The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - Should CHS Add SROs & Metal Detectors Again?; Parents & Teachers Divided On SROs & Detectors

Episode Date: February 2, 2024

The I Love CVille Show headlines: Should CHS Add SROs & Metal Detectors Again? Parents & Teachers Divided On SROs & Detectors 50% Of US Tenants Spend Too Much On Rent Fashion Square Mall Pics From Judah Witkower Fashion Square Is Empty, What Can Save It? Biscuit Run Greenway A Good Idea For CVille? Virginia Green Get Private Equity Deal To Expand Virginia at Clemson, 2 PM, Tomorrow, ESPN 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 Friday afternoon, guys. I'm Jerry Miller, and thank you kindly for joining us on the I Love Seville Show. It's great to be with you. Our studio is on Market Street in downtown Charlottesville. We're about a mile from the University of Virginia. We are half a block from the Charlottesville Police Department, a block off the downtown mall. We're in the shadows of the Admiral County and Charlottesville Police Department, a block off the downtown mall. We're in the shadows of the Albemarle County and Charlottesville City courthouses, and we're in the heartbeat of the community, and we love being here. Why we love being here is because we love talking about Charlottesville and Albemarle County and Central Virginia. We take content and commentary, and we localize it to a community we love very dearly. It doesn't mean we don't always agree.

A good example of this was, and I hope he's watching today, one of the most respected members of our family, the I Love Seville viewership, is James Watson. And James Watson is a key guy in our viewer and listenership, almost there from the beginning. He and I disagree when it comes to the cr crha purchase of the uh old vita nova building on the downtown mall but agreeing to disagree is something that we need more of in 2024. i agree i agree dude the only thing that

would have made that better is if you were on screen with that interjection right there. We need to be able to agree to disagree, right? Yeah. And we can agree to disagree without feeling challenged or threatened or ready to offer fists to cuffs. I think the growing sense of people that there's only one right answer is terrifying. It's terrifying. It's absolutely terrifying. And that's a mindset and mentality that is

becoming more prevalent. And is that social media? Is that digital culture? I mean, what's prompted that? Yeah, I think in part it's social media. I think oftentimes people end up in echo chambers that really limit their, I guess, intellectual outreach to other ideas and thoughts and solutions to things. And yeah, being able to agree to disagree while still discussing a topic so that you can hear other, you know, other points of view

should be mind-expanding. It should be a good thing, you know. I'm as baffled as you are that more people can no longer seem to just get into discussions. Judah Wickhauer has come correct today on the I Love Seville show. You got photos of Fashion Square Mall that you're going to put on screen. He promised the viewers and listeners that he was going to walk through Fashion Square Mall and take photos and report back what he has seen. I personally have not been in the mall in over a decade. When was the last time you'd been in the mall? Well, I think I'd mentioned before that I've been in Red Robin, so kind of mall adjacent.

You don't actually have to go into the mall to go into the restaurant. But other than that, I probably hadn't been in in probably close to a decade as well. Dylan's rule watching the program, Albert Graves says metal detectors at $40,000 versus a kid's life. Metal detectors are priceless. And he also says in today's society, you're not allowed to agree to disagree with the norm or you get labeled something awful. Albert Graves always dropping dimes on the program.

Get the man's photo on screen, Albert Graves. Love some Albert Graves on the program. Routinely makes the program better. This man needs to climb the ladder. Albert Graves, you've been doing yeoman's work lately on the I Love Seville show. Albert Graves and, you know what, I'm going to go ahead and make a call. Albert Graves is 10 in the power polls. iloveseville.com forward slash fewer rankings. Interchange number seven with number 10. Albert Graves has a new ranking. He is now seven in the power polls.

Number seven slips to number 10. Give the show a like and a share anywhere you're watching. Logan Wells-Claylow, hello. Bill McChesney, hello. You are right. Red Robin is gone. Peter Krebs, just an A-plus human,

is watching from the Piedmont Environmental Council. We will talk about the biscuit-run greenway. Any kind of connector that is not associated with vehicles and automobiles and roads that offers transportation and connect, that offers connectivity and offers a way for folks to get around our beloved Charlottesville and Alamaro

without damaging the environment is fine by me. Yeah. It's fine by me. Yeah. It's fine by me. We'll talk about that on today's program. SROs and metal detectors are on the tips of Charlottesville high school teachers and administrators and parents' tongues. They came up yesterday in a meeting.

A survey is coming out it's no secret that charlottesville high school has had a number of uh concerning um trends storylines and incidences and adult being let through the side door what was last year reported roving bands of children or teenagers walking throughout the school unsupervised, looking to create brawls and fights. Some are saying, get the SROs back in school and the metal detectors back in school, including those in positions of authority. We'll unpack that on today's program. I also want to talk on today's show, the Harvard study that 50% of United States of America tenants spend too much on rent. The number that folks should be spending on rent so they are not considered rent burden is 30% of take-home pay. 30% of take-home pay. I find that number unrealistic. Half of renters in the United States, according to this study by Harvard University,

spent more than 30% of their income in 2022 on rent and utilities, according to the new America's Rental Housing Report by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. The report considers those who spend 30% or more of their income on housing rent burden or cost burden. The share of cost burden tenants, according to this study, increased by 3.2% from 2019 to 2022. We'll unpack that as it relates to Charlottesville and Central Virginia on today's show. Holly Foster is watching the program. Bill McChesney, thank you for watching the show. Philip Dow and Scottsville, thank you for watching the show. A number of viewers and

listeners in Fluvanna and Waynesboro and Augusta County currently watching the program. Today's program, we will also discuss this topic. Virginia Green, which is a lawn care, I want to characterize Virginia Green, a lawn care service provider, a lawn care business founded in Richmond, Virginia, signed a private equity deal with a California-based private equity firm called Golden Gate Capital to take on its first ever round of outside capital to expand the Virginia Green behemoth business. Virginia Green is located in Williamsburg, Richmond, Services, Williamsburg, Richmond, Charlottesville, Fredericksburg, Northern Virginia. I hope my friend Alex Boucher is watching the program right now. I'm going to let him know. I'm going to give you props on the show.

