The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - Sally Duncan Commercial For AlbCo Supervisors; Does Duncan Commercial = More Tax Increases?

Episode Date: May 22, 2025

The I Love CVille Show headlines: Sally Duncan Commercial For AlbCo Supervisors Does Duncan Commercial = More Tax Increases? Why Does Bodo’s Succeed But Littejohn’s Fails? Is UVA Destined To Purchase All Of The Corner Raising Cane’s On UVA Corner Closed For Summer CVille Pedestrian Advocate Arrested For Chalking Street Why Are Grapes So Expensive At Grocery Stores? Downtown Executive Offices For Rent (Contact Us) 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.

Welcome to the I Love Seville show. My name is Jerry Miller. Thank you kindly for joining us. Good afternoon to you. It is a glorious and gorgeous Thursday afternoon in downtown Charlottesville. Today's show is loaded. We are going to air the newly released campaign commercial

for Sally Duncan who's pursuing a seat on the Amar County Board of Supervisors specifically in the Jack Jewett district. This race has competition as two Democrats, Sally Duncan and Dave Shreve will go toe to toe in a primary that should be closely followed. This race will be decided in June. It will not head to the general election in November because it's two Democrats that are running. As of this point, no Republican has entered the race.

Neither has an independent entered the race. I want to highlight the commercial that just was released that is making its way across social media, specifically on the pages, being cross promoted on the pages of activists in the city of Charlottesville. And I'm going to try to dissect the language because as we know, words matter and messaging matters, especially at a time in Alamaro County where the budget is well over $600 million to operate the six largest county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. I posted something on the I Love Seaville Network yesterday that the supervisors, the

ones that are currently in office, approved a four-cent real estate tax rate increase. I call this a significant increase, especially with home assessments spiking throughout the pandemic and post pandemic. Tax increases like this are why the lower and middle class have been jetrified out of Alamaro County. The real estate tax rate in Alamaro County is 89.5 cents,.894 per $100 of assessed value. So basically 89.5 cents. The four set increase is a pretty sizable uptick, a 5% uptick on real estate tax rate, again at a time when assessments are going through the roof. Why I'm talking about the tax rate now is you have a candidate in Sally Duncan whose messaging seems to suggest that she's in favor of more taxes on rooftops and more taxes on citizens in Almar County.

I'm not sure the voters, folks, are following this closely enough, so we will utilize our platform to dissect the messaging, the political science of her campaign. On today's show, we're going to offer more follow-up on the surprise announcement that Little John's is closed permanently now. It's now closed. It's not only, it's not just we'll give you a few weeks to wax nostalgic on Little John's. It's closed, ladies and gentlemen.

It opened in its second format and second go around and its part do iteration on April 15th of last year. So ladies and gentlemen, it made it about 13 months after investing a sizable amount of money to revamp the space. I'm going to ask the viewer and listener this question. Is the UVA corner destined to be purchased by the University of Virginia? Is the UVA corner in very near proximity going to be a part of the holdings of either the UVA Foundation or the nonprofit University of Virginia. Ladies and gentlemen, please think. Sheets, the gas station, that also does the sheets do the made to order subs or is that Wawa, the MTOs?

I think they both do. Sheets known for its upscale gas stations, for its deli‑like points of sale with its convenience offerings failed on the UVA corner. Jason Howard who watches this program quite a bit, we've dubbed him the mayor of Rio, lives on Rio Road. He highlighted yesterday on the I Love Seville network in a comment to me that Jerry sheets a chain with a lot of money couldn't make it work on the UVA corner. Little John's has closed permanently after a second try. Raising Cane's is choosing to close for the entire summer as opposed to stay open throughout May, June, July and a good chunk of August. They're just

going to close. I'm going to ask you the question, is the UVA corner destined to be purchased by the University of Virginia? We'll talk about that today. We'll have a conversation about Kevin Cox. He was highlighted in a Hall Spencer report today in the Daily Progress. Hall Spencer in fact just walked by our studio. He's one of the most talented journalists in the region. It's not even close. Good guy. He throws a hell of a party, Hall Spencer. He in today's newspaper offered the flip book of Kevin Cox getting arrested. Mr. Cox, a pedestrian and bicycle advocate, showed a little hood spa, if you may, painted outside the box, if you may, got himself into some trouble with local police and local government. He chose to ‑‑ how would you

characterize this? Black out the crosswalk on alleywood avenue? Wood Avenue? No, that wasn't him. He chose to ‑‑ That's part of the ongoing comedy of this whole thing. This is comedic gold, as Judah would like to put it. You want to set the stage here? Yeah. So we may remember the death of a woman at that crosswalk and many people believe that there should be a crosswalk there. The city refuses to do anything about it. So Cox took some of that spray chalk and sprayed a crosswalk. Oh, sorry. Clarity, thank you. I misspoke right there. And then the city painted the black over it. Apparently the black is

already wearing away so that you can see the lines again. But they could have just washed it off. It was chalk. It wasn't like he, you know, it wasn't like he painted, you know, a quarter inch worth of paint on the street so that you'd have to like tear up the street so you would have to tear up the street to remove it. And now they have arrested him and are potentially charging him with what could be ‑‑ A year in the slammer. Kevin Cox is facing a year in the slammer. Potentially. Potentially. A Liberian immigrant unfortunately in October of this past year was struck by a teenage driver at this location.

