The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - Downtown Mall: National Register Of Historic Places; National Recognition vs Real Life For The Mall

Episode Date: March 6, 2024

The I Love CVille Show headlines: Downtown Mall: National Register Of Historic Places National Recognition vs Real Life For The Mall UVA Spends $20M On 235 DEI Employees Same DEI Employees Making $500K+ Per Year City Manager: We Need To Raise Taxes In CVille Real Estate, Lodging & Sales Tax Increases… Bill To Lower Food-To-Liquor Sales Ratio Fails CVille Fortune Telling With The Great JerrDini 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.

Welcome to the I Love Seville show. Good Wednesday afternoon. My name is Jerry Miller and thank you kindly for joining us. A pleasure to connect with you through the I Love Seville Network. Take a look at the screen for some of the topics we'll cover today. The downtown mall named to the National Register of Historic Places. We'll talk about that on today's show. We'll talk University of Virginia and its diversity, equity, and inclusion budget for 235 employees. A budget that is

astronomical. We'll put that in perspective today. We'll talk Sam Sanders saying he's going to raise taxes all across the board for the 2025 fiscal budget. We're talking lodging taxes. We're talking sales taxes. We're talking real estate taxes. And for fiscal year 2025, the city manager wants your firstborn's blood to help the city of Charlottesville manage increased expenses.

It's going to sell the blood of your firstborn on the black market. Should we do like a... Are you on screen? Are you the voice of God right now? No, I'm on screen. What's that? I'm on screen. What's that? I'm on screen. What were you going to say?

Should we do one of those, you get a tax raise, and you get a tax raise, and you get a tax raise. And you're going to give me the blood of your firstborn. Everyone. Everyone gives us a pound of flesh. And if you can't afford it,

just give us your child. Welcome to life in the city of Charlottesville. The bill that was in the General Assembly, this is disappointing news. A bill to lower food to liquor sales ratios failed in the General Assembly. Basically an opportunity for bars, like true bars in Virginia where you could go to a neighborhood bar and buy beer or wine and liquor and the barkeep wouldn't have to worry about selling food hugely beneficial in a time of inflation and a time of escalating labor and a time when it's an extremely difficult environment to run a food and beverage business.

The suits in Richmond say, not so fast, my friends. Do we know why they voted that way? We do. We do why. And it's specifically the fear of having bars on every corner and the increased competition it would have to the restaurants that are doing things the current way and them losing customer base. So they seem to think that everybody going out to eat at restaurants is really just wanting to get their drink on. And if there weren't food there, nobody would care set the bill's patron senator bryce reeves criticized yesterday the move by the house that essentially pulled the bag on this bill reeves the senator who was the author of the bill specifically blamed tobacco company restaurant owner jerry cable and richmond it's a restaurant in richmond Chaco Bottom. And the Virginia Restaurant

Association lobbyist Matt Benka for the bill's failure saying, quote, they use their money and connections to yet again control the restaurant industry and limit competition, end quote. We'll unpack that on today's edition of the I Love Seville show. We'll also talk on today's program, fortune telling. Word on the street, the scuttlebutt, the chitter chatter on Market Street is the great Gerardini will be in attendance. And he may or may not be wearing a tank top today with Chef Curtis Shaver's resemblance on it. Word on the street is the great Giardini will have a head dress on, magic wands, and a crystal ball, and his sidekick, the famous, the well-known, the well-liked Bubini, will be wearing attire that may resemble a 1970s discotheca button-down shirt. And yes, I said discotheca.

Is that a fair description for what Bubini's going to wear today? Sure. Time will tell. T-minus 35 minutes from Jared Dean and Bubini on set. Of course, the program airs in downtown Charlottesville. Our studio is located in downtown Charlottesville. We're in the shadows of Thomas Jefferson's University, less than two miles from the Rotunda, the John Paul Jones Arena, and Scott Stadium. We're a block off the downtown mall, a block from the Albemarle County and City of Charlottesville Courthouse. We're about 150 to 200 yards from the Charlottesville Police Department,

smack dab at the center of everything that is Central Virginia, a 300,000 person market. How about the downtown mall story, Judah? I like this distinction, but there's a lot to unpack that comes with this accolade. The downtown mall, Paul Spencer has this story in the Daily Progress, was named to the National Register of Historic Places. The downtown mall is about to turn 50 years old. What a milestone, right? I think in, what, two years? No.

The first five blocks opened in the summer of 76. So less than two years. No. About two years. You were right. I stand corrected. For a second, I thought... You're 100% right.

Your math is more on point today. In summer in 76, the first five blocks open. So the two-year marker is this summer, two years away from 50. The downtown mall gets an impressive accolade named to the National Register of Historic Places, a mostly honorary designation, as Hall-Spencer writes. This is something that will further attract tourists and those outside central Virginia to downtown Charlottesville. If it's an eight-block epicenter of omni-experiential fun that has a distinction of national register of historic places,

more people are going to come. It's just another marketing opportunity, another branding opportunity for the community. I love this. But you wanted to unpack a thing or two of this storyline, my friend. Yeah, well, first of all, I think it's great, and I think it's interesting that I think I read that this is one of the youngest sites to receive this distinction, which is pretty cool. And I think the people that created the mall definitely had a vision.