He put this on my radar yesterday, Alex Boucher did, about the greenway over at Biscuit Run that's going to offer more connectivity in Charlottesville and Alamaro County. We'll unpack that on today's program. Let's go to the lead story, and let's not forget Virginia basketball. Saturday, Clemson.

Must-win game for the Wahoos as they try to earn a spot in the big dance in March. SROs. Put the lower third on screen. Should Charlottesville High School add SROs and metal detectors again? How do you want to handle this? Do you want to be the pro or the naysayer on SROs and metal detectors, J-dubs? I suppose I could be the naysayer. Are you sincerely a naysayer? No. No? No. All right. You'd be the naysayer then. Set the stage. I'll be quiet.

Why? I'll ask you the question then. Why should Charlottesville High School not return or not welcome back school resource officers? A fancy word for police. And why should Charlottesville High School not spend $40,000 for metal detectors at sporting events and at key entrance points to the only high school in the assumption that they are being, um, that they're basically being watched over by cops. And we also don't want the first reaction to students acting up to be someone

with the authority of a cop who can, uh, you know, who can do whatever they, maybe not do whatever they want, but, uh, it's not doing whatever they want. Cops not doing whatever they want. I think the problem that a lot of people have... I'm going to pick that apart, though.

I think the problem that a lot of people have is that they don't want violence to be the reaction. And there's been a lot of talk of... I don't know the exact terminology, but I think it's restorative punishments, restorative justice. I think the idea is that we want to teach our kids a better way of interacting rather than just running straight to punishment. Let's use the carrot rather than the stick. And I can understand that perspective.

I understand that some people think that SRO, student resource officers, may react as cops when these are teenagers and not adults. And they may need a softer hand. I also see the other side of it. And this is not necessarily my, what I think the problem with metal detectors may be somewhat closely tied with this, the idea being that the money spent on SROs and metal detectors could be spent to develop programs that are better able to handle those elements of the school that need additional help. You know, they don't need to be tossed into a jail cell. They need a way to express themselves and come to terms with the fact that they're in school and they need to act like it.

How does that sound? I thought you did a hell of a job. Thank you. Props. You're starting this show off with a bang on a Friday. You're not looking at your watch for the end of the workday, are you? Like you said, those at Fashion Square Mall were doing when you walked through the mall?

No, never. Judah loves his job. I genuinely love what I do. I think you do know that. Yeah. I love what I do for work. All right. School resource officers and metal detectors. I'm going to be straightforward here. Cut straight through the BS. Are you ready? Yeah. Charlottesville High School has been lean on me and dangerous minds with Morgan Freeman and Michelle Pfeiffer over the last school year. Someone get Coolio to start singing Gangster's Paradise. We got adults being let in through the side door. We got roving bands of teenagers walking through the hallways looking for tomfoolery and shenanigans

looking to incite brawls we have teachers that are openly reaching out to us fearful of going to school not all of them but some of them we had a substitute write a letter to the editor of the daily progress remember this yeah when she basically said it was chaos when she was on the clock as a substitute teacher it got so bad that the principal quit in the middle of the school year citing mental health and physical health issues from doing his job at the school. It got so bad that they had to welcome Principal Kenny Leatherwoodley, was in front of the proverbial firing squad of school board and parents on multiple occasions for fireside chats at the end of last year. It got so bad at Charlottesville High School that the teachers called in a collective sick day. They utilized the power of coughing and temperatures,

or maybe they had it, maybe they did not, to many of them collectively say, we're not going to go into work, we're all sick, and they didn't have enough teachers to open the school around Thanksgiving. That literally all happened, what, 45 days ago? Yeah. That happened 65 days ago, right around Thanksgiving. Are our memories so short that we don't remember these well- circumstances, circumstances that question the safety of kids,

our most precious commodities, and the school? What is the only time, what is the main time that our sons and daughters are away from mommies and mommies and daddies and daddies and mommies and daddies? School.

School. Yeah. School. We have to have confidence in our schools to keeping our kids safe. And I understand the concept of metal detectors may create this police state for schooling. And I understand the concept of police

and SROs in the hallways may create this perception of a police state in education. But guess what? The majority of police officers are not bad apples. The majority of SROs, school resource officers, want what's best for the kid. And you want your son or daughter to stay away from the crossfire of an SRO? Raise them and encourage them not to do bad things. Raise them better.

Raise them better. You don't want them to get in a school-to-pipeline, a prison-to-pipeline path? Raise them better. SROs aren't going to go out of their way to target kids to get them in a prison to pipeline, a pipeline to prison path. They got better things to do.

