So razor climbing. He's like, oh, challenge accepted.
This isn't going to be fun for me. I could tell
already. Welcome to County Connection. the official
podcast of the Washington State Association of
Counties, where we dive into the legislative
issues shaping the future of our communities.
From budgets to public safety, infrastructure
to elections, we'll break down what's happening
in Olympia and how it impacts counties from across
the Evergreen State. Stay informed, stay engaged,
and join us as we amplify the voice of Washington's
39 counties. Welcome to the County Connections
Podcast. My name is Jamie Bodden, Managing Director
for the State Association of Local Public Health
Officials, and I'm here today with my co -host.
Kelsey Hulse, Contract Lobbyist with State Association
of Counties. That's right. We've taken control
of the podcast room at the WASAC office, and
we're here today with a very special guest to
talk about the legislative session, special issues,
and what's going on for the interim. Hello, special
guest. Would you like to introduce yourself?
Hello, I'm Paul, the Government Relations Director
for WASAC, and typically the host of this podcast,
but evidently something has happened and it's
been taken over by you two, and I'm not sure
how to feel about it. Paul is in the hot seat
and he is ready. It feels a little bit less comfortable
on this side of the table, I have to say. Now
you know how we all felt all session long, Paul.
Well, you were good at masking this feeling because
it's a little uncertain for me. I'm not sure
what to do, actually. Yeah, well, how about we
get going and start right off the bat? Sure,
why not? What were some of the legislative issues
that you worked on during legislative session?
Because you didn't really get to talk about them
during our podcast. You asked us a lot of questions,
but didn't get to hear about some of the things
that you were working on. Yeah, you know, I'm
not sure why it was that way. I guess just because,
you know, the podcast was new this year. And
as I was hosting it, it just really felt a lot
more natural to kind of ask you guys questions
than maybe talk about the issues that I was handling
for the association. You know, we had a lot of
changes this year in our staff, and we had to
reshuffle a lot of the issues that we typically
deal with. And by we, I mean mostly me. It was
a lot of the issues that I typically dealt with,
like land use, natural resources, environmental
issues, and things like that, and energy, water
policy, timber policy. A few of those I kept,
but most of them I had to, you know. assigned
to other staff members, including Kelsey, one
of our new staff members this year, who did a
great job. Thanks, Kelsey. Remember that as the
host today. How appreciative I am of all your
hard work this year. Sure, sure, Paul. Moving
right along. But so I ended up covering... I
still covered water and timber, but there wasn't
a lot this year. In fact, this was one of the
lightest water years I've ever seen. There were
a few timber issues, but most of it dealt with
like wildland fire and things like that. And
so that was really Travis. And most of the timber
bills didn't move forward. The big issues that
I ended up working in were really tax policy,
labor policy, general government policy, elections,
things like that. Frankly, issues that I'd never
really. Policy areas I hadn't worked before.
So it was a little challenging, I think, this
year for me. Was there an outcome out of this
session that you're most excited about or something
that you thought was really positive from that
issue area you just outlined? Well, if I'm being
totally honest. Not really. Those are really
tough issue areas for us. You know, labor issues
are tough, right? You know, it's usually the
counties and the cities against the unions on
some of those issues. And in today's political...
environment. We're usually not coming out the
winner. There were some outcomes. There were
some bills that didn't pass. For instance, there
was a bill that would have required local governments,
all employers essentially, but including local
governments to bargain with their bargaining
units, their representative employees, if they
were going to adopt technology with AI. Right.
Artificial intelligence. Well, frankly, all technology
today that you adopt is going to have artificial
intelligence built in as part of that component.
And so it was really unclear to us as to how
and under what circumstances we were supposed
to negotiate. And the union representatives were
presented it as really just changing the timing
when you had to negotiate, because if you're
going to adopt new software programs that. contain
ai or not but they affect uh certain working
conditions wages things like that you have to
negotiate over those working conditions those
impacts etc but this was a different bill and
in that it made you negotiate over the adoption
of the technology itself which was a real problem
for us It went largely unnoticed by a lot of
employer groups until the bill got halfway through
the session. And then some of the bigger groups
kind of woke up and said, oh, this is a problem,
like Amazon or Microsoft and some of those. And
so we ended up with some support getting that
bill kind of put down this year. So that was
a good outcome. But we lost the battle on some
other really important labor bills that I think
were. pretty impactful, unfortunately. And that
is not unusual for us in this particular space.
