Latest / WCHS Network Podcasts / 04/08/2026 The Dave Allen Show on 580 Live - Tricia Roblee, Shawn Taylor, Tim Cunningham

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04/08/2026 The Dave Allen Show on 580 Live - Tricia Roblee, Shawn Taylor, Tim Cunningham · WCHS Network Podcasts

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Speaker 1: The views and opinions expressed on this program do not
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Speaker 1: necessarily reflect the views and opinions of five adwchs it's
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Speaker 1: employees or WVRC Media. From the studios of WVRC Media,
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Speaker 1: the country, the United States of America, the state West Virginia,
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Speaker 1: the city Charleston. This is the Dave Allen Show on
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Speaker 1: five eighty Live, and your host.
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Speaker 2: What we've got here is failure, the new.
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Speaker 1: Case kind of a big deal.
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Speaker 3: I have come here to chew bubble gum and kick
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Speaker 3: out a fall out of bubbler.
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Speaker 2: Dave Allen, Hey, folks again Wednesday morning, to you and
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Speaker 2: welcome to the show. Senior producer Ryan Nicholson is in
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Speaker 2: charge of things this morning. Guarantee Bank Hotline three zero
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Speaker 2: four three four five fifty eight to fifty eight. Tony
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Speaker 2: the Taylor Text three zero four nine three five five
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Speaker 2: zero zero eight. We're in the Jerry Construction studios right
0:59
Speaker 2: on time on a bunchet visit Jaron Nashconstruction dot com
1:02
Speaker 2: phone calls to the show. A service of Guarantee Bank
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Speaker 2: opening soon in Charleston. Thirteen to twenty Cannial Boulevard East.
1:07
Speaker 2: Texting services provided by West Virginia's finest men's store, Tony
1:11
Speaker 2: the Taylor on Virginia Street in Charleston. The Bronx Trunk
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Speaker 2: Show is tomorrow. For more of his bestmaster Taylor dot
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Speaker 2: com check out Tony's Facebook page Welcome to the Show.
1:19
Speaker 2: Wednesday edition of the show, Metro News meteorologist Brian Hughes
1:22
Speaker 2: tells us and his words Waldewall's sunshine today and a
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Speaker 2: tad warmer than yesterday. Highs in the mid sixties. Clear tonight,
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Speaker 2: shouldn't have the frost out there again. Low's in the
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Speaker 2: mid forties. Beautiful day tomorrow, warmer, high in the mid seventies,
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Speaker 2: slight chance of rain by Friday, hold on to at
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Speaker 2: least a chance of rain off on throughout the weekend,
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Speaker 2: going to warm up into the upper eighties, though by
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Speaker 2: Sunday it's all According to Metro News meteorologist Brian Hughes.
1:45
Speaker 2: You can hear him on airon follow him on Facebook
1:47
Speaker 2: for all of your weather needs. This sounds like it's
1:51
Speaker 2: a commercial for our hardware store for all of your
1:53
Speaker 2: hammer needs. But anyway, busy weekend here in the Canaw Valley,
1:56
Speaker 2: West Virginia. Home Show is Friday through Sunday, at the
1:58
Speaker 2: Connell scene of the conventions. It will tell talk about
2:00
Speaker 2: that coming up a little bit later on. Plus our
2:02
Speaker 2: continuing series of interviews with candidates ahead of the May
2:05
Speaker 2: twelfth primary election. Charleston City Councilman at Large Sean Taylor
2:08
Speaker 2: running for reelection. He'll join us a little bit later
2:11
Speaker 2: on in the show, and of course your calls and
2:13
Speaker 2: texts walking throughout the show. Guarantee you Bank hotline three
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Speaker 2: zero four three four five fifty eight fifty eight Tony
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Speaker 2: the Taylor Text three zero four nine three five five
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Speaker 2: zero zero eighth. The University of Charleston Marathon this Sunday
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Speaker 2: for some of my United Banks side Note thirteen News
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Speaker 2: and Tonight Live anchor and my Metro News Midday co
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Speaker 2: host Amanda Baron will be serving as the MC here
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Speaker 2: to talk about the event and the need for volunteers.
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Speaker 2: Trisha Robley, who is serving as the race ambassador, is
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Speaker 2: it rob Ley is at Robley? Can I call you
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Speaker 2: Robley Insteon, Yeah, if you want. I've had you on
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Speaker 2: the show several times in bass but I had to
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Speaker 2: think for a moment, but it is Robley, OK. See,
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Speaker 2: So welcome back, Welcome, I'm glad you finally made it
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Speaker 2: here this morning.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, I was stuck in traffic for a little bit,
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Speaker 4: but I made it here just in time.
