Latest / Between the Headlines: Columbus / Soros & AIPAC Enter the Senate Race PLUS Reason for Amphitheater Hope

Transcript

Soros & AIPAC Enter the Senate Race PLUS Reason for Amphitheater Hope · Between the Headlines: Columbus

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: From the opinion page of the Commercial Dispatch, this is Between the Headlines.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_03: This is Peter Imes, publisher of The Dispatch.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_03: One of our hosts of Between the Headlines is the managing editor of our newsroom.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_03: 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.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_03: The Dispatch remains committed to journalistic integrity, and our reporting will always reflect that.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_03: And now, between the headlines.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_02: This week on Between the Headlines, the money is fresh in from the Cologne and Cindy Hyde Smith Senate campaigns, and it is hot off the press.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_02: We will break that down for you.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_02: And yours truly got a preview of what the Terry Brown amphitheater could be.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_02: More about that.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_02: And lastly but not leastly, the Worth Thomas Consulting, having been called to the carpet, did come to the carpet and defended their record.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_02: And there's a little bit of a Mayberry mix-up in regard to communications, shall I say?
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_02: Did anybody get those lobbyist emails?
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_02: I don't think Keith Gas can hit the send button.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_02: Zach and I will figure out all that crap.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_02: But first.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_02: Retirement looks different for everyone, so your plan should be built around you.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_02: For over 40 years, Financial Concepts has helped people create retirement strategies that fit their lives.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_02: Our team in Columbus takes the time to understand your goals and build a plan that works for you.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_02: Wherever you are in your journey, we're ready to help.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_02: We plan retirement.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_02: Financial Concepts is a registered investment advisor.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_02: Benton's Maintenance Mechanical makes easy work out of plumbing, electrical, heating, and air conditioner problems.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_02: You can book an appointment by phone or online, and rest assured they will show up at the appointed time.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_02: Call Bentons at 662-657-2583 or visit them online at BentonsInc.com.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_02: That is BentonsInc.com.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_02: This episode of Between the Headlines is brought to you by Bank First, the locally owned bank that makes decisions right here at home by people who understand the needs of our community.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_02: That means local decisions, local support, and folks who care if your kid made the team.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_02: At Bank First, we're not just bankers, we're neighbors and friends.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_02: Whether you're buying a home or starting a business, or just need someone to explain what APR actually means, we're here right down the street.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_02: Stop by your Bank First branch or visit bankfirstfs.com to learn more.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_02: BankFirst is a member of FDIC and Equal Housing Lender Bank in MLS 454063.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_02: All right, you are listening to Between the Headlines, where it is T minus 75 days until the completion of the Columbus Sampa Theater.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_02: We have in the studio today our host, Mr.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_02: Zach Player, and my name is David Chisholm.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_02: Now, hot off the press, and I'm talking the toner is still warm to the touch.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_02: We have these numbers in from the two campaigns that we're talking about for U.S.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_02: Senate, that is Senator Cindy Hyde Smith and Challenger on the Democrat side, Scott Cologne.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_02: And Scott Cologne, being real, ain't doing too bad.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_02: What do we see here?
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: No, uh starting with Scott, you've got um he announced his candidacy, I think, the third or fourth of September.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: And uh his set his receipts at the end of September 30th is uh they're running up next to$600,000.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: So that's a pretty good amount of money to raise in that amount of time.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: Uh obviously, still way behind what uh Cindy Hyde Smith raised over the three-month uh over the quarter uh for the filing period.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_01: She raised a million and a half uh over the past three months, ending September 30th.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: But still not a bad show for uh, you know, an upstart on the national political scene.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_02: One of the things that he said about his fundraising actually when he announced, which by the way, he announced right here in this room on between the headlines, which was kind of cool.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_02: But um, one of the things that he said was, we're not after all the big money.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_02: Let me paraphrase here.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, we're interested in being a grass grassroots efforts, and then he put that pitch out there.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_02: If you got$20, send it in.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_02: Um, do the numbers reflect that having happened?
