I found that it works. I'm not afraid to say, I don't know. I talk about puzzle pieces and I know the role that I serve and, I know kind of my good points and I know my points that that, that need some work. So I try to surround myself, especially my executive team with individuals that have other puzzle pieces that fit together nicely.
We each have our own strengths and weaknesses. We each have our pieces that we champion and then the pieces that frankly need a little work. So we try to hold each other up with all of our different strengths and we try to bring all of those to the table for us. That's one of the main things.
When we talk about having a diverse executive team, That is what it's about, right? It's about bringing not only diversity of life experiences, but diversity of skillsets to the table. So then we can all perform the best way we can.
Mahesh: The way I describe that OJ, you have to be a genuine CEO.
OJ: I like that.
Mahesh: That's authentic.
OJ: I might have to steal that, Mahesh.
Mahesh: I want to talk about, you wear another that hat and you wear the hat as a chairman of Buffalo Water. I mean, that's a very interesting, you've got both sides of the water cycle for sure. What are the priorities in the water?
OJ: Yeah, it's interesting. You say wear another hat. That's my other One Water hat. I've actually been the chairman of Buffalo water since 2007. And we have a unique kind of public private partnership here in the city. The challenges over there come in are very closely aligned with the challenges over here on the clean water side, drinking water, I would say it's a little easier to do.
We source our water here right here at Lake Erie. Very high quality water coming in which makes our job pretty easy. But what makes our job more difficult is Buffalo has some of the highest zip codes of childhood blood lead levels in America. And that has been our focus on the water side. It really has driven a lot of our effort.
We've partnered with a number of universities. We've established half a million dollar lab that we're partnering with the State University of New York at Buffalo to operate, but we really want to make sure Buffalo also has a housing stock. That is one of the oldest in the nation collectively we believe that that's where the vast majority of the lead poisoning cases are coming from, we want to ensure that water isn't a contributor at all. So our focus point over there with that other hat has really been lead service line removing. Eradication corrosion control and just water quality on that side.
Mahesh: So that's a hell of a challenge and I believe the BIL is going to be enormously beneficial,
OJ: It really is. The funding as well as the grants and the principal that's coming out of that. And really the focus point on eradicating lead service lines is going to be great for our industry. And we're looking forward to that. This is something that we've been at for a number of years in Buffalo. We have our roll program, which has replaced old lead lines, and we've been operating with that, but we know that we still had a large mountain to climb with the number of lead service lines, buried underground here in the city of Buffalo.
Mahesh: Yeah, absolutely. And I certainly wish you amazing luck in just eradicating that part of that metric from your water systems. Now I want to talk about, and you touched this pretty well and also given the nature of the city of Buffalo with poverty and the lead lines, et cetera, in the equity, environmental justice net zero, are major themes, right? Can you put it in words, what it means for BSA?
OJ: Whoa. Okay. Breaking out all three of those. So we have equity, we have environmental justice and we have net zero. So I want to take each one of those a little separately. So I always start with equity. Equity for us really gets back to, well, I always breakdown.
It's kind of the diversity, right? So we got diversity equity and inclusion to me. Equity and inclusion are closely tied. For far too long, many communities in the city of Buffalo have not had a seat at the table since they haven't had a seat at the table, they haven't had a voice. And because they haven't had a voice, they have not been contributors and, or benefactors of the solutions that we've provided here throughout the city, as it relates to fundamental resources.
So whether that water, sewer. They haven't had a voice. And hence they've been forgotten about. So from an equity standpoint, it's closely tied with the environmental justice, but you have to recognize that. And then it's our job as a utility as an anchor utility, as a major partner in our city's rebuilding to repair and prioritize those items.
So many of the things in environmental justice, we look at them and go, why are we included in this? You know what, ask yourself, where's your treatment facility? Yeah. Where was it easy to get a facility sited? Because these folks over here would have gotten their lawyers. They would have pushed back. They would have done a number of things.
So these folks over here didn't necessarily have the resources for lawyers or anything else like that. So our old facilities were sited there. We have to recognize that yes, This is one of those social items, but we've been apart of the problem and we have to get back to correcting that.
