The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - CVille Mayor Pay Increasing From $20K to $37K; CVille Councilor Pay Upping From $18K to $34K

Episode Date: May 9, 2024

The I Love CVille Show headlines: CVille Mayor Pay Increasing From $20K to $37K CVille Councilor Pay Upping From $18K to $34K Will Salary Increases Create “Career Politicians?” Louisa County Will Fund PVCC Again ($6K) Book: “Schooled” Partially About CHS/ACPS UVA Must Be More Transparent With Everyone UVA Tony Bennett Longterm Contract Details Upcoming Guests: Mike ter Maat, John Schoeb 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, Rumble and iLoveCVille.com.

Jerry Miller, I Love Seville Studio, as we manage a number of professional endeavors. And the first quarter, I guess we're into the second quarter, we're clearly into the second quarter, goodness gracious, has been extremely busy for our businesses. We're going to cover a lot on today's program. We are going to discuss a book that I received in the mail. And the very interesting thing about this, and I think that's why he carries the number one ranking in our family, Deep Throat sends me a message

yesterday via DM about a book that's hit the interwebs for purchase. And this book is called Schooled, The Miseducation of an American Teacher. In fact, I have the book in my hands now. And the book is authored by Kurt R. Johnson, who lives in the Charlottesville community. And this book is in part about Charlottesville High School and a man's experience at Charlottesville High School as a teacher. And it also offers coverage of the nationwide attention grabbing Albemarle County school board race between dr. Meg Bryce and Allison Spillman so I'm gonna offer or read a couple of excerpts from this book live on the show and then I will reach out to Mr. Johnson to see if we can get him on the program

to discuss why he wrote this book, what his experience was like in the hallways of Charlottesville High School, and get his take on things like that at-large race between Spillman and Bryce that captivated the country. I'm not just talking Central Virginia or Commonwealth wide attention. This had, in a lot of ways, maybe you can make an argument, the most attention grabbing of all school board races in the last generation, and certainly on the short list with most attention grabbing school board races in American history. And I say that without exaggeration on this talk show. I want to cover the potential for career politicians in the city of Charlottesville. The pay for these elected officials is escalating potentially quite dramatically. We have a mayor that's currently making $20,000 a year. That mayor is Juan Diego Wade, and that number could escalate as high as $37,000 plus perks and benefits like

full-service, top-shelf health care. Counselor pay could escalate from $18,000 a year to $34,000. In fact, we need to change that second headline, Judah. Do we have the same headline twice on there in the first two slots? No. Okay. Mayor pay and civil counselor pay. Excellent. Thank you very much.

So I want to cover this on the program. You know, if you are on the brink want to cover this on the program. You know, if you are on the brink of creating career politicians here in Charlottesville, what does that look like for the future of this city? Are we going to have a man or a woman in office, either the mayor's spot, a counselor's spot, for decades? I mean, could this create an Ann Malik situation? The supervisor of Albemarle County from the Whitehall District, who's in her fifth term, when Ann Malik's term is over, she will have served Albemarle County for 20 straight years. Is that good for the community to have a stranglehold on political office like Supervisor Malik has had? And it's potentially going to happen with Charlottesville as you increase pay. We'll

unpack that on today's program. I also want to talk about Louisa County returning funding to Piedmont Virginia Community College. It's $6,000, but it's more about the action of returning the funding. And I want to highlight that the University of Virginia needs to work on its transparency and its communication. And we've seen that in a number of ways. We saw that with UVA's unwillingness to release the audit or the report of the three murdered Virginia football players that were killed by a fellow student while attending or while returning to grounds from an off-grounds field trip, if you may. This audit, this report, this case study that showed how UVA potentially mismanaged the

situation from start to finish, they're holding it close to the vest and are unwilling as of now to release it to alumni, community members, elected officials, students, just everyday Joes that live in the Charlottesville and Alamaro community. And I think we deserve that communication and that transparency. We're also getting very sheltered and very cultivated and vetted and company line communication about this past Saturday's protest that was obviously mismanaged in a number of ways. I want to compare and contrast these two and ask the university, and this really is Jim Ryan, why the communication has been so clandestine and lacking transparency. That topic on today's program. We'll also chatter some of the rumor

