The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - Downtown's Violet Crown Will Not Be Apt Tower; Developer Sacks Plans For 18-Story, 184-Foot Tower

Episode Date: May 29, 2025

The I Love CVille Show headlines: Downtown’s Violet Crown Will Not Be Apartment Tower Developer Sacks Plans For 18-story, 184-foot Tower Deep Throat Intel On Violet Crown Inner Biz Workings Councilor Payne Blames UVA About Fed Executive Bldg CVille Politics And Its Obvious Collateral Damage Is UVA Baseball Coach Leaving For Mississippi State? O’Connor Linked To SEC; Is Carla Williams In H20? Activist Kevin Cox On I Love CVille Show Tomorrow 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.

guys welcome to the I love Sevo show you don't have that camera set up over there Judah Wicker thank you kindly for joining us on a goodness gracious a tough start for the I love Sevo production team on a Thursday afternoon we're grateful for you joining the broadcast despite the tough start we have a lot that we're going to talk about on today's program, including violent crowd movie theater no longer heading to the path of apartment tower. 18 stories, 184 square foot, 184 foot tall apartment tower has been sacked, has been trashed, has been thrown in the dumpster like a fourth year UVA student who just graduated and has no other thing to do besides taking their mattress and their furniture and taking

it to a dumpster next to their house on 14th Street for locals to dumpster dive for their pottery barn night stands and their pottery barn lights and bed frames. The apartment tower is no more on the downtown mall. And for now, violent crown movie theater will continue being a brick and mortar dinosaur. Today's version potentially of blockbuster video. We're going to talk Violet Crown. Deep Throat, number one in the family, intimately knows the dynamics of this operation. Deep Throat lived in Austin, Texas where Violet Crown was founded and he knows the players behind the scenes and has intelligence that he's passed along to us so you, the viewer and listener, gets a feel for what is going on for a beloved but struggling movie theater that is clearly in third place in a small Charlottesville and Central Virginia market. We're going to talk on today's program the obvious collateral damage of Charlottesville's political landscape and

climate. Look, it's no secret, it ain't easy living in Charlottesville. It ain't easy because the cost of living is through the roof. It ain't easy because if you're a small business owner it is as challenging as ever, ladies and gentlemen, to operate your operation. Why don't I rattle them off? And Judah, we need to update the list, local business icons that have closed in the last

12 months. Blue Moon Diner, Mooses by the Creek, Eljo's Traditional Clothes, Reid's Grocery Store, Guadalajara Restaurant on Fontaine Avenue, Mel's Cafe, Lumpkin's Restaurant and Motel, Little John's Deli, 10,000 Villages, End Zone Pizza, Belmont Pizza, Fry Spring Station, and the Jefferson Park Avenue neighborhood needs to be on that list. Fry Spring Station. Update that list after the show if you could please. Make sure you have the word updated in all caps in the headline and showing up in the

metadata so when you syndicate that post, viewers and listeners when they read it, see the post has changed, has been edited with the inclusion of Frye Spring Station closing in the last 12 months. Heather Lamond Walker, Johnson Village's finest, offered that intelligence yesterday on the I Love Seaville Network. It ain't easy living in this town, folks. And eventually we need to start pointing the fingers to the decisions made by a one party town. Development and the new zoning ordinance have materialized nothing except for tens of thousands of dollars of taxpayer waste. You walk the downtown mall, I did it this morning with my wife. This morning was bring our oldest son to work day.

He walked with me from our parking space on 4th Street to our office, our building, the Macklin building on the corner of 4th and Market. He just completed the first grade. He is a fine young man. I am very proud of our oldest son. We get to work about 8 a.m. I let him know that a tenant is coming to sign a lease for one of the properties we own,

that he has to be on his best behavior. He said, I will, dad. The tenant walks in, her check in hand, for $1,100. Two copies of the lease on the desk, my son sitting by my side, the tenant across from us. She very diligently reads the lease, asks a couple of questions, we answer those questions. Then my son, the tenant and I, walk to the office space. We show her the keys. Show show her the keys. Show her how the keys work.