A mother of this Liberian immigrant died in this car accident where a teenage driver struck her after he was traveling about 35 miles an hour. Because of this death and because we know that that intersection is somewhat dangerous. Kevin Cox, who has been an advocate on High Street as well, a big‑time advocate on the High Street corridor, decided to take matters in his own hands, decided to call out Brian Pinkston in antagonistic fashion before a city council meeting. Brian Pinkston is in the midst of a re‑election push right now. This article did not necessarily paint Brian Pinkston the best of

light. This article absolutely paints the city of Charlottesville in a terrible light, folks. The city of Charlottesville is utilizing the full ‑‑ what? Influence, momentum, the full significance of the law to drop a prison hammer potentially on a local advocate and resident because he wants to create a sense of safety on Elliott Avenue. And I don't know that anybody is in the right or the wrong here. I mean, I don't know that I ‑‑ I don't know that the lines of a crosswalk would have stopped a teenager from going faster than he should have been going and causing an unfortunate death. It would be wonderful if that was the case. It would be even better if they painted a crosswalk and

we could somehow quantify how many people it saves. But to be perfectly honest, a teenager speeding I don't think would have been affected by a painted crosswalk. That may be the case, but still we should learn from what happened and figure out how to make the intersection safer. 100%. The interesting element of this story, the man caught in the crossfire, one of the men caught in the crossfire ‑‑ Telling him about Duncan. Yeah. Do you have his exact title? Yeah. He was promoted recently from traffic engineer

to city engineer. From traffic engineer to city engineer. He's the husband of Sally Duncan who's running for Alamaro County Board of Supervisors in the Jack DeWitt district. Coincidence, worth noting, certainly. Interesting small town wrinkle of what it's like to live in Charlottesville and Alamaro County. A lot we're going to cover on the show. John Blair's making a comparison to the UVA corner and Franklin Street and Chapel Hill.

I will get to that comparison in a matter of moments. Deep Throat has commentary ready to go. I got both TV stations, a radio station, and a newspaper watching the program right now. Kevin Yancey is offering commentary from Waynesboro. Crozet watching the program. Lynchburg, southwestern Virginia, eastern Tennessee, folks in Charlotte, North Carolina on the show right now. A lot we're going to cover on the show, including this question. Have you noticed when you go to the fruit section of the grocery store that grapes are always so expensive?

Have you ever asked yourself why are grapes so expensive? Yes, grapes. I asked myself that question after my wife brought it to my attention, the expensive nature of what a bag of grapes was running our family. I did a little research and I want to pass along what I found to you, the viewer and listener, of why grapes in the grocery store are so expensive. Judah Wickower, Charlottesville Sanitary Supplies, almost 61 consecutive years of business for Charlottesville Sanitary Supply on East High Street and online at CharlottesvilleSanitarySupply.com. John Vermillion, Andrew Vermillion, honest, communicative, men of integrity, men of knowledge

and honor. They provide value to their clients and customers when they walk into Charlottesville Sanitary Supply that is above and beyond a retail transaction. That's the value proposition of Charlottesville Sanitary Supply. It's more than just the value, it's more than just a retail transaction. The value proposition is the knowledge of the product you're buying, Charlottesville Sanitary Supply. The value proposition is the knowledge of the product you're buying. Charlottesville Sanitary Supply.

And I want to highlight one of the divisions of our firm. It's Charlottesville Business Brokers. It's absolutely on fire right now. In the last 24 months, a totality of $4 million plus of combined sales, we are helping broker business transactions in the central Virginia region at a clip that is I think probably unprecedented in the region's history, I would say. Four million plus of combined total transaction dollars in the last 24 months for Charlottesville business brokers. The most recent transaction, the sale of Great Harvest

and McIntyre Plaza, a many six figure transaction folks. If you're on the cusp of closing your business, you're thinking about closing your business, you wanna retire, you wanna exit, you don't have a clear cut exit strategy, we can help you at Charlottesville Business Brokers. We absolutely can, we've had a lot of success doing it. All right, the lead of the show guys

has gotta be Sally Duncan. business brokers. We absolutely can. We've had a lot of success doing it. All right, the lead of the show, guys, has got to be Sally Duncan. I saw the commercial. And Judah, I was hesitant to air the commercial on the show. But I think it's important for the viewers and listeners to understand the candidates and their platforms. And there's six districts in Alamaro County.