It's just a really difficult area for us to operate.
And then... When you think about some of the
other areas around, you know, say tax policy
and things like that, we weren't very successful
this year either. Although we did get further
than we had in years past. So I suppose we can
be proud of that. But, you know, in politics,
there's really no points for second place. So,
you know, moral victories are fine. But until,
you know, the ink is on the paper and it's signed
by the governor and becomes law, you're not really
where you need to be. The perennial tax issues,
WSAC's kind of addressed over and over again,
the 1 % property tax, did have a different conversation
or tone or vibe to it, you know, up until I think
kind of the 11th hour with budget negotiations.
But it was encouraging to see, you know, some
recognition maybe or acknowledgement that years
passed. Felt more dismissive. Yeah, you know,
I think that's right. And we've talked about
that a little bit in some of the other podcasts.
I just did a podcast that people have a chance
to listen to with Brian Enslow. And we did a
deep dive on the budget. And Brad and I were
just kind of talking about some things. Jamie,
you and I were talking about some stuff around
public health and the overall tone around kind
of local government financing really has changed
over the last couple of years, I think. Whereas
in the past, it's been pretty dismissive. And
lately, I think that tone has changed to be a
lot more mutually respectful. There's been a
much more willingness. on the part of the legislature,
I think for them to acknowledge that the resources
that they provide local governments are really
how we implement many of the policies that they
want to see implemented on a statewide level.
And so providing you know, us with adequate funding
to accomplish and implement what they pass is
really key to success there. And, you know, we've
had some fundamental bills that changed some
things pretty significantly in the last couple
of years around like GMA planning and things
like that, where they provided some significant
funding, which is something they hadn't done
in the past. And then this year we had, you know,
we got all the way to the end, all the way to
the end, just about on the 1 % property tax growth
limit change. kind of got left at the altar,
so to speak, if you were to use a wedding analogy,
when it became clear that the governor wasn't
going to support the budget bill if it included
the property tax increase. So that was a very
frustrating outcome. But just part of the political
reality, I think, that we're dealing with with
a new administration. But you're right, we did
make a lot more progress and the conversations
were a lot more productive, I think, than they
have been in the past. We also got a lot farther
this year on some of our other revenue proposals,
like a county utility tax. We finally got a bill
introduced, got out of committee, just never
made it through the fiscal committee, but never
made it onto the House floor for a vote. And
I've heard good things from the chair of the
Finance Committee that she's willing to bring
that bill back again next year. So that would
be a good outcome for us too. we can continue
that conversation. You've touched on a couple
of ways in which this session may have been a
little different from ones that we've seen in
the past. But I wonder if, you know, based on
your experience, we hear terms like unprecedented
thrown around a lot. But I wonder if you could
touch on some ways in which this most recent
session might have been different from what you've
seen in the past. Well, I think this was one
of the toughest. sessions that we've had. And
I know a lot of people have said that. And I
agree with it. I think there were a lot of contributing
factors. You know, the most obvious being that,
you know, we've had the same governor for the
last 12 years and we had a new administration
come in this year and they were going to operate
differently. And, you know, I think that was
predictable, but I think some people were a little
surprised, strangely, that things were different
right on that end. And also it was the governor's
first year of being governor, right? And so there's
always going to be some hiccups and some challenges
and some setbacks and things like that, some
miscommunications, et cetera, that create change.
challenges also. Anytime you go into a budget,
you know, building year when you're facing a
deficit in the billions, if not 10s of billions
of dollars, you know, is going to create a pretty
steep climb right out of the gate, which also
created some interesting challenges. And, you
know, it was also It was also a pretty emotional
year with some significant deaths of both former
and current legislators that I think really created
– well, I think it colored in many ways the mood
at times for good reason of the legislature.
So there was just a whole host of things kind
of coming together. It felt really long. I mean,
it was only 105 days like every other long session.
But to me, no, it just it felt longer. And I
don't know if it's because of all of those challenges
coming together. And, you know, in here at WASAC,
we had our own challenges, right? We had, you
know, some staff that were really important.
Key staff members leave during the interim. You
know, one of them right before session began
to join the new administration over at the Department
of Natural Resources. So that created some new
challenges. And, you know, we were able to bring
you on, Kelsey and Brad Banks. And thankfully,
you guys. fit in really well with the team. And
we had to have other team members step up who
hadn't worked in certain policy areas or hadn't
taken on that much responsibility before. And
that created, you know, more work and more challenges
and a learning curve for everybody. But, you
know, I think all of those things coming together
just made it tougher, but I'm really proud of
the work that we did. And I think that we can
feel like this was a pretty successful session
for counties and for WASAC. I hope you guys feel
that way too. So despite the vibes? You know,
I don't even know if I'd say despite, the vibes.
