The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - Michael Payne: Community Unaware Of New Budget; Most Apathy In CVille History Right Now?

Episode Date: April 17, 2024

The I Love CVille Show headlines: Michael Payne: Community Unaware Of New Budget Most Apathy In CVille History Right Now? Umma’s Water Street Location Now For Sale Why Are Key Storefronts Vacant On The Mall? Read Viewer & Listener Comments Live On-Air The I Love CVille Show airs live Monday – Friday from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm on The I Love CVille Network. Watch and listen to The I Love CVille Show on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes, Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Fountain, Amazon Music, Audible and iLoveCVille.com.

Good Wednesday afternoon, guys. I'm Jerry Miller. Thank you kindly for joining us on the I Love Seville show. We enjoy connecting with you through the I Love Seville network, a show that airs wherever you get your podcasting and social media content, a show that welcomes you, the viewer and listener, to shape the discussion, ask us questions, challenge us, and really influence the flow of the program. Today's program is presented by Dino and his new location at Pro Renata, Moo Thru, in Crozet, a second location for Dino and his new location at Pro Renata Moothru in Crozet a second location for Dino the first at Dairy Market he joined us on yesterday's program

for what was one of the best interviews we have ever done in I Love Seville Network history his phone has been ringing off the hook since the program, certainly his notifications he was honest, He was vulnerable. He was sincere. He was candid. He was just genuine. And I found it compelling content. A couple of times in the program, I personally was getting emotional when he was talking about the effort he's put into running this business that

is now in less than five years an empire, I mean really a food and beverage empire, that in less than five years has gone from four employees to 42 employees. And across all his points of sale, the Dino's at Dairy Market, the Muthru at Dairy Market, the Basta Pasta at Dairy Market, the Dinos at Pro Renata, and now the Moo Thru at Pro Renata, north of $5 million gross in sales. Absolutely the American dream. What a success story. A lot we're going to cover on the program. Kind of as a follow to yesterday's interview with Dino, we've had some Facebook messenger conversation with the founder and owner of Pro Renata, and that's the fabulous Dr. John Shabe. We are working on an interview with

Dr. John Shabe of Pro Renata to discuss their expansion plans. Dino talked about the Shenandoah Valley and not just Stanton and what they're doing downtown, but elsewhere. I'll have Dr. John Shabe, his schedule permitting, relay that information to you, the viewers and listeners. I think you're going to find it extremely provocative and extremely compelling and exciting. Take a look at the screen for today's headlines. Ladies and gentlemen, Judah Wickauer has done a good job of putting the rundown together on this show as I'm working on trying to close a deal in the middle of the day while running these businesses. So props to Judah for putting the headlines together. I'm very excited to see today's show because he's researched it extremely well. As you guys know, we're

less than two miles, Judah, and viewers and listeners from the University of Virginia, less than two miles from the Rotunda, Scott Stadium, the John Paul Jones Arena. Interestingly, speaking of the John Paul Jones Arena, the Cavalier Daily put an opinion piece together, which in some ways calls the future of Tony Bennett into question at UVA. The headline from this Cavalier Daily commentary piece, what should men's basketball do with Tony Bennett? And they put a pros and cons list together for keeping Tony Bennett and moving on from Tony Bennett at the John Paul Jones Arena and at Thomas Jefferson's University. The critics and the sharks and the doubters and naysayers are circling Charlottesville when it comes to the greatest basketball coach in University of

Virginia history. I find it surprising, frankly, although Reese Beekman did announce today that he is fully committed to the NBA draft and he will bypass his COVID year. He has one more year of eligibility, the COVID year. So he could have returned as a fifth year, but he said, no, I'm going, I'm following Ryan Dunn. So you got a basketball team that has one real starter returning in Isaac McNeely. Yes, Blake Buchanan. Yes, Andrew Rohde. And yes, Tane Murray got some starts and some quality time and minutes, but McNeely is really only your proven commodity that's returning on this roster. We'll talk about that as the show matures today. We are right around the corner from the Charlottesville Police Department.

This department's been busy. They've been busy with a gun at a school this week in the city. We're going to talk about that. They've been busy with a shooting in Fifeville. I don't know if you saw that, Judah. They've been busy with the murder suspect voluntarily turning himself in, alleged murder suspect, Mr. Stinney, turning himself in to the police department is busy, nonprofits like the Buck Squad, they say, hey, we need more funding. We're surprised that our funding request was cut. In fact, Sam Sanders, the city manager, was eager and willing to allocate the Buck Squad basically half a million dollars, $456,000 to be exact. And the city on Monday chopped that

down to a $200,000 allocation from the Vibra Community Fund. What's up? And the Buck Squad, with data they presented, I guess we have to trust but verify, they presented this data to the Seville Weekly, the Buck Squad. I found this compelling. This is straight from today's Seville Weekly. These are phone calls the Buck Squad. I found this compelling. This is straight from today's Seville Weekly. These are phone calls the Buck Squad has received. According to the Buck Squad, Seville said they had no way of verifying these numbers, but Buck Squad told Seville that the group received

4,061 calls between 2021 and the end of 2023. They investigated 595 tips and they interrupted 234 incidents of violence. Data provided by the nonprofit group, the Buck Squad. A lot to unpack here, which we certainly will. Also in a Facebook post from the Buck Squad, Buck Squad calls out Michael Payne's position on the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority Board.

Excuse me. Allergies are a beat. And the Buck Squad said that Michael Payne's position on CRHA Board of Directors is a conflict of interest and he should not have participated in the reallocation process. I do not understand why the Buck Squad would say that. Michael Payne, quick to point out that there's always a city council representative on the CRHA Board, and there is no conflict of interest. Speaking of Payne, he's going to be a topic of today's show. Is that the lead headline? Let's welcome Judah Wittkower into the program.

