The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - CVille School Board Votes Yes To Police In Schools; CVille Area #1 In Nation Avg Income Per Capita

Episode Date: March 28, 2025

The I Love CVille Show headlines: CVille School Board Votes Yes To Police In Schools CVille Area #1 In Nation Avg Income Per Capita #1 CVille, #2 San Fran, #3 DC, #4 NYC, #5 Boston Good For CVille To Be Ranked #1 In This Category? Greystar Construction Begins On Old Ivy Residences Construction On 525 Homes Started On Old Ivy Rd UVA Has 0 Returning Minutes On Hoops Roster CVille Biz Brokers Has Clients Looking To Buy w/ Cash 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.

Make sure you give me a thumbs up when we're live on LinkedIn. Please, sir. Good Friday afternoon, guys. I'm Jerry Miller, and thank you kindly for joining us on the I Love Seaville show. It's a pleasure to connect with you guys on the I Love Seaville network. We are live. A gorgeous and glorious day to be alive in downtown Charlottesville, and evidently a gorgeous and glorious day to be alive in downtown Charlottesville and evidently a gorgeous and glorious day to be live on LinkedIn. Good work, Judah Wickower. He has done a fantastic job on

the I Love Seville show this week and frankly of late. It looks like the framing on my one shot is not the best. Is my head cut off right there on the one shot? Do we need to add a little more depth on the one shot? Just a smidge of depth. I'm not talking a lot of zooming out. Just a smidge of zooming out, director and producer. There we go, that's good, that's good. Right there, perfect.

All right, a lot I wanna cover on the program. I'm shocked that this has not been reported. Judah, are you not shocked by this? There is no media outlet in central Virginia that has reported that Charlottesville School Board voted yes to putting police officers back in schools. Are you not surprised by that? I think that is a really big story.

The city school board voted to bring SROs back into schools in a 4-2 vote. Why has that not been reported? When was the vote? Yesterday. Why has that not been reported? When was the vote? Yesterday. It's not too surprising they haven't caught it yet. Really? That's big time news.

We'll talk about that on today's program. Police officers back in the hallways at city schools. Returning to the hallways in Almaro County. Is a level of common sense coming back to public schools in Charlottesville, Almaro County? I'll catch some heat from that. I'll catch some arrows from the Gilligan gang for that. But it seems school boards in Almaro County in the city of Charlottesville are starting

to return to common sense. We'll talk about that today. How about this little tidbit, Judah Wickauer, that came up on Real Talk with Keith Smith. Are you ready for this? Keith Smith passing this information on to us. Did you know the Charlottesville region is ranked number one in the United States of America

for income in 2025 according to the latest data from Fannie Mae Judah, and according to the latest data from HUD, the Charlottesville region has the highest average income per capita of any major metro area in the United States of America. That means Virginia, excuse me, that means Charlottesville, the Charlottesville, the Charlottesville metro area is outpacing San Francisco, Washington DC, New York City and Boston. Number one is

Charlottesville, number two is San Francisco, three is Washington DC, four New York City, five in Boston. The Charlottesville metro statistical area includes the city of Charlottesville, Almaro County, Fluvanna County, Green and Nelson County. It's important to emphasize this is per capita and according to Fannie Mae and HUD, I will argue that this is a positive for the Charlottesville metro area. I have a feeling, Judah Wichower, I don't want to put words in your mouth, sir. Are we on a two shot with you yet?

Maybe we should. You're a valued member here. I don't want to put words in your mouth. Are you going to say this is a negative for Charlottesville? I don't know that I can say it one way or the other. I really need more information. It doesn't tell me a whole lot, does it? What do you mean?

Well, it's an average, right? Okay. So does that mean if you had somebody here that had, you know, five billion dollars? There's multiple billionaires that live in the Charlottesville area. Multiple billionaires live in the Charlottesville area. So how does that skew the number? That's going to skew the numbers. What?

That'll skew the numbers. I know. That's what I'm saying. I'm saying, I think there are billionaires that live in San Francisco though, Silicon Valley. I think there are billionaires that live in Washington DC, New York City, and Boston. Those are some very... We're not the only place that has billionaires that live here to skew data. Right. That's not an answer to the question though, and it's certainly not a solution to me not knowing what the numbers mean.

Okay. Well, I want to ask you this question. Are you ready? I'm going to ask you this question. This area being one of the most expensive in the country, what do you make of that? What do I make of that? I mean, it's a shame. Does Charlottesville deserve to be one of the most expensive places in the country? to be one of the most expensive places in the country.