You know, the vibes, I think you could, I think
you could interpret the vibes one way or another,
depending on how you want to interpret them.
And I think there were definitely challenges
and maybe despite the challenges, because I was
never negative about the session. And I don't
think any of our team members were really negative
about the session either. I think we had negative
moments, you know, without a doubt. And I think
there were disappointments. You know, the 1 %
bill being, you know, definitely maybe one of
the biggest because we got so far. It was really
exciting. It was like, oh, we're going to get
that one across the finish line this year. Yeah.
And then right at the end. Really tough hearing
and testimony, although our members did a fantastic
job on that testimony. Yeah, we had members step
up in ways that they hadn't stepped up before
on that issue. I mean, we really pulled out all
the stops. I don't feel like we left anything,
you know, left undone or on the table. I think
we were just, you know, it just was what it was.
It was just politics at the end of the day. And
that's kind of how things. play out in a political
arena sometimes, right? It doesn't necessarily
make sense, so. Kind of pivoting. Are you ready
for some rapid fire? Question? Oh, no. For session?
I knew you guys were. I knew this was going too
smoothly. This is where we're going to get your
unfiltered thoughts and opinions this session.
You know, it doesn't have to be unfiltered. And
you have to say the first thing that comes out
of your mouth. We can always cut this. We can
always cut things. This is the real unfiltered
Paul, everyone. Oh, no. Oh, boy. All right. Ready?
No, I'm not ready. Go anyways. Favorite. Let's
say favorite kind of oddball bill. Had a number
of them. License plates, cactuses. Oh, easy,
easy, easy. Razor clams versus geoducks. Come
on. That was easy. That hearing was so fun. That
was the most entertaining hearing I've seen in
a long time. See, I would have said the cow farts
bill, but fair enough. I forgot about that one
completely. Oh, did you see the one that was
introduced right at the end that would have created
two sovereign governments in Washington state,
one Eastern and one Western? So yeah, it's a
new spin. It's a new spin from the old bill,
which created two separate states, right? One
state, two sovereign territories. Yeah, pretty
interesting. But no, I appreciate the methane
bill from the cows. Yeah, that was a good one.
But the hearing for... I mean, literally, they
were debating back and forth, you know, in their
testimony on which one should be the state clam
versus which one should accept state bivalve.
And the puns that we were able to come up with
on that one, I mean, it was gold. It was gold.
Did you testify on that bill? No, I did not.
Although I should have just for fun, but not
really a county issue, believe it or not. What
was your favorite session meal? Like for here?
Oh, that's a good one. I think the meatloaf.
I think the meatloaf that we got, I don't know
where we got it from, but it was good. In fact,
I tried to get some. There was a lot of extra
meatloaf that day. I tried to get some to take
home for dinner, and it was gone. And there was
a lot of meatloaf, so I don't know where you
guys put it. or who took it, but there was a
lot of meatloaf left, and there was not a single
piece. We got a loaf burglar. Oh, my goodness.
Somebody took the meatloaf. Loaf burglar up in
this office. Oh, no. All right. Best dressed
policy staff. Best dressed policy staff. Oh,
no. I can't comment on that one. Yeah. I love
all the policy staff equally. That was not the
question. No. No, it wasn't. I'm not answering
that question. Who's your style inspiration for
legislative session? Who's my style inspiration?
Who's your style icon? Alex P. Keaton. Okie dokie.
What was your favorite special event at the legislature?
Are you a Beef Day man? You know, I am, but I
missed Beef Day this year. I know you like the
potatoes. Potato Day. Yeah, I know you like that.
That's a good one because you get the fully loaded
baked potato and it's big. Other people I know
really like Dairy Day because don't they serve
ice cream on Dairy Day? Yeah, I like... I would
say, you know, Beef Day would be my favorite,
but I didn't miss it this year. I wasn't. Did
they have it? They had it, didn't they? I heard
they had meatloaf. Even better. It's tri -tip,
baby. Yeah, it's always tri -tip. Yeah. It's
always tri -tip, but it's delicious. Favorite
cutoff. Favorite cutoff? What's your favorite
cutoff? Besides cyanide. You can't say cyanide.
