The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - Billboard Calling For BoV Rector Resignation; Truck w/ Billboard Seen Across UVA Grounds

Episode Date: March 27, 2024

The I Love CVille Show headlines: Billboard Calling For BoV Rector Resignation Truck w/ Billboard Seen Across UVA Grounds Who/What Is Behind The Rolling Billboard? 2004 CVille Election Task Force Hot Topics Things That Jumped Out To Us From The Report Industrial Warehouse Space – So Little Around Top 3 Issues Centrist Would Run On For Council The I Love CVille Show Viewer Power Rankings Read Viewer & Listener Comments Live On-Air The I Love CVille Show airs live Monday – Friday from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm on The I Love CVille Network. Watch and listen to The I Love CVille Show on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes, Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Fountain, Amazon Music, Audible and iLoveCVille.com.

Good Wednesday afternoon, guys. I'm Jerry Miller. Thank you kindly for watching and listening to the I Love Seville show. It's great to be with you, hump day, with some headlines that are local for you, conversation starters, perhaps it's education, entertainment, and enlightenment that you seek on your lunch break. We try to discuss topics that matter to Charlottesville, Alamaro County, and Central Virginia. It's a 300,000 person market that is dynamic, sophisticated, affluent, educated, looking to be challenged. And we try to provide some of that ammunition on a show that airs just about every weekday, Monday through Friday,

on a network we have monikered the I Love Seville Network, a programming note. I am not in the saddle tomorrow for the I Love Seville show. This might be the first you are hearing this as well. I am touring some real estate in person. And that tour, unfortunately, could only happen midday during the program.

But I will be back in the saddle Friday for the show. Take a look at the screen for some topics we're going to discuss. The first three headlines involve a story that was in the Cavalier Daily about a rolling billboard, a box truck. I think we have a photo. Make sure we give photo credit to the Cavalier Daily with a lower third anytime that's on screen. You could come up with a headline for the top line for the lower third. You could call it a billboard truck calls out BOV, UVA BOV. And then the second line on the lower third, you can say photo credit colon Cavalier Daily. It's a box truck that's calling for the resignation, viewers and listeners, of Robert Hardy, the rector. This truck seen all over grounds.

Yesterday it was seen at 9.30 a.m. outside of Gilmer Hall. It was seen on McCormick Road around 12.30 p.m. yesterday. It was seen outside the UVA Chapel around 2.40 p.m. yesterday, one of the truck's digital rotating screens had a call to action message that read, and I quote, Rector Robert Hardy won't confront anti-Semitism, end quote. Another rotating screen said Hardy is unfit to lead UVA. The university spokesman Bethany Glover said the University of Virginia is working to identify the person or organization that hired this rolling box truck. Let us know if you have those photos on screen of the truck so we can encourage the viewers and listeners to take a look at the screen. This is a dynamic storyline and a storyline that stem or was birthed in part by a contentious board of visitors meeting that saw Robert Hardy, the rector of the BOV, go toe-to-toe with Burt Ellis,

the embattled Burt Ellis. How would you characterize Burt Ellis? Embattled, infamous, legendary, known up and down the eastern seaboard, the same Bert Ellis who's a board member, a college in Darden alumnus, who traveled from Georgia with a box cutter across state lines for the sole purpose of going to the lawn to knife, dice, cut, slice a sign off a student's front door

on the lawn of the University of Virginia that he found offensive. The same Burt Ellis, who is the co-founder and president emeritus of the Jefferson Council. So I'll give it to you in a nutshell before we go further into this story as the show matures. Ellis and Hardy squabble. where Ellis was insistent upon that the discussions at a recent Board of Visitors meeting about anti-Semitism and the safety of Jewish students on grounds

be a topic of open session discussion during the March 1 Board of Visitors meeting. Hardy, the rector who was in charge of the meeting, sitting next to President Ryan, this video available online for you to see, promised Ellis that this topic would be discussed at the March 1 meeting. However, he said it would be in closed session. Ellis immediately fired back to Hardy and said, no way, Jose. It's not going to be in closed session. It's going to be done right now. They went back and forth, legitimate argument on the record, cameras and microphones in front of them. Jim Ryan rolled up sleeves, tie on next to the rector, clearly uncomfortable. Ellis continued to speak despite Hardy telling him to be quiet. Hardy, the rector, eventually told

Ellis he would be reprimanded if he continued raising the topic about anti-Semitism and the safety of Jewish students on grounds. He would be reprimanded and Bert Ellis finally told the rector of the Board of Visitors and I quote,

bring it on. There's also some question about whether, about the legality of discussing the issue in a closed session. So much to unpack here. The only thing missing from this beef, this brouhaha, this squabble, this melee, was Ellis as he was screaming, bring it on, wearing

spandex, a luchadorous cap, and jumping from the top rope onto the mat, looking to clothesline and DDP Hardy in a WWE cage match. I'd pay to see that. I would pay to see that. I would pay the pay-per-view fee to see Alice and Hardy toe-to-toe in a WWE cage with Alice wearing a Luchadores cap. We kid because we care. DDP, is that a specific wrestler's move? Oh my goodness, my friend.

I'm guessing it has something to do with Diamond Dallas Page. Yeah, Chuda. Is that a flank? Diamond Dallas Page, I'm so impressed. What? Diamond Dallas Page. I mean, I don't remember. One of my personal favorites.

