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Welcome back to the left of Old North.

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I am your host Adrian.

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And I'm CJ.

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And today we are going to be taking a look at a bunch of different things.

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It always seems like something new is happening every single day in politics, especially in

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North Carolina.

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There's always some new development and I swear it doesn't feel normal right now.

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Not at all.

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Not at all.

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But we're here to try and capture a little slice of it.

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So first up, just want to say at the back half of this podcast, we got to sit down with

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Mayor Pro Tem of Boone, North Carolina, a progressive Democrat and 25 year old Dalton

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George.

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So be sure to stick around for that.

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I think it was a really great interview.

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Well yeah, it was.

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I mean, you know what, it is our first one here on the left of Old North.

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We're the first of many.

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Oh yeah.

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So, but first and unfortunately, as what seems to be always in North Carolina news right

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now, we've got to talk about Riggs versus Griffin.

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The most incredible ego soothing campaign that I have seen in a long, long time, not

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since 2020 with the dregs of the Trump campaign.

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So where are we at right now, CJ?

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So let me just preface all of this by saying that this is apparently the only race across

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the entire country that is not done, that was held back.

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Only one that's not done.

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And so this is, it's just, it's the campaign, it's the election that we'll never see.

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What we did have just a recent development, I believe it was yesterday if I'm not mistaken,

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yeah, yesterday, February 7th.

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And it is when a Wake County judge in Wake County Superior Court ruled against Griffin

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saying that essentially the Wake County Board of Elections were right to rule the way they

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did against him.

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Right.

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And of course, you know, as of recording, as of to my knowledge, there hasn't been any

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announcement of an appeal, but I would be willing to bet a lot that he's going to appeal

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it, he's going to try to appeal it to like circuit court, regional court, whatever it

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is.

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And the ultimate goal is to end up in North Carolina Supreme Court where Griffin has some

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besties.

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Yeah.

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His potential, if everything goes his way, his five Republican buddies on the Supreme

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Court may be able to shake loose a win for him.

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Now that's not a guarantee.

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Maybe cooler heads will prevail.

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Let's just say we're not super optimistic about this 5-2 split.

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And keep in mind that Justice Riggs has already recused herself from any involvement with

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this case if it does go up to the North Carolina Supreme Court.

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So...

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Sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off there.

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But you want to know why she recused herself?

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Because she has in tech, which Griffin does not have.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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And, you know, far be it from us to assume outright that Republicans do have integrity.

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When time and time again, they have done their damnedest to prove they don't.

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It's almost like a challenge.

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It's almost like a challenge.

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Like, you think we can't go lower?

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Watch.

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Watch us.

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And it really, it really is sad, especially when you hear, continuously, still hear some

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Democrats, both statewide and national, calling for bipartisanship with the very people who

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are trying to undermine our elections.

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From the inside.

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Not through, I mean, whether it's through a violent coup, like they did on January 6th,

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or whether it's through a coup with Elon Musk just straight up taking over the passwords

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at the Treasury Department with his gaggle of 20 somethings.

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One of which is named Big Balls, apparently.

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I don't.

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How long handle?

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I have not been following that one closely enough, but CJ, you go right ahead.

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Unfortunately, I've read that earlier and I really miss who I was before I read it.

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You know, one of his cronies apparently goes by the name Big Balls online.

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It's so stupid.

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It's proof we just live in absolute dumbest timeline.

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Yeah.

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Some people say that Harambe being shot was the trigger event that separated us from the

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good timeline.

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And you know what?

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I'm inclined to believe that.

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Anyway, we're getting way off track.

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Yeah, I agree with that.

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But I mean, so one of the big stories with this whole Regs Griffin case is the fact that

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this revolves around 600,000 challenged votes.

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Now, again, remember-

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60,000.

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60,000.

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Sorry, way off there.

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Yeah.

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If they could get away with 600,000, they probably would.

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Probably.

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Sorry, 60,000 challenged votes.

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And Adrian, I believe you had a little bit of experience with this today.

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Yeah.

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So as part of a push to make sure that the people who are being targeted as part of the

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60 to 65,000 voters that they want to take off of this election, you know, completely

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toss those ballots out.

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We've been going door to door.

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A bunch of us have been going door to door in my county to alert people and let them

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know, hey, do you know what's going on?

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And also, do you realize that your ballot is one of the ones being challenged?

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And I got to tell you, I talked with at least a dozen people today.

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And if anybody's done canvassing, you know that that's actually a pretty good result.

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That's a really good result.

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Wow.

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Like 12 people in one day.

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That's pretty good.

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But it was good.

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Everybody was very respectful, even the ones that were, you know, not our party or anything

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like that.

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But the look on some of these people's faces when they fully realized that their votes

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were some of the ones being targeted, like one woman, I mean, she she seemed to hold

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it together, but she almost broke down crying in front of us because and she told us a story

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that I mean, and I'm not going to name names, obviously, because these people will be contacted

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by the N.C.D.P. or the media in their due time.

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I don't have to talk them specifically on this one.

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But one story that I heard from a woman was that she had her kids with her all day and

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she you know, she couldn't take them to school for whatever reason.

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And so she had to make sure that she could get off of work, she could pick up her kids

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from like a daycare or something and that she could go and vote.

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And then to be told three months later by some 30 something year old guy walking around

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in her neighborhood that her vote might not count in the first place.

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That's that's kind of devastating.

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And the problem is that a lot of these Republicans don't actually see that the people that they're

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trying to throw out, they're real, they're real people, they're registered voters, they

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got out to the polls and they did their civic duty.

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And you want to shit all over that because you because your ego has been bruised because

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you can't believe that out of five million, almost five million ballots, you came up short.

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Was it by a hair?

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Yeah.

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You came up short, Jeff.

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So own it.

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Own it, man.

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Like it's it's it's sad at this point.

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It really is.

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And it's even worse for the people who it's actually affecting like this.

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Like these voters that I talked to today.

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Yeah.

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And I mean, I think I've said this on here before.

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I think it just proves this whole case, this whole situation just proves that Republicans

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don't care about free and fair elections, which we knew that just from the you know,

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everything they've done over the past, say, 15, 20 years.

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Yeah.

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And this takes it to a whole new level, you know.

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Right.

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And part of me wonders if this is in a way a test case almost.

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Oh, absolutely.

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And you know, do this.

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See how they can do this on a national level.

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See what they like to do.

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I think you had a great analogy for this that you told me the other day.

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Yeah.

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Thank you.

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Yeah.

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So I was driving to a event the other day and it hit me.

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For those of you who may not have ever seen Jurassic Park, like the original, like 1990

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three version one, pause this, watch it, come back, please, because you're missing out.

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Two in the movie, one of the dinosaurs on the island is a pack of velociraptors, incredibly,

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incredibly intelligent animals there.

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They kind of become the main villain to my movie.

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So next to the hubris of man.

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But so there's a scene early on before all hell breaks loose where our main characters

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go to the raptor pen and just kind of take in the violence, the veracity that these animals

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have and the gamekeeper guy by the name of old Dune talks about how the cage is electric.

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Now there's this one leader in the pack was having the others throw themselves at the

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fence to test it for weak and systematic.

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And that's what's going on with the Republican Party right now.

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That's what you're seeing with executive orders, which we'll talk about here in a bit.

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That's what you're seeing with cases like this, things like the bill out in Tennessee

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that was trying to make it to where lawmakers could not vote in favor of a sanctuary city

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law would literally make it a felony for them to vote.

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These are all just little ways they're trying to test to see what the public will push back

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on the Democratic Party as a whole will push back on and what they can get away with.

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They are trying to see if they can get past that fence and run completely wild.

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And so far they've they have already found a few vulnerabilities, probably more than

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a few.

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Yeah.

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Namely that you can just attach anything to a so-called hurricane relief bill and you

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can just pass whatever.

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So like, yeah, they are testing the fence.

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They are trying to break through.

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Jefferson Griffin's race is, I call it an ego soothing, but it really is just one chess

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move in the game that they're trying to play.

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Yeah.

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And more people need to be aware of that because like some of these people that I talked to

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today, they didn't realize that these judges serve for eight years.

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In North Carolina, these Supreme Court justices serve for eight year terms.

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They don't serve for life or anything like that.

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So you know, it's not going to be up on the next election.

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It's going to be two election cycles, like full on presidential cycles before we can get

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this guy out.

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And by that point, most people will have forgotten that this was ever a problem to begin with.

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So this is the kind of thing that we need to keep in the conversation.

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And if we don't, then people are going to forget.

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Yeah, they are.

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And we can't let, you know, as a party, as people who care about democracy, as people

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who care about the future of this country, but you know, this state, we can't let them

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forget.

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Yeah.

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We wouldn't be doing our job.

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We wouldn't be doing our duty.

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Right.

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And by the way, it's not just candidates that they're throwing at the fence to see what

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we'll get through.

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It's a lot of bills.

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It's a lot of bills that they know will either get a lot of attention and fail.

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I mean, Trump's kind of doing this with executive orders, but we'll get to that in a little

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bit.

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Here in North Carolina, we have no shortage of just bills that are kind of outrageous

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when you really read into it and you start to understand like what exactly because like,

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let me put something out here that when you read some of these bills, it's so innocuous.

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It feels so innocuous.

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It's just like, oh, yes.

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Okay.

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That's what they're proposing.

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Got it.

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But then it's like, well, you put the pieces together, you put the puzzle pieces together

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and you're like, oh shit, that's what they want to do.

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Like this is real.

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They want, okay.

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So CJ has a list of a bunch of these bills and I want him to, I think that you are very

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good at kind of giving us a great summary of what these bills do and I will give it

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in layman's terms.

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Okay.

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Well, so first of all, I want everyone to know that any bill that is introduced by either

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the house or the Senate in the North Carolina General Assembly, you can look it up on the

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General Assembly's website.

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And I think people should do that because they should see what is on the docket, what

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is being discussed, what might be coming up for a vote very soon.

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And so this past week we saw three big bills kind of come up, two in the house, one in

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the Senate.

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And we've already seen people like Anderson Clayton, the North Carolina Democratic Party

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chair amplify these, talk about these a little bit.

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So they're big.

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So the first one, I'll just do the Senate.

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So this is Senate Bill 58.

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So S58.

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Again, you can look this up on the General Assembly website, ncle.gov.

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So this, and I've taken this summary from the UNC School of Government website.

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This expands the legal proceedings the attorney general is barred from participating in under

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General Statute 114-2.8 to include challenges that would invalidate an executive order issued

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00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:50,880
by the president of the United States.

244
00:12:50,880 --> 00:12:58,000
So in short, in short, if Trump wants to just put out an executive order, they want to make

245
00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:05,040
it impossible for Attorney General Jeff Jackson to fight against it, to bring suits against

246
00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:09,120
its actions, to really address it at all.

247
00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:16,640
And I mean, there are already limitations thanks to SB 382 from last year, that there

248
00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:21,240
are already limitations on what the attorney general can do now in North Carolina.

249
00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:26,120
So now they're adding even more restrictions to what the attorney general can do in terms

250
00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:30,880
of bringing lawsuits and fighting against actions of the General Assembly.

251
00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:36,200
So they are trying to take the Council of State check on the law out of the equation.

252
00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:44,560
They want to make the attorney general a legal arm for the NCGA, not the actual executive

253
00:13:44,560 --> 00:13:48,600
legal, I guess, attorney for the state.

254
00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:53,320
So it's a weaponization of law that is just so egregious.

255
00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:54,920
It makes my blood boil a little bit.

256
00:13:54,920 --> 00:14:00,000
And I want to take a second and talk about the fact that, one, in my opinion, they did

257
00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:06,160
this because they get pissed that he signed on to a lawsuit by multiple state's attorneys

258
00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:12,040
general to go after the Birthright Citizenship executive order that Trump signed.

259
00:14:12,040 --> 00:14:13,280
I guess it's about that.

260
00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:14,960
So they're trying to do this as punishment.

261
00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:21,440
But another aspect of this is obviously the more attorneys general you have signed on

262
00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:26,800
to a lawsuit, the stronger it is, the more support it has.

263
00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:32,720
So this is people on a state level trying to help out Trump on a national by trying

264
00:14:32,720 --> 00:14:35,800
to neuter the attorney general's office in North Carolina.

265
00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:36,800
Yeah.

266
00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:42,080
So even if he wanted to sign on to these lawsuits that all these other attorneys general would

267
00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:46,920
sign on to, he legally, by the law of North Carolina, would not be able to.

268
00:14:46,920 --> 00:14:47,920
Yeah.

269
00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:48,920
And it's not...

270
00:14:48,920 --> 00:14:49,920
Here's the thing.

271
00:14:49,920 --> 00:14:53,040
This is specifically talking about anything Trump does.