Oh, we got, wow, you sent him to me. You're on board. Thank you. That helps me quite a bit. Are you on a two shot? No, we are now. You're doing excellent work. Yeoman's work.

They don't call me Judah Yeoman Wittkower for nothing. Wow. He's got a new moniker on the program. The Jack of all wits, the Jack of all trades. Yeoman. We haven't used the great Bubini yet. No. We need to bring back Giardini and Bubini. We've been alluding to it. They should come back. Can I read the quote to Payne and get your take? Yeah. This is from the Daily Progress on the budget, which was approved on Monday. I mean, this is so candid. He does not hold back, the counselor.

I'm glad. I hope Michael Payne's watching the program today. Mr. Payne, you and I frequently disagree on a lot of things, but nothing will change on this program. I have tremendous respect for you. Someone get Michael Payne in the mix and make sure he's watching the program. Text Michael Payne, email Michael Payne, Facebook message Michael Payne. He needs to hear what we're talking about today.

He says this, quote, My completely honest interpretation is I think the vast majority of people have no idea that the city just voted on a budget. I think the first time they are going to be aware that a tax increase came is when they get the personal property tax bill for their car. End quote. The city of Charlottesville just increased taxes on lodging, meals, personal property, and real estate. Four on Monday. Payne comments and the fact that the $253 million allocation to the general fund is not on the radar of the large majority of citizens in Charlottesville, according to an elected official who represents Charlottesville. Yeah, I think he's 100% correct. You do. You do think he's 100% correct. Yeah, I mean, when I said earlier I didn't's 100% correct. You do? You do think he's 100% correct?

Yeah. I mean, when I said earlier I didn't think 100%, I meant that there are some people out there, obviously, who do know and keep abreast of things like this. I follow it very closely. Yeah, and I believe that a lot of our viewers and listeners do as well. But that doesn't make up the entire city. And I think there are a large number of people who have no clue what's going on and will be surprised.

If they haven't already seen, if they haven't already opened their assessments, they're going to be doubly surprised. But there's even a poll on Reddit saying, City Council voted on a new budget, but there was no public comment. Why do you think this higher tax rate budget was so quietly approved and the possible answers are people still go to city council meetings in public? Citizens were happy with what the new taxes would pay for and welcomed higher taxes. Or the third one, citizens who don't want higher taxes feel Or, the third one, citizens who don't want higher taxes feel that nothing they can say

would make a difference, so why bother? Unbelievable. What are the results of that poll? That last one is the highest so far. And read it back to me again. How many votes does that one have? That one has, I mean, it's a pretty small vote so far.

I'm seeing five for that, one for people being happy with what their taxes are paying for and welcoming higher taxes, and zero for people still go to city council meetings in public. But I think it's true. I think of the people that are aware of what's going on, they are probably of the mindset that city council is going to vote what city council is going to vote for. And there's not a lot that I think that they believe there's

not a lot they could comment on that would cause a sea change in the council all right here's the follow-up question you want to put this on a lower third third. Rattle it off. It's not a headline. Most apathy in Charlottesville and Seville City history right now? Most apathy in Seville history right now? And then I'll ask you, the viewer and listener, this comment. Are we in the midst of the most apathetic state of mind in taxpayer and resident history? You have a counselor on the dais, straight up, on the record, on the record, telling the community no one cares or no one knows about the budget. You have polls on social media straight up with the number one result, an answer or a vote based on apathy? Have we become so jaded? Have we become so skewed in perspective?

Have we become so disenchanted as voters and payers that we just bend over and take it and not say anything? I think if you live in Charlottesville, you've got to kind of expect this kind of apathy. Apathy is one of the most dangerous mindsets out there. It's not anger because anger leads to engagement. Apathy is straight up, I don't give a F. I don't care.

I'm ignoring. And that is a terrifying proposition. Aaron King, welcome to the show. Bill McChesney, welcome to the show. Viewers and listeners, answer that question for me. Olivia Branch, welcome to the program. Are we seeing the most apathy we've ever seen? I'll try to put a time frame on it. I've been here since 2000 when I first arrived as a first year at the University of Virginia. So in 24 years, 24 years for in August in this town? I would say yes.

I would say absolutely. Keith Smith made an interesting comment on Real Talk this morning. There's no sex appeal on the agenda to drive community engagement. There's no upzoning, rezoning. There's no draft zoning ordinance. There's no up-zoning, re-zoning. There's no draft zoning ordinance. There's no elected official spewing we saw with Signer and Galvin and some of the previous counselors.

There's no front page of the New York Times or global coverage tied to local government anymore. Frankly speaking, I'll throw this to you here. We've had local celebrities birthed from city council meetings. Hear me out. Let's rattle off, Judah, the local celebrities that have been birthed from city council meetings. Ready? Okay. Nakia Walker, former mayor of Charlottesville, she utilized city council meetings. Please, someone let Nakia Walker know we're offering perspective on her on today's program. She utilized the city council public, open public portion speaking aspect of council meetings as a way to build her brand, which she utilized to get into office.

Her star power, in a lot of ways, was birthed through this public speaking or open portion of the meeting. Michael Payne's star power. He used to speak in front of council in a white Hanes t-shirt with a backpack on and wrinkled khakis on his legs, wearing tennis shoes. He would walk up to the microphone with his backpack on, a stained white undershirt and wrinkled khakis on and utilized the platform to birth his star power. Tanisha Hudson. When is the last time we've heard Tanisha Hudson speak before council? It has been a long time. Tanisha Hudson's star power locally birthed through council meetings. Where's Don Gathers?