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: Full disclosure, we did use the assistance of AI to get these breakdowns in a hurry.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_02: Chat GPT about had a stroke with this stuff.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_02: I used Grok.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_02: I think Grok is better, honestly.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: Well, be careful, you're gonna end up getting you a girlfriend.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um in Scott's uh according to this analysis, 86 percent of this comes from individual donors, uh, 10% from PACs.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: Uh looking on the other side uh from Cindy Hyde Smith, you've got uh 30 percent from individual donors and uh about 60 percent uh from PACs.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_02: And I mean average donation amount for Scott Cologne 1405 and for Cindy Hyde 1586.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_02: So kind of a watch.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's that's yeah.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_01: Good pound for pound there.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_01: So did you see anything interesting in the donors proper?
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_02: Well, uh yes, George and Alex Soros were on the donor list.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, they were there.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_02: There was no all right, let's go ahead and get into it.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_02: He came in here and he sat at this very table and and I and I talked to him.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_02: I said, uh, wasn't Mr.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_02: Soros to be thanked for your successful uh campaign um for the office in which you're now in, and he said, look, look, look, no, that that's something they did.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_02: We had nothing to do with that, which is technically true, and it's also something that a lot of people disagreed with.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_02: They thought it was money in, money out.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_02: All that to say, this go around, his name is on the docket.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_02: He gave the money, and uh Scott Cologne received the money, he did not turn the money down.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_02: He is undeniably a Soros candidate.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_02: What say you?
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: Oh Lord.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: Well, first of all, I think that the the George Soros name being like in the Epstein sphere is Republican propaganda.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_01: So I just want to say that first and foremost.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: However, Scott knows that he's up against that label.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: Scott knows that people are uh funny about the Soros connection.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: Well that they're that that a lot of people really are bothered by that.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_02: Well, a lot of Republicans think that he is fundamentally trying to change our country, that he does not love America, and he thinks that um we're just full of victims and we're full of hate, and and and the way to change it is to give money into these DA and and other races so that we change the systematic racism or whatever it is that's dragging us down, right?
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, and the Republicans are like, hey, we're still a great country.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_02: God bless America, right?
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_02: Why do we need to change?
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, well, um That wasn't where you were headed, though.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_02: No.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_02: All right, go ahead.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_01: Uh to that I say release the Epstein files.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: Also, on Scott taking the money from Soros and his son, he knows that this is a problem.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_01: He knows that this is a uh something that the majority of Mississippi voters feel funny about.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: So I don't understand why you take it.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_01: I don't understand.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate you guys, but uh I I'm I'm turning down that money because it's it's it's$14,000 all told.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_01: It's the$3,500 from each of them for the primary,$3,500 from each of them for the for the general election, which is within the legal limits.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_01: You don't need that money.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_01: That the cost benefit of that just doesn't seem to to to give Scott any advantage.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_02: Well, to his credit, at least he's not being coy about it.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean he's he's reporting it.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um I mean you get in a lot of trouble if you don't on the federal level, maybe not so much on the local level, but um he he's being honest with his report.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: And no, I don't think that that uh George Soros can call Scott Cologne and say, all right, you're activated.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: Now I'm gonna need you to do this for my agenda.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think that.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: First of all, I know Scott Cologne.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know anything about George Soros really much, but I don't think that he's gonna be the type of person that he's not a Manchurian candidate for George Soros.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: However, for the difference of$14,000, I would not want to have to explain that everywhere I went.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_01: And so I just don't understand why he didn't turn that money down.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_02: There's a uh a lot of pack money in this race on both sides.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um Cindy Hyde Smith, a heck of a lot of pack money.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_02: And um Scott Cologne pack money from um packs that I frankly did not know exist.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, one of them was uh We Got Your Back Pack.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_01: There's a uh a lot of those uh Democratic packs that have that have the very huggy names.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_01: The pack money that's going into Cindy Hyde Smith and real uh Smith's campaign and the just the donations uh generally uh it indicates that she does know who Scott Colomb is and is taking him seriously, that his campaign is something that she is this isn't Roger Wicker running against Ty Pinkins uh a couple of years ago, where r you know Roger Wicker essentially acted like he was running unopposed, and then you know, that was a self-fulfilling prophecy.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_01: Ty Pinkins could never make a dent in that campaign.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_02: Ty Pinkins is still in there.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_02: Well now.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_01: But uh uh Scott Colomb is making a significant significantly more of a dent as far as a establishing himself as a serious candidate that Cindy Hyde Smith is having to view that way.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_01: So he's doing a good job with that.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_01: This kind of fundraising on his side shows that.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_01: The Democratic pack support shows that he's clearly their you know their guy going into this.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: Do you think Cindy Hyde Smith is gonna bring the hammer, man?