272
00:14:53,040 --> 00:14:57,800
You can go after, I don't know, tobacco companies like some have before, for example, in lawsuits.

273
00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:01,520
You can go after other organizations in lawsuits.

274
00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:04,720
It's just specifically, you can go after the president's executive.

275
00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:05,720
Absolutely ridiculous.

276
00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:06,720
Yeah.

277
00:15:06,720 --> 00:15:07,720
Absolutely insane.

278
00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:11,000
And I'm trying to remember who...

279
00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:12,640
Because you know what I think...

280
00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:14,200
I know one of them was Bobby Haynes.

281
00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:15,200
Yeah.

282
00:15:15,200 --> 00:15:18,880
Let me look this up because I feel we need to call these people out by name.

283
00:15:18,880 --> 00:15:19,880
So...

284
00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:21,640
Senate Bill 58.

285
00:15:21,640 --> 00:15:24,200
This was the primary sponsor is Moffat...

286
00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:26,680
How do you say his name?

287
00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:27,680
Hanig?

288
00:15:27,680 --> 00:15:28,680
Yeah, Hanig.

289
00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:30,480
Settle Ford Heiss and Sari.

290
00:15:30,480 --> 00:15:32,040
Yeah, Benton Sari.

291
00:15:32,040 --> 00:15:33,040
Yeah.

292
00:15:33,040 --> 00:15:36,720
Those are the people, those are the senators that you can ask, what the hell are you...

293
00:15:36,720 --> 00:15:39,520
Yeah, the precedent for this is not good.

294
00:15:39,520 --> 00:15:40,520
Yeah.

295
00:15:40,520 --> 00:15:42,080
No, it's not.

296
00:15:42,080 --> 00:15:45,320
The other two bills are on the House side that we're going to talk about.

297
00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:49,400
So first one is House Bill 66, H66.

298
00:15:49,400 --> 00:15:54,680
So this amends the general statutes concerning early voting procedures so that the early

299
00:15:54,680 --> 00:15:59,480
voting period is reduced to start not earlier than the second Monday before an election

300
00:15:59,480 --> 00:16:04,480
which a voter seeks to vote and not later than 3 p.m. on the last Saturday before that

301
00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:05,480
election.

302
00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:09,360
Currently, early voting period begins not earlier than the third Thursday before an

303
00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:10,800
election in which a voter seeks to vote.

304
00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:13,040
Adrian, would you like to condense that down really quick?

305
00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:16,800
They want to give you six days to vote early and that's it.

306
00:16:16,800 --> 00:16:17,800
Six.

307
00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:22,400
That's all you get, not counting the weekend or excuse me, not counting a Sunday and they're

308
00:16:22,400 --> 00:16:27,720
going to cut the time that you would be able to vote early on Saturday by two hours.

309
00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:32,960
So if you have work on a Saturday and you get off at four, tough luck.

310
00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:38,220
Sorry you didn't get there on time because now the law says that you're only allowed

311
00:16:38,220 --> 00:16:42,860
to early vote for six days the week prior to an election.

312
00:16:42,860 --> 00:16:45,240
So cutting it down by half essentially.

313
00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:50,640
And let me just say really quick, the primary sponsor on this is a relatively new guy if

314
00:16:50,640 --> 00:16:51,640
I'm not mistaken.

315
00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:52,640
Paul Scott.

316
00:16:52,640 --> 00:16:55,200
He has had one term in the house.

317
00:16:55,200 --> 00:16:58,560
He is the rep for Cleveland in Rutherford County.

318
00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:00,520
Rutherford County is where I grew up.

319
00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:03,480
So real great representation.

320
00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:07,360
So this guy, Kidwell Tyson Gable.

321
00:17:07,360 --> 00:17:09,600
I should have known it was Keith Kidwell.

322
00:17:09,600 --> 00:17:14,440
Almond Biggs, Branson McNeely, Penny Pike, Strickland Ward, White and...

323
00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:15,440
Bill Ward.

324
00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:17,560
I should have known it was freaking Bill Ward.

325
00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:20,080
So those are the people who have signed on to House Bill 66.

326
00:17:20,080 --> 00:17:28,440
So these are the people who want to execute order 66 and reduce your ability, your opportunity

327
00:17:28,440 --> 00:17:29,440
vote.

328
00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:30,440
And that is absolutely...

329
00:17:30,440 --> 00:17:33,720
We in this country need to make it easier for vote, not harder.

330
00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:36,000
The whole point of this is to...

331
00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:40,080
And we see this happen on national level and state levels all the time.

332
00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:41,560
The whole point of this is simple.

333
00:17:41,560 --> 00:17:45,400
It's to disenfranchise voters because these people don't want you to be able to choose

334
00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:46,400
your representative.

335
00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:47,560
They want to choose their voters.

336
00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:52,400
They want to make it to where working class people who can't afford to take time off,

337
00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:53,480
can't get to the poll.

338
00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:59,380
They want to make it to where people of color who historically have had so many damn roadblocks

339
00:17:59,380 --> 00:18:02,480
put in front of them to vote, can't get to the fucking poll.

340
00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:03,480
It's ridiculous.

341
00:18:03,480 --> 00:18:04,480
Yeah.

342
00:18:04,480 --> 00:18:05,480
No, that...

343
00:18:05,480 --> 00:18:07,800
You should be getting worked up.

344
00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:08,800
You should be.

345
00:18:08,800 --> 00:18:09,800
Yes.

346
00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:10,800
You should all be getting worked up.

347
00:18:10,800 --> 00:18:13,840
Everyone listening to this episode should be getting worked up about this.

348
00:18:13,840 --> 00:18:15,920
It's like I said, it's so innocuous, right?

349
00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:21,160
It just seems like it's the item of the day kind of thing that they're just going to vote

350
00:18:21,160 --> 00:18:22,160
on it.

351
00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:24,240
And you saw how many sponsors are on that bill.

352
00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:26,120
This is something they want to pass.

353
00:18:26,120 --> 00:18:33,000
There is a plan in place to eliminate early voting in North Carolina and across the states.

354
00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:36,880
It's slowed down quite a bit because of this last election.

355
00:18:36,880 --> 00:18:41,080
I think Republicans finally caught on that, oh, we do actually have early vote, like people

356
00:18:41,080 --> 00:18:44,120
that would vote early as Republicans.

357
00:18:44,120 --> 00:18:46,020
So they've eased up on it a bit.

358
00:18:46,020 --> 00:18:52,560
But never, never mistake that these people, if given the chance, would absolutely take

359
00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:53,880
it away completely.

360
00:18:53,880 --> 00:18:56,280
If they could wave a magic wand, they would 100%.

361
00:18:56,280 --> 00:19:02,720
As we see more and more of a growing call in super conservative circles, maybe not even

362
00:19:02,720 --> 00:19:06,960
super conservative, but just conservative circle for voting to be one day and one day

363
00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:07,960
out.

364
00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:08,960
Oh yeah.

365
00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:11,200
This is a very popular, sorry.

366
00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:15,080
There's no real call for, you know, election day to be a federal holiday.

367
00:19:15,080 --> 00:19:16,080
Nothing, right?

368
00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:21,800
There's no, there wouldn't be any plans in place to make sure that every vote in site

369
00:19:21,800 --> 00:19:26,120
is staffed adequately, has the stuff they need, et cetera, et cetera.

370
00:19:26,120 --> 00:19:28,680
There's nothing in place for that because they don't care.

371
00:19:28,680 --> 00:19:29,680
They don't want to.

372
00:19:29,680 --> 00:19:35,120
They have a bootstrap mentality about it because, I mean, you talk to some of these conservatives,

373
00:19:35,120 --> 00:19:37,600
they will tell you, oh, well, that's just too bad.

374
00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:39,160
Maybe you should have planned better.

375
00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:40,640
Maybe you should have worked harder.

376
00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:42,640
Maybe you should have made sure you had off that day.

377
00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:44,520
You know, all these excuses.

378
00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:50,040
And meanwhile, you're like, well, don't you think it'd be better if you gave people more

379
00:19:50,040 --> 00:19:52,080
opportunity to do that?

380
00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:53,080
No.

381
00:19:53,080 --> 00:19:58,480
The logic is so backwards, but it doesn't matter because as long as they have the feeling

382
00:19:58,480 --> 00:20:03,240
that they can win on election day, that is what they are going to continue to do.

383
00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:08,120
It doesn't matter how many there was an old, there was an old adage, as long as you can

384
00:20:08,120 --> 00:20:11,320
get the apples, it doesn't matter how many apple trees you cut down.

385
00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:16,400
So don't expect that because for the sake of democracy or for the sake of Liberty or

386
00:20:16,400 --> 00:20:20,080
for the sake of the constitution that they want to keep the apple trees in place.

387
00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:22,720
Hey man, as long as we're winning, it doesn't matter.

388
00:20:22,720 --> 00:20:25,120
I can take those apples and I can plant new trees.

389
00:20:25,120 --> 00:20:26,800
I don't give a damn about your trees.

390
00:20:26,800 --> 00:20:27,800
Sorry.

391
00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:29,720
That's a metaphor, but you get my point.

392
00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:30,720
Yeah, no, I do.

393
00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:32,080
So what's that last bill?

394
00:20:32,080 --> 00:20:33,080
Yeah.

395
00:20:33,080 --> 00:20:35,960
So this is House Bill 64.

396
00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:39,600
Now, strapping in this one, it's a lot, but just stick with it for a second.

397
00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:40,960
This one's a doozy.

398
00:20:40,960 --> 00:20:47,120
So House Bill 64, H6, subject to approval by voters at the statewide election on November

399
00:20:47,120 --> 00:20:48,120
3rd.

400
00:20:48,120 --> 00:20:49,120
So remember that part.

401
00:20:49,120 --> 00:20:55,220
Amend Section 5 of Article 3, the Governor's Clemency Powers of the North Carolina Constitution

402
00:20:55,220 --> 00:20:56,220
as follows.

403
00:20:56,220 --> 00:21:00,280
It gives the governor's clemency power to instances where a person has been convicted

404
00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:05,280
and their sentence has commenced, makes clemency subject to the approval of a majority of each

405
00:21:05,280 --> 00:21:09,720
house of the General Assembly, was subject to regulations relative to applying for pardons,

406
00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:14,400
acquires the governor to reconvene the General Assembly if clemency is granted when it has

407
00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:20,140
adjourned, sign, die, or for more than 30 days, specifies that if the governor does

408
00:21:20,140 --> 00:21:23,600
not reconvene the General Assembly, the grant of clemency fails.

409
00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:27,440
If approved, this will be effective upon certification by the State Board of Election.

410
00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:33,160
That was a lot there, but Adriana, I'll let you take it away while I look at the sponsors.

411
00:21:33,160 --> 00:21:36,600
I can sum it up in five or six words.

412
00:21:36,600 --> 00:21:39,580
Neuter the governor's pardon power.

413
00:21:39,580 --> 00:21:47,220
Take away the ability to preemptively pardon, to pardon without somebody actually having

414
00:21:47,220 --> 00:21:50,320
been tried and gone to jail or anything like that.

415
00:21:50,320 --> 00:21:55,440
The entire point, and this is just from a baseline constitutional law perspective, the

416
00:21:55,440 --> 00:22:02,800
entire point of the executive power of pardoning is to be a check on the courts and the state

417
00:22:02,800 --> 00:22:03,800
house and senate.

418
00:22:03,800 --> 00:22:06,220
I mean, it's the same way at the presidential level.

419
00:22:06,220 --> 00:22:08,920
People might not like pardons, and I understand why they don't.

420
00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:11,600
People didn't like it when Biden did it, and people didn't like it when Trump did it.

421
00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:12,960
But here's the thing.

422
00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:18,240
I unequivocally understand the purpose of it being there, and it is to be a check on

423
00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:20,160
the legislative and the judicial...

424
00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:21,800
That's why it exists.

425
00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:25,940
So if you take that away from the governor, once again, these all seem to have a common

426
00:22:25,940 --> 00:22:27,360
theme, don't they?

427
00:22:27,360 --> 00:22:32,440
This is yet again, the General Assembly of North Carolina attempting to neuter the other

428
00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:37,640
levels of executive or judicial power and place it firmly in the hands of themselves.

429
00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:39,520
Oh, you want to pardon that guy?

430
00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:41,840
You better get our permission first.

431
00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:43,840
Excuse me, that's not how this works.

432
00:22:43,840 --> 00:22:44,840
Oh, really?

433
00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:48,200
And then they pass a bill and saying that's how it works.

434
00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:49,280
Give it 15 years.

435
00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:51,060
Give it 20 years down the line.

436
00:22:51,060 --> 00:22:52,060
It's just normal now.