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Speaker 2: Yeah. You know, it's interesting because I get to tell
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Speaker 2: on Nutritionha about seven o'clock or so, and I'm coming
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Speaker 2: across the Carter Bridge this morning. Traffic's backed up, you know,
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Speaker 2: for a while, and there was a I think at
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Speaker 2: that time, a two vehicle accident, and then you called
3:12
Speaker 2: the front desk and they patched you through to me
3:14
Speaker 2: and said that you were also deed. And if you
3:16
Speaker 2: look outside right now, you think, well, yeah, there's the
3:18
Speaker 2: reason why there's all this accidents. Look at all the
3:20
Speaker 2: horrible weather out there. No, it's sunny. Why why all
3:24
Speaker 2: the accidents out there this morning? And I guess traffic
3:26
Speaker 2: was it moving when you came through? Well, obviously you
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Speaker 2: got here.
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Speaker 4: So I got on the Montrose ramp and I was
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Speaker 4: thinking it would be quicker, but I got right into
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Speaker 4: the jam.
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Speaker 2: And then everybody had the same idea you did.
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Speaker 4: Apparently, Literally when I got off of talking to your
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Speaker 4: to your message, it was like it just opened up,
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Speaker 4: and thankfully I made it here within four minutes.
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Speaker 2: You're going to be a race ambassador. What does the
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Speaker 2: race ambassador do.
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Speaker 4: So I am the UC Marathon Ambassador, and that is
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Speaker 4: getting the word out about the race and also getting
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Speaker 4: volunteers involved as well as the community involvement. And so
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Speaker 4: we have pretty much gotten all the volunteers that we
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Speaker 4: need as of yesterday, I heard that we probably won't
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Speaker 4: be able to take anywhere volunteers, but we are looking
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Speaker 4: for a lot of community support for the racers. It's
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Speaker 4: super important to come out and support your community, and
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Speaker 4: the runners need the pep up. We are struggling out there,
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Speaker 4: we will be struggling on the marathon and just having
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Speaker 4: everybody come out and cheer and just get involved in
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Speaker 4: seeing all the action. It's going to be a great time.
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Speaker 2: Now talk about your personal involvement running. How long have
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Speaker 2: you been running.
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Speaker 4: I've been running since twenty nineteen, and I didn't think
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Speaker 4: I could do it. So that's kind of why I
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Speaker 4: started running, and it just kind of got like addicted
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Speaker 4: to it.
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Speaker 2: Why would you say, I mean, I don't want to
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Speaker 2: be too personal. Why would you say you didn't think
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Speaker 2: you could do it?
5:11
Speaker 3: Well?
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Speaker 4: When I was younger, I didn't want to do it,
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Speaker 4: and I'd try to. I'd try to get out of
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Speaker 4: doing the mile, even in elementary school. But then as
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Speaker 4: I got older, I don't know, I just kind of thought, well,
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Speaker 4: maybe I could try this, And some of my friends
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Speaker 4: from the gym actually started participating, and it was light
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Speaker 4: the way five k and we were just doing it
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Speaker 4: for fun. But then we decided, or I decided I
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Speaker 4: should say, I wonder if I could keep doing this.
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Speaker 4: So from there that's kind of how it started. And
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Speaker 4: then I ran my first half marathon in twenty twenty one,
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Speaker 4: and I met a bunch of people at the races,
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Speaker 4: a lot of inspired, daring women who were all out
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Speaker 4: there trying to do the same thing as me, just
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Speaker 4: get active, have fun. And so I started girl gang
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Speaker 4: Runners and Friends because we added our guy friends to
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Speaker 4: the auxiliary exactly. So we do our long runs on
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Speaker 4: Sundays and we just have fun with it. It's just something.
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Speaker 4: It's social hours. I guess you'd say.
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Speaker 2: They talk about the runners high. Is that a real thing.
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Speaker 2: It's a real thing, Okay, because all my shout out
6:34
Speaker 2: to my buddy Tony by the way, not Tony the
6:36
Speaker 2: Taylor Okay, not that buddy Tony, a different buddy. Take
6:39
Speaker 2: to Tony the Tailor. Is not running anywhere, okay. But
6:41
Speaker 2: the other Tony that one of the other Tony's I'm
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Speaker 2: friends with, he talks about it all the time, about
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Speaker 2: that runners high system and there's nothing like it, and
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Speaker 2: it's a real thing.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, you're chasing it all the time. And I don't.
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Speaker 4: I don't know if it's the same for everybody, because
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Speaker 4: running is hard. If it was easy, everybody but did yeah,
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Speaker 4: and sometimes you don't want to do it. Motivation isn't
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Speaker 4: going to be there. But that's where discipline steps in.