I don't remember any of his specific moves, but DDP couldn't be a whole lot of other things. DDP, it was turned into a verb, his initials. And the luchador is Ray Mysterio, one of my favorites. You know the luchadores, right? Oh, the luchadores are amazing. couldn't be a whole lot of other things ddp'd it was turned into a verb his initials and the luchador is ray mysterio one of my favorites you know the luchador oh the luchadors are amazing they're amazing they made wrestling fun with their circus aerial attacks yeah they're usually like five foot tall guys that were very athletic up against like you know a six heavyweights six foot tall 280 pound uh yeah, insanity.

Is Ellis more Diamond Dallas Page or more Ray Mysterio? And who would Robert Hardy be here? I would need a good picture of him. Is Hardy Booker T. Washington? Oh, man. I'd need pictures of both of them. I don't know enough about their body types. We'll talk about this, guys, as we are in the shadows of Thomas Jefferson's University,

less than two miles from the Rotunda, the John Paul Jones Arena in Scott Stadium, a block from the Charlottesville Police Department, actually 50 yards from the Charlottesville Police Department, a block from the Charlottesville Courthouse, the Amarillo County Courthouse, and just off the downtown mall, our studio on Market Street. This, so much to unpack. We've covered in previous shows that there are students, Jewish students at UVA, that feel unsafe walking around grounds. Yep, there are students, Jewish students, who are no longer wearing their yarmulkes

because they feel threatened. They're going to be threatened or attacked. And there are a lot of people criticizing UVA for not speaking out more against what's been going on. Folks asking the question, is UVA basically positioning Jewish students as less of a protected class of student than potentially students of color. Yeah. Bert Ellis alluding to this in a board of visitors meeting.

Did you put the box truck on screen? Yeah. Can we put it back on screen again? Rolling around grounds as we speak, a box truck as the University of Virginia is looking to uncover the identity of who hired this truck or what entity hired this truck. We have no inside information, none at all. We're purely speculating on today's program and I wonder aloud if it's the Jefferson Council behind the box truck. I don't know. We do not know. I literally do not know. I do know the co-founder and the president emeritus of the Jefferson Council, Bert Ellis, traveled from Georgia with a box cutter a student's door on the lawn, a sign taped to a door that did not meet his, shall we say, moral standards?

I mean, the sign was clearly put there to ignite passions. I'm curious of your take. We'll read a couple of paragraphs from the Cavalier Daily on today's program. I also want to highlight, or perhaps Judah will highlight, the 2004

Charlottesville election task force report, which we've covered over the last couple days, this report has a couple of hot button or hot topics we want to cover on today's show. It's the 20-year anniversary of this election task force. Please, if you could, find the members of the task force. We'll rattle off their names again. And then some of the hot button issues as you dug deep into the report. I want to cover on today's program the topic John Blair, who's number two in the family, sent our way yesterday. If you were a centrist, I'm not saying Democrat, I'm not saying Republican. I'm not saying Libertarian. Just a centrist.

Center aisle. What would be the top three platform issues or topics that you would vocalize and run upon for a push for Charlottesville City Council? We'll talk about that on today's program. I want to chitter-chatter. Curtis Shaver has a correction for us. The diamond cutter was DDP's trademark and signature move.

Nice. We need to get Curtis Shaver's photo on screen. We'll highlight the I Love Seville viewer and listener power rankings as Mr. Shaver is within those rankings. He should climb the ladder. He's providing serious ammunition of late. Curtis on iloveseville.com forward slash viewer rankings is 31 in the polls. If you could, when the program is over, position Mr. Shaver in the 16th slot

as he makes a 15-spot leap in the power rankings. Congratulations on the new Subaru, Curtis. I very much like the rims. I very much like the decals. And I very much like the look,

the aftermarket updates on your new Subaru, my friend. I want to highlight on today's program the warehouse space, the industrial space in Charlottesville and Alamaro County, or the lack thereof. I had this conversation this morning with an investment group that was looking to put some money on the street. And as they were looking to put some money on the street, they were looking to acquire positions and businesses across central Virginia in certain silos. And one of the aspects that came up in conversation, it was about a 20-minute phone call with this investment group, is industrial or warehouse space that could potentially be a hub for distribution?

And I said, good luck with that. Yeah. Another of our clients is coming to market with a business, and I don't want to let the cat out of the bag, although it has been on the community advisory committee agendas, it has been on the planning commission agendas, but coming to market with a business model

that requires extremely high ceilings, and the opportunity to find space for this particular client was slim to none in the Charlottesville and Alamaro business ecosystem. So we'll talk about that on today's program. But first, the lead of the show, as we weave you in on a two-shot if you're not J-dubs, is the article in the Cavalier Daily that is must-read material. The headline is,

Billboard truck on grounds calls for resignation of Board of Visitors Rector Robert Hardy. The sub-headline, the truck was first seen parked at Gilmore Hall at 9.30 a.m. If this article, which was written by Thomas Baxter and Nathan, I'm going to mess up your last name, Nathan. It's not because I'm not trying. It's because it's a unique name. Is it Onibudo? Is that how you would characterize Nathan, the student's last name? Onibudo?

Yeah, Onibudo. Thomas Baxter and Nathan Onibudo. Here's the lead and the nut graph of this captivating story. This morning, a small truck with LED screens on all sides calling for the resignation of Robert Hardy, the rector for the Board of Visitors, parked in front of Gilmer Hall near the First Year Dormitories on McCormick Road.

