Pictured Above: Linda Witte is the first woman ever elected the Office of Mayor in the Cattaraugus County City of Olean.  A Registered Nurse and a Union Member represented by the New York State Nurses Association, Witte is also a sitting member of the Executive Council of the Cattaraugus-Allegany AFL-CIO Central Labor Council.  (WNYLaborToday.com Photo)

(OLEAN) - While Linda Witte may be better known as the first woman to ever be elected Mayor of the Cattaraugus County City of Olean, it seems a lot of people don't realize - including some city workers who are represented by Labor Unions - that she too is a Union Member, represented by the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), and a sitting member of the Executive Council of the Cattaraugus-Allegany AFL-CIO Central Labor Council.

During an interview with WNYLaborToday.com earlier this week, Mayor Witte said she literally saw eyebrows being raised when she agreed to allow the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) to put up its traveling 100th anniversary display in the lobby of the Olean Municipal Building.  While it shouldn't have been a surprise, it apparently was to some.  You see the previous mayor had been endorsed and supported by the CSEA, said Mayor Witte, adding that "a lot of promises" had been made in order to land that endorsement.

"Some people still don't realize (she's a Union Member) and some are still scratching their head when it comes to wondering how I will work with (City Unions) now that I'm mayor," said Mayor Witte, a Registered Nurse (RN) and NYSNA floor delegate who also works per diem on the maternity unit at Olean General Hospital. 

"I do understand (what Unions represent) and that we're all connected.  My father was a Teamster and I have eight family members who are members of Unions.  I grew up in a Union home.  (The city) has contracts with all four of our Unions, with police and firefighters and the CSEA workforce.  But the bottom line is we all have to look at our economy, understand what city taxpayers can afford, be fair and talk to each other.  In the end we have to listen to each other," said Witte, who presides over a city of a little more than 13,000.

Describing her relationship with the City Unions as "fine," Mayor Witte said, "I'm willing to listen.  (The tone within the Mayor's Office) isn't controversial anymore.  I'm here to listen and feel things out.  I understand that Unions are there to look out for their members, but we need to be fair.  And I think we've turned the corner.  Our economy is pretty good.  Olean is the hub of the county and we have a strong business community with some great manufacturers here (Dresser Rand, Alcas Cutlery, AVX, to name but a few) and their employee levels have been steady.  We're also the county's medical center.  Within a fifty-mile radius we pull in two-hundred-thousand people.  We also have a growing call center that employs three-hundred."

"But I think people generally think of Unions as more 'takers' than 'givers,' despite what Unions and their members give back to the community.  It's up to us to turn that perception around.  If they're involved they need to be proud of it and say (publicly) that they are Union Members.  It's the same way with the City Council.  We need to build a bridge so Council members know the kind of work they do.  They never see what kind jobs they perform and how hard they work.  Some think (workers represented by a Union) just sit around eight hours a day - doing nothing.  It's too easy to say, 'They're paid too much.'  Once you see the danger they put themselves in (such as police and fire) and how at risk they are, you think otherwise," Mayor Witte said.

As an Executive Council Member of the Cattaraugus-Allegany AFL-CIO Central Labor Council, Mayor Witte is also wary of the stereotype attached to represented employees by people who shrug their shoulders and say, "Those Union People!"

"Locally people just don't see too much of them and feel the only time Union people make an impact is during an election year, but members of the New York State United Teachers, the CSEA, Building Trades and Steelworkers are the predominant Unions here.  They get very little news coverage from the Olean Times Herald (Olean's daily newspaper), but they done a lot of good things (in the community).  People also need to realize what Union Members do and contribute to the community.  They need to get to know them," Mayor Witte said.

For the past 35 years, Witte has worked as a nurse, including 17 years as a LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse) before going back to school at Jamestown Community College - part-time while as a single Mom - to become an RN.  When she worked at St. Francis Hospital in Olean, which later merged with Olean General Hospital, there was no Union that represented nurses.  Sixteen years ago NYSNA was recognized as the Nurses' Union at Olean General.

But back in 1998, RN Witte's husband told her, "If you're not going to do something about it, then go back to sleep," when she complained late one night about the process she encountered after Olean General Hospital held a public hearing that involved expansion of the hospital. 

"(The hospital is) in a neighborhood with (residential) homes and there were safety issues with children.  (As nurses,) We were told by hospital management to go to the hearing, say nothing and applaud appropriately.  But we spoke up.  Afterward I was approached to run for City Alderman (Council) and decided to," she said.

Witte won a two-year term running on the Democratic line, but lost her re-election bid in 2002. 

But as they say, when one door closes another opens. 

She ran for a county Legislature seat and won, serving six years and along the way, and also serving as Minority Whip and then as Minority Leader.  She left midway through her second four-year term to run for Mayor of Olean.  She is currently serving in just her fifth month in office.  But it was no sure thing as Witte upset incumbent Republican Mayor David Carucci in a nail-biter.  She led by 185 votes on the night of November 3rd, 2009.  Although "confident," Witte said "voters wanted a change - more openness, more working together between the mayor and the Common Council."  Yet, she was nervous because more than 300 absentee ballots were outstanding, and victory couldn't be certain until they were counted a week later.  In the end, Witte won by just under 200 votes.

"People said I should run and I knew what went on the city level.  I'd also served as vice chair of the (Cattaraugus County Legislature's) Finance Committee and it taught me a lot - the financial process, utilizing state and federal funding and appropriations.  While there is a learning curve, looking back, it gave me the experience to do the job," Witte said.

"I feel my background as a nurse - my skills in working with the public and being an advocate for patients - helped not only me, but also my fellow Legislators with understanding the ways in which the county delivers services to families and senior citizens," Witte was quoted in a profile that appeared in NYSNA's New York Nurse statewide publication.

Mayor Witte, meanwhile, told WNYLaborToday.com she looks to "continue to keep taxes down" and attempts to stabilize the city's water and sewer rates.  In addition, she looks forward to new business expansion within a Brownfield's section of Olean that's been transformed into a business park. 

Mayor Witte - who still makes time to work per-diem in a position that she describes being a "lactation consultant" one weekend per month and two holidays per year at Olean General - also makes time for a number of community-oriented efforts.

Mayor Witte - who is married to Dr. Gilbert Witte and the mother of four children, the oldest being 16 - helped start "Penny's Garden" in memory of her slain nursing colleague Penny Brown.  In addition, she's the co-keeper of the City of Olean's Children's Garden, a founding member of the Warm Hearts Blanket Drive that targets senior citizens, is a member of the local Historical Association, and also finds time to deliver Meals on Wheels to several seniors every Thursday.

Mayor Witte is also part of an organization called Rebuilding Together that paints and rehabilitates homes for senior citizens, the disabled and low-income families.  Each year, about 300 volunteers, young and old, rebuild between 10 and 20 houses.  

"At the end of the day, it's great to see this home looking totally changed and the tears of joy in the homeowners' eyes," she said. "They couldn't believe people cared and helped a total stranger to make their life a little brighter.  I believe when you do something good for someone, you are thanked many times over.  That's just part of life."

(Editor's Note: Additional information for this profile on Mayor Witte was provided to WNYLaborToday.com by the New York State Nurses Association and its Associate Director of Communications Mark Genovese, as well as Kathleen Kellogg, Mayor Witte's administrative assistant.)