 Welcome everyone to Generally irritable. I always love that intro and I think that is a great every time Isn't it fabulous? Did that for me? Yeah, my husband made that intro for me and one of his business partners is a music producer So that's even my own personal Like special one-of-a-kind intro made for me. That's fantastic. It makes me feel pretty bad-ass I don't know if that's something that can get you Sensored, can you say ass? Yeah, and it'd be and it's not bad like we don't swear on this program Or I try not to and I try to tell people that so Chris if I didn't tell you that before we got started Try not to swear, but you're pretty good about that. Um, I try Super excited. Okay. So I'm super duper excited today to have Christopher Aaron Paul on the program He is the communications chair of the Chittinac County Republican Party, how are you this evening, sir? I'm doing great. Thank you for having me Erika Intro I absolutely love that intro Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I'm very I'm very pleased and There will be some other products Coming up for sale soon if anybody really loves that silly ridiculous eagle There might be something that you can purchase With that stupid eagle on it at some point in the future. That's coming down the pike I've got space on this right here for Right here on this out. Oh my god, we should make a um, I should get a like a Superhero character. I wonder if I can get a figurine made Okay, that is not what we came here to talk about okay, I am digressing I am totally digressing Okay Okay, okay But really I'm thinking about that now. Okay I'm really excited to have Christopher Aaron on tonight to talk about what the GOP is up to I'm especially encouraged to have Christopher on and after I give you this little intro Christopher I want you to get I want you to tell everybody your name and like kind of you know, give a little bio and What you know, why you're why you affiliate with the Republican Party? But this is why I'm especially excited for you to be on tonight So just this week I was at a store that shall go unnamed because you know how it is around here if you're a Republican like your business is trash so I Went to the store they know me They know that I ran for office the gals that work there voted for me and the one of them was like Oh, are you gonna run again? What are you gonna do? And I was like, I don't know, you know The way people treat Republicans here was was really hard, you know, it's like There is really a strong bias And prejudice against Conservatives in Vermont that somehow we're all white supremacist Racists it doesn't and and oh homophobic Transphobic every kind of phobic. We're basically just evil people and I said and that's really hard to tolerate Like I can't even get through to argue about ideas Because I'm too busy being attacked as a as a person that I'm not and Having to defend that and this and so I was talking to this one lady who's who's new there And she was like, well, that's not fair. That's not right And I said I know and she said I said and what's really funny is so many people don't like what's going on either in Burlington or the state of Vermont, they don't like the woke politics. They don't like the Treating conservatives badly. They don't like the demonization of the police. They don't like You know higher taxes. They don't like the lockdowns, but they consider themselves Democrats and progressives and The people on their team are pushing for all those things that they don't like and it's like look I know you don't consider yourself a conservative and I know you don't consider yourself a Republican But we agree that this stuff is bad Come to the dark side You know because we really are we're the ones fighting against that stuff We're the ones fighting against critical race theory in the schools teaching children to be racist Essentially and you know to demonize one another, you know, we're all fighting against this. We don't like it Give the Republican Party a shot. I know you think that it's one thing, but come give us a shot and So I just want to talk a little bit about, you know, what it is that we're up to in Chittinac County Burlington, Vermont Some solutions like I love your idea about the condos Converting to condos like things that will Make homeownership better like the solutions that we have as conservatives that are actually better and more likely to get the desired result of the misguided Policies of our progressive and democratic counterparts So that was a lot of words that's kind of what we're gonna be talking about today I Wanted to give people a setup And I and one and so I want you to introduce yourself and then one of the things don't let me forget to talk about is When our next meetings are coming up and how they can come get involved So don't let me I'm gonna write it down. I'm gonna write it down. Okay now tell everybody who you are and why you're so fabulous and How you came to affiliate yourself with the GOP? Okay, so yes, my name is Christopher Aaron Felker. I am 42 years old and a resident of Burlington, Vermont. I've been living here since 2013 we moved to Vermont in 2012 We were living in Pennsylvania and I grew up in Pennsylvania. It was a great place, but I We wanted someplace some place new to start our family and Vermont seemed like a great spot to do that lot less people here less densely populated more access to rural areas and and That's just we wanted to downshift a little bit to a slower speed of life. So We came up here and I'd always been I'd voted Republican before back in I voted for George for Debbie Bush. Oh Oh You're not allowed to admit that out loud did I voted for George Debbie Bush? And I voted for John McCain. Oh Alright, alright, of course I did. I'm a Navy veteran. I voted for John McCain. Of course I did of course. Alright, alright So I I've always had I've had no problem voting Republican before and I still have no problem with it I think that you touch base upon, you know, a really a Really key point that is kind of indicative of a greater problem in our society It's that people are so quick to judge an individual Strictly based upon their perception of their politics without even taking the time to engage with them to find out what those politics really truly are and and that that's kind of A frightening place to be at because if we are walking around and just Thumbs up and thumbs down condemning or approving of somebody within three seconds, you know, I That swipe left swipe white culture is not is not where we should be trying to it's not It's not advancing our society. It's not bringing the best out. Yeah, we aren't learning from each other There's no chance to really learn from each other if we're going to treat each other so disposably I think that is Such an important point that you bring up. We're treating each other disposally. Yeah, right? Like it doesn't matter if it's oh, we're just gonna I'm just gonna have sex with whomever and you know And then we're not gonna have a relationship or I'm just gonna oh, it's It's everything is about me and my happiness and my truth and so if you're harshing my mellow I'm just going to not be in your life anymore It can't be that like relationships are hard and human beings are complicated and worth trying to figure out It's oh it just it makes me uncomfortable So I'm just gonna bounce and it's all across the country think about even look at Caitlyn Jenner The darling of the left just a couple of years ago welcomed and paraded around like George decay Welcome to the community and then this week George comes out and says, you know that She is an embarrassment. Well, you know, this is this is horrible to treat people like this, you know Jenner has you're great when it comes down to Protecting women's sports and there are there there is nuance to this argument and and there's It's not as cut and dry as it was one might think at times But there are really hard cut and dry points to it and and allowing this um self identification to just allow mediocre males to dominate female sports is unacceptable as far as I'm concerned and Violation of the spirit of title nine. I'm sorry, but title nine was designed to Give women the female sex an equal opportunity in sports and allowing Males to self-identify as women and allowing the courts to interpret title nine to be not constrained by sex biologically but by self-determined gender that that perverts the whole point of title nine Well, and what better person to be able to judge the fairness of Something now I I don't I to confess. I don't know a ton about Caitlyn Jenner only I had never heard of her or Bruce Jenner until She transitioned I want to try to be respectful. I'm not sure I'm I might screw it up, but I'm gonna try to be respectful. So Bruce Jenner was an Olympic athlete So if there's anybody who understands What is required in athletics and physicality wouldn't it be an athlete an Olympic athlete? Like who better to determine the fairness than somebody who actually was Did the thing that we're talking about? Yeah Is that crazy of me? Oh my goodness. All right. We're getting all controversial right off the top Look at us. Oh my goodness. I can't help myself to your point to your point though Caitlyn Jenner was great as long as she was parroting the lines that they wanted her to pair it and as soon as she Shared that she had an opinion that was different. They threw her out and And that's what I'm talking about right? It's that Disposable it's the disposable, you know, oh, you're a