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Speaker 4: And like, for instance, yesterday, I did not want to
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Speaker 4: go on my last taper run, which was three miles
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Speaker 4: and for us distance runners, that kind of seems like
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Speaker 4: a short run. But I just wanted to go home
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Speaker 4: and go to bed, honestly, because but I made myself
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Speaker 4: get out there, and if I didn't, i'd feel worse
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Speaker 4: about it in the and I would probably just be
7:34
Speaker 4: talking all about oh gosh, you know, you could have
7:37
Speaker 4: already done that, You've already been over it already. And
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Speaker 4: I did. I felt so much better afterwards, And it's
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Speaker 4: like a release of your day. If you had a
7:47
Speaker 4: rough day, it makes everything better. Sometimes I feel like
7:53
Speaker 4: we are well we don't have the energy to go
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Speaker 4: home and clean our house, but we have energy to
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Speaker 4: go on a six mile run because we're going to
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Speaker 4: figus back kind of energy.
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Speaker 2: It's a different, different kind of energy. And I'll do
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Speaker 2: a little research here about this thing, Tricia. This is
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Speaker 2: the first time in like three decades there's been an
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Speaker 2: event like this in Charleston, that's.
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Speaker 4: Right, and it's in the inaugural event for UC. It's
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Speaker 4: the first time that the college has been able to
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Speaker 4: put on a marathon, and the proceeds help support UC
8:25
Speaker 4: students in the Honor College. We have thirty eight states
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Speaker 4: and three countries of runners going to be there on Sunday,
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Speaker 4: running either in the half or the marathon, and it's
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Speaker 4: going to be a huge event.
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Speaker 2: And it's pretty much all over Charleston.
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Speaker 4: It's all over Charleston. It starts at well, i should say,
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Speaker 4: the five k is on Saturday, and it is starts
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Speaker 4: at nine am at the UC campus and it will
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Speaker 4: be running around the UC campus in Kenil City. Now,
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Speaker 4: the the half marathon in the marathon starts at seven
9:03
Speaker 4: am on Capitol Street by the UC Innovation Hub, so
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Speaker 4: right there kind of near the Lee Street triangle. And
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Speaker 4: it will also finish there. It goes all over the
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Speaker 4: west side, over Patrick Street, down toward through the UC campus,
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Speaker 4: all the way to the end of Kanall City and
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Speaker 4: then back over the south Side Bridge to the east
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Speaker 4: end and then all through those neighborhoods and back to
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Speaker 4: Capitol Street. So you're going to get every piece of
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Speaker 4: Charleston in this race.
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Speaker 2: Now, I don't know if this is I mean, you're
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Speaker 2: the ambassador. I don't know if this is in your
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Speaker 2: wheelhouse or not. But to what's traffic situation going to
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Speaker 2: look like? You have any ideas?
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Speaker 4: Yeah, the roads will be closed at six am on Sunday.
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Speaker 4: You can get all of the details on the City
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Speaker 4: of Charleston website or the Facebook page. We would suggest
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Speaker 4: people in cars be extra alert and allow extra time.
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Speaker 4: I do believe that some of the closures will be
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Speaker 4: kind of rolling closures as runners go by, but some
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Speaker 4: of the roads will be closed until two PM.
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Speaker 2: Okay, And so just note that if you're coming to
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Speaker 2: church downtown or you're going to brunch or something like that.
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Speaker 2: And again, Sidney Charleston, in my opinion, that does a
10:28
Speaker 2: great job of spelling all that outs available on their website.
10:31
Speaker 2: And also on their social media as well. Just know
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Speaker 2: that for Sunday, if you're coming to church and Charleston
10:35
Speaker 2: or coming to brunch or whatever the case may be,
10:36
Speaker 2: or both, you are going to be delayed a little bit.
10:39
Speaker 2: And what did I see about Pepperoni roll stations?
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Speaker 4: Yeah, so I heard that there was going to be
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Speaker 4: a couple Pepperoni roll stations along the court.
10:48
Speaker 2: This changes everything.
10:49
Speaker 4: Well, we got to have our West Virginia hospitality here.
10:52
Speaker 4: We have to feature our state food, especially for people
10:57
Speaker 4: coming from other countries and different states. I'm not sure
11:01
Speaker 4: they know all about that.
11:02
Speaker 2: I've told the story before a few years ago when
11:04
Speaker 2: I was working outside the world of radio. We were
11:08
Speaker 2: in Clarksburg for an event and we had some students
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Speaker 2: from Harvard that were from all over the country and
11:15
Speaker 2: a couple of foreign countries, and we introduced them to
11:17
Speaker 2: Tomorrow's Bakery Pepperoni rolls at about eight o'clock in the
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Speaker 2: morning on a Sunday. They didn't know what to make
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Speaker 2: of them, but by God, they loved them afterwards.
