{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/b56d21t763/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["George Balog interview and photos, 1996-07-01"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/053/original/cropped-marmia-logo-copy1.png?1586173104","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Source Metadata URI"]},"value":{"en":["https://marmia.libraryhost.com/repositories/2/archival_objects/25687"]}},{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["1996-07-01 (Creation)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["Be advised that this video may contain sensitive, triggering, and offensive language and content. (Content warning)","Digitized with funding provided by the Council on Library and Information Resources' \"Digitizing Hidden Special Collections and Archives: Amplifying Unheard Voices\" grant program. (Funding note)","George Balog discusses his career at the Department of Public Works. (Scope and Content Note)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Format"]},"value":{"en":["1 Betacam"]}},{"label":{"en":["Identifier"]},"value":{"en":["WJZ-FLDTP-005-001 (Identifier)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Series Title"]},"value":{"en":["Field Tapes"]}}],"summary":{"en":["Be advised that this video may contain sensitive, triggering, and offensive language and content.","Digitized with funding provided by the Council on Library and Information Resources' \"Digitizing Hidden Special Collections and Archives: Amplifying Unheard Voices\" grant program.","George Balog discusses his career at the Department of Public Works."]},"provider":[{"id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["MARMIA"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["MARMIA"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/053/original/cropped-marmia-logo-copy1.png?1586173104","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/253/852/small/thumbnail_253852_1728337171.jpg?1728337177","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/136840/file/253852","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 1 - open-uri20250109-552-q07obl.mp4"]},"duration":1227.181,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/253/852/small/thumbnail_253852_1728337171.jpg?1728337177","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/136840/file/253852/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/136840/file/253852/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-marmia.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/253/852/original/open-uri20250109-552-q07obl.mp4?1736436412","type":"Video","format":"video/mp4","duration":1227.181,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/136840/file/253852","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/136840/file/253852/transcript/71678","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["AUTO_TRINT_WJZ-FLDTP-005-001_ffv1.mp4 [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/136840/file/253852/transcript/71678/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Now look over here. I'm going to be one more time. Now, first off, your first name is George. Yes. Bella. Yes. Spell it out. Like be a log. And you have been the director of public Works for how long now? For nine years. But I was born here. That. I was here for 27 years. So you started here at the board of Public Works. Doing what? Engineer one. I was the first public works engineer 27 years ago. So you came in on the ground floor of Public Works itself? That's right. What kind of public works did they have? 27 years ago? I mean, what was the comparison between now and then? Was there is there any. There's no computers. The equipment wasn't as much The snow equipment wasn't there and the technology just wasn't there. Is it was manpower more or less in those days? Even 27 years ago when we were beginning to use technology then, but not to the extent it's being used now. So back in the 60s, there really was no honest to goodness public works the way it is now. Now it's changed a great deal. I've had people come to me and say they'd been gone like four years and the difference is enormous. We just went through the blizzard of 96. You must have been on television a dozen times or more. How did you all get through that? Well, we worked two straight weeks, you know. I can't remember how many times I slept, you know. We ate well. I remember that. And it was an extraordinary storm. I've seen some extraordinary storms before. Each one is unique to this particular storm. People were cooped up, and we knew the longer people were cooped up, the more irritated they were going to be.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/136840/file/253852#t=255.03,377.33"},{"id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/136840/file/253852/transcript/71678/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"So it was as the week wore on, we knew that the public was going to get very irritating. You how many men did you have and women did you have working out there on that thing? We had 400 every shift. They worked 12 hour shifts. We had 400 each shift. We worked. That's the first time we've ever worked two straight weeks with 12 hour shifts. So you're talking around the clock? Around the clock. How many vehicles did you have on the street for that bank? We had about 150 vehicles and we kept the vehicles on the street all the time. And I can't tell you how much salt we used and how much money we spent. We spent about $3 million. And the salt isn't We we went through one year's supply salt, which is about 16,000 tons of salt. Was the mayor pleased with the job he did? Yeah, he stayed with me. He's with me for three straight days and day and night. And then he was there all the time. When he would go out towards the end of the storm, he brought his wife with him. Well, now that that's over, now that you don't have to worry about that snowstorm or that pleasure. What are you been doing lately? Well, it rained a little bit. We had some floods, and I have 6000 people to manage. And that keeps you busy About 14 or 15 hours a day. Seven days a week. But don't you get a chance to to do a little recreation? I try to work it in. I try to get to the golf course. The golf range. I exercise. Well, on your birthday just recently, you got a little present. Now, a little golf guy over there.