free thinker. We can't have that buh-bye You know and I see that the I think I I think I might have told you the story about when I was running for office and Somebody said something about me being a racist or something and I and I and I quipped I made a joke You know smart smart mouth response. I said, oh well I guess I'll tell my black husband that he married a racist and the and the woman responded Well, he must have internalized the white supremacy if he's a conservative or you know, it's with you And I was like, oh, so what you're saying is my husband is dim-witted and Can't think for himself. Right, right. I don't know what's more racist than that, right? Expectations, you know, like and and low diminished capacities. It's it's so They don't even realize they're doing it Which is the really really astounding part of it because they are going out of their way To condemn you and you and you the viewer. They are going out of their way to condemn you and arrogantly Proclaiming these act your violations or sins, but while they're doing it They are espousing and confessing their own racist beliefs And they don't even realize you're doing it you're saying that you think black people are stupid and Incapable and and not able to overcome or take care of themselves And I don't understand how they don't know that what they're saying is racist Not able to go and get an ID to be able to vote. That seems to be one of the big Big talking points that the left has regarding the Georgia voting Voting the new voter bill. Yep. Yep, and I when you actually dive into it you see that The bill the new law actually allows for people who don't have a driver's license or a photo ID It allows for them to go in and get a Voter ID card for free free or free so for free So I mean it's it's astounding how they try to pervert every conversation into The old standby of your racist. Well, no You're just using that because you are incapable of having a decent fair Conversation on the subject of voting security and why shouldn't we be having a conversation about voting security? We did just have the last four years of everybody screaming about how Vladimir Putin was influencing the elections Well, oh my god, this is this is what it's so funny. This is what I love You four years ago. You were sure that it was a corruption and Election integrity and dog Trump Uses the system and cheated but this one it can't be that it was also rigged or right or anything else I'm just saying if you think that our elections are Vulnerable They're vulnerable every time they're vulnerable every single year mm-hmm and They were vulnerable this past election cycle. You heard it on the news. It was kind of buried but you heard about how North Korea and And Iran were trying to influence the election and in addition to Vladimir Putin in Russia and the all these standards the China and All these nations always try to influence elections and guess what? They learned it by watching us Well, oh my god, well, and that's the thing like if you believe That there is foreign interference and that people are trying to mess with our elections Wouldn't you want to have more safeguards in place? Not less you think so This is this is one of those dichotomies that I don't understand how they don't understand is I Want everyone to vote who's allowed to vote? I don't like I don't think that felons should get their right to vote taken away Some states do that Vermont doesn't but some states do that. I don't think that's fair I understand. I don't I don't think any rights should be taken away, but that's a whole other conversation. Well That's a whole other conversation, but I take back my comment I'll have to think about that a little bit heavier But in all seriousness like we want people to vote we want people to be we don't want anybody to feel disaffected but what better way to ensure that your voting population feels disaffected or Disconnected or you know, whatever then to not require IDs not require Like how else can I think that my vote doesn't matter if you let all of the college kids Who aren't even legal residents vote? Don't you want us to have faith in the elections don't you want there to be election integrity? Don't you want to know that if there was for an interference we'd be able to catch it? That doesn't mean less safeguards. It just doesn't and I find it astounding that it's 2021 and we're debating the efficacy of Signature matching as if a computer couldn't match a signature in less than 15 seconds All you really have to do is scan the ballot in and see if the signature Matches up with any one of you know Erica Reddick or Christopher Aaron Falker signatures that are on file and if it's Close then it passes and your ballot is is approved and accepted And if it doesn't it gets bounced back to a bounce back pile and you are then Contacted to see if you can come in and correct it remedy it. Yep exactly to say that that it's somehow There's no need for this and in the last week. I've been hearing this phrase a lot the Republican Voting security bills are all solutions in search of a problem Nonsense that's nonsense I don't even get that I don't wait well we hear it We hear it a lot when it's Tossed around towards the progressives in our state with that they are Presenting solutions to problems that don't really exist. Well, this is a problem that exists And while you might not be able to point to wide spread voter fraud that doesn't mean that an Individual can't fraudulently sign a mail-in ballot to somebody who lives in their house and then mail it in and just get Get away because they aren't creating widespread fraud. It's multiple cases of Minor fraud But that's a minor fraud add up Especially if you live in a small rural area like here where some elections are decided by 29 votes, you know Literally, what was it the mayoral race was won by 129 votes 129 and even the last election speaker Mitzi Johnson lost her seat by in the 20s or like 19 votes or something. That's right very very small margins here That's right, you know, they're these lie ballots that go out that are not getting signature match like they can present an issue, you know where Elections are decided by them. So it's almost like they have to figure out a way to twist everything we do Around as being racist just to discredit us and then they wonder why we're suspicious of them Like you can't argue with me on the merits of what I'm saying and the reasonable rational stuff you and I just Exchanged you say oh no, it's racist because black people are too stupid to get an ID like So you demean the people you supposedly care about in order to demean your political arrivals To get your desired outcome Well, you have to realize too that these people since you hear these same negative Snipe comments being thrown around They're almost Brainwashed talking points. They really can't back them up either. It's just screeching that's racist and Condemning you and then walking away now you're canceled because now they don't have to actually engage in the issues but it's indicative again of how of They believe they're one thing, but their actions are very much the opposite and and that's That's super cheap because you know, they get to feel superior But they don't have to put in any of the work or actually try and solve any problems that come up You know, we talk about wanting we talk about wanting everybody who's eligible to vote to be able to vote And not wanting to disenfranchise anybody, but then we go through and this past election cycle on town meeting day. We threw a ballot initiative approved rank choice voting for the second time in Burlington and That's already been repealed Don't have prior knowledge Burlington has had an experience with rank choice voting in the early 2000s that did not fare well and a mayoral election was decided by the rank choice voting manner instead of whoever had the plurality of votes and and There were negative consequences that came from some of those That election That Burlington was still trying to dig out of for quite some time and there are many volumes to this story And if you're interested, please look up But we won't we won't dive too deep into it now, but the truth is Because of Burlington's history in this subject UVM the University of Vermont right here in Burlington It came up with a study that was that discussed the problems and with rank choice voting and they specifically talked about there are a few paradoxes that come up that Are just like statistical anomalies that can really swing an election when rank choice voting is being utilized But it also talks about Here we go The Vermont Legislative Research Shop commissioned the report and it talked about how rank choice voting has serious challenges and on me to people with unequal amounts of knowledge understanding education ethnic and language groupings so all the groups of new Americans and people that we actually want to bring into The town square and extend voting rights to we are actually making it harder for them to vote By pushing rank choice voting They are less likely if you are if you are of a lower You don't have a higher higher education degree if English is your second language if you yeah These groups are not likely to rank votes they might vote once But they also talk about how the voting is intimidating and they don't really they're less likely to vote so What are we doing here? Like if you who's actually benefiting from the ranking of votes if Half the populace isn't ranking votes Are we just letting people have like