Latest / The SEANC View / Iryna's Law, Mental Health, and a Heated Legislative Return

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Iryna's Law, Mental Health, and a Heated Legislative Return · The SEANC View

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Hello, everyone. Welcome to another edition of the Scenic View podcast.
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We have an exciting episode ahead.
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This is Jonathan Owens, communications director, joined by Artis Watkins,
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our executive director, and Sam Klein, our podcast producer.
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We also have our statewide officers in the room that will be introduced in a
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little bit. A little house.
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Yeah. Stay tuned.
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Music.
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All right. So the music has ended and that means the show begins.
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What's going on in the world, artists? I know the legislature came back this
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week. It's actually a lot of excitement over there from what I've understood.
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It was. I mean, it feels like they were there for a whole week.
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They were there for two days. Wow. But that was a jam-packed,
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emotionally charged two days.
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And there were a number of things that were thrown out there.
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Sunday night into Monday that we understood might be considered on the Senate side.
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At the end of the day, only a few of those things were considered by the Senate and the House.
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The biggest one would be Urena's law for Urena Zarutska, the young lady that
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was killed on the Charlotte transit system a few weeks ago.
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And that centered around a lot of criminal justice reforms.
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It was controversial in so much as there were a number of Democrats saying,
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we're not doing anything about the mental illness crisis, which kind of drove this scenario.
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We talked about this on this podcast, this offender.
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It was like he just clicked into gear.
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He was just kind of almost sleeping against the window, opens his eyes and immediately
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some brutal violence happens and he kills this young lady.
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And it was just so instantaneous. There was nothing, no interaction between
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them, that it was pretty clear what we all find out later.
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He was suffering from schizophrenia.
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He, you know, the story, as we're being told now, is he was very ill,
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and his family had reported it.
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The court filings show that it had been discussed in court. He,
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at one point in time, supposedly called the police while he was with the police
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because he wanted the material that was in his brain to be removed that was
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making him want to do bad things.
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So the Democrats took issue with what was missing in their mind in the bill.
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And I think for the Republicans, it was like, look, we feel like y'all are being
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too soft on crime because what we're wanting to do is make sure we,
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A, bring the death penalty back.
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We've talked about last week, there is no moratorium on the death penalty in
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terms of a statutory sense.
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But we stopped doing it a while back, mainly because the doctors didn't want
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to do it. They didn't want to participate because of the Hippocratic Oath.
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So one of the things that got bandied about in conversation was maybe bringing
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back things that are legal and that they do in other states.
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And one of those things is firing squads. Things just got very controversial
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from there on the Senate side.
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And then when it got to the House side, none of it was any less controversial.
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I do think where we're left with all of this is the thing we've been talking
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about since the beginning on this podcast because of what our members do.
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Our members are in the criminal justice system. They're in the mental health system.
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Some of them are in jobs where the two mix. state employees who work in this
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day in and day out and city and county who work in it day in day out,
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those are the folks that all elected officials need to be listening to.
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Nothing personal to the people running these agencies, but they're not doing the work.
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So what they need to do at the legislature, the governor's office,
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everywhere, is hear from these employees because what they have to tell you
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is sometimes shocking, but always eye-opening.
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It really kind of puts it in perspective, and it was very clear to me those
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voices would have been useful to absolutely everybody in the room in the last two days.
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One thing that did get left out this week was the budget again,
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right? No state budget. Yeah, that wasn't any shock to us.
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It's strange times, but there's so much going on that.
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I don't know. Maybe I should not. There's so many issues that the legislature
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is feeling pressure to address these issues.
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They're not coming together on a budget, though.
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And frankly, you know, an argument can be made until you can come together on
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a budget. at some of these issues, especially where criminal justice and mental
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health intersect, won't get better.
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I know, Emily, we talked earlier. We'll have to have you back for a whole other
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podcast because you have significant experience in this.
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And I will be here because it is a serious matter. So there was some talk of the pay raises, right?
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Okay, so there was one bill that was put out there,
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back the blue, which would have given some good raises to a number of folks
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in either sworn law enforcement positions or some what the legislature would
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kind of deem quasi-law enforcement.
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And like correctional personnel, correctional officers, any other correctional
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personnel are never included whenever it's sworn law enforcement officers.
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Some people in the public assume, well, somebody working in a prison is going
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to get everything that law enforcement gets. And that is not what happens.
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Some of the law enforcement benefits after work done by scenic,
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in the wake of the deaths at Pasqua Tank and Bertie, the murders of correctional
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personnel, some of those law enforcement benefits are now given to state employees, but not all.
