MAHD House Bar Talk
Voted #1 in Funny comedy Podcast in Ohio by feedspot!
Voted #2 Cleveland podcast all time by good pod!
https://goodpods.app.link/dBzUBiLwyNb
Jimmy and Gito just talking about things going around at MAHD House Bar & Grille In Elyria, Ohio. Jimmy Is the owner of MAHD House and Gito is his close friend that helps out around the bar. Listen in while they dissect the daily dealings of the bar.
YouTube @MAHDHouseBarTalk
MAHD House Bar Talk
Antonio Baez on Community Growth and Holiday Humor 1of 2
This episode addresses the confusing statistics surrounding Christmas spending in America, contrasting predictions from Consumer Reports and NBC while digging into community issues in South Lorraine. During this insightful dialogue, Antonio Baez shares his experiences from his first year as a councilman, revealing the challenges and solutions required to improve the stigma surrounding the city and its residents.
• Overview of Christmas spending expectations
• Clarification on contrasting spending statistics
• Insights into local community issues from Antonio Baez
• Discussion on stigma and perceptions of Lorraine
• Reflections on the future potential for the city's evolution
• Calls for engagement and community support among residents
We want everyone to enjoy the show and really appreciate your feed back
we're number one. Jimmy, you've been a cheap ass. You know I'm like damn. You heard it here first right right, right, we're the best you know. They say you can cuss or moron, so I'm an honest motherfucker.
Speaker 2:Put the fish away, reggie, it don't even hurt to give birth anymore, not for me. Okay, let's do it. Come on, I'm, I'm ready, I'm ready, I want to do it. I wear a phone. I got one out right now. You want to give me a geek madhouse bar talks baby now. This is a bunch of shit. If you ask me, good morning December 21st. 21st, that means, or is it the 22nd? That's the 22nd.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, jeez, christmas is just a few days away. Buy a humbug, buy a humbug. Oh yeah, why are you going to buy a humbug?
Speaker 1:It's just a made-up holiday. It is, oh, come on now?
Speaker 2:oh, it ain't. What do you mean? All right, I don't understand you on this one, I can't. I mean, technically, isn't all holidays made up? Yeah somebody made it up, right? Yeah, I'm trying to say good morning back to john newman there, but it's not working. Every time I do it it's tagging something else. So I'm just like, ah, to hell with it, I give up well, he just said it, he's listening.
Speaker 2:So that's yeah right, but he said it. I was trying to do it while the music was playing. You know what I mean. That was the goal was to do it while the music was playing. So Christmas is almost here. They're saying Consumer Reports is saying that Consumer.
Speaker 1:Reports.
Speaker 2:I heard that a long time, $1,200 per person. They're spending for Christmas $1,200?. $1,200 per person? Yeah. Spending for christmas 1200, 1200 per person yeah, that a person is spending. But see, now I seen other, like nbc or something they said it was like I forget what they said like 2100 or something, but I don't know why it would be so much different than you know I. I just don't understand why it would be that much different on one than the other. I don't know, I'm confused, but that's a big difference. That's like double. So I mean, is it a household? They're saying maybe, I don't know, I don't get it.
Speaker 1:I don't care what consumer reports say.
Speaker 2:I mean $1,200. I mean, a person spending $1,200 at Christmas sounds legit, that sounds right. 1200 at Christmas sounds legit.
Speaker 1:That sounds right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but per person. Yeah, like each person is spending $1,200.
Speaker 1:They're spending $1,200 on each person.
Speaker 2:No, no, no, no, no, no. Each person out there is spending on average $2,100. That's what they're saying, that's what NBC is saying, but the Consumer Reports says $1,200. So I mean $1,200 sounds legit to me. $2,100, that sounds a little high. Because if you took my house me and Amanda both and you said $1,200 or $900 or something, maybe you know what I mean. That would make sense. But if you said $2,100, you mean we're spending $5,000 on $900 or something, maybe you know what I mean. That would make sense. But if you said $2,100, do you mean we're spending $5,000 on Christmas? I don't think so. I hope not.
Speaker 1:I'm not involved in it as much as.
Speaker 2:I could be. So there's a chance, but I hope I'm not. I hope that's not the case. I don't know. I'm praying, that's not the case. So we were supposed to have what's his name on here today. Antonio Baez was supposed to come on today. Now he may still come in. He ended up having to work.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's understandable Overnight and he wasn't getting off until 8. So we tried to give him a little time, hoping that maybe he could show up in time. But he may be on his way here. It's hard to say I mean that. Well, if he does, we'll just slide him in. What's the difference, right?
Speaker 1:yeah, I don't care either way, I'm just saying yeah to be on here.
Speaker 2:We wanted to do a year in review. He's been. He's been a councilman here in south of the rain for like right at a year, like, I think, when we had him on before. I think that he was like within a couple days of that he started uh, doing his uh and he was on what? December 6thth 6th or 7th something like that and he got like signed in like right after that it's exactly a year yeah, it's a year.
Speaker 2:We wanted to see how a year went with him as a councilman and in the city, the area around here. I mean just curious how he worked it out, how it came out. Hopefully it'll work out good. We're hoping he does a good job. That's the prayer, right?