One of them's the Jack Jewett district. And for the first time in a long time, there's competition here. Diantha McKeel is retiring. Ms. McKeel was on Real Talk this past Friday with Ned Galloway. And our thoughts and prayers to Supervisor Galloway who lost his house in a fire in the Dunlora neighborhood.

A total loss. Fortunately no, none of his family members nor Supervisor Galloway was hurt. However, family pets have since been found dead, two dogs and four cats I believe are missing. The house of total loss. There is a GoFundMe that is circulating for the Galloway family, and I would encourage any viewer and listener if their heart should allow or their budget should allow to contribute to Supervisor Galloway's

GoFundMe. His politics and my politics aren't always in alignment, but I can say with confidence and conviction that Supervisor Galloway is one of the good guys in the region and cares deeply for Alamaro County. He cares deeply for Alamaro County. Sally Duncan, her opponent is Dave Shreve. They are doing the song and dance now of campaigning and the marketing that accompanies campaigning. TV commercials, flyers, door knocking, direct mail, radio spots. One of the television commercials just got released. We're going to play it for you. It's a 30-second spot. I want you to listen

to the messaging, the wording of this 30-second spot for Sally Duncan, who's pursuing a seat on the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors in the Jack Jewett District. Judah, do you have that commercial ready to go? Yep. I would like, if you could please, to play that commercial in three, two, one. 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 17th. I'm Sally Duncan and I approve this message.

A lot to unpack there. I'm going to play it a second time. I want to play it a second time. There's a lot to unpack there. First, I want you to watch or listen or analyze the political science of leveraging Donald Trump and the White House in Alamora County. Trump and his cuts at the federal level are part of a local campaign in Alamora County. There's strategy behind that. The man is so polarizing in a county that is very,

very liberal and blue. He's very polarizing in a county that's blue and liberal. So she's leveraging or utilizing the polarization, the divisiveness of the Trump brand moniker image administration policy to try to build momentum for her campaign. Interesting approach. It's not often you hear the president reference

in a local Alamaro County Board of Supervisors race. I found that a bit odd. I understand why she's doing it. The second thing I want you to listen to when I replay this commercial is the use of the word invest. Invest is a word that has a lot of to unpack. Does invest mean raise taxes here? I want you to listen to the commercial which I'm about to play again and ask you this question. Can we substitute raise taxes for invest in this commercial? Because that's certainly how I took it.

Judah, let's play the commercial one more time. In three, two, one. 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 Jewett supervisor by June 17th. I'm Sally Duncan and I approve this message. Okay, last time I'll play it today. I want Judah to unpack or offer his analysis. I'm going to offer my analysis and viewers and listeners, I want you to offer your analysis. We are on, we are just out of a meeting that happened last week with the Board of Supervisors where they raised the real estate tax rate four cents, where they raised the personal property tax rate, where they did this all at a time when assessments

have spiked through the roof since before COVID until now. I'm curious, one of the viewers and listeners that is watching this program, deep throat you may have this answer for me. John Blair, you may have this answer for me. Neil Williamson, you may have this answer for me. From 2019 until today, assessments in Alamaro County, I would bet on average have uptick almost 40%. I should know that exact number. From 2019 until now, Alamaro County assessments have they uptick I would say basically 40%. So raising the real estate tax rate 4%, 4.5%, close to 5% is a significant increase. And remember, this is going to be in perpetuity. The tax rate is not going to go down. They're not going to lower it. This will be in

perpetuity. They may raise it down the road. And if it's up to Sally Duncan, I think she would raise it. Judah Wickhauer, jump in. Very curious of your measured take on that 30 second Sally Duncan commercial. I don't know if I have a measured take on anything. We're talking about you love the phrase. I don't know That's just a preface to say that that this I mean this is a it's a political ad and Political ads rarely say anything substantive and I don't think this is any different this ad is so light on And I don't think this is any different. This ad is so light on actually saying anything that I can almost see it floating away like a hot air balloon.

I mean, you're right. It mentions Trump. It mentions investing. I keep going. I actually vehemently disagree with what you're saying right now, but please finish your thought. I apologize for interrupting. Really? I think you're in very respectful fashion.

I think you're completely off base with your commentary here. But please continue. Uh-oh. Where was I? You're basically saying the commercial is saying nothing that it's word salad. I think is what you're saying right now. Essentially. I mean, yeah, you can read whatever you want into it.

