WEBVTT - Jonathan Pearson for Hamilton County Commissioner

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<v Speaker 1>805 55 care cd talk station happy wednesday pleased to

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<v Speaker 1>welcome the 55 care c morning show he is running

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<v Speaker 1>for county commissioner you have three choices and my next

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<v Speaker 1>guest jonathan pearson is one of those choices jonathan great

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<v Speaker 1>to have you on the show this morning.

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<v Speaker 2>Welcome well good morning brian thank you.

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<v Speaker 1>And i'll encourage my listeners uh to the extent they

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<v Speaker 1>want to hear what the candidates for county commissioner have

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<v Speaker 1>to say there's a really i would say a well

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<v Speaker 1>done wvxu morning edition uh article out there when they

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<v Speaker 1>talk to each one of the candidates and about their

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<v Speaker 1>policies and what they're, you know, what you want out

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<v Speaker 1>of the commission and what you plan on changing, addressing

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<v Speaker 1>the concerns. But I just wanted to start off by

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<v Speaker 1>the last point you made in your conversation. I am

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<v Speaker 1>old school. You have questions. Just call me and you

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<v Speaker 1>post your phone number. 513-562-0611 or email Pearson for transparency

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<v Speaker 1>at gmail.com. You have an open door policy and you

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<v Speaker 1>haven't even been elected yet, Jonathan. I think that's very cool.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, I figure that if this is about the citizens

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<v Speaker 2>and it's their money, we don't have nuclear codes in

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<v Speaker 2>the Hamilton County, so I've never understood the secrecy that

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<v Speaker 2>goes on in government anywhere in Cincinnati or the county.

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<v Speaker 1>Or candidates that refuse to debate their opponents. That's not you, Jonathan. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>that's true. Anyway.

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<v Speaker 2>I've actually had a lot of people give me a

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<v Speaker 2>direct phone call, and I'm glad that they have. And

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<v Speaker 2>they've texted me, and thanks. I'm happy to respond to them.

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<v Speaker 1>Perfect. rarely do we hear from a politician or a

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<v Speaker 1>candidate for political office that is that open and willing

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<v Speaker 1>to talk to folks of any political stripe that want

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<v Speaker 1>to call them up. So Jonathan, I salute you for that. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>what are you here? Why are you running for County commissioner?

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<v Speaker 1>And what are you hearing that people want addressed by

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<v Speaker 1>Hamilton County commissioners? Because there's only a finite amount of

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<v Speaker 1>responsibility that County commissioners have, but it does extend into

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<v Speaker 1>most of our lives in some way, shape or form.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, what I always tell people is it's the most boring,

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<v Speaker 2>important job in the county because it deals with our money.

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<v Speaker 2>And nobody ever talks about it. That means every dime

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<v Speaker 2>of tax and property dollars eventually flow through there. And

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<v Speaker 2>that's a lot of money. And people just kind of like, oh, yes,

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<v Speaker 2>it does this, this, and this. And, you know, it's

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<v Speaker 2>okay as long as they can go to work in

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<v Speaker 2>the morning. You know, they never think twice about it

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<v Speaker 2>until January and July when they have to pay that

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<v Speaker 2>tax bill. And that's the big one. the property tax

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<v Speaker 2>bills are just getting crazy. Mine has literally doubled in

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<v Speaker 2>16 years in Fairfax. I mean, doubled. In 16 years,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, now, that's my big thing. My simple proposal

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<v Speaker 2>to that, Brian, for your taxes on your property tax,

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<v Speaker 2>and this affects renters. I want everybody to know this.

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<v Speaker 2>Renters pay property tax. There's no such thing as a

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<v Speaker 2>benevolent landlord that says, nah, I won't add the property

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<v Speaker 2>tax to my building onto that. So renters pay property tax,

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<v Speaker 2>and I hate hearing people say renters don't pay it.

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<v Speaker 2>And if it's a four-unit or bigger in Hamilton County,

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<v Speaker 2>there's a premium put on top of that property tax.