The metal detectors, 40 grand. If a metal detector keeps one weapon from getting into a school or a sporting event, I'd say that's $40,000 well spent. Even if it's just one weapon that is caught by a metal detector, one, I'd say that's $40,000 well spent. Let's not be so punch drunk with activism and so punch struck or enamored with our ideology to not live in the present and the present is the school has had

nightmarish conditions short term memories good night out of sight out of mind Kenny Leatherwood comes in the interim principal turns the ship around out of sight, out of mind. Yeah. Kenny Leatherwood comes in, the interim principal turns the ship around. Out of sight and out of mind, the trouble. So of course we don't need the SROs and the metal detectors

right now. I'd be interesting to hear an update on someone internal to the school about obviously if there's no longer a roving band of kids. You know what Kenny Leatherwood, when he took the job

as the intro principal at Charlottesville High School, he said the kids that aren't following the rules, I'm going to suspend or expel. Yeah. He's going to drop the hammer on them. I hope he has, and I hope that's why we haven't heard more stories coming out of the schools similar to the ones that we heard back before Thanksgiving. Should Charlottesville High School add school resource officers and metal detectors to the school again?

A resounding hell yeah. Well, the reason why I actually do support sros is that i think it's a great deterrent uh and it also as i was telling you earlier i i think it takes pressure off of teachers to feel any need or requirement to jump in the middle of what could be, I mean, you know, there are some big kids out there. Dude, no teacher, no teacher should get in the middle of a brawl of teenagers to break it up. Nor should they have to, nor should they feel like they have to absolutely not a teacher's job is not to break up physical violence or brawling in schools and i'll tell you this if for any reason and i'm going to catch some heat for this if any reason a teacher is physically assaulted by a kid in school a

teenager in school the teacher has every right to defend themselves. Yeah. You have a beef with that statement? Not at all. Any teacher who's physically assaulted by a student has every right to defend themselves. If that same teacher was physically assaulted outside the school on the downtown mall

or on Market Street, and they defended themselves, there would be no issue. John Blair, we're going to get to your comment on the biscuit-run Greenway and how you fully support it. He thinks it's a fantastic project. And he says,

as to Fashion Square Mall, I still believe an indoor pickable arena is the best use of that one. I would love to do that. It definitely needs some experiential... I would love to see what was a $1 theater, probably today would be a $5 theater, but still, it would, I think, be a wonderful draw.

And I really miss the old $1 theater that was on Greenbrier. Deep Throat put his photo on screen, number one in the family. We've got to get John Blair, number two in the family's photo on screen. Deep Throat says, I like SROs, but I don't see the value in metal detectors. SROs are flexible. It can help in many ways. Metal detectors merely prevent kids from bringing weapons across the perimeter, maybe, what, 50% of the time? At great cost and inconvenience. But in Charlottesville High School, are weapons

really the issue or just behavior? I want to highlight the perception piece of the metal detector for swaying. I tend to agree with that perspective on metal detectors. Okay, there you go. Jude agrees with that one right there. I'm more for SROs than that perspective on metal detectors. Okay, there you go. Jude agrees with that one right there. I'm more for SROs than I am for metal detectors. Warrior AG, should we not want our children to feel safe in school? Should we not want our children to go to school daily? Charlottesville High School has failed on many levels, and playing with the kid gloves has not worked.

So now the gloves have to come off, and changes need to be made. Sometimes the best deterrent is tough love and sometimes the best love is tough. Well said, dude. I agree. I say bring in some SROs. Use the money that you possibly would have spent on the metal detectors on developing those programs that will in the future de-necessitate the need for the SROs. But until the school is ready for that time, keep them in place or bring them in so that the students that want to learn can feel safe, so that the teachers can feel safe, and so that neither feels the need to jump in front of a punch when there's somebody whose job is literally to do just that.

Lisa Costolo, I'll get to your comments in a matter of moments. Albert Graves says this to John Blair. John Blair commenting on LinkedIn, Albert Graves on Twitter. I'm still dreaming about the indoor pickleball courts and the club inside the old Sears building at Fashion Square Mall. I think we should get to the photos of Fashion Square Mall. And viewers and listeners, if you want to offer some commentary on Charlottesville High School, please do. Lisa Costolo on Cherry Avenue.

Costolo, let's get her photo on screen. Lisa's a key member of the family. She is 24 in the polls. Lisa Custolo says this. Thank you for watching, Lisa, on Cherry Avenue. Where did your comment go? Anyone still sending their child to Charlottesville High School? I'm not going to read that comment, Lisa. I won't read that one. She does say, if my home had this kind of violence going on, Child Protective Services would have taken my son away a long time ago. She also says, these police officers are not going to keep running every time they need them, but treat the SROs like crap otherwise.

Kick them out of the schools and then expect them to come running back every time we snap their fingers. No wonder we cannot find police officers willing to serve our community. You cannot slam the door in someone's face and expect them to come running whenever you decide the situation is too dangerous and now you need them. Remember, the SROs were stigmatized and they were, they were, I mean, basically treated like garbage when they were pushed out of the school.

And now many want them back. Philip Dow says, I agree with you, Jerry. Money well spent on those metal detectors. Let's get Fashion Square Mall. Change the lower third to the mall. Judah took a jaunt, a jog, a trip down memory lane. He meandered.