But it wouldn't be a surprise that a Democrat wants to raise taxes. And considering the fact that we've recently had hundreds, if not thousands of people protesting Trump's doge outside of a future Tesla showroom, it's hardly a surprise that she's mentioning Trump as a touchstone to set people off. Anything else? There's not really much else in there. Okay.

I, and I appreciate your commentary, I'm going to respectfully, vehemently disagree. Okay. When she says she's going to invest into these, and it's important to invest into housing, it's important to invest in schools, it's important to invest in transit and parks and recreation. But most cities and towns do that, I mean that's just part of running a city or a town. You invest in your, in all those things. We should specifically ask the candidate, does investment mean to you raise taxes to pursue improved infrastructure?

Because I'm pretty sure that's what she means here. Now, her opponent, Dave Shreve, has straight up said to media that he believes raising rooftop taxes to fund affordability is a straight up oxymoron. I've said that for as long as the I Love Sivo show has been on air. Raising taxes on rooftops to fund housing affordability is a, it's hypocrisy. It's an oxymoron. It's parting in such sweet sardines. It's a lot of things depending on the intent behind it. The challenge you have with the candidate Dave Shreve,

and I watched on Friday Supervisor Diantha McKeel, not once, not twice, not three times, but four times Supervisor Diantha McKeel on the I Love Seaville Network on Friday. And you can find that show archived across the I Love Seaville Network wherever you get your social media, your podcasting content. She made reference to Dave Shreve's employer. And his employer is the center for the advancement of a steady Eyebrow raising, I will say, I will say in the most friendly term possible, description possible, there is some eyebrow raising ideology and policy and efforts

from the Center for the Advancement steady state economy. I watched Diantha McKeel on Friday make sure she emphasized that on four different times to check out his employer and what they do. The challenge you have with this race, Sally Duncan, who will certainly be backed, is being backed, is being pushed by activists in the city of Charlottesville. The activists in the city of Charlottesville have such limited activism that they could do right now because the new zoning ordinance is mired in a lawsuit quicksand. It's mired in lawsuit quicksand. You've got a city that's very small, 10.2 square miles that can't really do much from a housing standpoint.

They basically have total control of the Charlottesville City Council with Payne, Natalie Oshrin, and either Pinkston or Wade giving them the majority, whoever they can push or bully to do what they want. So because there's little activism they can do in the city, they're infiltrating, they're weaseling their way through the cracks and crevices of an older brick home that allows the spiders and the insects and the other bugs to crack into the inside of the house. They're doing that same maneuvering into Alamaro County.

They've advocated, pushed and earmarked a candidate for the Jack Jewett district and Sally Duncan. I just played a commercial for you where it's very clear to me her intent is tax increase. The opponent for Ms. Duncan is an opponent that is going to have potentially a challenging time competing with Ms. Duncan. I'm going to go to your comments and ask you this question. Is now an appropriate time to vote a candidate into the Jack Jewett district pro-tax increase. Are we opening a Pandora's box that could eventually evolve Alamaro County into what we've seen in the city of Charlottesville? Comments, put them in the feed. I will relay them live on air as I have media across the board watching the program right now. Anything else you want to add,

Judah, before I go to the comments? » I'm eagerly awaiting the comments. Let's go to the comments. » John Blair says to answer your question on Alamaro County assessment increase from 2019 to 2025. He says I don't know the macro here but our house was assessed in 2019 at 395,000. In 2025 it was assessed at $555,000. So from 2019 his house which is in the Samuel Miller district, 395,000 to 2025, $555,000. That's a substantial increase. We have Deep Throat who has the macro. And Deep Throat says on DM that in 2019 total assessed home value in Alamaro County was $20 billion. In 2024, total assessed value in 2024 was $34 billion. Substantial increase, right? You're talking 40% increase? That's a substantial increase, right? You're talking what, 40% increase? That's a substantial increase, ladies and gentlemen. Don't go down the weeds, Judah. Deep Throat also says this. By the way, in

what universe is Dave Shreve aligned with Trump? She is running against Shreve, not Trump. I hope Al Mar voters are smart enough to see through such a misleading ad. The first point I made, why is the president being woven into a 30 second spot where messaging is limited in a local race in Al Mar County? because it makes the word investing pop since she's going to use it for the rest of the ad. The word, the reason the president is woven into a 30 second spot in Alamaro County is because it's a lightning rod, the word Trump. And that lightning rod, whoever utilizes it, can get people to do things. Just by using the word Trump. It's such a lightning rod that it can get 400 to 500 people to show up in the shops of Stonefield on a beautiful spring afternoon when you could be going to

vineyards, wineries, breweries, eating at restaurants, hiking, swimming, enjoying God's earth. Instead they're standing on an effing asphalt sweating their balls off outside a Tesla showroom that doesn't have a sign up that at the time had no Teslas open or showing, no Teslas on site. I'm pretty sure it still doesn't. They are Tesla's there now. I was recently there at Trader Joe's as my wife was shopping. There were five or six Teslas parked outside the showroom.