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Speaker 4: Well, yeah, I mean, not many people know about it,
11:30
Speaker 4: and when they come here, they need to They need
11:33
Speaker 4: to get the whole lowdown and actually While you're talking
11:37
Speaker 4: about churches, there's churches along the way like on the course,
11:42
Speaker 4: so it's an opportunity for anybody that's at church to
11:46
Speaker 4: come out and cheer. And there's also I want to know,
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Speaker 4: there will be a drum circle ran by Chris Higgins
11:53
Speaker 4: over by the Miacapa on Bigley, which is seven fifteen
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Speaker 4: big Lee. Mia Koppa usually doesn't open until later on Sundays,
12:03
Speaker 4: but they're opening a little bit earlier in normal time,
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Speaker 4: I believe, at seven so they can get all the
12:10
Speaker 4: views of the runners which will be coming through three
12:14
Speaker 4: and a half mile mark. So the drum circle wants
12:17
Speaker 4: to make as much noise as possible to get the
12:21
Speaker 4: racers going. And so if you're interested in coming out
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Speaker 4: and drumming up some noise and cheering, we would love
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Speaker 4: it because, like I said, the runners, they love the excitement.
12:35
Speaker 4: We love hearing people cheer for us and it just
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Speaker 4: kind of gets us going.
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Speaker 2: It's going to be a great event again, first time
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Speaker 2: in three decades there's been something like this in the
12:45
Speaker 2: city at Charleston. And hats off to you and all
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Speaker 2: the volunteers and the sponsors for putting this thing on. You
12:51
Speaker 2: got how many state, thirty eight states that what you said,
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Speaker 2: thirty eight states in three countries. Yes, you're taking part
12:57
Speaker 2: in this? Where can people get more information about them?
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Speaker 4: Can get more information on the UC Marathon Facebook page.
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Speaker 4: There's a link there that will send you right to
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Speaker 4: the run sign up page for the UC Marathon. And also,
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Speaker 4: I believe the City of Charleston also has great information
13:17
Speaker 4: all about the road closures. And like I said, on
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Speaker 4: the Facebook page you see marathon, there is a link
13:26
Speaker 4: directly to the website for the race and I'll tell
13:29
Speaker 4: you the course details, where the water stations are. It'll
13:36
Speaker 4: tell you all the different facts. And also packet pickup
13:40
Speaker 4: Friday night and Saturday. So Friday night from five to seven,
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Speaker 4: I believe over at the UC campus. Saturday it runs
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Speaker 4: from eight am to seven. There's a pasta party from
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Speaker 4: five to seven.
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Speaker 2: This is my kind of you've got Pepperoni stations and
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Speaker 2: now you've got pasta parties.
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Speaker 4: The pasta parties for the runners. They get a free
14:04
Speaker 4: ticket to carve up for the race, and then their
14:07
Speaker 4: guests can also purchase a ticket for ten dollars to
14:11
Speaker 4: eat with them if they shall.
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Speaker 2: All right, going to be a great event, Trisha Robbie
14:15
Speaker 2: Official race Ambassador for the Big UC Marathon. Oh appreciate
14:19
Speaker 2: you being here. Thanks a lot. Thanks Dave nine twenty
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Speaker 2: Charleston City Council and Sean Taylor coming up next on
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Speaker 2: the Voice of Charleston WCCHS.
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17:01
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17:06
Speaker 2: nine three five five zero zero AD. The May twelfth
17:09
Speaker 2: primary is coming up next few weeks. I'll continue my
17:12
Speaker 2: series of interviews with people that I hope you will
17:14
Speaker 2: choose them on election day. One of those of Sean
17:16
Speaker 2: Taylor currently serves as an at large member of Charleston
17:20
Speaker 2: City council and he hopes to continue in that role,
17:22
Speaker 2: and he joins us this morning of the Jarrett Construction Studios.
17:25
Speaker 2: Good morning, Sarah, and welcome to the show.
17:26
Speaker 8: Good morning, Sarah, Thank you for having me.
17:27
Speaker 2: All right, So, how long have you been on council?
17:29
Speaker 8: That's my first time, Hetty screwed up just a little bit. Sure,
17:32
Speaker 8: go ahead, it's my first term. I had previously served
17:35
Speaker 8: as a trust and municipal judge. Okay, back several years ago.
17:40
Speaker 2: What was it that made you want to serve on
17:42
Speaker 2: council in the first place.
17:43
Speaker 8: A couple of different things came into play in that
17:45
Speaker 8: it's my hometown. I've lived here in my whole life,
17:47
Speaker 8: except for when I was gone for college in law school,
17:50
Speaker 8: and I've been practicing law here for thirty three years,
17:52
Speaker 8: where he's my kids here in town, and then when
17:54
Speaker 8: they got older and they all three had left for college.
17:59
Speaker 8: All that time I had dedicated to my twin daughters
18:02
Speaker 8: and my son with their activities and everything else we
18:05
Speaker 8: did as a family. I actually found this area of
18:08
Speaker 8: time that I had available to myself, and I thought, well,
18:11
Speaker 8: you know, I've always been interested in and then previously
18:15
Speaker 8: served in city government. And I want to be involved again.