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<v Speaker 2>So renters of four units or bigger are actually paying

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<v Speaker 2>more property tax percentage-wise than I or you are. So

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<v Speaker 2>my simple proposal is this. What you paid for your

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<v Speaker 2>house is what your taxes are based on. That's it

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<v Speaker 2>until you die or leave. It's not complicated.

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<v Speaker 1>There's not that capital gains penalty that people are dealing

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<v Speaker 1>with right now. I'd like to express it in terms

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<v Speaker 1>of that you don't pay any taxes until you sell

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<v Speaker 1>your investments and you pay taxes on what you earn.

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<v Speaker 2>Exact same principle. We thought it was stupid when Kamala

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<v Speaker 2>offered it for stocks. Why do we go home and say, yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>but it's not stupid for our house?

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<v Speaker 1>It's a great point. And, you know, this whole issue

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<v Speaker 1>to me centers around seniors. You know, at least I'm

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<v Speaker 1>still making a salary. My wife is. We can afford

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<v Speaker 1>the outrageous property tax bill, but we've got a source

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<v Speaker 1>of revenue. Seniors many times are on a fixed income,

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<v Speaker 1>and you're basically taxing them right out of a place

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<v Speaker 1>that they own outright. That's sinful, if I can call

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<v Speaker 1>it that.

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<v Speaker 2>Brian, many years ago, I sat in a council meeting

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<v Speaker 2>at a particular city. I'll be kind to the city.

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<v Speaker 2>I was going to mention them by name, but I won't.

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<v Speaker 2>A couple came in. They've been living there for many years,

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<v Speaker 2>and they said their tax bill is $ 9, 500. And they

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<v Speaker 2>said that's more money than we paid in any year

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<v Speaker 2>paying our mortgage, our insurance, and our property taxes then.

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<v Speaker 2>A councilman stood up at that meeting, looked at that

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<v Speaker 2>elderly couple dead in the eye, and said, you can move.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh, wow.

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<v Speaker 2>We don't need that kind of BS anymore. said to

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<v Speaker 2>our citizens, I'm sorry, I don't care whether you're a Democrat,

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<v Speaker 2>a Libertarian, an Independent, or a Republican. We don't need

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<v Speaker 2>that kind of BS being said to them. If you

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<v Speaker 2>want to live in a particular community, there's no excuse

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<v Speaker 2>that the government's taxing you out of living there. And

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<v Speaker 2>that just irritates me.

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<v Speaker 1>It's sort of a form of not forced loyalty, but

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<v Speaker 1>if you're loyal to where you live, You're less inclined

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<v Speaker 1>to move if you know you're not going to have

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<v Speaker 1>to continue to pay inflated property taxes each and every

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<v Speaker 1>year they raise them. So, you know, there's incentive to stay,

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<v Speaker 1>which I would think many counties would want.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, see, that's what I want is say you redo

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<v Speaker 2>your kitchen and you actually paid, legitimately paid $ 35, 000 to

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<v Speaker 2>redo your kitchen. That's great. But they come along and say, well,

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<v Speaker 2>since you redid your kitchen, we think it added $ 90, 000

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<v Speaker 2>in value. They add $ 90, 000 to your value of your

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<v Speaker 2>tax base. not the $ 35, 000 you actually paid. That's what

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<v Speaker 2>I want. So that way, if you do a renovation,

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<v Speaker 2>it's only the actual monies you spent on that renovation

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<v Speaker 2>to your contractor if you did it yourself.

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<v Speaker 1>Fair enough.

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<v Speaker 2>Not there. And that, to me, is very fair. But

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<v Speaker 2>the biggest thing this does, Brian, if I have a

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<v Speaker 2>3.7 mil levy against my house... They come back in

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<v Speaker 2>seven years and say, well, we're not raising your taxes.