a second kind of dip at the? a Second vote which in my yeah seems to kind of vote Right it really does it does it really does especially when others aren't able to participate fully because of either Poor messaging or education around it or just the fact that it is Ultimately kind of confusing to think that instead of voting for the candidate that you like the best that You should go in there with some kind of formula where you might have the person that you like the best the Ranked second and then the person that you kind of But the person that you really don't like the four You know, it's almost nauseating for me to have to try and figure that out right now Yeah, that is okay So what's what's really funny about how you mentioned that this actually disenfranchises the same people that our city council and our mayor supposedly want to enfranchise Is that a word enfranchise or disenfranchise is but whatever so That is the same as one of the other charter changes that proposals that passed the No cause evictions So what happens is I'm a landlord and I've got a and I've got a bad tenant Who maybe I haven't been able to catch breaking the law or they haven't I haven't been able to prove that they're breaking the law But maybe they're you know skirting up the line of sexually harassing the other tenants or just being an asshole Oops, I don't think I'm allowed to say that You said no cursing, but I'll let it slide. I know I so I told I have a trucker mouth. It's not good, but You know, you know, maybe they're harassing Maybe that person is a is an actual racist. Maybe they're a jerk Maybe they're harassing the other tenants in some way But it's like not quite to the level of being able to arrest them or have a cause eviction It's going to be in the lower income areas that this is going to have the most effect It's not gonna be your well-to-do well adjusted people it's going to be people who You know have less control over where they can live and That if if we believe that what you're saying is that the people who are the most vulnerable are black brown You know, I hate saying BIPOC not white people Well, then you're then you're putting not white people in a position to be vulnerable again precisely there Man when it comes to Burlington and housing there are so many so many layers to the problems and generational failures of how this city and this municipality has not Kept up or maintained responsible growth Burlington has for the last eight to nine years had a vacancy rate of approximately Two and a half percent that is dangerously low vacancy rates that are promote healthy a Healthy marketplace are somewhere around like six or seven percent Not so a low vacancy rate means less housing becomes available And it becomes harder for people to obtain that housing It also creates a spike in demand for it which increases the overall rental costs and And what has Burlington done to address this problem? Next to nothing They well, and that's not not only next to let me just say I just I just have to say this If Burlington is Systemically racist if Burlington is so racist Systemically racist and so trash Then it is the Democrats and progressives fault. Oh, absolutely. Oh, you're 100% right Chris Rock said in an interview you don't have to put up a sign that says no blacks allowed all you have to do is make the house is all out of their price range and That's exactly what they've done in this house in this city They've obstructed all responsible growth for two generations at least That has caused a a decrease in housing stock a rise and a Rise in their property values to something to a point that it is almost almost Ludicrous when you're looking at some of these clap shacks that are a hundred and fifty years old and they're asking for a $475,000 for them and you're thinking man that second floor slope ceiling is a nightmare You know, there's a remediation hellhole inside there someplace like what is and you and the soils contaminated? Well, and that's the same people have been in charge of this city for decades dams and progressives Dem pro grats as my friend Paul calls them have literally been in charge for decades and I Can't help but think I have a little conspiracy theory going on that those same people In charge are also friends with a lot of the big landowners and the and the developers and stuff like that They have a vested interest in making sure that their property value just goes like this They're the ones in charge and nobody has well If you realize that but the makeup of the Burlington electorate like there's a large percentage of Democrats and progressives who are homeowners here Obviously But they are they have no motivation to really act to make sure that we solve our housing crisis here Because by not acting by still opposing any kind of responsible growth that brings in new housing and new housing opportunities for families By saying no and not in my backyard and obstructing They're able to reap the benefits of that by the decreased housing supply Which creates a higher demand and their own housing prices go up and they love that but then when When reappraisal reassessment time comes around they they're freaking out about how their Houses are now a hundred thousand dollars more expensive than they Then they were before and they're gonna have to pay taxes on that Well, if you didn't obstruct all development for the last 15 years then That tax base would have been able to be spread around a little bit more your property values would not have elevated so much because guess what? Your house doesn't look that great to begin with so There's no reason why the all these homes are half a million dollars around here. They're like monopoly houses like their garbage It is wild to me. It is absolutely wild to me. I just go I I love seeing everybody freak out about the assessment ours doubled Yeah, ours doubled a lot of other people's have doubled and I'm like, why are you surprised? I Don't understand how you can be surprised. Yeah, but so I want you to talk a little bit about your The idea that you proposed at the GOP meeting last month. So So bringing it back home to the Republican Party here, okay, whether Burlington, Chinatowni State Party You had an awesome idea that you brought to the to the to the meeting that I think people should hear and that is I'm gonna get it wrong. So you got a fit. You got to correct me There people can turn their multi-family homes into condos Right, yes, I get that right. So like as an example I flex Mm-hmm, and I could turn it into three condos or Well, and I'm saying all this in theory. It depends on zoning and blah blah blah, but Okay, so tell everybody the pitch tell everybody the pitch you gave us the meeting So here we go. This brings us back to again ballot initiatives And so this past town meeting day in addition to what we were just talking about with Just cause eviction in Burlington that was a ballot initiative that was passed and that limits the landlord's ability to decide whether or not to renew a tenant's lease Essentially stripping the landlord of the right to to choose the lease to somebody else at any given time When the contract has ended it forces a landlord or requires them Once they've signed a lease with a tenant to extend that lease almost indefinitely until unless they are convicted of a crime or or Have a legitimate other causes for violating their lease. That makes it difficult But in addition to the just cause eviction Simultaneously Burlington also had the thermal energy systems charter change that came up Which requires landlords to change over Their heating systems in all their units From energy efficient natural gas to electric This might not be a big of a deal to others in the lower portion of the united states where you don't have such brutal winters as Vermont But we do have pretty brutal winters here in Vermont and electric heat just won't cut it It will literally at least triple our heating costs every year at least absolutely Absolutely without a doubt it will it it will cause a dramatic increase in the electricity use of individual tenants all throughout Burlington, but even and that means importantly Is the cost that the landlords are going to have to Absorb by having to switch all these systems over Well, that's the thing like what do you think when it costs like 10 grand for a new furnace and i've got to put three in Right Like so not only do you want me to absorb? Well, it probably well the ones bigger that's like 10 Or 12 and then maybe like eight or 10 and then the other one's got a little one So we're we're going to easily spend 20 25 grand on new furnaces And then i'm going to have to raise my rent to pay for that because we don't make 30 grand in a year in income To pay for it And so i'm going to have to pass that cost on to my tenants and then their electric bills are going to triple Making and that's just one layer because there are other tax increases that are coming that then also have to get passed along So now we're making it even less affordable to live in burlington and burlington already has a very high Rental cost we are about i think 80 above the national mean yep For a small town of about 45 000 people It's it's quite expensive to live here and and i understand there are selling points to The accessibility in burlington and how you don't necessarily need a car and there are those city selling points to burlington, but City council seems to have no problem spending property owners money and then coming around for a second round to tax them So