You can't say cyanide. All right. Favorite cutoff.
Opposite house floor cutoff. Really? Opposite
floor? Yes, absolutely. I'm a house of origin
cutoff. Really? Just because it narrows it so
much? It's the mass culling. I love to just be
like, it's dead, it's dead, it's dead, it's dead,
it's dead. That is a nice one. It feels real
good. That is a nice one. There's still a lot
of work to do. So I would say if it can't be
sine die, then it's got to be opposite house
floor cut off for me. How about your favorite
bloom at the Capitol? Capitol campus is gorgeous.
All right. Yeah. Now there's a lot to talk about
there. There really is. Gotta pick a favorite.
He just sat up straighter in the chair. Yeah.
There's a lot to talk about there. Well, I mean.
You're there every day, right? So you get to
see it every single day. And I'll tell you, I
noticed a new one this year that I thought was
the what? No one can hear you unless you talk
into the microphone. Sorry, I was thinking of
the ground covering. That's the only thing blooming
when it's raining and there's no soul and the
skies are dark. Did you say no soul? There's
some dark days on session. Wow, but soulless
days? I don't know if I could go there. You know
those hedges that grow right alongside the Capitol
building, the ledge building, as you're walking
into the north entrance, kind of where the driveway
is, that area? Those flower. And they have these
little red flowers, and it's completely covered
like a blanket, like on all sides. I had never
seen that before. The azaleas? The azaleas? Is
that what they are? Well, they're beautiful.
They are impressive azalea hedges. Yeah, those
are really impressive azalea. I don't even know
what they were called. See, there you go. But
there's so much, right? There's the cherry trees.
There's the first... what are the first ones
that come up? No, well, there's the crocuses
first, then there's the daffodils. What they've
done around the fountain is really nice this
year. Yeah, and then what are the big pink, the
huge blossoms? Not the magnolia trees. Not the
rhododendrons, but those other trees that have
those masses of the big pink blossoms. Are they
another cherry variety? Oh, is that what they
are? The crab apples? Those are gorgeous, right?
And to see all the people flock to the grounds
to take pictures for weeks while those blooms
are going on is pretty fun too. But yeah, I think
the, what'd you call, the azalea bushes? Azaleas.
Yeah, they're beautiful. That bloom every year.
I've never noticed them before. Bright red? I
do feel like this year they were like uniform.
Yeah, it was like a blanket. It was just like,
yeah, it looked almost like a painting. Exactly.
Yeah, they were really stunning. So I would say
that was my favorite this year. Nice. Botanical
questions. Paul's secret hobby interest. Not
really. I just was struck by them. Nice. And
it's hard not to appreciate all the blossoms
on the Capitol campus. I mean, really, in the
springtime, it's really something. It's a nice
kind of turn of the year, right? I talk about
blossom fever all the time because it just comes
at a really great time every year. This is a
controversial staff opinion. Oh, no. staff has
their their way of doing something oh no how
do you get to the capital campus from the office
what is your preferred route to the capital campus
okay so So it depends. It depends. Am I in a
hurry? Am I not in a hurry? You have a very important
meeting and you are very excited to go to that
very important meeting. Okay. If it's a very
important meeting, I'm taking the shortest route
possible, which I believe is straight down 10th
all the way to where it ends on whatever road
that is. I don't even know. Make a left and head
straight into the campus that way. That's the
shortest route from. from a timing standpoint,
you can get to the ledge building very quickly.
You can get to the Senate office buildings. You
can get to the J -Lob office buildings all about
the same amount of time. Now, if I'm just going
to, they say the Senate or J -Lob in the morning
for a hearing, a lot of times I go past the natural
resources building up the staircase and across
the lighted. the lit crosswalk. If I'm not in
a hurry and I'm coming back, I will oftentimes
go over the pedestrian bridge over by the old
memorials on top of the garages, then down past
the natural resources building staircase and
up to the office that way. But if I'm really
bored, I just kind of take the old way up past
Wagner's and across the. you know, intersection,
et cetera. So there's a lot of different ways
to do it. Many, many different routes to campus.
The one you highlighted kind of going behind
natural resources, behind churches, between the
park and United Churches, the stairs, that's
my favorite one. I like to go that way because
it's a little bit more scenic and a little bit
more interesting. And, you know, the stairs give
you a little cardio workout on the way up. If
that's what you're into. And you get to go right
past the fountain, right? Which is kind of nice.