mill about Tony Bennett's basketball contract. Chris Graham with the Augusta Free Press is currently doing a FOIA to try to get the details of Tony Bennett's basketball contract. He has put on his website, and Mr. Graham has got a website that gets a boatload of traffic. Mr. Graham is certainly one that utilizes, I mean, some would say clickbait headlines, but he's currently reporting that his sources are saying that Coach Bennett is on a contract of not much shelf life left and is potentially not interested in a contract renewal or, excuse me, extension at this time. I found that, you know, as a basketball fan, perplexing and frustrating and confusing and

concerning. Coach Bennett, in my eyes, walks on water and can take a couple of loaves of bread and a few fishes and feed about 15,000 or 16,000 people that grace the John Paul Jones Arena. So perhaps this is, I don't want to say the beginning of the end, if Chris Graham is correct, but I think those details would be something that I'd like to follow very closely. Again, a transparency thing there when it comes to the university. A lot we're going to cover on the program. We'll give some love to Otto Turkish Street Food on Water Street. If you have not tried Otto Turkish Street Food on Water Street, you are missing a fantastic lunch and dinner

experience. It is fresh, it is made daily, and it is unlike anything that you have had in Charlottesville. The gentlemen behind Otto Turkish Street Food are local, they are small business owners, and they are grinding seven days a week to provide you a culinary experience that I think is unmatched and unduplicated in this community, auto Turkish street food. Well, we've Judah Wickhauer into the mix on a two-shot, the director and producer of this program. I want to unpack this from different angles. And I think what makes the program good is you and I have very different ways of looking at things. And that discussion provides compelling content for viewers and listeners.

Look, it's no secret that the city of Charlottesville, and if you want to put the lower third on screen, the first one, its mayor is earning $20,000 a year. Fellow counselors are earning $18,000 a year. Interestingly, Albemarle County supervisors are paid even less than what the counselors of Charlottesville and the mayor of Charlottesville earn. So folks, giddy up and get ready. This happens with Charlottesville. It's going to start having a domino effect

into the other jurisdictions with elected officials asking for increased pay as well. It's called COPS, comparables. It's a copycat society. The mayor at $20,000, the current compensation is a misrepresentation. Healthcare and other perks and benefits also included in this. Cell phone, for example. Now they've got to be careful what they transmit on that cell phone. It's not like it's your and I's cell phone where we can do whatever we want. Yeah, but who doesn't have their own cell phone in today's day and age? It's a good question. Here's the question I have for you. If they up the mayor pay from $20,000, which it is now, to the $37,000, which under new legislation, Sean Tubbs has got excellent reporting about this, under the new legislation from Richmond, Charlottesville can now pay its mayor as much as $37,000 a year from the $20K Juan Diego weight is currently earning, and councilors can get potentially as much as $34,000 from the $18,000 they're making right now.

I'm concerned of career politicians. One of the advantages of having a pay scale like this is it creates a need for mayors and counselors to have additional work, auxiliary jobs to supplement their income. Pinkston works for the University of Virginia. Counselor Snook is an attorney, a defense attorney. Juan Diego Wade has employment elsewhere. The only one I believe who relies on their counselor compensation as their primary source of income is Michael Payne. Where do you want to begin with this discussion? And then I'll offer some perspective.

I mean, what about someone you mentioned, Malik? She's out in Moore County. Yeah, I know that. So, I mean, the pay scale hasn't stopped her from making this a career. Supervisor Malik has additional sources of revenue. Yeah, of course. She's not hurting. Right.

But the point being that we're basically saying that somebody either has to work a second job or be independently wealthy, right? Or work a second job, be independently wealthy, be retired, entrepreneurial with scheduling flexibility. The naysayers would say that this keeps diversity from happening on council. I haven't seen that. Council's pretty diverse. In our time on council. I haven't seen that. Council's pretty diverse.

In our time on council, we've seen women on the dais. We've seen white folks on the dais. We've seen African Americans on the dais. Seems to be some diversity there. You look at the particular council we have now, Natalie Oshren, Juan Diego Wade, offer a level of diversity with only five on the dice yeah that's fair I mean I guess it all depends on

how much you feel they deserve to be compensated for the work that they do. I mean, there's really, I mean. How about the optics of going from 18 to 34? 20 to 37? Yeah, but when was the last time it was raised? 20 years. Yeah, so is it a matter of finally bringing things into line with. 20 plus years.