437
00:22:52,060 --> 00:22:53,060
Yeah, yeah.

438
00:22:53,060 --> 00:23:03,040
And just so you all know who all has sponsored us, the primary sponsor is Brian Echeverria.

439
00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:05,080
He is a new rep out of Cabarrus County.

440
00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:10,720
Looks like his district is just a little south of Concord, just outside of Charlotte.

441
00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:11,920
But he's the primary sponsor.

442
00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:15,360
And then you have Mike Clampett, Setzer Brody Kidwell.

443
00:23:15,360 --> 00:23:16,360
There he is again.

444
00:23:16,360 --> 00:23:17,360
Kidwell again.

445
00:23:17,360 --> 00:23:18,360
Loftus Ward again.

446
00:23:18,360 --> 00:23:19,360
Willis and Winston.

447
00:23:19,360 --> 00:23:24,400
You're going to see a lot of these types of bills in the House are going to be sponsored

448
00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:29,080
by Keith Kidwell and a relatively new guy to the scene, Bill Ward.

449
00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:36,560
This is, I have a very specific hatred of Bill Ward, not just because I ran the campaign

450
00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:41,420
against him, but he is part of that group of MAGA Republicans that will do whatever

451
00:23:41,420 --> 00:23:42,440
it takes to win.

452
00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:43,840
So he is a very dangerous man.

453
00:23:43,840 --> 00:23:49,560
It doesn't matter that he's 74 and that he's from one of the most remote House districts.

454
00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:50,840
He will do what it takes.

455
00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:52,080
So stay aware.

456
00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:55,040
And like all of this kind of like follows a thread, doesn't it?

457
00:23:55,040 --> 00:24:00,000
Like it really all seems like it's the same theme of the type of governance and the type

458
00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:02,880
of policy positioning that Republicans have.

459
00:24:02,880 --> 00:24:03,880
Exactly.

460
00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:04,880
Yeah.

461
00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:09,800
You had a great, or you have a great term for that, that somebody else mentioned.

462
00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:16,040
So what you're seeing on a state level and on a national level, especially is what Steve

463
00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:21,560
Bannon, and I'm not saying this to give him credit because he's absolutely awful.

464
00:24:21,560 --> 00:24:24,800
I mean, hate the player, but hate the game too.

465
00:24:24,800 --> 00:24:25,800
I don't know.

466
00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:26,800
He's a good player.

467
00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:27,800
He's a good player.

468
00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:29,640
He is, but I will clearly hate him.

469
00:24:29,640 --> 00:24:34,240
Anyway, he calls what Trump is doing with all these executive orders and whatnot, flooding

470
00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:35,240
the zone.

471
00:24:35,240 --> 00:24:40,960
The whole idea is think about like you're out in the ocean and you're bobbing along

472
00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:46,480
and you're trying to get to shore or you're trying to get out and you're just hit by wave

473
00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:53,320
after wave after wave and you are not making any progress whatsoever in your goal at all.

474
00:24:53,320 --> 00:24:57,560
Every time you think you get half foot out, another wave comes and hits you drag.

475
00:24:57,560 --> 00:24:58,720
That's what this whole thing is.

476
00:24:58,720 --> 00:25:03,280
It is designed to keep on hitting you and hitting you and hitting you with all these

477
00:25:03,280 --> 00:25:11,120
terrible executive orders and all these absolute bat shit crazy things that are being said

478
00:25:11,120 --> 00:25:18,440
and done by Trump and by elongated muskrats, all his crew.

479
00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:21,680
It's just to wear you down and make you give up.

480
00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:23,280
It's designed to drain your energy.

481
00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:24,280
Yeah.

482
00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:25,280
Or to distract your energy.

483
00:25:25,280 --> 00:25:30,800
You start fighting against things that they never plan to actually win and then they do

484
00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:35,640
or sometimes they do and they are shocked that it actually won.

485
00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:36,640
Yeah, they are.

486
00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:38,280
And I mean, don't get me wrong.

487
00:25:38,280 --> 00:25:45,600
What is being done right now on a state and national level, especially national, is absolutely

488
00:25:45,600 --> 00:25:49,920
absurd and incredibly dangerous, especially if you're someone who knows your history and

489
00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:54,800
has studied history and has studied the rise of authoritarianism and dictatorships and

490
00:25:54,800 --> 00:25:55,800
whatnot.

491
00:25:55,800 --> 00:26:00,760
Not saying this to try to make you go, oh my God, but to make you aware of what's going

492
00:26:00,760 --> 00:26:01,760
on, what's happening.

493
00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:02,760
Yeah.

494
00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:09,200
We are watching someone let his, I don't even know if you call him his second in command

495
00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:10,200
or what.

496
00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:13,640
No, he's letting a billionaire oligarch control him.

497
00:26:13,640 --> 00:26:14,640
Yeah, no, he is.

498
00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:19,560
But he's also letting that billionaire oligarch get into sensitive information.

499
00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:25,920
Everyone listening to this right now, everyone on this recording, you, me, our data is absolutely

500
00:26:25,920 --> 00:26:27,800
compromised at this point.

501
00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:31,880
Musk and his little muskrats have social security numbers.

502
00:26:31,880 --> 00:26:33,400
They have all this information.

503
00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:37,480
Yeah, they've threatened to stop the flow of funding for numerous organizations.

504
00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:38,480
Yeah.

505
00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:39,480
And here's the thing.

506
00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:44,560
If you are Trump and you have someone who is willing to do your bidding no matter what,

507
00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:47,200
you can get away with whatever the hell you want.

508
00:26:47,200 --> 00:26:53,080
You can do away with checks and balances without even having to change a single line in the

509
00:26:53,080 --> 00:26:54,080
constitution.

510
00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:59,800
If you took over Germany and turned to a dictatorship using the constitution in 54 days, I think.

511
00:26:59,800 --> 00:27:00,880
Yeah, 54 days.

512
00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:02,040
And here's the thing.

513
00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:07,760
We're seeing the rise of fascism is not just something that we've been sounding the alarm

514
00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:11,320
bells about because it's like, oh, we signed and here's the things that are happening.

515
00:27:11,320 --> 00:27:14,200
But it's the pattern of recognition.

516
00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:20,920
And one thing that Hitler did, that Mussolini did, that Franco, that many dick like Stalin

517
00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:25,960
and all of these people have done throughout history, they didn't ask permission.

518
00:27:25,960 --> 00:27:27,140
They just did it.

519
00:27:27,140 --> 00:27:30,940
This wasn't something that went through the legislative process and got approved.

520
00:27:30,940 --> 00:27:33,380
If they want to do it, they'll just do it.

521
00:27:33,380 --> 00:27:37,700
And we're seeing those kinds of tendencies with Musk right now where they're just straight

522
00:27:37,700 --> 00:27:41,320
up barging into places and demanding for the thing.

523
00:27:41,320 --> 00:27:42,880
They're demanding resignations.

524
00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:44,080
They're demanding all the data.

525
00:27:44,080 --> 00:27:45,720
They're demanding all of the records.

526
00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:49,920
They're demanding access that they should not have access to.

527
00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:53,600
And then when it comes time for people to push back against it, they're like, hey, you're

528
00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:55,000
not allowed to do that.

529
00:27:55,000 --> 00:28:00,920
They are full on going with the age old adage, ask for forgiveness, not permission.

530
00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:02,640
They're not going to ask permission.

531
00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:04,640
So don't expect them to.

532
00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:06,280
And you think Trump's going to stop him?

533
00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:08,280
No, he wants this to happen.

534
00:28:08,280 --> 00:28:09,920
He wants the chaos.

535
00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:15,120
He wants the distraction so that he can get away with whatever he wants to do.

536
00:28:15,120 --> 00:28:19,640
Trump just made billions of dollars off of his crypto pump and dump scheme.

537
00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:21,520
He does not care one bit.

538
00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:28,000
He doesn't because let's be real and let's just say what we've known for years.

539
00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:31,520
Trump does not give a shit about, he does not give a shit about me.

540
00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:34,000
He does not give a shit about this country.

541
00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:36,600
The only person he cares about is himself.

542
00:28:36,600 --> 00:28:41,020
The only thing he cares about is enriching himself, increasing his power and keeping

543
00:28:41,020 --> 00:28:43,680
himself out of jail.

544
00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:49,480
Whatever it takes to do that, whether it is tearing down the systems of checks and balances

545
00:28:49,480 --> 00:28:55,440
that make up our country, whether it's giving the keys to the asylum to the inmates high

546
00:28:55,440 --> 00:29:01,760
on ketamine, whether it means literally taking the constitution and wiping his ass, whatever

547
00:29:01,760 --> 00:29:02,760
it takes.

548
00:29:02,760 --> 00:29:03,760
He does not care.

549
00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:05,000
No, they don't care.

550
00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:10,960
We have a Congress that is dominated by Republicans and a Supreme Court that doesn't care because

551
00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:16,040
well, they see Trump one as a useful idiot who can help advance their own goals.

552
00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:17,480
Also, why should they stop him?

553
00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:18,840
Hey man, they have job security.

554
00:29:18,840 --> 00:29:20,920
Yeah, exactly.

555
00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:25,280
And they're unfortunately, well, unfortunate for us, fortunate for them, they're on the

556
00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:27,280
winning side.

557
00:29:27,280 --> 00:29:31,520
But I do think we're sort of ending this on a dour note and I don't necessarily want to

558
00:29:31,520 --> 00:29:35,240
end it on a dour note right before we're going to talk to Dalton.

559
00:29:35,240 --> 00:29:40,920
So I want to end this with something that we tend to do a lot on this podcast, which

560
00:29:40,920 --> 00:29:48,640
is to plea to people that are our age or younger that if you're sick of these dinosaurs being

561
00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:54,960
feckless and just completely incompetent, do something about it and start acting now

562
00:29:54,960 --> 00:30:00,080
because it's never too early, it's never too, you're never too young to start affecting

563
00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:03,320
change and I think Dalton is a really good example of that.

564
00:30:03,320 --> 00:30:04,320
He is.

565
00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:05,440
So we're going to hear from him.

566
00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:09,960
Keep in mind that politics is never set in stone and sometimes you've got to ride out

567
00:30:09,960 --> 00:30:13,640
the wave and you got to know how to float, but never be afraid to fight.

568
00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:14,640
Never.

569
00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:17,760
So with that, I hope you will stick around with us for this interview.

570
00:30:17,760 --> 00:30:20,680
Dalton George, the mayor pro tem of Boone, North Carolina.

571
00:30:20,680 --> 00:30:21,920
Thanks so much for listening to us.

572
00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:23,820
Yeah, but the first part of this.

573
00:30:23,820 --> 00:30:31,000
So enjoy today on this episode, we actually have a special guest, our first time having

574
00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:32,000
one.

575
00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:33,920
So this is Dalton George.

576
00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:37,680
He is the mayor pro tem of Boone, North Carolina.

577
00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:41,400
So Western part of the state home of Appalachian State University.

578
00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:46,640
And yeah, I thought just kind of give you a little overview of how this particular interview

579
00:30:46,640 --> 00:30:47,840
came to be.

580
00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:51,680
So and Dalton, please stop me if I get any of these details wrong.

581
00:30:51,680 --> 00:30:52,680
But no, go ahead.

582
00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:54,120
You're doing great.

583
00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:58,600
But you know, Dalton and I, we met probably what 2017 ish 2018.

584
00:30:58,600 --> 00:30:59,600
Yeah, yeah.

585
00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:00,600
It's been a while.

586
00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:01,600
Yeah.

587
00:31:01,600 --> 00:31:02,600
Nearly a decade.

588
00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:05,160
Yeah, which makes me feel so old.

589
00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:09,440
But you know, him and I, we both kind of started working with the Watauga County Democratic

590
00:31:09,440 --> 00:31:12,280
Party and just kind of went from there.

591
00:31:12,280 --> 00:31:13,560
Both of us went to App State.

592
00:31:13,560 --> 00:31:16,840
We're both students there and graduated.

593
00:31:16,840 --> 00:31:21,040
And I know, Dalton, you kind of stuck around and did a couple of things.

594
00:31:21,040 --> 00:31:22,800
So what can you tell us about that?

595
00:31:22,800 --> 00:31:23,800
Your kind of journey?

596
00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:25,240
I know you're on city council.

597
00:31:25,240 --> 00:31:28,320
I know you're currently mayor pro tem.

598
00:31:28,320 --> 00:31:29,320
What all is that like?

599
00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:33,660
Yeah, yeah, I just couldn't quit the place after graduating, you know, I find whatever

600
00:31:33,660 --> 00:31:36,000
way I could to stay around.