Where's Don Gathers, the one-time city council candidate who stepped out of the race because of a heart condition? Don Gathers' star power was birthed in council meetings during the public comment portion of said meetings. Who is today? Zianna Bryant. Where's Zianna Bryant speaking before council?

Her celebrity locally, in part, birthed through speaking before council meetings. Nakia Walker, Michael Payne, Don Gathers, Zianna Bryant, just to name a few. Who are today's local celebrities birthed during the open portion of council meetings? Can you name one? You follow this closer than most. Name one. Viewers

and listeners, name one. Who's the 2024 version? Ginny Hu, welcome to the broadcast. Who is the 2024 version of Michael Payne, Nakia Walker, Zion O'Brien, Don Gathers? Local celebrities birthed during the public portion speaking of council meetings. Anyone, viewers and listeners, anyone, name one. I think you're right about the fact that there are no sexy headlines in council. It's not all apathy.

There's another part of this article that mentions Payne and Oshren have both received many emails, both in support and opposition of the tax hikes, and people came to speak during the public work sessions. I think it may be that people just believe that by this point in the process, it's a done deal. Bill McChesney watching the program. Let's get Mr. McChesney's photo on screen. iloveseville.com forward slash viewer rankings. He says activist attorney Jeffrey Fogle is a 2024 local celebrity whose star power is tied to speaking in the public portion comments of council meetings.

John Blair watching the program. When John Blair leaves a comment, he's number two in the family. Let's get his photo on screen. He says, Jerry, I think it's more a product of good macroeconomic environment. Oh, hold on. I'm going to take a step back because John's about to make a poignant point here on LinkedIn. Jerry, I think it is more a product of a good macroeconomic environment. Quite frankly, when is the last time Almarill County has had more than four people speak on the budget in the past five years? In good economic

environments, most people simply do not look at local budgets or taxes. If they care about the tax issue during good economic times, it's almost always focused on the federal tax rates and treatments. I'm going to respond by that by saying, thank you for sharing this, JB. Can we call it? And he utilizes macroeconomic and he's utilizing that word strategically because from a microeconomic

would we say the economy is strong locally? I wouldn't. You would not? No. Make that compelling argument. Show us yours, J-Dubs. I'm willing to listen to learn. I think you're on to something.

I mean, people are talking about being able to afford half of the groceries they've been buying in the past. There's a friend of ours who's been on the show, Sean, whose restaurant is just closed. Who's that? Sean, what's his last name? What's the restaurant? The restaurant is the Soul Food Joint. Oh, okay. Sean Jenkins, Market Street location.

Yeah. Yeah. He has fantastic food chef jenkins of the soul food joint he's been on the program he's our friend i see him routinely on market street as do you always greets i'm sure you as well because you're a much friendlier person than me uh us with a smile he's always beaming with smile always quick to say hello often smoking a black and mild or hanging out right outside the restaurant. Buy his Suburban. Love Sean Jenkins. Soul Food Joint is close. Yeah, that's a shame.

Charlie Kabash owns a lot of real estate in downtown Charlottesville. Mr. Kabash owns a boatload of real estate on Market Street. Mr. Kabash owns the Kill Wins building on the downtown mall. I know Charlie K. Bash quite well. Splits his time between Florida and Charlottesville. Done some business with Mr. K. Bash. Done a lot of business with Charlie's son, Chris.

I call Chris K. Bash a friend of mine. Great guy, Chris K. Bash. Charlie owns the building that Soul Food Joint is located in. I'm not speaking out of turn here. There are signs in the window that says the space is for rent. Yeah.

And the sign for Soul Food Joint is no longer there. Yeah. You saw that. Yeah. Sign on the door and sign on the windows, and the Soul Food Joint signs are removed. I mean, you might as well put the umas headline on lower thirds umas we told you yesterday in the program the old mono loco location michael lewis for a decade plus owned and operated monoo Loco on Water Street. Uma's springboards from

Charlottesville Farmer's Market success to opening a sit-down restaurant. I mean, it was a short time ago that Uma's opened. Yeah. Uma's, as we told you yesterday, first for sale. Friend of the program, Stu Rifkin, I talk to him once or twice a week via text or phone call. Mr. Rifkin's been on the show.

Do some business with Stu, have closed business brokerage deals with Stu. He and I on either side of the closing table or working in conjunction with each other to help a client across the finish line. He's got this listing. Uma's has success at the Charlottesville City Market with, was it, Sussex Farm, I believe, was their stall? I don't know.

And then they opened Uma's in the old Monoloco location. Today on Instagram and on Facebook, they announced the business is for sale. They're moving to Philadelphia in six months. What does it say that you spent a boatload of money opening a restaurant to sell it in a short period of time and get completely out of the market? I said on yesterday's program or on Monday's program

give me some restaurants in Charlottesville City that have opened in 2024 give me any of them rattle off any restaurant that has sit down service that has opened in 2024

give me one give me one. Give me one in Alamaro County. Stacy Baker Patty watching the program, she says there's been a couple in Crozet. And she points to Fiesta Azteca in the old Ivy Roadhouse location. I appreciated her comment. I did not

think of that. I don't go to Crozet as often as I should. I cannot think of a single sit-down restaurant in 2024 that's open in Charlottesville city limits. Give me one. I want to of a single sit-down restaurant in 2024 that's open in Charlottesville city limits. Give me one. I want to be corrected, please, viewers and listeners. I sincerely mean that. Is the economic climate at the micro level strong? soul food joint after years of operation hasta luego umas umas fantastic food great late night umas provided a friendly and approachable environment for the lbgtq community in charlottesville and beyond. One of the few friendly

and welcoming, I wouldn't say few, but I'll choose my language this way. One of the few in our area that openly marketed and promoted itself as a home to the LBGTQ communities.