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_01: She's you've seen her ads, now you've seen her fundraising, and she's got some pretty powerful packs that are that are packing in some pretty powerful money behind her to keep her in there.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you were talking about George Soros a while ago and him being uh boogeyman to the right.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_01: You've got the American Israel Public Affairs Committee donating a uh APAC donating a significant amount, more than$160,000, I believe, to Cindy Hyde Smith's campaign.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_01: That's uh a boogeyman to some on the left, do you think?
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I got you.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_02: Well, it you know, this is hard for me in the sense that the libertarian side of me just wishes that none of these super PACs even existed.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_02: So life would be a lot easier and uh things will be a lot more straightforward in terms of analyzing these campaigns, that's for sure.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_02: But um, you know, in my heart of hearts, I believe that um uh the Lord has said, I will bless those who bless thee and curse those who curse thee, speaking of Israel, and and I think he's talking about literal Israel and as they exist even now.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_02: And so that's where I stand on that issue.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_02: And and I I gotta tell you, it's it's a great day when the world is at peace in the Middle East, and I know that asterisk has to stay beside it because it is the Middle East.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_02: It is the Middle East.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know what those people are gonna do.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, but I'm thankful for the success that President Trump has had over in that very rough part of the world.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_02: I wholeheartedly agree with that.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_02: Well, Cindy Hyde Smith has two challengers on the Republican side officially as of right now, Sarah Adlaka and Andrew Scott Smith on that side of the race.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_02: Now, Scott Cologne, to be on the general, he has to beat Priscilla Williams Till, who is the cousin of Emmett Till.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_02: And um, I haven't looked at the numbers.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_02: Do you think he'll have any problems there?
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: I think that this this fundraising and where it and and where it's coming from and the packs that are, even though it's only 10% of the total, the packs that are putting in.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I I think that I think the Democrats are throwing behind throwing their weight behind Scott to take on Cindy.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that that Cindy Hyde Smith is viewing it likewise.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_02: Well, things could get quite interesting and potentially ugly between now and November of 2026, and we'll be covering it right here in Catfish Alley Studio.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_01: And by the way, David, uh a couple weeks ago we did extend an invitation to uh Senator Cindy Hyde Smith to come on the program.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: I do know that uh I got confirmation that her campaign did receive that request.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_01: I haven't heard anything else.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_02: I think she'll come on here.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_02: She's not chicken.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_02: We'll talk about my trip to the LaGrange amphitheater after the break, but first.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_02: If you need serious equipment that gets the job done, Landman Rentals has you covered.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_02: Skid steers, many excavators, brush cutters, mulching heads, you name it.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_02: They're local, reliable, and built for the working man.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_02: Give them a call at 662-889-0541.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_02: Stuck on the road?