So for us, we have really been focusing in, on our underserved communities as part of our green infrastructure in 2019, we actually produced our rain check opportunity report. And what that does is that takes an in depth view. We established an equity index. And really went down some of the social economic concerns and prioritize not only the socioeconomic concerns, but also addressing our storm water challenge throughout the city.
But we prioritize those into opportunity basins because. GI has a unique ability of, because it is above ground because it is in your face it's insight it changes the aesthetics. It also has an effect on property values. And for us, we wanted to ensure that the effect rang even more true. And what we've stood up is our workforce development program centered around our green infrastructure program.
So it's a very low barriers to entry. But then what we do is we turn around and provide certification through the national green infrastructure certification program for individuals we're partnering with our frontline individuals, we provide the wraparound services and we graduated our first cohort last year to come inside and be employees of the Buffalo sewer authority and continue to grow their careers.
So we talk about equity, environmental justice, those all kind of come together. And then we get to net zero. And for us, that has been our goal. We have done a number of items since 2006, really focusing in on energy use. We've partnered with our city as it reflects how energy is used throughout our city.
We know we are a major contributor because it is very energy intensive to treat filed water. So for us always working on efficiencies. Develop some pieces where we brought in the turbo blowers to cut down on energy costs as a related to the very large blowers that we had, we've increased our aeration.
We're actually in the process, we did a demonstration project on eight tanks, and now we're rolling it out to all 64 tanks. So that's actually going into construction now, but everything we do ties into lowering our energy usage and. Producing energy because one of the things that we've had, we have our digesters, we're able to produce green gas that helps power up many of our items throughout there.
We have our nice fear that we're working on getting a great paint job on. But we look at how we can be part of the solution going forward, as opposed to just being listed as one of the problem areas.
Mahesh: That was a heavy question. You went from taking care of the workforce, equity, underserved community, all the way to the blowers and the digester.
So I should unpack that, that response. And they'll take me 15 minutes to unpack it. But I also can tell the amazing passion you have towards this topic. Let me shift. Talk about technology for a second. Okay. Technology in the last 10, 15 years has changed the finance industry, the retail industry, the automotive industry. Can it change the water industry?
OJ: It has to, when I believe it's doing it every day and if it isn't, then those folks are still living under the rock and they need to come out under the rock and see the light. The one thing we talk about here in the city of Buffalo is in order for us to get better, we have to be data driven.
So we have to not only collect the data, but actually use the data to be better at what we do mean technology plays a huge role in that. I can just talk specifically about one of the things that we've placed, a lot of our entire water quality development in which is our smart sewers. The city of Buffalo, by the 1900's, was the eighth largest city in America. We were projected to be Chicago. That's where we were eight largest city and we're projected to have a million people here. And so we built the water infrastructure, the sewer infrastructure, the road infrastructure. We built it as if we were going to be a city of a million people.
Well, that's great until you never, ever reached that. So the highest we've gotten has been just over a half a million, and now we're half of that. So we're a quarter of that size, but we have the infrastructure for four times of what we need. So what we've been able to do is take those lemons and really try to make lemonade out of them.
So we have a series of smart sewers throughout our system, where we are utilizing the storage availability. In our sewer lines in our trunks and our interceptors along. And machine learning and gates and artificial intelligence to make sure that we are matching the storms that come across our city, but able to store water.
Now that has saved us over a hundred million dollars as it relates to our long-term control plan for addressing combined sewer overflow. So that's one of the pieces that has made major impact that we champion. But because that is technology right there, that is data right there that allows us to take advantage of our current situation, but actually to turn that into resiliency and to turn that into energy savings.
Mahesh: Excellent. And clearly there's so much more to look forward on this.
OJ: Look Mahesh, this is your business. We start drilling down, we look at the major opportunities and then we just start drilling down into, Hey, how can we get better? Where do we need to submit her at? Where can we be doing different aspects?
Where can we give the control and the onus and tie in our operators to make this actually work better for everyone so that they understand what they're doing and how it has an impact. Yeah, the light bill, you know how it has an impact on those things. Right. When you're going in to turn this pump on, Hey, why don't we wait a half hour if we can, because we're going to go into this billing area, but really that's when you start getting into the data and the information being informed and then making those informed decisions.
