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Speaker 1: Have KCV Talk station, have b Friday Eve special edition,

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Speaker 1: so please to see. Actually, I'm happy when Christopher Smithman's

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Speaker 1: on the Rundown every anytime I see it, and we

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Speaker 1: always get him on Mondays at seven twenty for the

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Speaker 1: Smith Event. But Christopher's got a special segment today because

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Speaker 1: I guess the City of Cincinnati is looking for a

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Speaker 1: five percent across the board cut. It's budget time. Christopher

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Speaker 1: Smithman with the Smith Event. Welcome back, former Vice mayor

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Speaker 1: of the City of Cincinnati, and my dear friend is

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Speaker 1: always great talking with you.

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Speaker 2: Hey, Brian, thanks for having me on. You know, we

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Speaker 2: have seen this pattern where elected officials just seem to

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Speaker 2: not be able to balance their budgets. But at the

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Speaker 2: same time, what confuses us is we see them issuing

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Speaker 2: contracts like to an Irish rollie for six hundred and

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Speaker 2: fifty thousand dollars. See, it's the disconnect that we don't understand.

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Speaker 2: As they're saying they're doing their budgeting, or as we've

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Speaker 2: talked about ten eleven years ago, the operation of the

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Speaker 2: streetcar with what happened was the streetcar supporters were saying

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Speaker 2: to us that this was about the capital budget. It

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Speaker 2: was an argument, why are we spending ninety four million

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Speaker 2: dollars of our debt. We had to issue ninety four

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Speaker 2: million dollars in debt, and then we had to get

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Speaker 2: money from the federal government to build the streetcar. But

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Speaker 2: there was the other discussion that once you build it,

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Speaker 2: how do you operate it? And that operating budget was

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Speaker 2: going to absolutely impact our ability to pay police and

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Speaker 2: fire and sanitation. Now we have the chickens coming home

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Speaker 2: to roost. You're spending five million plus dollars per year

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Speaker 2: to operate a streetcar that drives around in a circle

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Speaker 2: like a Chu Chu train. And then you're coming before

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Speaker 2: us saying we don't have money. We've got to raise taxes,

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Speaker 2: We've got to pay Irish rolling six hundred and fifty thousand.

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Speaker 2: We want to do something with a mural in front

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Speaker 2: of city hall, but now you don't have money. Cops.

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Speaker 2: Here's the reality. This is a city council and a

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Speaker 2: mayor that doesn't like the police department. I'm trying to

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Speaker 2: make it plain for grandma and grandpa to understand. They

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Speaker 2: don't like cops. They want to reimagine, they want to

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Speaker 2: they want to defund it, to defund the police marketing

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Speaker 2: didn't work, Brian Thomas. So now what we're seeing here

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Speaker 2: is we just got to cut five percent. Let me

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Speaker 2: remind everybody that less than a year ago we had

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Speaker 2: an active shooter on Fountain Square at a restaurant shooting,

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Speaker 2: We had shootings in our downtown court. Let me remind

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Speaker 2: all voters that we just had a mass shooting, nine

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Speaker 2: people shot, just three to four days ago. Why would

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Speaker 2: you have a mayor and a council come out with

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Speaker 2: any kind of proposal saying that you want to cut

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Speaker 2: first responders or law enforcement in a time where we

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Speaker 2: need them the most, Brian Thomas.

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Speaker 1: Well, cousin street cars free, Christopher, doesn't that mean that

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Speaker 1: we don't have to pay.

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Speaker 2: For see Bryant, So, your listening audience, he loves giving

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Speaker 2: me red meat. He knows he loves giving me red

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Speaker 2: meat because he knows that nothing is free. The reality

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Speaker 2: of what's happening is you and I are subsidizing the

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Speaker 2: street car. We are paying for everybody who rides that

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Speaker 2: street car, and now they don't have money to operate

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Speaker 2: the street car and pay police and fire in sanitation

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Speaker 2: and city workers and everybody out there who was calling

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Speaker 2: you and I crazy saying we were against the street car.