Speaker 1:Yeah, everybody you know, you always expect well, want people to do good. They just get in.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we want what's best for the community, so you got to be rooting for him, right? I mean, no matter who it is you want to, you want to root for whoever's in charge of the, you know, trying to fix things around here, so you've got to root for the guy. He's a regular.
Speaker 1:So what are you? Uh, what are some of the things that you you can address in learning. What do you mean?
Speaker 2:Things, you see, that that's just pops out at you. Well, I think that the biggest thing with Lorraine is there's a stigma I guess is the right word stigma with Lorraine. It's really bad. We don't realize it being in Lorraine County, but it's worse than you think.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I ain't talking about that.
Speaker 2:No, you got to fix that. That's got to be fixed. So, whatever that takes, there's different ways that there's. I'm saying physical, yeah, it's going to take physical. You know something? I mean somehow you got to give a better image of the city of Lorain and the county of Lorain. I'll give you an example. I got that call from Brooke. You know how you get that phone call from Brooke and she'll talk and talk and talk. My brother's.
Speaker 2:no, I've never experienced that, I don't care, though I love Brooke, oh, I love Brooke. So she went her, her company she works at at Rydell, that their, their company, took them for a company cookout or a company uh outing or whatever. They all went out, took him for a company cookout or a company uh outing or whatever. They all went out had drinks and the boss would did not want to go lorraine county, he doesn't like lorraine county well, he hasn't been here uh, he just is like yeah, I don't like lorraine county he's like I don't
Speaker 2:want to go. I don't want to go to lorraine county. So they ended up going to, like I, olmstead falls, I think or something like that. Yeah, and much better. Brooke called me. No, it's not, but Brooke called me and she was pissed off because they had this event. So they go, they take boo with them and they go into the. They go to the event and booze like playing on his game.
Speaker 2:And Dylan does the same thing, like laying his head on the table and the games under the thing. And a dude came over and tapped him on the shoulder and say head up, when you're in here. And they weren't in the bar, they were at a table. You know what I mean? They shouldn't have done it around, brooke, you don't touch.
Speaker 2:First of all, you shouldn't have touched boo at all. That's none of your business. Talk to the parent, don't touch my child ever. First thing that I would say was wrong with it. And then, second, he went back to doing it eventually and he come back over and said all right, you guys got to get out of here, he's not going to be sleeping with his head on the table. Wow. And Angel just looked at his boss and goes this shit don't happen in Lorain County. They're fucking racist. That little white girl's over there. Nobody's saying a word to her. That's crazy. But you come over and talk to me. You know what I mean, because my son's got his head down playing a game Just like every other kid does now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like every other kid does in this world. And Brooke was irate. Brooke is, you know, like Brooke had blown up at this point, you know.
Speaker 1:I don't know. It just seems like it would take a lot to get her to settle Turbine. I can't hear.
Speaker 2:You can't hear good enough. No, is that better? Yeah, that's good, but anyways, the point is that the stigma was there for Lorain County. Like don't go to Lorain County.
Speaker 1:But who was the person that did it?
Speaker 2:The guy that was throwing the vent. It was the owner of the restaurant and I don't know the restaurant.
Speaker 1:Oh, wow, wish you did so we could put him out there.
Speaker 2:You want me to put him out there? I can, my brother, actually I've got a message, a text message, because he went and did a review on our page and the review was for the place, so it probably tells me what it is. He said the food was good, he goes, but then all of a sudden this owner comes out being an asshole.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's.
Speaker 2:No, it doesn't even say what the place is called.
Speaker 2:We're going to find that out, yeah, but I mean it's just the point, is the Lorain County Like saying that about Lorain Because there's so many places that you could go? I'm not saying come to Madhouse, but you should. But I mean, if you wanted to do a nice event like that, I mean the Foundry in downtown Elyria is phenomenal, it's real close to that place. There's a beautiful, they have a nice little event area there. I mean they could do. There's so many places you could go and I you know my brothers and Brooke they're not ones that call the race card, I mean that's not them no.
Speaker 2:But for him to come and touch his son like that and then for there to be a little white girl right there doing the same shit, Like why would you? It doesn't make any sense. Like, did they just think Brooke's ghetto, or did they? I mean, Brooke said she wasn't drinking like that. So she wasn't like loud, like you know what I mean. Yeah, I don't understand it. I don't get Call her up, call Brooke right now.
Speaker 1:No, she's probably sleeping, that's too early for her.
Speaker 2:Or they go to church too, on Sunday morning. They go to church all the time, but, at any rate, I think that somebody needs to fix it. I think that that's what it is the image of Lorraine. Now, how do you fix the image of Lorraine? Well, you could start by, you know, cleaning up these places like Campana's Old Hills, the old hills there in South Lorraine. Clean that up. So when you drive in, you don't just see this abandoned junkyard, basically, you know, or where the old St Joe's hospital was. It's just sitting there. I mean, it looks like shit. These are main thorough for when you're coming right through into the city, that's what you see. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:And bring in some. Bring in something nice like bring in some. Give some incentives for work for one, for for people to get good jobs, not bullshit jobs, like a decent job. You know what I mean. They bring in these companies. They try to incentivize.