18:18
Speaker 2: As an at large member of council. Of course, you
18:21
Speaker 2: serve the entire city. But when you think about it,
18:23
Speaker 2: if they're doing it right, all council members serve the
18:25
Speaker 2: entire city. You know what kind of special challenges, Sean,
18:29
Speaker 2: does it take to serve as an at large in
18:32
Speaker 2: the at large capacity?
18:34
Speaker 8: You know, I my perception is that ward councilmen have
18:39
Speaker 8: a much harder job. People in the City of Charleston
18:43
Speaker 8: that do contact their council people tend to focus their
18:48
Speaker 8: attention directly upon their ward councilman. It may be different
18:52
Speaker 8: from other at large council people. What I have coming
18:57
Speaker 8: to me is more general questions. I don't have complains
19:00
Speaker 8: about a particular for example, a particular pothole or road
19:03
Speaker 8: in a neighborhood, or a traffic problem or a garbage
19:07
Speaker 8: pickup problem, or a complain about vagrancy or homelessness in
19:11
Speaker 8: a neighborhood. Mine are more general questions about the overall health,
19:15
Speaker 8: physical health, the plan for the future for the city
19:18
Speaker 8: of Charleston. I'm open and willing to answer any question
19:22
Speaker 8: anybody wants to ask me, or if they need help,
19:24
Speaker 8: and they can get to me on that, and what
19:27
Speaker 8: I intend to do is immediately refer them to the
19:29
Speaker 8: person in the city government who can address the question
19:31
Speaker 8: and solve the problem for them. But that's where I
19:34
Speaker 8: have found over the past four years, really what happens
19:37
Speaker 8: as a council council person at large?
19:39
Speaker 2: Was it everything? Because you said that you kind of
19:41
Speaker 2: had your eye on it, and after you did, you know,
19:44
Speaker 2: when you get your family all squared away and whatever,
19:47
Speaker 2: was everything that you thought it would be. What was
19:49
Speaker 2: a little bit different when you got into city council?
19:51
Speaker 2: Any surprises coming in or what.
19:52
Speaker 8: No, I won't say there was any surprises. I've been
19:55
Speaker 8: involved in community service and student body politics through mind
20:00
Speaker 8: my entire life, within high school and college and law school,
20:03
Speaker 8: so to a degree you're used to working in bigger groups,
20:06
Speaker 8: small groups with people in leadership, people that are responsible
20:10
Speaker 8: for the physical policy of the group. And it's the
20:13
Speaker 8: same in the City of Charleston. What I'll say is,
20:16
Speaker 8: and I was not surprised that Mayor Goodwin is, in
20:21
Speaker 8: my opinion, one of the hardest working people I've ever known.
20:24
Speaker 8: She is incredibly dedicated, she's incredibly knowledgeable, She's built an
20:29
Speaker 8: incredible support staff, so they are really on top of things,
20:33
Speaker 8: and I can reach out to example, for Matt Sutton,
20:38
Speaker 8: or I can reach out to the mayor at any time,
20:40
Speaker 8: and they're incredibly responsive. It feels like ninety percent of
20:44
Speaker 8: the time they immediately know the issue and can respond,
20:49
Speaker 8: and in those few times that they don't, they typically
20:52
Speaker 8: get back to me incredibly quickly. So I wouldn't say
20:55
Speaker 8: there's any surprises. Anytime you're in a new group of people,
20:59
Speaker 8: they're surprised only in meeting the group of people that
21:02
Speaker 8: you're learning to know and work with. There were a
21:05
Speaker 8: few people that were already members of city council that
21:08
Speaker 8: I was either friends with or a current acquaintances with,
21:11
Speaker 8: But for the most part, the majority, if not most,
21:14
Speaker 8: of these people that are new friends and acquaintances.
21:17
Speaker 2: Do you think Charleston has too many city council people
21:19
Speaker 2: the right amounts? What's your take on them, because that's
21:23
Speaker 2: been discussed a lot, is that Charleston has a lot
21:25
Speaker 2: of city council Other people said, well, that's what the
21:27
Speaker 2: city has always said, it's what the city always needs.
21:29
Speaker 2: There's no right or wrong answer, But where are you
21:30
Speaker 2: on that?
21:31
Speaker 8: You know, I think it's an interesting question. I think
21:32
Speaker 8: when you just look at the objective numbers on it, Yeah,
21:34
Speaker 8: we have one of the largest city councils in the
21:36
Speaker 8: United States. It's really curious how we ended up that way.