Show her how to exit and entrance the building again. Answer any questions, including yes, it's absolutely cool if you choose to paint the baseboards white. We don't mind doing that at all. She asks if she could put a rug on our carpet. No problem. You can do that. It protects our carpet and it helps you create a sense of home or ownership for the space that you're leasing. We collect the $1,100. I said, son,

it's time to go to the bank. We walk to the bank. We deposit the money. We say hi to the branch manager. We say hi to the tellers. We say hi to the banker that's sitting in front of the branch manager's office. I introduce everyone to our son again. He then follows me from the bank to my office where I have a phone call with a developer. A developer that's doing big things right outside the Shenandoah National Forest in the short term rental space. This particular developer is looking for about $1,500,000 in basically private money. You know, $500,000 in basically private money, money from folks like us, money from the folks that we associate with. And he said, look, I'm trying to scale short-term rentals. I'd like to potentially get up to 40 short-term rentals in the next 18 months. I'm going to give

you the deck, here's the model, I need some money, let's figure something out on this. My son's listening to the phone call on speaker, asked me some questions afterwards. I was impressed with his questions. As he walks in, as he stands side by side with me as we're doing dealings on a Thursday morning, I wait for my wife to finish yoga class, she finishes yoga, she enters our building,

she brings our youngest son who's two and a half years old, who's an absolute tornado. Within five minutes of our two and a half year old being in our building, in our office, I said look we can't be in here anymore, I'm about to lose my mind, he's destroying everything. We decide to walk out the front door, we walk up and down the downtown mall, we have an early lunch at Vita Nova Pizza on the downtown mall. We say hi to Louis. He and his father run Vita Nova. We get a large pepperoni pizza, some of the best pie in Charlottesville and central Virginia at Vita Nova. I get two juices for my sons. My wife and I said, you know what? It's Thursday morning. Let's do something different. Let's get an ice cold beer, Judah.

So we have a Modelo. Pepperoni pizza, two Modelos, and two juices for our son. Son's at 11 a.m. for juice for lunch. How much do you think the tab was? 50 bucks. 50 bucks. We walk into Vita Nova and we say, my wife says, why don't we come down here more? Then I walk my wife to her car and she says, now I know why I don't come down here more. There's degenerates all over downtown Charlottesville. I said, come on, sweetheart,

it's not that bad. And then she looks at me. Then I realize, you know what? If my wife feels that way, who spent a decade living in Manhattan working for Blackstone on her way to managing director of one of the most prominent hedge funds in the world living on the Upper East Side then moves to Charlottesville to start a family life with me and she has those comments degenerates then it must be having an impact with her. And I have to take what she says seriously. So I relay that story, that first-hand perspective that literally happened today, because I need to ask you this question, folks, is the Charlottesville

political climate creating collateral damage that we are not truly being honest with ourselves about? We have a mall that hasn't recovered since COVID. We have developers and development that is for the most part screeching to a standstill because of an absurd new zoning ordinance. We got homeowners that are suing City Hall. We just recently filled the vacated attorney position in City Hall. It's a one-party town. Taxes are absolutely out of control. 12.5%, 13%. Total taxes on your bill, including the very handcuffing meals tax of Charlottesville,

Virginia. When do we start saying it's the political climate, the collateral damage that's impacting the economy, the expensive quality of life, the fact that the middle class and the lower middle class have been essentially gentrified to Flavanna, Orange, Louisa, or over the mountain to Waynesboro. When do we start saying, goodness gracious, the median home values in the city of Charlottesville are 500,000 bucks right around there,

and it didn't used to be that way. I just chalk it up in conversations with friends of the program, like this isn't the town that it was 25 years ago when I first moved here. But maybe it's time for me to have a much more iron fisted approach saying enough already. We have a platform and people listen. We'll talk about that concept today on the I Love Seaville show. I'm going to ask you if Violent Crown Movie Theater, ladies and gentlemen, is now the blockbuster of 2025. Is Brick and Mortar Movie Theaters

the blockbuster of 2025? We're gonna talk on today's program a lot about what Michael Payne said to the Cavalier Daily on the Federal Executive Institute. Judah Wickhauer put this headline in the rundown because he was dismayed by Michael Payne's commentary. Is that a fair response or fair characterization of what you felt after reading Michael Payne's commentary

in the Cavalier Daily, dismayed? More or less. Are you too shabby right now? Are people seeing you on screen? No, why? Because I'm asking you a question here. Were you dismayed when you read what Michael Payne had to say? We would have talked about this earlier in the week except on Monday we were off for Memorial Day. Judah was working on his suntan on Memorial Day. What did you do for Memorial Day? I didn't ask you. I haven't had a chance to talk with you on the I Love Seville show because on Tuesday

we had Dave Shreve who's running for the Jack Jewett district seat, Alomar County Board of Supervisors. Yesterday, Mike Kochis, chief of police on the program, deep throat highlighted this in comments to me and boy oh boy is deep throat shaping today's show. He said, did you hear Chief Mike Kochis say yesterday on the show that the Charlottesville redevelopment and housing authority still has vacancies in its portfolio, unable to rent all its housing stock despite having some of the most affordable housing out there. The CRHA has been unable to fully rent its housing stock, according to commentary yesterday

from Chief of Police Mike Kochis. That struck me. That struck deep throat. This is the first time we're able to welcome Judah Wichower to the show. It's only one day this week of our beloved Judah Wichower because on tomorrow's program Kevin Cox will be in studio. The man who's going toe-to-toe Mike Tyson versus Vander Holyfield with City Hall and Kevin Cox is going to trot into this studio with an arrest hanging over his head. And one year of jail time hanging over the pedestrian and bicycle activists who spray painted a crosswalk on

