Latest / Between the Headlines: Columbus / 5G in Burns Bottom? Debate Shakeup, and Golden Triangle Theatre

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5G in Burns Bottom? Debate Shakeup, and Golden Triangle Theatre · Between the Headlines: Columbus

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: From the opinion page of the Commercial Dispatch.
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: This is Between the Headlines.
• 0:13
  Speaker 3: This is Peter Imes, publisher of the Dispatch.
• 0:16
  Speaker 3: One of our hosts of Between the Headlines is the managing editor of our newsroom.
• 0:21
  Speaker 3: Typically we try to keep news and opinion separate, but reporters have a unique insight into the workings of local government and their analysis can be helpful for readers and listeners.
• 0:32
  Speaker 3: The dispatch remains committed to journalistic integrity and our reporting will always reflect that.
• 0:38
  Speaker 3: And now between the headlines.
• 0:42
  Speaker 4: The 5G Tower of Terror.
• 0:44
  Speaker 4: Between the headlines, the 5G Tower of Terror.
• 0:49
  Speaker 4: Councilman Jones spurns his fellow Democrats, leading into the big Democrat debate, and special guest Mr Garrett Torbert is here to tell us why the City Council has chained up the amphitheater with Rottweilers and signs saying no port potties allowed.
• 1:03
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• 2:20
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• 2:23
  Speaker 4: And now a message from political candidate.
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: Bill Strauss.
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: I want to thank the Commercial Dispatch for this podcast, bringing different views in an open discussion.
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: I'm Bill Strauss, humbly asking for your vote as next mayor of Columbus.
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: You deserve transparency and accountability for your tax dollars.
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: I'm business friendly and charitable.
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: Vote Bill Strauss Mayor of Columbus 2025.
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: Paid for by campaign to elect Bill Strauss.
• 2:52
  Speaker 4: And now a message from political candidate Jason Spears.
• 2:56
  Speaker 5: I am Jason Spears, candidate for City Council, ward 6.
• 2:58
  Speaker 5: Over the past 20 years, I faithfully and effectively served our community in many different ways.
• 3:03
  Speaker 5: If elected, I will bring structure and strategy to the city's finances.
• 3:18
  Speaker 5: Thanks for joining us today and, on April 1st, vote Jason Spears for Ward 6.
• 3:22
  Speaker 5: Paid for by the campaign to elect Jason Spears.
• 3:27
  Speaker 4: Thanks for joining us today.
• 3:28
  Speaker 4: You are listening to Between the Headlines hosted by the ever-diligent managing editor of the Commercial Dispatch, mr Zach Player, and I am, david Chisholm.
• 3:38
  Speaker 4: First topic for today 5G power.
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: Oh, the 5G tower.
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: First of of all, thank you for your very kind words, uh, coming in here.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: So let let's look at this tower real quick, very brief background.
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: The uh at&t wanted to build a 5g tower on uh county property.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: They leased the land from more from the county uh at more creek.
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: It met all of the city's zoning requirements.
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: That's why they chose that one and not some other ones.
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: It goes to the Planning Commission twice and is denied aesthetics being one of the main reasons and it goes before the city council.
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: City council is split and it comes to Mayor Keith Gaskin to cast the tie-breaking vote to deny letting them build that there on the basis that they have other options, even though the company has presented several times that there are no options that will fit their capacity needs.
• 4:42
  Speaker 4: This is the best option or the only option that will do what they're trying to do so, long story short, at the end of the day, voting aye for the tower was Stewart Mickens and Jones, and voting nay for the tower was Beard Green, decicco and Mayor Gaskin, on top of the Planning Commission.
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: The planning commission, twice voting no.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: So what do you think, David?
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: You like the vote or you like the tower?
• 5:10
  Speaker 4: Well, I think, first off, the city needs to delegate more.
• 5:13
  Speaker 4: If you look at this, the city officials appoint people to these boards, and if you appoint good people, you will continually have good results.
• 5:23
  Speaker 4: And I'm just thinking, if you're going to pull your rug out from underneath the people that you've appointed, why even have a commission?
• 5:31
  Speaker 4: So that's the first thing that comes to mind.
• 5:34
  Speaker 4: Secondly, aesthetics matter.
• 5:38
  Speaker 4: Okay, I think that I think the representative from the mag dispensary is actually right here.