...inflation and all the other stuff that's gone up recently? Or is it... I get it. You're basically doubling just about what they're getting paid. Let me ask you this. If you potentially 2x what counselors are paid, should you then potentially 2X what local government, what staff in City Hall is compensated?

There's been a number of years where staff has not seen raises. 20, though? Not 20, but years have gone by. Would staff not say, oh, these guys are getting potentially 2x compensation. Why isn't ours jumping like this? I mean, I don't really think anybody's going to say, why isn't our pay getting doubled?

You don't think people are going to say, give us a raise? Those are two different things. You don't think people will say, oh, the councilor's got a big-time pay bump. We should have a big-time pay bump. Okay, but a raise is not doubling someone's pay. How about a big-time pay bump? Well, I think they've been doing that, haven't they? I mean, that's part of the most recent budget for the city. They went a long period of time without bumps. And I'm all for everyone getting additional compensation. But what does additional compensation mean?

It means the Charlottesville business owner, the Charlottesville homeowner, the Charlottesville renter, the Charlottesville individual or family that enjoys eating out are going to pay more in taxes. Meals taxes are going up in July. If you're going to raise every single government post in the city, then that may require a considerable addition to our taxes. Bill McChesney watching the program right now, he says, I don't know why they need more money. They hire expensive consultants

to help them make decisions. You are elected to make decisions and tell the city manager what you want him to do. I would not mind if these people could figure things out for themselves. If this has been announced already, then it's already, if this has been announced,

it's already been decided. I think the, to it's already, if this has been announced, it's already been decided. I think the, to Bill's point, I think the compensation increases have been decided. The level of compensation increase has not been decided. And political pressure or political opinion or community pressure or community opinion could certainly impact where the level of compensation goes, meaning it may not go all the way to the top of what they can do. Sean Tubbs has great reporting on this. The mayor can earn up to $37,000 a year. Counselors can earn up to $34,000 a year. This is nearly 2X-ing their compensation packages. It's important to highlight that they're also getting additional benefits like quality health care and meal stipends, cell phone to utilize. So it's a compensation package that's more than this. It's also important, if I'm covering this from both sides, to understand that the HUD

median income for a family household is over $124,000, $124,200. So even if a counselor or a mayor is making, with complete compensation, over $40,000 with health care included and any additional perks, that still is below the family household income. Yeah, no doubt. My fear, and I've highlighted this in years past, is the career politician. Someone who has a stranglehold on office and potentially can limit or throttle or dictate policy that comes through a city that we all live in and follow closely. We haven't had a career politician in the city of Charlottesville, at least in my time here. Who would you characterize as the longest-running or longest-sitting counselor in the last 25 years? I've been here 24 years in August.

Let's call it 25 for an even number. I mean, Counselor Snook is on a back-to-back term. Counselor Payne is on a back-to-back term. How many did Kathy Galvin do? We haven't had the career politician here. We've had the career politician in Almaral County. Yeah. Supervisor Malik, five straight terms.

Diantha McKeel, is she on her third or fourth term? Diantha McKeel, is she on her third or fourth term? Diantha McKeel, Alamaro County. It's either three or four for Supervisor McKeel. Let's check. Going old to trusty CIVLpedia. She's been a supervisor since 2014. So she's in the midst of her third term. Diantha McKeel. Anything you want to add to this? Viewers and listeners, we'll get to your comments.

Deep Throat has this to say. You get his photo on screen. I'd be totally happy to see council paid more if they had to fire one of the three deputy city managers to pay for it. I definitely have a name in mind. He also says, watch out, though. Once they raise the councilor wage, they'll say that for the purpose of equity, they should have a council of 25 people. I think if council's wages are raised, the surrounding jurisdictions will also see their wages increase as well. And I think this will increase the tax burden across the board.

Kristen Zacos McChesney says it's stuck around for a while. I don't believe Zacos stuck around for more than two terms. Vanessa Parkhill watching the program. Let's get her photo on screen, please. Key member of the family. She says if local government would pull back the reins a bit, these counselors would not have so much on their plates and the lower salaries would seem reasonable. Joe Thomas touched on this during one of his shows earlier this week. Years ago, filing one of these positions was doable as a side, filling one of these positions as a side job in the service of the community. I've heard a current counselor on the dais say that this is a 15 to 20 hour a week job or should be. Remember, it's not a strong mayor form of government. The city manager is running the government. He answers to counselors who are his board of directors. Follow this closely.