Huge vision. Took a huge risk, a huge chance. Taking a downtown area that was car-centric and closing it off to vehicles, burying infrastructure underground, spending taxpayer dollars to brick the mall. Yeah. Huge risk.

How many bricks is it? Carly Wagner doesn't like the word bricks with the downtown mall. She's watching right now. There's brick pavers, she said. Brick pavers. Carly Wagner, she's watching the program. She's a key member of the family.

Let's get her photo on screen. Carly is number three in the polls. She says, also, this distinction means more regulation on changes you can make to the physical structure she's exactly right you guys have no idea what we had to go through just to paint the Macklin building on Market Street I am on the board of directors of this building I was the president of the time during the facelift we gave to this building, taking down awnings, repainting the building. We had to go through so many red tape hoops just to do any work whatsoever. And this distinction, National Historic Designation, Register of Historic Places, is going to make

it even more difficult to do upgrades and changes and architectural improvements in downtown Charlottesville. She's 100% right. Dave Riddick will get to your comment. In fact, let's add Dave Riddick to the power pool. He's going to check in right below Peter Krebs at 42 and the I Love Seville viewer and listener rankings. David R-I-D-D-I-C-K Riddick. He says, why not stimulate the economy and grow the economy in lieu of tax increases? We'll talk about that today. We want to talk downtown first. Holly Foster is in agreement with you with sticking her fingers down her throat when it comes to Biden and Trump.

We now know it's a Biden and Trump presidential run. We have a man that is far from. We have a man that is far from morally sound against a man that is far from mentally sound. I don't know that for sure. No, no, no. I think that's safe to say. You bristled after saying it because you are a man of empathy

and you felt bad after making the comment. I'm watching Joe Biden walk places. He is shuffling his feet. He does that strange gaze and head shake. And when he's commenting, I don't think he literally knows what he's talking about most of the time. Yeah, we've all seen the clips

and we've seen clips of him tripping. But as we also know, it's very easy for news places to take things out of context. And so I give most of what I see in the news a bit of healthy skepticism. Oh, understatement of the world right there. Understatement. Kevin Yancey says the downtown

mall is a resounding failure. I could not disagree more with that comment. We are equal opportunity employers. We will get anyone's photo on screen that's in the power ranking. He's number 11. Get Kevin Yancey's photo on screen if you can for number 11. He calls it a resounding failure. Do you disagree with that? I vehemently disagree with that. I would have to hear on what... Oh my gosh, why would you need to hear someone's argument about that? It's the epicenter of Charlottesville. How do you possibly disagree with that statement? I would say it's a epicenter of Charlottesville, but I wouldn't say it's the epicenter. Okay, are you going to say UVA? Most of UVA is in Alamaro County.

I wasn't going to say UVA. I'm not sure why I would say UVA. How could you even entertain the thought that it's a resounding failure? I would love to hear the argument you're making here, Kevin Yancey. I'm happy to relay it live on screen. That's what I just said. Okay. Well, let's hear what he says.

Bill McChesney, his photo on screen. Mr. McChesney is number 15 in the power pool. And he says this. The National Register of Historic Stuff, remember what they did for the McIntyre's four statues, those distinctions. Downtown Mall is a little bit different than Civil War monuments, Mr. McChesney. I think we can agree on that one right there. What struck you about Hall-Spencer's story in the Daily Progress and this recognition?

I think what struck me the most were some of the, I guess, some of the historical comments about what the mall was supposed to be and what it actually became. Specifically about the fountains and the benches. And, you know, we've talked about this a little bit over the years. The fact that they took the benches out. And, you know, I think maybe it's time to put them back. Oh, man. This is a hot-button issue in Charlottesville. You guys want to get a polarizing topic

in the city of Charlottesville? You talk seating and benches on the downtown mall. They took the benches off the downtown mall. Why, Judah? I believe it was to stop... Loitering. Homeless people from sitting or sleeping on them. That's exactly why. Joan Fenton led the charge.

One of the largest downtown mall property owners is Joan Fenton. I believe she either has two or three businesses that she runs on the downtown mall. Joan Fenton 1, Joan Fenton 2, and then an arts store on the mall as well. She was very influential in the Downtown Business Owners Association, and that association led the charge of removing the benches from downtown Charlottesville because they attributed the benches on the downtown mall to loitering and furthering the houseless individuals

hanging out on the downtown mall. And now that we've proven that particular theory wrong, perhaps... Have we proved that theory wrong, though? Has removing the benches done anything to curb the houseless population on the downtown mall? If there were more benches on the downtown mall, would we have more houseless population on the downtown mall?

Do we really want to go down that route of questioning? Why do you say we should not go down that route of questioning when both of us are in agreement that the houseless population is one of the concerns for downtown Charlottesville and keeping people coming to downtown Charlottesville? You're in agreement with that, right?