• 5:45
  Speaker 4: You look at burns bottom.
• 5:48
  Speaker 4: The place looks like nagasaki right now.
• 5:51
  Speaker 4: It's got to be cleaned up, we got to do something.
• 5:54
  Speaker 4: But I mean, if you are a fan of looking at utilities, that proposed spot is the absolute perfect location.
• 6:05
  Speaker 4: I mean, think about it.
• 6:06
  Speaker 4: As soon as you cross the terry brown bridge, you're going to immediately see this gigantic phallic object protruding 155 feet into the air with a strobing light on top of it.
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: Okay, I mean, are you going to see it, david?
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: Because I want to ask you a question, and it's a question that I've asked a whole lot of other people and I sound like Tripp Hurston when I say it, but it's a real question because I can't answer it for myself When's the last time you saw a cell phone tower?
• 6:40
  Speaker 4: Well being the neurodivergent person that I am, I see them all the time well, in my backyard, one of you I.
• 6:48
  Speaker 4: I went through a lot of trouble to bury my utilities.
• 6:52
  Speaker 4: Okay, I just don't like looking at wires.
• 6:55
  Speaker 4: This weekend, I stayed at a hotel using that cell phone though well, I do, but I mean you want it to work, right, there's other places to put this thing.
• 7:04
  Speaker 4: I mean, this is dead center, it's right there, but I mean, who are we to say that?
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: Because AT&T came on their own and said there are no better options.
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: This meets the zoning, this is the best place for us to do what we can do.
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: So I think the request was made in good faith there and I don't think that the city for the city council, even the ones who voted against it, think that it was necessarily in bad faith.
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: Maybe it says more about me than anything else, but I don't know the cell phone towers.
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: I drive by them all the time and I don't know they're there.
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: And this may be harsh, but miss me with the aesthetics argument.
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: I don't know how you can find a cell tower so aesthetically offensive.
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: It would devalue the property of those places.
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: It would devalue Burns Bottom and the development that they're wanting to put there.
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: Those were the arguments that were put before the council.
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: Those were the things that the planning commission made their decision based on.
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: Miss me with that, because if you sit on one of those soccer fields and look to your east, burns Bottom looks like a place where you could right now find a blind Denzel Washington walking through there carrying a Bible.
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: I mean, that is to say, it looks post-apocalyptic over there right now and nobody seems to care.
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: That project is the same age as the amphitheater project and nobody seems to care.
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: That project is the same age as the amphitheater project and nobody talks about it.
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: I know that there's a developer interested.
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: They were supposed to be doing environmental and they were supposed to complete that last summer, according to our reporting.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: Well, they've blown that deadline and since then all we're getting from CRA is the Columbus Redevelopment Authority, which owns Burns Bottom, is trying to get a developer to come in there.
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: All we're getting from them is well, we're still doing environmental.
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: We'll let you know.
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: And that seems to be good enough for the people who are using the soccer complex now that are looking at Burns Bottom, but the cell phone tower is a bridge too far them, but the cell phone tower is a bridge too far.
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: Meanwhile, let me stay on my CRA soapbox.
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: They have $8.4 million of public money and it still looks like it looks.
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: Are they trying?
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: Yes, but where's the transparency?
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: Where's the update on the timeline?
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: Where's the good faith in trying to develop public confidence in this isn't going to look like Nagasaki very soon.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: I don't want to be too harsh here, but I think it's very interesting that the Pitchfork and Torch Brigade is standing in front of Moore Creek trying to keep that tower from happening, when if you put that same tower in the middle of what Burns Bottom looks like right now, just right in the middle of that spot, it would improve the aesthetics of Burns Bottom today.
• 9:51
  Speaker 4: Well, that's a hot take, but the key word is today.
• 9:54
  Speaker 4: Okay, they're thinking about the future.
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: And I acknowledge that they're thinking about long term, I mean.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: And I believe they're going to get that.
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: I want to be on the record saying I believe they're going to get it done.
• 10:06
  Speaker 4: Well, I'll close with this.
• 10:07
  Speaker 4: I think that AT&T is a very skilled and strategic company.
• 10:12
  Speaker 4: They can find another spot.
• 10:14
  Speaker 4: They're in it for the money.