21:39
Speaker 8: And I know the research has been done on that,
21:41
Speaker 8: and Jennifer Farr has been part of a committee that's
21:43
Speaker 8: been researching that. I really think that's up to the
21:46
Speaker 8: constituents in the citizens of Charleston. And here's why I
21:50
Speaker 8: believe that way. I have the impression again, the people
21:55
Speaker 8: that reach out to their city councilmen are pleased with
21:58
Speaker 8: having someone that really knows their neighborhood. Let's let's say
22:02
Speaker 8: we cut down the city council to five representatives to
22:05
Speaker 8: what we would typically call the five major areas of Charleston,
22:08
Speaker 8: whether you want to call it East End, West Side,
22:09
Speaker 8: North Charleston, and the city South Hills. If all of
22:12
Speaker 8: a sudden, you only have one council person, that really
22:15
Speaker 8: becomes a full time job. I mean, that is really
22:17
Speaker 8: an overwhelming thing to do, and I think there's been
22:19
Speaker 8: There's not really a large number of people that are
22:21
Speaker 8: assisztens of Charleston that could take that on. It's a
22:24
Speaker 8: very calm, very small group of people that could do that.
22:29
Speaker 8: Then you come to the question about, well, do we
22:30
Speaker 8: really need six large council members. That's a great question too,
22:34
Speaker 8: and I serve in that position. For example, if those
22:37
Speaker 8: positions would be eliminated, I wouldn't be offended by that,
22:41
Speaker 8: But they do exist as it as it stands today,
22:43
Speaker 8: and I'm I'm grateful for the opportunity to participate. So,
22:47
Speaker 8: you know, I think there are there are physical questions
22:50
Speaker 8: about that. You know, how much does it cost to
22:51
Speaker 8: have a city council person based upon what we're paid
22:56
Speaker 8: to attend our meetings, plus the availability of health insurance?
23:00
Speaker 8: But for the most part, when you look at the
23:01
Speaker 8: entirety of the city budget, it's not that much. So
23:05
Speaker 8: I want when I say I'm indifferent, it's not that
23:08
Speaker 8: I don't care.
23:09
Speaker 2: But if it would.
23:10
Speaker 8: Change, I think there would be an immediate effect upon
23:14
Speaker 8: those people who want their city council and to be
23:16
Speaker 8: more available.
23:17
Speaker 2: There's been talk about term limits on city council and
23:21
Speaker 2: in city government of general. Where are you on that.
23:24
Speaker 8: I feel different about term limits at the city level.
23:28
Speaker 8: I have since I was a young man back in college,
23:31
Speaker 8: and even through today. I continue to have a question
23:35
Speaker 8: in debate with my friends about term limits at the
23:37
Speaker 8: federal level and at the state level. I think there's
23:39
Speaker 8: the times that I think that it's very appropriate. And
23:42
Speaker 8: then the counterbalance to that, or the counter argument is
23:44
Speaker 8: is that the political machines will simply fill the space
23:47
Speaker 8: with somebody who's already part of that machine, with somebody
23:50
Speaker 8: you know, they kind of back fill it immediately. So
23:52
Speaker 8: the choice there really isn't that big. It's still party
23:55
Speaker 8: politics to move people into that position. Well, were at
23:59
Speaker 8: this level a city of forty eight to fifty thousand people,
24:02
Speaker 8: we have open seats right now. I'm a first term
24:06
Speaker 8: person that's serving I know people right now. For example,
24:09
Speaker 8: a person that I respect deeply, John Ganolas. It's right
24:13
Speaker 8: next to me on city council. John is remarkably smart.
24:17
Speaker 8: He is remarkably informed. I know that he studies everything
24:20
Speaker 8: when we talk about things on Finance committee. John's only
24:23
Speaker 8: serving one term because he has other obligations both to
24:26
Speaker 8: his law practice and to his family. So, yeah, are
24:31
Speaker 8: there people that are on city council that have been
24:33
Speaker 8: there for multiple terms. Yes, but there's also you'll find
24:35
Speaker 8: there's not any competition necessarily in the ward and let
24:38
Speaker 8: me address that about the competition in the ward. Look,
24:43
Speaker 8: it's a small town. Nobody's being pushed away or threatened
24:47
Speaker 8: not to run for a city council position. To my knowledge,
24:50
Speaker 8: it takes the same thing that I did, pay a
24:52
Speaker 8: filing fee and invest in going out there and meeting
24:54
Speaker 8: people in the public and selling them or telling them
24:57
Speaker 8: why you want to participate in how you can help
24:58
Speaker 8: the city. So I think term moments is just a
25:03
Speaker 8: it's a red herring issue for Charleston. If people want that,
25:06
Speaker 8: I'm not getting anybody in the community that's you know, stamp,
25:09
Speaker 8: you know, slamming their hand on the table saying this
25:12
Speaker 8: is ridiculous. We need to have term limits in city
25:14
Speaker 8: council now. When it comes to the mayor's office or
25:17
Speaker 8: the other the executive level offices, I think there's open
25:24
Speaker 8: discussion about that. I think that's fine, But you're also
25:26
Speaker 8: going to find those people don't necessarily stay there for
25:29
Speaker 8: a long time either. There are exceptions, of course, you know,
25:32
Speaker 8: Mayor Jones was there for I think four terms, right,
25:36
Speaker 8: but other times I don't think they're there that long.