Oh go ahead No, i was going to say it's they literally All i can imagine is that they just do not consider the second and third order effects of their decisions Oh, yeah, like like in all sincerity How do you expect It's like they think everyone is redstone apartments or something like that where they own like hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of rental units And maybe they make more money and they can afford it but most landlords in burlington are actually folks like my mom and i my husband and i co-own this property with my mom and You know, we wanted to have an asset in the family We want to make sure that you know She's taking care of in the future and that there is a place no matter what and like you guys are Literally taking away my ability to take care of my family because you think i've just got this pile of Scrooge mcduck money in my basement that you know when i feel like i go down and i start You know doing a back stroke through and it's just it's not true And i so it's like where do you get this idea from? and then Why don't you consider the like? Do you do you believe that it is my obligation to pay for my tenants to live in my house? Like is that what you believe you believe it is my duty and responsibility to pay For them To live in my house Why would i do that? I mean to be to be fair we do rent below market value because We think that market value here is out of control and it feels like highway robbery and it makes me feel guilty And and so as a result we rent to first responders We rent to nurses and people who live locally who? Provide a necessary service to the community. Well, I guess everybody's necessary, but you get what i'm saying I do I'm dead gress and chris. I interrupted you You're 100 right there are lots of issues with with renting in burlington and and burlington does have a a very high percentage of residents that are Renters and that again adds another layer of complication to the mix and it is an almost a completely unhealthy Number percentage of renters in the makeup of burlington and that number exists because of The fact that there are no No homes for sale in the burlington in the city of burlington in the entry level housing market You cannot you can truly not find anything for a family Under 350 thousand dollars in this town and if you do Find something listed for that that price There will be a bidding war and it will probably close for about 50 to 75 thousand dollars more than that so yep, uh, you're just forced and relegated to To um renting and that number is actually a really important number I don't want to skim by it because if we talk about 350 but The settled number is usually um around four Uh is what you're gonna end up selling that house for and that becomes very very problematic because A va guaranteed loan So we're talking about people who've served their country who honorably who have access to a va guaranteed loan That caps out at about 416 417 thousand dollars So we're talking about not even having a housing market that could sustain or be welcoming to You know our veterans How much even well and that's the thing is think about that if if the average house, what is the average house again? Here in burlington. Yeah Well, it depends upon the neighborhood If you're in my neighborhood in the old north end you're looking at old 150 year old Cottage or farmhouse style homes with slope ceilings 150 years old probably about 900 square feet at best, you know Uh Medium-sized master bedroom in two small closet bedrooms with maybe a downstairs bathroom, you know for about 420 That's what so you figure 420. That's like a that's like a four thousand dollar a month mortgage And that doesn't include your property taxes your homeowners insurance That doesn't include saving and setting anything aside for when your furnace dies or your Or your range dies or you need a new roof or whatever that's you have to be able to pay four To maybe like $5,500 a month just for your housing costs In order to buy a home in burlington And to rent it isn't even much better because if you're a family of three, you know, um Two parents and three children. So say you're looking to rent a four bedroom apartment or home in burlington. You're looking at spending $4,000 easily easily every every month. Uh, so Not only our house is too expensive to for veterans to purchase Our housing and rental supply of housing is too expensive for families to live here, which Only perpetuates the problem even more because then these These landlords still want that amount of money for these four or five bedroom homes that um are old Yep, and they end up Renting them to people but that forces them to go online to craigslist and facebook and Forces many people into these communal living situations which actually afford them less legal rights Then they would have if they had signed a lease contract or again If they owned their own property, which you don't have any greater housing security than owning your own property Which brings us back to the issue at hand Yes, much of these two ballot initiatives that burlington voted upon the just cause of fiction And the thermal energy solutions that puts landlords and property owners in a very unique and a very difficult position Where they are now being told that they have to continue to rent to people Step one step two. They're being told that they're going to have to upgrade and put thousands of dollars into these units that they are now Admittedly have less control over and that's just the first two steps You know that they have already been rumblings about quote rent control prices and price options. So What's in it for the landlords at this point? Uh, if they're smart about this they would seriously be re-evaluating Their business model and considering going a different route or pivoting slightly They already own the properties and they manage the properties simultaneously. So They have the ability to convert Many of these units from rental or they can pivot their business model from renting To condo or co-op model Where they sell the individual units Put them on the market enlist them and people can purchase one or two units tear down a wall the same way that you've they've done in other cities They could purchase these units and then One that the landlord gets this massive influx of money because they've just sold the property they've And then they can do whatever what they want with that. They can retire. They could do whatever But they could also just continue to maintain the properties charge a small hoa fee for collecting taxes and waste removal and Coming to make sure the roof is okay And it opens up the housing market in the entry level in the housing market in burlington all across the board because there are so many Rental units in this town. It's such a percentage of the housing stock Yep, there are city-wide regulations that are limiting to condo and condo conversion of rental units, but Those regulations are really only applicable to Units or buildings that have more than 10 units right across Right out the right out of the gate almost any restrictions and regulations on rental housing or rental stock Owner-occupied duplexes are automatically excluded. So that's why years ago you saw the great migration over to Airbnb because The landlords are just sick and tired of dealing with Some deadbeats that they had to deal with and they just decided to pull their Their extra units off the market and do it airbnb style. They figured they had more success doing that and I don't I don't blame them for that That you can make more money Yeah, you can make more money and less heartache and and you know You you have you don't give up control of your property You're not giving rights to somebody like People don't realize that in burlington, especially our tenants have more rights to our property than we do um and and I maybe that's hyperbolic, but if it is it's only like this much hyperbolic because To get a person who is not paying their rent out an eviction process takes Six months minimum usually maybe three months if it's not winter time and Somehow I don't know they're cooperative or something like that But every landlord I talked to says it takes about six months So that means I could have somebody living in my house for six months Not paying rent being a jerk wrecking stuff doing whatever and I have no recourse It doesn't matter if it puts me in harm's way. It doesn't matter if it puts me in financial harm's way It literally doesn't matter because I cannot remove people from my house and So I thought this idea like this is when I say Republicans when I said republicans have better ideas than Than the left. This is exactly what I'm talking about. So we could actually take existing units Convert them to condos and then create a whole new housing market for people who otherwise wouldn't be able to buy and live here Or yeah, you're absolutely right You're absolutely right and the big problem with Burlington in general is the fact that yes A solution that naturally comes up is people say well, we could build more homes. Well Yes, in theory we could and trust me I totally advocate for building new homes in burlington all the time The problem is the regulations in the state make it such that if you'd plan on trying to build something it could take 10 years to um To actually get it constructed and there's a lot of struggling and fighting in the courts Because of acts 250 and in the fact that anybody Almost anybody in this state can if they have 47 dollars they can