I think there are probably a lot of people that are, we talk about this all the time. A lot of people, this is not going to be a good thing for a lot of people. I want to unpack it. Deep Throat makes the point that median, which is the point that you're making, is the statistic that matters. Average is a statistic that's less valuable. It's a point that you've made.

I made Unreal Talk. It's a point to emphasize. Still it's a talking point for a talk show like the I Love Seaville show. I want to unpack that in friendly back and forth, friendly argumentative banter we'll call it, with Judah Wickhauer and you the viewer and listener. I want to talk on today's program about Judah Wickhauer, the gray star project starting on Old Ivy Road, is now underway. 500 plus residences next to St. Ann's-Belfield

on a road that's very difficult to traverse or navigate. Right? We'll have that conversation. I wanna have the conversation today that with the Virginia Men's Basketball roster, all the minutes played this past year has entered the transfer portal. Sharma is in there. TJ Power is in there. I take that back.

Saunders is coming back. So I should frankly rephrase that headline. The only player of merit that is returning that's played legitimate minutes last year is Saunders. Eli Saunders. Gertrude is coming back too, but he had a knee injury. He blew out his knee. He did not play.

The back court is gone in the portal. McNeely, Rodey, Day-Day Ames. The frontcourt minus Saunders is all in the portal, including Kofi and Robinson, T.J. Power. Christian Bliss entered the portal. Talented Canadian sharpshooter Sharma entered the portal. Disappointment, T.J.ma entered the portal. Disappointment TJ Power entered the portal. Now you do have the kid from St. Ann's-Belfield who's a senior at STAB right now and Chance

Mallory the four-star point guard who I've been told by multiple sources is earning well over a million dollars per year in NIL compensation to come to stay in Charlottesville and to play for UVA point guard for Ryan Odom. And we do know that the UVA players that enter the portal could return, but as of right now, the only player that's played any meaningful minutes last year, Saunders, who transferred from San Diego State and was in his first year in Charlottesville,

is the only guy coming back. I wanna talk about that on today's show. Carol Thorpe and Georgia Gilmer, we're gonna get to your program here, your comments here in a matter of moments. Judah, which headline intrigues you the most today and why? It's a good question. I guess that the Seville school board voted police back into school.

So that's a surprising turn. Why surprise? You want to put that lower third on screen? Sure. We'll give some props. Charlottesville sanitary supply here in a matter of moments. Why surprise? It's clearly something that central Virginia residents

feel strongly about. They've been voted back in the hallways in a 4-2 vote? Feel strongly about police in general. OK. So back in the halls, SRO police in general. Okay, so back in the halls SROs and schools Almaro County is doing the same So the two biggest school districts in central Virginia are going to return police to the hallways These two school districts Almaro County and Charlottesville public school districts also the one that are most

prolific with with parental activism. And the parental activism with Almaro County and Charlottesville public schools was to eradicate officers from hallways because of the fear of the pipeline to prison mentality. Pipeline to prison reality, maybe it would be better terminology. The school board has said, since we've've taken I don't think it's fair either

but that's what the activists say I think it's a absurd frankly You don't want a pipeline to prison go to school and don't cause trouble Right and you're not gonna have a pipeline to prison. It's not complicated. You don't want to go get in trouble Do your schoolwork? Keep your head down stay off your phone you don't want to go get in trouble, do your schoolwork. Keep your head down. Stay off your phone.

Participate in extracurricular activities. Play some sports. Go home and do your homework. And do it the next day. And do it the day after. And do it the day after that until you graduate, like we all did. Right?

Yeah, mas y menos. Shock that it's not been reported by any media. John Blair highlights on LinkedIn. Jerry, maybe you saw it, but I don't recall seeing any coverage of the Alamaro County School Board voting to expand SROs in schools on March 13th either.

What is up with legacy or old media not highlighting something that I think is a pretty significant story, elected officials voting on a controversial topic to return police officers to the hallways, the lobbies, the cafeterias of children's educational buildings. Why is this not being reported? We're the first to report it.

After this, I would imagine others will be reporting it. The Gilligan gang is at a loss right now for this. In fact, on the co-chair of Livable Seaville's Facebook page, he's causing for the boycott of one of the Charlottesville school board members and Dooley, who is up for reelection. Believe that is a very talented, and I hope she hears this, I hope she hears this. How do you boycott a person? Emily Dooley, she's running for reelection

on the school board. Talented realtor, Emily Dooley, very good realtor. Believe with Ness Realty, I hope she hears this. Quality realtor, I'm glad she had the courage to vote yes for police officers back in schools in an election year. She's currently being challenged by Ziana Bryant, the Charlottesville activists. The Charlottesville activists, Ziana Bryant, her history of activism extremely well known started at a young age with the

protesting and the activism around the statue in Market Street Park. The R.E. Lee statue and Market Street Park. The RE Lee statue and Market Street Park. She's challenging Emily Dooley for school board spot. Who else is challenging Emily Dooley? Mr. Cooper, De'Sha Cooper. Oh yeah, he's back in. Who ran for Charlottesville City Council. He's back in. Interestingly, he kind of hedged his bets, hedged his election exposure risk. He said, I'm going to run for school board instead of city council again.