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Speaker 2: We just don't like mass Transit had nothing to do

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Speaker 2: with it. We said that this was a pet project

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Speaker 2: that the City of Cincinnati cannot afford. And by the way,

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Speaker 2: you never hear them saying we're going to reduce the

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Speaker 2: operation of the streetcar. It's never on the table. They

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Speaker 2: don't say, okay, man, we're gonna take two point five

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Speaker 2: million dollars out of the operating We're going to operate

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Speaker 2: it only between these hours, and we're gonna take this

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Speaker 2: two point five million dollars of operating dollars for the

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Speaker 2: street car and direct it towards the operation of our budget,

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Speaker 2: making sure that we have police envin. They never do that.

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Speaker 2: That's the problem right now. And they'll come back and

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Speaker 2: give an Irish Rollie another six hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

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Speaker 2: And you and I, Brian Thomas, we don't even know

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Speaker 2: what she's doing with that money. What is ROI on it?

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Speaker 2: If you were to ask her, Oh, I'm so offended

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Speaker 2: that you're asking me how we're doing with the money.

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Speaker 2: How dare you ask us about what we're doing with

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Speaker 2: the budget. Just six hundred and fifty bucks that's racist.

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Speaker 2: You're picking on me. And then we turn around and

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Speaker 2: we see what we see youth downtown with guns. You

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Speaker 2: and I know that violence in our core on the

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Speaker 2: banks are going to be high. And by the way,

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Speaker 2: Procter and Gamble, fifth Third, Western, Southern, all of you

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Speaker 2: are going to have to get some cahunas and you're

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Speaker 2: going to have to put pressure on this city council.

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Speaker 2: But if you don't, guess what, your workers aren't gonna

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Speaker 2: want to get out of leave work at six or

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Speaker 2: seven o'clock and walk back to their cars because they're

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Speaker 2: gonna be worried about a holly situation. They're gonna be

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Speaker 2: worried about getting junk and have members of council saying,

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Speaker 2: guess what, it's okay that you got jumped in our downtown.

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Speaker 2: Let's go arrest the white people, hold them accountable. That's

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Speaker 2: where we're headed right now. This is an anti police

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Speaker 2: move by the mayor, by city council. And if and

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Speaker 2: if we don't wake up, I'm talking about the people

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Speaker 2: that live in the city. I don't care if you're

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Speaker 2: a Democratic, Republican or independent, I don't care how you vote.

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Speaker 2: If we don't start voting smart right. Elections have consequences.

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Speaker 2: We aren't even gonna have a city. We're gonna look

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Speaker 2: like Chicago, We're gonna look like Detroit. We're gonna look

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Speaker 2: like la That is where we are headed.

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Speaker 1: Let's pause. Bring Christopher Smithleman back because I think I

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Speaker 1: have a solution to the problem, and I'm gonna get

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Speaker 1: Christopher's reaction. Think about kars de Talk station Ron Thomas

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Speaker 1: with Christopher's Smitheman, former Vice mayor of the City of

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Speaker 1: Since with a special Thursday edition of the Smith event.

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Speaker 1: Here's well. Here's the well is that as a street

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Speaker 1: car uh Mar and March sixteenth your next opportunity to

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Speaker 1: show up on March eleventh at the North Avondeal Rec

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Speaker 1: Center to express your opinions about the budget and the

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Speaker 1: five percent proposed cut across the board because Cincinnati can't

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Speaker 1: get his budget in line. March sixteen, five point thirty

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Speaker 1: at the Sailor Park Rec Center. That's another place you

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Speaker 1: can show up and off of your comments. Christopher, Don't

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Speaker 1: I have a solution to this? Was raised by since

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Speaker 1: a city council, wouldn't it just be a great idea

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Speaker 1: to solve our budget problem? By raising the income tax, Christopher,

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Speaker 1: why don't we just do that?