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_02: Champions Towing in Columbus has your back.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_02: Fast, reliable towing, and roadside help whenever you need it.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_02: Whether it's a breakdown or a lockout, call 662-251-9004 and get moving again.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: The Good for Business Podcast features interviews, tips, and tricks from owners, operators, and innovators.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: Hear the inspiring stories of growth and life lessons from guests in Mississippi and around the world.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: Hosted by entrepreneur, fundraiser, and real estate broker Colin Krieger, the podcast is based right here in the Golden Triangle community.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_02: Many, many thanks to our sponsors.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks to all of them.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_02: I want to talk about the amphitheater, Zach.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you took a little field trip, didn't you?
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_02: I did.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_02: I did.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_02: We went to the Great Wolf Lodge in LaGrange, Georgia, and I was told that the amphitheater in that town was kind of the model upon which the Terry Brown amphitheater was based.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_01: Similar size, sort of similar um acts and frequency of acts.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_01: That's that's uh what city officials, Kevin Stafford and others, we've reported that in the past.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_01: That's kind of what they're they're modeled, yeah.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_02: And so I was like, I just I've got to check it out.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_02: It was closed, and so and the fence was quite tall, so didn't exactly get on the stage, but um there's a lot of comparisons.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_02: Let me go through some of these.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_02: I put some of this out there online to see um what people noticed about these pictures, and of course, the first thing they said was it's finished, all right.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_02: But the second thing they said was it's got parking.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna talk about that parking for just a minute.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_02: Uh the parking in LaGrange was quite adequate.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_02: It was uh plenty of landscaping, real nice, uh lit.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_02: But if you look at it in Columbus, you know, the biggest complaint is about that plaza motel.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_02: But I've looked on the maps, okay.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_02: The city of Columbus does not have to lay siege to the Plaza Hotel and have a park, yeah, there's parking already available.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_02: It's available, it's a couple of blocks down, and there's also some places that could um, you know, if you lay some asphalt out there, you may have to sacrifice some of the river walk to do it, but there is a place to put cars.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_02: So that was one of the big deals.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um let's talk about entry.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_02: One of the cool things about Columbus, to get to this amphitheater, you get to cross the old river bridge.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's pretty cool.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_02: They don't have that there, but what they do have in LaGrange is a box office.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_02: All right, a place to actually purchase tickets.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_02: Here we've just got a wall.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_01: So Well, you're gonna I mean, once it's finished, there will be a box office.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's what that's part of the part of the plan for the whole thing is the fencing and the ticketing and the concessions and the bathrooms and the seating and and getting it finished to to be a proper amphitheater.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_02: The Lagrange venue had tents in the very back of it.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_02: I guess if you're really important and want to lay down the money and you think the music is too loud, you can hang out and imbibe while you're in these tents.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_02: There you go.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um in Columbus, there there's not quite room to have these tents.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um you said they were the same size.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_02: Columbus looked um relatively smaller to the case.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_01: I just said similar, right?
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_02: I got you.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um similarly sized and could get similar acts, is what I've been told.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_02: One thing I did notice is that the incline for the seating was very um, very much steeper at Lagrange.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_02: It was like you're, I mean, it was there was a natural hill there.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_02: And so if you've got somebody big and tall or with poofy hair sitting in front of you, you're not gonna have a problem in Lagrange.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_02: You may have to scoot left or right if you're like me and you're attending something in Columbus, right?
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_02: Um, this is interesting.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_02: The elevation, according to my phone, was 820 feet in Lagrange.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_02: Elevation here in town 213 feet.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_02: And I know elevation and distance from a flowing river is not one and the same, but that was an observation that I had.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um, lastly on that, who's gonna run this thing?
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_02: You know, who's gonna operate the venue itself?