go to the courthouse and they can file a claim to block your build so Yes, building new homes is an important part of this plan But at the same time we have to be realistic that it doesn't It doesn't solve the problem today and it most likely wouldn't solve the problem for almost 10 years So how do we create new housing opportunities for people in burlington and there are plenty of rental units in this town? um Putting these units on the market in addition It totally opens up the entry level market because we would flood the market with Almost 2200 units in the course of 18 months and that would be incredible to be able to do something like that, but it also builds wealth because nothing is going to um inspire wealth creation in in Starting families and new american families other than property ownership That is the greatest way to create and start wealth and grow wealth And then you Greater housing security than owning your own apartment or owning your own home So if if we can if we want to provide housing security for people then let's start Let's incentivize selling these units because another problem is winterizing, right? The city and the state they always talk about wanting to winterize rent rental units Well, there's really nothing in it for in the landlords for it, you know, because the tenant pays their heating costs On their own generally So going in and updating expensive windows would just be a cost that the landlord would have to absorb but if we sell these units and put them on the market then The people who live there are the homeowners and so if they want to put in new windows They can either bring it up at an hoa meeting or they could just order them and have them installed so you can actually achieve that goal of of Of energy efficiency much easier By spreading it around and and and building this wealth in the entry level market So now here's the obvious argument that Members of our city council would have I already I can already hear it Oh, but that's still you there because they're trying to make it so you can't do airbnb anymore Or they're significantly trying to curtail people's ability to have airbnb here So they would say Well, you're just that's still just taking rental units off the market And and we don't like that If burlington wants to if the city of burlington wants to house people I suggest the city of burlington build houses for people If they want to have apartments for people I suggest that they dig deep in their pockets or dig into their sofas for you know coins and and dollar bills and And build housing if you want public housing in burlington build it Build it. I don't know like public But if you want to protect our housing stock, which is something that the progressives talk about wanting to do all the time They want to protect the charm of these historic neighborhoods If you want people to reinvest in these old victorian little mac mansions that we've have up here The best way to do that is by having people take on the responsibility of home ownership inside of them Yep Yes, as opposed to right now Expensively to college kids that are are let's just be fair Hard on the on the building. You know, they're just hard on the thing. We're not allowed to um discriminate against college kids and yet they're more likely to wreck your stuff And They also are part of the the cause of the high cost of living So because we have all these wealthy people who send their kids to uvm Um, which at one point was the most expensive state university in the country I don't know if that's still the case, but I remember it was Like eight years ago or something like that I remember that was the case So you got all these wealthy people sending their little bratty rich kids up here to go to college And yes, I'm talking to you bratty college kids. I don't care if I'm offending you suck it up, but like And their parents will pay whatever the cost is You know, I I think john and I last week on the show we're talking about I said I knew a kid I knew people in college whose parents bought apartment buildings For them to go to college here And now they they lecture people others on privilege This is what I'm like right when somebody who owns an apartment building lecturers me or you on privilege. It's just like Come on. How do you say this stuff in a straight face sometimes? That's what I'm so like doesn't this seem like a better Like we want to encourage. Okay. Let me back up. I got too many things running through my brain right now So did you say there were 2200 units possible? Well, so It's important to think about it in different you have to break down the um the density of each ward essentially And look at what the housing stock is that's made up of in those neighborhoods And so if you are talking about Okay, so if you're talking about burlington The whole circle of the city, uh, there's a lot of diversity in in rental units. There are some some high rise 30 units or more but a lot of rental units in wards two and three the old north end area and parts of the south and those tend to be Homes that were converted. So you're talking about Or apartment buildings that have Six or seven or eight units and ultimately the city regulations say that if you have 10 units or less you could um You could convert over to a condo or co-op style of of building Okay, relatively relatively easily. There are some regulation based upon um tax parcels That i'm still trying to find some answers on but That would be more a domino effect issue. You'd have to Work out the timing on how you might have to go smaller very micro and how you start to Um convert units like you might have to start on the outsides and then start Inwards that way. Well unlike I'm thinking in in the new north end as an example Much of our neighborhood is low density residential Which means you're not supposed to have more than a duplex unless you get special permission from the city so Unless there was an apartment building In this area already. I I almost think it wouldn't even be an option here because the only duplexes are allowed God, I hate zoning. I hate zoning You have like clary point and do you have in the new north end you have places like clary point and other And other places that are larger apartment buildings though too, correct See, that's what i'm trying to understand So by hanna for as much there are those larger buildings that they definitely wouldn't qualify for a conversion because they exceed Because they're too big see that's what i'm trying to understand I know we're in a low density residential area But I don't know how you get special permission to have more than a duplex Like we're in court with the city We've been in court with the city for the last two and a half years Trying to keep our third unit that's existed since 1963 So I don't know how like I don't know who you got to be friends with I think you just made pockets I think you need to have deep enough pockets to be able to fight in court for 10 years to get it done and that's ultimately What it boils down to if you know what yeah, and you you know what chris Yes, ma'am If I hadn't been in court for the last two and a half years I would have spent that money Upgrading the insulation on our building like they want us to But it costs Over 10 000 and we spend all our money on attorney fees. So Excuse me. You can tell I'm very bitter I don't blame you. It's not full about it. But okay. So this is a really cool idea. So I want to take a minute. Okay. Hold on. I'm gonna take a break Unless unless there was some you wanted to say to finish up this topic. I don't want to cut you off Oh, no, I think that I think that this is a great opportunity for burlington because by By putting so many houses apartments on the market to purchase um It becomes equitable for people For diverse communities are all having access to it because what we have currently today are Nothing coming on the market. So that doesn't increase equity It doesn't build wealth in new communities. And but we also find which I find extremely troubling and worrisome are the amount of Homes that transfer without even a sign going the yard just private sales that get passed around left and right and you don't Yep, you know, that's not equitable. There's There's nothing that's You are correct. You're absolutely correct Okay, so we're gonna take a minute to thank our sponsor Parahelion design. So everybody check out my necklace. It's beautiful. I wish I could get closer. I need somebody here to do Focusing for me, but I love this piece. I think I highlighted this one on the parahelion Vt.com website a couple weeks ago because and I loved it and I said I need to model that one And I'm probably gonna keep it Sorry suckers, but maybe if you order it, this might be one she can make for you. Shannon. Is this A one of a kind design Or is this one that you would be able to make again all this all strands of pearls. It's so beautiful. Oh my god Okay, I'm gonna share the website with you guys Let's see here Love it. Love it. Love it. I love the work that shannon does. She's got a lot of amazing creations She does necklaces bracelets earrings and they all are very different and unique. 