I think it may be a factor. Maybe. Look, the downtown mall still has lots of people that come every day. And I don't think most people are just not coming. There may be some people that don't come to the downtown mall because they don't like the houseless population. I think that number is larger than you would think. If we ask the viewers and listeners, is one of the reasons you do not come to the downtown mall

because of the houseless population and or behavior associated with the houseless population, for example, panhandling. That still doesn't change my thoughts. People would say yes. On the subject of benches. Should we, I mean, is the argument that we should punish everybody because we don't like one aspect of a thing? Or is the argument if you want to sit down on the downtown mall, you go to one of the restaurants, you order food, you patronize the businesses on the downtown mall, and you utilize one of the restaurants, you order food, you patronize the businesses on

the downtown mall, and you utilize their seating while being a paying customer. But what if you were already a paying customer who sat down at a restaurant and then walked the length of the mall and you're aging and you want to sit down for two minutes? A perfect example of that is my father, who routinely says there's not enough seating here. He's got bad knees. He's almost 74 years old. He loves to walk, but he has to take a breather every block or two to catch his breath and rest his knees. And he says, there's no seating down here for me. I'd rather walk in Barracks Road. Exact words from him. That's an example of what you're trying to make right there, right?

There's not a lot of seating in Barracks Road either. There's more. They've got seating in Barracks. They've got very little seating in downtown Charlottesville. The initial vision, this is what we're talking about. Because of this distinction, the downtown mall getting named to the National Register of Historic Places, we started thinking about the original vision of downtown Charlottesville, and the original vision of downtown Charlottesville included...

I'm not sure what you're getting at. What you highlighted prior to the show. The original vision that you read in the article. I mean, you're talking about the benches and what else? The benches and the fountains. Yes. And the fountains have all been chained up

and had signs put up saying, don't go near these. The fountains are the least approachable fountains that you will find. Yeah. I mean, the's the central fountain. It's beautiful. The first time I saw it, I was like, why aren't there kids playing in this?

It's literally got steps going down into it. And instead, the signage says, go nowhere near the fountain. In fact, I think there's actual signage by the fountains that says, there's chemicals used in these fountains that can hurt you or something along those lines. I just looked at the sign the other day, and I don't remember anything about chemicals, but maybe I was looking at a different one. Yeah, they have that on there. John Blair watching the program. We're going to get to his comment here.

And his comment's on the General Assembly being very anti-business and anti-development. And he's curious, do you and I think more bars would harm existing restaurant businesses? I do not think more bars would harm existing businesses, restaurant businesses, but that topic in a matter of moments. Kevin Yancey says, the downtown mall pushed every local business out to the county. As I've told you, I have direct connections to this. In the 80s, you could not pay people to go downtown. He says, Albemarle County had to bail Seville out of the Omni Hotel deal

and the original Ice Park deal as reasons the downtown mall is a failure. Here's the reality. The downtown mall is the number one shopping district in the city of Charlottesville. It is the number one shopping district by storefront count in the city of Charlottesville. And while the downtown mall has seen many different iterations, many different levels of popularity, many different levels of quality of life, the downtown mall is still the heartbeat of Charlottesville. We would not characterize the heartbeat of Charlottesville as federal, realty-owned Barracks Road Shopping Center. We would not characterize the heartbeat of Charlottesville as federal, realty-owned Barracks Road Shopping Center. We would not characterize the heartbeat of Charlottesville as downtown Belmont, nor would we characterize the heartbeat of Charlottesville as Dairy Market or Preston or Midtown.

We would call it the downtown mall. Bill McChesney says there's not a chance in H-E double hockey sticks the downtown mall is a failure. He says it's not a failure at all. The benches are a non-factor and houseless people staying on the mall. They will sit on the pavers if need be. The haven is a magnet for the houseless. I'm of his.

You're of his inclination. That's what I'm saying. Joan Fenton has failed in her proof of her theory. If she thought that removing the... She led the charge, Joan Fenton did. Yeah, and if she and other people thought that removing the benches would disincentivize the houseless population

from hanging out on the downtown mall, I think we can clearly say that that hasn't been the case. The number one, if you want to get a lower third on screen here, the number one reasons the houseless population is in downtown Charlottesville are as follows. A, they can get breakfast, lunch, and dinner at a number of locations around the downtown mall, pro bono, free, and that's why they hang out around downtown, because they're getting free food, breakfast, lunch, and dinner at a number of the soup kitchens.

The downtown mall has free internet, and a boatload of the houseless have phones and need access to the internet. The downtown mall has foot traffic, which is a way to generate revenue with panhandling. The downtown mall has the Haven. All these are reasons folks are congregating and aggregating downtown, not the benches.

Would benches create more congregation? Perhaps. But they're going to congregate, as Bill and as Judas highlighted, regardless. And it's for the reasons I just outlined. And if you put enough benches up, then, yeah, some of them can have some of the benches. And there are benches for other people as well. Holly Foster.

I agree. Let's get Holly's photo on screen. Holly Foster is the Queen of Henrico, and she's in Charlottesville all the time. She says, I agree with Jerry's dad. Walking at Barracks Road is better if you have issues with needing to take a break. I personally feel safer at Barracks Road than the downtown mall, especially if I'm alone. Thank you for that commentary, Holly Foster. You're getting lower thirds on screen, yes? I've got one on there, yeah.