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Speaker 2: I know, Ryan, we're all priced out. You know, if

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Speaker 2: you talk to Americans in our country, their rents are

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Speaker 2: out of control, just keeping up with rent. Their gas

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Speaker 2: and electric bills are incredible, their costs for food incredible,

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Speaker 2: their costs for school and school supplies are incredible. I'm

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Speaker 2: just sharing with you that the the the average person

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Speaker 2: out here who's raising a family, they're making really tough decisions, Brian,

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Speaker 2: And that's right, you're feeding me this red meat. And

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Speaker 2: so council just says we're gonna we're gonna raise your taxes,

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Speaker 2: so disrespectfully take more money away from those hard working

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Speaker 2: families to to direct it towards contracts like for Irish Rollie,

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Speaker 2: who we don't know what exactly is going on with

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Speaker 2: that budget. Or we're gonna take the money and direct

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Speaker 2: it towards the operation of a street car, which has

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Speaker 2: nothing to do with Sailor Park. It has nothing to

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Speaker 2: do with North Avendale, nothing to do has nothing to

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Speaker 2: do with College Hill. Here's here's the big here's the

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Speaker 2: big wake up call. But the majority of those communities

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Speaker 2: outside of Sailor Park voted for this council forty five

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Speaker 2: days ago. Elections have consequences, and so it's so so

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Speaker 2: frustrating to me that these fifty two neighborhoods, many of

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Speaker 2: them overwhelmingly voted for these people. Now you want to

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Speaker 2: go back to these communities and say we're gonna cut

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Speaker 2: your safety. We're gonna cut your police and your fire,

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Speaker 2: your sanitation, the basic services while we talk about raising

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Speaker 2: your taxes. Guess what, that's what you voted for. Because

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Speaker 2: you could have had a Corey Bowman right now as

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Speaker 2: your mayor and guarantee you if Corey Bowman were the mayor,

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Speaker 2: there wouldn't be discussions about cutting public safety right and

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Speaker 2: there would be discussions about what are the low hanging

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Speaker 2: fruit items, things that we really don't need. They're just shiny,

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Speaker 2: like the operation of the street car. We're going to

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Speaker 2: reduce that budget and we're going to make sure that

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Speaker 2: we keep citizens safe, and we are not going to

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Speaker 2: raise your taxes. And so anybody listening to me, because

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Speaker 2: so many people in the city, they pay rent, they're

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Speaker 2: not owners, right like me, as a property owner, my

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Speaker 2: property taxes are through the roof, right, I'm paying fees

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Speaker 2: through the roof the rent. The people who are paying rent,

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Speaker 2: their rents are going through the roof, and sometimes they

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Speaker 2: don't understand that. The landlords can't eat the cost, so

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Speaker 2: as their expenses go higher, they pass it on to you.

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Speaker 2: For the renter, you are paying it. But Brian, a

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Speaker 2: lot of renters don't understand.

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Speaker 1: That what's the same thing as going to the store

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Speaker 1: and buying a bag of potato chips. The price of

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Speaker 1: the tatia ships has gone up. Why because the cost

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Speaker 1: of manufacturing and delivering and providing potato chips by the

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Speaker 1: manufacturer has gone up. Yes, there's profit in there, but

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Speaker 1: their profit margins are eroded by the inflation reality that

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Speaker 1: they are facing, so they pass along the cost to you.

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Speaker 1: This is exactly what what would property owners do? Duh?