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Ooh, there's stuff going on Oh notice of a meeting Wait Oh wait, this is old. We got to update this chris Yes, ma'am. This is what we're working on right? Yes, this is what we're working on. Here's the facebook page So the big big thing going on right now In in the world. Oops. There we are. Look at that. Oh, that's so meta Not really, okay one of the big things that's going on right now is is The republican party. I don't want to say we're rebranding because that doesn't sound right But there is definitely a concerted effort right now by the party to Work on our platform To work on our messaging as I mentioned you're the communications chair So why don't you share with our viewers a little bit about What that process has been like? What you're looking forward to in the future and what kinds of things people can expect from the republican party in the next election cycle Okay So I think that it um I think that you're right to say that we are going through a slight rebranding And I don't think that there's anything really negative with that. I think that as responsible adults We have to constantly be self-evaluating where we are at and and and trying to always better ourselves and our messaging and I think that If that wants to be labeled as rebranding then so be it, but I call it growth. Um, yeah, and It's something that really should take place after every election, you know Parties should sit down and they should reevaluate What part of their messaging landed and resonated with voters? What demographics did you gain ground in and and are we listening to these demographics as to what their needs are? Um, that's what that's what yeah Well as as a candidate last year it really hit me At and I went to an event And it was actually for molly gray, but she invited all candidates to go and so I went And I was talking to a couple of young ladies who were uvm students And she said one of the gals said something to the effect of You know, well, what you know, oh all you republicans talk about is taxes and small businesses All you care about is taxes and small businesses. What's that got to do with me? And I just went Wow Well, it's amazing that they don't realize what taxes and small businesses actually mean to her Um, but at the same time she probably goes out and says shop local So this is like we're we are clearly not doing a good job of messaging to people Why we care about those things? Well, yeah, absolutely and It's probably uh, it was probably a renter who came up to you because if a property owner Knows why taxes are important a renter just thinks that their landlords being mean when their rent goes up They'd have no realization or understanding of the fact that that rent might have gone up because their school taxes or their property taxes went up or there was some Unfunded mandate where they have to retrofit all their thermal energy heating solutions for their building They have no They think that their landlords are like Scrooge McDuck and that they just have this That of money that they can draw upon to to essentially take care of these adult children That that mommy and daddy aren't paying for anymore or maybe they are paying for them still but they don't seem to understand Why small businesses are important? Apparently they don't understand How many businesses in america are small businesses and how they drive the economies? And they clearly don't understand how taxes impact their their own housing costs Well, and that's what when you see the disparity in states as an example I started my business when I was living in texas And a corporation an LLC in texas does not pay a dime Of income tax until an s corporation or a c-corp doesn't pay a dime of state tax Until they make 10 million dollars So they really set it up that they want people to start businesses Higher people and create things and they give you a very long runway to work with The barrier to entry is very low. There's not tons of regulations Do you don't have to have every certificate in the book? You like you don't have to have a If you're a hair braider, you don't have to have a barbers certificate You know that kind of a thing um And so so I think your point was really smart, which is at the end of an election cycle How did we do it's it's like, um, oh my god, why can't I think of the word? um Getting notes from your director after a show you sit down and you go, okay, what worked what didn't what did we miss? What do we need to improve? Did you ever think we're growing up like, you know after a week or a practice your coach would sit you down and talk to you About what you need to work on well these areas that we need to work on and messaging is something that every political party needs to work on uh because the way we're communicating with each other right now is Uh, it needs improvement I think that's the fairest way I can put it it needs improvement Stay the least So what so what's the gop got going on right now? What are you the most excited about that you've been working on or is coming down the the pipe? so Being a conservative in vermont is is a little difficult. I'm sure it's difficult for many people around this country but there is We're very fragmented here because of this our smaller numbers and so and our remote locations. So What I am truly excited about recently has been trying to bring us together um more More at a county level Which I think is really helpful because we tend to be small municipalities that are spread out and and made up of different demographics but I think that uh since vermont doesn't have Anything when it comes to county governance. I think that I think that it's something that we can draw upon as a way to try and unite our communities and provide some strength and numbers so uh here in jitman county We have our largest city is burlington and it is a democratic and progressive stronghold. We haven't had A republican in office since mr. Kurt right left city council and we haven't had a republican mayor in quite some time Uh that being said just 15 20 minutes outside of town. Um, we have other Other municipalities like milton and essyx that do have a more vibrant conservative republican Population and so We're trying to bring all these people together from milton colchester Essex shellburn burlington the three of three republicans that are in burlington. I'm just There are more than three of us But you know, we're trying to we're trying to come together and and incoming together We're we're bouncing ideas off each other. We're trying to be more efficient in our messaging And making sure that we're there to support each other so when When towns are having events or candidates that come up It is our goal to make sure that we can um amplify that messaging by bouncing it out into the county Making sure that that goes out through our social medias and that we can let other people in outside of that small town In the rest of the county know about them know about the event that we can support them. Hopefully they can Gained donors that way and we can build up messaging and amplifying conservative voices I'm really excited about that. We're also working on building a newsletter to again continue to amplify and Conservative voices and and put out a proper messaging between people because we've had a very fragmented messaging system here And it didn't have as much of the breadth of the reach that it should have had It's been driving me crazy chris with the the Facebook pages and the instagram and the website. I'm like, is there nobody who can you know, this was previously I was complaining about it Now that you know, I've been led in the club Uh, I'm asking like Why is it what is why have we not had social media? Why is the website not updated? Is there no one to do this? Like If if we don't Like the news is not going to cover us fairly, right? We already know this We already know that we're not going to get a fair shake from Wptz or vt digger or whatever So we need to really be putting out our own content Why do you have an idea of why that's been so lacking in the past? I don't necessarily I wouldn't want to speculate as to what was uh, what was were in the past There are many issues that can arise in vermin. Uh, the fragment in nature of the party is definitely Something to overcome. Uh, it was more prior to this year. We've had much more of like a confederation approach to things Where you know, this is going on in this town. So that's but it's not my town. So We're trying to overcome that Um, that obstacle and and bring people together that way When it comes to messaging, I think that there are There have been solid steps taken Uh to put out good conservative messaging. We have true north reports and guy page Vermont daily chronicle They are great sources and we hope to be promoting them more so on our county webpage also, which is Coming up this pat this week. We should be We there should be updates to the communications page on the county website. So when you get time, um after today if you're watching this on May 8th or after Feel free to stop by at www.cc GOP bt dot org Oh Correct Did I say that right? I don't know. I got it right man. I hope I got it right For the chitin and county website. I was looking at says chitin and county Wait, it says chitin and GOP. Is that so is it going to be something different? No, I thought of it man When we were looking at with ronald reagan on the front is chitin and county republican party. Oh, it's chitin and GOP So I bet I wonder if it's something different since this is all old stuff So, well, I guess this is the point, right? So this is the whole thing is we're doing a whole revamp We're given we're giving the GOP a facelift. Yes bringing it into the 21st century Um, yeah, look at look up. We'll look it up and we'll make sure to put a link in the website Um, we're trying to get control