Elliott Avenue and got put into iron cuffs, arrested for what the city is causing vandalism, negligence, and clear cut dangerous behavior as it applies to traffic patterns in pedestrian, vehicle, and bicycle safety. The only day we'll get to see you today, Judah, is today on the I Love Seaville show, because Kevin Cox is tomorrow. Dismayed? Not dismayed when you read Michael Payne's commentary in the Cavalier Daily? I'm not dismayed, I'm surprised. Definitely surprised. Michael Payne is a smart guy.

All the people on our city council are smart, intelligent people. Does calling out the University of Virginia for getting the Federal Executive Institute in the student newspaper that's read by all staff at the University of Virginia seem like smart behavior to you? If you're trying to pick a fight. What is, this isn't David and Goliath, Michael Payne picking a fight with UVA. Because geez Louise, at least David had a slingshot

and a couple of rocks. The only thing that Michael Payne has in this fight with the University of Virginia is a crusty old student newspaper. What's he gonna, whack UVA like he's swatting flies in his mother's basement? Is that what he's gonna be doing? Sure.

You don't like when I make the reference that he's living at home with his parents. No, I don't care about that. Just sometimes you get a little... Entertain, enlighten, and educate, Judah. If we all deliver dry commentary, no one would watch. We have to ask this question of the viewers and listeners. Brian O'Connor, the UVA baseball coach, is again being linked

with the Southeastern Conference and the Mississippi State Baseball Program. The beloved Brian O'Connor, a man that is capable of taking a couple of fishes and a few loaves of bread and Judah feeding the thousands at Disharoon Park. Brian O'Connor now linked after his team is out of baseball playoff contention to the Southeastern Conference and one of the best programs in the nation period, Mississippi State, that has a treasure chest of NIL offerings and alumni support. We have to ask the question, Carla Williams,

the athletic director of the University of Virginia, in a 12-month period of time, Carla Williams, the athletic director at the University of Virginia, her football program is the worst football program from a record standpoint of any of the power conferences over the last three years. The season just finished, the football program within the last 12 months. After the football program struggles mightily and loses to the Virginia Tech Hokies in disappointing

fashion, Tony Bennett announces his surprise resignation, the beloved Tony Bennett. If Brian O'Connor can take a few loaves of bread and a couple of fishes and feed the thousands at Dishroom Park, then good night. Tony Bennett has discovered the cure to HIV, scurvy, the bubonic plague and all forms of cancer. He walks on water and he retires. He's replaced by Ron Sanchez and ladies and gentlemen the team fails to make the big dance. Now the baseball program is in limbo with the head coach being linked to the Southeastern Conference. Goodness gracious is Carla Williams going

into a crossfire of significant proportions. And remember, she just got her contract extension. So much to cover on the I Love Seaville show today. Judah Wickauer, my friend, 61 years in business, Charlottesville Sanitary Supply. John Vermillion is, I got to get this right, at least four generations in Almarra County, big ups to John Vermillion, a beloved business owner, John Vermillion, the one-time small business person of the year from the

Chamber of Commerce, and how about Andrew Vermillion, the Monticello High School graduate? I just found out that Andrew Vermillion, John's son, was a seven handicap on the golf course, Andrew Vermillion, John's son, was a 7 handicap on the golf course, now running and owning Charlestown Sanitary Supply. The Vermillion men are, how would you characterize them, Judah? How would I characterize them? I would characterize them as outgoing, friendly, honestly desiring to help people who come in. Just a wonderful family.

I agree. Well said, Judah Wickar. The lead of the show, drum roll please. 18 stories and 184 feet, an apartment tower of 225 units in the exact footprint of a beloved movie theater. The plans have been thrown in the crapper. They've been flush and disregarded as if it was the Chinese food from last night. The developer, Jeff Levine from the Big Apple, who's got a home in North Garden, the developer

behind the Blue Moon Diner apartment tower. Interestingly, Blue Moon Diner is no more. As chosen not to pursue an option to build an 18 story, 225 unit, 184 foot tall apartment tower. He said, you know what dudes, this ain't going to work after all. He's pissed out. And in today's daily progress, you have a he said, she said of significant proportions. Michael Payne in the article, it's not us.