Oh, you're a phenomenal human being. I mentioned this live on air. What we wanted to highlight was the story in the Daily Progress written by Hal Spencer, one of the best journalists locally, about the downtown mall now earning National Register of Historic Place distinction. The downtown mall is about to be 50 years old. It was launched in the summer of 1976 with five blocks. In the summer of 76, when the mall was launched, it had a much more fountain and bench-friendly environment or welcome ability. The fountains and benches have become afterthoughts now.

And we found that curious. And we wanted to bring that to your attention. I like how this is put. Meyer cited the removal of most of the original 150 chairs and benches intended for the space as evidence of a quote-unquote meanness that deprives people who are not paying customers the opportunity to sit and enjoy a public space operated as a park by the city of Charlottesville. And Meyer is Elizabeth Meyer of the University of Virginia Landscape Architecture professor. She's a professor of University of Virginia Landscape Architecture. She's quoted

in the story. A lot of people don't realize the downtown mall is a public park by definition. A public park by definition. Anything else you want to add before we go to the next topic, J-Dubs? Judah Wittkower. The Great Bubini. This story is sent to us by Albert Graves. Can we get Albert Graves' photo on screen? We've touched on this briefly in the past.

Number seven in the power polls let me know when Albert Graves' photo was on screen. Ladies and gentlemen, get ready for this. Judah, I know you're going to have commentary about this. Are you ready? I believe I am. This article is making the rounds on a number of, how would you characterize this? I guess sub-stack websites. This one from Open the Books. It's openthebooks.com. The University of Virginia spends $20 million on 235 diversity, equity, and inclusion employees, with some making $587,340 per year. Get this. I'm going to read the first few paragraphs. UVA has at least 235 employees under its diversity, equity, and inclusion DEI banner, including 82 students whose total cost of

employment is estimated at $20 million. That's $15 million in cash compensation plus an additional 30% for the annual cost of their benefits. Furthermore, in contrast, last Friday, the University of Florida dismissed its DEI bureaucracy, saving students and taxpayers $5 million per year. The University of Florida terminated 13 full-time DEI positions and 15 administrative faculty appointments. Those funds have been reprogrammed into a faculty recruitment fund to attract better people who actually teach students. In regards to the University of Virginia, according to this article, and I'm reading from the article, Martin N. Davidson, the Senior Associate Dean of the Darden School of Business and Global Chief Diversity Officer,

earns the most in a DEI role at $452,000 or $587,340, including benefits. For comparison, Governor Glenn Youngkin earned $175,000 per year. The second most highly compensated DEI executive is Kevin G. McDonald, the Vice President for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Community Partnerships, who takes home $520K per year due to 235 employees, including 82 students, who cost an estimated $20 million a year. Where do you want to go with this one? I mean, I feel like I need to scrub my brain. It's just, I'm flabbergasted. Like, does anyone think that UVA has a problem with diversity? I would say the University of Virginia student body is not the most diverse student body.

But that's not because they don't want to be. That's probably more due to, would you say, the cost? Do they not go hand in hand? I mean, I'm not trying to, like, you know, pull a surprise on anyone. It's an honest question. Like, I mean, okay, so, okay, here's a better question. question is any of that money spent on the DEI staff doing anything to actually change the here's a better question okay you finish your thought I apologize change the complexion of the school in terms of diversity here's I think what Jude is getting at if they're spending 20 million dollars a year on diversity equity and inclusion positions for 235 employees.

Should that $20 million not be chopped up into $50,000 a year scholarships that could be utilized to make the student body more diverse? That wasn't my point, but it is a great point. So let's take $20 million. I got it on my trusty calculator on my phone. Let's divide that $20 million by $50,000. You get $450,000 scholarships that you can offer every year to make the suited body more diverse. And inclusive. And inclusive. And equitable. And equitable. to make the student body more diverse and inclusive and equitable

but we shouldn't put them in that order should we not utilize the $20 million to actually make the student body more diverse equitable and inclusive or should we use that $20 million in taxpayer money to hire bureaucrats and suits and administrators and staff? What is the best use of the money in your eyes, viewers and listeners? And could this be part of the problem with Central Virginia schools in general?

Oh, where are you going to go with this one, Judah B. Wickauer? Well, I brought up an article recently that talked about the fact that because of the changes in how they judge what schools are in need of extra funds, a lot more of Virginia schools were shown to be in need of extra funds. If they've been spending too much money on staff similar to this, administrators and people who like, what was the line you said?

People who are actually teaching. People who are actually teaching. Wasn't there a line? Did I get that in my mind? Did I just read that line? I think you must have, but I don't know. Anyways. Oh, those funds have been reprogrammed

at the University of Florida into a faculty recruitment fund to attract better people who actually teach students. It is a university. I hear it's based on teaching. It is a university, but I think the point still stands. We have,

and I shouldn't get too far in the fields with the Central Virginia lower schools. Public schools. Public schools. But yes, should we be spending more money on people who actually teach as opposed to people who just administer? Ginny Hu, her photo on screen, please. Ginny Hu is number four in the family. And on Twitter, Ginny Hu says, the DEI money gets you aldermen's name removed from the library and Jewish students threatened and harassed.