The restaurants and the options for enjoyment in the evening in Charlottesville and Albemarle, for the most part, are very friendly and welcoming for LGBTQ community. But there are

few in Charlottesville and Albemarle County that openly market and promote and brand themselves as the home for LGBTQ. And Uma's was one of them. Yeah. This is a loss for Charlottesville. And I wish them nothing but a gain in earning their, you know, garnering the ask for their

restaurant, the sales price they want. This is one of the primary ways we make our living at this business. Everyone thinks it's the podcasting network. The I Love Seville Network is the tip of the iceberg. It is the tip of the iceberg. We do business investment personally and for our clients, financial investment personally and for our clients, financial investment personally and for our clients, a real estate purchase, real estate investment,

business brokerage, and brand management. We let you know earlier this month, and I'm not going to let you know earlier this month, and I'm not going to let folks know on what's going on there until our client's willing to talk about it. We helped broker the Krobi's deal.

Representing the buyer. Very excited for what's coming to the Southside Shopping Center. I think it's going to crush it. That's my client's opportunity to get the word out, not mine. When they're ready to talk about it, we'll talk about it on the show or welcome our client on the program. I wouldn't say the local economy is strong right now.

No. Viewers and listeners, your thoughts. We've asked you a number of questions. Who is the Zianna Bryant, Nakia Walker, Michael Payne, and Don Gathers of 2024, someone who has made their local star power in the public portion, the speaking public portion comment of council meetings.

Erin King offers very fantastic information. Thank you, Erin King. She says, Soul Food is moving to 722 Ryle Road, West Charlottesville. That's great news. That is great news, Aaron King. There's some fresh and breaking news for you from one of the best restaurant

and food and beverage operators in the entire Central Virginia market, Aaron King. If you need someone to run your F&B operation, this is someone that can do it. I met Aaron King for the first time about, Jesus, how long was it ago, Aaron? 10 years ago?

12, 15 years ago? When we were young pups still partying at West Main Restaurant? She was working at Commonwealth Sky Bar. Justin Butler and Aaron King and Kirk and Alex George were running Commonwealth Sky Bar when it was the spot to get down and get after it on the downtown mall. Now Sky Bar is a shadow of itself. The Laura Foner, J.R. Hadley deal fell through. It went from Skybar.

Skybar, remember when we were in the professional center, our operation was in the professional center, the building right next to the Skybar? Yeah. Bill Nitchman, the owner of the professional center, was the landlord and owner of the building right next to the Sky Bar? Yeah. Bill Nichman, the owner of the Professional Center, was the landlord and owner of the building. Our operation was on the third floor of the Professional Center. I think it's United Bank is on the lower level. Yeah, I think you're right. Same side of the mall as the Sky Bar. We're on the third floor. I tell this story often. Bill

Nichman and I share a wall. We're in that building for 18 or 20 months, less than two years, but close to two years. I was knocking on Bill Nitschman's door. This man owns, I don't know, at one time, $100 million plus a real estate. I was knocking on his door almost every single day as a sponge trying to learn from him about everything. He was the one that encouraged me to launch a real estate holding company. That's how we got into this game in large part was through Nitschman's influence. I saw him the other day. It was a breath of fresh air talking to Mr. Nitschman. We're on the third floor of the professional center

running our shop and our operation. I'm looking outside the window. Judah, did you have the best desk set up in that office? I don't know that I had the best desk set up. Who had the best desk set up in that office? I don't know that I had the best desk set up. Who had the best desk set up? I mean, probably you. No. No?

I'd say you had the best desk set up here. I've got two. That's what I'm saying. Big time baller over here. We're sitting on the third floor. I would look out at the window as the Commonwealth Sky Bar was getting ready for its bar service. And Aaron, who was the Bulgarian beauty?

The two girls, two ladies that were working the Sky Bar. I just look over outside the window. I was distracted from work. I'm like, what is going on what are these people doing I gotta get over there that's during Skybar's heyday

lying out the door brunch, dinner, late night now look at Skybar now it's what I think it's an event space now no it's covered with the windows are covered with paper.

Yeah, but there are signs on some of those pieces of paper. Ina Light, the Bulgarian beauty. Did she and Frank not get married, Aaron? I think Frank kicked outside his coverage and married her. Now they have a Bambino or Bambina if memory serves correct.

I don't think I might be wrong. Do you think it's utilized for an event space? There's paper in the windows. Maybe they're just ads for other event spaces, but I walked by there recently, and I thought it looked to me like they were offering it as an event space. No way, Jose.

That's not what I'm seeing. I could be wrong. I could be wrong as well. It closed during what? It fell victim of the Hunter Smith shenanigans as Passiflora. Right. And then we had a rescue attempt with J.R. Hadley partnering with Laura Foner. And they were going to do something.

And then at the bottom of the ninth inning, Laura pivoted. Is Laura watching the program? She watches from time to time. Laura pivoted to executive chef at Cobben House. I'm curious if JR is a part of the current setup or not as the leaseholder. I do not know that information. Ina and Frank are together and have a beautiful six-year-old. That's fantastic. I've gotten down with Frank many times. That was back in the day, before I was married and had kids. We would do some partying. And I'll leave it at that. I mean, but it's a shell.

It's not what Skybar was. Definitely not. Zocalo has sold. A lot of people don't know that. Ivan's not the primary shot caller there. That's public record. Yeah. What's going to happen with Bagby's?

Or what's going to happen with the Blue Ridge Country Store? Is that an expansion opportunity for Bagby's? Who knows? I'll leave it at that. I'll leave it at that. I mean, talking about somebody that's got paper in their windows, they don't even have any signs in the windows. You're talking Bagby's.