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Speaker 1: I mean it's so I don't know how that isn't

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Speaker 1: understood by anybody. You know, there's a cost you got

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Speaker 1: to cover those You still have to make a profit,

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Speaker 1: otherwise you wouldn't be in the rental business. Yes, property

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Speaker 1: taxes go up, the renters are going to eat ith.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, but it's still this is this is the reality

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Speaker 2: of it. And guess what happens Those American families are

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Speaker 2: out there. I know they're listening, right, they have a

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Speaker 2: Social Security benefit, they're on a fixed income, whether that

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Speaker 2: is some type of an annuity, whether that's some type

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Speaker 2: of pension, whether it's Social Security. Their costs aren't keeping

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Speaker 2: up with what you and I are describing. And so

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Speaker 2: then you have a city council says, well, let's just

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Speaker 2: make their taxes go a little higher, hurt them a

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Speaker 2: little more, right, in order for us to pay for

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Speaker 2: our pet projects. That is what is so frustrating. And

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Speaker 2: you've got families out here who are working two and

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Speaker 2: three jobs. That is not an exaggeration, right. They get up,

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Speaker 2: they go to one job in the morning. In the afternoon,

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Speaker 2: they're on another job, right, and then they might do

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Speaker 2: something at night just to kind of hit it on

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Speaker 2: the weekend, d down to a red game. It sounds

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Speaker 2: like our good friend Joe Strecker, who are out here

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Speaker 2: trying to work all these different jobs just to make

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Speaker 2: ends meet. This has got to be insulting when you

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Speaker 2: have a mayor that says, you know, we're just gonna

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Speaker 2: raise your taxes. We're gonna cut the things that you

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Speaker 2: need the most, the things that we're really in the

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Speaker 2: business of doing. Which is keeping safe. We're gonna cut

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Speaker 2: public safety. This is a scary time. I don't want

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Speaker 2: to I don't want to scare anybody to tell you

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Speaker 2: that we're marching towards Detroit, We're marching towards la We're

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Speaker 2: marching towards Chicago. But I think that's where we're headed

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Speaker 2: right now. We have a very we have a very

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Speaker 2: disconnected council and there they're they're they're not into rolling

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Speaker 2: up your sleeves and doing the hard work. They want

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Speaker 2: to make it easy. Just raise the taxes for everybody

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Speaker 2: here and scare the hell out of us by telling

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Speaker 2: you you're gonna cut police and fire. This is a strategy.

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Speaker 2: The strategy is scare the hell out of us so

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Speaker 2: that when we put this on the ballot, we force

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Speaker 2: you to vote for it.

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Speaker 1: Well, you know, the ripple effect is a really scary one.

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Speaker 1: We haven't quite seen it yet, although there have been

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Speaker 1: a couple of examples of it. What happens if public

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Speaker 1: safety is UH is worse, more crime, more criminals, UH,

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Speaker 1: fewer police. Basically, the general perception that it's not safe

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Speaker 1: to walk around, and you make it far more expensive

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Speaker 1: to live in that particular jurisdic this one the city.

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Speaker 1: Do you think businesses will stay or leave going back

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Speaker 1: to those big ones that you just mentioned. Look at California,

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Speaker 1: New York, Illinois and all the businesses that took off

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Speaker 1: because the onerous way to regulations and taxes. This place

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Speaker 1: is crazy. I'm leaving. I'm going to Florida. Oh look,

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Speaker 1: Claremont County looks far more inviting than Hamilton County, mostly

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Speaker 1: far more inviting than the city of Cincinnati. It's safer there,

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Speaker 1: the roads are actually paved. There are a lot of

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Speaker 1: options out there. Christopher and some of these big businesses

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Speaker 1: may see that and seize the opportunity, which is going

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Speaker 1: to make things much worse for the city in terms

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Speaker 1: of its revenue and.

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Speaker 2: What makes it easy for people of Cincinnati who don't

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Speaker 2: really understand maybe geographically where we're located, who are listening

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Speaker 2: online right, I don't know. We can just go right

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Speaker 2: across the river. The business just says they're being recruited.