It's not Charlottesville. It's tariffs, it's rising construction costs. Michael Payne says it's Donald Trump. Michael Payne says it's Trump's tariffs. It's inflation. It's construction costs. It's labor. It's not City Hall and it's not the new zoning ordinance,

says Michael Payne, the tutorial city counselor. Jeff Levine says this just doesn't make sense. Multi-family housing, apartment housing on the downtown mall just doesn't make sense for me. I'm going to continue building my Tony, my expensive, my hotel right next to the Omni. I'm going to continue pursuing my partnership with this hotel next to the Omni where I can charge $500 or $600 a night.

But there's no way in H.E. Double Hockey Sticks I'm going to build this apartment tower on Violet Crowns movie theater site. I'm letting my option to build go by the wayside as if it was the very fresh and favorable odor once smelled in the Hogwaller neighborhood. What do you make of this story, Judah Wittkauer? Because there is so much to unpack, my friend. I mean, I think he probably wanted a sweetheart deal and didn't get it.

And now he's decided that, I mean, yeah, it's not going to pencil out. Because without major, major concessions by the city, it's just not going to be financially feasible. Levine wants tax abatements, basically tax breaks. Levine wants, as Deep Throat says, an exception on the story limit, an exception on having parking visible above ground, an exception for first floor transparency, an exception for inclusionary zoning, tax breaks. He wants the Board of Architectural Review to bend over backwards for him. And he didn't get everything he wanted.

So he said, to hell with this project. And now downtown Charlottesville is going to be left with a movie theater that is beloved by some, but financially supported by not enough. That's their problem though, isn't it? Clearly third, is it just the movie theater's problem or is it Charlottesville's problem? That lease only has 19 months left on it. We finally know how long the lease is. Right, but they clearly want to extend it. They want to stay there.

Did you see how the operator of the movie theater was negotiating in print with the owner of the real estate? And it's extremely important to realize this viewers and listeners. The owner of Violent Crown, the real estate, was the former operator. But the owner of the real estate said, Jesus, get me out of the movie theater business. And found an exit strategy by selling the operations of the business to an Austin-based movie theater operator. Then this new operator comes in and is blindsided by the landlord that they have an option to do a deal with Jeff Levine. When the lease expires, the operator had no idea that the owner of the real estate was considering not renewing the lease and selling to a real estate

developer, so the operator of the business got backstabbed there. Backstabbed. Now we know the time length of the lease, 19 months for Violet Crown. 19 months in the business world is nothing. You are not going to invest with capital improvement projects to optimize a business model with 19 months left on a lease. You are going to negotiate with the landlord and that's what the operator is doing in the

daily progress today, saying we want to stay but the terms are going to change. They said imprint the operator and I will read it directly to you because this is one of the items that struck me from this Violet Crown story, Judah Wickauer, are you ready? Quote, this is the CEO of the operation of Violent Crown. We are going to work very closely with the landlord to see what those terms and the economics look like beyond the existing term. And the landlord and us can come to an agreement that works for both Sides we would love to be in Charlottesville continue to show films and provide that community place for everybody

What word stood out to you for me? work closely with the landlord to see what those terms of the economics look like beyond the existing lease term in 19 months what is brick-and-m and mortar movie business going to look like? In 19 months what is brick and mortar movie business going to look like for the clear cut third placed horse in this race? If I get five brand new flat screen TVs for the home we moved to in June in Ivy and had them installed, purchased and installed, including one nearly 80 inches that was hung on a stone fireplace in our primary hangout room. And all that work was done for less than $3,000.

And that's today. What's that cost going to be 19 months from now? I'm going to ask you the viewer and listener this question. I'm going to ask you, Judah Wickhauer, this question. Jason Howard on Rio Road put this on my radar. I never thought about it this way. Can you think of one commodity in the world today that is improving in value, improving in its offering, but dropping in price. Can I?

I mean, you want me to say TVs? That's the only thing. Viewers and listeners, can somebody think of one thing you can purchase in the world today that is vastly improved in its offering and its value proposition, vastly improved in its offering and value proposition, but has significantly dropped in price to the 2 to 50 or 60% at least over where it was 24 months ago. Can you think of anything else? I want a viewer and listener can give me something that's synonymous with a television

that 24 months ago was 50% more expensive and 24 months ago was a far inferior product to what it is today. It is dropped in price by 50% at least and the uptick in value proposition is 2 or 3X. And this tariff centric inflationary dominant uncertain economic landscape, the only commodity I can think of that has significantly uptick in value but significantly down ticked in price point, televisions. Jason Noble says surround sound. I'll put that in televisions as the little brother of television same category Give me anything else ladies and gentlemen. I swear to God anything else, and I'll give you guys props of significant significant proportions on this show Anything anyone give me one

You got one? I don't have anything for you. Jason Howard puts that on my radar. Jason Howard, I hope you're watching this program. I give you a flying chest bump. Vanessa Parkhill says, I love that you're involving your son in your businesses. My son's going to come with me to work every Thursday morning so my wife can enjoy yoga and a break from our kids.