I'm talking... Or excuse me. Blue Ridge Country Store. Yeah. Yeah. The second generation owner of Blue Ridge Country Store ran that into the ground. That's a shame. After a couple of decade run with Patty and her husband at Blue Ridge Country Store. Yeah.

Felini's. Yeah. Anyone seen Draft Taproom recently? Have you seen the entry to Draft Taproom recently? I believe it's somebody's home now. Yeah. There's a dude, and I'm empathetic and sympathetic,

and I'm not throwing shade. There's a dude in a sleeping bag with his personal belongings. He talks to himself every single day, all the time. I thought he was talking to me one time. No, he's talking to himself. No, I know. Have you walked by there recently?

That's when I thought he was talking to me. Right. Every time I walked by, at the beginning, I was like, is he talking to me? Yeah. You talking to me? You talking to me?

And then I look over, he's talking to himself there's also that's his home yeah there's also i believe a sign in the door that says open soon and then somebody in black magic marker wrote on the glass lies lies because that's been up there for years just about about. Stefan Friedman owns Draft Taproom. The money behind the former venture capitalists, behind Ace Biscuit and Barbecue, Licking Hole Creek Brewery,

behind Bonnie and Reed's, that enjoys a cocktail or two at the bar at Keswick Hall. See him there. Owns Draft Taproom. Bonnie and Reed almost opened in 2024. But it did not. Oh, I'm very familiar

of their grand opening. Chris Humphreys, the executive chef. Speaking of Chris Humphreys, how about Fellini's? Yeah. I think a lot of people would love to see Fellini's back. How about, what are they still empty? What are your thoughts? See, that's kind of a... Derek Bond's my friend.

I admire what he does. I think he admires what we do here. Derek knows this is a little bit of a loaded question because he knows we've had this conversation. And he knows that we both have agree upon the answer. So he wants to know, he has this and change the lower third. Why are key storefronts still open on the mall? Put that lower third on screen. And I love when the word the is before I Love Seville Show. It's like the Penn State University, the Ohio State University, the I Love Seville Show. It's like the Penn State University, the Ohio State University, the I Love Seville Show. The lower third on screen should be why are key storefronts

vacant on the mall? You're seeing this in real time. Lower third changing in real time. Is it changing in real time? No, I took it off. You took it off screen? That's a great topic. And I think I have some answers. Viewers and listeners, what are your thoughts? Why are these key storefronts still open? I'm going to rattle them off. I'm going to get my white erase board. Can you go to the studio camera so I can get the dry erase board and come back? This is the mohalla shirt from Roback. Mohalla? What does that mean? It's like a Hawaii reference. Mahalo.

You mean mahalo? What? Mahalo. Come again? Mahalo. Okay, you said it right. Maybe you said it a little better than me. Why are these storefronts still open?

I'm going to rattle them off. You ready? Derek Bond's question. This man knows the answer. But we'll play. We'll play the game. One. Mahalo. M-A-H-A-L-O. Okay. What does it mean? Tell the viewers and listeners. You're getting me off track here. Sorry.

Let's see. It just means thanks, gratitude, admiration, praise. Mahalo. The rents, number one. The rent, and I'm in this game as a landlord. I'm in the executive office space game, though. But the rents on some of these storefronts are too much money. The rents for some of these storefronts are based on leases and escalator clauses and said leases tied to a pre-COVID environment. I'm going to be very straightforward here. If you're in a lease or in some kind of rent structure that is tied to an agreement that was put in writing

before COVID and your rent from 2017, 2018, 2019, whenever you sign this lease, has escalated every year or every 18 months since the beginning of COVID until now, you're paying rent that is not indicative

of the current economic climate in downtown Charlottesville. And I'll leave it at that before I make a lot of people really pissed off. People that I see regularly. 2024 is not the same downtown market as 2019 before COVID. No doubt. Folks can speak to in the Office of Economic Development in City Hall that Charlottesville downtown has rebounded and the vacancy rate is at a healthy low

I will push back on that yes some of these storefronts have been filled but they're being filled by businesses that don't drive around the clock traction and popularity for the most important eight blocks in Seville. Having the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority in the center of the downtown mall with the building they acquired keeps the vacancy rate low, but it does nothing for foot traffic after 5 p.m. in Charlottesville. No doubt. So I'm going to say number one reason, rents.

My dry erase pen's not working. Do we have another one? Let me check. Who buys the office supplies here? Somebody buys office supplies? You've never been without pens and notepads. I don't think we have any other dry erase. We got to put that on the short list.

Such a jerk. You're such a jerk. Do you have a dry erase pen over there? All right, I'll go to a notepad. Let's stay focused. God, stay focused. The rents are too high, number one. No, let's just stay focused. Number two, the mall, I don't care what people say, if you know the mall, I know the mall like the Pope knows holy water. Viewers and listeners

that are watching this program know the mall like the pope knows holy water okay the mall has not rebounded lloyd snook said this on the show the mall has not rebounded like it was in 2019 is counselor snook watching the program right now i believe he is the mall has not rebounded like it had in 2019. That's number two. Number three, good luck finding labor. Find a staff to run your restaurant. That's a challenge. Labor pool. As this community becomes wealthier and richer and more homogenous, the labor pool becomes less and less and less. Yeah. Number four. Cost of goods.

Yeah. Way more expensive. No doubt. Look at cost of goods now versus 2018, 2019. And as your cost of goods become more expensive, you have to pass that on to your customer. And that sticker shock is going to keep folks from coming in the door. How about number five? They just raised the effing meals tax again. You see that? Monday, they approved a budget of how much? How many mil?