But if I'm in a hurry, I go a little faster route.
What's your... Coffee drink preference and where
do you prefer to get it? My coffee drink preference
is tea and I get it here because it's too expensive
anywhere else. So I go to Safeway and I buy a
box of tea bags. Let's say that you weren't going
to do that. Yeah. So I used to drink coffee,
but I can't really handle the stimulants anymore.
Even decaf has started to affect me. We've noticed.
Yeah. So second half of session, I got off of
all coffee and drank only tea. I don't know if
it was noticeable. Yeah, we all saw it happen
and we're just like, give him a little bit of
space. He might need an extra little snack today.
Keep the blood sugar up. Well, Paul, you answered
all but one of our final hard -hitting questions.
Oh, no. And that is, who's your favorite? Who's
my favorite what? Who's your favorite? As Kelsey
and I look at you. Yes, Paul. Tell us. Who's
your favorite? My favorite is my wife. Her name
is Amanda. My second favorite is my daughter
and son equally. I was going to say. Their names
are Maddie and Nick. And then my third favorite
is my dog, Blaze. Okay, perhaps we need to put
a finer point on this because it seems clear
to me that all those individuals come from a
very different space in your life. Yes, they
do. From the policy team. Who's your favorite?
Who is my favorite policy team member? You can
just blink. It's fine. You can just blink twice
and we'll know who you're talking about. You
know, it's asking me who my favorite policy team
member would be is like asking me who my favorite
WASAC member is. Yeah, that one too. Yeah. I
love them all equally. All the policy team members,
I have the greatest level of respect for and
appreciation for. Thank you for your hard work
during this legislative session, both of you.
I do mean that when I'm saying these other joking
things, but I do really mean that. It's been
a pleasure working with you both, and I hope
you felt like your part of the session was as
successful as I think the overall outcome was
because I think each of you contributed a lot
to the team, as did other members. members of
our policy team. And I was really grateful for
how the team came together and worked collaboratively
this year. And you guys were a big part of that.
So thank you. But as far as the policy team members
who my favorite is, I don't have favorites. I
love you all individually and equally. And the
same is true with all of the members of WASAC.
Mitch, just cut that last part. We're going to
need Paul to maintain credibility here. Can you
just say my name and then let's pause for three
seconds. And then if you could just say my name
and then we'll pause for another three seconds.
And then Mitch will do some wonderful editing
and it'll be great. I know. He's a little dangerous
with the editing. My favorite is Mitch. I've
been the recipient of some of that already. But
jokes aside, Paul, we appreciated you letting
us take the lead. Turn the questions over to
you. Talk a little bit more about what you got
to work on this session. Talk a little bit about
some of the fun things during session two. Yeah.
How did it feel taking control of the mic? You
guys seem a little too comfortable. Very powerful.
You seem like you like it a little too much.
I mean, always. I'm a little worried. Maybe,
well, maybe I shouldn't be. Maybe I don't have
to be the host anymore. I mean. Let's take it
one day at a time. Yeah, you know, what's funny
about the podcast was the reason we did it was,
well, two reasons. First of all, you know, we
kind of felt before we were producing the written
reports, right, on a biweekly basis. You know,
we just didn't really feel like people were reading
them. And a lot of people aren't reading the
news anymore. They're listening to the news.
And so the idea was to kind of get. information
out to our members in a medium that was a little
bit more modern, right? Something that they were
already used to or something they could become
used to. But also it was really to help you guys
out with your workload to try to make it easier
and faster. So instead of, you know, spending
a couple of hours trying to cleverly write something
interesting and to check your facts and make
it work and all that sort of stuff, you know,
to just be able to sit down and have a conversation
for 20 or 30 minutes or maybe even an hour, depending
on how in -depth you wanted to go. And so the
whole point was to make it better for the members
and easier for the members and easier for you.
What I didn't calculate was the fact that I had
to host them all. And instead of spending an
hour or two on an article myself every couple
of weeks, I ended up spending three or four hours
a week just recording podcasts. And so it ended
up taking actually a lot more time for me than
I think I really realized. But I think overall.
It actually worked out better. I don't know.