But the word Trump is so polarizing in Alamaro County that it literally inspired four or five hundred people to go on a spring day to stand on asphalt with cardboard signs to protest a car dealership that had no signage or no cars present. It's a ploy. It's gamesmanship. It's manipulation. I don't know if it's — I think those are all in the same family. — sophisticated enough to be — Ploy and gamesmanship and manipulation are brothers. First cousins. William McChesney, the socialist ship in Almarra County sailed years ago. The Almaro Democrats are following the Charlottesville example of political dominance. Exactly right. Carol Thorpe, Jack Jewett district, photos

on screen, J-Dubbs. As a homeowner of 25 years in the Jack Jewett district where you have crowned me the queen of the Jack Jewett district, I would vote for anyone not in the Dennis Rooker, Diantha McKeel line of secession. I am sick of it. Mr. Shreve, barring any skeleton in his closet, not yet discovered, has my vote. It seems to me that the Dennis Rooker, Diantha lineage, political machine, are trying to crown Sally Duncan as the heir. And one of the heir quotes skeletons they're using against Shreve is the center for the advancement of the steady state of economy employment, his employer. I will say that some of these positions on the Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy are eyebrow raising. And I would encourage you to do the research yourself. I would say they're eyebrow raising.

Comments are coming in quickly. This is an interesting one. Jerry, do not use my name, but to even consider a tax increase at this point when everyone is hurting with the headwinds how you have outlined on past shows is not just inappropriate, but it's political malpractice. Philip Dow, Scotsville, she is using Trump as a way to get votes, using Trump to mention his cuts. She needs to be specific what cuts she is fighting for. Definitely taxes will be involved. Randy O'Neill says it's a lot of word salad, that commercial.

Specifically the question should be asked to the candidate, will you vote to raise taxes if you are elected? If so, how, where, why? That question should be asked. And for what? What's that? And for what? How, where, why? That's the why. Why would you This comes in from direct message. Don't use my name. But please read here to learn more about Sally Duncan. She shares a link, a Twitter link. Actually she shares a URL. The URL is carisadel.com. Very interesting. I didn't see this. And then also encourages me to click hercom. I have not seen this. That is... This looks like some

kind of professional website of some kind. I appreciate you sharing this, anonymous viewer and listener, I will certainly check out this website. C-A-R-I-S-A-D-E-L dot com. Bookmark that website for us, Judah. Curious if that comes down after it's gotten attention here on the Isle of Seville show. All right. It's important to be informed voters. Eventually I'm going to take a position on this race here. I'm curious to see how the race plays out. I mean, we're going to know in June because it's going to come down to a primary. All right. Next headline. What do you got, Judah Wickhauer? Read it live on air if you could, please. Why does Bodo succeed but Little John's fails? All right, this is gonna be a multi-prong headline.

I think we have the Raising Canes headline we can rotate through, and what is it, the UVA headline? Are there three headlines in this box? Is UVA destined to purchase all of the corner and raising canes on UVA corner closed for summer? Yeah, those three headlines you can rotate as lower thirds. There was a fantastic comment that was published on the I Love Seaville Network yesterday. I want to read that comment.

I'm going to find it in five seconds and read it on air to you. Okay, I think I have it. This comment was offered by someone I have not interacted with online. His name is.comwarren. I can't imagine that is his birth name. But he does have a Facebook account. Dot com Warren. He says, I'm sad to hear that Little John's is closing, but such a wonderful case study for the Darden School. Meanwhile, Bodo's Bagels has stabilized quality and price while pushing volume.

And then he says, Bodo's will still be around when UVA reinstates DEI or beats Virginia Tech, i.e. a very long time from now. His comment, Bodo's has stabilized quality and price point while pushing volume resonated with me. The Bodo's headline on screen, I'm gonna ask you the question, how or why has Bodo's bagels succeeded

but Little John's has failed? How or why has Bodo's succeeded but the following businesses have chosen to close. Blue Moon Diner, Guadalajara Restaurant Fontaine, Lumpkins, Little John's. They're not all the same. The closest apples to apples comparison is Little John's. They do not have front of the house staff. It's stand in a line, order from a menu board, place your order, sandwich based foods, Boto's bagels, Little John's bread and sandwiches. That is an apples to apples comparison. Little John's and Boto's. This guy got me thinking.

You think of the Boto's model. Have the prices uptick? They have. Have they uptick dramatically? No they have not. Has the quality of Bodo's slipped? No it has not. Did the quality of Little John's slip? Yes it did. There's this term out there called shrinkflation. Shrinkflation, all the stuff we're buying is smaller and more expensive. Have you purchased a Snickers bar recently?