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Speaker 2: I just go to Indiana. Yay, just take a little

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Speaker 2: jump boom. I'm in Indiana, and the Indiana Governor's like, listen, dude,

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Speaker 2: we want you. We're gonna make sure we have police

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Speaker 2: and fire. We're going to make sure that you're safe,

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Speaker 2: to make sure that when your workers drive in and

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Speaker 2: they go home at seven o'clock at night, they're not

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Speaker 2: getting knocked in their heads. You know, if you decide

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Speaker 2: to go out to eat in your downtown core, if

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Speaker 2: you're in Indiana, or if you're in Kentucky, we're gonna

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Speaker 2: make sure that you can do that in a safe way.

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Speaker 2: People are tired of the crime and the criminals being coddled.

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Speaker 2: In Cincinnati, we just saw a judge go fifty thousand

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Speaker 2: dollars right, five hundred bucks out. That's reality, right, since

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Speaker 2: we spoke last fifty thousand dollars bond right, and the

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Speaker 2: federal government had to come in and say no, no, no,

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Speaker 2: Hamilton County, we are going to prosecute this case federally.

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Speaker 2: I'm sorry. He is not going to be leaving a

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Speaker 2: jail tonight. He's gonna stay in here overnight. We're gonna

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Speaker 2: prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law. He

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Speaker 2: shot nine people. So when you have judges that are

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Speaker 2: willing to let people out, right, who shot nine people

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Speaker 2: in our city, what do you think it looks like

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Speaker 2: when you wake up and you see a headline where

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Speaker 2: council says we're gonna cut police and fire by five percent.

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Speaker 1: It doesn't pay in a very pretty picture. Christopher Smitheman

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Speaker 1: at all.

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Speaker 2: I'm not trying to because they're not. If they put

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Speaker 2: the effort in, they can find the money. That's what

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Speaker 2: they're not willing to do. They've got to cut their

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Speaker 2: pet project, every single one of them. I don't want

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Speaker 2: to hear anything about anything flashy, nothing. I don't want

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Speaker 2: to hear about reparations. I don't want to hear anything

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Speaker 2: about anything other than doing what you're in the business

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Speaker 2: of doing, making our streets safe, making sure that potholes

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Speaker 2: aren't out there, clearing off the snow, making sure that

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Speaker 2: police and fire and sanitation have the resources they need.

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Speaker 2: I'm talking about their truck, they're automobiles, they're staffing levels.

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Speaker 2: We need recruit classes, we need all of those kinds

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Speaker 2: of basic things. I don't get what council in this

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Speaker 2: mayor are currently doing, Brian Thomas, but I can tell

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Speaker 2: you they're running people out of the city, people who

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Speaker 2: can choose saying, you know what, I'm going to go

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Speaker 2: to Green Township. I'm going to go to Liberty Township leaving,

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Speaker 2: I'm going to Preble County. I'm getting the hell out

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Speaker 2: of Cincinnati because I don't feel safe. They don't understand

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Speaker 2: that that is Those are the conversations that people are

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Speaker 2: really having. And you know what's really killing us is

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Speaker 2: people like you, Brian Thomas, who love the city of Cincinnati,

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Speaker 2: live out in the county and you're saying, you know what,

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Speaker 2: sometimes in your mind, I love to go down to

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Speaker 2: the Aaron Off. I'd love to go down and take

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Speaker 2: take in dinner, but I don't feel safe down there.

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Speaker 2: Paulette and I when I go down, I just don't

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Speaker 2: know if I leave the restaurant, am I going to

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Speaker 2: be okay? As I leave the restaurant and get to

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Speaker 2: my car, And then if I have a problem, do

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Speaker 2: they have the staffing levels in downtown to respond when

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Speaker 2: I call nine one one, Because that's been the problem.

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Speaker 2: It's not the cops they want to respond, it's the

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Speaker 2: staffing levels. And so you are a smart person, Brian.

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Speaker 2: You don't want to hurt anybody, right, And here's another

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Speaker 2: rocket science thing to think. They think criminals are dumb.