Speaker 2:I think this is what I think they should do. I think they should get some incentives for people that are paying working wages, companies that are paying working wages. Give them incentives. You know what I mean. Give, give, give incentives to only companies like that, not $12 and $13 an hour companies. You you given incentives the 13 and $14 an hour companies. You're still keeping everybody down. I mean 13 and 14 an hour does not do anything, no more, it just doesn't. You're not going to have money to spend. You're barely going to pay your bills. I mean hell, rent's like $1,200 or something. Now you know what I mean. It's definitely expensive to rent a house, so I think the first thing you need to do is get that fixed and how you do that one. You got to get better companies in here that'll pay people decent wages. You know what I mean. I mean people that work at Ford anymore. Most of them are moving out of Lorraine. I mean, they're just not. You know what I mean. And Ford ain't in Lorraine, no more.
Speaker 2:It's in Avon, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you'd move to Avon.
Speaker 2:Yeah, or somewhere, Even if you move to Amherst or something. You know what I mean. But you're not going to live in Lorraine if you don't have to.
Speaker 1:No, the first thing you've to do is you got to clean it up around here, like you said, st Joe's, that area, right there. You got the Old Hills building.
Speaker 2:You got what was another one, 28th Street. The whole 28th Street just needs work. The mill needs work. Yeah, what's going on with the mill?
Speaker 1:Yeah, he's not en route?
Speaker 2:He just messaged me. He is en route. He will be here, so, so we'll be able to ask him these things.
Speaker 1:So then you got the Oakwood Park.
Speaker 2:And if anybody's got questions they got for Antonio Baez, let them have it. Come on, message us now and we'll make sure we get those questions out.
Speaker 1:But I'm saying, like Oakwood Park, you had these trees that blew down about three years ago and I don't even know if they're all cleaned up, but then you got all the tree stumps sitting there and shit.
Speaker 2:It just looks horrible, bad yeah, an oakwood park could be very nice. That's a nice thing coming in the 30.
Speaker 1:You know when you're coming through there you take down them old, rotten ass trees and you clean it up. And yeah, why why?
Speaker 2:how ask him about that? Because something happened. They were going to clear all the trees out right at one time yeah they were going to cut them all down, and then they, the citizens, threw a fit.
Speaker 1:Well, they need to plant new ones.
Speaker 2:You know what I'm saying I don't know how that worked, I don't, I'm not sure what, what caused that whole. I think that was part of like they wanted, those like.
Speaker 1:That's part of why it's oakwood is it's oakwood park, because all this huge, I'm saying these old trees, the ones that are dying, or you know they got people that could check them and you know tell you if they're in a good you know they're still a good tree or not. Take them down, the ones that ain't. Plant some new trees. You know I'm saying still keep it over the park. You know I'm saying that's the thing of it, but it needs new trees it's just a seed.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that it would be nice to have. I think it would be nice to have, just if, just to get the image and it's lorraine county too, it's not just lorraine, you have to change, the whole county that has to get it, because illyria has the the same issues Amherst and Vermillion not as much, but like and you don't have those problems out in Grafton or you know what I mean, but Elyria and Lorain as a whole they have. It's just like they're just misran. Both cities have been not mis, yeah, misran.
Speaker 2:I guess I mean neglected is what it is. Yeah, they had a good uh industry at one time, right, and once it faded out, it's it's just. That's it now. There's nothing else. But they gotta adapt they gotta change things.
Speaker 1:They gotta bring in companies that are gonna, that will thrive now agreed, yeah, I agree, yeah.
Speaker 2:And how come we don't have? Like, if you go through all of Lorraine and well, now Oberlin Avenue and Levitt, they've put in like they've got franchises, taco Bells and all that stuff. Where is that in South Lorraine? Burger King, that's it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that delicious Burger King on South Lorraine. And then you got the subway, which that's pretty, it's decent still. And then you got the subway, which that's pretty, it's decent still. And then, yeah, there's room. You know what I'm saying? You got all them buildings that was taken down on the end of 57.
Speaker 2:Put something there I don't even understand, like here, right where the bar is. Why isn't there like a Starbucks? Here we're?
Speaker 1:not ready, you know, take that out and put a fast food right there. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Is that empty now? Yeah, it's empty, they closed it, huh.
Speaker 1:Yeah, or you know, I don't know, maybe another store buy it, whatever something. But it shouldn't be left like how they do everything. That's the problem. When something goes out like that, they just leave it. What about that? Walgreens Is?
Speaker 2:that sitting? Where's that, that one that was over by BP at 28th and Broadway Walgreens? Wasn't that a Walgreens? Right there, there was a Rite Aid and a Walgreens.
Speaker 1:You talking about the one that was at that rental movie rental place. Uh-uh 28th and Broadway. Oh, 28th and Broadway. Oh, I don't know what that place is.
Speaker 2:Is there still a Walgreens Is?
Speaker 1:the Rite Aid there. I ain't even talking that way, I'm talking this way.
Speaker 2:No, I know. I'm just wondering how many drugstores closed down? I don't know. I'm curious. You know the whole thing with that. Why those were popping up in the 90s is the government was handing out. Basically, they were handing out contracts for, like the buildings Well, it was it. No, it was the pharmacy pharmaceuticals. So it was like the Blue Cross, blue Shield type, the older people or whatever. They were giving contracts based on who was the most available. Every year or every couple years they'd award the contract. If you got the award, you would come in and do a contract to have that medicine there, but you'd have to have enough space to do it. You know what I'm saying. So that's why they were building them. So I wonder why? Now, that's not a thing. You know what I mean. It makes me curious.