The Snickers bar that you get is much smaller than it used to be, but it's three times the cost. There was a time you could spend 50 cents and get a Snickers bar that would hold you over. You're spending now $2.10 on a Snickers bar and it's much smaller in size than what it was when it was 50 cents. Shrinkflation. You saw that with little Johns. The price point went up dramatically. What you purchased to consume dropped in size and quality. How has Bodo's been able to maintain price point for the most part, quality of product, while nobody else has been able to do it?

The answer is very clear to that question. It's the volume Bodo's is doing. It's also very clear in that bagels, for the most part, cost very little money to make. Is that the gold standard for food and beverage locally? You go to McDonald's right now, they don't have anyone working the front of the house. You're ordering through a kiosk. The restaurant is a ghost town. McDonald's is pushing you to order through their mobile app, to go through their drive-through.

They don't want you to go through their dining room. They've cut employee overhead substantially. Still, a Big Mac meal, value meal, is approaching $20. I went yesterday to Bodo's after my kid's first grade graduation. My wife, my oldest son and I, our youngest son was at child care. The three of us went to Bodo's. We ordered a bacon egg and, excuse me, a sausage egg and cheddar on a plain bagel, a cream cheese plain bagel, a salt plain bagel, a cream cheese plain bagel, a salt cream cheese bagel, and then a fourth bagel, egg, bacon, cheese, four bagels, two

sandwiches with egg and protein and cheese, and then two plain bagels with cream cheese. And I got a coffee. It was 18 bucks. Quality is good as I remember. Portion size is good as I remember. Is this the gold standard for food and beverage locally? And how have they maintained this? You go to Bodo's, there's employees everywhere.

There's literally an army of employees running the restaurant. And they're paid extremely well. Is the answer that they've done this because of volume? Is that how they're winning? Strictly the volume. And why could Little John's do it? Your thoughts, viewers and listeners? Judah, jump in.

Kevin Yancey. Bodo survives because they make a product and they don't buy everything. Give me some more insight, Kevin Yancey, into what you're saying. I think you're saying that they're not buying all of their, everything that goes into making a bagel. They make the bagels.

That cuts a lot of the costs out of, you know, not having to buy bags of bagels every week. But you also have labor that needs to make it. Yeah. Now, to the point, to that point, making a bagel is cheap as all get out. Joe, what do you got here, Judah? That's part of it. Part of having a crew is similar to what Chick-fil-A does. Make sure that you make people happy. Because you

can cut all the people out of your business. You can cut costs on everything, everywhere. You can, like, cut it down to the wire. You can make it so you're not paying anything for any of the stuff that you're making, whether it's food, whether it's widgets, the problem is if you're not making people happy, what's going to bring them back? So they come and they buy a sandwich or they come and they buy a widget and eh, you know, it's not that great. Well, why would they come back? Or it's too expensive. And it sounds like ‑‑ it sounds like that was the problem with little John's. They came back. You're saying that the quality had dropped. The ‑‑ The quality stepped. Portions were smaller. Prices were higher. there's literally nothing they could do to bring someone back after they've

been there once. If that's their business model, how would you ever expect someone to come back into the store? E.G. Williams, isn't that the business model of everyone that's a lot of businesses locally? You're saying cut prices on everything ‑‑ not cut prices, cut prices on what you're saying cut prices on everything or not cut prices cut prices on what you're spending and raise prices on what you're selling stuff for look at a lot of the locally owned businesses they have made portions smaller they have made price points higher and they're finding a way to either cut labor or cut costs elsewhere. Yeah, and if you can hide that from the customer, then you might be okay.

But once they realize that the game is up, the game is literally up. I mean, look at the businesses that have had the most success. They succeed because they make customers happy. Which ones locally? Locally? Bodo's. Okay, we highlighted Bodo's. Give me another one that has figured out this equation besides Bodo's locally. I mean, look at any business that's had a local...

Give me one. Look at Miller's. Miller's? Miller's is still around. Look at the local. Look at Tavola. Look at the Ivy Italian restaurant that I can't think of the name of right now. It starts with a V. They all have ‑‑ Vivace. Yeah, Vivace. They all have vibrant customer bases that go back on a regular basis because whether it's the price, whether it's the quality, whether it's the serving size, they are making their customers happy and their customers return to them time and again.