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<v Speaker 2>It's going to stay 3.7. Well, of course, my house

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<v Speaker 2>raised $ 200, 000. Of course, you're going to get triple what

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<v Speaker 2>you were making before. Well, now they actually have to

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<v Speaker 2>come back and say, we want 7.4. And nobody votes

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<v Speaker 2>for a 7.4 levy. And this changes how they have

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<v Speaker 2>to ask for a tax. This changes the idea that

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<v Speaker 2>schools are getting $ 20, 000, $ 25, 000 per student tax. in the

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<v Speaker 2>public school system to educate them with, you know, in

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<v Speaker 2>Cincinnati is, I'll be honest, it's pure crap. You have

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<v Speaker 2>a 19% readiness rating to go to college from the 52% graduates.

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<v Speaker 2>That's awful. 9% of the people that go through Cincinnati

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<v Speaker 2>schools are ready for college. How awful is that? And

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<v Speaker 2>yet we're paying a fortune and they're asking for another

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<v Speaker 2>ton of money.

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<v Speaker 1>They are, and that's the kind of thing I was

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<v Speaker 1>speaking of earlier this morning. Are you going to reward

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<v Speaker 1>the Cincinnati Public Schools when that's the type of education

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<v Speaker 1>outcome you get in return for what may be very

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<v Speaker 1>well a lot more money out of your pocket if

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<v Speaker 1>the levy passes?

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<v Speaker 2>The one thing commissioners have by fiscal solvency, fiscal responsibility,

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<v Speaker 2>is this. In any neighborhood that you have issues with finances,

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<v Speaker 2>you see crime. And if we can start to help

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<v Speaker 2>to stabilize it through something, through getting through the state

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<v Speaker 2>to change the tax base of how we tax homes

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<v Speaker 2>and properties, and including apartment complexes, I include those in

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<v Speaker 2>that because renters are citizens too. People tend to act

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<v Speaker 2>like they're some pariah. They're not. And I think that

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<v Speaker 2>we've missed that. But if we can tame down the

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<v Speaker 2>economy in that way, crime starts to tame down. And

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<v Speaker 2>guess what happened? Businesses look at Hamilton County and go,

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<v Speaker 2>I like it. Because honestly, the first job of a

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<v Speaker 2>Hamilton County commissioner is to be the cheerleader for the county.

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<v Speaker 2>Because I tell people, you go from Cleves to the

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<v Speaker 2>east side, it's like going through three different states in

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<v Speaker 2>this county. This is an awesome county. I love going

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<v Speaker 2>through Hamilton County. And ironically, not those three different states,

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<v Speaker 2>but it's like three different sets of people from, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>go clear to the west side, middle, clear to the

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<v Speaker 2>east side. It's kind of funny. We always joke about

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<v Speaker 2>don't crossing the wall at 75 from east to west.

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<v Speaker 2>But there is a distinct difference, and I think that's

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<v Speaker 2>a beautiful reality of our county. But people don't look

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<v Speaker 2>at it that way because we're so worried about the

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<v Speaker 2>crime that's happening in the dead center of it, right,

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<v Speaker 2>mainly in Cincinnati itself. But, you know... Through that, we

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<v Speaker 2>can start to tame that down because the other thing

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<v Speaker 2>that the commissioners do take care of is the budgets

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<v Speaker 2>that go through the sheriff's department. It goes down to

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<v Speaker 2>the prosecutor's office to jail, other things like that. And

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<v Speaker 2>those are all things that affect the safety and the

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<v Speaker 2>willingness of citizens to want to stay or leave. But

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<v Speaker 2>businesses want to come in. And guess what happens when

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<v Speaker 2>we have more businesses? We have better tax bases and

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<v Speaker 2>we can keep our taxes lower. So commissioners have a

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<v Speaker 2>great effect on this county about its safety and its

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<v Speaker 2>fiscal responsibilities.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, you even acknowledge, I suppose, when you're talking to WBXU,

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<v Speaker 1>you have limited authority to change the current tax structure

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<v Speaker 1>insofar as property taxes are concerned. That would be.

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<v Speaker 2>A state issue. The voice of a commissioner is very big.

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<v Speaker 2>It's very big because, you know, old school methodology of

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<v Speaker 2>the state was that the commissioners of counties were very powerful. Well,

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<v Speaker 2>the irony is that old school didn't change. They still are.