Speaker 2:All right, we've got Antonio Baez. Here he is. He shows up, a man of his word. You see that, yeah, a man of his word. Let me see if I can get you on camera. A little late, a little late, that's all right. Late is okay, we're all right with late.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we sometimes stay here four hours, it don't matter.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we don't, we don't. Yeah, we'll talk forever. We like to hear ourselves talk.
Speaker 1:I don't know about that For sure.
Speaker 2:Alright, so he's on four, right. Is that what we decided earlier? Four, I think so. Can you hear it over there? Yeah, alright, and you can hear him on there too, right.
Speaker 1:He said no, yeah.
Speaker 2:Test, test, test. Yeah, he's good. He's good. All right, we'll bring him on, all right. Welcome to the show.
Speaker 3:Hey, what's going on? Guys, Appreciate you having me.
Speaker 2:Yes, sir, so, yes, sir, so it's been a year. You've been a councilman for a year and this is your first job as a well, I mean you work for the police departments, but this is your first, you know, political job. I guess I should say.
Speaker 3:Yeah, first elected position.
Speaker 2:There you go. That's the word. I'm looking for elected position. So what do you think so far?
Speaker 3:You know I mean you. You know the people are great. I mean you, you know I mean with, with. Uh, you know our community. You know they have a strong back, um, so that that actually makes it a little bit easier, uh, to have you know a community that really supports you and wants to see you succeed and show up when you're having events and things like that. I will say that, going into it, I really didn't know what to expect and Ray had kind of given me a little bit of like hey.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we knew that you were going to have some help with Ray for sure. Oh, you said you could hear me See that.
Speaker 3:Look at him.
Speaker 2:It just came out. Oh, it did, oh, okay.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know. So having Ray as a kind of a mentor in the process was really, you know, was really good for me, you know, just to kind of pick up the pace, you know, or pick up where he left off and kind of just keep it going. He left us, though. Huh, he left us in terms of what South Lorraine he did. He did move.
Speaker 2:He goes it's yours now. Peace.
Speaker 3:No, but you know the roots are still, you know, very important to him. His family still lives in South Lorain. His parents and his brother, they all live on the same street. I think it was just probably time for him to grow in terms of his family's growing. His kids are having kids. They had like a one, maybe one and a-a-half-bedroom house over here and you know having great kids and stuff like that, and you know what do you do? We're all sitting outside in the winter.
Speaker 2:What happened with Whittier? Where Whittier was? Are they going to develop that ever?
Speaker 3:There are some plans to go in there. I mean, right now it's all part of the Southside Gateway Project. As you see, we're trying to get a grant, that community development grant there in South Lorain, so that's in kind of that process right now. There's been some talks and I know the Viard family were looking to develop some properties there at one point. Yard family we're looking to, you know, develop some properties there at one point, but I think the pricing uh was just a little too high for what they were going to develop. That, you know it might not have sat well with the people. Yeah, okay, that's, that's the most um right now. There aren't any new plans going in there uh, right now.
Speaker 2:So I think it's still is that, who owns that property? Then I believe the city owns the property. They still do. Okay, all right, so it doesn't, you're not handcuffed by somebody just sitting on it.
Speaker 3:No, no, it's just a project that they had thought about. Hey, how can we bring some new houses, new development in? But I think they just couldn't get the price where it had been right for that community. All right If you're selling $200,000, $300,000 houses in that area. It just wasn't going to work.
Speaker 2:Well, I mean, it might.
Speaker 3:The houses are selling for $150,000 in this area.
Speaker 2:They are yeah.
Speaker 3:But we'll see in the next four to five years how that's going to sustain by selling your $25,000 house for 140,000, you know, we'll see in the next few years how that's really gonna uh, how people are really going to be able to bounce back from that. So, um, cause you got it's just gonna. It's going to be kind of a turning circle. You know the pricing for rent and everything is going to be higher. People aren't making any more money than they did a few years ago and now we're renting a house that we bought for $120,000 for $18,000 to $2,000 a month.
Speaker 2:Were you listening to the show on your way in?
Speaker 3:No, why did you talk about this?
Speaker 2:well, no, we were saying I was saying that because guido was saying what? What do you think? And I thought my thing is is I think the stigma of lorraine has to go away. No, and that's somehow it has to be fixed. And then we're asking how do you fix it? So I'm I'm gonna ask you the same thing how do we fix that?
Speaker 3:like you know well, uh, this would be a two-part. So I think a little bit of the stigma started to kind of fade down. As you bring, uh, new developers in, you start reading. If you show commitment to your community, you're showing that, hey, it doesn't matter where we're at, what the cost is, whatever, we're going to create events, we're going to host different venues, we're going to bring business here. I think that changes the stigma. The thing with Lorraine is we're so big, we have a huge footprint and I don't know if we've figured out how to change the stigma in every. I don't know if we've figured out how to change the stigma in every district, every part of the city so we can change. As you've seen, on the west side we've changed that dynamic, yeah.