• 10:16
  Speaker 4: They're going to put it in as cheap of a spot as they can find.
• 10:19
  Speaker 4: You know, at the end of the day, C Spire is down there like Nelson looking at this, Ha ha.
• 10:26
  Speaker 4: And I mean we're going to get our cell phone coverage.
• 10:30
  Speaker 4: They could put it on Court Square Tower.
• 10:32
  Speaker 4: Ok, that's a place.
• 10:34
  Speaker 4: I still think they could put it on the water tower.
• 10:36
  Speaker 4: I just don't buy into it.
• 10:38
  Speaker 4: This is where it's got to be.
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: All right, so going on to our second topic, the great Democratic debate debacle.
• 10:46
  Speaker 4: Well, we now have independents by the name of Darren Leach and Bill Strauss being able to participate in a.
• 10:55
  Speaker 4: Democrat forum.
• 10:56
  Speaker 4: How does that happen, Zach?
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: Well, let's quickly recap where we are here.
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: The Democratic Party, the Lowndes County Democratic Party, wanted to have a mayoral debate with their Democratic candidates that's going to be Supervisor Leroy Brooks and Councilman Stephen Jones, who are seeking the Democratic nomination for Columbus mayor this time around.
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: Full disclosure.
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: I'm one of the three moderators, joey Barnes from WCBI is one, as is Tanya Carter from WTVA.
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: So we agreed to do that in late January and here we find out that in the middle of February, stephen Jones has just now been invited.
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: He takes umbrage at that, at the timing of it and maybe some other things.
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: He and Democratic Chairman Kabir Karim get into it on Facebook and pretty soon you've got Stephen Jones announcing he will not be attending.
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: And so to preserve the debate aspect of this to where this doesn't become a Leroy Brooks one-man town hall, they invited the independent candidates.
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: My understanding is that Bill Strauss will be there and Darren Leach has a prior commitment and will hall.
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: They invited the independent candidates.
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: My understanding is that Bill Strauss will be there and Darren Leach has a prior commitment and will not.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: So this has gone from being a debate between Leroy and Stephen to a debate between Leroy and Bill Strauss.
• 12:17
  Speaker 4: I want to highlight what a big deal that is, because when we, the Republicans, did our debate for the supervisor candidates, per our bylaws, we were not allowed for an independent candidate to have a voice at our forum.
• 12:35
  Speaker 4: I mean, it's just in the books.
• 12:37
  Speaker 4: We couldn't do it, which was really awkward for me because Chris Moore, a great guy, lives two doors down from me and I had to tell him well, Chris, I'm sorry, but you ran as an independent, Therefore you cannot be a part of this candidate debate, and so I think it's quite striking what has happened here to have these guys, I mean.
• 13:02
  Speaker 4: I'm glad because I want to hear not just Leroy, I want to hear really all four of them.
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: quite frankly For me, you know, I like the fact that they opened it up.
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: I think they should have opened it.
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: I think that a debate for local office should include all of the candidates for that race the race that you're highlighting regardless of party.
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: I think that party politics on the local level is a silly thing to begin with, but, you know, kudos to them.
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: I do think that there's probably some argument that they might could have been a little more diligent in making sure Stephen was available, but kudos to them for responding to that by saying it's important that we have a debate.
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: My question for you, David, is these guys got into it?
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: On Facebook, Leroy Brooks has a video of his own talking about the debate, challenging Stephen to come face me.
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: Stephen has.
• 13:52
  Speaker 4: In order to be an effective leader, you have to be able to effectively communicate with people across the aisle and he's not even effectively communicating with those in his own party.
• 14:17
  Speaker 4: So there's that I'm looking at this.
• 14:19
  Speaker 4: He wants to be the Democrat nominee and yet he picks this fight with the party leader and if he thinks that he can run the city of Columbus, thinks he needs to do and show the people of Columbus that I have the time to do this, that I have the skills to bring this city together.
• 14:55
  Speaker 4: And, by the way, I still like you, stephen.
• 14:57
  Speaker 4: Let's go eat at Helen's after this.
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: Well, you know, I don't really like the gamesmanship that's happening here.
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: I think that if he can get there, he should get there.
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: I've called Stephen and told him that myself.
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: Full disclosure.
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: Did you watch Leroy's?
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: video.