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_02: One thing that I did notice just based on what I saw online, is that the local government over there, the park and rec authority, actually operates the venue as far as ticketing and uh perhaps even booking.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know for sure.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_02: That's what it looks like.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: That's what it looks like.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_02: But I I'll be quite frank, I hope that we don't do that here.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_02: I hope that we have some contractor like Red Mountain entertainment.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and that's uh that's the plan, as far as I know right now, is uh that they've been talking to Red Mountain about that.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_01: I think that Red Mountain is the one that got them to look at the Sweetland amphitheater as a comparison, but that's not one that they run.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_01: But uh the city has been uh pretty adamant from the beginning that when this thing gets finished, they're gonna turn it over to professionals to run it.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's a good idea.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I concur, but I would also say that if if Leroy Brooks wants to get his gospel groups out there to sing, right?
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_02: Like I'm not opposed, like I don't think it should be a monopoly on it since it's city-owned, you know.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_02: If have some some professional events and then some casual local stuff, kind of hybrid.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_02: Anyhow, um similar in that regard.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_02: The size of Troop County and Lowndes County are quite similar, right?
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_02: And then the city of LaGrange is I'd say about 10,000 people more than the city of Columbus, just roughly looking at it.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_02: I think this is something that can be done.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_01: So here's what they've got funding-wise right now, their their situation.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I think they've got a, depending on how you look at it, a three to four million dollar hole to fill to finish it.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um million of that they got from the legislature uh last year, I think the 2024 session.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: A million of it is coming out of the capital improvement uh budget or the capital fund from the city.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_01: They're putting their own skin in the game, so they've got the legislative appropriation and an additional million from city coffers to fill two-thirds or half of that gap, depending on how you look at it.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_01: And uh the rest of the money, as I understand it, there are negotiations ongoing with the CVB and Lowndes County to see what kind of contributions that they can put into it.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_01: And also the uh, as I understand it, the uh hunt for state and federal funds as a backup plan to that is ongoing.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_02: Very good.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_02: I would expect that the county, even and I can't speak on behalf of anybody, but even though they want to see it done as opposed to sitting there and aging, you know, you look at um you look at the sheriff's budget and you know our deputies and you look at emergency services, and I think it's gonna be a hard stretch for them to say, well, we can't give these guys raises because we put a million dollars into a a private uh well, into a an entertainment venue.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_02: So if if they say no to that, I don't think it's because they're against it.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_02: I think it would just be because money's tight right now.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_01: They is, but I mean, once that thing gets going, that's obviously going to be generating uh uh generating revenue that's gonna r raise all boats.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_02: And and if we're able to get some of the uh names that they got in LaGrange, I'm looking on their website here.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_02: Uh since it's open, they've had Gladys Knight, Willie Nelson, the Commodores, uh Melissa Etheridge, Jeff Foxworthy, Trace Atkins, uh Nelly, Amy Grant, to name a few.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: Did they have Nellie and Amy Grant together?
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_01: Because that would have been a hell of a show.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_02: That would be sick.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_02: I guess all things considered, if I were on the city council 10 years ago, I probably would have been nearsighted and I probably would have voted no on building this thing.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_02: But it's here, and because it's here, we got to finish it.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_02: And I'll just say this: seeing the thing in LaGrange, seeing the landscaping and the beauty and the potential, the the stadium seating, I'm like, man, this could really be cool.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_02: Because the number one complaint that people have about Columbus is oh, there's nothing to do here.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_02: We're always bored, that's why everybody gets in trouble.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_02: This could solve some of that.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_01: It could.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_02: Not all of it, but some of it.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_01: And uh given some credit where it's due, I know you give you give uh uh Jones a lot of grief on here about the amphitheater and your countdown, and I know he said what he said, but I mean they've gone from having a million to now having two million, putting their own skin in the game, and they're actively seeking the other funds.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_01: There does seem to be some legs on a plan to get this thing finished, uh and I'm I'm feeling and hearing a lot of optimism about it, and I'm also you know, it this was stagnant for a long time, going nowhere for various reasons.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_01: I really think it is gonna get finished.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think that they're gonna have a New Year's concert there, but I do think that by next spring, next summer, you're gonna see some real progress there.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_01: And look, I mean, I'm kind of like you.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_01: If done right, if done well, this is a real benefit to the city that's gonna draw people from all over to come here.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_02: The money is a waiting game from my purview, and I think that we've just right now there's a lot of people commuting to the aluminum mill.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Tate Reeves was in town yesterday.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_02: They they broke ground on another$90 million customer facility out there.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and it's the same way in LaGrange.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_02: There's uh I passed some big industrial uh mega sites on the way to the water park, and so very similar stuff going on, but right now people are still commuting to work.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_02: They haven't moved into town yet, and we just got to get some houses built, get some people living here, and and get that tax rule more hefty, and and then we'll be able to do more stuff.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_01: That's the way it always works.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_02: Do it right.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_02: So that's that.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_02: And speaking of Stephen Jones, let's talk about the lobbyists, shall we?