The devil is in the details. Anything you want to add to this, Judah Wickauer? I think we do have to worry about escalation, where once this goes through, we start trying to push everything up. But I'm not really – I mean, if they confine it to this, I think bringing the salaries more in line with today's standards is raising five people's salaries what, less than, total that's going to be less than $100,000. That's not going to overburden the Charlottesville city.

If you call it 100K just for the sake of a talk show, that's $400,000 over the course of a four-year term. The question is, is there an escalator the following year, the following year, the following year? And I'd also be curious to see how this influences the compensation for other folks that are working for government.

And I'm all for people making as much money as humanly possible, but we do know where that money comes from. It comes from us. I'm curious to see the impact it would have on the jurisdictions that surround Charlottesville as well. I would imagine that's going to have an influence. Tom Powell watching the program while at a doctor's appointment.

Thank you, Mr. Powell, for spreading the gospel. Thank you for watching. I would think that if someone like Mr. Payne, Counselor Payne, is doing this as his main source of income, if he potentially 2Xs his revenue, you will see other folks do this as their main source of income. At these levels of compensation, you're getting to what teachers are making

and potentially less workload, a lower workload. Because multiple counselors have indicated, not only counselors, but supervisors in other jurisdictions have said that this could be, if you wanted to, a 15 to 20 hour a week job. We've heard that on this talk show, that this can be a 15 to 20 hour a week job. All right. Let's go to next headline. Judah, for the sake of a talk show, let the headline, get the headline on screen and let us know what it is. Let's see. I believe we're on number four.

That is the Louisa County will fund PVCC again. The Louisa County Board of Supervisors has said the $6,000 they allocate a year to Piedmont Virginia Community College is back on the table. Louisa County's chairperson said he spoke, Mr. Snow, with the PVCC president and said he heard enough about the film. You know more about this film than I do. Offer some insight on the film, if you could, please, sir. The film is called Israelism. I don't think it is a, I don't think the movie is very favorable to the state of Israel, nor the people

of Israel. But that doesn't necessarily mean that somebody putting on the movie agrees with what the movie is saying. Correct? Anything else you'd like to offer on the movie? Sure. Let's see. Let me just find... It's about two young American Jews raised to unconditionally love Israel. And in the movie, they witness the brutal way that Israel treats Palestinians, and their lives take sharp turns. I don't necessarily think that the school putting on

the movie was worthy of having money taken away, but I understand Louisa, the counselors in Louisa, wanting to hear it from the horse's mouth, PVCC themselves, what their stance was and whether or not they're just

allowing freedom of speech, allowing this movie to be played, or whether this is part of what the school ultimately believes about Israel and people living here and there who identify as Israeli. Whatever PVCC college, PVCC president Gene Runyon said to supervisor or chairman Dwayne Adams, I called him Snow earlier, I apologize.

Dwayne Adams is his name, proved to be enough to get the funding restored. One week after holding the funding hostage, the funding is back on the table. Very curious to see what was said in a one-on-one meeting or through an email chain between the President Gene Runyon and the chairman, the chairperson of the Louisa County Board of Supervisors, Dwayne Adams. Because Mr.

Adams basically communicated with the rest of his supervisors and said, let's get the funding back on the table, and now PVCC has the money. Was it just window dressing for Louisa one week and the funding's back on the table? I think it was most likely just a... I think they were making a point. That we could do this if we wanted to. Keep us informed.

More or less. I think they were more saying, look, we're watching what you're doing. We understand, like, we know, logically, that you don't believe the premise of this film yourselves, but we want to hear you say it because it's important. Such is the era of college we live in. Yeah.

I mean, these are people who are in charge of... Influencing the next generation. Yeah. Well, I mean, it's news. We covered it when they pulled the funding or held the funding hostage, and now it's back on the table. So that...

How about them apples, ladies and gentlemen? I was surprised that a week later the switch was flipped. I thought that there would be a greater level of accountability or communication, and certainly a level of communication that would be more transparent with community members. That's, I think, a fair take, but my understanding was that they weren't asking for them to make a showy public statement. PVCC did make a showy public statement.