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And one of the things we noticed in this Back the Blue bill was that the bonuses
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would only be given to sworn law enforcement officers and the correctional personnel
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were left out of that. As always, right.
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And some officers, actually sworn officers working through the Department of
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Insurance were also left out. Or it looked like they were left out.
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I think at the end of the day, the word is they would have been included, covered by the bill.
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But it was a confusing time with bills flying.
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But people are still waiting on the money.
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Bills flying everywhere and not a lot happening from them.
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Right. So speaking of not a lot happening, there's no update really on the Duke-Aetna
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fiasco, but Treasurer Briner did put out a video yesterday.
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Yeah, Treasurer Briner seems ticked. Yeah. Really angry. And he should,
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because we actually, you know, we don't know.
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That's our big beef. We don't know what we're paying these hospitals.
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We understand we're probably paying them way, way, way too much.
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Well, on social media, a former board member of the Health Plan Board of Trustees
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said, yeah, Duke's getting 350 or 400 percent.
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Using Medicare as a reference point. That's how much reimbursement they're getting,
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which would be twice what you need to make a profit.
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Not shocking, but I got to tell you, that explains a lot of the anger coming from Treasurer Briner.
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This would end up costing everybody in the system, not just people who go to
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Duke Health. If Duke Health was given whatever it is they're wanting,
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Treasurer Brunner made it clear it would raise everyone's costs in the plan.
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They would have to go and do another premium increase potentially next year for everybody.
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So I don't think Duke, you know, Duke's doing a massive PR blitz on this.
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But at the end of the day, this is a tough one to win when you're already getting paid sick money.
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Yeah. And I realized after I was listening back to last episode,
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and I think that we talk about those percentages without a little context for the listeners.
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So when we say like 195 percent of Medicare, so Medicare sets of rate that they
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reimburse providers, doctors, hospitals for certain services.
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And then on average, you said that the. It's just under 200% of Medicare on
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average that private insurance companies pay hospitals for the folks insured
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with their company to go to them.
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So that means twice as much as Medicare.
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Yeah. And if we're paying Duke that much, how much are we paying the rest of
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the big players in this scenario?
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A whole, whole lot. So when you say 400%, that's four times what the Medicare rate is.
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Yes. Now, we can assume that the Medicare rate would be low because that's a
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huge, obviously, it's up.
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Just under 200% supposedly of Medicare is where that sweet spot is,
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where you can operate a hospital efficiently, safely, but profitably.
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So as that board member said, that would be four times worth of Medicare rate.
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Now, we've seen, we've heard instances where there's up to nine times, right?
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Up to 900%. Somewhere between eight and nine times.
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More than enough, right? Okay, so, and you're ready for something else to complicate
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it, but this is a pretty big deal.
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So, the legislature's having to deal with the effects of the big, beautiful bill.
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And one of those is, we are a state that expanded Medicaid a couple of years ago.
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The way we expanded Medicaid, if more than 90% of the money didn't come from
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the feds, a trigger would be pulled.
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There's problems. We can't continue
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to do this unless the legislature is going to kick in extra money.
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So everybody's talking about a Medicaid rebase.
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And I've had members ask me, what does that even mean?
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Rebase is apparently nothing more than what does it cost to keep going, no changes.
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If your Medicaid system stayed exactly the same, do you have the money to do
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it, or would the legislature have to put in more?
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We're hundreds of millions shy, even after what the legislature already put in.
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So that leads to the question, where do you go to get hundreds of millions of dollars?
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And Secretary Sung-vai was interviewed this past week, and I heard the interview,
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and he confirmed something that had been a question in my mind.
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Are they going to ask providers?
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Are they going to ask hospitals for more? And he said, we'd have to.
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We'd have to ask to lower what we're paying them because we're not going to make it otherwise.
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Well, that made me wonder something that I'd already been wondering about the
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timing of Duke saying we need more money.
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Everybody's seen this coming. And for years, the state health plan has basically
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subsidized health care in this state for everybody. We paid too much to keep
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everybody else's rates down. Let's face facts.
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And so now we have this crisis where Medicaid is going to be saying,
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hey, providers, we need to give you less.
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It makes total sense to me. I'm not, you know, I can't say that's what's happening.
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I'm not in the boardroom at Duke, but it kind of looks like,
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hey, we'll hedge our bets.
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If we're going to have to give, you know, get less money from Medicaid.
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Let's make sure we get more from the state health plan. It's a question.