The truck was outside of Gilmer Hall at 9.30 a.m., but was gone by 10.20 a.m. The truck was later seen on McCormick Road around 12.30 p.m., and on the street outside the University Chapel around 2.40 p.m. One of the truck's screens read, and I quote, Rector Robert Hardy won't confront anti-Semitism, end quote, while another screen said Hardy is, quote, unfit to lead UVA, end quote. The second paragraph of the article goes as follows. According to university spokesman Bethany Glover, the university is working to identify the person or organizations that hired the truck.

Glover described the message on the truck as false and offensive and said that the board of visitors of the university administration are committed to combating anti-Semitism and discrimination. Here's the nitty gritty. I'll set the stage.

March 1, board meeting, heaviest of hitters, the board of visitors, folks on the board, Rector Robert Hardy, Vice Rector Carlos Brown, Robert M. Blue, Mark Bowles, Elizabeth Cranwell, Thomas DePasquale, Bert Ellis. Would you say Burt is the protagonist or the antagonist in this particular turn of events?

That's a tough one. I think it depends on your perspective on this and your perspective on him as well. I think a lot of people might say he's the antagonist. I see. I don't think... But he's being antagonistic, I think a lot of people might say he's the antagonist. I see. I don't think. But he's being antagonistic, I think.

But he drives the story. Yeah. Without Razorblade Alice, there is no story. Yeah. I mean, taken that way, he's the protagonist. Not even close. The protagonist antagonizing, but the protagonist driving the narrative. Is Hardy the antagonist to Razorblade Ellis' protagonistic behavior?

Yeah. The honorary Paul C. Harris on the Board of Visitors, Babur Latif, the good doctor on the Board of Visitors, Stephen Long, Paul Manning, over $100 million in donation to the University of Virginia, the namesake of the Biotech Institute on Fontaine on the Board of Visitors. James Murray, heavy hitter right there.

John Now III, the Honorable L.F. Payne. Amanda Pillion, Rachel Sheridan, Douglas Wetmore, Tish Jennings, and Lillian Rojas, closing out the Board of Visitors. So here's the nitty-gritty.

On March 1, these heavy hitters had a meeting. Razorblade Ellis, the co-founder, the President Emeritus of the Jefferson Council, insisted on the record with cameras and microphones pointed to him and under his mouth. He's talking into a microphone. It sounds like he started off just trying to discuss it. He tried to discuss it.

That's correct. He immediately received pushback from Hardy, the rector, saying the anti-Semitism and the safety of Jewish students will be a topic in closed session. It is not a part of open session. Open session is reported upon or can be reported upon by the media, and you can watch the open session online, the video archived on the interwebs. I'll go to Bert Ellis I kid because I care Mr. Ellis I kid because I care We'll use Mr. Ellis here He says no this is not going to go to closed session

This topic is going to happen in the open session And he pushed back on the rector Hardy Who's running the meeting He's got President Ryan sitting right next to him In the camera Hardy said no you're out of line You're out of order This is going to

close session. This topic, the safety of Jewish students at the university of Virginia is a closed session topic. Ellis pushed back again, said, no, we're going to keep this an open session. They deserve to hear what is going on here. Hardy said, if you don't stop talking, we're going to reprimand you. We're going to reprimand you. I don't get the impression that Mr. Ellis has been reprimanded in a very long time, in any capacity. I'm not sure why he would care. What does a reprimand involve? I mean, I'm seriously curious. How would a, okay, this is a question for the viewers and listeners, some of our esteemed and connected viewers and listeners. How could a rector reprimand a Board of Visitor member?

And why would he care that they did so? Could they muzzle them? Could they remove them from the Board? I don't believe so. Appointed by Youngkin. How could Hardy reprimand Mr. Ellis? How could Hardy reprimand Ellis? Yeah.

After Hardy... These are grown-ass men here. After Hardy says to Ellis, I'm going to reprimand you, Ellis snaps back. Bring it on. Bring it on. I mean, really,

how many of the people on the board of visitors need that job? No one. It's prestige. Exactly. It's power and prestige. It's to say that you're on the board of visitors of one of the most affluent, noteworthy, notable, prestigious universities in the world. Yeah. It's an ego power play.

Which brings me back to the question, what does a reprimand mean? And why would anyone on the Board of Visitors care? Unless it's removal from the board, which I don't think that can happen. Deepthroat, I'm curious of your take on this. You know stuff like this. Mr. Blair, I'm curious of your take on this.

What ramifications would a reprimand yield? 25 days after this meeting, a box truck is running around grounds with a call to action message that a university spokesman has said on the record is offensive. And we are investigating who's behind this message. It is a country of free speech, is it not? I got a story I'm going to relay about our oldest son. Parents who watch, who have children, you may empathize or sympathize or relate to the story I'm about to say. From time to time, yours truly and my wonderful better half,

the rock bed of the family, uses the occasional four-letter word. Every parent can relate to that. Somehow our oldest chooses to mimic our bad habits as opposed to the plethora, especially for my wife, good habits. One of those bad habits is the use of a four-letter word from time to time that happens to be within earshot.

I'm driving our oldest to school, as I do in the morning, which gets me to the office before 8 a.m., which is nice. And he drops something like his Yeti water bottle in the back seat. He's in a car seat, but he's in the stage of the car seat where it's just the seat belt strapping him into the car seat. So it drops out of the car seat holder onto the floor. And a six-year-old, actually this might have been before his sixth birthday, days before his sixth birthday,

he just had his birthday, happy birthday to our oldest, he says, and of the four-letter words, the one that is least offensive is the D one, right? Yeah. In fact, that's PG-13. I've promised PG-13. Yeah, I mean, it's not really much of a swear.