601
00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:40,000
You know, as you remember, I was kind of involved in the county party and was doing a lot of

602
00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:45,280
activism through the city council, the town council and introducing ordinances really

603
00:31:45,280 --> 00:31:49,440
related to tenants rights and kind of hit this point in my life was about to graduate

604
00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:51,680
and talk to a couple of people who lived here.

605
00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:56,120
And you know, the transient nature of a college town was there was a lot of fights getting

606
00:31:56,120 --> 00:31:59,360
started, but there wasn't a lot of folks able to see it through.

607
00:31:59,360 --> 00:32:03,240
And I really kind of had this realization, I wanted to try to be that person.

608
00:32:03,240 --> 00:32:07,800
And you know, one thing led to another, you know, originally applying for a vacancy on

609
00:32:07,800 --> 00:32:12,680
the council and then running and winning election and then recently was reelected in 2023, which

610
00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:15,160
is what ended up making me mayor pro tem.

611
00:32:15,160 --> 00:32:19,600
But you know, it's been a learning experience politics up here in Watauga is a blood sport.

612
00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:24,200
You'll remember that CJ I always joke around that the Watauga County Democratic Party is

613
00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:28,440
a Spartan model of political organizing, they kind of put you out on the cliff.

614
00:32:28,440 --> 00:32:32,880
And if you don't live through the night, it is what it is.

615
00:32:32,880 --> 00:32:36,000
That was definitely my introduction into paid political work.

616
00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:39,400
And for good reasons, I think it prepared me for a lot.

617
00:32:39,400 --> 00:32:44,840
And then, yeah, and naturally kind of gravitated towards public service in a number of ways

618
00:32:44,840 --> 00:32:47,280
activism and then into elected office.

619
00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:51,080
So it's been good mayor pro tem is is interesting.

620
00:32:51,080 --> 00:32:52,240
It's vice mayor.

621
00:32:52,240 --> 00:32:55,760
And every time you introduce yourself as mayor pro tem, usually people go, oh, you're the

622
00:32:55,760 --> 00:33:00,640
mayor, it's kind of like the office assistant to the assistant manager or whatever the joke

623
00:33:00,640 --> 00:33:02,440
is.

624
00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:03,440
But it's it's nice.

625
00:33:03,440 --> 00:33:04,440
I enjoy it.

626
00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:05,440
And I still get a vote on council.

627
00:33:05,440 --> 00:33:06,440
But I don't know if it's the mayor or doesn't.

628
00:33:06,440 --> 00:33:07,440
So it's the best of both worlds.

629
00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:11,160
All the prestige and none of the are all of the risk, maybe.

630
00:33:11,160 --> 00:33:12,840
Yeah, yes.

631
00:33:12,840 --> 00:33:14,660
Less risk than.

632
00:33:14,660 --> 00:33:16,640
But that's that's all really interesting.

633
00:33:16,640 --> 00:33:21,560
Now, Dalton, I think just for context, everybody needs to know how old you are.

634
00:33:21,560 --> 00:33:22,560
Yeah, OK.

635
00:33:22,560 --> 00:33:23,940
I'm 25 years old.

636
00:33:23,940 --> 00:33:29,300
So when I first got started in all this crazy business, I was the youngest officeholder

637
00:33:29,300 --> 00:33:33,200
in the state when I first got that vacancy and was appointed.

638
00:33:33,200 --> 00:33:37,120
And you know, nobody told me that holding a title for being the youngest isn't that

639
00:33:37,120 --> 00:33:38,480
great because you get older.

640
00:33:38,480 --> 00:33:39,480
Right.

641
00:33:39,480 --> 00:33:41,160
Should have should have known about that.

642
00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:45,800
And so I've since lost it to some amazing youngins across the state.

643
00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:49,480
You know, I'm somewhere on the scoreboard, but I've kind of quit taking count.

644
00:33:49,480 --> 00:33:50,680
I just say I'm one of the youngest.

645
00:33:50,680 --> 00:33:52,240
But yeah, 25 years old.

646
00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:57,320
Well, and I bring it up, you know, not to highlight your age necessarily or that you

647
00:33:57,320 --> 00:33:59,920
are, in fact, getting older.

648
00:33:59,920 --> 00:34:04,440
It's that, you know, there are lots of young people around the state and nationally that

649
00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:10,560
feel that they can't get involved or can't run for things because they're not old enough

650
00:34:10,560 --> 00:34:12,080
slash experienced enough.

651
00:34:12,080 --> 00:34:13,080
Right.

652
00:34:13,080 --> 00:34:14,080
Yeah.

653
00:34:14,080 --> 00:34:15,080
You certainly don't feel that way, it seems.

654
00:34:15,080 --> 00:34:17,040
No, I mean, and I love that question.

655
00:34:17,040 --> 00:34:21,780
Anytime I get asked a question in that way, Adrian, I always say that, you know, obviously

656
00:34:21,780 --> 00:34:23,140
we have more to lose.

657
00:34:23,140 --> 00:34:24,140
That makes sense.

658
00:34:24,140 --> 00:34:29,200
But but it's incredibly easy to have an impact on the community, especially in rural areas.

659
00:34:29,200 --> 00:34:33,920
I always joke that, you know, I'm not the smartest person in the town of Boone and I'm

660
00:34:33,920 --> 00:34:35,120
definitely not the most educated.

661
00:34:35,120 --> 00:34:38,000
I don't come from a blue blood background.

662
00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:39,240
But I worked really hard.

663
00:34:39,240 --> 00:34:41,600
I mean, I saw what I didn't like in this town.

664
00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:46,280
And I just started going to meetings and making public comment, talking to my neighbors at

665
00:34:46,280 --> 00:34:51,720
my rental complex that I was frustrated with the property managers and organizing them.

666
00:34:51,720 --> 00:34:56,360
And it was through that kind of dogged determination that I did end up getting some experience

667
00:34:56,360 --> 00:35:00,480
that I think translated really well to holding office and it didn't take a lot of revolutions

668
00:35:00,480 --> 00:35:02,080
around the sun to do it.

669
00:35:02,080 --> 00:35:03,080
Right.

670
00:35:03,080 --> 00:35:05,080
Like it was just through talking to the people in my community that were dealing with these

671
00:35:05,080 --> 00:35:06,080
issues.

672
00:35:06,080 --> 00:35:07,440
And that was really profound.

673
00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:12,340
I mean, in a lot of ways when I was running, I felt like one of the most qualified candidates

674
00:35:12,340 --> 00:35:16,600
because I served on a town board and towns are always looking for people to serve on

675
00:35:16,600 --> 00:35:17,600
advisory boards.

676
00:35:17,600 --> 00:35:21,400
I had introduced ordinances that were passed as an activist.

677
00:35:21,400 --> 00:35:25,300
And again, it wasn't through any sort of like, oh, I've got a law background.

678
00:35:25,300 --> 00:35:28,720
It was just seeing something that I really wanted to tackle.

679
00:35:28,720 --> 00:35:30,440
And that was profound.

680
00:35:30,440 --> 00:35:33,520
And I always tell young people that I'm like, yo, if you're thinking about running for office,

681
00:35:33,520 --> 00:35:37,560
if you want to hold public office, where I always recommend people start is just doing

682
00:35:37,560 --> 00:35:38,560
the work, right?

683
00:35:38,560 --> 00:35:42,360
Whether it's volunteering on a campaign or organizing locally with a nonprofit, I think

684
00:35:42,360 --> 00:35:46,440
that shows a level of credibility and it kind of allows you to move away from your age a

685
00:35:46,440 --> 00:35:47,440
bit.

686
00:35:47,440 --> 00:35:50,160
Now that's not to say folks, I mean, I always kind of get like, I remember when I was running,

687
00:35:50,160 --> 00:35:53,360
I had a couple of people try to explain to me very basic things like, oh, you need to

688
00:35:53,360 --> 00:35:57,080
know a lot about zoning if you're running, you can't just be this young and with your

689
00:35:57,080 --> 00:35:58,080
hair on fire.

690
00:35:58,080 --> 00:36:00,200
And at the time I was serving on our like planning board, right?

691
00:36:00,200 --> 00:36:04,040
So I was like, I get that dude, but you get that.

692
00:36:04,040 --> 00:36:07,960
But overall, I think it made it to where it was less about my age and more like, hey,

693
00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:11,520
I'm the renter that's renting alongside y'all and dealing with these issues.

694
00:36:11,520 --> 00:36:15,480
Hey, I'm the guy that's served on the board and I'm the guy that's introduced things as

695
00:36:15,480 --> 00:36:16,480
a citizen.

696
00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:18,840
So yeah, it was nice and doable.

697
00:36:18,840 --> 00:36:21,200
I mean, if I can do it, I think a lot of people can.

698
00:36:21,200 --> 00:36:26,800
What do you think has been the most surprising thing about both running in such a rural area

699
00:36:26,800 --> 00:36:29,840
and then seeing the town grow and then being in charge?

700
00:36:29,840 --> 00:36:34,160
Yeah, I mean, I think the most surprising thing about running in a rural area or a small

701
00:36:34,160 --> 00:36:39,840
town is, and this is true for really politics in general, but you know, the perception people

702
00:36:39,840 --> 00:36:44,040
have of you is often so far from the truth, either for good or bad, right?

703
00:36:44,040 --> 00:36:48,000
I mean, I meet some people that think I'm like, boy, wonder and I can solve everything,

704
00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:49,000
right?

705
00:36:49,000 --> 00:36:50,000
Never meet your heroes.

706
00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:53,920
And I mean, some people that are like, oh my God, you were a public enemy number one.

707
00:36:53,920 --> 00:36:56,840
And now I'm talking to you and you're incredibly reasonable, right?

708
00:36:56,840 --> 00:36:58,480
And it's like problem solver.

709
00:36:58,480 --> 00:36:59,800
And it's funny in that way.

710
00:36:59,800 --> 00:37:03,600
So I think recognizing that, you know, in this, especially in a small town, people are

711
00:37:03,600 --> 00:37:06,120
going to talk, people are going to have a perception of you.

712
00:37:06,120 --> 00:37:09,960
And really just through getting things done, that's how you improve it through being accessible

713
00:37:09,960 --> 00:37:10,960
in the community.

714
00:37:10,960 --> 00:37:14,520
But that's something I think everybody encounters when they run or do something public.

715
00:37:14,520 --> 00:37:17,800
You know, the growth of Western North Carolina is a whole other story.

716
00:37:17,800 --> 00:37:18,800
I mean, it's tough.

717
00:37:18,800 --> 00:37:22,000
I actually recently, this is the first time I'm saying this publicly, but I'm like in

718
00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:26,480
the process of trying to buy a house here and I'm in closing, which is huge.

719
00:37:26,480 --> 00:37:29,640
But Boone's like one of the most expensive areas really in the state.

720
00:37:29,640 --> 00:37:33,280
I mean, we have such limited housing stock and it was a really heartbreaking experience

721
00:37:33,280 --> 00:37:38,400
because I was buying from an investment company that bought from an heir, you know, of a longtime

722
00:37:38,400 --> 00:37:42,840
family and obviously paying a lot to do that.

723
00:37:42,840 --> 00:37:45,560
And you know, I could move outside of the town.

724
00:37:45,560 --> 00:37:49,840
I could move to a more rural area that doesn't have these growth pressures from out of state

725
00:37:49,840 --> 00:37:52,680
and from more metropolitan areas and really thrive.

726
00:37:52,680 --> 00:37:53,800
But I'm committed to this place.

727
00:37:53,800 --> 00:37:54,800
I want to live here.

728
00:37:54,800 --> 00:38:00,240
And so it's financially less efficient for me to do so, right, to put roots down here.

729
00:38:00,240 --> 00:38:01,240
And that's tough.

730
00:38:01,240 --> 00:38:04,840
Like, you know, being young and holding office in a town that's growing, that's got people

731
00:38:04,840 --> 00:38:09,400
from out of state moving here and so on and so forth, just a ton of growth, a lot of investment,

732
00:38:09,400 --> 00:38:10,740
it displaces people.

733
00:38:10,740 --> 00:38:14,680
And when you're somebody that's not resourced like I am, right, you're just a regular guy,

734
00:38:14,680 --> 00:38:18,080
the prospect of putting down roots is really scary.

735
00:38:18,080 --> 00:38:19,480
Yeah, understandably so.

736
00:38:19,480 --> 00:38:24,440
I mean, I imagine especially after just everything that's happened with Hurricane Helene and

737
00:38:24,440 --> 00:38:27,800
whatnot, which I'd like to get to here in a minute.

738
00:38:27,800 --> 00:38:34,240
But one thing I was kind of curious about, you know, you mentioned, you know, the town

739
00:38:34,240 --> 00:38:35,400
being what it is.

740
00:38:35,400 --> 00:38:36,400
What is it like?