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<v Speaker 2>We just got new technology and new things, but that

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<v Speaker 2>voice is still very powerful and carries a lot of weight.

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<v Speaker 2>And Hamilton County is one of those heavyweight counties that

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<v Speaker 2>can throw a lot of voice to Columbus. And Columbus

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<v Speaker 2>doesn't immediately respond and say, oh, because they said this. No,

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<v Speaker 2>but it makes a lot of people think. Plus the

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<v Speaker 2>bully pulpit by being able to come on shows like yours,

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<v Speaker 2>TV and others and say, hey, we really should make

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<v Speaker 2>this better for the citizens. You start getting the grassroots

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<v Speaker 2>efforts of people talking to their citizens. representatives and saying, hey,

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<v Speaker 2>that's a good idea.

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<v Speaker 1>We're talking with Jonathan Pearson this morning, or I'm talking

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<v Speaker 1>with Jonathan Pearson. We are all enjoying the benefits of

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<v Speaker 1>insight into his campaign for county commissioner here in Hamilton County.

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<v Speaker 1>Early voting's going on right now. You can get in

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<v Speaker 1>there and vote for Jonathan. I think it's a strong bet.

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<v Speaker 1>Don't go away, Jonathan. I'm going to get some more

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<v Speaker 1>of your campaign platforms. What are you going to do

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<v Speaker 1>when you are elected county commissioner? Talk station. It's 819

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<v Speaker 1>at 55KRC, the talk station. Very happy Wednesday to you.

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<v Speaker 1>Talking with Jonathan Pearson, running for Hamilton County Commissioner. Feel

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<v Speaker 1>free to call him directly 513-562-0611 or shoot him an email,

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<v Speaker 1>pearson4transparency at gmail.com. Open door policy he has. I love

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<v Speaker 1>that out of the gate. And one of the other

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<v Speaker 1>things we have to deal with in Hamilton County, we

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<v Speaker 1>have a real sewer problem, Jonathan. I feel terribly sorry

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<v Speaker 1>for folks whose basements flood with sewage and the cleanup.

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<v Speaker 1>And this has been going on for a long, long time.

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<v Speaker 1>Is there any control the Hamilton County commissioners have over

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<v Speaker 1>getting projects accomplished and alleviating this problem that we have

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<v Speaker 1>over and over again, Jonathan?

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<v Speaker 2>Well, the reality is the county owns the sewer department.

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<v Speaker 2>It's run by the city. Therein lies part of the problem.

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<v Speaker 2>The city is so tied up in making sure that

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<v Speaker 2>we do quotas, DEI and all the other... DEI stands

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<v Speaker 2>for doing everything idiotically. Let's just be honest with you.

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<v Speaker 2>That's exactly what that stands for. They actually have to

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<v Speaker 2>order parts individually at the sewer department and Metro sewer

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<v Speaker 2>from a DEI supplier who only deals with subsidiaries that

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<v Speaker 2>are DEI. I can go to Grainger and get the

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<v Speaker 2>same part within a day or a week when they're

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<v Speaker 2>waiting six weeks to six months for the same part. Now,

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<v Speaker 2>what do you think that does to getting a job done?

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<v Speaker 1>Oh my Lord.

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<v Speaker 2>And what do you think that does to the cost?

0:11:37.470 --> 0:11:40.050
<v Speaker 2>But they won't tell you that that's why the delay is.

0:11:40.070 --> 0:11:42.209
<v Speaker 2>They'll just say it's because of this or that. So they're,

0:11:43.100 --> 0:11:46.980
<v Speaker 2>The absolute stupidity of when we start putting all these

0:11:47.040 --> 0:11:50.920
<v Speaker 2>things in there, if we actually ran the city and

0:11:50.940 --> 0:11:53.760
<v Speaker 2>the county on meritocracy as opposed to making sure that

0:11:53.800 --> 0:11:57.480
<v Speaker 2>we did a certain subset, did this or that, we

0:11:57.520 --> 0:12:00.140
<v Speaker 2>would stop 90 percent of our problems. But for all

0:12:00.160 --> 0:12:02.640
<v Speaker 2>of us, our bills went from three months to one month,

0:12:02.720 --> 0:12:04.380
<v Speaker 2>and we're paying the same in one month that we

0:12:04.460 --> 0:12:05.540
<v Speaker 2>used to pay for three months.

