Latest / The Kevin Stone Podcast / Episode #15 "Who Wants to be Mayor of Ozark"

Transcript

Episode #15 "Who Wants to be Mayor of Ozark" · The Kevin Stone Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Kevin Stone Podcast. I'm Kevin Stone, and
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: somewhere behind the imaginary glass is Charlie, my podcast chief
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: of staff, who has apparently decided that covering national politics
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: wasn't enough aggravation for us. No, Charlie has discovered municipal government.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: God help us both, because today we're talking about something
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: that affects those of us around Ozark, Arkansas, a whole
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: lot more directly than whatever somebody is yelling about in Washington.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: This week, we're talking about the twenty twenty six Ozark
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: City elections and specifically who wants to be the next
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: mayor of Ozark. Now, before somebody starts typing an angry
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: Facebook comment, and you know somebody already has the keyboard
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: warmed up, this is not an endorsement episode. I'm not
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: here to tell you who to vote for. I'm not
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: campaigning for anybody, and if you're one of the candidates,
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: the same rules apply to you as everybody else. We're
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: going to look at what we can actually verify. What
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: have you done, what do you propose to do? What
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: authority does the office actually have, what problems does Ozark
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: actually face? And mostly why should the people of Ozark
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: trust you with their city government, because local elections matter,
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: probably a whole lot more than most of us treat
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: them like they matter. The mayor ol race has three candidates.
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: Now forgive me if I completely tear up the names here,
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: Tyler Williams, John Charles Molem, and our guest Hoyler. Mayor
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: Roxy Hall is not seeking another term, so we're not
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: looking at the traditional election where somebody tries to uproot
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: the city mayor. We're looking at a change in leadership.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: Somebody knew is going to sit in that chair, and
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: that makes this election worth paying attention to because whoever
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: wins doesn't inherit an imaginary city. They inherit Ozark, Arkansas,
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: the streets, the water system, the parks, police department, fire department,
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: city employees, the budget, developing, planning, infrastructure, and approximately seven
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: thousand different opinions about what the city ought to be doing. Congratulations,
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: you won here, City Hall, and here are three thousand
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: people who think you're doing it wrong. Okay, Charlie, just
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: slid a note under the door. Benefit package includes unlimited
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: Facebook criticism. Excellent. What does Ozark's government actually look like?
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: Ozark operates under a mayor and city council form of government.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: The city council currently consists of six members representing three wards,
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: with two positions in each ward. And city elections aren't
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: some meaningless ceremonial exercise. These are the people dealing with
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: the nuts and bolts of the community budgets, infrastructure, city
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: property development, public safety, utilities, ordinances, those boring looking agenda
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: items that nobody pays attention to until one of them
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: affects your street, your water bill, your taxes, your neighborhood,
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: or your property. Then suddenly everybody becomes a constitutional scholar.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: I have rights, yes, earl, you do. But right now
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: they're discussing drainage. So sit down. One candidate already has
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: a record. Here's where this race gets particularly interesting. One
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: of the candidates, our guest, Hyler, is already serving on
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: the Ozark City Council. He's currently the council member for
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: Ward three, position two. And that's important not because it
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: automatically makes him the best candidate, and not because it
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: automatically makes him the worst. It means something much simpler.
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: There's a record. When somebody has already held public office,
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: voters don't have to rely entirely on campaign promises. We
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: can look at what happened while that person was actually governing.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: For example, city council minutes from April twenty twenty four
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: document a significant debate over a proposal involving city property.
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: Hyler questioned what would happen with the property, how proceeds
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: would be used, and whether the city should retain the asset.
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: When the ordinance came to a vote, Hiler voted no.
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: The proposal failed four to two. That's useful information, not
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: because I'm telling you whether that vote was right or wrong.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: That's for you to decide. But that's what accountability looks like.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: Don't tell me you're physically conservative. Show me your vote.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: Don't tell me you support transparency. Show me what you
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: did when transparency was inconvenient. Don't tell me you care
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: about infrastructure. Show me what you proposed. Records beat slogans
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: every time. Now, Tyler Williams and John Charles Milom deserve
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: exactly the same treatment. Not rumor, not gossip. Not well,
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: somebody at the gas station told me no. If there's
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: a public record, we'll look at it. If there's a
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: campaign statement, we'll quote it accurately. If there's a business
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: background that's relevant, we'll verify it. If they've served publicly before,
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: we'll examine that record. If they make promises during this campaign,
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: we're going to write those promises down. Because here's something
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: politicians at every level occasionally forget. The Internet remembers. Apparently
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: Charlie does too, and that's actually a little frightening. If
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: I had all three mayorial candidates sitting across the table
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: from me, I wouldn't start with Republican versus Democrat. Municipal
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: government isn't Washington. I start here. What's the biggest problem
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: facing Ozark right now? Not five problems, not your campaign speech?
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: Pick one. What's the biggest? Then, what specifically would you
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: do about it as mayor? And here's the important part,
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: how much will it cost? Because I can promise Ozark
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: a monorail, that doesn't make it a good idea. We're
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: talking about the twenty twenty six Ozark City election and
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: the three people asking voters to make them the mayor,
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: and I want to get into something bigger than individual candidates.
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: What should this election actually be about? Number One? Money,
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: I want to hear candidates talk about the city budget,
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: not generic political phrases like we're going to eliminate waste.