But you cannot touch Colgate Darden's name. Hashtag hypocrisy. Alderman Library has since been rebranded. We talked about that yesterday. What has it been rebranded as? I love Seville Show. I've forgotten. Is it just a generic name now?

And was there a problem with the name Alderman? He's got a sketchy pass. He was a bad person. Yeah. He's got a sketchy pass. He was a bad person. Yeah, he's got a sketchy pass tied to eugenics. That is kind of sketchy. Yeah. Let's see here. The vote to rename what had been known since 1938 Alderman Library,

which was UVA's first president, Edwin A. Alderman, took just a few moments. The new name is, in honor of UVA's fourth president, Edgar F. Shannon Jr. It doesn't ring very well. It will now be named the Edgar Shannon Library.

Eh. The Edgar Shannon Library. Eh. The Edgar Shannon Library. If you want a conversation for a cocktail party, the University of Virginia spends $20 million per year on 235 DEI employees with the highest earning just under $600,000. Should that $20 million be spent amongst $600,000. Should that $20 million be spent amongst $450,000 scholarships

to actually make the student body more diverse? Or should it be spent on bureaucrats, administrators, deans, and essentially suits? Go ahead. I'm curious how much of that actually comes out of local taxes and why it comes out of local taxes. It doesn't come out of local.

Well, then why does... We're taxes from the Commonwealth. Which, I mean, I guess you can say in some ways are local because we're Commonwealth. We live in the Commonwealth. Gotcha. Yeah. Okay.

But it's not coming from Charlottesville or Alabama. Right. But in some ways it's coming from us. Vanessa Parkhill is shocked by this information. Which seems nuts considering the size of the school's endowment. Of what, $14 billion roughly. I'm so glad that they also need our help. Next topic before the great Giardini and Bubini come on set

wearing costume and garb and maybe a tank top a la Curtis Shaver. Sam Sanders, if you want to get city manager, we need to raise taxes in Seville and rotate it with the lower third right below it on the headlines. That would be fantastic, Judah Wickauer. I got some bad news for you guys. It's going to be more expensive to live in Charlottesville. Sam Sanders in the meeting,

city council meeting yesterday, he presented his 2025 fiscal year budget. And the city manager said, look, we're going to raise taxes. In my presentation, the lodging tax is going to go from 8% to 9%. The sales tax, which impacts all of us, anything you buy, the sales tax, is going to go from 6.5% to 7.5%. And if you live in a house, and even if you're a renter, this is going to impact you.

The real estate tax rate is going to go from 96 cents on the dollar to 98 cents on the dollar. Now, they've got to work study this and work session this and talk about this and brainstorm this and advertise this. But we know three counselors, the Mayor Wade, Juan Diego Wade, and counselors Lloyd Snook and Brian Pinkston are in favor of raising the real estate tax rate, are willing to raise the real estate tax rate. So jumping it from 96 to 98 cents, that's a noticeable uptick. At the same time when assessments on homes have gone

anywhere from 20, 30 to 40% up, depending on where you live in Charlottesville since pre-COVID to now. You guys are dying. We're dying. We're dying the death of 1,000 cuts. Sales tax, meals tax, lodging tax, real estate tax rate, assessments, gasoline, groceries, interest rates tied to credit cards, dying the death of a thousand cuts. Hey, but don't worry. Relief is on the horizon. We get to choose between Joe Biden and Donald Trump for the presidency. Don't you worry.

I say to City Manager Sam Sanders, instead of raising lodging, sales, and the real estate tax rate at the time of inflation and when every dollar is being stretched as far as possible, why don't we come up with an economic stimulus plan as David Reddick has highlighted on the program? Why don't we drive incremental revenue to fund the programs that need additional funding? Charlottesville City Schools, for example, they're asking for

$9 million in incremental dollars. $9 million, Judah. Sam Sanders says you're probably going to get $7. Still, that's additional money. All this furthers gentrification at a time when the city is getting pummeled by people moving to the community

and changing the landscape and character of a town that's not so much a town anymore. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the collateral damage of being an incredibly popular and noteworthy place to live. And we have another distinction, the National Register of Historic Places, that's going to be utilized in marketing material

for Charlottesville to be called the best place to live in the country. Anything you want to add to this? I'm curious, on balance of not just our jurisdiction, but jurisdictions across the state and the country, raising taxes, how often do they do the reverse? Nelson County has done the reverse very recently. Jesse Rutherford on the program has talked about that. I always like having Jesse on, and I always appreciate his perspective on governance.

And definitely wish we had more counselors across central Virginia like him. Because if there is no balance of lowering taxes when cities and jurisdictions have surpluses, how do you not end up just taxing everyone into oblivion? Olivia Branch and Logan Wells-Claylow, Johnny Ornelas, welcome to the program. My friend, you offer a voice of reason. Eventually, can we not have a neutral budget or a budget where the spend is not greater than the previous year? Can we not? Because you can't just raise taxes indefinitely.