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Yeah. So once again, almost seemed like a piggy bank, right?
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Everything's always connected.
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Yeah. So state employees, you just need to be aware that it is really easy to
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use your plans and to use you.
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Really easy. It's the same way when the devastation of Hurricane Floyd happened in the late 90s.
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The state borrowed from reserves to deal with Hurricane Floyd recovery.
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Well, that's fine. But did the money ever go back? I guess because it's probably
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the safest pot of money for health care there is in the state, right? I mean.
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Well, it's the biggest single insurance provider. That the state controls, too.
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So this scrap between Aetna and Duke is going to continue to be looming over
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every single state employee.
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Again, not just the ones that are in the Duke network.
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However, state health plan says they're willing to jettison Duke out of the system.
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I like where your conspiracy brain is going there. though, because could this
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happen at other hospitals?
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Of course. I mean, here's, again,
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we've said this before, but it bears repeating. If I have a contract...
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Public money, taxpayer money, and I don't have to tell anybody what I'm getting
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paid, what are the chances I'm going to be satisfied with what you're already paying me? No.
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Exactly. Probably always going to want more. You can't feed that beast enough.
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Yeah. And these are nonprofit hospitals too, right? Some of them.
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Yeah. Treasurer Briner brought that up in his video.
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Well, he did say people would, if they had life-threatening illnesses,
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they would continue to be treated by Duke.
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The plan would still cover them. I think it's kind of hard for Duke to play
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this card, though, because there are other options in the triangle.
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Like there's Wake Med and UNC Health.
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But the fear of patients is huge, and especially if you are suffering from something
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terrible and your doctors happen to be at Duke.
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Well, that's why the treasurer pointed out, if you have a life-threatening illness,
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something like that, we're not going to ask you to break up your continuity of care.
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You will still be cared for within that system.
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It's for everything else that he says he's willing to say, no, you can't go to Duke now.
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Because if Duke doesn't want to play ball with a tenth of the commercial market, that's their choice.
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Yeah. What do you think about it, Sam? Any thoughts?
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My main thought is that I did see a question on our social media that was asking
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about the Dugat in a situation of those who choose not to use Duke as their health care.
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People are already frustrated of, wait, my premium is going to go up because
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of this, even though I don't even use Duke.
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Yeah, people lose allegiance to those facilities. No, she's saying,
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so I've seen that question, too.
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Like, I don't use Duke. Why should I care about this? Why would my premiums
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go out? Why should my premium have to go up?
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Because the system, if we decided to pay Duke 600 percent, that comes out of
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the general overall health care plan.
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And there's less to pay the bills with. And so the only way they have found
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that's the path of least political resistance is to put it on the members.
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So it absolutely would come back to every member.
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And I understood the irritation from that because I was thinking the same way.
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I was like, well, sure, I would be mad if I had to pay more because of this one.
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I think everyone should be mad just in general. I mean, because. Correct.
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And again, that's why we're number one most expensive in health care in the
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country. Well, I think it's a good time to go to our officer interviews.
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You'll see something happy. Yeah, we're excited to have them in the office,
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and we'll join you at the end for a little wrap-up.
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Hello, everyone. We have a special treat for you today. We have the incoming
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senior statewide officers joining us for a little discussion on the upcoming
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year. We have Wendell Power, our new president.
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Good evening, everybody. We have Emily Jones, our first vice president. Hello there.
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And Stacey Crabtree, our second vice president. Good afternoon.
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And Timothy Morgan, the thing about having a statewide office and a statewide
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membership is, you know, some folks live farther away than others.
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So Timothy Morgan is our new treasurer, and we're going to catch him in an upcoming
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episode. I think he's at work today.
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I think that'll be good, though, because he's the new kid on the block.
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All of y'all have already been officers.
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So a lot of people know you, know a little bit about you.
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Him being able to do his separately kind of puts a little spotlight on him.
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He'll like that. bet. He likes his ball like that. I'm looking forward to getting
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to know him. I hear good things from folks in my District 10. Yes.
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Yeah. So let's start right there. What made you guys want to move up?
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Let's start with Wendell.
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Basically, when I first started this journey six years ago, I really was intent
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on just making changes, helping the association right itself,
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put more energy into our membership, getting us motivated.
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And as second vice president and first vice president, I was able to see how
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things work and better get a better feel for what needs to happen to make those
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things a reality and to help our membership.
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So now that as president upcoming, I look forward to trying to,
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you know, do more things locally,
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get our people energetic and get our retirees back active in our districts and
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really make an impact across the state in all the state agencies.