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_02: Um They they came to to town.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_02: It was like, hey, we're about to lose our customer in Lowndes County, that is the city of Columbus, so we probably ought to go talk to them, and which they did.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_02: And I wasn't there, you were there.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_02: How did that go?
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_01: Well, uh a few observations on this.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_01: First of all, uh the representative with Worth Thomas Consultants, uh Celim Baird, he was at the work session, and I think he did, he acquitted himself pretty well uh, you know, making his sales pitch, talking about the different things that a lobbyist does and what the kind of work in the background that is constant.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_01: Because one of the questions that the city council had was if we're not actively seeking anything right now, what what then are you even doing?
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_01: And he it was company line stuff, but he gave reasonable answers to those questions.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_02: Pretty hot microphone to have to stand behind our own.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_01: It is it is and I will say that they very clearly took this a lot more seriously than the last time they were called into question because in February they just sort of they literally phoned it in.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_01: They just joined by Zoom uh during a council meeting and kind of what we used to call in baseball just kind of oleed the ball as it came to them.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_01: They're like, ah, well, you know, y'all are gonna keep us anyway.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_01: This time there was a very definite urgency, I think, with uh Worth Thomas to sell their value.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_01: And whether I think they did it successfully, that's up to the council.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_01: You know, whether I would vote to keep them or not doesn't matter.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_01: But I do think that the guy did everything that he could to promote what they actually do.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_01: And one thing that he brought up that I thought was interesting was um he kind of threw some of the uh issues back on the city.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_01: You're like, one of the things that we like to do, you know, when we're getting money for people, it's in uh cities and counties that sort of collectively identify the big things and are all row in the same direction.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_01: That that's where we're most successful.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_01: So something to keep in mind.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_01: And then the other thing that he mentioned is when we're talking to people on your behalf, they want progress reports on what you've done with the money they've already given you.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_01: And so without those progress reports on blight elimination, on the ampathy aid or on some other things, without those progress reports, which now they can start telling them some things because the blight elimination program has started in earnest, the uh you know, the watershed stuff has started in earnest.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_01: But for a long time those were stagnant and just waiting and waiting and waiting.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, typically still is, as we just talked about.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_01: But he's like, without a progress report to give them, we have to be very creative, we have to be very flexible, we have to be very in their face advocating for why you need more.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, government money, if you don't use it, you lose it.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_01: And that's and that's what he said.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_01: And uh obviously the city has a plan for using that money, and some of those plans are being executed now, but there was a big gap there where Worth Thomas was just sitting there going, Yeah, thanks for the money.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_01: Can we have some more?
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_01: And he talked about that a little bit, and I thought that that was interesting and and relevant.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_02: Zach, one thing that was of interest to me that was said uh from the representative is that they don't specifically talk to our local delegation all the time.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of times they'll talk from the top down, meaning the speaker or the lieutenant governor, the governor.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_01: All right, well, the people that Lavon Harris may not be able to just call up.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, sure.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I will be seeing the Speaker of the House this afternoon, and I'm gonna ask if he knows about Thomas Worth, and I'll let you know.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_02: Worth Thomas.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_01: There was one thing that came up in that meeting that I just failed to understand.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_01: One of the rubs for the council was obviously that they weren't getting they hadn't received any communication from the lobbyist.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_01: Who are these people a hundred plus days since they'd taken office?