He ran for city council last term because he knows he's active in the Democratic Party that Pinkston and Wade are seeking re-election. And now we have a third candidate, Jen. I believe it's Fleischer. Fleischer running. So there's some competition in that race. We think, Juan, I don't want to speak for you.

If I'm saying something wrong, correct me. I think the I Love Seville Show thinks Juan Diego Wade is a slam dunk to get re-elected. And the I Love Seville Show sees Jen Fleischer as a threat to Brighton Pinkston, the vice mayor, for re-election. Remember, Pinkston's already lost one council push. This will be his third consecutive time

trying to get on council. He's one and one so far. So Cooper says, we've got a long jam at council. Let me run for school board. I bet you Cooper did not anticipate that Ziana Bryant was going to run. Regardless, they're eyeing Dooley's seat. There's two spots open.

And I give props to Dooley in election year to return police officers to school. It's been a tumultuous ride for Charlottesville public schools since the officers have been removed from the hallways. We've heard of principals quitting midterm. We've heard of backyard brouhaha's, cafeteria brouhaha's and fisticuffs. Roving bands of miscreants. Roving bands of miscreants.

I mean, right? No! 100% right! 50 kids running around unchallenged through the schools? Can he Leatherwood? He's exactly right. Kenny Leatherwood had to do his best Dangerous Minds and lean on me, Morgan Freeman, Michelle Pfeiffer impersonation and come in as the interim principal and return order to Charlottesville High School because of the dangerous nature of roving bands of miscreants raising a ruckus

in the schools folks We choose colorful language because the show is about education entertainment and enlightenment But when it really comes down to it, having a police officer or two in the hallways at public schools, tell me how this is a bad thing. I'm gonna be straight faced here. Tell me how this is a bad thing. If you're not getting into trouble

and you're not bringing any weapons to school, or you're not causing any fights at school, or you're not smoking any Chiva at school, you're not tripping face or eating Boomers at school, you're not tardy, and you're not truant, and you do your work, and you stay off your phone, what do you have to worry about? Should we not have a school system where the expectation is, don't fight, don't do drugs, don't use your phone,

do your schoolwork, and do the best you can. I mean, it's very straightforward, is it not? Yeah. And if your child isn't doing those things, it's time to find a different school. They're getting in trouble, then that has nothing to do with anything but you not, your kid not doing what he's supposed to be doing

and you not leading by example. I don't know. Seriously. Yeah. Right. Now, Albemarle County and Charlottesville City are both returning police officers to schools. Judith, I'm going to ask you this question. Is this a microcosm or is this a window into the shift in dynamic or ideology or mindset of parents in Alamo County in Charlottesville City?

Judah, prior to COVID and in the early stages of COVID, the police officer being in the school hallway was taboo. The police officer being in the cafeteria or the foyer of the school was akin to some of the worst possibility out there. And a lot of that had to do with the fallout from George Floyd murder. A lot of that had to do with some shadiness when it comes to police officers in certain communities. There's bad apples in every barrel.

And we tried the experiment of removing police officers from schools and all we heard was trouble in Alamaro County, trouble at Alamaro High School and trouble at Charlottesville High School. Lawlessness and recklessness. Now look at what we're doing in Alamaro County okay? Clearly they didn't know their own students. Well look at what we're doing in Alamaro County, okay? Clearly they didn't know their own students. Well look at what we're doing in Alamaro County now. Much to my disappointment, my disappointment, we're gonna raise the Alamaro County

real estate tax rate of four cents. And that four cent increase is in very large part being used to fund new law enforcement officers and fire, firemen in the area. In the beginning of COVID, prior to COVID or at the start of COVID, if Alamaro County's executive said, we're going to raise the real estate tax rate to hire more police officers, to train more police officers and to fund more police, and if prior to COVID, the Charlottesville school board had said in a 4-2 vote,

we're gonna vote to bring to reinforce police officers in schools, there would have been a political and protesting riot in Albemarle and Charlottesville. Now, this is where we're at. Hear me out. Where we're at now, the media doesn't even cover it. It's a 4-2 vote including one of the school board members Emily Dooley who does it in an election year. Yeah. And Almarra County openly vocalizes that they're prioritizing police officer hiring prior to housing affordability with the four cent real estate tax rate increase. The climate has completely changed. Am I

saying Almaro County and Charlottesville City are conservative? No, I am not. Am I saying Almaro County and the city of Charlottesville are red or Republican? No, I am not. What I am saying is parents got a glimpse of what lawlessness looked like for their respective kids, education, and schools, and they didn't like it. And I've seen in Virginia one of the platform points that really riles or rankles parents and how they vote is schools. We saw that with Yonkin and McCullough, and McCullough sickened his foot and his mouth three times about parents and their involvement in schools in Virginia.