Mahesh: Absolutely. Just being a smarter operator. I want to talk about. And I've asked this question before. Change is a very important word. When it comes to water, a change in how utilities operate, change in how residents consume water, changing. How politicians think about the water infrastructure and change in water rates changes all over the place when it comes to water.
How do you drive that change?
OJ: Well, I tell you what you said, how do we drive that change? Sometimes that change starts driving us, right? I mean, we just talked about the pandemic, right? That is case in point for how we've been able to change based off of the things that were flying at us. And some of those changes happen in 30 days.
And then we changed again in a number another 30 days. One of the things we had to do here at the sewer authority was immediately, I remember in March when we went into a state of emergency and we were talking about social distancing and the number of vehicles that we have and the technology that we have for remote interactions into our system.
We were actually in a decent place. We were in a better place than many of our peers. So when we were able to kind of transition to a 50% work from home, we're able to utilize only BSA equipment with all of our cybersecurity provisions on there. Many places weren't able to do that. And hence they kind of opened themselves up.
We were able to do that just because of things that we had done to date. We had already gone off to cloud as it relates to many of the software pieces that we do, but there are certain things that can't be in the cloud certain things that have to be hardened and siloed and set on an island, like our SCADA system.
And those are the things where we had to change how we did things. We had to separate folks out while keeping them on the island. So. As it relates to the pandemic. Everybody had to change and everybody was really swift on their feet. But we also talk about what was happening as well was social unrest at the time.
And that brought about a significant amount of change as well throughout our city. We had some incidences here in our city and that really kinda came home at the sewer authority where we had to have some tough conversations where we had to have some training where we had to have some exploring of cultural differences here at the authority.
To us when we are doing those things, we are continuing to do those things. They are just making us better. That's some of the change. And one of the things we point back to in 2006, only 5% of our staff were people of color. So we've made major changes over the past 16 years to really correct that and making sure that the Buffalo sewer authority and the executive team and the staff here at the Buffalo soar authority reflect the city of Buffalo.
And the city of Buffalo is a majority minority city. And so we still have a ways to go, but we have made a concerted effort to make sure that we reflect the values of our city. Those are big changes whether that is through a pandemic or whether it was through the social risks, but as we relate to our jobs right in the value that we bring to our community. That is a major change. We often say it's a sad dog that doesn't wag its tail. And for far too long, we have been that out of sight, out of mind. Right. We were not. Pick our heads up like the whack-a-mole thing, you pick your head up, you get knocked back down, whether that's through the media or the politicians or whatever, but it's really imperative that we do pick our heads up because we have to secure the value from our customers.
We have to secure the value from our stakeholders. So that means we gotta have our heads up. We have live on social media. We have to be in these spaces where our customers are. So that they know, not only have the opportunities to come and be a member here and work here, but also have the opportunities that we provide for our customers.
Some customers that have fallen on hard times also for the opportunities that we provide for class trips and things like that, to kind of bring folks in. To me, but that's our next generation of workforce. That's why we focus in on them. Whether that's the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, we want to make sure they get in so we can show them, Hey this is a great place to work.
Here's why we connect up with water. Here it is.
Mahesh: You bring up a really good point on this change topic. Change can come to you. Then you are reacting. Or you get ahead of the change, then you being proactive.
OJ: Yes.
Mahesh: Clearly. I mean, unfortunately pandemic has brought us at social unrest,
OJ: but you know, you're absolutely right.
It's one of these lines I tell people, it's an artist. His name is Common and he says this line: "Opportunity knocked. But he didn't call before he came". And it's one of those things. So when we talk about change, right, and we talk about preparedness, it's going to come to us. Are you ready? So when the pandemic came, we talked about the technology, we were in better place than most, because we were prepared.
We had that just in case we had stacks of laptops for our training sessions that we were able to distribute out to our individuals.
Mahesh: When I was researching for this podcast, I studied a lot about your interest in middle and high school. And how much effort you are putting into educating them about the water systems.