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm sorry.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_02: No, I was it's like that what can't these people learn to talk about this stuff behind a closed door?
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_01: No, I'm not ever gonna advocate for that.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_01: But um before it was over with, very quickly, this all became Keith Gaskin's fault.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_01: Keith Gaskin hadn't been the mayor since June 30th.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_01: But this, well, you know, the former mayor wanted us to do this, and he said he was gonna tell y'all, but I don't guess he ever did.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_01: And then Stephen jumped in on that and was like, Yeah, I thought this was happening, but it wasn't happening, and all of this.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_01: So that kind of cheapens for me the the whole argument there.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_01: There was a very easy thing that could have been done there.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_01: Stephen could have got up there and said, Hey, I know y'all are having a communication issue.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_01: I thought that the lobbyist was blind carbon copying you guys on these emails.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_01: I found out they weren't.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_01: I've asked them to do that now, they've agreed, so uh this this um should be solved now, right?
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_01: And just and then you have Jeff Turnage saying, Okay, well, the reason that we need a blind carbon copy because if if it's just a regular email and one of you guys replies all, it becomes a public meeting that we didn't notice and it violates the law.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_01: So that's the reason for the blind carbon copy.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_01: So they could have done that.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_01: They could have done all of that and it'd been just fine and had the same result without throwing somebody under the bus that's at home playing with his grandkids, guys.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_01: The Gaskin administration is over with.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_01: Why are we scapegoating the Gaskin administration for emails right now?
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_02: And and it just Somebody has to be at fault.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_02: It it it feels cultural.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_01: It can't ever be, it can't ever be the current mayor, evidently.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_01: Why not though?
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_01: And and and see, to me, that's what cheapens the whole deal.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_01: Why doesn't Stephen say, my bad, we've got you carbon blind carbon copied now, I take responsibility for that, we we move on.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_01: That's the that's the bigger man thing to do in that situation.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_01: That's what 95% of anybody does in that situation and just moves on.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_01: But we had to have a performative flogging of Keith at the work session yesterday.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_02: Man, I can't get a break, dude.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_01: It was unfair, and I and I think it just kind of extends to, you know, I texted Keith about it.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I felt terrible.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, Keith, I hope everything's good with you.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_01: I I need to ask you a question.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_01: He graciously answers the question.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_01: But that communication thing was was I'm just gonna be honest with you, that that communication thing was bogus last uh administration with the last council.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_01: You had the majority of the council, well, he never tells us anything.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that communication, he's not communicating with or he's not communicating with us right.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_01: And it just it it it always stunk of the well he's not he's not bowing his head low enough when he's when he's addressing us and he doesn't call us sir.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_01: And or, you know, he's he you know he ate pork before he talked to us, so he was coming to us unclean, and so we didn't have to listen to him.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_01: He could have sent these things in Christmas cards to to every one of the the majority of the council.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_01: He could have sent in Christmas cards the lobbying reports with a hundred dollars in them, and Mickens would have been the only one that opened them.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_01: And then the other three would have said, Well, we never got anything from Keith.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_01: We don't know what you're talking about.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_01: And that was all a set up deal, and yesterday felt like it was kind of an extension of Yeah, more of the same thing.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_01: And and we're a hundred and some odd days into this term.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_01: Stephen, take ownership of this administration and quit blaming Keith for things.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_02: He's he's operating from in the hole.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_02: He's operating from a transparency deficit, and so and a communication deficit.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, I'm still trying to give him a chance in all that regard, but but as of right now, we're just as the public, we're just not hearing enough stuff from his office, uh, just generally.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_01: And so Well, and the stuff that we are hearing can sometimes get, you know, when you say, Well, this is Keith's fault, well, then the next question is, okay, were you not being copied on the emails?