0:12:05.760 --> 0:12:08.030
<v Speaker 1>Tell me about it. Oh, my word. Every time I

0:12:08.070 --> 0:12:10.730
<v Speaker 1>get that bill, I just my mouth falls open in disbelief.

0:12:10.770 --> 0:12:13.370
<v Speaker 2>And it's ridiculous. But, you know, they figured they could

0:12:13.390 --> 0:12:16.719
<v Speaker 2>pull a fast one on us. Well, they won't notice that. Yeah,

0:12:16.740 --> 0:12:19.600
<v Speaker 2>they tripled our bills. Now, add that to the property

0:12:19.640 --> 0:12:21.280
<v Speaker 2>tax and everything else. And people are wondering why they

0:12:21.300 --> 0:12:23.600
<v Speaker 2>can't afford to stay in their homes. I don't care

0:12:24.160 --> 0:12:29.180
<v Speaker 2>that we've seen inflation come down. The real person isn't

0:12:29.240 --> 0:12:31.800
<v Speaker 2>sitting out there going, well, at least inflation is only 2.9. Well,

0:12:32.160 --> 0:12:34.520
<v Speaker 2>who gives a damn at this point? Because you're just

0:12:34.559 --> 0:12:36.020
<v Speaker 2>trying to figure out how to pay your bills.

0:12:37.400 --> 0:12:38.760
<v Speaker 1>Bills that won't go down.

0:12:39.500 --> 0:12:42.820
<v Speaker 2>Well, they won't go down because we're allowing too many

0:12:42.840 --> 0:12:46.420
<v Speaker 2>of these subset ideas to be thrown into the mix

0:12:46.440 --> 0:12:49.339
<v Speaker 2>that have nothing to do with the production of the job.

0:12:51.000 --> 0:12:52.640
<v Speaker 2>And so what I would like to do is sit

0:12:52.679 --> 0:12:55.679
<v Speaker 2>down and look at that budget, have a meeting every

0:12:55.730 --> 0:12:58.950
<v Speaker 2>single Monday morning with MSD and say, what are you

0:12:58.990 --> 0:13:01.350
<v Speaker 2>doing this week and what did you get done last week?

0:13:01.809 --> 0:13:04.490
<v Speaker 2>And where's our cost factor in this? And if we

0:13:04.520 --> 0:13:07.250
<v Speaker 2>hold them to the fire every week, not once a quarter,

0:13:07.309 --> 0:13:09.309
<v Speaker 2>whatever else they're doing, I don't even know what their

0:13:09.330 --> 0:13:12.550
<v Speaker 2>schedule is. But my thing, I used to work for

0:13:12.570 --> 0:13:15.470
<v Speaker 2>a private estate that I helped subdivide. I was the

0:13:15.510 --> 0:13:19.910
<v Speaker 2>general foreman for the property. It was 200 acres. Real

0:13:19.950 --> 0:13:22.290
<v Speaker 2>simple thing. You know what we did? Every Monday, okay,

0:13:22.330 --> 0:13:23.990
<v Speaker 2>what are we doing this week? What are we going

0:13:24.010 --> 0:13:25.500
<v Speaker 2>to get done? You think this is going to be

0:13:25.530 --> 0:13:27.200
<v Speaker 2>done in time? Are we going to stay within the

0:13:27.260 --> 0:13:30.359
<v Speaker 2>track of our budget this week? And you know what

0:13:30.780 --> 0:13:34.400
<v Speaker 2>happened every Friday? We could have a checklist of, well,

0:13:34.420 --> 0:13:36.309
<v Speaker 2>we need to make sure we get this done. Or