He's going to do some property management of our properties with us, some lease signings with us, some negotiations with us. He's going to meet with clients. He's going to walk our buildings. He's going to do it every Thursday morning with us. Can't wait to do it with him. So proud to be in his company. So Judah, in a world as we're having this conversation, viewers and listeners

as I'm having the conversation with you, in a world where televisions, you get an 80-inch television for like 400 bucks right now, then you spend what? 20 bucks a month for Netflix, $8 a month for Paramount Plus, $10 a month for Max, you got every movie possible, you have internet at home. Who's in 19 months when this lease is up, why would they renew? How about we do a prop bet? And this is a tough prop bet because it's a long period of time, although we'll know before 19 months when this lease is up, why would they renew? How about we do a prop bet? And this is a tough prop bet because it's a long period of time, although we'll know before 19 months. Do you think the Violent Crown Movie Theater

is going to renew its lease and extend its term? I think they'd like to. Do you think they will? Are we gonna bet a $75 bottle bottle of top shelf booze on this? Why? Is there too many? McAllen 12. There are too many other factors.

So you would say if you were a betting man and a gambling man, hell no they will not. How did you get that? If you were a betting man, you're making it difficult for the viewers in the audience. No, I already answered the question. If you were a betting man or a gambling man man where would you stack your $75 bottle of top-shelf booze on what side of the ledger given the chance they'll renew what it's either they're gonna renew their term or they're not gonna renew their term if you're a betting man okay if I was a betting man I'd say they're

gonna renew should we I'd be willing to take the bet. You do not want to take the bet. No, because you have, there's no subtlety in you. There's no subtlety in gambling. I know, that's why I don't usually go along with your prop bets. There's either a this side of the bet or a no side. You can't have subtlety in gambling. Yeah, that's fair.

There's no subtlety in gambling. I know. What do you think, viewers and listeners? Now let's get to some commentary from Deep Throat. I love the commentary from Deep Throat. I'm going to read a lot of commentary from Deep Throat, who intimately knows the inner workings of this business. Are you ready? Can you put Deep Throat's photo on screen throughout me reading what I have

to say? Okay, here we go. This is good. Developers can make stupid decisions like anybody else. And in fact, I think they probably make them more than other business people because of the easy availability of leverage. So taking stupid risk is actually often an optimal strategy because you can offload a high share of the losses to creditors. I think Jeff Levine would have had an extremely difficult time getting financing. And that's why he chose to let his option expire. I am sure the current owner of the real estate will look for other interested parties. There's only 19 months left on the theater lease.

If the owner of the real estate, which I'm fairly certain it is, is Bill Banowski, B-A-N-O-W-S-K-I, I'm sure he wants to be out of his Charlottesville holdings. This guy is out in Santa Fe working on projects. He continues, deep throat. On the violent crown thing, things have gotten a little more complicated. Remember that originally violent crown, the brand in real estate, was owned and run by Bill Bonowski. Then Bonowski partnered with Elevate, EEG, which was basically Mitch Roberts.

Then EEG took over the entire VC brand, but Bill still owned some of the real estate. Now Mitch has a minority investor, Marbella Investments. That's Brian Sheffield. Apparently Mitch and Brian Sheffield were not seeing eye to eye, so they split the business. The violent Crown-branded business went to Brian Sheffield. So that's who holds the lease now, Brian Sheffield. Brian Sheffield is an oil magnate, parsley energy, and the scion of a famous oil family. He's a huge big wheel in Austin and in Texas political circles.

He owns part of the Austin MLS soccer franchise. He is a multi-billionaire Brian Sheffield. No one tells Brian Sheffield what to do, and no one bullies Brian Sheffield what to do and no one bullies Brian Sheffield. Intel from Deep Throat, two shot Judah Wickauer. In straight face fashion, this is what we know. You have in a very recent present and past, have had three different operators of the movie theater business in downtown Charlottesville, including one operator who still owns the real estate. The team that still owns the real estate was doing a backroom deal with a prominent developer without its tenant knowing that deal was materializing and taking place.