And in fact, it can be used in a manner that doesn't make it a swear. He said, damn it. As a response to him dropping his water bottle on the floor of our car. And it caught me completely off guard as I'm driving from Keswick down Pantops to school. Said, damn it. And I said, son, you can't say that. What are you doing? Copy our good habits.

Don't mimic our bad ones. He responds to me in this way. Dad, last week in the car, we talked about why wars literally he says this we talked about why wars happen and you say wars have happened in the past to protect our rights like freedom of speech and you have said that we have the right of freedom of speech in our country. This protects what I just said. Exact words. He said that, a five-year-old. We did. We did. A week ago, two weeks ago, I said, wars have happened to protect rights of us Americans. One of our rights is to speak freely, freedom of speech. He uses it in context correctly after I reprimand him a la Hardy to Burt Ellis. And he says,

Dad, I have the right of free speech. That's why wars have happened. I'm an American. I can say this. And I'm literally... I wouldn't necessarily say he's using it correctly. I'm literally at a loss for words. In fact, I think my response to him was, well done, son. Well done. And then I looked in the rearview mirror to him was, well done, son. Well done. And then I looked in the rearview mirror to him, and he's peacocking with his chest out because he knows he got one over on dad. True story.

Almost verbatim, 100% true story. So I relay that story to the viewers and listeners by asking this question. A box truck that's rolling around grounds with a call-to-action message that says the rector, quote, Robert Hardy won't confront anti-Semitism in a second call-to-action. Hardy is unfit to lead UVA, end quote. Are these call-to-action messages

in this box truck that is rolling around grounds, why does the University of Virginia investigating who's behind them, calling them false and offensive, and getting to the bottom of what's going on here? Or do we not chalk that up to free speech? Second question I have, it is a legitimate question, who's behind this? Is it the Jefferson Council? I'll give you a snapshot on the Jefferson Council here. The Jefferson Council, which you can find online, and then I'm going to open it up to viewer and listener comments. Viewers and listeners, we're going to read your comments live on air. I'm very interested to hear what the top 10 viewers and listeners in our family have to say. You can find

the Jefferson Council online at thejeffersoncouncil.com. Thejeffersoncouncil.com. Their tagline is this, Preserving Thomas Jefferson's Legacy at the University of Virginia. This is what's on the About page of the Jefferson Council. The Jefferson Council, formed by University of Virginia alumni and other stakeholders,

is dedicated to preserving the legacy of Thomas Jefferson, the lawn, the honor code, and the free exchange of competing ideas and intellectual diversity one would expect from Mr. Jefferson's university. They have the following goals. One, promote a culture of civil dialogue, the free exchange of competing ideas and intellectual diversity throughout UVA. Two, preserve the Jeffersonian legacy. Three, preserve the appearance of the lawn as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

And four... UNESCO. Oh, thank you. Very nicely done. Thank you for the correction. Four, support and reinvigorate the honor system. So their goals, they must feel are being very threatened right now by the 2024 version of the University of Virginia. Jefferson is slowly

being eradicated from UVA. Yeah. Right? The honor system is pretty much a thing of the past. From when I was there to now, the honor system looks completely different. Certainly when my dad was there, a 68 to 72 graduate of the University of Virginia. Honor system is not nearly as honor rooted as it was. And was and they feel a subset of university students, Jewish UVA students, are being mistreated and are not as protected a student class as their... As anyone else. As anyone else. And the university, aside from not doing anything about it, is also not saying anything about it.

President Ryan, down the ladder. There's the story in a nutshell. You offer commentary. I'll get to the viewer and listener commentary in a matter of moments. I mean, I

can't offer much more commentary besides the fact that I fully believe that UVA should speak out it would I think it would benefit their students I think it would make a statement that needs to be made, especially considering all that's gone on and all that UVA has allowed on the campus. There have been a lot of statements by certain groups about the Palestinians and I would assume about Hamas and the fact that the university is silent on those matters and silent on Jewish students feeling and being actually threatened, not just feeling threatened, I think is a sad state of affairs for the university and does not speak well about anyone involved. True to Wickhauer.

Well said. John Blair, holding us accountable when it comes to our wrestling memory and lexicon, Mr. Blair sounds like he was a wrestling fan growing up. He says, oh my goodness, I thought you said DDT,

which was Jake the Snake Roberts' finishing move. Curtis Shaver watching the program, he says the diamond cutter was DDP's move, Jerry and Judah. Me and a few friends went with our Bible teacher to the

Portland, South Portland Civic Center, something like that. that anyways we went to a uh we went to a wrestling match it was a lot of fun we were rooting for jake the snake we loved rooting for the bad guys and there were some adults behind us that had a problem with that and uh and tried to shut us down we were like like 13, 14 years old. And here's these adults getting angry at us, behind us. And my Bible teacher, who is like 23 years old

and skinny as a rail, stands up and basically asks the guy if they have a problem. And they apparently didn't because they shut up and sat down. Very good story right there. Many of Judah's stories originate a man of faith at the church. I respect that.

Sincerely mean that. This was a school Bible teacher. Oh. Yeah. I apologize. I stand corrected. John Blair's photo on screen, number two in the family.

You can see the viewer and listener power rankings at ilovecevil.com forward slash viewer rankings. Deepthroat watching the program from his headquarters off of Ivy Road, he says, ladies and gentlemen, the BOV truck literally just drove past my office. Nice. Deep Throat's photo on screen, number one in the family. John Blair says this, the BOV cannot remove a member. One reprimand would be if the BOV passed a resolution of censure, which is just a statement condemning his conduct. The BOV could also take him off of any BOV committees that he sits on as a reprimand. John Blair, thank you.