0:13:36.370 --> 0:13:40.750
<v Speaker 2>we did. We're ahead of time. It wasn't complicated. We

0:13:40.770 --> 0:13:42.250
<v Speaker 2>did the same thing on the golf course when I

0:13:42.290 --> 0:13:47.410
<v Speaker 2>was helping run golf courses. It's not complicated. So, well,

0:13:47.429 --> 0:13:50.239
<v Speaker 2>you can't do it because they're just a big department. Well,

0:13:50.320 --> 0:13:53.320
<v Speaker 2>what does size mean? Size doesn't mean anything. It just

0:13:53.340 --> 0:13:55.820
<v Speaker 2>means there's more people. You still have a few people

0:13:55.860 --> 0:13:57.800
<v Speaker 2>who control it. So you sit down with them and say,

0:13:57.880 --> 0:14:00.819
<v Speaker 2>what's going to go on this week? And we always

0:14:00.920 --> 0:14:03.360
<v Speaker 2>act all surprised. They're just so big. You know, it's

0:14:03.420 --> 0:14:05.699
<v Speaker 2>really hard to get everything together. We're not trying to

0:14:05.740 --> 0:14:08.240
<v Speaker 2>get every single worker in the sewer department together every Monday.

0:14:08.540 --> 0:14:10.950
<v Speaker 2>We're getting the core people saying what's going on.

0:14:12.910 --> 0:14:13.430
<v Speaker 1>Makes sense.

0:14:13.510 --> 0:14:14.690
<v Speaker 2>It's not complicated.

0:14:14.830 --> 0:14:18.309
<v Speaker 1>Best practices. What you're suggesting is they're not engaging in

0:14:18.330 --> 0:14:21.570
<v Speaker 1>best practices. They're not reflecting on the inefficiencies that surround

0:14:21.610 --> 0:14:24.380
<v Speaker 1>them each and every day and doing something about it. Jonathan.

0:14:25.540 --> 0:14:27.590
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. Well, on the flip side, though, I will say

0:14:27.630 --> 0:14:30.110
<v Speaker 2>the citizens do have to step up to their part.

0:14:30.370 --> 0:14:33.170
<v Speaker 2>You know, when MSD comes through and says, we need

0:14:33.190 --> 0:14:35.030
<v Speaker 2>to dig up your front yard to do this, don't

0:14:35.070 --> 0:14:37.190
<v Speaker 2>be sitting there and saying, yeah, but that's my front yard.

0:14:37.470 --> 0:14:40.470
<v Speaker 2>So don't dig here. Why do you think Fairmont, which

0:14:40.590 --> 0:14:44.330
<v Speaker 2>is a poor neighborhood, got a beautiful drainage system and

0:14:44.410 --> 0:14:47.410
<v Speaker 2>Mount Lookout, Hyde Park and all the other places that

0:14:47.450 --> 0:14:49.550
<v Speaker 2>got flooded? Because I go to church at St. Cecilia's

0:14:49.570 --> 0:14:51.490
<v Speaker 2>in Oakley and it was actually on a festival night

0:14:51.510 --> 0:14:55.290
<v Speaker 2>that that massive rain came through. Thankfully, we're here. We've

0:14:55.330 --> 0:14:57.350
<v Speaker 2>mitigated the flood in our own buildings here at the

0:14:57.870 --> 0:15:00.550
<v Speaker 2>campus of St. Cecilia's. But a lot of people did

0:15:00.590 --> 0:15:02.890
<v Speaker 2>lose a lot of stuff. Why? Because a lot of

0:15:02.950 --> 0:15:04.910
<v Speaker 2>the residents of these areas said, I don't want you

0:15:04.930 --> 0:15:07.010
<v Speaker 2>digging up my yard. You'll tear down my favorite tree.