What do you what do you guys think? The members
seem to like them. I thought it was the most
brilliant and innovative idea. I thought it was
fantastic. All right. Now. Yeah. I know. I thought
it was fun. I thought it was a it's a. Easier
way to communicate. It's, I think, a quicker
turnaround to be able to communicate on policy
issues. You can go back to episodes and listen
and read. And a lot of our members have windshield
time as they're coming over for LSC meetings
and other things. Yes, it's perfect, right? And
so they get to be all... Lord knows they should
not be reading while they're driving. Absolutely
not. Yeah. That would be poor choices. Those
would be poor choices. But they can read with
their ears. Yeah, they can listen, right? Which
is called listening. Foundation of Public Health.
I feel like you, Jamie, explained that a little
bit. It seems like the members were really responsive
to the podcast and I think really enjoyed them,
which I think is your chief mark of success right
there. Yeah. I mean, they seem to enjoy them.
Hopefully, you know, hopefully it worked well
and hopefully it was effective. From a communication
standpoint, I think it was. So, you know, I think
we're going to do some more during the interim
now that the session's over. You know, we don't
have the same kind of topic to come back to every
single week. So it'll be a little bit more work
to try to put together some interesting podcasts.
But I think it's a worthwhile effort, you know.
You guys got any ideas on what we should do?
Crazy ideas? I mean, you know I do. Well, go
ahead. Share it with everybody. Okay. I feel
like I'm taking back control of the podcast.
Please email pjewel at wassack .org with your
support. You're going to get people to vote?
With your support for a cryptid. In Washington
podcast. Cryptid in Washington. We go, we explore
counties and we are on this hunt for our favorite
Washington cryptids. All right. Now. I think
it would be amazing. Now you're going to have
to tell, you're going to have to make sure everybody
knows what a cryptid is. Cryptids are our favorite
real. No. But heart. Mythical. Some may say mythical.
Some may say real. Species that are, you know,
a little difficult to find. Maybe a little. mysterious.
How many cryptids do we have in Washington? We
don't know because we've never done a podcast
to go find them all, Paul. How many alleged cryptids?
These are the hard -hitting issues we need to
do. I could just see a podcast where we're out
in the woods, middle of the night, crickets are
chirping. We hear some wood clapping. Snap! Crack!
We hear some wood clapping and we know it's Bigfoot.
Because that's how Sasquatches communicate is
with wood knocking. Oh, they do? Yeah. And you're
an authority on this? I would like to say I'm
an amateur authority on this. Yeah. But we have
the Kraken. There's something, I want to say
there's something in like the Chelan Wenatchee
area, again, to our listeners, if you know this.
I mean, we can, and you know, we get to explore
counties as we hunt for these cryptids. Some
Lake Chelan monster or something? I'm sure there
is. Yeah. See, I, yeah. I'm not sure that that's
good and valuable. Time spent? Maybe entertaining?
I thought we were looking for entertaining here,
Paul. Well, both. Both entertaining and, you
know, informative. It's a learning moment. Yeah,
and whatnot. All right. Well, we'll have to take
that idea. We'll put that in the idea box and
we'll see what we come up with. Good thought.
Never going to hear that idea again, am I? Maybe
not, but you got your 15 seconds. Appreciate
it. Yeah. All right. Well, anything else I can
do for you? I was going to say, you going to
wrap up for us? Yeah, I probably was going to.
Sorry. Paul, it's been an absolute pleasure.
I hope you have a wonderful interim. I hope you
enjoy today. It is hot and sunny. A very almost
summery feeling day today. It's a beautiful day.
But I want you to have a really wonderful interim.
Thanks for all the work this session. It was
a joy to work with you. Appreciate the laughter.
We had some good times. We did. Especially on
the podcast. I don't know if you listened to
Travis's discussion on margarita making the other
day that we recorded. That was particularly entertaining.
But there were moments, that was for sure. But
I had a good time, and it was a pleasure working
with you as well. And I hope you find some time
to relax and get outside and maybe decompress
a little bit. Always. We will. Yeah. It's probably
good from a public health standpoint anyways.
Self -care is really important. Yeah. I don't
know what that is exactly, but I'm going to take
your word for it. You're going to learn this
intro. Says the man who's about to go golfing.
Yeah, trust me, that's not self -care. It is
for some people. It is for probably good golfers,
but I'm going to go hack my way across the course.
Do you enjoy it? Yes. Then it's self -care. Yes,
all right. Well, then I'll tell my wife I'm going
to go practice self -care, go play some golf.
She'll be worried, and then you'll explain. All
right, well. Thanks for having me on. Thanks
so much. Come back anytime, Paul. All right,
I will. Thanks for tuning in to County Connection.
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