741
00:38:36,400 --> 00:38:41,360
Or I should say, again, like I said at the beginning of this interview for folks listening,

742
00:38:41,360 --> 00:38:43,560
you know, Boone is home of Appalachian State University.

743
00:38:43,560 --> 00:38:48,320
So it has what I think like 20,000 or no, not 20,000.

744
00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:49,960
How many students does that have about 20,000?

745
00:38:49,960 --> 00:38:51,560
Yeah, yeah, you're right on the money.

746
00:38:51,560 --> 00:38:52,560
Yeah.

747
00:38:52,560 --> 00:38:57,520
So what is it like, you know, one, I guess being an alumni of App State, but what's it

748
00:38:57,520 --> 00:39:02,240
like also being, you know, Mayor Pro Tem of Boone, the city it's in?

749
00:39:02,240 --> 00:39:04,320
How do you kind of reconcile those two things?

750
00:39:04,320 --> 00:39:05,320
What's that like?

751
00:39:05,320 --> 00:39:10,160
And how do you kind of interact in an official capacity with the university?

752
00:39:10,160 --> 00:39:11,160
Yeah, yeah.

753
00:39:11,160 --> 00:39:12,160
Excellent question.

754
00:39:12,160 --> 00:39:13,880
I'll say this, right.

755
00:39:13,880 --> 00:39:15,800
And I'm going to torch the General Assembly early.

756
00:39:15,800 --> 00:39:18,480
You're going to be like, dang, Dalton, let us get there.

757
00:39:18,480 --> 00:39:21,640
But you know, we are not.

758
00:39:21,640 --> 00:39:27,240
You'll find very quickly we're not scared of making our positions on certain people.

759
00:39:27,240 --> 00:39:28,920
So I'm in good company.

760
00:39:28,920 --> 00:39:31,080
I mean, the Board of Governors is really bad.

761
00:39:31,080 --> 00:39:32,080
I mean, that's the heart of it, right?

762
00:39:32,080 --> 00:39:36,920
I mean, at a point very recently, the General Assembly appointed people that viewed education,

763
00:39:36,920 --> 00:39:40,480
higher education in the state that used to be a state of the art flagship system where

764
00:39:40,480 --> 00:39:43,240
people across the country would travel to try to emulate.

765
00:39:43,240 --> 00:39:45,200
And they turned it more into a business, right?

766
00:39:45,200 --> 00:39:50,000
Heads and beds equals success, you know, educational attainment, classroom size, that type of stuff

767
00:39:50,000 --> 00:39:51,840
is less important.

768
00:39:51,840 --> 00:39:55,480
And obviously, we want our public universities to grow because we want people to be able

769
00:39:55,480 --> 00:39:57,920
to attend public universities, right?

770
00:39:57,920 --> 00:40:02,280
But at the same time, like, it has to be intentional growth has to be growth in partnership with

771
00:40:02,280 --> 00:40:03,280
the town.

772
00:40:03,280 --> 00:40:06,520
And really, the university has been a pretty bad partner.

773
00:40:06,520 --> 00:40:08,800
This new interim chancellor has been a lot better.

774
00:40:08,800 --> 00:40:11,640
I will say that I'm hoping that she gets the full time job.

775
00:40:11,640 --> 00:40:15,760
Now the town's not included in even that hiring process, which I think is kind of offensive,

776
00:40:15,760 --> 00:40:18,800
you know, nobody's even been consulted to serve on that committee.

777
00:40:18,800 --> 00:40:22,000
But Deanna Ballard, a former state senator is on that committee.

778
00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:26,120
So it's kind of like that's interesting in terms of building relationships.

779
00:40:26,120 --> 00:40:28,440
But you know, on top of it, I'll use this as an example.

780
00:40:28,440 --> 00:40:29,840
I say this till I'm blue in the face.

781
00:40:29,840 --> 00:40:34,640
But the General Assembly brings a lot of money to the university for growth, 200 million

782
00:40:34,640 --> 00:40:36,480
plus pretty much every budget.

783
00:40:36,480 --> 00:40:38,440
And the town gets about two to three million.

784
00:40:38,440 --> 00:40:41,720
I think this last budget we got around six from the General Assembly.

785
00:40:41,720 --> 00:40:45,560
And when you really think about it, it's like our public employees are the ones plowing

786
00:40:45,560 --> 00:40:47,240
roads so people can get to school.

787
00:40:47,240 --> 00:40:51,000
Our fire department is the fire department that services the university.

788
00:40:51,000 --> 00:40:53,680
The amount of students, they don't just stay on campus, right?

789
00:40:53,680 --> 00:40:55,040
I mean, that's stuff that the town uses.

790
00:40:55,040 --> 00:40:57,680
And obviously, they generate economic success, too.

791
00:40:57,680 --> 00:41:01,480
I mean, I'm not going to say I like the fact that we're a university town, but it's about

792
00:41:01,480 --> 00:41:02,480
good partnership.

793
00:41:02,480 --> 00:41:06,040
It's proportional investment in the communities that are dealing with a lot of these externalities

794
00:41:06,040 --> 00:41:08,400
that growth is creating.

795
00:41:08,400 --> 00:41:11,200
Really small example, when I tell people this, their minds are blown.

796
00:41:11,200 --> 00:41:16,840
We had to buy a two million dollar fire truck to service effectively the dorms on campus

797
00:41:16,840 --> 00:41:19,760
that are bigger buildings than anywhere else in town.

798
00:41:19,760 --> 00:41:24,080
And we were not assisted for a number of years from the General Assembly, even though they're

799
00:41:24,080 --> 00:41:26,720
the ones that provide the funding to build those big buildings.

800
00:41:26,720 --> 00:41:27,960
And so it gets really maddening.

801
00:41:27,960 --> 00:41:30,640
It sucks to see, you're an Apple alumni, too.

802
00:41:30,640 --> 00:41:34,720
And man, it's like I've got to the point where I almost root against our football team because

803
00:41:34,720 --> 00:41:39,960
I'm like, Lord, like, like, I just you know, it's so frustrating that I want to be a proud

804
00:41:39,960 --> 00:41:40,960
alumni.

805
00:41:40,960 --> 00:41:45,160
I mean, the faculty there are amazing, the professors, the student body is great.

806
00:41:45,160 --> 00:41:47,280
And obviously, student athletes, I joke about the football thing.

807
00:41:47,280 --> 00:41:49,280
I mean, there's great human beings on that campus.

808
00:41:49,280 --> 00:41:53,360
I love the university, but the administration and the direction out of Raleigh has made

809
00:41:53,360 --> 00:41:56,200
it really hard to want to rep that.

810
00:41:56,200 --> 00:41:58,480
You know, my grandma will get me upstate pajamas every Christmas.

811
00:41:58,480 --> 00:42:01,680
And I'm like, Ma'am, I don't know if I'm aware of these as much as you want me to.

812
00:42:01,680 --> 00:42:03,440
I'm a little mad at him right now.

813
00:42:03,440 --> 00:42:07,560
I mean, I can't blame me for wanting to root against the football team.

814
00:42:07,560 --> 00:42:09,720
They've kind of made it easy this past season anyway.

815
00:42:09,720 --> 00:42:13,720
Yeah, that's beside the point, though.

816
00:42:13,720 --> 00:42:15,920
That is interesting, though.

817
00:42:15,920 --> 00:42:21,040
This almost it's I mean, because it has to be a symbiotic relationship at some point.

818
00:42:21,040 --> 00:42:22,600
And it's clear it's not right.

819
00:42:22,600 --> 00:42:23,600
Yeah.

820
00:42:23,600 --> 00:42:27,000
And you know, and it's something that I hear about, you know, from other public universities

821
00:42:27,000 --> 00:42:28,000
too.

822
00:42:28,000 --> 00:42:31,520
I mean, I've got friends on city councils and like a chapel and stuff, and they don't

823
00:42:31,520 --> 00:42:35,760
really feel super included in the process or the direction the university is taking.

824
00:42:35,760 --> 00:42:38,440
And so, you know, it's not unique to upstate.

825
00:42:38,440 --> 00:42:42,920
I think it's a little more difficult because, you know, we're typically a Democratic council.

826
00:42:42,920 --> 00:42:47,120
And then we've got a, you know, a Republican in the state House and state Senate.

827
00:42:47,120 --> 00:42:49,800
And that's not to say they haven't helped us in some ways.

828
00:42:49,800 --> 00:42:50,800
I mean, they have.

829
00:42:50,800 --> 00:42:54,080
And I mean, I'll definitely give them credit when they deserve credit.

830
00:42:54,080 --> 00:42:56,400
And there are things that I can point to that they have done and helped.

831
00:42:56,400 --> 00:43:00,560
But it makes keeping those channels open a little bit harder.

832
00:43:00,560 --> 00:43:04,480
And I think, you know, Chapel Hill where they can probably more reliably have a conversation

833
00:43:04,480 --> 00:43:06,280
with their state House rep about the direction.

834
00:43:06,280 --> 00:43:12,040
Now I was kind of curious, you know, you mentioned kind of like town resources, like fire trucks

835
00:43:12,040 --> 00:43:18,480
and like, you know, that's not stuff which kind of makes me or makes me try to think

836
00:43:18,480 --> 00:43:19,480
of this as a good segue.

837
00:43:19,480 --> 00:43:20,880
Maybe it's not, I don't know.

838
00:43:20,880 --> 00:43:27,800
To what Hurricane Helene was like there in Boone, what you kind of saw on the ground,

839
00:43:27,800 --> 00:43:33,960
not just as a citizen of Boone, but also what you saw from the point of view of Mayor Pro

840
00:43:33,960 --> 00:43:39,720
Tim of someone, you know, kind of in charge of helping out with the efforts and whatnot.

841
00:43:39,720 --> 00:43:40,720
What was that like?

842
00:43:40,720 --> 00:43:42,600
Yeah, no, what was that like?

843
00:43:42,600 --> 00:43:46,480
Because that is a very out of the ordinary situation.

844
00:43:46,480 --> 00:43:47,480
Definitely.

845
00:43:47,480 --> 00:43:48,480
Yeah.

846
00:43:48,480 --> 00:43:51,280
And I appreciate the opportunity to be able to tell some of the story.

847
00:43:51,280 --> 00:43:54,840
I mean, I haven't told like kind of the whole thing, so I'll try to hit, you know, a lot

848
00:43:54,840 --> 00:43:55,840
of it.

849
00:43:55,840 --> 00:43:56,840
So, you know, it started.

850
00:43:56,840 --> 00:43:58,320
We kind of saw the hurricane coming.

851
00:43:58,320 --> 00:44:00,560
We knew that it was going to cause some damage, right?

852
00:44:00,560 --> 00:44:03,880
So our public works are out working ahead of time clearing culverts.

853
00:44:03,880 --> 00:44:04,880
They're rock stars.

854
00:44:04,880 --> 00:44:09,280
I'm going to get to them later, but really kind of trying to mitigate possible kind of

855
00:44:09,280 --> 00:44:11,880
problems that we'd have that we couldn't get to during the storm.

856
00:44:11,880 --> 00:44:14,080
So clearing debris, that type of stuff.

857
00:44:14,080 --> 00:44:18,320
Now I'm in DC for work that Thursday, I believe, and I'm trying to get back.

858
00:44:18,320 --> 00:44:19,320
They canceled my train.

859
00:44:19,320 --> 00:44:22,280
I took a train up there, you know, because of carbon output.

860
00:44:22,280 --> 00:44:26,440
So I get a rental car and I have to go to the train station in Greensboro to get my

861
00:44:26,440 --> 00:44:28,120
car and get back up the mountain talking to my dad.

862
00:44:28,120 --> 00:44:29,960
My dad's like, you know, you shouldn't do that.

863
00:44:29,960 --> 00:44:31,920
It's already dumping rain.

864
00:44:31,920 --> 00:44:36,120
And I wanted to get back because I knew I'd never forgive myself if I wasn't there to

865
00:44:36,120 --> 00:44:37,680
be able to help in whatever way I can.

866
00:44:37,680 --> 00:44:39,720
And I'm not acting like I'm a rock star.

867
00:44:39,720 --> 00:44:43,360
You know, I'm not EMS train, but I've got two hands and you know, I can help somebody

868
00:44:43,360 --> 00:44:44,360
bring somebody some water.

869
00:44:44,360 --> 00:44:45,840
And I knew I'd never forgive myself.

870
00:44:45,840 --> 00:44:49,640
So I hauled up the mountain, got in about two or three, you know, our driveway's already

871
00:44:49,640 --> 00:44:51,200
got a rut in it.

872
00:44:51,200 --> 00:44:53,680
It's pouring, but really the problem hasn't started.