Thank you for that, John. Making the program better. I don't think any of those would have much effect on Bert Ellis. I don't think it would either. Ginny Hu watching the program. She's a key member of the family. Ginny Hu on Twitter, number four in the family. Fantastic viewer and listener.

She says, UVA's silence about their Jewish students speaks volumes. I have been disappointed in my alma mater for a few years now, but this lack of response is beyond discussing. Judah, your thoughts? Amen. I, you know, you said it yourself. If this were students of color, I think not a day would have gone by before the university came out with the statement. And this has gone on for weeks, if not, I think going on over a month now.

It's longer than that. With no word from the university. I'm sharing the Cavalier Daily link in the comments section of my personal Facebook page right now. I will share the Cavalier Daily link in the thread on Twitter that this show is airing upon. It's a must read. I have the same question to you if you were a betting and wagering man. Who would you say is behind the truck? And we have no insider question to you. If you were a betting and wagering man, who would you say is behind the truck? And we have no insider information on this.

It's pure speculation. We stipulate that to be straightforward and forthcoming. If you had a guess. I mean, I can't see anyone guessing anyone but Burt Ellis. Well, it could be under the umbrella, if you may, of the Jefferson Council. Yeah, but we all know what the root of that would be. It could be the entire organization doing it. It doesn't have to be necessarily him.

It could also be, it could be a completely random outside person who just feels very strongly. Obviously, if they're going to, if they're going to pay an LED-sided truck to drive around Charlottesville. Put the truck back on screen with the lower third. I'm tweeting it now. I will put it in the I Love Seville Cavalier Daily.

Your Google metrics will show a boost in traffic after we have positioned it in as many channels as we currently manage, social and podcasting. We respect what you have written on this program. It is now on the I Love Seville Facebook page in the comment section under this story. Philip Dallin, Bill McChesney, welcome to the program. Do you have an issue at all with the message on the box truck passing the free speech category or the free speech umbrella and heading into one of personal attack or offensive? Not really. I mean, I don't feel like the attack is so strong that it's verging into libel or that kind of territory.

And he's free to refute anything that's said on the truck. Would you refute what was said on the truck with a personal statement or a press release? Or would you allow the university to handle it itself? You mean if I was... The rector, Hardy? I mean... I was... The Rector, Hardy? I mean... I think it depends on his position, ultimately. But if I were him,

I would make a statement to myself. But maybe... Maybe there's enough truth to it that he doesn't want to... He doesn't want to look bad coming out with a statement essentially lying. I doubt Rector Hardy is going to issue a statement of his own. Burt Ellis, primarily of Atlanta, Georgia. He's the CEO and Chairman of the

consulting and investment firm Ellis Capital. He sparked public outcry in 2020 after he crossed state lines from Atlanta to Charlottesville with a razor blade in his possession, headed to grounds to the lawn where he sliced and diced a sign off the lawn door that said, and I quote, this is what the sign said, F-U-C-K-U-V-A, duck UVA, quack, quack, quack,

F-U-C-K-U-V-A. The sign also said on the lawn door, the front door of a student on the lawn, quote, and this was literally what the sign said, I'm reading verbatim, looking at the sign. I'm looking at it as well. KKK cops, genocide, slavery, disability, and black and brown life are operating costs of the university, end quote. Is Ellis doing with the sign tactic

or strategy or circus act? Is it a tactic? Is it a strategy? Is it a circus act? Either way it attracts attention. You're talking about cutting the sign? Yeah. Is this all a 360 degree

strategy or campaign from Ellis and the council? The efforts driving from Atlanta to Charlottesville to Sala, to Slice and Dice to sign off the door, getting in a shouting match, a brouhaha, a melee with the rector on the record.

Potentially the box truck. We don't know if the box truck is connected or not. Potentially the box truck. The, I don't know if you read this blog. I read it from time to time. The Bacon's Rebellion blog. You know the one I'm talking about? No, vaguely.

The Bacon's Rebellion blog. Interestingly, and I'm not saying there's a connection or not, perhaps there is a connection, James A. Bacon, the executive director of the Jefferson Council. Is this all a comprehensive strategy? It could be. I don't know enough to say for sure but I mean whether or not you like what Bert Ellis

has done and said he certainly he certainly gets eyes on some of the serious topics going on at UVA and I stand corrected. Multiple viewers and listeners say,

James A. Bacon, the man behind the Bacon's Rebellion blog. Thank you for holding me accountable, viewers and listeners. We certainly appreciate that. You can find that online, baconsrebellion.com. Yeah, I mean, I've got to think it is a comprehensive strategy. It's a comprehensive strategy. Whether we want to admit this or not, attention and holding attention is currency. posting photos on social media or videos on social media, reels on social media, doing shows like this, holding viewer and listener and marketplace attention is currency.

And Ellis, the slicing and dicing in 2020 of a sign on the lawn was reported upon by many media outlets and talked at length on this program. Ellis having this beef, this brouhaha with the rector, Rector Hardy, is going to be reported upon everywhere. This box truck, everywhere. Deep Throat said he just saw it outside his office. Yeah. I mean, are we talking about a 360-degree omni...