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: I watched both of them and I thought that, quite honestly, Leroy got the mic.
• 15:19
  Speaker 4: Drop on that one.
• 15:20
  Speaker 4: Listen, I'm just a fan of debates.
• 15:23
  Speaker 4: I think it's an American thing.
• 15:24
  Speaker 4: I don't like it when people skip debates.
• 15:26
  Speaker 4: I didn't like it when people skip debates.
• 15:27
  Speaker 4: I didn't like it when Trump skipped the debate, and so the same situation here.
• 15:31
  Speaker 4: Let the people hear from you Let the people hear from you and, for heaven's sakes, let's talk about issues instead of each other.
• 15:38
  Speaker 4: Okay, the following interview was recorded earlier today and it has been truncated for length and clarity's sake.
• 15:46
  Speaker 4: Mr Garrett Torbert, here we go.
• 15:48
  Speaker 4: Welcome to the show.
• 15:50
  Speaker 6: Thank you so much for having me.
• 15:52
  Speaker 4: And welcome as a guinea pig.
• 15:53
  Speaker 4: You are our very first how does it feel.
• 15:56
  Speaker 6: Well, I'm honored, that's for sure.
• 15:58
  Speaker 6: Thank you so much.
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: Well, we want to talk to you a little bit, just kind of open the floor to you to start with the history of your organization, what it does, kind of what y'all's mission is so we formed in June of 2021.
• 16:12
  Speaker 6: I had acquired a group of private students in piano and voice and had some parents reach out about theater and that's my creative outlet and I really was missing that during that time and had ended up getting something going that summer into the fall in August with middle school students and high school students.
• 16:35
  Speaker 6: So we started with about 15 kids and then moved to about 55 who had formally registered that spring.
• 16:41
  Speaker 6: And so ever since we've sort of just really been growing and building a community for our children to be able to have a place to go Roughly.
• 16:49
  Speaker 6: Right now we have two productions going on the Lightning Thief, which is for our younger kids, and then next month we'll have the Hunchback of Notre Dame, which features our community members Anyway.
• 17:00
  Speaker 6: So yeah, we're a pretty big organization and have exploded in the past few years and so hopefully just onward and upward from here.
• 17:08
  Speaker 4: Well, I just want to say that my daughter was privileged to make it to your production of Frozen, oh, and it was the absolute time of her life.
• 17:16
  Speaker 4: She got to go backstage and got to be with the princesses and she would not shut up about that for the period of about three weeks.
• 17:24
  Speaker 4: So I love the arts, I love theater.
• 17:27
  Speaker 4: I'm glad you're doing what you're doing.
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: Thank you.
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: Well, so how important is it for especially communities this size to have access to not just going to shows?
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: And being exposed to it as a spectator, but having the opportunity to participate.
• 17:43
  Speaker 6: I think it's incredibly important because it for one.
• 17:44
  Speaker 6: I think it's incredibly important because it for one having that opportunity to just do so.
• 17:48
  Speaker 6: But more importantly on a bigger scale is just being able to create that environment for those who may not want to do sports.
• 17:57
  Speaker 6: I think it makes our community a more diverse community.
• 18:02
  Speaker 6: It makes our children more well-rounded, provides them with a more holistic education, and I think one of the major things that I try and focus on when I'm talking to parents how can we make it accommodating for them is really focusing on soft skill building.
• 18:20
  Speaker 6: You know, I don't expect every student that we have come through go off and want to be the next you know, johnny Dapp or whatever, but being able to go and have communication with somebody, whether it's going giving a speech or something to that effect just building communication, skills, collaboration, and especially for a small community like us, where we don't have a lot of that kind of stuff it makes us unique.
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: Well, a fun question for you, as these, especially the adult shows have cropped up.
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: Are there any people who any stories that you have of people who have really surprised you, that have come through that door or people who maybe have surprised themselves?
• 19:02
  Speaker 6: Absolutely Well.
• 19:03
  Speaker 6: I'm sure all of us know.
• 19:04
  Speaker 6: The first person that comes to mind is Colin Krieger with Remax.
• 19:10
  Speaker 4: Excellent ballet dancer.
• 19:12
  Speaker 6: Excellent ballet and has good playing in Edna Turnblad too, by the way.