back of the burlington GOP facebook and website and stuff like that because that all you know I don't want to skip over the fact what you said about us being fractured because I posed this question Uh to my network recently and I said, why is it that conservatives are more committed to whatever their pet causes than working together as a group to get candidates elected, right? So Many like social conservatives and fiscal conservatives don't agree on things like abortion, right? But you need the same people to vote for you In reality and you need the same people to be willing to volunteer for you and donate to your campaign and if everyone instead of like Putting their foot, you know digging their feet in and be like, no I'm not going to be friends with you and I'm not going to support you because I don't like this one thing that you think like We need to come together and support one another And it's like it's like a big dysfunctional family, right? Like You've got you've got the trump republicans and then you've got the social, uh You know What is uh, you know people who are socially liberal and fiscally conservative and then you've got the libertarians And then you've got the anarcho capitalists. Well, I guess that's kind of different But still like even those people basically still need to vote conservative if they hope to have anything that they actually want not say i'm into anarchy and not but like I would just really love to see the republican party set aside their differences like I have members of my family that drive me absolutely insane Like I want to punch them out sometimes But that doesn't mean that I stop loving them. It doesn't mean that I stop caring about them I still want them to be successful and be happy and I want for us to have better communication And if us republicans can't get along How do we hope to affect change in vermont or in the country? I mean, I agree. I think that it really comes down to being able to put together A a good messaging campaign and I think that we have strong strategies. I think that we have Good beliefs and we have noble causes that we stick up for um When it comes down to it, it really has to do with with the messaging What we are saying and how we are putting it out there the ways with that we do this and the frequency that we do it The ways that we do this will Expand our the reach of our messaging because like you said before there are We aren't going to get positive coverage from the press here in vermont We aren't going to get positive coverage from seven days or vt digger or even if the free press were to even show up Which they don't cover local issues anymore. So You know, we have to be able to amplify our own media Which fortunately we have access to I am grateful for the media that is already in place and we should build upon that And we should amplify their messaging. Um, yeah There are plenty of independence and libertarians in this state that That we can pull in to our cause and and into our caucus if with proper messaging And I think that is the best way to go but I also think that I think that there are a lot of closeted conservatives in vermont um that don't vote Because they've really reached the point of of what what difference does my one republican vote make anymore? uh But if we get some good messaging out and some momentum out there then those closeted conservatives Especially if there's mail-in ballots coming to their house, they're more likely to vote and mail them in We saw in burlington this last election. We had thousands of ballots that went out only about half the electorate voted So whether that's a vote for the status quo or just a vote for malaise and ignorance that whichever it is like We can tap into that and we can motivate those thousands of of burlingtonians to come out and support Uh conservative candidates. Yep. That's right. We're gonna make sure that they realize that the republican party is not a dirty word You don't have to run as an independent We can get together and talk about issues from a conservative standpoint and we can come up with causes to fight for That's right. That is absolutely right. And I just think that there's so many things like so many perspectives that conservative minded people have to offer that would provide great opportunities and solutions to the problems that we're facing and And But it's like it's the you know, the hardest part is reaching out to those apathetic voters Or or non-voters the people who have said it just does like you said they just think it doesn't matter anymore And and I really I really want to encourage people just like you just did to come out And give the republican party a second look if you don't like what's happening to the police department If you don't like all these charter changes If you want to retain personal property rights If you don't want somebody to tell you that you have to get a vaccine and then carry around a little piece of paper If you believe in an election integrity if you believe in personal responsibility and hard work Sacrifice and community then you belong in the republican party And I know that that sounds crazy, but but We are the party of the working class We are the party of the 99 percent now We really really are because we want people to be able to take care of themselves and take care of their families and It is I don't think it is Uh too much of a stretch to say that at least in vermont and in burlington The progressives and democrats are the party of the wealthy elitists And they are committed to making sure that they get past whatever it is they want And and they will not suffer the consequences of their behavior because they're rich So they say that they're for poor people They say that they're for not white people and yet We see over and over again that the result is negative towards the same people that they say that they're for Oh, yeah, and so I just I love we see it all the time with the progressives and the democrats in in town the Especially the ones that love to grandstand. Um, yeah about housing costs But then they still they will fight or try to obstruct any kind of new development that takes place in this town They talk about wanting to reform the police and End over criminalization, but this past week the city council or last week the city council passed an ordinance that outlawed Um gas powered leaf blowers. So while we want to end over criminalization City council decides that they're going to send the cops to your house over a leaf blower um I don't know they seem to not recognize the complicity in in In overtaxing the police and putting them in situations where they don't need to be in any way Well, and it's like do they not know like you have to not know what's going on In the city to think it's a good idea We we are a small city of about 50 000 people that deals with sex trafficking drug trafficking illegal border Stuff including drugs and bad stuff. It's not just people coming to work on the farms Okay, there's human traffickers and sex traffickers, you know, there's I just really believe That if all of the people who just who just check the the box, right? They go into low information voters and i'm sorry if you're insulted I'm not sorry if you're insulted, but people who just go into the voting booth and go D d d p p p because well Because that's there for poor people there for people Republicans are racist like you are You don't understand Uh, if you're not actually looking at the policies and and then not just what the policy is But what the results of that policy are You're absolutely right and and a big problem is the fact that we as the party as the republican party in this town And in this county we have not been putting forward candidates So that narrative that that they believe about us only gets reinforced by the sheer fact that we aren't On the stage to deny it So we need to run candidates that come up and actually offer these perspectives Um as alternatives for them to vote for Otherwise all they otherwise we're leaving the all the cards on the table because we're just we've already given up Well, and I wrote something down that you said earlier before we went live about better ideas for government governance are i'm gonna say this wrong Basically, it's better to do governance at the local level and you come up with better ideas and better solutions and We've got We've got nobody for this is what's funny I keep getting called to join city committees and commissions because people know that i'm a republican And they want some some some people want diversity on their boards and i'm like, you know, there's more republicans in town But this is my point you get phone calls. I don't get phone calls. They don't call me asking me I have to hunt them down and be like, oh no, I hear there's a seat on this commission I will send them to you from now on and anybody else Here's the thing anybody else that's watching if you want to get involved You message me on facebook and I will connect you with the people who can appoint you Or that can help you through the application process because it literally is like Committees and commissions in burlington are what are making the governance decisions here So unelected officials that are appointed by their homeboys and their homegirls are who's deciding The policy and putting it forth to city council to vote on so you Actually have the power all of you watching right now Actually have the ability to apply for and make a difference You don't have to run for a state house representative