Omni-exni experiential... Advertising campaign. Are we talking an omni experiential advertising campaign that involves events, in person meeting, a digital call to action box truck, an altercation, a razor blade

a blog this is an omni-experiential advertising campaign yeah you were about to say something poignant I apologize for was I? you look like it

that's good to know Bill McChesney watching the program get Mr. McChesney watching the program. Get Mr. McChesney's photo on screen, please. Key member of the family. Mayor of McIntyre, we've dubbed him. 15 in the family. He says, that's free speech.

The box truck. Vanessa Parkhill watching the program. Let's get Vanessa Parkhill's photo on screen. The queen of Earleysville. Number six in the family, Vanessa Parkhill. The sponsors of the truck may be students miss parkhill says particularly those who are feeling underserved by the university administration very well could be great point by vanessa she also says if a student living on the long hung a rope on their door that some perceived to be a noose i.e what happened with nascar and bubba wallace and mr

ellis came with a knife to cut it down, he would be lauded by the masses. All depends on your perspective. Yeah, that's a great point. It is a lot about perspective. And as we said, the university has been completely mum about what the Jewish students have been going through. And I think we've made the point that if it were a different

a different a different race a different group that was dealing with these problems the outcry from the school probably would have been very different and likely there also would have been

would have been speaking of speaking of doing something about it, speaking of, for instance, Hardy calling for the reprimand of Ellis, I think that in other circumstances, whether it was reprimands or some other form of punishment, I don't think they would have done nothing. I think they would have started targeting students who were the cause of something like this and quickly done something about it. It's sad that they haven't. Philip Dow in Scottsville. His photo on screen. UVA has shown

favoritism towards various groups in the past. At times, same as Ginny Hu, as a graduate of UVA, I am ashamed to be a graduate, Philip Dow says. I shared the article. If you have an opportunity to read it, I encourage you to. I thought the Cavalier DLA did a hell of a job.

Dylan's Rule, watching the program. We need to get Dylan's Rule as a key member of the family. We'll put Dylan's Rule as number 52 in the polls and climbing. Dylan's Rule is, you can find his picture for the story, for the power ranking, on Twitter. Dylan's Rule, go to my mentions, at Dylan's rule on Twitter for his profile. We got a lot to cover on the show.

Ginny Hu says, the billboard does not use slurs or name calling that would cross a line. It simply states what Hardy would not do and adds a call to action. I'm going to retweet that. That's why I think this whole thing is extremely strategic. It may on paper look like circus behavior, but I think this circus behavior is much more well thought out. And to call it,

as Judah said, because we're in this business, this is how we make our living, as an omni-experiential campaign or strategy, I think is extremely applicable. And it does a great job of drawing attention to something that people seem to not want attention drawn to. And why is that? I think because they want to avoid making a statement? It's clearly a hot... Was the reason to avoid making a statement the collateral damage we've seen at Ivy League schools

like Harvard and Penn? Deep Throat, that's a question I have for you. What do you mean, collateral damage? Collateral damage in the president's office at Ivy League schools for not handling this topic the right way. Is President Ryan distancing himself from this because of preservation? Personal preservation. He probably doesn't want to touch this with a 10-foot pole because... Personal preservation?

I don't know if it's as much about personal preservation as it would be about just keeping the school's name out of the newspapers. But it's staying in the newspapers. Yeah, but I think it's

less of a bad look to have the occasional story here or there saying, why hasn't UVA spoken up than it is to actually make a statement and have one side or the other come out and make a big stink about it. Not a bad point. One shot me so I could see the headlines, if you could, on screen. Or better yet, lower third the next headline on screen and read it out to the viewers and listeners, if you could. You're on. Oh, let's go two better yet, lower third the next headline on screen and read it out to the viewers and listeners if you could.

You're on. Oh, let's go two shot and a lower third. Well, I still have to get the... Okay, if I'm on, I'll look at it this way. Let's see. Very fluid. What's the next one? I don't even know what the next one is from where we are. Let's see. For a lower third, if you can put it on screen.

We put them together as opposed to emailing them today. So I got it right here in front of me. CBOE Election Task Force Hot Topics, the 20-year anniversary of the 2004 CBOE Election Task Force. The Election Task Force in Charlottesville was put together 20 years ago by local government officials. officials, and the task force pretty much took a group of centrists or conservatives and had them offer a report on how to potentially better the community. And we'll talk about this task force and some of the hot button topics that stood out to us. Deep Throat says, I think the administrators realize that this is a no-win situation for them because they have done so poorly on even-handed free speech policy for years and years. No doubt.

I think there's much truth to that. And Ginny Hu says, not making a statement is a statement in this case. Thousand percent agree with that. Just like the Rush song said. Thousand percent agree with that. Maybe the best comment so far. Not making a statement is a statement in this case here. 1000% agree.

Well done. Grayson watching this program. He says, Jerry and Judah, your shows have been fantastic of late. I did not know about the Cavalier Daily article, but I will certainly read it after what you've covered today. Thank you for keeping us informed. Next topic, my friend, at the 125-minute marker with you and I in a meeting at 145 that's on the calendar. The show is yours.

This Charlottesville Election Study Task Force report really is fascinating. I'm still working my way through it, but it's got some interesting stuff. Why they're doing the study. There are a couple short little excerpts talking about being bothered by the question, how does the ward system help Democrats slash Republicans get elected? And goes on to say, my view is that the purpose of this task force is not to get either more Republicans, Democrats, or others elected.

I believe our purpose is to create as representative and responsive a city council as possible. Balance! Balance! The real goal is to elect the best possible council from whichever party. And the next bullet point, the second of the two bullet points, says, I am convinced that good government is marked by diversity. That is political, geographical, racial, economic, and possibly several other forms of diversity. 100%. 100%.