25:38
Speaker 8: If it's that critical of an issue, I think that's
25:39
Speaker 8: going to come up and be a further discussion within
25:41
Speaker 8: the current administration, but at the city council level, it's
25:44
Speaker 8: I just don't see it as a problem.
25:47
Speaker 2: What are you most proud of during your time on
25:49
Speaker 2: city council.
25:50
Speaker 8: That's a great question. I think what I'm most proud
25:55
Speaker 8: of is really and this is this is actually deferring
26:00
Speaker 8: to Mary Goodwin. She's remarkably, remarkably energetic, she is remarkably
26:07
Speaker 8: forward thinking. She is remarkably dedicated to the public, and
26:13
Speaker 8: I mean that in individual persons. When and Amy and
26:18
Speaker 8: I have been friends for decades, I've known her in
26:20
Speaker 8: booth from a long time ago, and when I see
26:25
Speaker 8: her in public, and I see the individual people that
26:30
Speaker 8: she knows and remembers and that has that she's done
26:33
Speaker 8: work with and for, I'm just proud to be in
26:37
Speaker 8: an administration or a currency council that has an energetic
26:40
Speaker 8: leadership and an energetic team. I think she's done remarkable
26:43
Speaker 8: things to help us keep moving forward, taking on the
26:47
Speaker 8: Town Center mall and trying to resolve that situation, addressing
26:52
Speaker 8: what we're talking about now, or I've addressed to you
26:54
Speaker 8: know personally about the municipal Auditorium, keeping the momentum in act,
26:59
Speaker 8: you know, things like the regatta, and there are things
27:01
Speaker 8: really on the real minute level about you know, physical
27:05
Speaker 8: responsibility and where we stay in physically as far as
27:08
Speaker 8: what our budget is right now. So I'm most proud
27:12
Speaker 8: of simply being part of the team, and that's the
27:14
Speaker 8: whole city council. I'm grateful to be on the Finance committee.
27:16
Speaker 8: I'm grateful that I'm part of the Public Safety Committee.
27:19
Speaker 8: I just feel that, and I always avoid feel because
27:23
Speaker 8: I don't think politics is that much about field. I
27:25
Speaker 8: think it's about logic and information and making good decisions
27:29
Speaker 8: with the cooperation of the entire team. But I'm proud
27:32
Speaker 8: to be part of this entire group that is helping
27:34
Speaker 8: us take step forwards because these are challenging times for
27:36
Speaker 8: a small talent Charleston.
27:38
Speaker 2: What's been left undone or if you are re elected, Sean,
27:43
Speaker 2: what do you hope to get done in the next term,
27:45
Speaker 2: what's on like your wish list? We not necessarily just
27:47
Speaker 2: for you, but the city of Charleston. You mentioned a
27:49
Speaker 2: couple things like, we don't know what's going to happen
27:51
Speaker 2: with the town Center. We got to music of auditorium
27:53
Speaker 2: out there, We've got the population lost, not just of Charleston,
27:56
Speaker 2: but you know, the majority of West Virginia, a couple
28:00
Speaker 2: of spots here and there. What are some of the
28:02
Speaker 2: big challenges lie ahead.
28:04
Speaker 8: Well, here's what I feel very strongly about the role
28:08
Speaker 8: of city government is. It is about It's not about
28:11
Speaker 8: necessarily social issues or political issues that can only be
28:16
Speaker 8: addressed in state government or federal government. Our job is
28:19
Speaker 8: to deliver services. People want their streets paved, people want
28:23
Speaker 8: their garbage picked up. They want to know that they
28:25
Speaker 8: have a funded and well trained police department and fire
28:30
Speaker 8: department for the most part, right they want Those are
28:32
Speaker 8: the basics of city government, and we want to continue
28:36
Speaker 8: to make sure that those are well funded and those
28:38
Speaker 8: services are delivered with modern equipment, modern facilities, and well
28:42
Speaker 8: trained people. That's really, I believe is our primary responsibility,
28:46
Speaker 8: and I want to continue to maintain that and help
28:48
Speaker 8: attract the best people in any way any we can
28:51
Speaker 8: to fill those positions. The major issues, as I mentioned
28:55
Speaker 8: and you also confirmed, is most the two things I
28:59
Speaker 8: get at asked about most often is what's going on
29:02
Speaker 8: with them all? What are you going to do with
29:04
Speaker 8: the municipal auditorium and the mall issue. I'm sure been
29:08
Speaker 8: discussed on your show so many times. Is it's always
29:11
Speaker 8: been an issue in addressing the ownership with the whole group.