The tenant found out of this backroom deal because of reporting offered to the Daily Progress. That reporting offered to the Daily Progress by the owner of the real estate and by the potential developer was a games play, a chess play. And they were trying to use the media and its reporting to kind of put pressure on the operator that, hey, your lifespan on this footprint is short. So you may want to consider other options and not invest in a lot of stuff. That deal has fallen through.

But the operator knows that the owner of the real estate is willing to wheel and deal without them in the future. So if you're the operator and you have 19 months on the lease, you're going to be very hesitant to continue investing in this operation because you don't have a lot of runway left to get return on investment on those capital improvement projects. So you're in purgatory. And being in purgatory in an industry that's dying the death of a thousand cuts is a terrible position.

It's like being in a burning house without an escape route or without an oxygen mask. You just suffer in the burning house and burn and burn and burn. Compounding the matter is it's a small market and there's two other movie theater companies and businesses in there that are taking your market share. Compounding the market, compounding the problem, your two competitors have much easier and readily available parking and less headwinds associated with their shopping centers, 5th Street Station and Stonefield when compared to the downtown mall and the headwinds tied with their shopping centers, 5th Street Station and Stonefield when compared to the downtown mall and the headwinds tied to parking, the houselessness, crime, etc.,

etc., etc. I will bet anyone that in 19 months this business is not going to be operating a movie theater there. TVs surround sound too cheap, streaming too affordable, movie theater experience too expensive, and too many players in this town. And it's a perfect segue into our next headline as you're putting lower thirds on screen.

The Seaville political landscape and the obvious collateral damage. When do we start asking the questions of what the collateral damage of local politics is doing to Charlottesville and all of us? It's the same where we're talking with the UVA Athletic Department. When do we start asking the questions about Carla Williams when the football team has the third, as the worst record of any of the power conferences over the last three years, when the basketball team has struggled since it's won a national championship,

when the basketball team lost its beloved head coach, when the basketball team did not make the NCAA tournament, and now the baseball team did not make the NCAA playoffs post-season, and the head baseball coach is about to leave to the Southeastern Conference. When do we ask the questions of what's going on in the athletic department? And the head of the athletic department is Carla Williams.

It's the same type of common sense thinking, Judah. It's the same type of connecting the dots we have to do with Charlottesville. I mean, goodness gracious, great balls of fire. We have businesses closing left and right. Blue Moon Diner just decided to hang up the towel and close. We have businesses left and right, Eljo's, Reeds, Guadalajara, Fontaine, Little John's, 10,000 Villages, Belmont Pizza, Fry Springs, just closing. Did Fry Springs close in the last year?

Yes. Really? I thought they closed in 2023. Let's look. You might be right, but it's pretty darn close. All the other ones in the last year. Frye Spring Station closed 14 months ago. 15 months ago, if you want to be exact. When do we start asking the question, what's going on? What's going on with the tax base?

What's going on with the cost of living? Yeah. Yeah, I mean it's going on with the labor pool that can't afford to live here. Everything is getting more expensive. And when you start pointing the fingers, comments put them in the feed, we'll relay them live on air. I trust me, I'll get heat for this from viewers and listeners. I'll get heat from the activists in Livable Seaville. I think a lot of the blame falls on Livable Seaville's shoulders. I think a lot of the blame falls on livable Seaville's shoulders. I think a lot of the blame falls on the Democratic Party of Charlottesville,

the Amarillo County Democratic Party. You know what? I think a lot of the blame falls on you, Judah Wickauer, and falls on me, and falls on the viewers and listeners. We're all culpable. Yeah. All of us are culpable. I agree. You disagree, viewers and listeners You continue Doing the same thing over and over again and expect a different result That's what's been happening around here, I don't know if it's the same thing

How's it not the same thing? You're voting the same people in. Year after year. In that regard. Year after year. It's the definition of insanity. Lloyd Snook, second term. Love Lloyd. Michael Payne, second term. Anyone think Brian Pinkston and Juan Diego Wade aren't the favorites? Second term. You disagree?

No. But in that case, if you're blaming everyone, if you've got two choices, and only two choices, I feel it's a little odd placing the blame on everyone that had to make one of those choices. How do you only have two choices? Two choices, three choices. It's not like we have a wide range. We have Democrats who are all running for the same seat or the same seats. Tina Wyatt and Brian agrees completely with what I'm saying. Jason Noble points fingers in the direction we're pointing. William