What's the general fund budget, J-Dubs? Oh, it's $253 million. Absolutely bananas. $253 million, the budget and the general fund. You were right. You're on point. Meals tax. Counselors chose to raise four taxes in total the meals tax the lodging tax the personal property tax and the real estate tax well

speaking of uh speaking of restaurants and uh and the meals tax um i i just found the uh the umma's um facebook page and the posts on here are great. I mean, they definitely have a voice, the brand. But there's one specifically talking about the meals tax. They have a graphic.

Yeah, a really good graphic. But it's interesting. And maybe one of the reasons why they're not going to put in the work anymore. What's the tax on a bill when you go out of a restaurant and eat? Is it 12%? We've got multiple restaurant owners watching the program. Is it 12%?

If I'm spending $100, 12% is on taxes in totality. Am I right? Mr. Bond, can you give me that number? Is it roughly 12%? 11.8%. Derek Bond, this man knows, owns two restaurants. Thank you, DB. 11.8%. Spent a hundred bucks, you got $% on tip. That's 20. So you're at 120 out of pocket. And out of that 120, plus the new tax. So he says it's over 12 points.

$100, 20 goes to tip. Even with crappy service, I'm tipping 20. Yeah. You're going $1.20 on a $100 bill, you're spending $120. Of that $120, 20 is gratuity and 12 and change

is taxes. You're at $30 plus $32, $33 on a bill of $100. There's an interesting article. Make it make sense. plus $32, $33 on a bill of $100. There's an interesting article. Make it make sense. There's an interesting article about a restaurant adding a labor fee to customers' bills to combat rising costs.

And at first blush, it sounds like something that you would be angry about. But when you dig into it, it's actually brilliant because their thinking is that, look, we could raise the price of food, but then the tax is going to apply to every item that you buy. And you're going to assumedly be tipping based on the overall food amount. Whereas by adding a labor fee, they move that extra bit to where you can actually see it and you're not specifically taxed on it like you are with food.

And you can base your tip on the food portion of the bill and not the labor fee. Well, Salvage Brewery... The point being that restaurants are having a hard time right now. Salvage Brewery has that. Have you been to Salvage Brewery on Ivy Road? I haven't. Salvage Brewery is at 10 or 15% viewers and listeners.

When you order food at Salvage Brewery, no 10 or 15% viewers and listeners. When you order food at Salvage Brewery, no matter the size of your party, it could be just one person. Whatever your bill is, it's either 10 or 15% is added on top, no matter what. And they call it a labor fee. They call it a living wage fee.

And then you can choose to tip on top of that. In that scenario, I will tip on top of that somewhere between 5% and 10%, because I've already included 10%, I think it's 10% on top of the bill with the living wage fee. I think you were on to something yesterday, which you said in passing, that could become a reality, surge pricing at restaurants. That's terrifying. Surge pricing you see with Uber,

and you see with, what's the other one? The pink mustache? I don't know what that is. DoorDash? No, the transportation. Uber and Lyft? Lyft, thank you. They have surge pricing. At night when it's busy and a lot of people are on the apps looking for rides, the price goes up. Are we going to see that at a restaurant at night or at happy hour or after a concert or before a movie? As there's a wait at the door,

pricing surges and becomes market rate pricing. And market rate in that capacity is not tied to cost of goods or what it costs the restaurant to get whatever they're selling from their purveyor. Instead, market pricing is tied to how long their wait is. Like, surge pricing is how houses are sold. If we have a real estate ecosystem where there's a boatload of buyers in Ivy, and these boatload of buyers all want the same types of houses in Ivy,

within a couple of miles of Greencroft or Borset in Farmington, this surge of buyers is going to drive up the cost of those houses and make them more expensive. Surge prices works in shared transportation and Uber and Lyft. Surge pricing influences the buying and selling of houses. Jeez Louise, surge pricing impacted cars during COVID, used vehicles. Oh yeah, no doubt. Is surge pricing the next thing that's going to implement,

is the next thing that's going to influence restaurants? We have limited staff. We're understaffed. There's a line out the door. We're asking the staff to do more with less. We have to compensate them or we risk them leaving because they're working harder for the same money. Maybe we have to do surge pricing on our menus and our meals. Think about that. Why are the key storefronts vacant on the mall?

Rent's too high. Mall has not rebounded. The labor pool is shrunk. The cost of goods are high. The meals tax is pinching everyone. You have to throw in the houseless, homeless population in there. You have to throw in perceived crime in there.

You have to throw in perceived parking in there. I don't particularly think crime is a deterrent downtown, but my wife does, and her friends do I feel safe but I would be extremely selfish to say what I feel is the norm especially when the lady I'm sleeping next to in the bed is saying what she's saying and I don't feel safe and guess what?

who's the most important population for anything downtown entertainment? It's women. Because where the women goes, the household budget goes, and that's where the dudes go. The houseless population. Whether we, and this is not about being a dick, or this is not about not being empathetic. You got people sleeping in doorways

in downtown Charlottesville. That's going to influence people coming to Charlottesville and downtown. And that's not me being a dick there. And some of the meme accounts is going to take that out of context. Yeah, I mean, it's a fact. My in-laws came from Long Island

and they wanted to take our kindergartner to Alakazam and had some time to kill and walked up and down the mall? My niece loves the Virginia Children's Museum. The Discovery Museum. Yeah, Discovery Museum. Took our oldest to the Alakazam and walked him up

and down the mall. First thing they said when they saw me that day, man, it slipped. First thing. Parents, Hendersonville, first thing. First thing. We've become, we've become, what is the word when you don't know to, desensitized. We've become desensitized because we see it every day yeah so here there's eight reasons I can rattle off more for you

rents, the mall is not rebounded the labor pool is shrunk cost of goods are high, meals tax is high houseless population perceived crime problem perceived parking problem there's a convincing argument right there where your lease based on 2018-2019

structure is not indicative of today's environment. This is literally what I do for a living with clients. Literally. And a list of happy ones. Stephanie Wells Rhodes,

hotels are terrible for surge pricing. There's another one. Hotels. Thank you, Stephanie. Fantastic comment from Stephanie. Hotel gets a wedding block. Only a couple of rooms left. Price on those hotels go up.