He shuffled his feet. He trotted through Fashion Square Mall. So did Liza. You took Liza in the mall? Yeah. You're allowed to bring the dog in the mall? Nobody stopped me. And the people at the jewelry store love saying hi. Is Liza an official service dog? No. You're allowed to bring dogs into Fashion Square Mall? Well, like I said, it was like five minutes before closing time. I don't know if normally there's somebody in there that would have kicked us out, but

I mean, you could bring... Did you take Liza to the Sbarro's food court to hit Sbarro's? Sbarro's isn't there anymore. Is Dippin' Dots the ice cream of the future still in Fashion Square Mall? And why is the Dippin' Dots the ice cream of the future? Why has not it changed its tagline from the ice cream of the futurein' Dots the ice cream of the future? Why has not it changed its tagline

from the ice cream of the future? It's been the ice cream of the future for nearly two, three decades. David Varel, if you're watching in the Outer Banks, the former Dippin' Dots franchise owner, please let us know that. It's still the ice cream of the future. Anyway, show us the photos of Fashion Square Mall.

Make sure you update that lower third if you could, please, sir. All right. And hey, you're the Mike Tirico, the Bob Costas, the Joe Buck, the play-by-play on this topic here. I didn't go through the mall. You did. Tell us what you saw.

Ladies and gentlemen. I think that's Howard Cosell, right? Yeah. Okay, go. What did you see? Fashion Square Mall. Show the photos. Here are the photos. The mall is, and again, this is close to closing time, but the photos that I took were places that don't actually have anything behind the graded barriers.

Closed storefronts, Judah. Barriers. Closed storefronts in the mall yeah okay go these places are mostly empty uh i was surprised how many photos i had to take to get every storefront that was empty and i couldn't even get them all because there's an entire the uh the entire end of the mall by Red Robin is shut down. You can't even go in the last, I don't know, 150, 200 feet of it. The center, the kiosk that used to be, I think it was Starbucks is just a shell.

And I mean, they still have some of the stuff like the massage chairs. Obviously the gumball machines. Rides for kids. There's a nice play area where I actually saw one person with their child. But by and large, it certainly wouldn't attract

me if I was a business owner looking to open a business somewhere. And some continue to do this. Some continue to do this. Some continue to do this. We see on Reddit, what kind of restaurant just opened in Fashion Square Mall? Wasn't it traditional African cuisine? Yeah.

Tolio, I think was the name. Just opened in Fashion Square Mall. Yeah. So they are either getting amazing rent. It's got to be an amazing rent that's being offered. Cheap rent. There was another new one in the spot where Sparrow used to be an amazing rent that's being offered cheap rent there was another new one in in the spot where sparrow used to be i think um i'm trying to remember the name it was a guy's name i think but if you open a restaurant and no one patronizes the mall why are you opening

how do you sustain your restaurant i mean is it uh is it are they only getting intermittent traffic and and then people that actually work in the mall? I don't know. I honestly don't know. How many people, Eli, Ellie Tucker says, Jerry, Suzanne Coffey and I are working early voting today at Fifth Street County Office Building. We're here till 5 p.m.

Please let your viewers know that you can vote early today. Stephanie Wells-Rhodes watching the program. With all the emotional support, dogs, you can take them anywhere. No one will say anything. In fact, Bill McChesney and another Facebook page is actually confirming that you can bring your dog into Fashion Square Mall legally.

There's no dog restriction. I was pretty sure you could. Usually, restrictions are for restriction. I was pretty sure you could. Usually, restrictions are for restaurants. I also brought... I hope you can't bring the dog into the restaurant. Well, no, but that's my point, is usually you can't

bring animals into restaurants. But usually... I bring Liza into Best Buy. Well, Best Buy is not a restaurant. I know. Neither is the Fashion Square Mall. Touché.

Touché, mon chouer. How many people were in Fashion Square Mall? Which part? The butchering of the language? Or the wrong words utilized? Mon chouer. How many people were in Fashion Square Mall when you walked through it?

Oh, besides people working there, I'd say I saw ten. It was like a... It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if it's five minutes before it closed. You saw ten people in the

mall? Besides the people working there. The people that are working there don't count they're working there. I know. That's why I left them out of the account. They're not paying customers. They are getting paid to be there by the customers who are not there to pay them. Does someone see a problem there? There are more workers than customers at the mall. Is that what you're telling us?

That's not unusual at the end of the day. That is, yes, that is unusual at the end of the day. That is unusual. For a mall. For a mall. A mall. That is unusual. But we can both agree that this mall in particular has been in decline for some time.

And I don't think a whole lot has been done to curb that attitude. 100%. So I'm not surprised. But I do think that the mall could be saved under the right management and with a campaign of filling in some of these empty storefronts with, as we've talked about, experiential stuff like pickleball courts. Dude, a pickleball epicenter would crush it there. Like a $5... An indoor pickleball facility in Fashion Square Mall would crush it. Roger Voisinet,

welcome to the program. Deep Throat literally is making me laugh. Fashion Square Mall appreciates any living thing willing to enter. Man, dog, iguana, anything. Anything at all. Alex Boucher, I'm going to get to your comments on the B run greenway

in a matter of moments oh man the old heads in Mill Creek are having a difficult time being convinced for the biscuit run greenway I'm going to let them know I will mention this live on

air I'm going to let them know I will mention this live on air. Philip Dow, my elderly parents used the mall to walk and get exercise, especially during the winter. A lot of walkers in the mall. Stephanie Wells Rhodes, my daughter-in-law and I went to Springfield last week, and it was sad how their mall was thriving and full of people. All I could think of was Fashion Square Mall. Kelly Jackson is watching the program. Let's get Stephanie Wells Rhodes' photo on screen. Key member of the family.