Lost the race. You want to win an election? You listen to the parents when it comes to schools. And I think Emily Dooley, the Ness Rulter, who voted for two and showed a lot of courage last night and now is being lambasted by activists in this community, I think she showed a lot of courage last night and this is going to go a long way potentially to getting her re-elected. Is Zyanna Bryant going to be a tough opponent for her? Absolutely.

Absolutely she will be. But I saw leadership last night from Dooling. Anything you want to offer? Looks like it might not be such a quick, it's not like they've got people ready to go to jump into the schools. I'm seeing here that they are taking the first steps of forming a working group, do more research and craft a memorandum of understanding. So perhaps we should temper our-

It's not tempered. It was a 4-2 vote. It was a 4-2 vote. Clearly done. You can read it online. Cite the source or use it over there. I was looking at Civo right now. Yeah.

4-2 vote. And the leader of the gang is saying that they're absolutely shocked by that. Any other closing thoughts? What is your, is the next headline the one that was most intriguing to you? Let's see. Seaville area number one in nation average income per capita. I would love for you to go first on this one. And then we'll get to some of the comments.

Well, like I said, I'm not really sure what it means exactly. Highest average? I mean, I don't. All I have is a title here. We talked about it the entire hour on Real Talk with Keith Smith where you were producing and directing the show. Yeah I wasn't. Okay that's your prerogative. I mean I was doing other things as usual. I worry that because there's so little actual information there, that the what's the gap? Like saying there's we've got a high average is great, but what are the lowest lows and what are the highest highs? And how does us becoming number one in income per capita affect those lows? Those are some of the questions I have about this.

On real talk with Keith Smith, Keith Smith the, was the chairman of the, what do they call the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission now? I think they rebranded that to get Thomas Jefferson out of the mix, which is crazy to me. He says, and he talked about this today, according to the latest data from Fannie Mae and HUD, the Charlottesville region has the highest average income per capita of any major metro area in the US for 2025. That means we're outpacing the likes of San Francisco,

Washington, DC, and New York City. One Seaville metro area per capita, two San Francisco, three Washington, DC, four New York City, five Boston. He used this average and not median. Let's just talk about this in broad strokes because the average median is a fair point that he's made here. To even be in the conversation,

to even be in the conversation, is it a pro or con for Charlottesville? You should be able to answer that without exact data for you. Okay, I guess it's a pro. It means we're generally speaking doing well, right? Neil Williamson highlights a couple of points. I really was hoping you were going with the cons. So Judah Wickower, you are going to go on the record that it is a pro that we have one of the most expensive places to live in the entire nation. When you phrase it that way, absolutely not.

That is what this is. I mean, I feel like we're not connecting today. We are highlighting that this is the metro area in Charlottesville, one of the most expensive places to live per capita in the nation. OK. That's not what I took from the way the title was phrased. I thought this was about income, more or less.

How much people were making on average. And if you say it's about how expensive it is to live here Then yeah, of course, it's a bad thing Neil Williamson this morning according to Hamilton Lombard, which I highlighted this morning He's a hell of a squash player of Weldon Cooper After Albemarle and Charlottesville Fairfax County is the top place to work for Charlottesville MSA residents that highlights that many of these Residences are many Charlottesville Metro resid residents. That highlights that many of these residents, many Charlottesville metro residents are working remotely in Fairfax while living here. Neil also made two very good points here.

Lombard, Neil says, in his state of the community presentation to the Chamber of Commerce, indicated outside of Florida, the Charlottesville area has the highest share, 31% of residents reporting investments as an income source. This is a great statistic. Hamilton Lombard of Weldon Cooper in his presentation to the Chamber of Commerce in February highlighted that the Charlottesville area has the highest share outside of Florida that the Charlottesville area has the highest share outside of Florida and the Charlottesville area has a 31 percent 31 percent of residents indicate

investments as an income source. Do you want to touch on that at all, Judah? I mean that tells me that a lot of them are likely are likely retirees. I mean that tells me that a lot of them are likely retirees. I wouldn't, could be retirees. I mean you don't have to be a retiree to have investments. No, you definitely don't. You can own rental property. You're right. You can be enjoying the returns on stocks and equities as investments.