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_01: Were you not getting the reports when you were a councilman for the for the last term?
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, well, here and there, every once in a while, I'm not sure who I got them from.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_01: May have been Keith.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, well then why are you saying that he didn't do it?
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_01: In a public meeting.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_01: It just it doesn't make any sense to lead that way.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_01: And I I continue to stand on the opinion that that that Mayor Jones is better than this, can be better than this, and he he he should be better than this.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_02: And he needs to play offense.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_01: All he's got to do is do it.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_01: Because this is an unforced error.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_01: And other things that he has done in the same vein have been unforced errors.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_01: You think they'll keep these people.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_01: Jefferson's a swing vote.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_01: I think that Stuart and Smith are very strongly, they're gonna vote to keep them.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_01: Rusty, Jason, and probably uh uh councilwoman Harris are strongly in the no.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_01: If if if I was I mean, that's an educated guess, right?
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_01: So if Jefferson votes to keep them, Steven's gonna break the tie to keep them.
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_01: Uh if Jefferson votes no, they're gone.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_01: I think that whatever vote Jefferson makes there is gonna be a very educated vote.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_01: It's gonna be a very deliberative vote, and he's gonna be able to stand behind it with facts.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um I think that there are facts that he could prioritize that could shift him either way.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_01: And and and I think that's kind of where he is right now.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_02: Well, we'll be watching and we'll talk about it when it happens, that's for sure.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_02: And and uh just in closing on that topic, I hope that um I I like what he said in the sense let's not leave money on the table if there's a deal that's underway and getting rid of rid of the uh the worth consulting messes that up, then then maybe we hold off just a little bit.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_02: I'll see.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe there's an option in between.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_02: Who knows?
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_02: But we'll talk about it for sure.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_02: So, hey, three things to know.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, three things to know.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_01: Groundbroke at Clockner Metals Wednesday.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_01: That's the$90 million uh dollar aluminum processing plant being built on the aluminum dynamics uh customer campus that you uh mentioned earlier.
• 37:19
  SPEAKER_01: The plant should be complete by the end of 2026 and will create about 40 high-paying jobs.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_01: How high, we don't know, but they're calling them high paying.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_01: Uh number two, tire to old tires in your yard.
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_01: On Saturday, keep Columbus beautiful in conjunction with the city of Columbus.
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_01: We'll pick them up upon request.
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_01: The third annual tire drive claims or ain't sorry.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_01: The third annual tire drive aims to mitigate illegal dumping.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_01: If you live in the city limits, call 662-205-6419 before Saturday morning to request a pickup, then leave the tires by the roadside.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_01: Limit of 30 tires per household, which means that David, you can't participate.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_01: One, you don't live in the city.
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_01: I I've seen how many cars you have.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_01: You've got more than 30 bad tires on your property.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_02: Dude, I've had people dump tires out on my land, like near my dumpster.
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_02: That's a thing, and that's a problem.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_01: It is.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's a bad problem in the county, evidently in the city, too.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, number three, Caledonia Days is this weekend at Ola J Pickett Park.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_01: The event set for Friday and Saturday will feature live entertainment, food and craft vendors, a car show, and a pet contest.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_02: Very good.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_02: That will do it.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um, hey, thanks again for listening.
• 38:41
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely, all of you guys.
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_02: We have a great followership.
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_02: Just help us get the word out, make our hometown a better place.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_02: Communicate with us however you feel led.
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_02: Tips at cdispatch.com if you're an email person, or just leave a public comment, Facebook or X.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_02: I am on there at Dchishm Double Zero.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_02: So, signing off until next week from Catfish Alley Studio in Historic Downtown Columbus.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_02: Your host has been Zach Player, and I am David Chisholm.
• 39:11
  SPEAKER_02: Y'all stay friendly.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_02: We'll keep it real.
• 39:19
  SPEAKER_03: Opinions expressed on this show are those of the speakers and not necessarily those of the commercial dispatch.