873
00:44:53,680 --> 00:44:55,280
You know, it's just dumping water.

874
00:44:55,280 --> 00:44:58,280
And then it, you know, it evolved and you recognize how bad it was.

875
00:44:58,280 --> 00:45:02,480
I was obviously staying home for that first day because nobody could really get out other

876
00:45:02,480 --> 00:45:04,280
than emergency services.

877
00:45:04,280 --> 00:45:08,040
But as soon as the storm cleared, I really went to work on relief work.

878
00:45:08,040 --> 00:45:12,120
So I was bringing water and supplies to areas that were hit the hardest trailer parks in

879
00:45:12,120 --> 00:45:13,440
our town.

880
00:45:13,440 --> 00:45:17,080
Some multifamily complex is checking on folks in that way.

881
00:45:17,080 --> 00:45:18,080
And it was heartbreaking.

882
00:45:18,080 --> 00:45:22,640
I mean, I was going into these trailers, bringing people water and I was wearing my town council

883
00:45:22,640 --> 00:45:24,920
badge and you know, it was so early in the process.

884
00:45:24,920 --> 00:45:26,360
We didn't even know what was going to happen.

885
00:45:26,360 --> 00:45:27,360
I didn't have service.

886
00:45:27,360 --> 00:45:30,520
I couldn't even tell what was going on, what the coverage looked like, what the FEDs were

887
00:45:30,520 --> 00:45:32,640
saying they were going to do to help us.

888
00:45:32,640 --> 00:45:36,320
And it was a risk, you know, because I didn't want to go in there and tell people I didn't

889
00:45:36,320 --> 00:45:37,800
have the answers, but I was pretty honest.

890
00:45:37,800 --> 00:45:41,680
I said, look, you know, I want to show you that somebody that's in a position like this

891
00:45:41,680 --> 00:45:45,600
cares and I don't really know what the road's going to look like from here, but I promise

892
00:45:45,600 --> 00:45:49,120
them to fight, you know, hard for you to get the help that you deserve.

893
00:45:49,120 --> 00:45:51,680
And so that was a lot of it the first day or two.

894
00:45:51,680 --> 00:45:57,360
You know, make sure folks were safe, got some people some life saving medication.

895
00:45:57,360 --> 00:45:58,360
And then it evolved, right?

896
00:45:58,360 --> 00:46:01,320
Then it evolved into actually embedded with our planning staff.

897
00:46:01,320 --> 00:46:03,760
And so our planning staff, they were rock stars.

898
00:46:03,760 --> 00:46:05,980
Some of them were commuters into town.

899
00:46:05,980 --> 00:46:07,200
So it was hard for them to get there.

900
00:46:07,200 --> 00:46:10,920
And one of the ways that we could expand the services that our planning staff were doing

901
00:46:10,920 --> 00:46:15,880
in this damage assessment, this initial inspection period was by pairing council members with

902
00:46:15,880 --> 00:46:17,680
a planner because they have to go out in pairs.

903
00:46:17,680 --> 00:46:22,920
And so I was pulling 14 hour days with our planning staff, going out into buildings,

904
00:46:22,920 --> 00:46:25,200
looking at damage, you know, being there to support.

905
00:46:25,200 --> 00:46:26,760
A lot of it was just them having a body.

906
00:46:26,760 --> 00:46:29,840
They just needed somebody to be there with them for safety sake.

907
00:46:29,840 --> 00:46:35,520
But it was surreal, you know, and the days really blended together.

908
00:46:35,520 --> 00:46:37,400
I had no access to information.

909
00:46:37,400 --> 00:46:42,640
I had, you know, we didn't get internet back for four or five days and, and cell service

910
00:46:42,640 --> 00:46:45,520
was, you know, you could get a text out every now and then.

911
00:46:45,520 --> 00:46:49,760
But I really just gave myself to that work and, you know, kept my head down and, and

912
00:46:49,760 --> 00:46:50,760
we slowly improved.

913
00:46:50,760 --> 00:46:53,760
You know, I think the town fared better than the west end of the county.

914
00:46:53,760 --> 00:46:57,080
Obviously, the storm was a little further west.

915
00:46:57,080 --> 00:46:59,760
But you know, I think sometimes you'll have this attitude with Boone where they're like,

916
00:46:59,760 --> 00:47:01,260
oh, well, Boone looks okay now.

917
00:47:01,260 --> 00:47:02,720
So it wasn't a problem.

918
00:47:02,720 --> 00:47:06,440
But you know, folks see those pictures of King Street underwater and it's like, no,

919
00:47:06,440 --> 00:47:07,600
we got hit hard.

920
00:47:07,600 --> 00:47:11,440
We just had some folks and not saying that other towns didn't work hard, but we had folks

921
00:47:11,440 --> 00:47:16,440
that were just real amazing at doing work before the hurricane, during the hurricane,

922
00:47:16,440 --> 00:47:19,800
and after the hurricane to the point where we were back online with major services, you

923
00:47:19,800 --> 00:47:23,920
know, within a week, a week and a half, which is not the story of a lot of towns.

924
00:47:23,920 --> 00:47:27,880
And I guess the one thing I'll say too, you know, the public works piece, I write a column

925
00:47:27,880 --> 00:47:32,620
for Beacon Media and I wrote this piece recently about how the public works employees really

926
00:47:32,620 --> 00:47:33,620
impressed me.

927
00:47:33,620 --> 00:47:37,300
I know we saw a lot of feel good stories about the firefighters and the police and they were

928
00:47:37,300 --> 00:47:38,300
amazing too.

929
00:47:38,300 --> 00:47:43,560
But I think it just shows America's relationship with blue collar labor where these guys that

930
00:47:43,560 --> 00:47:47,440
have shovels and t-shirts are coming out there digging out culverts, removing debris in the

931
00:47:47,440 --> 00:47:48,880
middle of the storm.

932
00:47:48,880 --> 00:47:52,960
And the corporate hotels aren't offering them a free right, but they are for the firefighter

933
00:47:52,960 --> 00:47:53,960
and the policeman.

934
00:47:53,960 --> 00:47:55,940
And I want them to do that for the firefighter and the policeman.

935
00:47:55,940 --> 00:47:57,680
But I also want them to do it for the public works employees.

936
00:47:57,680 --> 00:48:02,920
We had guys sleeping in vans, sleeping in the public works facilities, pulling, you know,

937
00:48:02,920 --> 00:48:04,700
24 hour shifts.

938
00:48:04,700 --> 00:48:08,760
And that was really incredible and it really endeared me to their work in a way.

939
00:48:08,760 --> 00:48:12,720
I mean, I've always loved our employees, but I was like, y'all are my heroes.

940
00:48:12,720 --> 00:48:15,920
And a lot of my friends in the police department said the same thing about public works.

941
00:48:15,920 --> 00:48:17,920
They were like, these guys are rockstar.

942
00:48:17,920 --> 00:48:22,440
And that's, it's interesting in bringing up like just this blue collar, these guys who

943
00:48:22,440 --> 00:48:27,480
are clearing out culverts type of guys and showing appreciation for them.

944
00:48:27,480 --> 00:48:33,600
And I mean, we definitely have a soft spot in the heart for like sanitation and water

945
00:48:33,600 --> 00:48:37,800
and all that stuff, like the non-sexy local government.

946
00:48:37,800 --> 00:48:40,620
But I am willing to bet, and this is not an indictment on them at all.

947
00:48:40,620 --> 00:48:45,940
I am willing to bet that they vote Republican most of the way, almost every time, as a lot

948
00:48:45,940 --> 00:48:47,520
of blue collar workers do.

949
00:48:47,520 --> 00:48:54,520
And my question is as a democratic area, as a democratic town council, what are the kinds

950
00:48:54,520 --> 00:49:00,340
of things that you think can better ingratiate that maybe the NCDP or heck, if they'll listen

951
00:49:00,340 --> 00:49:04,360
to you, the National Democratic Party could do to better ingratiate themselves to blue

952
00:49:04,360 --> 00:49:09,160
collar workers like them so that they understand that the kinds of things that we advocate

953
00:49:09,160 --> 00:49:11,520
for actually serve to help them as well.

954
00:49:11,520 --> 00:49:12,520
Yeah.

955
00:49:12,520 --> 00:49:13,520
Yeah.

956
00:49:13,520 --> 00:49:14,520
Heavy question.

957
00:49:14,520 --> 00:49:15,520
Yeah, it is.

958
00:49:15,520 --> 00:49:18,920
I'll just speak, I'll speak from personal experience because, you know, and I don't

959
00:49:18,920 --> 00:49:21,680
know if this is the way you're mapping on the strategy, but you know, I was talking

960
00:49:21,680 --> 00:49:23,080
earlier about the perception of being elected.

961
00:49:23,080 --> 00:49:26,600
When I first got elected, because I was young, because I was taking on landlords, the perception

962
00:49:26,600 --> 00:49:31,000
was I'm like, you know, this lefty that's unreasonable, right?

963
00:49:31,000 --> 00:49:33,720
Like, you know, this anarchist, I'm going to destroy the town.

964
00:49:33,720 --> 00:49:35,520
I mean, that really was the perception.

965
00:49:35,520 --> 00:49:37,400
And there's a lot of raised eyebrows about me.

966
00:49:37,400 --> 00:49:39,000
And that's not to say that I'm not progressive.

967
00:49:39,000 --> 00:49:40,320
I make that clear to everybody.

968
00:49:40,320 --> 00:49:42,200
I don't, you know, I don't hide that.

969
00:49:42,200 --> 00:49:45,600
I've introduced a lot of things that few other towns have.

970
00:49:45,600 --> 00:49:50,040
I view government as being an incredibly important part of helping working people.

971
00:49:50,040 --> 00:49:51,040
Right.

972
00:49:51,040 --> 00:49:53,320
I mean, that's, that's my foundation of my political.

973
00:49:53,320 --> 00:49:57,600
And I make that clear, but also, you know, a lot of the staff that I have the best relationships

974
00:49:57,600 --> 00:50:01,440
with and I don't know how they vote for sure, but I bet they do vote Republican.

975
00:50:01,440 --> 00:50:03,680
But what I, it's just about relationship building.

976
00:50:03,680 --> 00:50:07,480
You know, I get in there and I talk to these people and, and I, they realized very quickly,

977
00:50:07,480 --> 00:50:08,820
we grew up very similar.

978
00:50:08,820 --> 00:50:11,920
You know, I'm in rural North Carolina, I grew up single parent family.

979
00:50:11,920 --> 00:50:13,440
My dad was a blue collar worker.

980
00:50:13,440 --> 00:50:14,440
Right.

981
00:50:14,440 --> 00:50:15,440
I mean, that type of stuff.

982
00:50:15,440 --> 00:50:19,280
And, and just through talking and shooting the breeze with them, you know, being funny,

983
00:50:19,280 --> 00:50:23,020
I mean, I genuinely, and maybe that's the question, the answer, Adrian.

984
00:50:23,020 --> 00:50:25,000
It's like, I think we just have to be funnier.

985
00:50:25,000 --> 00:50:28,640
I really do think that's like, I think that's like the, the answer.

986
00:50:28,640 --> 00:50:32,360
I mean, working people don't want you to come to their door if you're the NCDP or the democratic

987
00:50:32,360 --> 00:50:34,680
party and talk about how bad life is.

988
00:50:34,680 --> 00:50:35,960
Because we get that, you know what I mean?

989
00:50:35,960 --> 00:50:38,240
Like my dad didn't have insurance the whole time I was growing up.

990
00:50:38,240 --> 00:50:41,840
Nobody's knock on his door and say, oh my gosh, you know, it's so terrible not to have

991
00:50:41,840 --> 00:50:44,360
insurance and this is, you know, people are dying.

992
00:50:44,360 --> 00:50:47,440
You know, it's like, they get that they get that better than anybody else.

993
00:50:47,440 --> 00:50:51,720
How bad things can be, what it's like to, you know, have a check bounce, what it's like

994
00:50:51,720 --> 00:50:55,640
to not be able to get important services, to skip a doctor appointment, an dentist appointment.

995
00:50:55,640 --> 00:50:57,680
They want to hear how bad things are.

996
00:50:57,680 --> 00:51:01,160
They want somebody that can show they can get something done and they want somebody

997
00:51:01,160 --> 00:51:03,000
that can make life a little bit more enjoyable.

998
00:51:03,000 --> 00:51:04,400
I think humor is the way to do it.

999
00:51:04,400 --> 00:51:08,280
And so, you know, the way I've always gotten along with the many Republicans in my town,

1000
00:51:08,280 --> 00:51:10,400
some of which actually vote for me, right?

1001
00:51:10,400 --> 00:51:13,640
Even now they know I'm a leftist through being funny and accessible.