Speaker 2:Leavitt Road has definitely. We were just talking about that.
Speaker 3:That, and Oberlin Avenue is the only place that has franchises anymore. But how do you do it in the next community? So I think we are on on pace to do that here in South Lorraine or here in our area, the South Lorraine East side. But the only way you can change a stigma is just creating events and not really ousting anybody out, creating some kind of community gathering to get people to buy into it. You know we we talked about the pricing and cost of living and building. You know I don't mind and I would never mind if we built a housing development here in South Lorain. You know, I tell you. I mean, I'm here, I wasn't rooted in South Lorain, I was rooted on the west side, but I would buy a house in South Lorain and there are other people that I've talked to that, I've spoken to.
Speaker 2:They're like hey, if you built some new developments, I mean I'll be invested in.
Speaker 3:I agree, yeah, yeah, I would think, so, yeah. So I mean, those are the stigmas that we have to change, and you have to do it at the um, at the top, and I think you know, with the administration that we have now, he has been better where would you develop?
Speaker 2:in south lorraine?
Speaker 3:and you know, I like that area right in front of saint lad's, uh, you know, right next to the church there, like that whole. I don't know who owns that. You know, you guys look, maybe you guys own that I know adam check.
Speaker 2:No, I know adam checks that his family owned it, but I think they got rid of it. Yeah, someone just bought. Someone just bought it.
Speaker 3:Um, but that area they got rid of it. Yeah, someone just bought it. But that area I mean I don't want to get into the school's property because you know, I know they're holding that piece of land as gold, the Southview, the old Southview property. But I mean that property is gold.
Speaker 1:Man, you make like a little Crocker Park there, boy.
Speaker 3:I mean, you could do so many things in that area, but you know that's their problem hills who owns hills now? Um, so that's in it's, it's getting, it's being leased right now. So, uh, there was an owner. He owns a, um, some kind of uh, trucking company and now he's leasing it to a person that owns a restaurant, grocery store kind of franchise thing in Cleveland and that's going to be a middle. Well, the plan is that that will be a middle hub between a few restaurants in areas that he has. So he'll use that as a storage place for all his dry goods and things like that, so that way he can don't have to.
Speaker 2:No, that's got to go, that's got to go. You got to get rid of that, that's got to go. He could go fucking lease some shitty shit in Cleveland. I mean that's, you know, when you come down there through South Lorraine, that is the biggest fucking.
Speaker 3:I mean it's horrible, yeah, so well, the original owner has since parted ways with it, so it's going to start getting cleaned up. This guy has already put a lot of work into cleaning up. The bones are really good. So when you go in and I mean obviously for my intentions and after I met with a few people and learned about some of the projects, some of the ideas they were, thinking I'm like, all right, I wrote a letter quick. I'm like, all right, I wrote a letter quick and I'm like, hey, I don't mind any of your ideas, but the streetscape needs to be cleaned up. We need to see something nice. I don't care if it had a big old sign with your name on it.
Speaker 1:That's like the Camp Hannah's building on 28th Street, like what they've done.
Speaker 3:Oh it's beautiful, it's done. Oh, it's beautiful. Yeah, it's beautiful, and that's the key right, so you can, whatever you do inside the building and how you're working, that's fine, but we need to be able to see it from the outside, you know, as something that's actually moving all the broke. You know the, the vehicles that are all broken down you know, yeah, but you know what?
Speaker 2:listen, this is the thing, this is the problem you're talking about. They're going to turn that into a storage facility but it could be mixed use, so I. So. If it's a storage facility, it doesn't have a whole lot of workers, so it's not helping the community. It looks like shit. You know what I mean? It's the basement of northeast and ohio. Fuck you, go store your shit somewhere else.
Speaker 2:You know what I'm saying? Like, give us something that we can use in our community, that that that'll help be helpful to us, whether it's it's a community senator or it's a little factory, like it was when campana's owned it, where there was people employed there. Yeah, I mean that that shit's gotta stop. Man it just has to.
Speaker 3:So the talks are still. You know, in in the initial conversations, you know, and in in the initial conversations you know, and I won't go too further into you know an overall plan, but you know, for me, exactly what you said. So we need, we need jobs, we need an area for um for we. We definitely need a community center in some sort. You know El Centro just created a uh, they have a community hub, um, but it's need a community center in some sort. You know El Centro just created a. They have a community hub, but it's not a community center for kids. You know courts or whatever. We need some kind of rec center, we need some kind of Well, what about?
Speaker 2:What about Boys and girls? Club Boys?
Speaker 3:and girls club. I mean, yeah, boys and girls club is it's really nice, I know, but is it?
Speaker 3:And I don't want to say anything. You know anything about the Boys and Girls Club. I love it, my kids went there, but that's one portion. All right, that's. You know that we need to invest as a city, invest in our community, not other organizations say, hey, we can pick up where you left off. So that's what I mean by that. So we need to have some sort of rec center, we need to be invested in how to raise our youth. The Boys and Girls Club. They're doing it great and we need to support them and continue that process.