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: Wonderful what waste? Name it? If you think Ozark spends
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: too much money, tell us where. If you think we're
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: not spending enough on infrastructure, tell us what needs funding.
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: If you want a new program, tell taxpayers what it costs.
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: This is one of my biggest frustrations with government at
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: every level. Everybody loves physical responsibility until somebody asks what
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: they actually want to cut. Then suddenly the room gets
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: quieter than Charlie's office when I mentioned payroll. Number two infrastructure, streets,
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: water sewer drainage, bridges, growth. These aren't glamorous campaign topics.
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: Nobody puts on dramatic music and says Kevin, I have
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: a bold new vision for the culvert. But you know what,
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: when the covert in front of your house doesn't work,
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: suddenly culverts are the most important political issue in Western civilization.
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: That's local government. The mayor needs to understand. Now. Number three, growth,
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: What does Ozark want to become? That's a serious question
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: because growth can be good. New businesses means jobs, I
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: mean tax revenue, I mean opportunity. But development also brings
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: questions about traffic, infrastructure, utilities, zoning, and the character of
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: the community. So I want each candidate to answer, what
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: should Ozark look like ten years from now and tell
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: me how we're going to get there without either refusing
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: every opportunity that comes along or approving everything simply because
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: somebody showed up carrying blueprints. Number four Public safety, police, fire,
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: emergency response. These are core city responsibilities. What do our
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: departments need, what are they doing well, where are they
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: falling short? And how does this next mayor intend to
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: work with these departments while also making sure that they're
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: accountable to the public. Supporting law enforcement and demanding accountability
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: aren't opposites. You can do both. In fact, you should
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: do both. Good officers deserve public support and the public
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: deserves professional, accountable government. That's not anti police, that's pro
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: good government. Number five transparency. This one matters to me.
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: If you want public office, then get comfortable with the
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: word public, public meetings, public records, public money, public decisions.
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: You don't have to agree with every suit who walks
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: into city hall. Good grief, you'd lose your mind by Wednesday.
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: But government belongs to the people being governed, and when
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: citizens ask reasonable questions about where their money went or
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: why a decision was made. The answer shouldn't be don't
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: worry about it. Oh, I'm going to worry about it now.
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: It wasn't even worried before, but now I'm bringing a
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: notebook and Charlie, Charlie apparently has spreadsheets. It's gotten completely
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: out of hand. The council matters too, and I don't
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: want this entire election reduced to the mayor's race. Ozark
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: City Council matters too a lot. The council currently includes
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: representatives from all three wards. These people vote on ordinances,
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: spending and other city business. So when we continue covering
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: this election, we're going to look at those races too.
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: Who's running, who's unopposed, who has a record, what having covenants?
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: Voted for? Because voting for mayor and ignoring the council
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: is like the quarterback saying eh, who cares about the
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: rest of the team. Government doesn't work that way. Between
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: now on election day, Charlie and I are going to
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: keep an eye on this. And here's my promise, same
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: rules for everybody. If Tyler Williams makes a claim, will
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: verify it. If John Charles Milem make make a claim,
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: will verify it. If our guest hyler makes a claim,
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: will verify it. If somebody does something good, we'll say so.
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: If somebody does something questionable, we'll ask about it. And
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: if somebody sends me Kevin, you wouldn't believe what I
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: heard about Candidate X, my response is going to be
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: show me the evidence, because there's enough legitimate stuff to
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: discuss in politics without inventing anything. I'll go one step further.
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: If any of these candidates hear this episode, you're welcome
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: to answer our questions. Tell us why you're running, tell
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: us what you think Ozark needs, tell us what you
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: would change, tell us what you'd keep, tell us what
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: you think the city is doing right, and tell us
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: what you think it's doing wrong. I'll evaluate the answers
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: using the same standard for everybody, because this isn't supposed
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: to be Team Kevin versus team candidate. It's supposed to
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: be citizens asking questions of people who want public power.
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: That's healthy, that's American, and that's exactly what local journalism
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: and local commentary ought to be doing. The Arkansas general
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: election is Tuesday, November three, twenty twenty six. The voter
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: registration deadline is Monday, October fifth, and if a municipal
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: race requires a runoff, money in municipal general runoff electionist
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: scheduled for December first, So we've got some time, let's
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: use it. Don't decide because somebody has the most yard signs.
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: Don't decide because your friend likes somebody. Don't decide because
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: somebody shook your hand at Walmart. Learn who these people are,
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: Learn what they believe the mayor should do. Learn how
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: they intend to spend public money, Learn how they view growth,
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: learn how they view transparency, and if they've already served
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: in government, look at the record. Then make your decision.
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: National politics gets the television coverage. Presidential elections get billions
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: of dollars. Congress gets the headlines. But when you pull
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: out of your driveway tomorrow morning, Washington probably didn't pave
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: that street when you turn on the fallset. Congress didn't
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: operate the water system when the fire department shows up.
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: That was at the United States Senate. Local government matters
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: because local government is where we live. So this year,
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: let's actually pay attention. Three people want to be mayor
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: of Ozark. Tyler Williams, John Charles Molem and our guest Hyler.
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: One of them is going to have some serious responsibility.
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: And before we give anybody that responsibility, I think we're
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: entitled to ask why you. I'm Kevin Stone. This is
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: the Kevin Stone Podcast. Charlie is already building candidate files,
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: which is a little disturbing, and we'll keep watching because
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: election Day is coming, and this time we're paying attention.