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Speaker 2: When you go to a football game or a baseball game,

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Speaker 2: you're ron. You cannot go into the those games with

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Speaker 2: the firearm. So they know everybody walking out of there,

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Speaker 2: out of the Dora on the banks, nobody is armed,

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Speaker 2: and they're going back to their cars, and guess what

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Speaker 2: they're running into armed people who want to rob them.

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Speaker 2: And you don't have enough police downtown to keep your

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Speaker 2: visitor safe. So guess what your visitor starts saying, I

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Speaker 2: don't want to come downtown. I love downtown like everybody else,

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Speaker 2: but guess what business is down there. You're going to

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Speaker 2: have to start standing up for your own interest and

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Speaker 2: make sure that this council and this mayor don't project

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Speaker 2: out weakness by saying they're going to cut police and fire.

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Speaker 2: Brian Toms, this is crazy, crazy.

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Speaker 1: It is crazy. And the O the other thing I

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Speaker 1: was thinking about. You know, football games are one thing,

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Speaker 1: and you're right. I can't imagine a single human being

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Speaker 1: coming out of a football game and with a firearm,

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Speaker 1: given the level of security in the fact that you're

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Speaker 1: not allowed to carry one. But what about the people

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Speaker 1: who dine at really exclusive restaurants. I think I guess

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Speaker 1: you have to have a fair amount of money to

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Speaker 1: go into Jeff Ruby's and enjoy a meal there, right,

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Speaker 1: And of course I would think the vast majority of

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Speaker 1: people going in there are probably drinking alcohol, which means

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Speaker 1: they're probably very unlikely to be carrying a firearm because

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Speaker 1: you can't do that. They got to go back to

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Speaker 1: their cars as well, so you know, maybe people are

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Speaker 1: reconnoitering rubies and watching people coming into that. I don't

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Speaker 1: want to pick on that particular restaurant. I just hear

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Speaker 1: it's truly amazing, and it is very expensive, drawing a

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Speaker 1: very wealthy client tele which are marks yo.

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Speaker 2: I know. I agree with you, Brian, and people patrons

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Speaker 2: out here who are trying to figure out what they

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Speaker 2: want to do, they're going to choose other places to go.

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Speaker 2: That's just my point, and Brian times, you're just laying

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Speaker 2: it out for everybody. We love downtown, we love Cincinnati.

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Speaker 2: Were the best for Cincinnati, but the mayor and council

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Speaker 2: make it really, really hard because they're focused on this

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Speaker 2: racial identity stuff and they're passing resolutions about what's going

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Speaker 2: on in Israel and things like, you know, what's going

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Speaker 2: on in Iran and all these kind of things that

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Speaker 2: make no sense to me when they can't even balance

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Speaker 2: our budget. All the COVID money is gone, right, They're

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Speaker 2: going to have to roll up this sleep. This is

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Speaker 2: what is happening. Public. All those federal dollars. They just

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Speaker 2: passed resolutions down there telling the federal government, giving them

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Speaker 2: their middle finger. Right, tell the federal government, I don't

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Speaker 2: like you. All those federal dollars, by the way, could

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Speaker 2: dry up really fast and make things even worse for

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Speaker 2: the city of Cincinnati. I don't know why they decide

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Speaker 2: to do these kinds of things, Brian, but I'm telling

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Speaker 2: I'm letting you know that to the public. You don't

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Speaker 2: tell the federal government you're not going to cooperate with

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Speaker 2: them and then turn around and ask them for millions

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Speaker 2: and millions and millions of dollars. That doesn't make sense.

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Speaker 1: We gotta go. But here, I'm gonna leave you with

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Speaker 1: this so you can fester on it and not be

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Speaker 1: able to address it. Christopher, since we're out of time,

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Speaker 1: and God bless you for joining us this morning. Whatever

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Speaker 1: happened to that railroad money was supposed to solve all

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Speaker 1: of our problems there, work with that one, Christopher. We

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Speaker 1: got to part company the Monday, ah Monday, get fifty

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Speaker 1: one if if you have Carezy talk station,