Stephanie Wells Rhodes is number 18 in the power polls and her star is climbing. Kelly Jackson is watching the program and she's number eight in the family. Let's get her photo on screen. Kelly says they should turn the mall into a cool place for teens to hang out. Laser tag, arcade, and other cool things. Kelly Jackson, you ask for a business idea for the community, that would crush

it. You launching a teen and kid epicenter for fun with go-karts and bumper cars and laser tag arcades one of those uh jump houses yeah would be fantastic the games that you can play that are not arc just arcades like ski ball would be fantastic a batting cage if may. Maybe you include some kind of daycare offering, although that opens another can of legal liability. It's sad. It's absolutely sad what's

happening with the mall. I have not been there in a decade. And at closing, you went yesterday? Yeah. There were, Judah counted 10 customers in the mall. I mean Madre. A lot of people want us to go to the Biscuit One Greenway story. Should we get to it? All right. Put the lower third on screen if you can. Can you also set the stage?

You've had a good week on the show. Thank you. Do you want to set the stage for Biscuit Run? So there was a meeting recently, a community meeting. Yesterday. Yeah, about the Biscuit Run Greenway. And there is some pushback by, I guess you would call them NIMBYs. I mean, this isn't exactly like building houses. I think there's some, uh, some people don't like the idea that it's coming close

to a couple of, of developments or housing areas. But from what I've read, it doesn't sound like it's, you know, it's not like, it's not like people are going to be jogging past your rear window, you know, like five feet from the back of your house or anything. Hold on, let me get this. Here we go. But the proposal is to build a greenway that will connect certain areas of Charlottesville and i believe the county and um and then there's also an idea to have it paved to make it a viable um alternative to cars um moving in and out of certain areas with you know on on bike or unicycle or this seems like an absolute no-brainer to me. Yeah.

An absolute no-brainer. In fact, Peter Krebs of the Piedmont Environmental Council, watching the program, he gave us his top ten reasons why the Biscuit Run Greenway is a great idea. Nice. Number one. These are ten reasons why it's good for neighborhood residents, the Biscuit Run Greenway.

Number one, Albemarle County takes on all the liability. Number two, Albemarle County takes on all the maintenance. Number three, Albemarle County funds upgraded trail that is accessible for people of all ages and all abilities. Number four, wayfinding and design elements that prevent people from straying from the trail itself. Number five, make it easier and more reasonable for park visitors to park at Fifth Street Station. Number six, it's going to be regularly patrolled

by the Albemarle County Police Department, which they are forbidden to do now regardless of usage. Wow. Number seven, easier access for emergency rescue and getting the zone onto EMS responsive maps. Number eight, invasive species control. Number nine, no parking signs and enforcement around the trail.

Number 10, one-time opportunity to extract concessions from the county, such as fences or upgrades to field at Mill Creek Drive. And a bonus reason, creating a resource that all the community loves and feels ownership of will be the last nail in the coffin of the South County Connector. I like it. Look, I'll give you some clear-cut analysis of why the biscuit run greenway is a good idea. It gets people out of cars, which is good for the environment. It gets people exercising and walking and running and jogging,

which is good for humankind and humanity and mankind. It gets people off of screens and outside. It's something you can do with your wife, your husband, your kids, your friends. Charlottesville's an outdoor activist community. And ladies and gentlemen, for the people that are hating on this, and it sounds like the OG around Mill Creek is hating on this, because they're going to feel what? That they're being invaded upon? Probably that. Mill Creek and Foxcroft HOAs apparently are the ones to convince.

Here's the reality for Mill Creek and Foxcroft. It's going to be good for the property values of your houses. If there's a legitimate walking, hiking, enjoyment trail adjacent to your neighborhood that connects with other trails in Albemarle County, that's a positive for your property values. It's a positive. People property values. It's a positive. People want this who buy homes. It's a no-brainer.

You'd think. An absolute no-brainer. The common denominator is a resistance to change. Yeah. Any kind of change terrifies people. Anything that's out of the box or different scares people, and their first response is, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Take the metal detectors. Take bringing school resource officers back. It's change. I think it's a no-brainer. Judah, you think it's a no-brainer? Yeah. I think increasing the connectivity of different areas of Charlottesville and Albemarle is 100% a plus. There you go.

Carly Wagner, her photo on screen. She is number three in the polls. Then they shouldn't have bought there. It's owned by the state and was going to be a state park since 2009. She's talking about the haters. Research the property around yours if you care what happens to that property before you buy. Now it will be a county park. Would these NIMBYs rather another huge development? A developer

owned the land previously and sold it to the state. I would take a park in my backyard over really any other use. Well said, Carly Wagner. That's why you're three in the family. I'll add some color to those comments. The state offered a massive tax relief and out and exit for the developer who was trying to bring housing to biscuit run at the time of 2008, 2009, 2010 crash. In fact, why don't I do this and I'll read it verbatim from Sevillepedia. You guys can do the same thing here if you want a little history. Sean Tubbs, I think, has done a really good job about this. Biscuit Run Park and then go to the Sevillepedia link. I'll give you a little background. Biscuit Run Park is a planned 1,200 acre park in Albemarle County on land that had been part of the designated growth areas. When Commonwealth of Virginia purchased the property in 2009, the intent was to create a

state park to be operated by the Department of Conservation and Recreation, but Albemarle County will now program the park. The county is currently working on phase 1a of the parks opening. The land for the park was once intended for the large biscuit run development as well as a 400 acre County Park but it was purchased from the developer Forest Lodge LLC, investors in that limited liability company, Hunter Craig, Wick McNeely, Corrin Capshaw,

Phil Wendell, John Carr, Brad Yor, David Dallas, Jeff Buckaloo, just to name a few. Those are some heavy hitters. That's a great name. Jeff Buckaloo? Yeah. That's a great name. The Commonwealth for $21,480,000 in cash and tax credits in January 2010 basically saved these

developers because you couldn't develop in 2010. There was a housing crash. Yeah. So you got $21.5 million in cash and tax credits instead. Albemarle County Board of Supervisors approved a rezoning back to the rural areas district on December, 2019. This needs to open a park on that side of town is crucial.