I know, but that's not necessarily what was being asked of them. They were just asking for, I think, their own understanding. Explain it to us, and we'll give the funding back. I don't think it was ever meant to be, you know, I don't think they were really going to deny them the money. They just wanted to hear from the horse's mouth. Where do you fall on this issue? Props to PVCC for getting ahead of this.

Yeah. Because this could have been a PR nightmare. And speaking of PR nightmares, is the next headline UVA and transparency in communication? Let's see. Book. Oh, the book. This book. Remember when you got the Manila envelope delivered to the studio? I do.

You handed it to me. It was this. The book I have in my hand. The title is Schooled. The Miseducation of an American Teacher. I'm going to begin reading this book today. Sounds interesting. The author is Kurt R. Johnson. Lives in this Teacher. I'm going to begin reading this book today. Sounds interesting. The author is Kurt R. Johnson, lives in this community. I'll read a couple of pages from

this book, including Mr. Johnson's epilogue and including Mr. Johnson's description of the Albemarle County school board race that captivated the nation between Dr. Meg Bryce and Allison Spillman. Mr. Johnson also, and I found this right before the program started, because I started flipping through the pages, he included an index card, a postcard in the book. And he says, Dear Jerry, given your coverage of local public schools, you may be interested in this book I just published, Kind Regards, Kurt Johnson. Excellent PR outreach from the author of this book. PR has been a common theme of this network over the last week or two. The book is available for purchase on Amazon. It's called Schooled, the Miseducation of an American teacher. I want to read a couple of pages from this. And Judah, I've been told that Mr. Johnson is easily accessible on social media, in particular the Nextdoor app.

If you could please... Nextdoor. If you could please reach out to Mr. Johnson on one of the digital platforms and let's see if we can book him for next week. Ideally, it would be in the Wednesday slot because next week is starting to get full with guests for example on Monday you have booked who's the libertarian candidate Mike Tirmot he's running for president he's doing a tour through

Charlottesville he's going to be in studio on Monday. On Tuesday, I booked Dr. John Shabe and marketing guru Brian Combs of Pro Renata, and they're going to break some news on Tuesday's program on Pro Renata's expansion into the Shenandoah Valley through a business acquisition. I would love if you could get Mr. Combs on Wednesday, or excuse me, Mr. Johnson, the author of this book, on Wednesday's broadcast, if you could do that. I'll have the book read by then. I can pass the copy out to you if you'd like to read it as well. It is approximately,

it's a quick read, 136 pages, with acknowledgments and an epilogue. I want to read the pages from the school board portion of the book. Now I'm going to read the pages from the school board portion of the book. Now I'm going to read a couple of highlights. This is verbatim from the book. The recent Albemarle County School Board elections in November 2023 covering the school district where my kids are enrolled is a perfect case in point. In a very contentious race for the at-large Albemarle County School Board seat,

the Democratic-endorsed candidate, Alison Spillman, defeated Meg Bryce. That Meg Bryce is the daughter of the late Supreme Court Justice Anton Scalia, a fact that she downplayed while Spillman magnified only added fuel to the fire with Spillman's campaign manager, Chris Seaman, creating a fear-mongering website with the URL megscaliabrice.com to spread misinformation labeling her as an extremist conservative. Seaman subsequently left the campaign, and the site was rerouted to a local partisan PAC

called Admiral Parents Promoting Learning. left the campaign and the site was rerouted to a local partisan pack called Albemarle Parents Promoting Learning. Driving around the district, it was no wonder that many of the Vote Meg Bryce for School Board signs were defaced with a spray-painted Scalia on it. If only the Spillman Bryce School Board race had taken a page from the close relationship that existed between conservative Justice Scalia and his late friend and liberal justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. It could have been a contest that discussed pertinent issues on how to improve student learning rather than slinging mud at a candidate's parent. Major donors for Spillman included the new kingmakers of the Virginia Democratic Party, Michael Bills and his

wife, Sonia Smith, longtime Democratic supporter and famous author John Grisham, and the left-leaning organization We the People of Education. One of the major donors for Bryce is a coal magnet and major Republican supporter, Richard Baxter Gilliam, though Bryce distanced herself from the Alamaro County Republican Party's endorsement. This is the new reality in hotly contested school board elections, with major donors once focused on federal and state elections now taking notice at micro-community levels. To the credit of Meg Bryce and her campaign, she did not reciprocate attacks on the person of Allison Spillman rather her campaign slogan was focus on education which targeted improving the precipitous decline in the end of year test scores