E.G. Williams on YouTube. E.G. says this, a few of my coworkers remarked how much more expensive the sandwich prices were when they reopened under the new ownership. I was startled with how expensive the sandwiches were as well, EG. Kevin Yancey highlights Riverside. That is a fantastic example, Kevin Yancey. That is a great example. Kevin Yancey, a gold star example. Look at the ones that are having success maintaining price point

and not changing portion size and maintaining quality. It's the businesses that are doing massive volume. Riverside, Bodo's, Bill McChesney highlights Tip Top Restaurant Chesney highlights Tip Top Restaurant as another example. I would push back on your Miller's comment. I think Vivace has done a good job of maintaining price point and maintaining quality and not really changing the experience throughout this. I think that's a good one. A follow-up to this is something Jason Howard mentioned. UVA corner headline on screen. Raising Canes headline on

screen. Guys, Raising Canes on the UVA corner has made the strategic decision to close its UVA corner location for the entire summer. They said we would rather close down for the summer than open our business and lose money when the students are not here. In a 24-hour period of time, we've seen Little John's shut down and Raising Cane's furlough or take a hiatus.

Likely because they didn't make enough money through the student school year that it's worth it to stay open at all in one case or over the summer in another. Absolutely. Which leads us to the next question. In the last 12 to 24 months, we've seen Little John's close, we've seen Sheetz close its location. Sheetz was on the corner. Closed its location. We've seen Raising Cane's decide to shut down for the summer.

We saw Take It Away Sandwich Shop in such concerning positions that its past owner, Tom Bowe, had to exit in the bottom of the ninth inning to a new owner who decided to close down the Dairy Market location and just keep the Eliwood Avenue location. We've seen college in close on the UVA corner, 977-2710. We've seen- Was that for the same reason though? Couldn't financially make it. Absolutely for the same reason. That's what all that's all it's not enough money. I just didn't remember what the surrounding story was when college couldn't make enough money. Okay. Are we destined to see the UVA corner

owned by the University of Virginia? John Blair makes this comment, I think it's worth taking a look at Franklin Street and Chapel Hill. That's where the UNC Tar Heels are, folks. There's probably no more apples to apples comparison to the UVA corner than Franklin Street and Chapel Hill. I used to love to go to Franklin Street on Halloween at an earlier time in my life.

Is it also having a lot of trouble supporting local and other businesses? I don't know. But I think a look at Franklin Street is necessary to answer your question about the UVA corner. I don't have enough intel about Franklin Street either to answer that question. E.G. Williams says, I was surprised about raising Keynes' announcement. It doesn't seem to get anywhere near the traffic of Route 29, probably due to a lack of parking. Kevin Yancey, either way they don't have the bodies to work or they feel that students are more business than locals. Vanessa Parkhill, or Keynes on the corner relies heavily on students for labor

and hiring summer replacements may not be practical. Could be a labor issue. Could be a customer issue. But understand what they're choosing to do is they're choosing in one of the highest rent districts in the city of Charlottesville. To eat two or three months of rent. They're basically saying we are going to close, we are going to eat the rent for half of May, we're going to eat the rent for all of June, we're going to eat the rent for all of July and we're going to eat the rent for half of August. Three months

of rent, 25% of a calendar year, they are saying we would rather close, pay the triple net costs associated with rent, taxes, insurance and upkeep. Still paying a utility bill over there. They're still paying for Dominion Electric. They may be able to put the thermostat on 73, but it's not like they can go to Dominion and say I'm going to turn off the utilities here because that's going to ruin all the equipment inside the restaurant. They are choosing to spend, I would bet you over that three month period of time, six figures, more than six figures to just shut down their business. That

is an indictment. That is an indictment of corner business potential. An indictment, folks. Are we at a point that rent is so high that not even the sheets of the world can make it work on the UVA corner? Kevin Yancey says you cannot have a 5, 6, 8, 10K lease and make it work. I can assure you the lease for Raising Canes is a lot closer to 10,000 than it is to 5,000. Because this is the game that I'm in. And he says I'll bet you a bottle of brown juice that Raising Canes raises prices when it reopens. I would not take that bet. Because if Raising Canes is basically doing a business furlough. Is it an independent of Because if Raising Canes is basically doing a business furlough. Is it independent of the other Raising Canes? No, same. I believe Raising Canes is all

I'd have to look at this. I'd have to look before I speak here. The Raising Canes on Route 29 in the corner though are the same owners. And Raising canes is one of the fastest food and beverage businesses in the country. Look at the data. I've heard the founder of raising canes tell his story and it's a pretty significant story. E.G. Williams says how many buildings does UVA currently own on the corner? I know they leased the 1515 university Avenue building currently. I don't know that. I do know that Tip Top Terry owns the Little John's building. Tip Top Terry no longer owns Tip Top. He got out of one of his cash cows, Tip Top. Deep Throat, I lived by the dragon Austin, sort of Austin's the corner. Many of the quirky old time local businesses have closed. Several

vacancies and a lot of chains now. It's brutal out there. I said yesterday on the show running a small local business may be more difficult now than it was during COVID. Carly Wagner, her photo on screen, she made the comment on the I Love Seabill network yesterday that small business was being propped up during the pandemic by free federal money. Idle loans and PPP money. She says now that that readily available money is not so consumable or so readily available, you're seeing those propped up businesses fail and the real businesses that were doing real actual work succeeding. It was a good point by Carly. All right. Next headline at the 130 marker. What do you got? Next up we have civil pedestrian advocate arrested for chalking the street. Set the stage. I mean this is a very fun article to read.