29:15
Speaker 8: It's a privately owned facility, so you know, so many
29:18
Speaker 8: people didn't understand that concept and the difference between the
29:21
Speaker 8: facility actually being privately owned, the difference between you know,
29:25
Speaker 8: how the parking buildings are owned. It's a complex deal
29:29
Speaker 8: and that is going forward. I will tell you that
29:33
Speaker 8: we I'll say as a city council, and i don't
29:35
Speaker 8: know the details of that, but I'm very encouraged about
29:38
Speaker 8: the step forwards with it. And that's is I perceive it.
29:41
Speaker 8: That's that is a long term plan that's finally moving forward.
29:46
Speaker 8: We're not going to see immediate results. It may take
29:48
Speaker 8: a decade for us to really see something different with
29:50
Speaker 8: that property, but there is positive forward movement that I
29:53
Speaker 8: think people are going to be excited about. So that's
29:56
Speaker 8: the next major project that I want to be a
29:59
Speaker 8: part of and participate in and look at it from
30:02
Speaker 8: a fiscal position if I remain on City Council and
30:05
Speaker 8: also part of the Finance committee. And also I'm very
30:08
Speaker 8: passionate about the arts and the Municipalaudatorium has always been
30:12
Speaker 8: something I've been very, very curious and interested in. My
30:15
Speaker 8: twin daughters are now twenty three, my son is now
30:18
Speaker 8: twenty one, and we have traveled regionally for the last
30:21
Speaker 8: twelve years to fifteen years to Pittsburgh, Raleigh, Columbus, Cincinnati,
30:26
Speaker 8: Lexington to see acts in venues that would be the
30:32
Speaker 8: size that would replace the current Municipalaudatorium. There's this sweet
30:35
Speaker 8: spot that's in between the Clay Center and its seating
30:39
Speaker 8: of approximately eighteen hundred and the Charleston Coliseum, which is
30:44
Speaker 8: at maximum approximately fourteen thousand. And I've had so many
30:48
Speaker 8: great conversations with Patrick Leaey of the Charleston Coliseum about
30:52
Speaker 8: the acts and the number of booking opportunities that we
30:55
Speaker 8: have lost because of the degradation of the Municipalatorium, which
30:59
Speaker 8: had to be closed for safe the issues. There are
31:02
Speaker 8: acts that are up and coming acts or acts that
31:05
Speaker 8: are on the later in their career, which now I'm
31:08
Speaker 8: in one of those people right when it comes to
31:11
Speaker 8: Stixon Journey in Chicago and all those right, they're not
31:14
Speaker 8: going to sell fourteen thousand tickets to fill up the
31:16
Speaker 8: Charleston Coliseum. They're also going to go to have the
31:19
Speaker 8: ability to sell more tickets than eighteen hundred at the
31:21
Speaker 8: Clay Center. There's a sweet spot for those acts. My
31:27
Speaker 8: very strong position on this after talking with Patrick, looking
31:30
Speaker 8: at architectural layouts of other venues around regionally, the acts
31:34
Speaker 8: that they attract, the number of bookings that they get,
31:36
Speaker 8: is you have to be able to reconfigure the floor
31:40
Speaker 8: to make it as flexible as possible, so that you
31:44
Speaker 8: can have graduations, so that local businesses and other organizations
31:49
Speaker 8: can have their annual Christmas events or holiday events in there,
31:53
Speaker 8: you can have theater events. You know, it needs to
31:56
Speaker 8: be able to be reconfigured. I've talked down on my
32:02
Speaker 8: city council Facebook page a lot about the first of all,
32:06
Speaker 8: the engineering report from ZMM and also the cost of
32:09
Speaker 8: redesign or rehabilitation. I encourage anyone who has a deep
32:16
Speaker 8: interest in the municipalatatorum to read those reports. Are they
32:19
Speaker 8: a little bit dense? Is there a lot of engineering
32:21
Speaker 8: and math in them? Absolutely? But I think anyone who
32:25
Speaker 8: has a deep interest in it will have a much
32:27
Speaker 8: greater and deeper understanding of this very significant structural and
32:31
Speaker 8: mechanical problems of the current municipladatorium and what it would
32:34
Speaker 8: cost either redesign or reconfigure it so we want or
32:39
Speaker 8: I was speaking for myself. I think that's an incredibly
32:43
Speaker 8: vital part of our city. People want to go to
32:46
Speaker 8: events there, they have deep, great memories of what the
32:49
Speaker 8: acts that they've seen there. It's time to move forward
32:53
Speaker 8: and I can't wait for that conversation to continue to flourish.
32:56
Speaker 2: Give me your social media, Facebook page, websites when you
32:59
Speaker 2: got where people sure volume.
33:01
Speaker 8: Just go to Shawn and look for Sean Taylor on Facebook.
33:03
Speaker 8: You'll see Councilman Sean Taylor and I have more often
33:06
Speaker 8: than not ninety percent of it is promoting the city
33:09
Speaker 8: of Charleston, the events that are going on in the
33:10
Speaker 8: city of Charleston, whether it's at the Clay Center or
33:14
Speaker 8: the Park Run or