All kinds of housing, too. Airbnbs. Airbnbs. We've got, my parents recently built out part of their basement. They've started Airbnb-ing it. They were a little bit disappointed that somebody jumped on when my mom first figured out how to get the listing in the system. She hadn't fully gone through everything and was not understanding how it all worked. And somebody got in there and snagged a, I believe they snagged a game weekend or something. I don't know the exact details, but they got it at an amazing rate because my mom hadn't figured out how to get the price

changed for specific events. Additionally, we've gone to the Outer Banks quite a few years in the past, and we usually go in mid to late September because the prices are literally less than half what they are just a few weeks before or after. Summer is obviously expensive for the beach. And surprisingly enough, late fall and winter are just as expensive. But there's a short period where you can actually get good deals. And there's nothing different about the place that you stay at? It's surge pricing. Pricing based on demand. When is surge pricing and pricing based on demand penetrate food and beverage? Better question for you. Better question for you. Restaurant owners that are watching the program right now.

Mr. Ornalis. Mr. Bond. Better question for you watching the program right now, Mr. Ornalis, Mr. Bond, better question for you watching the program right now. Should surge pricing already be a part of restaurants? Are the restaurant owners behind the times with market rate on-demand surge pricing. So basically, if you want to have your dinner at the time that everybody else is having their dinner at the restaurant, then sorry, but it requires a 25% increase in menu price.

A little extra. And you're basing it on this, and it's based on this. All these people that are working in this restaurant are busting their ass much harder than they would at 4 p.m. or 9 p.m. or 9.30 p.m. when compared to 6 p.m., 6.30 p.m., 7 p.m., and 7.30 p.m.

as a result from this 6 to 8 p.m. window surge pricing. Why can Uber and Lyft and the Omni and the Hilton and the Graduate and the Red Roof and the Ramada and the Doubletree and the Borsad and the Clifton and anyone who owns an Airbnb and CarMax and Flow and Colonial, why can they do it?

But not Uma's, Soul Food Joint, Skybar, Passiflora. That's a good question. Steve Spalding is watching the program on LinkedIn. He needs to be on the iloveceville.com forward slash viewer rankings.

Mr. Steve Spaulding is going to check in at number 62 in the poll. His photo is available on LinkedIn. Steve Spaulding with the acronym comma CSP after his name. He commented on today's show. He's got some good comments. Mr. Spalding, I think this is your first comment. Is this your first comment, sir? Thank you for watching the show.

He says, Tabula is 18% add-on to the bill off the top. But, he says, it's always worth it. John Blair says, Here's an interesting question for the viewers and listeners, Jerry. When you think of 2013 in Charlottesville, you had lines at Sky Bar, Tabula, and Little John's on Friday and Saturday nights.

Is there any restaurant in Charlottesville that still has those large lines? That's a damn good question. Yeah. That's a damn good question. I think this has been a fantastic program. good question. That's a damn good question. I think this has been a fantastic program. In 2024, who is the local celebrity that

has made their local star power in the public portion comment of city council meetings? That's a fantastic question. In 2024, I can't think of a local celebrity. I don't think it's Jeffrey Fogle. He's always at those meetings. No disrespect, Bill McChesney, for leaving that comment. Second fantastic question that we've offered on the show.

Surge pricing and on-demand pricing for food and beverage businesses. Are they behind the times, and should they be implementing it? And it pains me to say that. Third great question, a question asked by Derek Bond. Derek Bond says, why are these key storefronts vacant on the mall? And fourth question from John Blair. What restaurant in 2024 commands lines outside the door like Sky Bar, Tavla and little Johns did a decade ago. For me, the, for me,

the high watermark for lines and waiting was, uh, was bluegrass, uh, grill. That was on a Saturday, Sunday and the glass building. Oh yeah. When people were willing to stand in an asphalt parking lot and the dog days of summer sweating their balls off

to get breakfast in a tiny restaurant where you were rubbing shoulders with the patrons next to you. I could only go there after church with my mom because my dad hates waiting. So when he was sick, my mom and i would go there but yeah i can't think i'm i can't think of a place that uh that's seeing the lines that those places did right for me the peak was citizen burger bar when a burger place on the downtown mall in the heyday of downtown had a wait that was an hour to 90 minutes long wow a wait that was so long that a another burger joint called jack brown's

was seduced and romanticized aaron ludwig the owner from from Harrisonburg to Charlottesville by Stu Rifkin to capitalize on the wait that was 90 minutes at Citizen Burger Bar. I mean, think of how easy a leasing or a commercial leasing opportunity this is. Hey, am I on the studio camera? How easy is this? Okay? Studio camera? Yeah. Hey, you sell burgers in Harrisonburg. It's 45 minutes away. Your burgers are priced lower than this burger place. Come look at this burger place. This burger place has a line that's an hour to 90 minutes, the wait. There's a space open right here. It used to be Atomic Burrito in the box, owned by Chaz Webster. Why don't you open that Harrisonburg burger joint

that has cheaper prices than this burger joint on the downtown mall and take advantage of that 90-minute wait in this place that has cheap rent? Right? Yeah. Right? Janice Boyce-Trevillian, her photo on screen. So do nurses get surge wages on Friday and Saturday nights in the emergency room? Where does the surge pricing stop?'s a great question yeah well it's a great question

Derek Bond says no discounts or happy hour or early bird specials late at night he speaks to surge pricing. Happy hour in a lot of ways. Dr. John Shabe, owner of Pro Renata. Can't wait till you get on the program to highlight your success and your expansion plans. John Shabe says, non-business people deciding to tell business people how to run their business.