Okay. We have clients that are non-retirees that own multiple businesses, right? It doesn't have to be retirees. Fair enough. Yeah. I mean, it's, but the point is this, where it's not tied to your primary income as sources of revenue, not tied to your job as sources of revenue. Do you see that as a good or a bad?

I honestly don't know. I see it as a strength. I really was hoping that you were going to take the con side of this. I thought you would. Well, you pooh-pooh everything that say? I so I'm completely lost here. I don't poo poo anything. I think you're just you're you're choosing to turtle in perspective as opposed to trying to make a compelling argument. Well this is a compelling argument that you could make against this okay I'll make both

sides of the argument for you. If you wanted to make the argument against the rising cost of living in this area, points that you could make, we don't have enough service workers living in this area, they're being gentrified and priced out. And as a result, that's a reflection of Jerry highlighting that Chili's is closing, that there are no Wendy's in the area, that there's limited Burger King's in the area, that Rose's is shutting down, that the service worker industry cannot afford

to live here, so the quality of life is being impacted because we don't have the amenities, locally owned businesses, retail businesses that we once had. You can make this argument against the rising cost of living in the area. You can also make this argument, it's homogenous in perspective. So if your children are reared and raised in this area,

they're only gonna see certain socioeconomic demographic, which is not an indication of what the world or the country truly is, right? You can point to the homogenous ideologies that are birthed from wealth. These are reasons to make against the rise of cost of living. If you were making an argument in favor

of what's happening in Charlottesville, you can say, well guess what? It's good for the economy. If you wanted to push back on it's good for the economy statement, you could say, well what happened with the Chamber of Commerce? What happened with the report that was released

with the Chamber of Commerce with the retail tax that was collected? A report that came out last week, Charlottesville City saw a negative collection of retail taxes, online and storefront retail taxes collected. Alamaro County outpaced inflation, but Charlottesville City was in the red year over year, was down year over year. And then I would push back on saying, well, why we're seeing Charlottesville down year

over year is because Charlottesville is losing business to Almaro County because it has more offerings. Chris Engel makes the point. It's got a larger footprint for retail Almaro County than Charlottesville. And people are just choosing to stay in the county where, once they came to the city, how much retail tax

is being lost in downtown Charlottesville with some of these vacant storefronts and the less foot traffic that's here? In the end, I would rather have a community that has wealth at its disposal than a community that does not have wealth at their disposal. Vanessa Parkhill pointed this morning

to being reared and raised in the rust belt and said being reared and raised in the rust belt is way worse than being reared and raised in the Rust Belt and said being reared and raised in the Rust Belt is way worse than being reared and raised in a community that has wealth at its disposal. And I understand both sides. And yes, I lament not being able to patronize Blue Moon Diner and not being able to patronize Mooses by the Creek, not being able to patronize Blue Moon Diner and not being able to patronize Mooses by the Creek, not being able to patronize what?

Mel's Cafe, although that closed for a completely different reason. Well, they all closed for different reasons. Yeah. Blue Moon Diner, Mooses by the Creek, you can point to overhead associated with labor or a lack of labor, the stresses of working in food and beverage. Right? Why? We talk about on the-

You mean is that why Mooses closed? They're still in food and beverage. Right? Why we talk about on the- Is that why Moose is closed? They're still in food and beverage. They choose to do it in Almaro County in Keswick now. They said get me away from Charlottesville where I have a restaurant that's tied to a very big labor position, sit down service, and instead I'm going to do a deli. I thought they got pushed out of their spot. They didn't get pushed out by the spot. Their owner is the same owner of Tosbury and Virginia Oil, and their real estate was in flux, but they stayed in food and beverage and they repositioned themselves in a much

less labor intensive model. What they're doing in Chadwell is way less labor-intensive. You see, and Yancey made this point, the headwinds associated with restaurants and labor, they can't find the help. Guadalajara just closed on Jefferson Park Avenue. Friend of the program, Johnny Ornales. Headwinds are real.

Selling businesses left and right over here. We got cash buyers for business that are looking. You know what's happening with some of the clients that we have that are looking to buy businesses is they, it's what Neil said this morning. 31% of Charlottesville residents cite investments as a source of income. He says, according to Weldon Cooper,

this is the Charlottesville area has the highest share of residents reporting investments as income outside of Florida. These folks that are coming to us and saying find us businesses to buy are folks that have cash on hand and looking to do something with it. What do you make of that? It's such a vulnerable, here's where we are with the Charlottesville economy, okay? This week, Jim Ryan sends a letter to UVA staff and faculty saying performance-based

raises are on hold, hiring is on hold. Cost of living is on hold. Cost of living raises are on hold and you have to freeze discretionary spending in your departments. It's 30,000 employees, UVA, Jim Ryan. Hold, freeze freeze no hire.