Oh, that's what's happening. I know, but you can't. That's what's happening. I mean, eventually. What do you mean you can't? You're just going to replace everyday Joes and Sallies with transplants from Northern Virginia, from Manhattan, from Greenwich, from Austin,

from Boulder and Denver. That can work jobs elsewhere outside of Central Virginia and manage the enhanced tax exposure. But eventually, maybe you're right, but I would think that eventually an out-of-control raising of taxes over whatever amount of time is eventually not just going to push the people out,

but it's going to destroy any local business. A hundred percent? Have you seen your restaurant bill when you've gone out to a restaurant and seen the item where it's like 11 or 12 or 13 percent of the bill is just taxes you've seen that you've seen that right yeah eventually are you going to be like let me understand something my bill for this meal for my family was a hundred dollars and 12 of it was taxes and 20 of it

was gratuity. So I got $68 of food and I paid $32 in... Don't forget about the taxes to the restaurant that have to get passed on to you so that your food is going to be more expensive as well. I was going to get to that. That's why you ask yourself,

let me understand something. My bill for my wife and I, our five-year-old and our 14-month-old, and we got, I got two beers, she got two beers, we each got a cheeseburger, our two boys got a hot dog, and we got a basket of

french fries and our bill was $100. $12.50 of it is taxes. $20 of it is tip. That means it's 68 bucks of food and I look at the french fries and the hot dogs and the cheeseburgers and the beers. And is that 68 bucks? When I could get the same potentially at the house for 20, 25? Probably less? Yeah. This is basic arithmetic that people are doing. And I've said it many times on the program. You raise the meals

tax, you gentrify the dining experience, and you make dining only for the wealthy. And when you make dining experiences only for those with disposable income, you are limiting the opportunity for families to expose their children to settings where they can

learn maturation and socialization. Among losing other things as well. And that's how the haves get more and the have-nots get less. And that's, I call it bogus. What word do you want to call it? I mean... The opposite of diversity, equity, and inclusion? I mean, DEI itself is the opposite of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Ginny Hu on Twitter says this. She tweets on Twitter, Ginny Hu, that there's a black UVA trustee that recently ripped cancel culture as the board strips the president's name off the library she shares the link and in the link this black uva trustee said quote i would like to see this university devote its resources to building bridges across the issues that divide us rather than searching through stacks in the library to find human imperfections of past leaders for the sole purpose of condemning those who did not and cannot meet unforgiving and impossible standards. The link, if you'd like to read it, is on my Twitter account and a tweet from Ginny Hu.

That was very well put. And the trustee was... Board member Paul Harris, the former Republican state legislator. All right, next topic before the great Giardini and sidekick Bubini in the House. This one demoralizing to me. And I'll get to John Blair's comment with this one. The House of Delegates has opted not to take up legislation that sought to loosen regulations on the sales split between food and liquor at Virginia restaurants and bars.

This reported by Richmond BizSense. Senate Bill 168 on Tuesday was sent back to committee rather than getting a vote for outright passage or denial. The move effectively killed the bill in this year's session. The legislation would have lowered the current 45% food-to-liquor annual sales ratio that is required of businesses that hold mixed beverage restaurant caterers or limited caterers ABC license. Get this, Judah. I'm going to read this verbatim. Licensees with monthly food sales of at least 4,000 but less than 35,000 per month would have needed to meet or exceed a proposed 35% food to liquor sales ratio. However, licensees with sales of at least $35,000 per month would not have been subject to the ratio.

This would have created actual bars where an entrepreneur could have served liquor, beer, and wine, and potentially only liquor, beer, and wine. Politicians killed this possibility yesterday. The senator who authored the bill said he attributes the failing or the killing of the bill to the owner of the tobacco company in Richmond and Virginia Restaurant Association lobbyist Matt Benka. And he said, the tobacco company owner, Jerry Cable, and the Virginia Restaurant Association lobbying group killed the bill because they didn't want to see added competition for existing restaurants. John Blair asked this question on LinkedIn, if we can get his photo on screen. He says, two points, Jerry.

This year's General Assembly is the most anti-business and anti-development session in Virginia's history. His opinion. And number two, I'm curious, do you and Judah believe that more bars would harm

existing restaurant businesses? I do not. I do not either. Because you go to a restaurant to eat food. Yeah. People who want, I'm sure there are people who go to restaurants to drink because, I don't know why you would, but yeah, I don't see it being a problem. I can't imagine people all of a sudden just eschewing restaurants because they can go somewhere that doesn't serve.

I would rather go to a bar where I could get an appetizer if I wanted to, but if I wanted to go specifically get a, you know, a shot in a beer, you go to a shot in a beer bar because you can get it quickly. Or if I, or if I specifically wanted, uh, you know, like, uh, a particular beer that, uh, that a brewer in town sells, like I would obviously go there to get one. I just, it's nuts. And the fact that enough money will buy you votes is, I think, a problem that we someday will hopefully overcome.

I don't know how. That'll never happen. A problem that we someday will hopefully overcome. I don't know how. That'll never happen. Yeah. That'll never happen. Carol Thorpe watching the program. Let's get Carol's photo on screen. Carol is number nine in the family. Excuse me.