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/136840/file/253852#t=378.11,469.85"},{"id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/136840/file/253852/transcript/71678/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"So that pretty much when when when George is not fighting, fighting snowstorms, he's on on the. On the wings. Not always, but it's up to us. I reject every chance. And then I get to the golf range. I like to hit those golf balls. It relieves the tension of the day. I get up about 530 in the morning. I exercise. I watch you at the show. I watch your show. It keeps me going. Do you do you tune in to Don and Mar to get the weather? Yeah. And I just watch them. And I watch you sometimes. And I'm on my health rather than doing some exercise. So you keep in shape? Yes. You were born in Pennsylvania? Yes. Came to Baltimore when you were a youngster? Yes. And your father had a business in Pennsylvania? We went to the farm, a dairy farm. And we had a milk brand that we would take care of and the business we would produce milk. And then he came to Baltimore here, and he bought a business, a shopping center with a bar and a restaurant. As a teenager, you joined the Boy Scouts, and it wasn't long after what happened? Well, I was an Eagle Scout. I did in about three years. And I just everything I've done, I've pursued a very vigorously, you know, now I'm sort of driven when I'm involved in something. Then shortly after that, you went to the Virginia Military Institute? Yes, I went there. Then I later on went to law school. And I came here to work and became the director of public works after I ran 20 years of service. So seven years ago, the mayor saw you and took 7 or 8 years to get you. Tell me about that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/136840/file/253852#t=470.54,573.83"},{"id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/136840/file/253852/transcript/71678/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Well, I was the deputy director of public Works and I'm a lawyer also, and Mary asked me to join his team. And one thing that we had in common was the environment that he really wanted to do something for the environment. And he believed in doing something for people. And I agree with him. I got enthused about it, decided to join it. So your philosophy and the mayor's philosophy was very compatible and you were promoted to the director of Public works? Yes. Appointed by the mayor? Yes. It's a tremendous job. How many men and women do you have working for the Department of Public Works? We have 6000, 6000 men and women. That's right. We have an operating budget of $280 million. And we have about $150 million capital budget, which we manage about $500 million a year. How many vehicles do you have on the street at any given time? Well, the city has about 5000 vehicles on the street. And Public Works has at least half of those vehicles. We have about 2000 and we have the vehicles, the buildings. Any part of your life we touch. When you wake up in the morning and you turn that spigot on to brush your teeth. We're there when you put that handle down and flush the toilet with it. So all the Department of Public Works, when you step out on your sidewalk, when you get in your car, when you get in the road, we're there. When you put your trash up and we pick it up when you park. That's also how life be without the Department of Public Works. It would be the 1800s to 1700s, maybe even take it back to the 1600s where you just recently went to China.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/136840/file/253852#t=575.73,671.04"},{"id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/136840/file/253852/transcript/71678/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"How is the public works situation over there? Well, it's not 1800s or 16, and it's about they're about 50 years behind us. I would think they don't have conveyance systems like we have. They don't have transportation. They use bicycles. And they're there. They're behind the pollution. I was so happy to get back to the United States and appreciate what we have here and pollution and the environment there is clean. The sky looks clear. It's just beautiful there. It's hazy. It smells the pollution. You can't appreciate what the water's like and everything, but you go to a country like China. So so folks who live in an area like Baltimore really do take it for granted unless they're able to get out and see what the rest of the world is like. Absolutely. I've been all over the world. I've been to Japan, to China, to France, Europe, Germany, everywhere, South America. When I come back to Baltimore, it just looks good to me. The air looks good, the water looks clean, and you help keep it that way. Proud to do it. Proud to be part of it. So very humble. There are 6000 people here who work hard. Can you imagine one of the five below zero to put your hands in the cold water to fix a water pipe when the wind's blowing and it hurts your face to be out there picking trash up and everything. I'm very proud of what the people that. And I'll tell you what, I can't speak for the city, but speaking for myself, living in Brooklyn, he did a pretty good job over the Brooklyn area, too. Well, I appreciate that. And we have people coming up to us. Like I said, people got irritated because they were cooped in.