And... Who are the members of the 2004 Charlottesville Election Task Force? The members are, let me find the page, Sean O'Brien as the chairman, Leroy Hamlet, Sue Lewis, John Foltz. No John Foltz? Well, good man, John Foltz. David Repass. Still lives in the city, John Foltz. Cindy Stratton, Tom Vandever Heather Walker Heather Lamont Walker, fantastic citizen and Karen Waters

fantastic citizen what else struck you from the election task force report let's see bottom of some of the perceived city council problems. And this is, this goes into, I'm going to put the, if I can find the graph, I'm going to put that graph back up. Here we go. These are each of these points on the right-hand, I mean the left-hand column. This is the matrix you're putting on screen?

Yeah. Is it readable for the viewers and listeners? Yeah. It's the expanded versions just showing the, as Jerry likes to call it, the matrix. The perceived problems? Yeah, each of these problems has a wider explanation in the paper. And I'm not going to go,

I'm not going to read everything in all of them. These were the 2004 problems. I'll rattle off the perceived problems. There's Brian Haleska again. Hello, Brian. He's walking by. Every day. I enjoy it. Shouldn't be a surprise by now. He's walking by. Every day. I enjoy it. It shouldn't be a surprise

by now. Where's Waldo? Where's Brian? He was wearing a button-down, gray and black, untucked plaid shirt and jeans. Perceived problem. City government is not responsive to the needs of citizens. All the city councilors come from one part of the city. City government does a poor job communicating with citizens. Civic participation and voter turnout is declining. Democrats have the upper hand. There is a lack of socioeconomic diversity among council members. And Judah, as I pass the baton to you to continue, the last perceived problem,

there is an imbalance of power between city council and the city administration. I can make a convincing argument that all these perceived problems are still prevalent today. Yeah. And so city government is not responsive to the needs and inquiries of the citizens. They explain that there's a feeling that city government is disconnected from the concerns of the citizens

and does not respond well to concerns raised by citizens. Also described as a disconnect between citizens and a public bureaucracy. Specific comments include that people have approached many counselors, but they just seem to have their own agenda, and some people just don't feel as if their votes count. This is discussed as a self-fulfilling argument, suggested that the reason there were not more people, particularly African Americans, at public hearings

was that there's no point. Nothing is going to happen, just like the last time these issues were studied, and low voter turnout may be viewed as a symptom of this problem. And I can certainly see that as, as being a possible issue today. Like you said, why would somebody go to the, to the,

the voting booth if they have repeatedly voted in elections, voted in,, voted for things that they felt strongly about, and continually seen nothing done. I think a big one is Democrats number five, Democrats having the upper hand. Many citizens feel powerless and unrepresented because Democrats have won every city council seat except one since 1988. And of course, this was written in 2004, so it's not taking the last 20 years into account. But still, I think, fairly true. Being a Democratic Party nominee almost ensures election. Even though the Democratic nomination takes place in an open caucus attended by hundreds of rank-and-file Democrats, some feel that it's a closed system that makes it difficult for

outsiders to win the nomination. This perception, combined with the cost of running at large, has made it very difficult for people not affiliated with the Democratic Party to run for city council. Charlottesville City Council 2023 general election results. There were three candidates on council. The Democratic primary, the primary race for council, there were five candidates that ran, Osherin, Payne, Snook, Deshaun Cooper, Bobby Fenwick. Get this, in the 2023 Democratic primary,

which determines who's going to sit on the dais, according to Sevillepedia, 33,650 registered voters. 33,650 according to Sevillepedia. Ballots cast, what percentage would you put it at? Percentage of the 33,000. And we should note that 33,000 is roughly two-thirds of the population. Population in Charlottesville City, say 46,000, 47,000. Yeah, so 33 is roughly two-thirds. Give you that. And as a percentage of those who are actually registered to vote, I would say 25%.

Very well done, Judah Wittkower. You're on point today. 23.68% voted. Less than 8,000 people determine the people that allocate and spend the money for Charlottesville. The general election had no competition. And the Democratic primary only had five people on it. Because the Democratic primary, the situation is, I'm not going to say it's conceived and birthed in smoky back rooms amongst few people with a cloud of smoke and ties at half mask and fedoras to the side as they're drinking whiskey. But it's conceived by a few people who will run. Which leads us into the next section of this.

So a few people are determining, a couple of people are determining who's going to run and spend the 200 and some million dollars in budget for Charlottesville. I want you to think about that and this goes on to say with little opposition at election time there may be a tendency for democratic counselors to become less attentive to citizens than they would be if elections were more competitive many citizens feel they are not listened to. Republicans especially have cited instances when city administrators and counselors have turned a deaf ear to them. Further, the dominant electoral strength of the Democrats may have an effect on turnout with some citizens thinking, what's the use?

The Democrats always win. The co-chairs of the Charlottesville Democratic Party right now, Nancy Damon and Josh Thronberg. We know Josh. Vice Chair Deshaud Cooper. We know Mr. Cooper. Secretary Ruth Goldeen and Will Evans. Treasurer Jason Vandiver. Anything else you want to add, my friend?