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I think with a little bit of elbow grease and some positive energy,
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we're going to really move forward and make some great strides in the coming year.
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Wendell, you're a veteran of the Scenic View podcast. You've been on,
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I think this might be your fourth visit to us.
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But you bring up a good point there. It is a huge commitment just to get to the presidency, right?
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So you started at the second vice president.
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Yeah, you started at the second vice president's position. So that's six years in the making, right?
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Yep. Well, the first two years I ran, I lost to the current,
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well, our past president, Kirk Montgomery.
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So I had to wait for two years for his term to end. And so then I ran again.
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So, like I said, it's been a six-year journey, but I learned a lot.
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And I'm kind of glad that it went the way it went because I was able to get
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stronger in certain areas, learn things that I thought I knew,
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but I didn't know as well as I thought I did until I could work out the kinks.
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So now, very seasoned, and I just have a better, a firmer understanding on how things work and why.
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And Wendell, you work at the Harnett Correctional Institute. You're a captain there.
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How long have you worked for the state? I've worked for the state over 22 years.
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And you've been a Senate member about that long, right? Same, same.
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Let's go to Emily. You're up next. So, Emily, you were the first vice president.
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So you were second vice president last year. I was second vice president last year.
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Have you seen any step up in responsibilities for the move yet,
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or you haven't gotten into it that close? Well, I haven't quite gotten into
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it, but I feel like being the first vice president, I will have more responsibilities
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than being the second vice president.
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And even less as treasurer, because I started out as treasurer and that position
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requires time and energy and dedication, which all of them do.
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But as treasurer, you really you have a lot that you have to take care of.
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The staff is very good and being supportive of you in that role.
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So they made it very easy, but it is a lot of responsibility.
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But as first vice president, I believe that I would have to follow the footsteps
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of the president because I would
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have to step up in the case that he's not able to serve in a capacity.
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So I have to kind of pay closer attention to what is going on around me and
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shadow him so that whenever I have to step up to the plate, I'll be able to do that effectively.
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Yeah, that happens more than you think, though, too. Like you've had to step
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up and lead a convention, Wendell, and meetings. Things happen,
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you know, sometimes life is lifing
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or there might be a time that I'm on vacation. I'm like, hey, got it.
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Well, I guess that brings a good point up that you're volunteers too, right?
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This is not your full-time job. So, you know, people have lives.
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And Stacey, you also were treasurer. So, you know, the commitment that job takes.
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Now you're stepping into the second VP role.
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Is that a sigh of relief for you? Because I know the treasurer has to come up
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to the office every week, right? It's a lot of things to do.
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Yeah, it is time-consuming as far as a treasurer.
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But again, like Emily and Artis stated, you know, the staff are absolutely wonderful
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to work for, and they work around your schedule and meet you if you need to
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make adjustments in order to make sure all the bills are paid with that.
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So I'm looking forward to actually being more active as far as going out,
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meeting more people, being out visible, attending more events and stuff like that.
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As a treasurer, it's more so the background stuff, not really out there as much,
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but stepping into the second VP position, I'm really looking forward to that
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and learning more of the processes and things that we can do to help other state members.
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Artis, do you have any? Well, I'm just sitting here thinking,
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you know, there are so many people I talk to either in the legislature or,
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you know, that I meet through my work that are not aware that our members decide
20:56
everything about this organization.
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Starting at convention, when they vote on what our legislative platform is going
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to be, it's not that staff is in here deciding, this is the position we're going to take.
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And so I think that the commitment of these volunteer positions,
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a lot of people don't realize what a huge commitment it is until they understand
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members decide everything about this organization.
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So imagine being a volunteer leading the members.
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And answering to 46,000. And answering to 46,000 bosses and making sure the
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members feel like they are, in fact, leading the organization,
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that they're deciding what we're going to do.
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So as the ones elected as leaders of the organization, what do you want to see
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in the coming year or two, actually, because y'all have two-year terms?
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I think the biggest part I would love to see is just our members getting service
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and getting what they need as far as inside their agencies,
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getting information from CNIC to help them navigate the state better.
22:06
Health care is a big thing right now. People still want to know, are we getting a raise?
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They want to know what's going on with the legislature. So we want to give them
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the tools and information so that they can make informed decisions to better
22:17
themselves and understand what they need to do with or how to advocate for themselves
22:22
inside their agencies and within their voting districts.
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So I think that would be a huge thing for us.
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And that's something that we do now because we do have a Facebook page and there's
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always information there.
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We have the podcast that people can listen to that is updated weekly.