Speaker 3:But what's the next step? So the Boys and Girls Club, is it housing every one of our youth that we have in South Lorain, the west side? It's not Okay. So I mean it might be housing the kids that are here locally and maybe the kids that they pick up to bring there, but it's not. It's not helping everybody. And we need a rec center where everybody from they don't need to sign any papers, they can just get there and go and you know, enjoy and learn and you know learn traits. You know we talked about that our last, our last time I was here is where you can go in. There you can say, hey, I'm 15 years old, I don't have anything. I'm on the street, I want to learn how to weld, I want to learn how to build, I want to learn how to do this and you can teach them that. That's what we really need in this community, and I think having something like that would generate some what?
Speaker 2:What would it take to bring back like Harrison that used to be? I don't know. Do you remember Harrison? I lived across the street from Harrison. Oh yeah, we talked about that already. Me and Guido went there, yeah, but what would it take to bring something like that back?
Speaker 3:At a higher level, though Higher scale I mean.
Speaker 2:I don't know that it has to be a higher scale. What was wrong with that one?
Speaker 1:How many kids was in there? It wasn't many.
Speaker 2:Well, I mean there's not that many that. I mean, if you take all of Lorraine, I mean the whole city, the whole city of Lorain. It's not that many that don't know what they want to do and want to learn a trade, and it's not every kid in the city.
Speaker 1:I'm not saying that and I don't want to teach it to every kid that scale was. I think the scale was small, it was too small, I think it was okay.
Speaker 2:I mean, you got to remember back then we had auto body, you know, you had all those different things that you don't have welding in the high school. Why don't they do that anymore?
Speaker 3:The difference is probably the, you know, the want by the family too. You know like to actually sit there and engage with their kids, and that was just an extra, you know.
Speaker 2:Harrison Academy. And you know, I mean, do you believe that? That I don't believe that. Believe what I feel, like the parents parents are engaged with their. I think that the parents today are more engaged than they were when in the 80s, when I was a kid well, you know, I wasn't, I didn't grow up with you, but I don't, I don't, I don't.
Speaker 2:I don't think you were to get the fuck out my face and get outside. That's how we were. That's how it was when we were kids, when I was in the 80s. You were to get the fuck out my face and get outside.
Speaker 3:That's how it was when we were kids. That's how I was raised.
Speaker 1:That's how I grew up too.
Speaker 3:So then how can you say they're not more, they're not so that I Because when you came inside and I don't know how everybody grew up, but for me, when I came inside, you know, my mother was there and showed love, compassion, care. When I came home, my dad was there to show anger, be a dickhead, you know, and be like hey, I'm on my way to work again, or something. Get out of here, kid. So OK. So I'll argue that.
Speaker 2:I'll argue that that women need to stop being married to our government instead of men, and maybe that would be the issue, but I don't believe that people are are less engaged with their children. From what I see, the mothers today are far more engaged with their children than they were when I was a kid. I don't agree with that.
Speaker 1:I a hundred percent agree with that. I think both nowadays, most, most people, we both work. You know what I'm saying. So that's what I'm saying, that's what I was getting to.
Speaker 3:So now you got two parents working. We are really engaged. The kids are really engaged in gaming and other things that aren't socially active.
Speaker 3:I mean, maybe it's socially active, and I'm not taking away from the gaming streams and all that I mean. People are making a shitload of money on the backs of these children that are on the games, and that's fine. Um, and some of these game, these kids, are really good at gamers. Their IQ levels are above the world and they're going to succeed in something. I don't know if it's going to be picking up a hammer or doing any electric or anything like that, but they're going to succeed in something.
Speaker 3:But so you, when you were?
Speaker 2:a kid. Did your mother sit down and make sure you did your homework? Absolutely. Did your mother sit down and make sure you did your homework? Mine either, yeah.
Speaker 3:So my mother, my parents, mostly don't.
Speaker 2:I don't think nowadays are mostly do nowadays, I think I think so.
Speaker 3:But I think it was like it was an understanding is what I thought you know. So. So when I was growing up and I had a different life and we talked about that too, but when I was growing up I was under, I had the understanding that I had to do certain things. There was no, I'm sitting down with you, can you help me, mom. It was like you can do your damn homework, because if I tell dad, he's gonna.
Speaker 3:It was like you can do your damn homework, because if I tell dad he's going to come over here and beat your ass or whatever, and I think the thing today is parents can't help these kids like that.
Speaker 1:What do you mean? They don't know as much as the kids.
Speaker 2:I'm not talking about teaching them.
Speaker 2:I'm not saying that I'm talking about specifically like now the teachers are so available to the parent, like they have apps now, that where the kids and the mother is getting exactly what he has to have done tonight and they know, so they check with the kid, make sure, and I think that that's. I believe that wholeheartedly. I think that there's a reason we're talking about helicopter parents. I mean that that exists, that that didn't exist then. So to say that they're not engaged enough, I don't think that's a hundred percent true.
Speaker 3:I really don't believe that. I think they're more loving. I think that parents are more like that's because of laws. I think they're more loving, and maybe in when we talk about engage, I think they're more loving. And maybe in when we talk about engage, I think they're more, um, kind of uh, reactive now parents, right, rather than proactive parents. So you spoke about this and it kind of contradicted just a little bit about the uh having the apps. Yeah, that's not like sitting well there you go.
Speaker 2:Now you're clicked in right yeah, but I don't know.