It's close to the interstate. It's close to the bypass. It's close to many surrounding counties. It's close to the Rivanna Trail. This is a no-brainer. We'll invite Peter Krebs of the Piedmont Environmental Council to offer perspective on this. In fact, he just left a comment. Important to note that most residents are in favor of this. It's also important to urge the county to get her done. I can totally see you saying that, Peter Krebs. Peter, we should get you on the show next week. I'm going to Facebook message him right now.

What should I say to him? Judah. I love Peter Krebs come back he always asks us about the sandwiches next door at the market I think he's a huge fan of sandwiches Peter Krebs

are you unavailable oh here he is hey Peter exclamation point want to join us on the show early next week? Slam dunk.

Get her done. Anything you want to add on this? I'll just reiterate that I would love to see Charlottesville and Albemarle County be more... There goes James Pierce, former CEO of the Central Virginia Boys and Girls Club.

Cool. More interesting. More easily travelable. More easily walkable. That was one of the reasons I love Savannah, Georgia so much. more easily walkable. That was one of the reasons I love Savannah, Georgia so much. It was easy to just walk around and go from point A to point B,

not have to get in a car. Philip Dow says, we need to stop developers from taking land. Get Philip Dow's photo on screen. Philip Dow says, I heard one developer say we need land to develop so we can pay and keep our employees employed. Depends on the developer, Philip. Some developers have very good intentions for this community.

I heard Paul McCarter on Kyle Miller's show yesterday. Paul McCarter is developing a project. Yeah. Southside Charlottesville down is developing a project. Yeah. Southside Charlottesville down Avon Extended. Yeah. Paul McArthur is now, and he said this all on Kyle Miller's show, so I'm just paraphrasing what he said, is now before the Community Advisory Committee, he initially had plans to do apartments. He initially had plans to do apartments. He initially had plans to do

affordable housing. Yeah. And the red tape has pretty much kiboshed that. Yeah. Not even red. I mean, he just can't. He can't do it. They won't let him do affordable housing. Albemarle County. Yeah.

And now Paul's in a position where he is considering eight townhomes, two rows, one row of five and another row of three, all at a list price. He said that it's likely going to be over half a million dollars each. And the man's plan was to do housing affordability. Yeah. And before the community advisory committee, they suggested to him, for example, mind you, it's an eight-townhome project that he needs to have a playground in the neighborhood, even though the expectation is one, maybe two children in the eight-townhome community. And he said a commercial playground for an eight-townhome community like this is going to run between $30,000 and $40,000,

which he shares amongst the townhomes, raising the cost of the units. Further. It's crazy. It's crazy. It's crazy. People are constantly saying, oh, these greedy developers only chasing the dollar if they really knew what was going on. Listen to Kyle Miller's show last night, yesterday. It was fascinating.

Yeah, definitely. A realtor turned micro developer. I thought they did a hell of a job. No doubt. Vanessa Parkhill says, do today's teenagers think things like laser tag and go-karts

are fun? Get Vanessa Parkhill's photo on screen. She's a key member of the family. I guess those activities offer Instagram-worthy fun, but do they actually like it? Man, if today's teens don't like ripping around in go-karts and bumper cars, that's a sad state for America. That's a sad state of affairs for America. No doubt.

What's more fun than getting in a go-kart and like racing your buddies or getting in a bumper car and when Judah Wickhauer is not looking, I ram him from behind with the bumper car. I would do that in a heartbeat. I'm sure you would. You would. That's what bumper cars is all about. Bumper cars are fun. You would too. I haven't been in a bumper car in probably 30 years. Neil Williamson watching the program. Let's get Neil Williamson's photo on screen. What's his ranking? We upped him the other day, right?

President of the Free Enterprise Forum. El Presidente. Neil Williamson's 22 in the power polls. 22 in the power poll. Neil Williamson needs to climb again. Neil needs to switch with number 19. 19 goes to 22. Neil goes to 19. Neil's now in the top pull. Neil Williamson needs to climb again. Neil needs to switch with number 19. 19 goes to 22. Neil goes to 19. Neil's now in the top 20. Could you get Neil's photo on screen?

Yep. Neil Williamson says this, for what it's worth, biscuit run proffers were too high to build. We're going to get Peter Krebs on the program Neil Williamson we should get you on the program, Neil Williamson love Neil Williamson do you want to talk the rent burden? Carly Wagner, Neil is not taking your spot you're three in the family right now and you offer fantastic commentary

no ma'am no ma'am Neil is not taking your spot. You're three in the family right now, and you offer fantastic commentary. No ma'am. No ma'am. Carly Wagner says this. If they do anything except implement the park, then it reiterates how incestuous the Board of Supervisors are with the local developers. Use public money to buy land for a park. The public better receive the park. Otherwise, that's nothing but a publicly funded developer savings plan.