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There's a scoop that comes out weekly.
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But it's the member's responsibility to go to these places to make themselves
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educated about what Scenic does for them.
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Because sometimes we're in a field where people say, well, Scenic isn't doing
22:52
anything for me. Well, have you looked at the Facebook page? No.
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Or haven't heard of us at all. Or haven't heard at all. So it is about making
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sure people know who we are, what we do, and also making sure that our current
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members know that we are visible, but they have to come and seek us because we're seeking them.
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Yeah. Another thing is the morale.
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When we always talk about the morale being in workplaces, scenic in generally
23:16
is an association. If we can build the morale of our scenic members,
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hopefully that will spread into the actual work sites.
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Well, that leads to my question was, what are the big concerns that you're hearing
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from members, employees and retirees right now?
23:31
Usually pay is number one. Right. Pay is normally what I hear or lack of, lack of, lack of raises.
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They want to know when are we going to get a raise? What is the raise going to be?
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And we need some help in here, particularly in the prison systems.
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We're there often and we hear those complaints and about not being appreciated on the workplace. Yeah.
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And I'm sure that happens across the state and different agencies,
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DHHS, different facilities and institutions.
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So those are the main ones that we hear about pay and being appreciated and
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having additional staff and legislators not being aware of the needs that they
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have because they don't really pay attention to the people that are actually
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doing the work and the boots that are on the ground.
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Are you hearing a lot about the premium increases for the health plan as well?
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So I've heard a few people raise concerns about the fact that they are going
24:25
to be increasing that with the option or possibility of not receiving an adequate raise.
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So they feel that, and we've talked about it over the years,
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you know, the raises are not enough to adjust with the inflation just in the general economy.
24:41
So that's one thing that they are talking about. And then, of course,
24:44
with this whole Duke-Etna situation.
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Event where premiums may go up even higher, that can create a hardship on people,
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especially if it comes, you know, to increase that.
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Yeah. I think if people feel like they're falling farther and farther behind
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every year, another group that's very vocal on our social media is the retirees.
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You're a young retiree, if you will. You just retired a few years ago. I did in 2022.
25:07
But for some of our members, they've been retired 15 or 20 years and their checks
25:12
have not kept up with inflation at all. No, they have not.
25:16
It's tough out here because everything is going up. Yeah.
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But their pay is not going up. So a lot of folks are having to get jobs,
25:23
part-time jobs to make it.
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So we can all do all that we can do for retirees and for active state employees.
25:31
Also, I think that's a good platform for us to push to get our retirees more
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visible for them to understand.
25:37
We appreciate their sacrifice and all the stones that they built to make the
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state as great as it is, and we're now working off their fruits of their labor.
25:48
But we also have to understand you can't throw them to the wayside.
25:51
You know, the state made a promise that we were going to take care of you.
25:54
When you retire, we're going to make sure you're good, and they're not holding
25:58
up their end of the bargain.
25:59
So you also got to make sure that our people are taken care of.
26:02
If you had one thing you would want your presidency to be known for two years
26:09
from now, what would it be?
26:11
Ooh, that's a... I mean, that may be something you've not really been able to
26:15
think through yet, but is there something that in your heart you think,
26:19
this is what I want to concentrate on the most?
26:22
I think the biggest thing I want to concentrate on is just having unity,
26:27
bringing the entire association, all our different regions together,
26:32
everybody working, looking down, almost like a football game, looking down the field.
26:37
We have the same goals, and that's what we're fighting for.
26:41
Everybody's hand in hand or, you know, or shoulder to shoulder,
26:44
like this is what we're going to do.
26:46
And this is and we're going to fight for our association and our retirees.
26:52
And I think that's important because a lot of times we're not on the same page.
26:57
And there's no way that we can affect change if we're not all on the same page with the same focus.
27:03
Unity is in short supply in this whole country right now. So that's a big,
27:08
I think that's a great goal.
27:09
And I think it's something that we're going to have to work on on every aspect of public life.
27:14
Especially in advocacy groups like Scenic that are focused on,
27:18
you know, one segment of the population that.
27:22
We need to be cohesive. Well, and since members are the ones that decide everything,
27:26
our membership is so diverse. Yeah.
27:29
And our PAC, our Political Action Committee, represents that.
27:33
But it is very hard to have in this day and time where people are getting so
27:38
sequestered off from one another in little groups or political parties or whatever.
27:44
It is increasingly hard for groups that are very diverse to hold together around
27:49
whatever issue brought them together in the first place and not get lost in the political noise.