Speaker 3:But, um, we talked about the apps, right. You're like there's an app now that you can talk to. I mean, that's the point that the parents are like reactive, like hey, did you go on the app right? Rather than say, hey, let me see your homework before you go, before you take this trash in tomorrow, and let me check it. I think back then it was more like that Did you do it? I didn't care if you did it. Maybe they didn't care if you did it right, but it's like hey, did you check this? You better get it done.
Speaker 2:My mother didn't even know if I had homework. Yeah, I mean she did. I mean, did your mother know if you had homework, homework?
Speaker 3:no, they didn't was there trust that she trusted? Hey, no, they were just too busy.
Speaker 2:They were like like the problem is to say that they're not. That that's that's I'm gonna just call bullshit. It just is, it's just bullshit. That's a reason they say there's helicopter parents. Now is that yeah, but it's just flat out bullshit that they don't, aren't just involved. Now there are a lot of single parents raising their kids.
Speaker 3:I'll give you that there's a lot more of that going on so in my, in my community and I'm talking about and I'm not talking about the community of south lorraine, but my community, my world, all right, I, I disagree. I I agree that there are, you know, uh, beautiful single parents, men and women that are out there handling their kids, making sure that everything's taken care of, that they're involved, that they go to every game. They're doing everything they have to do. I agree that there are parents like that, but in the total encompass of everybody, I believe that kids are raising their self. They're raising their self by the computers. They're raising it, and we can change that, you know. But I believe that they are raising their self. They're raising their self by the computers. They're raising it, and we can change that. But I believe that they're raising their self by the computers, by the phone, that everything's so easy to them that they don't have an engagement with you Dad, with you Dad, they don't.
Speaker 2:I don't think that that's going to change. Dream that us old timers have, that, that that, uh, the, that computers and iPads can't raise your kids. We're going to have to get over that. Oh, no, we do, because that is, quite frankly, if I was a kid right now, I'd be on my iPad or on a game. I mean, that's what I would do, and every kid will. Every kid would do that, and it you. It's there. There's nothing you can do that could take that away. That's never going to walk away.
Speaker 3:It's never going to disappear, it's only going to get worse but you know, I think the challenge, I think the challenge is you know how to, how to put a pause to that so you can engage with them at least a few hours a day, so you can say hey, we're going to eat dinner together. You're not, here's your plate. Go to your room.
Speaker 2:You know whatever, every, every day right, once in a while, that's.
Speaker 3:That's fine, because that's what I used to do sit in front of the, you know, sit in front of the, the nintendo, and sit there and eat my cereal or whatever. But how do we engage him and say, hey, all right, put a pause to it. You know, they created that and I never used it but babysitter well, the babysitter? No, they created that box.
Speaker 2:It was like uh, where you throw your cell phone in you ever seen those, it's like I've heard about it, yeah, yeah and I thought that that was.
Speaker 3:You know, I don't think they ever made any real big progress on that, but I thought that the concept was good, yeah, the concept was good, especially if you didn't know how to control your children and they didn't listen to you, you know. But for my son, if I'm like hey, put your phone up, come on over here. We're going to eat dinner, we're going to chat, we're going to talk for a little bit, I think some of that is engagement. That's how you can raise your kid, you can say how was your day, rather than send them a text message upstairs up there. And you know, and I think that that has to stay, that has to remain.
Speaker 2:If we lose that and we just let go, let you know, computers run everything. I'm not saying that we should. I'm not saying that, but you have to you have to.
Speaker 2:I'm saying you have to. You have to accept that it's there and it's not going away and adjust everything accordingly, like I mean, dylan probably spends my son probably spends more time than I like on a device, but we do definitely take it from him when we feel like he's needs it. But I'm fortunate enough that he's on a street where the kid there's so many like. Yesterday I came home there was six kids in the house, or five kids in the house, like they're just, but they're all playing video games, but they're all together. You know what I mean and that happens at my house.
Speaker 3:I got a 17 year old now and actually I thought I'm like man, I'm doing really good, and then he's still sleeping. He has to be at work at nine o'clock.
Speaker 2:And.
Speaker 3:I'm like hey, what time you go to work. He's like oh, nine. I'm like you work in Sheffield. He's like I was going to sleep till like 846 or something, so I thought I was doing really good. I'm like, hey, you're doing good, but you know what?
Speaker 2:There's people that do it that way. There's people I know people that get up 10 minutes before they have to leave and head out the door, and that's not me.
Speaker 1:I need an hour, I want my coffee, I want to relax for a minute.
Speaker 2:I don't like to be rushed.
Speaker 1:There's rare days where I'm running, but usually I'm up hours before I have to.
Speaker 2:Listen, if I wake up 20 minutes before I have to leave for work, I'm going to be late because I'm just going to relax for a minute still.
Speaker 1:But I really think we're getting away from what we were talking about.
Speaker 3:We're talking about the development of the rain, not people and raising kids. Well, he thinks that that's critical. I think it's. You know, encompasses because you talked about the stigma. You know the stigma is younger. Uh, some of our youth are creating some of the issues in, you know, in the the danger areas, right, so that you know, younger kids are getting a hold of guns, younger kids are getting, you know, a hold of weapons. They really don't have a parent you know that to say, hey, you can't do this, you can't do that. And I don't think it's really only the parent's job. I mean, these kids are getting older. These are things that should have been taught to them a little bit earlier. But changing the stigma is crime reduction in crime.