McChesney highlights the taxes and fees that continued to being passed along to people left and right. Got two spots on council open. Carly Wagner watching the program. Are they just playing hardball for cutthroat lease negotiations? I feel bad for the landlord of the movie theater. For the landlord? In this scenario I do not feel bad for the landlord at all. Yeah I certainly don't feel bad for them especially after not after... I feel bad

for the operator. Yeah. It's the operator that's dying the death of a thousand cuts. Warrior AG is watching the program. You can thank the population of Charlottesville, and you're getting their photos on screen, right? You can thank the population of Charlottesville and the surrounding area for the brick and mortar movie theater business going by the wayside. We need one big theater in this metropolitan area. The size of Charlottesville and its population

cannot manage or support three of them. And now you got a counselor in Michael Payne who's writing opinion pieces in the Cavalier Daily at a time when the Cavalier Daily, its student writers are on summer break. So of course, the fundraising, the fundraising supported Cavalier Daily will welcome the printing of City Councilor Michael Payne's commentary in full. And that commentary in the Cavalier Daily basically offers the proverbial shame shame, shame shame, UVA, shame shame. For taking the Federal Executive Institute from our school, He writes, shame shame.

And then we have to ask Michael Payne this question. Counselor Payne, Buford Middle School needed 70 or 80 million dollars to get remodeled because it was so decrepit. Walker needs millions of dollars to get remodeled because it's so decrepit. Walker needs millions of dollars to get remodeled because it's so decrepit. Charlottesville High School, millions of dollars are being invested into it because it's so decrepit. We talked to a very close friend of the program who we will respect his anonymity. You were in this meeting yesterday and in this meeting this close friend of the program said we provide equipment to city schools and

this equipment continues to come back to us asking us to repair it. We've been repairing equipment for city schools that should have been replaced five or six years ago. But all they choose to do is spend $2,500 a year repairing the equipment as opposed to the $14,000 it costs to buy it brand new. Then he says the operators of this equipment in city schools are spending significantly more time using this broken equipment or taking this broken equipment to us. He does not understand how the city schools just continue to repair broken equipment and

waste their labor as opposed to buying brand new equipment when the delta with the purchase and the repair is so slim. Explain to me how city schools would have been able to upkeep the Federal Executive Institute 90,000 plus square feet and 14 acres. When it can't keep up smaller acreage and smaller buildings in size. UVA said it was going to be $2 million a year just to maintain it. We as taxpayers would have been on the hook for the rest of our lives for the Federal Executive Institute.

We would have been on the hook for it. And yet the counselor, one of five of them, is writing shame shame UVA commentary in the Cavalier Daily saying us schools should have had it. It was the physically responsible and prudent thing to do. And you know what? Michael Payne's not to blame. UVA's not to blame.

Charlottesville City Schools are not to blame. Whackadoo Shannon Gilligan of the Teachers Union is not to blame, who's leveraging free labor against children saying, UVA, screw you, we don't want your student teachers. Now we want your student teachers to go to private schools and Alamaro County public schools instead of offering us free teaching labor and our kids helping them to get smarter. Screw those kids. We don't want those free UVA teachers working for us. She's not to blame. You know who's to blame? Not Dr. Gurley, not the school board, not City Hall. You know who's to

blame? Damn it, Judah. You're to blame. And I'm to blame. And the viewers and listeners are to blame. Everyone listening to this show is to blame. That's who there's fire. You want to put those two lower thirds on screen? Tony Bennett leaves. Football program can't win. Ron Sanchez couldn't win. Baseball coach is being linked to Mississippi State. Basketball team didn't make the big dance. Baseball team didn't make

the big dance. Football team hasn't beaten Virginia Tech consistently since what? I was in diapers? Where there's smoke, there's fire. And if Carla Williams is not in hot H2O, this headline should say is Carla Williams in hot H2O. Not just is. Carla Williams in water. Hot water. Judah, hot water. If she's not in hot water, then goodness gracious, she's got the best job in the world. She's got a contract extension. Got a contract extension despite her football program being the worst of any of the power conferences, got a contract extension despite losing her head basketball coach and her basketball team not making the big dance,

and now on the cusp of losing her baseball coach. Georgia Gilmer watching the program, her photo on screen, Georgia Gilmer. Regarding Michael Payne, he mentioned all the deferred maintenance of the city schools. Well, any intelligent person knows it's better to be proactive than reactive, almost more cost effective. Why would we buy a federal executive institute or acquire or politic for it when we can't even upkeep our schools? Jeremy Wilson watching in eastern Tennessee, the common denominator is Carla Williams.

Vanessa Parkhill says, no, it's not Judith's fault. No, it's not my fault. And no, it's not your fault, Jerry, because we can't vote in the city. She's putting that blame on deep throat who's living in the city. She's blaming the city viewers that are watching the program, all y'all's fault. Judah can't vote, he lives in Almarra County. Jared can't vote, he lives in Almarra County.