0:15:07.030 --> 0:15:10.440
<v Speaker 2>You'll do this. Well, unfortunately, there is a reality to

0:15:10.460 --> 0:15:12.359
<v Speaker 2>the citizen side. We are going to lose some shrubs

0:15:12.400 --> 0:15:15.840
<v Speaker 2>and bushes to get this stuff split apart. So we

0:15:15.880 --> 0:15:17.880
<v Speaker 2>just have to accept that there are certain realities of

0:15:17.940 --> 0:15:22.380
<v Speaker 2>living in a densely populated neighborhood. that certain things are

0:15:22.420 --> 0:15:25.340
<v Speaker 2>going to have to change just because of reality. When

0:15:25.360 --> 0:15:26.960
<v Speaker 2>you dig up the ground to get to those pipes,

0:15:26.980 --> 0:15:30.320
<v Speaker 2>you can't just simply slide these through like you do

0:15:30.480 --> 0:15:32.600
<v Speaker 2>your dog fence. It isn't the same thing.

0:15:32.960 --> 0:15:35.640
<v Speaker 1>It's a nymph-y action, not in my front yard.

0:15:36.840 --> 0:15:41.350
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. But unfortunately, it does have to be in your

0:15:41.370 --> 0:15:44.530
<v Speaker 2>front yard or your backyard or your side yard. And

0:15:45.190 --> 0:15:47.070
<v Speaker 2>once we can get past that, but I think if

0:15:47.130 --> 0:15:50.140
<v Speaker 2>we can let people realize that MSD is being accountable

0:15:50.160 --> 0:15:53.170
<v Speaker 2>to the budget, we suddenly get a little less tense

0:15:53.270 --> 0:15:56.850
<v Speaker 2>about what they're doing. Again, it gets back to fiscal responsibility.

0:15:57.410 --> 0:15:59.850
<v Speaker 1>Jonathan Pearson, running for county commissioner. He's on the ballot.

0:15:59.870 --> 0:16:01.510
<v Speaker 1>I encourage you to get out and vote, as I

0:16:01.530 --> 0:16:03.920
<v Speaker 1>have been. I know I'm a broken record when it

0:16:03.960 --> 0:16:06.240
<v Speaker 1>comes to that, but I'm going to have Vivek Ramaswamy

0:16:06.260 --> 0:16:07.600
<v Speaker 1>on the show tomorrow, and I think he's going to

0:16:07.640 --> 0:16:09.700
<v Speaker 1>say the same thing, as will every other guest, as

0:16:09.740 --> 0:16:12.880
<v Speaker 1>we fast approach November. Jonathan Pearson, it's been a pleasure

0:16:12.920 --> 0:16:15.400
<v Speaker 1>talking with you. Appreciate your open-door policy. I love what

0:16:15.420 --> 0:16:17.500
<v Speaker 1>I'm hearing. And I hope that, you know, if you're

0:16:17.520 --> 0:16:19.560
<v Speaker 1>elected county commissioner, and we can only pray for that,

0:16:19.620 --> 0:16:22.500
<v Speaker 1>that you do make some inroads with the state government

0:16:22.540 --> 0:16:25.730
<v Speaker 1>on taxes. That's a huge issue for so many people.

0:16:26.110 --> 0:16:28.350
<v Speaker 1>And that crosses party lines, doesn't it, Jonathan?

0:16:29.010 --> 0:16:33.390
<v Speaker 2>Oh, I haven't found a single person of any party, persuasion,

0:16:33.430 --> 0:16:35.590
<v Speaker 2>anything that's looked at me and said, that's crazy. No,

0:16:35.610 --> 0:16:39.110
<v Speaker 2>they all said the same thing. Oh, if you could

0:16:39.130 --> 0:16:40.930
<v Speaker 2>get that through, I'll come and kiss you.

0:16:41.210 --> 0:16:42.010
<v Speaker 1>I'm working on it.

0:16:42.330 --> 0:16:44.650
<v Speaker 2>That was my favorite, funniest one I had a response from.

0:16:46.180 --> 0:16:49.590
<v Speaker 1>Trust me on that one, Jonathan. Look, hey, bipartisanship exists.

0:16:49.650 --> 0:16:52.250
<v Speaker 1>Lower our damn property taxes, Jonathan Pearson.