• 19:18
  Speaker 6: But yeah, colin Krieger, lindsay Clemons, local attorney, really incredible actress.
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: And what about your own acting and singing background?
• 19:25
  Speaker 6: I'm currently playing Quasimodo in our upcoming production of Hunchback, which is my dream role, for one thing.
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: Well, kind of talk to us about the summer camp for the kids what it?
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: Is who.
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: It includes what y'all try to accomplish For sure.
• 19:41
  Speaker 6: So what we are doing this year is going to be a bit unique.
• 19:43
  Speaker 6: So what we are doing this year is going to be a bit unique.
• 19:46
  Speaker 6: We are going to actually produce a show.
• 19:48
  Speaker 6: In the years past we've just done skill-based activities.
• 19:52
  Speaker 6: This year we're going to do SpongeBob the Musical for our older kids and the younger kids are going to do the kid version of the Lion King.
• 20:01
  Speaker 6: But one thing that I really like to do is to be able to provide experience for us, experiences from outside of our area.
• 20:09
  Speaker 6: So, like summer camp, I try and focus on bringing in a guest.
• 20:12
  Speaker 6: Last summer we had Jake Boyd, who is a Broadway performer.
• 20:16
  Speaker 6: He was on the national tour of Wicked and played Fiero on both Broadway and the national tour.
• 20:22
  Speaker 6: This year we're bringing in a guest who is a native of Alabama but has been on the national tour of Hairspray playing.
• 20:31
  Speaker 3: Corny Collins yeah, so.
• 20:33
  Speaker 6: I really want our students to get the experience of seeing that this is actually a career that you could pursue if you desire, you know, and knowing that there is success with it.
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: And knowing that there is success with it.
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: And kind of how you've come into the news lately is you've kind of walked into the great amphitheater debate, the use it or don't, and you were looking to.
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: My understanding was you were looking to use the amphitheater for the public showing at the end of the summer camp.
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: Right, is that right?
• 21:07
  Speaker 6: That's correct.
• 21:08
  Speaker 6: I knew of the empathy room, had been down there and had always pondered, you know, why isn't it being used?
• 21:15
  Speaker 6: My initial thought was like, well, why can't it be used?
• 21:18
  Speaker 6: Now, you know, to me, at face value, it looks ready to go.
• 21:30
  Speaker 4: I don't need, and I'm sure the public.
• 21:31
  Speaker 4: They go to many events where they bring a lawn chair or something like that.
• 21:33
  Speaker 4: You know, right?
• 21:33
  Speaker 4: Well, absolutely, I think you're correct.
• 21:34
  Speaker 4: It is ready to go.
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: There's already a stage on the other end, right On the walkway.
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: Well, I mean, the stage that they have for the amphitheater is, to my understanding, fully ready to perform on.
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: It's got power.
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: Well, that one is there and it's got oil.
• 21:45
  Speaker 4: This kind of reminds me of, say, you're remodeling a kitchen and it's like your wife says no honey, you can't use the microwave.
• 21:52
  Speaker 4: You'll get it dirty Because, no, you can't use the microwave because we don't have a stove yet.
• 21:57
  Speaker 4: Oh yeah.
• 21:58
  Speaker 4: It makes no sense whatsoever.
• 22:00
  Speaker 4: All the while this thing is sitting there like a giant tombstone, right there like a giant tombstone, and it's depreciating in value, even if you don't get to use the thing.
• 22:08
  Speaker 4: I'm glad you're at least calling attention to the thing, because it needs to come alive To me.
• 22:15
  Speaker 6: I'm always trying to find the most creative ways to use a space, and why not use it in this particular way?
• 22:22
  Speaker 6: And you know, I'm all for understanding if it's a safety thing, but I mean here recently the city engineer himself said that it has been usable since 2017.
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: Do you think that your request will eventually be approved and what's your position on the reaction that you've gotten to the request so far?
• 22:47
  Speaker 6: Well, I can see both sides First off.
• 22:51
  Speaker 6: Yes, I think I'm going to get approved.
• 22:53
  Speaker 4: Just don't schedule your show during the 25-year monsoon and I think you'll be absolutely fine.
• 23:00
  Speaker 6: Right, and part of me feels like too, that if we open it up now it's going to look like a negative thing because, well, it's not finished.
• 23:11
  Speaker 6: You know it's never going to get finished.