A very fun article to read. Cox, the advocate for pedestrians in Charlottesville, got into a heated argument in a council meeting, told a counselor, don't interrupt me, got earned a vigorous burst of applause from a girl in the gallery and was later arrested for chalking his own crosswalk using spray chalk, which I'm guessing his arrest was in thinking that he had vandalized the street with indelible paint when in reality it could have and probably would have washed off, especially with the recent rain that we've had, if the city had done nothing rather than painting over it with black tar. It's a very strange story. Sadly, it started with a death. And I understand people's desire to get a crosswalk here. I believe some people have been told, oh, just walk a block that way or that way and

cross the street there, which is a little dismissive. And while I personally don't think that a painted crosswalk would have prevented the tragic death of the Liberian woman, I do think that more should be done on that corridor to prevent further tragedies like that. And Kevin Cox is fighting the good fight, taking it to the man. I want to highlight this and we're going to bring this up on tomorrow's show. One of our viewer and listener that has asked to remain anonymous has shared screenshots from the Twitter account of Sally Duncan

and her alias. Her alias on Twitter appears to be at carisadel. That's the URL that I shared according to this viewer and listener who is asking for anonymity. The URL again is Caris Adel, C-A-R-I-S-A-D-E-L. Is this another campaign where some anonymous random website comes into play? The URL is C-A-R-I-S-A-D-E-L. The Twitter account which is public at this point is C-A-R-I-S-A-D-E-L. And that's her. And these screenshots. I'm reading through some of this and it's odd. I want to confirm this is the viewer and listener that's saying this. I do want to confirm, spend some time looking into this. But if this is in fact what the viewer and

listener is saying, that is there's some screenshots on our Twitter that straight up say that we're going to raise, for instance, this one from the 24th, from March 2024, it's a good thing there's a lot of rich property owners we can tax instead. That's not how it works though. Right. You don't pick and choose who. Tax everybody. In regards to the Kevin Cox thing, this whole thing is a mess. I hope that the Charlottesville Police Department, Charlottesville City Council, and Commonwealth's attorney Joe Plantania realized that this is just a terrible look. I do not think Kevin Cox should go in and be utilizing water, is it soluble? Is that the word?

Yeah. You know, purchasing paint online to re-mark city roads, okay, he shouldn't do that. But were his actions worthy of being arrested and having a one-year jail sentence hung over his head? No. It's a terrible look. It's a bad look for city taxpayers, it's a bad look for city hall, it's a bad look for everyone involved.

Hall Spencer was smart to have this covered in the newspaper. Everyone involved, this is a bad look. Shame, shame. And that intersection is dangerous. It is a dangerous intersection. All right. I want to dig into this alias that's been sent to me here. Is the last headline the grapes headline?

The grapes of wrath. You don't buy my. Do you buy grapes? No. They go bad for me too fast. Okay, that's one of the reasons they're so expensive. So why are grapes so expensive, viewers and listeners? We were having that conversation yesterday with my wife. There's a lot of reasons.

There's a lot of reasons. Their availability is seasonally. They have extremely high production and distribution costs. The supply is extremely limited. There's import costs. A large portion of U.S. grapes come from Chile, Peru, and Mexico. As any vintner in Charlottesville and the surrounding area will tell you, as any vintner in Charlottesville and the surrounding area will tell you,

they are also highly affected by the weather. Right, and grapes are often purchased by high value customers. And because they're purchased by high value customers, wealthy customers, they're immune to price point increase. So grapes, they can get away with uptick in prices to make them expensive. So if you're ever in the grocery store

and you're wondering why they're so much more expensive when compared to say apples or oranges or bananas, the seasonal availability, the high production and distribution costs, the seasonal availability, the high production and distribution costs, the limited supply, the extremely expensive import costs, and the fact that grape sellers and grocery store operators understand that the purchasers of grapes, of a bag of grapes, are often wealthy and immune to price point increase. That's why they're so expensive. Did some research

yesterday. I'm going to dig into this website and this corresponding Twitter account. The URL again, C-A-R-I-S-A-D-E-L and the Twitter account is the same. All right. That's the Thursday edition of the I Love Seville Show. For Judah Wickauer. My name is Jerry Miller...