Carol says, assessments already went up once. Now the real estate tax rate is proposed to jump another two cents. That's a second tax hike in one year. Food and lodging tax is going up too, but hey, Sam, you tried to keep it down and Charlottesville hits its first quarter billions dollar annual budget. Still, some dude stood up last night's meeting and said, raise my taxes.

Vanessa Parkhill watching the program, her photo on screen. The thing about people who want to wave their flag around saying, raise my taxes, the thing is, you can send the government as much of your money as you want. They are not going to stop you. I'm not going to stop you. I don't know anyone that would stop you. That doesn't mean the government should take just as much from everyone else. It should be your choice if you want to pay the government more money. Right? Am I, is, I think the people that raising are waving their flag and screaming, raise my taxes are doing it for pomp and circumstance and show. Yeah, I mean, that's my point. They're doing it.

He's waving a flag. He's not saying anything constructive or trying to help anyone. Right. He's doing this to... He's virtue signaling. He's virtue signaling. That's exactly what that is. And if he's got the money to get the government... It's virtue signaling. He's virtue signaling. That's exactly what that is. And if he's got the money to give the government,

he is more than welcome to give them as much of it as he wants. Create a tax scholarship if you want. Yeah. But don't insist it's across the board. And don't insist everybody pitch in. Thank you. Vanessa Parkhill, her photo on screen. Soon it may be cheaper to hire someone to prepare a meal at your house

versus going to a restaurant. We may be there now. Yeah, I'd love to. We still go for the experience and to support our friends in restaurants, like Derek Bond, who's watching the program. I love what he's done. Derek Bond at Moe's on Ivy Road. Moe's on Ivy Road is one to support. Number 30 in the family.

Get Derek Bond's photo on screen. Carly says there should be a law that requires budget cuts to equal tax increases. If taxpayers need to find room in their spending to increase their costs, municipalities should also have to find room in their spending to pay their bills. Bingo. Amen, sister. And in regards to the General Assembly crushing bars, a neighborhood bar that serves booze and only booze would be an incremental tax source for municipalities like Charlottesville that need incremental tax revenue. There were some great little spots in various places that I lived.

Savannah. I used to go around the corner to a place called Pinky Masters. It was a great little bar. They had darts, they had popcorn, and they had great drinks. There you go. And in Portland, Maine.

I lived above a bar, although I never really went down to it because I wasn't old enough. We're running out of time and we need the great Gerardini and the great Bubini to grace us with their presence. If we can go to a one-shot with Judah Wickauer as the great Gerardini takes my place on set,

please tell me when we're on a one-shot. You're good to go. Entertain and educate your fans and your viewers. If you guys could watch this transformation, you would probably run screaming out of the building. Oh, and that is... I'm not sure how that's... There's a... What color would you call that?

Seafoam green? Is that... Yeah, is that seafoam green? Is that seafoam green? Is that appropriate fortune teller attire? Don't go to the one, don't welcome the great Giardini into the program yet.

And remember, you're going to have to get dressed as well. You can now go to a one shot on the great Giardini. Tell me when you're a one-shot on the Great Giardini. Tell me when you're on a one-shot. Hold on. The Great Giardini is in full garb right now on the I Love Seville show

wearing a tank top that has the image, the cartoon image of Curtis Shaver. Can they see the Curtis Shaver tank top on screen? They can fully see your glory. There's Curtis Shaver right there. screen. They can fully see your glory. There's Curtis Shaver right there. They can see him when you sit down. Oh, they can see Curtis while I'm sitting down. Fantastic.

The great Jaredini is here to offer some fortune-telling predictions on the set of the I Love Seville show. The great Jaredini has risked his hair getting messed up to be in full experiential garb to offer these fantastic predictions that will become a reality. Predictions that will be relayed to the viewers and listeners in the great Giardini by Bubini himself. There's people walking by the set of the I Love Seville show in utter horror right now. I see them looking mouth agape across the street. Are you ready, Bubini, to ask the great Giardini his questions? Bubini, the last time I've seen that shirt worn was 1977. It was somewhere on the set of Saturday Night Live or Saturday Night Fever. Bubini, it's time for questions for you as you very slowly get your garb on. Hustle up,

Bubini. Giardini is ready to look at the fortunes. Hello, Bubini. Nice to have you on set here. Let's see. How do I get? There we go. Bubini. There we go. You're asking the questions. Oh, am I asking questions? Yes. All right. Oh, I'm looking deep into my crystal ball as I'm wearing my Curtis Shaver tank top.

That's seafoam green. Wearing my magic wands. Bubini, what is your first question? Which option will the Charlottesville Albemarle Jail choose? Martin Coomer, the superintendent of the Charlottesville Albemarle County Jail, will always choose the most expensive option. He must navigate Zoom calls done at Carver Recreation Center, where naked men are on screen self-pleasuring themselves, much to the surprise, the horror, the delight of those that are in attendance.

He runs to the projector and tries to put his arm in front of the projector to keep the man who's naked on the Zoom call from showing to those in attendance. What he doesn't realize realize it's a projector. And all the projector is going to do is show the self-pleasuring man projecting, pun intended,

all over the superintendent's suit. That was a good pun. Thank you. I appreciate that pun. Thank you, Moody. Thank you, Moody. Thank you, Moody. To answer your question, the Charlottesville-Almora County Jail will come in at the most expensive option. That's what the great Giardini sees.