• 23:12
  Speaker 6: Well, I'm sorry there's already negativity cemented in because it's not been used.
• 23:17
  Speaker 6: I didn't know this until two days ago.
• 23:20
  Speaker 6: There are two ADA bathrooms attached to the back of the theater or the stage.
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: That's correct.
• 23:28
  Speaker 6: Which I didn't know, that Our city has missed out on a lot of opportunities from it when it comes to cultural and economic development since 2017.
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: All right, last question I have for you to, just really a plug here how do you get involved in first, let's say, the summer camp, what ages can get involved and how?
• 23:47
  Speaker 6: and then also community theater we try and make sure that um, because we do most of our um social media through facebook and instagram.
• 23:56
  Speaker 6: But our summer camp opens up march 1st and you can go on our website to register your student.
• 24:02
  Speaker 6: We are offering this year opportunities from grades rising, first graders through 12th grade.
• 24:09
  Speaker 6: They can go online March 1st.
• 24:11
  Speaker 6: We also have our last segment that will actually close out our year.
• 24:17
  Speaker 6: We're calling it the greatest showcase, hoping there's some positivity that comes from that.
• 24:23
  Speaker 6: But and we're going to be an eight week program that also opens up March 1st and that's for our 5th through 12th graders.
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: All right, and if me or David, if David wanted to star in the Phantom of the Opera or whatever.
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: Wah, bah, bah, bah bah bah, bah.
• 24:43
  Speaker 4: Okay.
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: How could we engage with you as prospective actors?
• 24:51
  Speaker 6: Absolutely.
• 24:51
  Speaker 6: I love this energy.
• 24:52
  Speaker 6: So we we hold auditions for each show and from there we'll start posting once each production gets a little bit closer to start rehearsals.
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: Well, yeah, thank you so much for joining us today and taking your time.
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: Moving on to discussion of the amphitheater, you heard us talk with Garrett Torbert, with Golden Triangle Theater earlier today and you know, david, what do you?
• 25:20
  Speaker 4: think, well, there's not much to add, it's there, we've got to use it.
• 25:23
  Speaker 4: And I mean, there's no danger, there's no doubt.
• 25:28
  Speaker 4: What's like?
• 25:28
  Speaker 4: I say is it going to flood there?
• 25:30
  Speaker 4: Is the alligator is going to come out of the creek after somebody?
• 25:34
  Speaker 4: It just seems to me like this whole attitude of, well, we can't use it because it's not finished.
• 25:40
  Speaker 4: When you use it, it's going to bring, as Garrett said, it's going to bring attention to the facility and it's going to get people excited about investing money from both public and private entities to make that thing turn into what it needs to be.
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: And here's the thing I understand.
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: I understand very well the argument particularly that has come from some council members who are hesitant to use it, that we only have one shot to make a good first impression.
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: I totally get that, but the first impression of the amphitheater has been made.
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: To me the argument of that argument goes out the window, because now we're at a place where this is a case of bad stewardship.
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: It's been sitting there eight years.
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: This is a public asset and you're telling the public that they can't use a public asset and I think that's bad government and it's bad stewardship of the investment that has been made there.
• 26:41
  Speaker 4: People hate being told that they can't do something, and part of the negativity that we run into is the knee-jerk reactions of people that don't understand the financial direction that this money has to flow.
• 26:54
  Speaker 4: You've got funds for this.
• 26:55
  Speaker 4: You've got funds for this.
• 26:56
  Speaker 4: You've got funds from that.
• 26:57
  Speaker 4: You've got funds.
• 26:58
  Speaker 4: Some of it comes from state, some of it comes from federal.
• 27:01
  Speaker 4: My head spins trying to keep up with it and you know, the average person looking at this is like well, columbus must, just must be throwing money out the window because look at that amphitheater.
• 27:13
  Speaker 4: Well, it's more complicated than that.
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: I'm glad you brought up the finances, because let's talk about that, because right now, or the way that they've gone about getting that money, has been compared by others to like.
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: I mean, they basically they're getting alms from whomever will give it to them.
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: They got their cup out going to Jackson.
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: They've got their cup out rattling it outside of the Capitol in Washington DC, and there's been a lot of criticism of that from, specifically, chuck Younger he talks about it which is you don't have any of your own skin in the game.