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/136840/file/253852#t=672.09,763.9"},{"id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/136840/file/253852/transcript/71678/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"They wanted to get out. But all year I've had people come up to me everywhere. I've been saying, you guys did a great job doing the snow snowstorm, the blizzard. You know, think about before the blizzard. How many times have people ever complain about the snow? And they did. And it's just an extraordinary event. I talked to Public works director across the country. They all told me it was the same reaction. The public, it just lasted long. People were cooped up. Well, now this public works department did get an award recently. What? One of the top ten in the country? Yeah, I received an award in 1992, one of the top ten public works records in the United States, in Canada. And we ourselves received about 8 or 9 awards in the last eight years since I've been director. And also, how many times do you think you've been on TV as public director? Probably too much. A couple of hundred times at least. And it just part of the job, I guess. Well, what's. I think already how many. But what do you see? What's around the corner for the Department of Public Works? I think computers is around the corner, too. You're going to pay your water bill without even leaving the house. The meter is going to be read without leaving the house. You're going to get a permit. We're going to communicate with you through your fax machine or through your computer. If you have a problem, you're going to get on your fax machine or computer and tell us about it. We're going to fix it for you and then send it back to you. I think that's where we're headed. Sounds like more convenience and more service. Absolutely. And it's going to be unbelievable in the future.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/136840/file/253852#t=764.23,857.14"},{"id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/136840/file/253852/transcript/71678/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"We're constantly looking for new technology. Recently, we got a simple piece of machinery called a Green Machine. Looks like a lawnmower and sweeps the streets. It's getting rave reviews. So we're out there looking for new equipment, and I think the sky's the limit. Just finally now, this is now, of course, we had the blizzard of 66 and I mean 96 and 96 isn't over yet. We're enjoying some wonderful weather right now, but we still got November and December, too. Do you foresee any any big snows coming up at the end of this year? I can we we're not going to have snow like that. I predict that they will not be matched than the ones I remember back in 1978. All right. It's about 20 years ago. So in 20 more years, we'll have one. That's my prediction. But you will not as director of public works, you will not allow another snow storm this year. Not this year, but in 20 years when I'm in Florida. I'll watch it on TV. Right. Okay. Know Oprah. I guess you've been to more ribbon cuttings and more groundbreaking ceremony than you can remember. Absolutely. One thing I got to throw an end to is community meetings today in every community in the world. He was born in Pennsylvania but came to Baltimore as a youngster. He joined the Boy Scouts in Baltimore when he was elected, and by the time he was 14, he had he made Eagle Scout. True. 354. Troop 355 We're a little bit in a river. Hee hee. At 18, he graduated from Calvert Hall and and attended VMI, where he got a degree in civil engineering. At 18, he graduated from Calvert Hall and then became a cadet VMI, where he graduated with a degree in civil engineering.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/136840/file/253852#t=857.83,1056.23"},{"id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/136840/file/253852/transcript/71678/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"And community meetings. When George became director, they had eight personal computers. Now, seven years later, they have over 400 U.S. service. But they've been done. Eight years. Eight years later, they have over 700 for 400. Okay, let me try it. When he became director, he had seven personal computers. Eight years later, they now have over 400. And this has been a real effort on Earth to go along with all of George's other degrees. Hyman Pressman made him admiral or admiral of the harbor back when? 1918, 1989. That's one of my favorite pictures. It's a good picture. We both look relaxed. Space is small. Greater than. Pigs running across the street. Nice. Because the sun is right. I couldn't figure out what it was. We were in the airplane. There were a lot of airplanes here for me. That was it.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/136840/file/253852#t=1064.01,1216.98"}]},{"id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/136840/file/253852/transcript/71678","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["English [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://marmia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/948/collection_resources/136840/file/253852/transcript/71678/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"subtitling","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/file_transcripts/associated_files/000/071/678/original/trint_WJZ-FLDTP-005-001_ffv1_transcript.vtt?1728353301","format":"text/vtt","language":"en"},"target":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/file_transcripts/associated_files/000/071/678/original/trint_WJZ-FLDTP-005-001_ffv1_transcript.vtt?1728353301"}]}]}]}