of Albemarle County school students particularly those who are black and Hispanic he's got a handful of pages on this race guys guys. This is me talking now. He also talks about in the epilogue about the Thanksgiving sick out, where the students at Charlottesville High School organized an unofficial strike, if you may. 27 out of 96 staff calling out on the same day causing CHS to cancel school he talks in this book about the principal that hired him who then

quit mid-season, mid-year Rashad Pitt this is going to be the topic of a show School the Miseducation of an American Teacher, and I appreciate the author, Kurt R. Johnson, for mailing us a copy. We will reach out to you. Jude, if you could do that today, I believe the message has already been passed to him that we're discussing him on the show right

now, or at least that's what my text messages are showing, multiple text messages. One other housekeeping item I want to get out to you, the viewer and listener. Reporter Chris Graham of the Augusta Free Press is doing a Freedom of Information Act request on Tony Bennett, the basketball coach's contract. And reporter Chris Graham of the Augusta Free Press has indicated that his sources have told him that Coach Bennett has a contract that does not have much runway with

its expiration window. So Chris Graham is doing a Freedom of Information request asking about the details of the contract. This is public record since he is a state employee. The speculation from Chris Graham is that Coach Bennett does not want an extension because he's

considering his future on the sidelines of the Virginia basketball program and how long he wants to stay in college basketball. I am a diehard Virginia basketball fan. I find this certainly news that the man who's got a national championship and has taken a program from the doghouse to the penthouse is potentially passing on a contract extension. Because if Mr. Graham's reporting is in fact accurate, that may mean the end of the Bennett era. So time will tell on that.

I'm going to follow that storyline closely as well. Judah, we'll weave you in on a two-shot. You had a couple of items out of the notebook you wanted to get to. Let's see. Let's see. Let's see. No items out of the notebook for Judah Wachauer? Not really. What do we got?

What's that? UVA must be more transparent with everyone. That's a good headline we should cover. How they're handling the audit and investigation to the murder of the three football players. Yeah. Which they're refusing to release right now. Which the Daily Progress is suing the University of Virginia for failure to release this information,

seems to be how they handle a lot of things at the university right now. They are not being transparent, or at least they're being very limited with their transparency with Saturday's protests. That's definitely hurt them. And they've lost a lot of, in particular the president's office, a lot of earned goodwill. So this transparency concern, I think, is something that should be voiced. What's going on here?

Why are we playing things either close to the vest, choosing not to release information, piecemealing what we're releasing, being clandestine with knowledge and information, when you're a public university funded by us in large part. Lawsuits from local newspapers should not be necessary. It's a terrible look. And what happened on the town hall on Tuesday was far

from a town hall, and as we described it yesterday, a dubious PR stunt. And what did it accomplish, and why? I mean, it's almost comical at times do you find? I wouldn't utilize the word comical I would what's funny about the murder of three football players and the pepper spraying of college of teenagers and the arrest of 27 people on grounds

I mean when you put it that way but I wasn't implying that those things were comical. I was implying that, uh, that their reaction, that they're, uh, the way they've treated anyone asking for information is comical because we can infer a lot from what we've already seen and heard. I would utilize words like presumptuous or taken for granted or clandestine or conspiracy inducing. Yeah, sure. Or dubious. I think that seems to be giving a little too much credit, in my opinion, but yeah.

You don't give them credit in what they're doing? You don't think this is a ploy or a sophistication or nuance here, not releasing the information? Does it seem nuanced to you? There's a reason they're not releasing the audit or the report of how what led to the murder of three football players and how the murder and investigation was handled. And you know what that reason is? I would imagine it's to hide the fact or to disguise

the fact that a lot of what happened was mismanaged or could have been prevented. All right, but those allegations, whatever you want to call them. I don't think those are allegations. Okay. What would be the reasoning of not releasing a report when it came to the murder of three kids?

Like you said, not wanting that information to get out because it's damning, but... Exactly. That's not an allegation. That's just common sense, right? Yeah, but we've already had allegations. We've already had, we've already made guesses. Everybody's made guesses as to why they don't want that information out. Before they even were asking for the information, we were talking about how they screwed up. It's not like... It's like you're hiding something that somebody saw you actively messing around with. And then going, oh, no, we don't know what you're talking about.