27:55
So it's funny you say, trying to bring everyone together.
27:58
I actually seen a Facebook post that talked about the left wing and the right
28:02
wing knew they were flying from the same bird.
28:04
And until they realized that, we won't make progress.
28:08
That's a great way to put it.
28:10
Yeah. Well, I think y'all are going to do great things. Yeah,
28:14
we're excited as a staff. That's the goal.
28:17
Well, I'm glad to have a great group with me as officers.
28:22
So I'm very excited. We have a great, we have a younger board.
28:27
We have some newer, we have some seasoned.
28:30
So I think it's going to be a good mixture. And I look forward to getting some
28:34
fresher ideas and building some new leadership within the organization to help
28:40
us move forward and actually do some things a little different than we've done in the past.
28:45
Yeah, I was building the web page for the new board coming in.
28:48
We have it on our website.
28:50
And there's a lot of faces on there that are younger and folks I didn't know.
28:54
So, yeah, it's exciting to see some younger folks get involved.
28:59
Some of us are just using our picture from years ago. There's this lady that
29:04
said executive director, but I was like, who's that?
29:10
With the brown hair. She looks 30. Who is that?
29:15
That's very nice, actually. We'll take that.
29:19
Through your curveball, but I kind of wanted to get what you're,
29:22
and I love that it was unity based on everything going on in the world,
29:24
but wanted to get out there what your vision was, your goal.
29:28
Is there anything else y'all want to talk about that the three of y'all together,
29:31
I mean, it's interesting that you all come out of the background you come out of, work-wise.
29:36
My biggest thing is, like I said, doing things regionally, start doing stuff
29:40
regionally again, bringing back some of the old school things we used to do
29:44
as far as how they lobbied, is how we work, you know, just work with each other. Well, okay.
29:50
And Emily, I know you're in the field a lot, and the two of y'all have been in the field as well.
29:54
And when we say in the field, for any listeners, what we mean is going to events
29:59
where we appreciate employees and talk to them about Scenic,
30:03
and sometimes they decide to join.
30:05
Sometimes they want to think about it. Sometimes they say no.
30:08
And sometimes they say, join what? You know, because they really have just never
30:12
heard of Scenic. The credit union. Right.
30:13
Oh, yeah, I need a loan. So we get all of that. But if you were talking to a
30:18
state employer, if there's one listening that's not a member but has happened upon this podcast,
30:24
what would you give them as your pitch as to why being a member of Scenic is
30:30
important to their life, to their work life, to their family's life?
30:35
What I normally tell people when I recruit other state employees,
30:39
the biggest thing Scenic does for you is gives you advocacy and visibility in
30:45
your workplace because Scenic actually stands up for you.
30:49
They fight for your pay, your benefits, your retirement, your safety,
30:54
your job, making sure your HR is, you know, you're covered.
30:58
And if you have issues, you can get things resolved fairly and without a whole lot of stress.
31:05
What if they tell you, I get that anyway, you're fighting for me whether I join you or not?
31:11
Well, hey, but you don't have a vote. You can't affect our policy.
31:15
And that's your biggest, your voice is your biggest power.
31:18
Being able to, I say, we have impact. You get to talk to the legislatures and
31:23
talk to your representatives and find out and hear from them what they're trying
31:28
to do. And you can make better decisions.
31:30
So that's your voice. And it's important. It's true.
31:34
What about you, Emily? What would you say to somebody if they're not a member
31:39
and they're thinking about it?
31:41
Well, if they're not a member, I ask them, why are they not a member?
31:44
And a lot of them have heard of Scenic. They've been to our events and they
31:48
said, well, I've thought about it, but I have enough going out of my check or I thought about it.
31:52
I meant to join last year, but I just haven't done it yet. So,
31:55
OK, well, now this year is your lucky year.
31:58
And so we're going to make that happen. Fill this application out.
32:00
But whenever they say, well, I'm going to get the same benefits,
32:04
whether I'm a member or not, I'll tell them, don't be a leech.
32:07
Get your own membership. Just stop pretty hard. Hey, stop mooching off of somebody else's $14.
32:14
Get your own membership because you need to have these good old insurances,
32:19
your dental and your vision and your homeowners, your life insurance,
32:22
pen insurance, all these good things that you could use as well as scenic cares.
32:26
If you are not a scenic member and you have an issue, you can't call the office
32:31
and gripe and complain and try to get help for your issue if you are not a scenic
32:36
member. To get it resolved.