1002
00:51:13,640 --> 00:51:15,760
I think that's really the heart of it.

1003
00:51:15,760 --> 00:51:16,760
Yeah.

1004
00:51:16,760 --> 00:51:18,400
I think that's a great answer.

1005
00:51:18,400 --> 00:51:23,320
And it's something I've kind of talked about before is that a lot of Democrats take themselves

1006
00:51:23,320 --> 00:51:30,680
really, really seriously and trying to push sort of a more dour message of like everything's

1007
00:51:30,680 --> 00:51:33,480
falling apart, only we can save it kind of thing.

1008
00:51:33,480 --> 00:51:36,800
And I'm sure that a lot of for a lot of people that doesn't work.

1009
00:51:36,800 --> 00:51:42,160
And I think your approach is a really good one of not necessarily just being more humorous,

1010
00:51:42,160 --> 00:51:44,200
although that is definitely a benefit.

1011
00:51:44,200 --> 00:51:46,120
A boon, if you will.

1012
00:51:46,120 --> 00:51:51,320
And you have this ability to connect with people.

1013
00:51:51,320 --> 00:51:56,080
It's something that I think is missing from just the national feeling of politics right

1014
00:51:56,080 --> 00:51:57,480
now as a whole.

1015
00:51:57,480 --> 00:52:00,440
It's a sense of sincerity.

1016
00:52:00,440 --> 00:52:05,280
It's a sense of community and just being normal, so to say.

1017
00:52:05,280 --> 00:52:12,120
I say normal as in like your everyday person, you know, not coming from a place of superiority

1018
00:52:12,120 --> 00:52:13,120
or that.

1019
00:52:13,120 --> 00:52:14,120
Right.

1020
00:52:14,120 --> 00:52:15,120
And it's you know, I work hard to do it.

1021
00:52:15,120 --> 00:52:16,120
But I think you're right.

1022
00:52:16,120 --> 00:52:17,120
I think it's the sincerity.

1023
00:52:17,120 --> 00:52:20,520
I think it's I think it's showing that you're a real person.

1024
00:52:20,520 --> 00:52:23,960
And you know, it's I mean, there's so many stories I can tell during the hurricane where,

1025
00:52:23,960 --> 00:52:29,200
you know, I would introduce a moment of levity or just crack a joke or, you know, just offer

1026
00:52:29,200 --> 00:52:32,200
support, you know, shake somebody's hand and just look them in the eye and tell them how

1027
00:52:32,200 --> 00:52:33,200
much I appreciate them.

1028
00:52:33,200 --> 00:52:36,120
You know, they'd see the mud on my boots and they'd know I was out there.

1029
00:52:36,120 --> 00:52:37,600
There's one of my favorite firefighters.

1030
00:52:37,600 --> 00:52:40,240
He was our emergency response like captain.

1031
00:52:40,240 --> 00:52:44,680
So this dude was working, you know, like the 24 hour shifts like bags under his eyes.

1032
00:52:44,680 --> 00:52:46,240
He was a real he was a real hero.

1033
00:52:46,240 --> 00:52:47,520
And I love the dude to death.

1034
00:52:47,520 --> 00:52:50,680
Again, I don't know how any of them vote, but I'm just this is a great example.

1035
00:52:50,680 --> 00:52:51,680
And I'm covered in mud.

1036
00:52:51,680 --> 00:52:53,360
I've got these got my hard hat.

1037
00:52:53,360 --> 00:52:58,560
I've got my like boots on and I'm in for one of the briefings and he comes in and he's

1038
00:52:58,560 --> 00:53:02,400
up there at the podium giving a briefing to staff and he sees me dressed that way.

1039
00:53:02,400 --> 00:53:04,400
And he points he's like, look at you, man.

1040
00:53:04,400 --> 00:53:05,400
And like busts out laughing.

1041
00:53:05,400 --> 00:53:08,320
I mean, and you know, it's just that rapport.

1042
00:53:08,320 --> 00:53:13,160
I think folks really do see that I try my hardest and, you know, I'm just out there.

1043
00:53:13,160 --> 00:53:16,160
I'm willing to do whatever I would ask anybody to do.

1044
00:53:16,160 --> 00:53:17,160
That's part of it.

1045
00:53:17,160 --> 00:53:21,320
You know, I guess a quick aside on the being funny and being genuine.

1046
00:53:21,320 --> 00:53:23,240
We have a lobbyist for the town of Boone.

1047
00:53:23,240 --> 00:53:24,360
A lot of folks do.

1048
00:53:24,360 --> 00:53:28,880
And there's a couple of people in the General Assembly that dislike me because I'm pretty

1049
00:53:28,880 --> 00:53:34,960
frank and, you know, it makes my lobbyist's job harder, which I get like and he went to

1050
00:53:34,960 --> 00:53:38,080
kind of tell me, hey, man, you know, you got to start behaving.

1051
00:53:38,080 --> 00:53:39,320
And I kind of lit into him.

1052
00:53:39,320 --> 00:53:40,800
He's now somebody I admire.

1053
00:53:40,800 --> 00:53:42,880
But I said, look, I know what people say about me and Riley.

1054
00:53:42,880 --> 00:53:44,680
I know what the other party says that I'm young.

1055
00:53:44,680 --> 00:53:48,560
I don't know how the world works that, you know, I'm this lefty, the silver spoon, whatever

1056
00:53:48,560 --> 00:53:49,560
they say.

1057
00:53:49,560 --> 00:53:51,240
I said, I want you to know I resent that.

1058
00:53:51,240 --> 00:53:52,240
That's exactly what I said.

1059
00:53:52,240 --> 00:53:56,120
I told him a little bit about how I grew up and I told him a little bit about who I was

1060
00:53:56,120 --> 00:53:57,120
and what I believed.

1061
00:53:57,120 --> 00:53:59,280
And by the end of that conversation, he was like, you know what?

1062
00:53:59,280 --> 00:54:01,000
I'm so glad you told me this.

1063
00:54:01,000 --> 00:54:02,720
I'm going to try to get things ironed out.

1064
00:54:02,720 --> 00:54:06,600
I mean, it was less about reprimanding me and more about, OK, there was this perception

1065
00:54:06,600 --> 00:54:11,440
of this guy because he's a Democrat, because he's progressive, because he's young, that

1066
00:54:11,440 --> 00:54:15,320
if you sit down and listen to him talk about who he is and what he comes from, you realize

1067
00:54:15,320 --> 00:54:17,480
very quickly that you're shadow boxing.

1068
00:54:17,480 --> 00:54:19,280
The person you hate isn't even real.

1069
00:54:19,280 --> 00:54:20,280
Yeah.

1070
00:54:20,280 --> 00:54:26,960
These scarecrows are put up to make it seem like all Democrats, all progressives are this

1071
00:54:26,960 --> 00:54:27,960
way.

1072
00:54:27,960 --> 00:54:30,800
But I think you're a living example that that's not the case.

1073
00:54:30,800 --> 00:54:31,920
That's good to see.

1074
00:54:31,920 --> 00:54:35,040
The quicker we break down these kinds of barriers, the better it'll be.

1075
00:54:35,040 --> 00:54:40,800
Also, I do think it's funny that pretty in character for a lobbyist to just plead with

1076
00:54:40,800 --> 00:54:42,400
you to play ball.

1077
00:54:42,400 --> 00:54:43,400
Right.

1078
00:54:43,400 --> 00:54:45,920
And you know, and that's that's the dynamic.

1079
00:54:45,920 --> 00:54:50,400
I think a lot of progressive city councils are having to contend with this.

1080
00:54:50,400 --> 00:54:51,400
We want appropriations.

1081
00:54:51,400 --> 00:54:53,720
We want funding from the General Assembly.

1082
00:54:53,720 --> 00:54:54,720
And we're outspoken.

1083
00:54:54,720 --> 00:54:57,320
I mean, there's a connection.

1084
00:54:57,320 --> 00:54:58,760
And it's what does that balance look like?

1085
00:54:58,760 --> 00:55:01,680
What does it look like going to bat for your people and also trying to get funding for

1086
00:55:01,680 --> 00:55:02,680
projects?

1087
00:55:02,680 --> 00:55:03,880
And I think I've struck a balance.

1088
00:55:03,880 --> 00:55:07,800
I mean, y'all can look at my Facebook and see me criticizing the General Assembly.

1089
00:55:07,800 --> 00:55:10,760
But I think I've got to a place where I've found that balance.

1090
00:55:10,760 --> 00:55:11,760
We'll see.

1091
00:55:11,760 --> 00:55:13,360
We'll see what we hear in the future.

1092
00:55:13,360 --> 00:55:18,800
Well, so while we're talking about the General Assembly, I was kind of curious, you know,

1093
00:55:18,800 --> 00:55:23,200
just from your experiences as Mayor Pro Tem and, you know, living in Western North Carolina,

1094
00:55:23,200 --> 00:55:28,000
like what is there any like dream bill, so to say, that you'd love to see go through

1095
00:55:28,000 --> 00:55:29,000
the journal?

1096
00:55:29,000 --> 00:55:30,000
Yeah.

1097
00:55:30,000 --> 00:55:32,680
I mean, you know, I got that I got that kind of discussion topic really for you.

1098
00:55:32,680 --> 00:55:36,120
And I really thought about it was in bed last night thinking like, what would be my dream

1099
00:55:36,120 --> 00:55:37,120
bill?

1100
00:55:37,120 --> 00:55:38,200
And I think that's one of the things I'd say.

1101
00:55:38,200 --> 00:55:39,200
And this might be a cop out.

1102
00:55:39,200 --> 00:55:41,480
Y'all might be like, y'all might roll y'all's eyes at this.

1103
00:55:41,480 --> 00:55:45,520
But I think it would hammer on a lot of things I want to do that are my mini dream.

1104
00:55:45,520 --> 00:55:50,080
And that's, you know, some sort of home rule push, probably be a constitutional amendment,

1105
00:55:50,080 --> 00:55:52,720
you know, more local control in our communities.

1106
00:55:52,720 --> 00:55:56,840
And, you know, we've seen with these recent Senate bills that remove towns ability to

1107
00:55:56,840 --> 00:56:01,840
zone and control what's going on in their jurisdiction, the limitation of rent control,

1108
00:56:01,840 --> 00:56:04,680
the ability to tackle ballyin lords in any real way.

1109
00:56:04,680 --> 00:56:07,600
I mean, you know, environmental plastic bands, things like that.

1110
00:56:07,600 --> 00:56:08,800
All these things are preemptive.

1111
00:56:08,800 --> 00:56:12,440
And the thing that kills me all is like, you know, I hear all these people talk about small

1112
00:56:12,440 --> 00:56:16,480
government parties, and there is not a party in Raleigh, let's make it very clear, that

1113
00:56:16,480 --> 00:56:19,120
believes in a local community's ability to govern.

1114
00:56:19,120 --> 00:56:23,240
And if you call that small government, which to me, it seems pretty apt, right?

1115
00:56:23,240 --> 00:56:25,120
Then there's not a party that believes in that.

1116
00:56:25,120 --> 00:56:30,480
And if anything, the party claims to be small government is actually continuously and maliciously

1117
00:56:30,480 --> 00:56:33,600
taking rights away from local governments to legislate.

1118
00:56:33,600 --> 00:56:37,400
And so what that what that does is when I'm in the grocery store, and somebody comes up

1119
00:56:37,400 --> 00:56:40,960
to me and tells me they're having to move because the rent's too high and their landlord

1120
00:56:40,960 --> 00:56:45,800
maybe isn't repairing, you know, whatever the case may be, and they're giving up on

1121
00:56:45,800 --> 00:56:50,280
this place, I have to look at them and say, well, some joker in Raleigh 20 years ago,

1122
00:56:50,280 --> 00:56:53,800
wrote a bill that said the town can't do anything about rent, right?

1123
00:56:53,800 --> 00:56:55,240
And I have to have that comment.

1124
00:56:55,240 --> 00:56:57,080
And that's incredibly frustrating.

1125
00:56:57,080 --> 00:57:01,240
And I will say Democrats, you know, they were they were on board with some of these things

1126
00:57:01,240 --> 00:57:02,240
too.

1127
00:57:02,240 --> 00:57:04,160
They've done the pass, right.

1128
00:57:04,160 --> 00:57:08,880
But I would love to see a conversation in Raleigh about what does what does home rule

1129
00:57:08,880 --> 00:57:10,320
look like in North Carolina?

1130
00:57:10,320 --> 00:57:11,320
What's the appetite there?

1131
00:57:11,320 --> 00:57:14,480
And the thing is, Republican legislators in small towns want that.