I thought you've been doing a fantastic job this week. Yeah, I think another good point is the lack of socioeconomic diversity among council members. And in this report, it explains how it's costly and time-consuming running a campaign, of course. It makes note of the fact that most counselors have been self-employed or have jobs with very flexible schedules. Democratic candidates running as a team spent more than $32,000, while the two losing Republicans spent a total of approximately $20,000. In local elections, candidates are expected to go door to door. This is extremely difficult in a city of 40,000 residents for any candidate who has a nine-to-five job. Moreover, some citizens feel that counselors more sensitive to the concerns of average residents may give greater attention to economic concerns such as taxes, jobs, or social service needs. There it is. Fascinating report. Still rings true today,

the 20-year anniversary of said report. Yeah. Eight minutes before the 145. Next headline, my friend. If you could put the lower third on the screen and read it live on air. Industrial warehouse space. Industrial warehouse space. So little of it around. Is so few and far between.

So few and far between. So few and far between. Is that really a problem, though? Oh, it's a problem. Is it? Yeah. Is Charlottesville or Albemarle the best place for a hub? A brewery? A what? A brewery? A what?

A brewery distribution? Are we talking distributing to local businesses? It could be anything. Industrial warehouse space doesn't just have to be for Amazon packages. It could be distribution of beer. Industrial warehouse or space with tall ceilings could be...

I'm just thinking of the fact that there's not really a north-south passage directly from this area. It could be for activities for kids and parents that need tall ceilings. Okay. Industrial warehouse space could be... I mean, so much needed. Okay. Industrial warehouse space could be I mean, so

much needed. Okay. Think about Almar on Charlottesville. Where's the industrial warehouse space in Almar on Charlottesville? Maybe a little at Woolen Mills. Maybe a little at Ickes Park where Three Notch is. They took an airplane hangar.

Outside of that, where do you got it? You want a gold mine? You build Buku Industrial Warehouse Space right next to the Urban Ring. There's industrial warehouse space in Fluvanna County right off 15. I've toured some of it.

A friend of mine's got a business out there that creates outdoor products and distributes it from the space on Route 15. But you talk about a gold mine creating an industrial warehouse space park close to the urban ring and watches entrepreneurs flock to you and occupy your space.

I mean, we have plenty of retail, plenty of restaurant, plenty of office, plenty of medical, plenty of flex, not an industrial warehouse, came up today in conversation. Interesting topic.

Something to percolate. Final topic, was that viewer and listener power rankings? We had top three issues. Oh, this could be a topic we save for tomorrow. Let's brainstorm some ideas here. Put this atop of the list for tomorrow. On the headlines. I'm off air tomorrow.

I've got to let Jesse know. Jesse, are you watching the program? Something came up today, Jesse. I've got to reach out to you, Mr. Rutherford, about tomorrow's show. Can we make a note, Facebook message, Mr. Rutherford, that I tour in

real estate tomorrow, and I'm not going to be in the saddle for the show, because we initially had booked Supervisor Rutherford for tomorrow's program. If we could potentially do another time slot with him. Big fan of Supervisor Rutherford. It's a Facebook message.

That literally came up today. I deeply have to apologize to him. We'll be back on the show on Friday, so this could be the lead of Friday's show. If you're a centrist, what are you running on? I mean, the first thing I think you would run on is pulling back tax exposure and being a little tighter with the budget. I was going to say,

I don't know if I could come up with all three, but my big one for the first one is having a vision for the future that is budget neutral. Budget neutral. I mean, budget neutral would would corner a lot of votes. Second, if you're a centrist, what are you running on? Positioning infrastructure ahead of density, perhaps? Possibly, yeah.

Infrastructure's throttled around here. Density's getting priority. Is infrastructure? Right? Slowly. I don't know if it's a priority or if things just get fixed when people yell loudly enough about them.

I mean, your third platform point could just be the fact that you're running as a centrist. Yeah. Be like, hey, I'm not status quo. Oh, did Mr. Brown do that in 2019? Friend of the program, Bellamy Brown? Could be argued. You're saying he did do that? Running as an independent?

Yeah. That's a topic we can really take a deep dive in on Friday. I would like to get the viewers and listeners' takes on that topic. Closing thoughts. McChesney says fix the streets. I would mean in that scenario he's talking about, like, say, potholes. I also wrote down making our roads safer. Biker-pedestrian safety, is that what you're talking?

I would imagine all that i mean fixing the potholes making that we've had we've had far too many uh news stories recently about about uh pedestrians and bicyclists getting hurt high street the driver of the vehicle that sideswept essentially the bicycle driver, the bicycle rider, caught on camera on High Street. There's been a lot of it lately. Yeah. All right, that's the Wednesday edition of the I Love Seville show. Programming note, I am off air tomorrow, back in the saddle on Friday. You're free to host the show if you'd like tomorrow.

I understand if you do not want to. Back in the saddle on Friday, we'll lead with the centrist like tomorrow. I understand if you do not want to. Back in the saddle on Friday, we'll lead with the centrist talk tomorrow. We'll have that unpacked really nicely for you. Judah Wickauer has been on absolute fire lately. Give the man some props. If you like the show, let us know. Tell us, great show, good job.

Share the show. Do we not work very hard on this? We do. Very hard on this. That's the only thing we ask in return. I'm Jerry Miller. It's the I Love Seville show on a Wednesday. I've got a final, I want to shout out to.

Oh, you have a final thought. We talk a lot about the students in the area, and I want to give a shout out to the students because. Give us the final thought and then close the program. You've got about 30 seconds before 145. I'm trying to. Charlottesville Catholic and Albemarle High students took home two-thirds of the Virginia Piedmont Regional Science Fair top prizes. Amazing.

It's good stuff. Congrats to all involved. And that's it for the news today folks have a wonderful afternoon you didn't like that? no, it's not the sign off I don't know what the sign off is you think I pay attention? Thank you.