I live in Ivy, in Almarra County. Carly Wagner lives in Almarra County, not Carly Wagner's fault. Bill McChesney, you live on McIntyre Road. It's your fault. Jason Noble, you live in Alamaro County. It's not your fault. Bob Yarbrough, you're watching the program. You live in Redfields. It ain't your fault. Bob Yarbrough says, I mean, I know life here is far from perfect and we face significant

challenges, housing and livability being paramount, but travel the country and you'll see this is still a pretty amazing place to live and raise a family. Maybe focus on pressure, focus pressure on UVA to make pilot payments. housing and livability being paramount, but travel the country and you'll see this is still a pretty amazing place to live and raise a family. Maybe focus pressure on UVA to make pilot payments for a start. That would be nice. UVA ain't gonna do that. Nope, it'd still be nice.

Who has the most social influence to pressure the University of Virginia to do this in central Virginia? It ain't council. It's not Michael Payne. They don't even listen to him. Carla Williams, you think the pressure has been tough on you. Wait to see what happens when Brian O'Connor leaves, if he leaves. Deep Throat says, hey, Vanessa Parkhill, I wrote in Mickey Mouse on my ballot.

I'm not to blame. Good man. Deep Throat says, but the Jack Jewett district voters in Almaro County have a chance to make a selection even more insane than the one city voters are making by picking a loony Wokester and Sally Duncan over Dave Shreve. I'm going to tell you right now, ladies and gentlemen, that are watching this program and I'll close on this. If Alamaro County voters in the Jack Jewett district vote Sally Duncan ahead of Dave Shreve,

you are about to open a Pandora's box of quality of life impact that you have yet to see in your entire life. Say that again. I want every freaking viewer and listener to hear what I'm saying. If the Jack Jewett district voters, and remember, Republicans and independents in the Jack Jewett district can vote in this Democratic primary. It's not just Democrats. But if voters in the Jack Jewett District, that is a very large part tenants and renters

that live in this district, if they vote Sally Duncan over Dave Shreve, Almarrow County in totality is about to have a Pandora's box open of quality of life change that the county has never experienced in perhaps county history. That Pandora's box of quality of life impact will include the highest levels of taxes the county of Almararle has ever experienced in its history. It's already at its pinnacle real estate tax rate. It's already at its pinnacle property tax rate. It's already at its pinnacle assessment rate. And Sally Duncan has commercials that are airing on television and on social media that says I want to raise taxes even more. It is bananas. Thank you, Mike. Jason Noble says this. Hide your kids, hide your wife because life because they're going to be taxed. Sally Duncan's advertising campaign.

Yep. We've got the video. You have the commercial? I'm hesitant to even put it on screen because are we giving her props for this? Are we pointing out what she's doing? Do we put it on screen? Do you have it? Air the damn commercial. Do you have it? Can you play it? Let's see. Yeah. Three, two, one, play the thing. While the White House keeps cutting and defunding programs, here in Albemarle County, we're investing. We're investing in housing. We're investing in our kids. We're investing in each other. Hi, I'm Sally Duncan, and I'm running for Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, because I want to continue investing

in our community. Vote for me to be your Jack DeWitt Supervisor by June 17. I'm Sally Duncan, and I approve this message. Does that commercial not scream increased taxes? What does investing require? Investing requires money. Where do city councils and board of supervisors get money? They get money from taxes.

If they want more money, they've got to increase taxes. We have someone who teaches at a $27,000 a year private school that is saying invest in public schools. We have someone whose husband makes well over six figures working for Charlottesville City Hall, saying I'm nothing but a renter in the Jack Jewett district. Despite her family's take-home income well over area median income. I need the viewers and listeners to understand this. You have a candidate that's running on, woe is me, I'm a renter and the tenant-dominated Jack Jewett district,

and I want to invest in public schools, and I want to invest in housing. But what she's not saying is, my husband's salary alone is well over area median income, and he works for City Hall. I work for a $27,000 a year private school as a teacher. We're wealthy. We live on four acres in Earleysville. And a big house, paying paying big time monthly rent. Give me a break. If you don't see through the mumbo jumbo, then Albemarle County, your county is about to turn into the city of Charliesville.

You heard? You heard? Did you hear? Your county is about to turn into the city of Charlottesville. Kevin Cox on the program tomorrow. He wants to offer his perspective of what happened with his arrest on Elliott Avenue. Got a 72-year-old man with a year hanging over his head and a $1,000-plus vandalism charge.

He's coming on the program tomorrow. He reached out to us, Kevin Cox. Judah Wichower absolutely crushed it today. Job well done. My name is Jerry Miller. So long, everybody....