Right? We got retail and food and beverage that is screaming at Charlottesville saying we can't find labor and our customer influx is significantly lower than it was before COVID. Can't find people to work. The workers we can find to work are asking for a lot of money and we don't have the customers we once had, right?

Retail and food and beverage is a huge piece of the economy. UVA is the biggest piece of the economy. WeA is the biggest piece of the economy. We've talked about the significant headwinds for craft beer, for wine, for spirits, for beer. Denver Riggleman's place for sale. Whitehall Vineyards closes just off the top of my mind.

We know multiple other breweries are in significant trouble right now. Multiple other breweries, not just one. Multiple other breweries are in significant trouble. The young millennial and the Gen Zers not drinking like older millennials like yours truly was. Significant headwinds for that industry. Yet we have an MSA, a metro area, that is in one facet, financially stronger than it's ever been. What is the like indicator that is like the true reflection of what's out there? That's a good question. Like how, and it quite, if UVA is putting everything on ice and morale

with UVA staff is at a generation low, this happened in what, the 1990s? What did? Someone posted, a UVA faculty member posted this on the I Love Civo Instagram. I won't use her name, but in fact I will use her name. She posted this on I Love Civo and she knows it's a public forum. Elizabeth Meyer, she's a faculty director. So we got somebody that knows what they're talking about here. She posted this, sent this to me.

Actually, she posted this in the comments section, so I think this is public. She says, Jerry, you may be too young to appreciate that the University of Virginia suffered years of no cost of living raises in the early 1990s and again in the early 2000s. In fact, there were across the board salary decreases in the early 2000s. In fact, there were across the board salary decreases in the early 1990s.

This reduction of federal funding from research grants is different, of course. The other years of economic scarcity were related to the Commonwealth of Virginia's fiscal problems. In order to deal with those permanent state reductions, they contribute over 30% of the UVA budget in the 70s and 80s. UVA became a fundraising machine.

So she highlights the cyclical nature of these headwinds at the university. Okay. She highlights the last time this happened was the early 2000s. So it's been 20 plus years since we've had the pay decreases, the hiring freezes, the no cost of living raises, right? Twenty some years. That's a generation right there.

So this is the first time with the university that we're seeing a hiring freeze, a pay cut, big time headwinds with the Doge cuts, the federal government cuts, right? Headwind. Headwind retail, headwind food and beverage, headwind craft spirits, all screaming at us that fragile right now, screaming at us about that. Yet on the other side of the ledger, screaming at us that the household median income higher than it's ever been, screaming at us cost of a house higher than it's ever been despite 7% interest rates, screaming at us. Equity in your homes more than ever, screaming at us,

what is the actual indicator of what's happening? I think we're separating. The lower class and the upper class are getting farther apart and in some ways that's gonna create numbers and in some ways that's gonna it's gonna create numbers that may look in one regard as as good as a good thing but I think a deeper look and you start to see the cracks forming you start to see the as you've mentioned the the fact that F&B and retail workers aren't able to live in the place where they're working. And are we asking them to travel farther and farther for those jobs? Are they going to travel farther and farther for those jobs?

Are they just going to find jobs somewhere else? The problem is there's not really a solution. Everybody is hurting. The F&B businesses, the retailers, you're finding that everything costs more. There are some businesses that just continue to plug along and make it. I mean, we've got businesses around here that you would think, they must be hurting like everyone else, but you walk in and they're, you know, they've constantly, they're constantly

filling, filling seats. I don't have the answer though. What do you attribute the 2024 retail report from the Chamber of Commerce year over year local sales tax revenue for the city of Charlottesville dropping 4%, in the negative 4%. I mean, if I had to guess... Not just 4% negative in an inflationary time. If I had to guess, it would be that the people that shop locally,

that go to the restaurants, that go to the retailers, that go to the farmers markets, they're buying less and spending less, and they're trying to make their money stretch farther. Meanwhile, you have these people who are living off investments who can just order whatever they want from Amazon. They're not worried about going to the farmers market.