All set, Carla. You guys should legitimately Sevillepedia biscuit-run park and read the history of this park. Let's talk about the rent burden topic. Deep Throat's going to push back on the rent burden topic here. I'll set the stage on rent burden. Then you offer some commentary. I'll get to Deep Throat. Then I'll get to...

Is this number three? Yeah. The only headline that says rent burden. There's no burden there. 50% of U.S. tenants spend too much on rent. Yeah. There's no other headline that says rent for the lower third. This from a study from Harvard. Rent prices are coming down in some areas, but not at the pace

needed to relieve tenants struggling to pay rent. Half of renters in the United States of America spend more than 30% of their income in 2022 on rent and utilities, according to a study from Harvard University. The report considers those who spend 30% or more of their income on housing rent burden or cost burden. The share of cost burden renters increased by 3.2 percentage points from 2019 to 2022. I would imagine it's going to worsen. That was my commentary, by the way. Renter households with annual incomes below $30,000 had a record low median residual income of $310 a month in 2022, the Harvard study found. The share of young adults between the ages of 18 and 29

who live at home with parents is almost 50%, according to a study, a recent study. Did you hear that? The share of young adults between the ages of 18 and 29 who live at home with their parents is close to 50%. I'm not surprised. Let me ask you a question. I'm not going to ask you that question.

All right. You can go with the commentary first. What do you make of this one? I mean, I'm not even surprised by any of it. We've long known that rent prices have been going up and going up and going up. And we've talked about before the fact that everybody is following everybody else's moves. moves and it's easy to say oh well i'm just uh as a as a landlord it's easy to say oh i'm you know i'm just following the trend this is what this is what my place is worth and the sad reality is that

this isn't the only area where I think people, we all know this isn't the only area where people are hurting. Um, we've, you know, we've got inflation that, uh, while it's,

while they're dying to death by a thousand cuts is what you're saying. Yeah, exactly. Um, everything is more expensive. Gas, groceries, cocktails, beers. Everything is more expensive. Gas, groceries, cocktails, beers.

Yeah. Rent, utilities, cell phones. Fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables. My wife said this morning that I don't eat enough fruits and vegetables, nor do I drink enough water. I definitely don't drink enough water. Deep Throat says this. You ready for this from Deep Throat?

I think so. By the way, this 50% of Virginia renter households are cost burdened is a perfect example of misleading clickbait. This dumb HUD rule of thumb of 30% rent to income as a definition of stress is a source of mischief. He says 30% has actually been near the median for the last two decades. So 50% of households being rent stressed is just normal, not a change. So what's the phrase about stats and numbers? It's easy to skew them in favor of whatever you want to propose. He says, again, another bad stat to say renters under 30K and compare with results across years when there is inflation.

You need to adjust the threshold for that to be meaningful. He calls it statistical illiteracy. And he says, so in 2010, 49% stress, 2016, 46% stress, 2022, 48% stress. Using American community survey and counting by household, not by individual person. I'm also torn on the rent burden topic. And you and I disagree on this. Are the folks that are rent burdened focused on working 40 hours a week? This isn't a 40 hours a week.

This isn't a 40-hour-a-week. No, I get that's your argument. Town anymore. Can you live in Manhattan working 40 hours a week? No, you can't. Can you live in Georgetown or D.C. working 40 hours a week? Arlington? McLean working 40 hours a week?

You choose to live in these towns and cities that have high quality of life, and Charlottesville's one that has very high quality of life. And the opportunity cost is you've got to work harder than if you're living in towns and cities that have lower qualities of life. You want to work 40 hours a week and not be rent burdened?

There's plenty. This might not be the one for you. And it's... You've said this, that's sad. But it's the facts. It's the facts. 40 hour a week in Charlottesville and Alamaro do not go hand in hand anymore. They don't go hand in hand in Nova.

They don't go hand in hand in Asheville, North Carolina. They don't go hand in hand in Buckhead or Atlanta. Is it demoralizing or disappointing or disheartening or disenchanting or depressing disgusting all the d's sure but that's what it is i think there's also a bit of a disconnect there oh there's a d there's a disconnect explain. Oh, there's a D. There's a disconnect. Explain the disconnect. You can get us out of here with this.

Because where does your service class live? You're essentially saying that... The service class can still live in Charlottesville. They just have to work twice as much? I work more than 40 hours a week. Yeah, I know. You work, what, 44? Yeah, something like that. 44, 45, something like that?

And I've encouraged... You're in a very unique position. You are a bachelor who owns his own home and purchased his house prior to the spike of real estate values that happened during COVID. I bet my former landlord... Regrets selling to you now. No doubt. You're sitting on significant equity and you don't have other mouths to feed. Yeah.

And you have a utilitarian minimalist lifestyle. Is that fair to say? Yeah. The dude is living the dream over here. Whether the viewers and listeners realize it or not, the only thing he's missing is someone to share his life with.

Judah's single and ready to mingle. Ladies. Judah's single and ready to mingle. Ladies, he's single and ready to mingle. I certainly am. Hit him up on Bumble. Right? Yeah. Better yet. How about Tinder?

You're on both, aren't you? Swipe right. Yeah, I'm on both. The problem is he's on the effing dating apps, but the dude doesn't check the dating apps ever. In the past, when I was on them more regularly, there wasn't a lot of reason to continue going on. Well, then let's work on your brand, your personal brand.