32:37
To get it resolved. You can complain, but you may not harbor the support that
32:41
you want because you're not a Scenic member.
32:43
So we need for you to join so that we could advocate for you in the best way possible.
32:49
It's like our MERS say, our member relations reps.
32:52
Scenic membership almost, I mean, it does pay for itself. It does.
32:56
If you use your discounts correctly, it will pay for itself.
32:59
And if you use our insurances, it's surely going to pay for itself over and over again. So why not?
33:05
They say they're getting the same benefits either way. And it's like,
33:08
no, you're not. No, you're not. You don't get those insurance products.
33:10
That's a good point. Yeah.
33:11
Stacy, what do you say to them? So pretty much the same thing that Emily and
33:15
Wendell has discussed, you know, point out the benefits of us advocating.
33:20
And the more members that we have behind us, the stronger our voices.
33:24
And then also the insurances, because you do, you know, save a lot of money
33:28
with the different programs.
33:29
There's programs that Senate offers that the state does not offer.
33:33
And it will continue after retirement.
33:37
And members chose those programs, by the way, because they knew what was missing on the insurance board.
33:43
And the insurance board continues to seek out additional types of policies that
33:48
will benefit the members.
33:50
So having that voice, being able to say, hey, why don't you take a look at this?
33:54
Or can we look at getting this type of insurance?
33:56
The insurance board does a great job of researching that information and make
33:59
sure it's something that would benefit the members. So again,
34:02
insurance and, you know, having that collective voice goes a long way.
34:06
Well, I think we may need to stop there because I feel like we're going to have
34:10
all three of you on many times in the next two years. So we don't want to waste everything.
34:14
But no, we really appreciate you coming in.
34:17
There was one more thing I wanted to say, actually, before they go.
34:20
I'm sorry, John, I'm throwing you a curveball here. But all three of you,
34:23
as I'm sitting here looking at you and listening to you, all three of you happen
34:27
to have spent your professional career in jobs that put your life on the line.
34:32
And there's been a lot of talk about those type jobs here recently, particularly.
34:38
And I just want to say thank you because you were not in traditional law enforcement.
34:43
So you didn't always get. Well, I think maybe I failed to.
34:47
I did recognize Wendell working at the Correctional Office, I mean,
34:52
at the Correctional Institute.
34:53
But, Emily, tell us where you work. Well, I worked at Central Prison for 10
34:57
years, and then I worked for Wake County Probation and Parole for the last 18 years of my career.
35:02
And when I left, I was a mental health probation officer.
35:06
I mean, that was very rewarding for me. So mental health means a lot to me.
35:10
So I will end my portion of the podcast by saying mental health is real.
35:15
And if you are not okay, it's okay not to be okay. But make sure that you do something about that.
35:21
We're definitely going to have Emily back on our last two episodes.
35:25
It's so important and it's prevalent right now so much.
35:29
And Stacey, I know you work for a secret agency within this thing.
35:33
You're like a spy or something.
35:35
So I actually started my career working inside the institutions.
35:39
I spent 10 years in the institutions, went to prison administration,
35:43
and went to Special Operations Intelligence Unit for a while.
35:47
But recently, last November, I actually took a position in the Emergency Preparedness
35:51
section of Adult Corrections, which is a fairly new section. That's cool. Okay.
35:56
So you got out of the Special Forces, and now you're doing something else.
36:01
Sure. Don't you love the names we give to state agents or subsects of state
36:05
agencies? Hey, she should be your dad.
36:08
Yeah, I definitely have enjoyed my stint with the agency.
36:12
I've worked different roles, and it's really opened my eyes up on what actually
36:16
people do in these roles and how dangerous it can be at times,
36:20
but also how rewarding it can also be.
36:22
Great. Well, that's our leaders, y'all, people who literally have put their
36:26
lives on the line for the public. And now they're putting all their time on the line for you guys.
36:32
Exactly. Using up all their free time to work for Scenic. Every bit of it.
36:36
God would change it for the world. We do it because we love it.
36:39
That's right. Well, we look forward to working with you, and thanks for coming
36:42
in. Thanks for having us.
36:49
All right, so a great interview with our officers who have graciously stayed
36:54
in the room for the John's Wacky Weird Question of the Week. Play it.
36:58
John's wacky weird question of the week.
37:00
Music.
37:03
Awesome. And Emily knew the words before she... I didn't know those words.
37:07
Listen all the time. So the first day of fall was a couple days ago,
37:11
right? So we talked about it like a little premature.
37:14
I think two weeks ago we talked about when fall starts. And I don't know when
37:20
the clock sets back. Do you know anyone?