If they do, maybe they pick up some carrots and tomatoes, but they're not propping up the economy. does, but they're not propping up the economy. And a lot of them are probably, you know, like whether they're driving to Northern Virginia for work or whether they're just sitting around in a nice home and not spending locally. But I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong. No, no, no. I think you're off to something, I think as, as the, I, and I say this so many times on the show, as the profile of the Charlottesville and Almarra County and central Virginia resident changes, and that resident profile is changing because we have folks moving to this community that did not

have, or do not have the ties of, of living in this community as they did before COVID. And as that resident moves to Charlottesville, that does not have the ties of living in this community as they did before COVID. And as that resident moves to Charlottesville that does not have the ties or the passion for Charlottesville and Alamo County, they are less likely to support local than we did before COVID. I think that is 100% happening. And I think what also is happening is to your point, there's a portion of the population that is just trying to keep their electricity on. Or just leaving. Maybe, and we talked,

Keith talked about this morning on the show where he highlighted a listing that he and his wonderful wife, Yona Smith had that was $340,000 in Lake Monticello, right? And this $340,000 house, beautiful house, a lot of people would call it a starter home house, was multiple offer situation, escalator situation, people chopping at the bit to buy it. And you're seeing the family, the dual income no kids, the dinks getting priced out of Charlottesville and Alamara County. And as the dinks, the husband and wife, the husband and husband, the wife and wife who are thinking about making a family, the dual income, no kids at this point, and they can't afford to buy Monticello and fluvan and buy this three hundred and forty thousand dollar home they are going to stay in this three hundred thousand three hundred forty thousand dollar home and make memories and those memories

will be bringing a kid home bringing a second kid home raising those kids seeing them go to t-ball seeing them go to theater seeing them go to a music recital seeing them make the varsity baseball team seeing them go to prom seeing them go to a music recital, seeing them make the varsity baseball team, seeing them go to prom, seeing them go on to college, and these memories keep them in the house. And that keeping them in the house, those memories made, are going to be memories tied to this community, Fluvana, and whatever amenities they have around there, and not necessarily the affinity to Charlottesville and Almaro, because they don't live in Charlottesville and Almaro. At one time the dual income no kid could afford to buy a house in Charlottesville and Almaro County and the dual income and no kid

that is buying the house in Charlottesville and Almaro County is the resident you want in Charlottesville and Almaro County because they're gonna live in that house for a long period of time as their kids go from birth to adolescence, middle school years, high school years, and into college. And those are the folks that are going to support the businesses that are around the community and strengthen them, revitalize them, keep them alive. That's what was happening prior to COVID. Hybrid remote work in this post COVID landscape where people had a an about face with their life, where they had like a midlife crisis, want to find a new purpose, a new passion. I realized during COVID that there's more to life than just doing this nine to five grind where I clock in and clock out and this new purpose could be the Charlottesville area. That's why folks are flocking here. They got nostalgic over four years of happy times as students at UVA, and now they're coming back.

You ask the people, you ask the realtors that are selling the homes for the houses that are coming here, for the out of market folks, these realtors will tell you it's UVA in some capacity or not that's luring people here. It's someone in the household got a job at UVA, someone in the household graduated from UVA, someone in the household went to graduate school at UVA, someone in the household has a job at UVA, someone in the household graduated from UVA, someone in the household went to graduate school at UVA,

someone in the household has got some kind of job associated with the peripheral of UVA, someone tied to UVA move in here, and when they're moving here, the folks that are coming here, they're not the dual income no kids necessarily. And when you don't have the DINCs buying in the Charlottesville Amar area, you don't have that potential for 30 years of commitment to the Charlottesville area and its businesses. You don't have the kids that can go from birth to middle school to high school and work in the businesses as cheap labor. You lose the labor pool. When I was growing up, when I was 14,

my first job I ever had, I talk about this on the show, was hustling lawns, had my buddies pushing the lawn mowers, and I was trying to lock in the accounts for grass cutting. And I'd take half of what was paid and half to my buddy who cut the grass who didn't have the courage to go ring some doorbells and do some cold calling. After that, it was a bus boy in a restaurant. 14, 15 years old, we were busing tables in a restaurant. Then waiting tables.

Then when I came back, bartending. How much is that being done? Crazy time. Appreciate, that's why I enjoy the Real Talk show. If you have a chance to listen to it, it's on every podcasting platform out there guys. Also online at realtalkwithkeysmith.com. I want to spend some time maybe next week on the Charlottesville city and a drop in real retail tax collection.