Most of them never had to meet a payroll or watch spending. Effing best comment. John Shave needs to be on the I Love Seville viewer list for power ranking. Put him at number 63, Dr. John Shave. One of the best comments I've ever seen. Non-business people deciding to tell business people how to run their business.

Most of them never had to meet a payroll or watch spending. F-ing awesome comment, John. You want to know what stress is? Meeting payroll and figuring out ways to do it and figuring out whether or not

you can do it that week or not. Anyone who's been in that position understands the word stress. Where other people are working and counting on you to pay their bills. And you're counting and working on other people to pay their bills to you. Everyone is tied to each other in any market. Any market, everyone's tied to each other. I don't care if you're in the vehicle business, the hotel business, the food and beverage business. I don't care if you're in the real estate business,

the finance business, the banking business, the insurance business, the brand management business, the leasing business, the attorney business. We're all tied to each other. We're all tied to the invoices that we're sending out to each other and the payment, the 30, 60, and 90 days of dating or lack thereof that paychecks and bills and invoices are tied to. Everyone. That's a house of cards, the economy. A house of cards. A fragile house of cards. No doubt.

You want to see a fragile house of cards crumble? Invoices sent to clients or bills sent to customers go from a net 14 or a net 30 to being paid in a 60, 90-day window. Then you'll see some fragility, ladies and gentlemen. Everyone's tied to each other. John, everyone sit in your car right now and get a loud amen for John Shabe. Can I get an amen, Judah? Amen. Can I get an amen, Judah?

Amen. Amen. Kevin Higgins, movie theaters are probably the inventors of surge pricing. Kevin Higgins, photo on screen, key member of the family. He also says dairy market impacted the downtown mall. There's number nine for you, dairy market. Dairy market. Dairy market undoubtedly is competing with downtown Charlottesville. There's number nine.

How about number ten? Food delivery services. Where people rather eat their food on their couch and their tighty-whities, their BVDs, their thongs and their bathrobes, than go and sit down at a restaurant. Tighty-whities or boxers? I guess I should ask thong. Are you asking me about if I wear a thong? That's more of a rhetorical question.

Where are you going with that, Judah? I wear boxers. Boxer briefs for yours truly. A little bit of support. My wife's texting me. All right. Yes, ma'am. All right. We didn't even get to today's topics.

You, the viewers and listeners, shaped the show today. We didn't talk police seizing a loading gun at a Charlottesville school. That's one of my worst nightmares right there. We talked some of Uma's for sale on Water Street. We did not talk about the Miller School expanding its school to offer elementary age students and trying to go to 500 with its student body,

basically doubling its student body. If anyone has any doubt that the Miller School is going to be able to double its student body in a short time, you're huffing glue out of a Ziploc bag. There's a reason private schools are expanding in this area. And one of the reasons private schools are expanding enrollment in the area is because loaded guns are found at Cherry Avenue right off of Beaufort. Miller School also got a lot of interest when they, I believe they were only, they only ran classes via Zoom for a single semester. Miller School did a phenomenal job

of returning school back to in-person because they have significant acreage in Crozet where their kids were able to learn outside. And the ability to learn outside at the Miller School during COVID fit hand-in-hand with how they set up their curriculum of learning in an outside environment, whether it's omni-experiential education. They've got a farm on their land. I would have loved to have gone to a school like that when I was a kid. One of the market leaders in mountain biking. They encourage the kids to be outside as much as possible.

They say the classroom is not confined or tied to a room. It's genius. They get the kids off the screens. It's also great for, I was just reading an article about how Unbelievable. Great name as well.

Getting kids out. Great name. Getting kids out in nature helps the immune system as well. Helps keep kids growing and strong. Just like drinking your milk. Skim milk. No.

One gallon of skim milk every two and a half days in the Miller household. I believe there's a line about that in the Geneva Accords. Skim milk? About not forcing prisoners to drink skim milk because it's a crime against humanity i know

judah well enough to know that he's making a joke right now but the viewers and listeners do not oh come on the humor is dead panned and so dry i find it clever and it's i'm laughing inside but it's important for me to caveat that that is a joke. Yes. There is nothing in the Jimmy Bones world. Judah's laughing at his own joke over here. Look, he's laughing his ass off over here. I'm laughing that people would actually take that seriously. Because you deadpanned it. All right, that's the Wednesday edition of the I Love Seville show.

We just went 75 minutes without stopping. Move through, opening at Pro Renata. Move through at Pro Renata. John Shabe and his team are building Disneyland and Crozet. They're building an omni-experiential brewery that caters to everyone of all ages,

of all shapes, of all sizes. And I'm going to say this. A brewery is building an experience that's not tied to alcohol. It's effing genius. A brewery is building an experience that's not tied to alcohol. It's effing genius. A brewery is building an experience that is not directly tied to booze. And that expands their customer base to anyone with kids who wouldn't normally be going to breweries because what are you going to do with your kids?

Derek, God, it's just so smart. That's the Wednesday edition of the I Love Seville show. Judah Wickhauer has been on point lately. Give the man a flying chest bump. Ladies and gentlemen, you need any help with your business brokerage endeavors? You need any help with your leases? You need any help with your, I mean, where to go with your business model? This is literally what we do.

And we've done it for our own holdings with this building in downtown Charlottesville, and we do it for our clients. Charlottesville Business Brokers, Blue Ridge Venture Fund, VMV Brands, and our holding company, the Miller Organization.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud of today's show. So long, everybody. Thank you.