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: In the past, that argument has not been valid because the city hasn't had the money, and that's just simply not the case anymore.
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: The city has a capital improvement fund that they have banked of $5 million.
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: So you know, let's put a pin in that and talk about the city's two choices now, and it's one let the public use it while continuing to seek third-party funding to finish it.
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: That's fine.
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: If you want to finish this 100% with third-party funding, then let the public use it now.
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: Go ahead and draw up parameters, just like they do with the Trotter or any other city property, and we're not talking about outkicking their coverage or letting them have big concerts or anything like that we're talking about local events Like the Golden Triangle Theater event.
• 28:39
  Speaker 4: Needs to happen.
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: The other choice is, if we're going to do it in the, you know, if we're going to accomplish the goal, before we open it, of finishing it entirely, hiring a third party venue manager to run it to where the city rightfully so doesn't really want to long-term be the manager of the amphitheater, and I think that a lot of their wait-until-it's-done argument comes from the.
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: We do not want to be the long-term manager, but you can manage local events there and then, when you get it finished up, hand it to a venue operator or Kevin Stafford believes that $3 million all in would probably get it to a place to where they could call it complete.
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: So you've got the million in hand.
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: You can pull $2 million out of that capital improvement fund and within a year we could have this thing done to the specifications of the good first impression that we're trying to make.
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: You can get it there.
• 29:38
  Speaker 4: And it gets back to that micromanaging.
• 29:40
  Speaker 4: They've got people in committees and in commissions that can handle this stuff.
• 29:45
  Speaker 4: Why do they have to be so centrally involved?
• 29:47
  Speaker 4: At the end of the day, Zach, I'll tell you, what will really infuriate me is if I'll tell you, what will really infuriate me is if, let's say, Octavia Hawk County gets their wishes, MSMS gets taken over there and we end up with empty buildings on the back of MUW's campus and an unfinished amphitheater.
• 30:12
  Speaker 4: We have got to negotiate a better deal than what we're getting right now.
• 30:16
  Speaker 4: I agree entirely.
• 30:18
  Speaker 4: And now we go to the mail.
• 30:21
  Speaker 4: This comes to us from our listeners, that is tips at cdispatchcom.
• 30:25
  Speaker 4: Thank you so much for opining.
• 30:28
  Speaker 4: Here we go.
• 30:29
  Speaker 4: Representative Andy Boyd, who says what I would like to see for the situation talking about MSMS here is level heads come together openly with representative stakeholders sitting at the table.
• 30:43
  Speaker 4: It seems more efficient to me that we would fix our old toy as opposed to purchasing a shiny new one.
• 30:51
  Speaker 4: A shiny new one.
• 31:00
  Speaker 4: A listener pipes in in defense of Donnie Cook, says Donnie isn't in that game of influencing MSMS really at all anymore.
• 31:03
  Speaker 4: Every time I've spoken with him he's just trying to get a new career going.
• 31:08
  Speaker 4: So I appreciate that comment.
• 31:10
  Speaker 4: If in fact he is no longer involved, then I don't want to stick my foot on his face anymore.
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: Well, and to respond to that, that's my understanding.
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: The last time I interviewed Mr Cook was last spring and that seemed to be where he was on that.
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: I asked him point blank if he was still trying to sway legislators.
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: He said the last time he tried to do anything he sent them a bunch of documents and very few of them even responded that they looked.
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: And that was the last thing that he had done at that time and I feel like that's probably, that's probably accurate.
• 31:46
  Speaker 4: Good, good.
• 31:46
  Speaker 4: Just want to thank our listeners for joining in today.
• 31:49
  Speaker 4: Please help talk it up.
• 31:51
  Speaker 4: Subscribe rate and share, and I hope you'll also join the conversation Tips at cdispatchcom.
• 31:58
  Speaker 4: Send your beef or your special input to tips at cdispatchcom.
• 32:02
  Speaker 4: You can also follow me on Facebook or X at dchism00.
• 32:08
  Speaker 4: You've been listening to Between the Headlines Signing off from Catfish Alley Studio in historic downtown Columbus.
• 32:15
  Speaker 4: Your host has been Zach Player and I am David Chisholm.
• 32:19
  Speaker 4: Until next time, keep it friendly and keep it real.