It's a noticeable drop. Couple programming notes on the talk show before we get to the other items in the notebook. I believe on Wednesday we have the chairman of the Jefferson Council. Yesterday the Jefferson Council was watching our show and today we have booked the chairman, is his name Joel Gardner, Judah? Yeah. Joel Gardner, the president and chairperson of the

Jefferson Council for a Wednesday show to talk about the, in part, the Bert Ellis fiasco with Glenn Yonkin. Burt Ellis was a co-founder of the Jefferson Council. So clearly the Jefferson Council is gonna back Burt Ellis as he was pushed out of the Board of Visitors by Glenn Yonkin and replace with Cooch. I mean, I don't think it's even just a loyalty thing. I was playing squash yesterday with a key person

in the UVA organization and this person, this key person in the UVA organization said everyone that he's spoken to and I'm talking upper management here has said that Cooch is a way worse situation than Ellis for the organization, way worse than Alice. That's a common theme. All right. A couple programming notes. A couple items out of the notebook before we close her down.

What's the gray star story? 500 plus apartments the construction has now started on Old Ivy Road. Mm-hmm. 500 plus homes and apartments, ladies and gentlemen, on Old Ivy Road. This is happening at the same time that they're building an apartment monstrosity next to Moe's Barbecue. Two significant projects within a stone's throw of each other. Old Ivy Road, 336 garden style apartments. These apartments will be one, two and three bedroom configurations, along with 189 three bedroom detached homes

and town homes. There's a photo, the gray star rendering. Can we put this on screen that we got? I know I'm asking this on the fly. This literally ‑‑ they're building a town on old Ivy Road here. Can you get that photo and put it on screen? And Grey Star, guys, is Charleston, South Carolina based. They manage and operate nearly $315 billion of real estate in about 250 markets globally, the largest operator of apartments in the United States. The company is also an active player in the build for rent sector. is a, we have 1,300 apartments next to Stadium Road with subtext coming online while there's an apartment building being built next to Moe's Barbecue, while there's an apartment building that's being, while there's an apartment and home community being built on Old Ivy

Road, all coming online while second years are gonna start living on grounds at a greater clip. Something's gotta get there. And the traffic that this is gonna cause and the bottleneck that this is gonna cause, why do the projects all happen at the same time? What's the, if getting the photo on screen is challenging, I know I'm asking you on the fly. We don't have to do that.

I can get it. It's just going to take a second. Okay. He'll show that photo here. Two other items out of the notebook, and it's a little bit of clarity here. UVA has got all its minutes played in the transfer portal except for Saunders, the kid who transferred from San Diego State, the broad-shouldered post player, front court player.

Now you even have Christian Bliss and the Canadian sharpshooter Sharma in the transfer portal. This is a bonanza, this is an insane time for college athletics. Amateurism, as we know it, is over. Essentially free agency is consuming college basketball and college football. Even women's basketball is seeing transfer portal additions

on the UVA side. Two women's basketball players that I know of in the transfer portal. Crazy times. And then one last item out of the notebook, I want to highlight that our firm, Charlottesville Business Brokers, has two client groups with cash on hand looking to purchase businesses in the community. We do not need SBA loans here. And I need to highlight also that these are

sophisticated buyers, guys. They understand P&Ls and balance sheets and tax returns. They understand pass-throughs and add-ons, book values, can read leases, have attorneys. I mean, it's not just an opportunity if you're selling. It's going to have to make sense. You would have to make sense for these buyers. They are not amateur hour folks. You got that photo? Just about.

I had to convert it. We'll close with the gray star photo. Look at what is coming to old Ivy Road. When you're on 250 and you see all that land clear? This is what's coming. This looks like a town. Right? Yeah.

You got it on screen? Look at the screen, folks. This is a rendering of Old Ivy, a new rental community that's being constructed by Greystar. It's like half the size of Charlottesville. This is not that big. It's big. That's massive. I mean, good night. It's going to have, it's eight acres of green space. It's gonna have trails, playgrounds, sports courts, pickleball courts, basketball courts, tennis courts,

dog parks, putting greens. It's gonna have two swimming pools. Other common area amenities will feature co-working spaces, a library, a golf simulator, fitness centers, food markets, sun dries markets. Make sure you get that lower third on screen. Is that on there? Lower thirds, multiple people are telling me you're extremely important to the conversation.

This is massive. You're talking about thousands of people living here. This is insane. I mean, if it's 336, one, two, and three bedroom, and then 189 three bedroom detached homes in town. I mean, this is thousands of people living here. Let's hope they build a gondola. Gondola, dude, there's no bigger proponent of the gondola system than yours truly.

Gondola system all around central Virginia. All right, that's the Friday edition of the I Love Siebel Show. We appreciate you watching us this week. We highlight Charlottesville Sanitary Supply, Judah. 60 consecutive years in business for John and Andrew Vermillion. Let's help them make it to 120 years in business.

Online at CharlottesvilleSanitarySupply.com and in person on East High Street. They do business the right way, the honest way. Mark your calendar for Wednesday as the chairperson of the Jefferson Council has agreed to come on the show. So long, everybody. 1.