And I'll tell you the sector doesn't attract the brightest. Keep aside the civil and environmental engineer. Of course, this is a great, okay. But it does not. I mean, that's the reality, right? MBAs would rather do financial consulting or tech, the software engineers go to the tech space. And that's true because I have two sons who are graduated.
So, what is your interest in this and what does it take?
OJ: I'm hoping for a TV show. One of the things we talk about right, in creating value in the water sector. We don't have that CSI or FBI or whatever this show that is not the exciting show that we have out there, which kind of drives people into these career fields.
So for us, We have the goal to this. So one of the things we've been working on here at the sewer authority really is going to them early. Whether that is career fairs or working with the community. And there's summer programs. So one of the things that we've stood up along with our consultant team has been our Water Worx program with an X.
For us. It was a unique opportunity when we birthed that to really focus in on ensuring that these young folks understand about stormwater and how it affects their lives. They understand about drinking water. They understand about a flood. They understand about the treatment process and cleaning the water and clean water as it relates.
We talk about Niagara falls, which is right up the street as one of the world's marvels and how it connects to our city. There is no Buffalo without this Niagara river. Here. There is no Buffalo without lake Erie and the former Erie canal. Our city would not have existed if it were not for water.
So our workforce development is what we call it is when we're in those school system, because that is the next generation. That is the next workforce. So we're trying to bring that value to them. You got to catch them early because if you don't catch them early enough, they're not gonna be taking the classes at high school and then they won't be prepared for college.
So the good thing about the water sector is we can take anybody from a GED candidate to a PhD. We have a place for you, but it's incumbent upon us to really make sure that we get the word out, that we show them that, Hey, this is an opportunity. Because for far too long, many of our jobs here have been passed on from uncle to nephew, to son.
And we have so many of the same last names here and that kind of excludes everybody. So our job has really been to make sure that we get out in the community, make sure that. If the kids understand stormwater, you better believe that they're going home and they're telling their mom and dad, and they're going to understand stormwater. So it's the same thing with recycling.
Mahesh: Talk about the TV show. It sounds like we need to talk to Steve Harvey or if you want to host it, I'm happy to cohost it with you. The last question I had in mind, you are born bred, at least from what I can read out of Buffalo.. Yeah, serving the community right now, pretty much touching every resident in your city that you were born in one way, it's a OJ and the team putting the water, treating it, et cetera.
That's by the way in of itself is pretty unique. Right. But if there's one thing moving forward that you'd like to leave your legacy behind, we own the CEO's think about this topic. What would that be from here on out?
OJ: That's a great question. Legacy. It's funny. I, I came on board at the Buffalo sewer authority in 2006. And then we were right in the midst of negotiating with the EPA and our state regulator to consent decree. We ended up with administrative order and all that stuff. But anyway, It's March 18th, 2034. And I've told my staff this before. Because I was there for the recreation of our plan.
So that's my retirement date right there. At that March 18th, 2034. So when you talk about legacy, I try and think through that time. Cause I am Buffalo born and rasied, just a kid of my city. It was interesting. The other week I actually saw a quote from one of my colleagues. And it said I left it all in the field and I have no regrets.
That's what I would want as my legacy. I left it all on the field and I have no regrets. Every day, whether I'm in the office at home, in the shower, I am thinking about doing better. About bringing my whole self about recognizing that this water is about the people, about one water, about how we can serve our community and making it better as it relates to water and climate and everything else that kind of goes with that, including sustainable lives.
That would be my legacy there that look, he left it all on the street. He had no regrets.
Mahesh: Excellent. Excellent. If I had to sum up this conversation, OJ, you're taking care of your neighbors. You're doing the basics for the 30% that's below the poverty line. You're trying to grow and expand. You are ensuring that the lead in the water for the city of Buffalo is wiped out.
You worried about the whole One Water cycle. Serving those underserved communities, that net zero concepts. And you hoping for a TV show, not you personally, but you want to leave everything behind on the table. So you have no regrets. That's an amazing, amazing story from someone that was born in Buffalo and continue to serve the communities.
I really enjoyed this conversation. OJ, and I hope you do great.
OJ: Thank you very much, Mahesh. I truly enjoyed the opportunity to speak.