1132
00:57:14,480 --> 00:57:19,080
I mean, like the ramifications of this Senate bill that's taken away local control, that

1133
00:57:19,080 --> 00:57:21,320
affects Republican communities, too.

1134
00:57:21,320 --> 00:57:24,960
There is a definitely an opportunity for bipartisanship there.

1135
00:57:24,960 --> 00:57:25,960
Absolutely.

1136
00:57:25,960 --> 00:57:27,680
But and I'm not rolling my eyes.

1137
00:57:27,680 --> 00:57:31,400
I actually agree that I think that that would be a great thing to see pass.

1138
00:57:31,400 --> 00:57:36,880
But I am, of course, skeptical because you're asking the General Assembly to give away some

1139
00:57:36,880 --> 00:57:38,440
of their power.

1140
00:57:38,440 --> 00:57:39,440
Right.

1141
00:57:39,440 --> 00:57:43,040
Yeah, that's I think it's a good answer.

1142
00:57:43,040 --> 00:57:44,640
That is definitely a dream bill.

1143
00:57:44,640 --> 00:57:47,680
Unfortunately, right now and probably forever.

1144
00:57:47,680 --> 00:57:49,760
Well, I sure hope not.

1145
00:57:49,760 --> 00:57:51,360
We've got a couple of minutes left.

1146
00:57:51,360 --> 00:57:56,000
So Dalton wanted to ask you, what is your go to cookout order?

1147
00:57:56,000 --> 00:57:58,400
Yeah, maybe the hardest question of the day.

1148
00:57:58,400 --> 00:57:59,400
OK, so don't judge me.

1149
00:57:59,400 --> 00:58:00,960
I do cheese cases.

1150
00:58:00,960 --> 00:58:03,480
I don't know why, but I like the cheese more than the chicken.

1151
00:58:03,480 --> 00:58:09,360
So I hit the cheese quesadilla, Cajun fries, the classic honey mustard chicken wrap, Cheerwine

1152
00:58:09,360 --> 00:58:10,360
to drink.

1153
00:58:10,360 --> 00:58:11,360
That's that's my classic.

1154
00:58:11,360 --> 00:58:16,440
And you know, there's some variations, but the sides are always going to be Cajun fries,

1155
00:58:16,440 --> 00:58:17,520
honey mustard chicken wrap.

1156
00:58:17,520 --> 00:58:19,320
You know, you don't move off of that.

1157
00:58:19,320 --> 00:58:22,240
So let me let me ask you a little follow up with that then.

1158
00:58:22,240 --> 00:58:23,560
What's your cookout milkshake then?

1159
00:58:23,560 --> 00:58:25,480
OK, this is oh, no, I don't know.

1160
00:58:25,480 --> 00:58:28,320
I might lose my next election in a landslide.

1161
00:58:28,320 --> 00:58:30,520
I'm not like a huge milkshake guy.

1162
00:58:30,520 --> 00:58:31,520
Oh, oh, man.

1163
00:58:31,520 --> 00:58:32,520
All right.

1164
00:58:32,520 --> 00:58:35,520
Well, that's the end of this interview.

1165
00:58:35,520 --> 00:58:38,400
No, not even the not even like the summer fruity one.

1166
00:58:38,400 --> 00:58:41,920
No, you know, if I get ice cream, I'll do like the Cheerwine or root beer float.

1167
00:58:41,920 --> 00:58:43,400
Like that's like that's it for me.

1168
00:58:43,400 --> 00:58:44,840
OK, so you're a big Cheerwine.

1169
00:58:44,840 --> 00:58:46,120
Cheerwine all the way.

1170
00:58:46,120 --> 00:58:47,120
Yeah.

1171
00:58:47,120 --> 00:58:49,200
Well, not even really drink soda unless I'm like going to a cookout.

1172
00:58:49,200 --> 00:58:51,200
So I got it like I got to go big.

1173
00:58:51,200 --> 00:58:52,200
OK, OK.

1174
00:58:52,200 --> 00:58:56,440
Well, I certainly hope that that didn't cost you your next re-election.

1175
00:58:56,440 --> 00:58:59,720
And no, but thank you for the answer.

1176
00:58:59,720 --> 00:59:03,680
I my my daughter loves the cheese quesadillas.

1177
00:59:03,680 --> 00:59:06,280
And that's about the only thing that she will leave from cookouts.

1178
00:59:06,280 --> 00:59:09,160
So you won her vote at the very least.

1179
00:59:09,160 --> 00:59:10,480
OK, good taste.

1180
00:59:10,480 --> 00:59:11,480
Good taste.

1181
00:59:11,480 --> 00:59:12,480
Yeah.

1182
00:59:12,480 --> 00:59:16,000
But Dalton, it has been really, really good having you on today.

1183
00:59:16,000 --> 00:59:21,320
I feel like if our listeners learn anything, it's that young people can make a difference.

1184
00:59:21,320 --> 00:59:23,280
Don't define yourself by your age.

1185
00:59:23,280 --> 00:59:27,320
And the roadblocks that we put up are often in our own minds.

1186
00:59:27,320 --> 00:59:30,280
And, you know, pride and prejudice can get the best of us.

1187
00:59:30,280 --> 00:59:31,280
Absolutely.

1188
00:59:31,280 --> 00:59:32,280
Yeah.

1189
00:59:32,280 --> 00:59:33,280
And thanks for having me on, y'all.

1190
00:59:33,280 --> 00:59:34,280
CJ, it's great.

1191
00:59:34,280 --> 00:59:35,280
Have a little Wotaka reunion.

1192
00:59:35,280 --> 00:59:37,680
And yeah, enjoy the show.

1193
00:59:37,680 --> 00:59:39,280
Listen to a couple of episodes for coming on.

1194
00:59:39,280 --> 00:59:41,080
So excited to see what else you all release.

1195
00:59:41,080 --> 00:59:42,080
Oh, thank you.

1196
00:59:42,080 --> 00:59:44,640
And where can people find where can you people find you?

1197
00:59:44,640 --> 00:59:45,640
Oh, yeah.

1198
00:59:45,640 --> 00:59:49,400
So Dalton for Boone on Instagram and Facebook.

1199
00:59:49,400 --> 00:59:53,400
And then it's John Dalton George on Twitter.

1200
00:59:53,400 --> 00:59:57,160
And it's John without the H. It's it's not confusing enough to have three first

1201
00:59:57,160 --> 00:59:58,160
names.

1202
00:59:58,160 --> 00:59:59,680
We also have to spell.

1203
00:59:59,680 --> 01:00:02,760
So yeah, and that's where I'm usually at.

1204
01:00:02,760 --> 01:00:04,200
Shoot me a message or something.

1205
01:00:04,200 --> 01:00:05,920
And yeah, we can definitely chat.

1206
01:00:05,920 --> 01:00:10,120
Well, thank you for thank you for coming on today, Dalton, as our current president of

1207
01:00:10,120 --> 01:00:13,600
the United States would probably say, keep an eye on Dalton.

1208
01:00:13,600 --> 01:00:14,600
He's a comer.

1209
01:00:14,600 --> 01:00:18,240
So we've got we'll keep an eye on you.

1210
01:00:18,240 --> 01:00:21,160
And hopefully that's like further down the line.

1211
01:00:21,160 --> 01:00:25,240
I hope that you're running politics does not end just as the mayor pro tem.

1212
01:00:25,240 --> 01:00:27,480
We would like to see you do more further down the road.

1213
01:00:27,480 --> 01:00:28,480
I'm sure that C.J.

1214
01:00:28,480 --> 01:00:29,480
would agree with me.

1215
01:00:29,480 --> 01:00:30,480
Oh, yeah, most definitely.

1216
01:00:30,480 --> 01:00:31,480
Well, I appreciate that, y'all.

1217
01:00:31,480 --> 01:00:35,640
And then, yeah, I guess I'd be remiss if 2025's municipal elections.

1218
01:00:35,640 --> 01:00:36,640
My term's not up.

1219
01:00:36,640 --> 01:00:40,880
But, you know, I guess that's am I allowed to do a little plug real quick about local

1220
01:00:40,880 --> 01:00:41,880
elections?

1221
01:00:41,880 --> 01:00:42,880
Plug away, please do.

1222
01:00:42,880 --> 01:00:43,880
OK, cool.

1223
01:00:43,880 --> 01:00:46,680
I know we were winding down, but, you know, you're talking about the president, you're

1224
01:00:46,680 --> 01:00:50,200
talking about the federal government and our general assembly that we're just being let

1225
01:00:50,200 --> 01:00:51,480
down left and right.

1226
01:00:51,480 --> 01:00:56,120
I tell people I'm like, I think a strong local government really could be kind of an umbrella

1227
01:00:56,120 --> 01:00:59,880
against a lot of the mess that's coming out of Raleigh and Washington.

1228
01:00:59,880 --> 01:01:02,400
And you know, now more than ever, you've been thinking about running.

1229
01:01:02,400 --> 01:01:06,080
If you have somebody in your community that you want to run, if you want to get involved

1230
01:01:06,080 --> 01:01:09,620
on a campaign like I think 2025 is the year to do it.

1231
01:01:09,620 --> 01:01:11,120
That's how we build out a bench of people.

1232
01:01:11,120 --> 01:01:13,520
That's how we get strong local policy that protects our folks.

1233
01:01:13,520 --> 01:01:17,240
I'll use the non-discrimination ordinance we got passed here in Boone as an example.

1234
01:01:17,240 --> 01:01:18,240
Right.

1235
01:01:18,240 --> 01:01:19,240
I mean, we get so distressed.

1236
01:01:19,240 --> 01:01:22,680
What's going on in Raleigh and Washington, we can do things locally to protect our neighbors

1237
01:01:22,680 --> 01:01:23,680
and our community.

1238
01:01:23,680 --> 01:01:25,440
It just involves getting involved.

1239
01:01:25,440 --> 01:01:27,920
So yeah, that's a quick plug.

1240
01:01:27,920 --> 01:01:28,920
And that's all I got.

1241
01:01:28,920 --> 01:01:30,400
Oh, thank you for the plug.

1242
01:01:30,400 --> 01:01:32,660
And thanks for coming on.

1243
01:01:32,660 --> 01:01:33,660
Thank you.

1244
01:01:33,660 --> 01:01:38,360
And like you said, nice little Watauga County Dems reunion right here.

1245
01:01:38,360 --> 01:01:41,680
Let's not wait, you know, let's not wait a few years before we do this again.

1246
01:01:41,680 --> 01:01:42,680
Amen.

1247
01:01:42,680 --> 01:01:43,680
Amen, brother.

1248
01:01:43,680 --> 01:01:44,680
Well, appreciate y'all.

1249
01:01:44,680 --> 01:01:45,680
Take care.

1250
01:01:45,680 --> 01:01:46,680
Thank you, Dalton.

1251
01:01:46,680 --> 01:01:48,840
Once again, we want to thank Dalton for coming on the podcast.

1252
01:01:48,840 --> 01:01:50,440
It was a great time.

1253
01:01:50,440 --> 01:01:54,520
And of course, like I said, go and look him up on everything and follow him.

1254
01:01:54,520 --> 01:01:58,840
And in the meantime, make sure to follow us and subscribe because we are definitely going

1255
01:01:58,840 --> 01:02:01,920
to have more guests on the podcast very, very soon.

1256
01:02:01,920 --> 01:02:04,880
So, you know, make sure to stick around for that.

1257
01:02:04,880 --> 01:02:05,880
Oh yes.

1258
01:02:05,880 --> 01:02:10,920
And just remember to take any action that you can right now.

1259
01:02:10,920 --> 01:02:12,120
Run for office.

1260
01:02:12,120 --> 01:02:14,040
Use your voice however you can.

1261
01:02:14,040 --> 01:02:17,400
And also, as a side note, let us know what you think about this episode.

1262
01:02:17,400 --> 01:02:21,280
So, you know, let us know what you think about the interview and this whole format.

1263
01:02:21,280 --> 01:02:22,280
Yeah.

1264
01:02:22,280 --> 01:02:27,240
Comment your vitriol at us on YouTube or slander us on Facebook.

1265
01:02:27,240 --> 01:02:30,520
Clip our clip our stuff out of context and post it onto Twitter.

1266
01:02:30,520 --> 01:02:34,800
You know, whatever you need to do to make sure that people understand that what we're

1267
01:02:34,800 --> 01:02:39,160
trying to do with this podcast is to help North Carolinian, especially young progressives,

1268
01:02:39,160 --> 01:02:42,880
Democrats, liberals, leftists have a voice.

1269
01:02:42,880 --> 01:02:45,760
Let's come together and stay on the left of old North.

1270
01:02:45,760 --> 01:02:46,760
Thank you for tuning in.

1271
01:02:46,760 --> 01:02:47,400
We'll see you next time.