That's why I find it comical, but if you think that there is some deep secret that they're hiding that nobody actually knows about, okay, but it seems to me like yeah, there probably is something that they don't they're hiding that nobody actually knows about. Okay.

But it seems to me like, yeah, there probably is something that they don't want people to know about. But the papers have already guessed the reasons, whether they're right or wrong. And the whole thing just seems farcical. It's interesting because there's a gentleman that watches this program or listens to this program, the Commonwealth's Attorney of Albemarle County, Mr. Jim Hingley. I saw Mr. Hingley today on the corner of 4th and Market Street. I believe he was getting something for lunch. I have deep admiration and respect for Mr. Hingley. I really enjoy when he watches the program.

I like when he sends us text messages or content to consider for the program, and I really appreciate his perspective on the show. I think he is good at his job, Mr. Hinchley. I see why he's been elected twice. This last time he ran unopposed. Mr. Hinchley. And with the report or the audit or the investigation of the murder of the three football players on grounds, how that was framed or how that was positioned with the media

was UVA and Tim Longo reached out to Mr. Hinchley, the Commonwealth's attorney. They had a conversation with Mr. Hinchley. And after that conversation to Mr. Hingely, the Commonwealth's attorney. They had a conversation with Mr. Hingely, and after that conversation with Mr. Hingely, they chose not to release the report because they were concerned it was going to impede his trial. Right? How that was painted was painted in a way where it was, or positioned by UVA in a way, that it was Mr. Hindley's influencer decision not to have that report out there. I thought that was

a mischaracterization of what happened. I think UVA didn't want the report out there. Right. And now a local newspaper is suing the school to get those details and they're going to win and why they're going to win is because this is a public university and that information should be on the record whether damning your words

or not to the university and the likelihood that there's items in this report that are damning of how UVA handled it. One of my particular main points or concerns is the alleged murderer, the murderer, there was mention or a report that he had the gun on his person on grounds well before he actually utilized the weapon. Other students said, this guy has a gun on him, and he was able to maintain that gun.

In his room, yeah. In his room. Okay? That's a red flag. That's mismanagement. Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. We've gone over this stuff, and so whatever they're trying to hide,

you have to assume it's going to come out sooner or later, right? You would think. I mean, they're being foiled for it, and the whole trying to hide something that you know is going to come out, like are they trying to give someone or something time? I just don't. Like I said, it seems tied together with the quote-unquote town hall on Tuesday. It all just seems kind of farcical. And that's off-brand for UVA.

It's certainly off-brand for Ryan. Yeah, definitely. Because Ryan's whole platform coming into this community was, I'm going to be communicative when it comes to affordability with housing. I'm going to be communicating. I'm going to create a panel or a cabinet of community members to discuss UVA and how it's driving up housing costs. I'm going to be communicative with everyone in Charlottesville and Albemarle that wants to run with me in the morning around grounds. Come join me for runs.

Yeah, I mean, just say that he's been communicative. He's doing a podcast to have communication, to let folks know what's going on in the university. He's present, he's giving the perception or the, I mean, he's walking the walk and talking the talk of being out in the community. But here you have potentially two of the items that he's going to be judged on, or at least the board of visitors may judge him on, how this killing was handled, how these three men, three teenagers, three young men were killed, were murdered on grounds, how this was handled from start to finish, and this protest on grounds by the chapel, how this was handled and what could have been done to prevent both. And once both

became a reality, what was done to manage the fallout and the collateral damage. These are what he's going to be judged on by a board of visitors that is splintered with how it feels about him. Splintered. So I think it's going to be an interesting summer for the president. No doubt. When it comes to the board. Yeah.

All right. That's the program today. It's a Thursday in downtown Charlottesville. We're less than two miles from the University of Virginia, a block removed from the courthouses of Albemarle and Charlottesville, right down the street from the police department of Charlottesville, right

next to the law offices of a counselor that may have his pay go from $18,000 to $34,000. Counselor Snook, it looks like you're getting a raise here. Could be. Congratulations. And I sit across from this man, Judah Woodcower, who always does an excellent job. My name is Jerry Miller.

Thank you kindly for joining us on the I Love CVO show. So long, everybody. Thank you.