You don't have to be a city counselor. You could be a school board member You could be a fire commissioner. You could be a charter change committee member And I understand there's a lot of reluctance in society, especially in today's cancel culture to not To be apprehensive about running for a big seat like House or senate or city council or or mayor and I understand the apprehension on that but that Almost doesn't even materialize when it comes to Running for or putting your name into submission for a commission seat because there's no there's no real campaign You know, you don't have the muds flinging. So I I strongly encourage any any conservatives in the area Especially here in burlington to please submit your names for any of the commissions and you can check them out on the city's website They they oftentimes have been listed. I believe there are two new two seats opening up on the police commission and I strongly encourage any conservative. I want I hope a conservative can land one of those seats Personally, I will be putting my name in for the submission. I hope that Erica, I hope I encourage you to do it also as many as many conservatives as want to Please reach out and try It will let send a message to city council that the republican party is no longer hibernating in this town Yep, and here's the stop being a chicken Every I can't stop being a chicken. Yeah, everybody that's out there like You think in your mind, right? And I know how this is. I know I know it may sound shocking Christopher That I Erica reddick at one point was too afraid to do stuff in politics because I didn't want to have my feelings hurt I It's there. They're real nasty. They I mean it's it's not schoolyard nonsense They say some things and they dig so deep that they will They can level you emotionally and you see that happen on a larger scale nationwide from coast to coast and it is I I recently understand but here's the thing and that but that's the thing see here's the thing I get it only this much Because the one thing that I know for sure Is that we will never be insignificant enough for them to leave us alone We will never be small enough to be treated with dignity and respect and by shrinking ourselves Hoping and praying that they'll leave us alone and no one will see me and no one will know Not only does it embolden the people that you're afraid of it makes bullies worse when you shrink from them But you're making it worse for your community members So you're also so not only are you a coward, but you're selfish And I'm not a lot of fairness from that. I mean it's really um, it's it's It cuts to it cuts deep, but it's the truth You have we all have to overcome that self doubt And and stand up Because our voices need to be heard and and there is a level of There's a level of vulnerability that you can take into place Like you you don't necessarily have to go all the way out, but stand up You can stand up and stand still if you'd like but stand up because it's time to do it. Um, it's yep there are if you're tired of Seeing the way that your city is being run if you if you think that Not everything's bad, but there are some ways that they could do better stand up And and and because you can offer a unifying voice where we talk about not necessarily everything that we do That's wrong or different But things that we have in common and build these bridges and we can reach out and actually solve a lot of the problems that are facing us Instead of manufacturing problems to grandstand around which But we're all left with when when we aren't even invited to the table anymore because we don't have anybody Anybody running and you know what we say if you're not at the table you're on the menu Oh Oh my goodness. All right. I think that's a good place to put a pin in this our conversation Christopher, I cannot believe it's already been 90 minutes. I know So fast it did go by pretty fast Oh my god, okay So before I let uh before we end the live stream Is there anything else? So give people some places Um, let's see what let's before we go let what meetings do we have planned? Coming up that people can attend Okay, so I believe that there is a burlington gop meeting scheduled for the 25th of Yes, so it's the fourth. It's the fourth Tuesday of each month Yes, ma'am. Right. That will be the 25th of of may 2021 at 6 30 Yes at st. Mark's Right on north. Yes, ma'am. That's what that st. Mark's school right behind the uh the church Okay, st. Mark's school on north avenue. So that's the burlington gop So if you're a burlington resident and you have a vested interest in burlington not sucking I shouldn't say it like that. But be Yep If you're If you're conservative in burlington or even an independent I encourage you to come to the burlington gop meetings and and offer offer, um All for your opinions. We're all there to listen Please please come And just said that last quote was strong. He was talking about you Yeah, not at the table. You're on the menu. That's really good Okay, so then when's the next county meeting? So Uh, I'm is everyone set right now. I'm not sure about the next county wide meeting I will tell you this that we do have Let me pull it up right now It's in my files We do have a Collection integrity event. Here we go. We do have chitin and county gop public policy forum Okay has an event scheduled for tuesday may the 18th. So if you are listening Be prepared there is a zoom or yes a virtual meeting Tuesday may 18th 2021 at 7 p.m The subject is the election integrity issues from a national and state perspective This is being offered by the chitin and county gop public policy forum in conjunction We are offering featuring josh finley the director of election integrity from the republican national committee And robert roper president of the ethan allen institute will be joining us to talk about election integrity issues So I strongly encourage all your viewers to contact uh ron lorence and we'll put his Put his email address up and And we'll also put this uh Erica, did you get this announcement the red white and blue one? No, let's go it off So I will send make sure that you get a copy of this in the next uh 15 minutes and then hopefully Put that on the uh in the comments or something for okay Yeah, I can put any links and emails in the comments after so, um Okay, i'm writing it down gop event. Okay, so we're gonna add that to the comments later And then it looks like the uh state gop is having their next meeting on June 26th At 10 a.m. And that you can find on the state website um Deion says he's in bennington. Okay, but you can still get involved in your area You can't save us here in burlington, but you can get involved in bennington Please do Yes, the more reach out to your county chair talk about ways that you can make your county in your town better So smart that is so good Yes, county chair town chair find somebody if you can't find somebody call me i'll find him for you I'll harass people until I find out where and uh now Christopher i'm gonna put you on the spot before we go Yes, ma'am Don't you have a show possibly that you're working on yourself? Oh, I knew we should have talked about this before Okay, so is that something is it still in the works? Are we still in the work? It is still in the works We are talking about uh creating Creating a weekly vermont news and review show Something that talks about that recaps what happened and what took place in vermont this past week We're thinking about putting it out on on like a friday so that way people can enjoy it over the weekends and we're talking about uh Interviewing local politicians amplifying their voices breaking down with the shenanigans of mom piliar Rating governor phil scott for the week and talking about different issues that are that are kind of plaguing our society today Especially when they come up So It's in the works. We're we're working on it. We're looking to do about a good half an hour every week and um And I think that there's a market for it. I think that even Even just the conservatives have a have a taste for this type of media and I think our haters will drink it up All right, well when that gets launched we're gonna tell you about it here on generally irritable because christopher erin is one of my New favorite people. Um, I just love the work that you're doing I love the energy that you bring to the party and to the meetings and your passion Is is so obvious and you Helped me have renewed help renewed hope in being part of the party here And so I just want to thank you for your service and thank you for coming on today to talk to people about what we got going on Thank you for having me erica and I appreciate it. Thank you for that tremendous compliment and it was because of you, ma'am Because of you that I decided to stand up So I appreciate everything that you do. We've had this conversation before I I tend to be generally irritable as well. And so I tend to have this connection with you So but it was you standing up and and your and your determination um That that caused me to have the courage to stand up So I'm hoping that the two of us together can um can inspire five others and maybe we can get a little uh We can get a little group going it'd be fantastic movement going. I love it. Oh my god. I'm gonna cry. Okay. I'm not gonna never margaret meet I never doubt Small groups of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world Oh my god Okay, there now we're putting a pin in it. Okay. Hold on with me one second christopher while I end the broadcast