37:22
I think that's like in November, right? I don't know.
37:25
I thought it was near October. Okay. Well, we have that to look forward to another hour of sleep, right?
37:32
But my question this week is, what is your favorite thing about fall? Just very simple.
37:38
Wendell said he had a good starter for us.
37:42
Well, basically, my favorite thing about fall is hat and coat weather.
37:48
I love hats, coats, and scarves.
37:50
There's nothing like coming out of the house with a big coat on,
37:54
got your scarf, got your boots, ready for the streets. You're like the great Gatsby.
37:59
You do have some good hats. I've seen them at the board meetings.
38:02
Very fashionable. I never have been able to pull off a hat. I mean,
38:06
like a baseball hat, maybe. but like those nice fancy hats.
38:10
You just got to go get fitted. I think I need to work with you.
38:14
And just try different ones to find your style. I think I need to learn from Wendell.
38:17
He's so awesomely dressed and he's always nice and he's got opinions.
38:24
Take him under your wing, Wendell. Yeah, I'm hanging out with the president.
38:27
I'll introduce him to a tailor. Look at him in those khaki shorts and whatnot.
38:31
Yeah, I'm like, I can just play golf.
38:34
So, yeah, I got to get my game tight with Wendell here. What about you,
38:38
Artis? We'll go to you next.
38:40
Well, you know, I love the fair. So I'll go with the fair. Oh,
38:42
yeah. I'll go with the fair. Definitely the fair. But I also just like the smell of the air generally.
38:46
Yeah. It's a different smell. Mm-hmm. It's earthy, but it's good.
38:51
Yeah. We haven't had any fall days yet, though.
38:54
It's been like 90 degrees outside. I think there were a couple that were.
38:58
They were premature, though, right? Yeah. In the mornings, it's a little nippy.
39:03
Yeah. And it heats up during the day. Is that yours? What's yours,
39:06
Emily? No, I think I'm going to take a page out of my grandmother's book.
39:10
I love to go out west in the fall to see the colors of the leaves.
39:14
Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's pretty.
39:16
Yeah, we went to Hickory this weekend, and you could already see a little color.
39:20
You're kidding. Yeah. Wow.
39:22
Just my wife made mention of it. Maybe that's because we don't live close to
39:26
the mountains. So when we see a little color, we're like, oh, it's happening.
39:30
What about you, Stacey? So I like the smell of a nice crisp fire in the fireplace.
39:35
Waking up to that in the fall. That's a great sense. When you said smell,
39:38
I thought you were going to say pumpkin spice.
39:42
I'll pass on the pumpkin spice. So Sam said to wait till the end for her.
39:48
Are you ready or do you want me to go? I guess I'll go. Okay.
39:50
Well, it's homecoming season, and I was blessed with a very gorgeous school
39:55
to go see in the fall, Western Carolina University.
39:58
And so I love going up there during homecoming. Did you go to Western?
40:02
Oh, well, you're in luck, Sam.
40:05
Because next week we are going to Western Carolina. All right,
40:09
Western Carolina, we're coming. The UNC System Golf Tournament is up there this year.
40:13
Was it Waynesville? Is that where it's going to be? Waynesville, yeah.
40:16
And then we're going to interview the chancellor at Western Carolina.
40:20
Yes, because Western Carolina has earned an elite distinction,
40:25
and we're going to be talking about that next week.
40:27
So get excited about that. I'll have to talk to you about what to wear up there.
40:32
I don't know if I have any purple.
40:33
Is that your colors? Yes, purple and gold. Okay. Purple and gold.
40:37
Can I wear an East Carolina shirt up there? No. I would think not.
40:41
It's purple, though. No. You cannot go up there. You fire it. The theme's wrong.
40:46
Speaking of purple, speaking of East Carolina, I guess mine would be football.
40:50
Specifically fantasy football. And I am three weeks deep in my fantasy football,
40:55
not been going so great this year.
40:57
I've had some struggles, but we're going to make some trades and we're going
41:01
to make it happen this year because I'm bringing home the truth.
41:03
So your favorite thing about fall, which is arguably in North Carolina,
41:07
the most beautiful outdoor time of year is being indoors on the computer.
41:14
Exactly. I mean, that's like one of my favorite things, period.
41:18
It's like looking out the window at the fall yeah right i mean i watch the games
41:22
the games are outdoors that's close enough wow well great episode this week
41:28
thanks everyone for joining us and uh look forward to catamount episode next week right thank you.
41:37
Music.