I'm happy to help and serve as the digital wingman and the real-life wingman. I am good at this. I am very good at that. All right. We got distracted. And here's how we got distracted. You personally are one of the lucky ones in that you don't necessarily need to surpass much of 40. But part of that is the circumstances you've chosen. For those that are in one income household with kids or even two income household with kids,

that's not a reality. And if we want to live in areas that are getting global and national recognition, wine enthusiasts called it the wine region of the year globally. How many national publications are calling us the best place to live? That's going to attract demand. And as demand is attracted to the area, that's going to make the

area more costly to live. And as the area becomes more costly to live, the 40-hour workweek becomes something of such archaic standards. But there's more to it than just a binary because there's also the fact that people like Paul McCarter can't build affordable housing. So it's not just a matter of, oh, well, you have to work. You can't just work 40 hours a week anymore to live here. There's also the impediment of our own government stumbling over themselves to, you know, telling us that they want affordable housing, but then not making it easy for developers to actually make it. That's another part of the disconnect. It's like, come on. Multiple people watching this program are literally putting in the comments section that you don't know how lucky you are to not have a significant other or a spouse.

I'm seeing nearly a dozen of these comments here. Do their significant others and spouses know that they're saying that? Carly says, if you find that right person, you can also cut your expenses in half and have even more gravy. That's if they don't have kids. Dual income, no kids, dinks. Dual income, no kids, dinks. Never sell that house. Never sell that house. Never sell that house. Bill McChesney wants to know how many friend requests you get in the comments from buxom women that currently have no friends. Carly also highlights that service class, that service class used to be teenagers and college kids.

Now they don't work for the most part, and that's causing part of the problem. Yeah, and what did I see this? I saw, was it you guys talking about it? There's something about kids going to school, high schoolers going to school later nowadays, making it harder to work like a four to seven. I think it was Paul and... Multiple people are saying kids just want to stay on their screens and they don't even want to work.

This comment's been put on the feed by Thomas. Teenagers these days want to be influencers. They don't want to work. I'm sure that's true. Kelsey watching the program. I've tried so hard to get my teens to get a job. All they want to do is stay on their iPhones and on social media. Yeah. my teens to get a job. All they want to do is stay on their iPhones and on social media. Deep Throat says, I don't get the, quote, where will the service class live, quote,

argument. I've spent a lot of time in very expensive markets that I never found one where there weren't restaurants. They just cost more, the restaurants, because the employers have to pay more. The market sorts it out. Good point. I think there's a few things that I've caught a lot. I catch heat on this show from a certain demographic of the viewer and listenership because of how opinionated I am on the program. The show is about us offering our opinions. Here's a hint. It's not just on the program.

We offer opinions. Isn't that what the show is? It's a talk show about opinions. Yeah. And the opinions aren't going to be well-received or people, not everyone's going to want to hear or agree with the opinion there's one

meme account that literally listens and watches our shows and then spends time creating graphic design about the commentary that we're providing on this show it's so odd I find it so odd long story short

this is one of those opinions that's going to rub people the wrong way. We are not in a 40-hour-a-week town anymore. The household income median, according to HUD, is $123,300, and that's the median. That's nuts. That's the median. For this area, the median household income is $123,300, and that number is going to be higher. I wonder what the average is. That was a 2020, that was a 2022 number. 2023 is going to be higher. If that's the median household income, you can't go, depending on the job, and clock a nine to five. Fair enough.

All right. Anything else? Philip Dow said, my wife is sitting beside me as I'm watching this show when I said, Judah, it's a lucky man to be a bachelor. My wife turned at me and looked at me and did not give me a warming look. Better make yourself comfortable on that couch. Give her a back massage right now, Philip Dow. Maria Marshall Barnes.

It is up to parents to encourage kids to get a job. Everyone needs to learn the importance of working. Amen. You know what my first job was? I was 13 years old. I was cutting grass in the neighborhood. I cut one family's grass, the Bolsteads. And then I wanted to make some more money.

And my parents told me, go cut some more grass. So I went door to door and knocked on people's yards and said, can I cut your yard for $20? You knocked on their yard? I was 13 years old knocking on doors in the neighborhood asking to cut people's grass for 20 bucks. 20 doors I knocked on. Two or three said yes. I went from $20 on the weekend to making $80 on the weekend. And then I said, Mom and Dad, I want to make some more money.

You know what they told me? Go cut some more grass. You know what the problem I had? There was only so much time on the weekend. So I went to my buddies and I said, you cut the grass, I'll knock on the doors, we'll share the money. Two or three buddies cut the grass. I knocked on the doors. And over the course of a weekend, I think we had 25 or 30 yards at our peak 13 years old yeah

I delivered newspapers I worked at a toy store I worked at McDonald's all before I was 18 you know what cutting grass in 105 degree Virginia heat and humidity in the summer when you're 13 is going to do. It's going to be, it's going to teach you work ethic.

All right. That's the talk show. Virginia plays Clemson. Thank you. Saturday, 2 o'clock, is a must-win game for the Wahoos. 2 p.m., ESPN has got the broadcast. Can't believe I'm saying this because they're on a five-game winning streak, and they've won 22 straight games at home,

although Saturday's contest is in Death Valley. Virginia's got to win a bunch more basketball games to make the NCAA tournament. It's not there yet. Clemson on Saturday in Death Valley, ESPN 2 o'clock tip-off, is a must-win game for Virginia. Judah Wickhauer, single and ready to mingle.

Jerry Miller, a digital and real life wingman. The I Love Seville show on a Friday. Keep your business local. Support the community. Thank you kindly for joining us. So long. Have a nice weekend. Thank you.