Question. How long before they get the new buses running? What a crazy story this is. Charlottesville and the Charlottesville-Almoro Transit, CAT, have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for three brand new buses only to sideline those three brand new buses because they do not have radios that meet certain criteria,

radios that must be made in america the radios they have are made in china and because these radios are made in china they cannot buy them but that's isn't that a city standard great giardini's crystal ball is a little murky on that one i believe it's that the city wants a particular brand of radio that comes with Chinese parts. And so, what is it? It's the F...

F-A-T, I believe. F-T-A? Fat? No, I think it's F-T-A. I believe the F-T-A will not pay for the radios that the city wants. So the city has not pay for the radios that the city wants. So the city has to pay for the radios for the buses. These buses have been sidelined and not utilized for months, despite us paying for them.

When will these buses be used? The year will be circa 2025 when Sam Sanders' new budget is put into play and the sales tax, the lodging tax, and the real estate tax rate will cover the cost of the radios and getting the buses on the road. The saddest part of that article is the buses that come back on the street will not actually create more bus routes. Right. All they will do is make the busing more efficient. They're not going to get more buses on the roads

or create more route running. That is sad. What is next from you, Bubini, for the great Giardini? This harks back to what we were talking about earlier today. Will the downtown mall ever get its benches back? Joan Fenton says, no benches for you. No benches for you.

No benches for you. No benches for you. And no benches for you. You are you. No benches for everyone. No benches for anyone, says Joan Fenton. No benches.

Never, never, never. If you're looking for a breather like my 74-year-old father who's got bad knees and no cartilage left in either knee, a man who's recovered from a quadruple bypass who's battling diabetes, all you have to do if you want to take a break is you have to put your bottom, your butt cheeks on the bricks of the downtown mall

and sit on the bricks themselves. You do not get a bench, Mr. Miller. No benches for you. Any other questions, Boobini? Those were all of the questions I thought you had one about the presidential race and how it pertains to Charlottesville which was suggested by Jerry to Judah

don't you remember that's what my crystal ball is telling me okay who do you think will win our country's presidential election? Do I have to answer this question? No.

I think Donald Trump is going to win. Do you? I think the confidence level in sleepy Joe Biden, who is undoubtedly out to lunch, is as low it's ever been in Biden's term in office. And I think the American population and the voter population that is in our country is a forgiving voter population. And when they're weighing the scales of justice of Joe Biden, who's out to lunch and morally, potentially morally corrupt Donald Trump, they're going to vote the lesser of two evils. And the lesser of two evils, at least as a man of competence, mental competence versus a man that is battling what? Dementia? We may never know. Old age? What do you want to call it?

I don't know what to call it. If you were a leader of a foreign country and you saw Joe Biden shuffling his feet, falling down the stairs, or struggling to read a prompter, would you not try to take advantage of the United States of America? 100%.

And that's a sad state of affairs that we're in right now in the United States, where our presidential options are basically, what, two 80-year-olds? One with shady morals, and the other one that is... One that's morally deficient and one that's mentally deficient bingo bubini bingo but that's what we got in 2024 anything else you want to add bubini i thought you did a fantastic job today yeah you've seen curtis tell him. This is his face. Curtis.

Curtis. Curtis. Curtis is the man. Should we get Curtis's photo on screen? Let's get Curtis's photo on screen side by side next to this tank top. Oh, man. Can you get it picture in picture next to this tank top? To see the resemblance? Probably. Curtis's photo on screen next to this tank top,

and I'll happily stand up if you would like me, the great Bubini. No, that's not necessary. Just give me a second. You have approximately seven. Seven seconds. The crystal ball says he will have it up in seven seconds. Seven. I don't think up in seven seconds. Seven.

I don't think I can do that. Six. Five. Four. All right. You ready? Two. One.

The crystal ball says the photo should be on screen right now. It is. The crystal ball is never wrong. be on screen right now. It is. The crystal ball is never wrong. Do I need to stand up? No. Curse. Even Bubini's laughing. Look at Bubini's shirt, by the way.

Let's keep the comparison on screen, and then we need to look at Bubini's shirt. The Wednesday edition of the I Love Seville show, ladies and gentlemen. We hope you're enjoying this as much as we are. I liked it with the collar popped. You liked it with the, well, it, like, I guess I could do that.

All right. That's good. Is that going to be Bubini's forever attire? Because this is going to be Giardini's forever attire. Maybe, maybe not. I have another shirt that I'm thinking of adding to my repertoire. Bubini's? Yes. Okay.

Job well done today. We'll see. Tell Judah he did a great job as well. I will, if I see him. It's the I Love Sivo show on a Wednesday. Ladies and gentlemen, we work hard for you. The only thing we ask in return is a like and a share. Spread the gospel.

So long, everybody. First is photo on screen. Side by side with the tank top all right hold on does it not and my hair is messed up did you see let's see. Okay. Alright. There you go. All right. There you go. Thank you.