Speaker 1:And how is that?
Speaker 3:building. I mean, I I believe uh personally and you know this is part of my job in in a different area is this I believe they, they really have a reactive uh department, you know, in a reactive and proactive department. So I think that they're really knocking down on. So ran is doing better on their police force. I believe so I think that they're really knocking down on so lorraine's doing better on their police force I believe, so I you know, I don't know, about their statistics or anything, manpower and stuff like that.
Speaker 3:But statistics, you know, bringing crime down, reducing, you know, I I think that we're a safer city. Um, I don't know who's associated with that and I'm not going to say anything but I can say whether it's the.
Speaker 3:it's definitely the, the that work for the department, that are really, you know, being proactive and doing what they have to do and not having, you know, as long as they're doing it right, you know when I was before you came in, I was saying that I think that was what Lorraine needs, is that they need to put incentives out there to bring business. But there's got to be limitations.
Speaker 2:They can't give incentives to somebody who's bringing in a $12 an hour job. You need incentives for somebody who's paying a working wage Real, true, hardcore incentives for somebody who's bringing a working wage Real, true, hardcore incentives for somebody who's bringing a working wage. Because I believe all the things you're saying don't help a damn thing. Until that happens, you have to have hope first off, and there's no hope for a decent job in Lorraine right now. There isn't.
Speaker 3:These kids have no hope. Lorraine's definitely had a big hit and many of challenges over the last, you know, several years and there are some incentives out there. It's not always the most common, like incentives. You know about tax abatements and stuff like that but this just helps bring new business and and you can see you know, uh, what I call. You know more lorraine heights. You know over there on Levitt Road.
Speaker 2:Sure.
Speaker 3:I mean they've definitely taken advantage of it really well.
Speaker 2:But there's no reason that can't happen. Right here in South Lorain you have all that area behind the old Joe Fermat, all the grass. There you've got, like you say, the high school. You could probably get in. I know they had it for sale at one time. Where Chase Bank and the old Builder Square was, they had a lot of that was for sale at one time. Where Chase Bank and the old Builder Square was, they had a lot of that was for sale at one time. It's for sale. Is it for sale right now?
Speaker 3:I mean, there's so much area where you could bring in that type of development, which that development in Levitt Road isn't helping anybody.
Speaker 2:That is where we spend money, that's it.
Speaker 1:That's all it is.
Speaker 2:We need somewhere to make this money to spend.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and it's not for a lack of not trying. I mean, we meet with developers all the time. You know it's just there when they weigh their options. They're like. This doesn't seem good to me.
Speaker 2:Well, you got to give them an offer they can't refuse. I mean, you got to give them a better offer. You've got to have an incentive that brings them period. You're almost giving stuff away. Then give it away and pay them a little bit because it's going to pay off in the end, because when you have a working class community, it's going to be way better than what you've got right now. First of all, you've got most of these women, single women raising kids. They're married to the government.
Speaker 2:They don't want to really work or if they do, they want to work under the table, because that's where they're getting their benefits and this, and that the rent is too expensive for them to pay on their own. But they all walk around saying I'm a strong, powerful, independent woman. Meanwhile the government's raising them, I mean, are supporting them, and it's bullshit. But if there's an opportunity there for an employee employment, they, they could make some money. I mean, they're you know, I mean, but the problem is you become a nurse and lorraine, you can make good, but then you move.
Speaker 3:We've made it hard, you know, uh, and you know, like I said, I and as you know I'm, I was coming into you know really kind of blind. I knew I was already doing things in the community, so it was kind of like, all right, this is what I'm doing anyways. I've been working with Ray for the last several years, sure, right and stuff. So I'm like, ok, you just got to continue this. But what I've seen is that we make it so challenging for businesses to come in, for people to buy into the city, for businesses to come in, for people to buy into the city. There's a lot of challenges that we're trying to strip away from Explain.
Speaker 3:I mean permits. You know, zoning, I mean Lorraine, is very hard.
Speaker 2:I'll give you an example.
Speaker 3:If a new business wants to come in Lorraine. People have told me they're like it is so hard, I'll give you an example of something that was difficult.
Speaker 2:Dale Dale's got his little bar that's right behind the Rite Aid. That's that needs knocked down.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, OK.
Speaker 2:So my uncle Dale wanted to put a kitchen there. Ok, the, the. What he was going to have to go through with the city of Lorraine to put this kitchen on yeah, I remember that was I mean he was going to have to spend 20 grand before he can even start doing any brick or mortar. I mean it just doesn't add up, it doesn't make sense. He literally was just adding to the building like 10 feet so he could put a kitchen off to one side and try and put a restaurant in the city of Lorraine, and there was no incentive for him to do that at all and he ended up buying the old Rosie's down here, you know because it already had it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, this was. I mean, that's what he wanted he. What he all he really wanted was a kitchen. That's it, and he wanted to put it in there where he's like well, he thinks that that would be better off over there because he didn't have to spend all the money that that building down there cost him three, 20 plus whatever he put into it afterwards. You know what I mean and you know they made it to where he just went. Yeah, I'm not doing it.
Speaker 3:And there was no help or incentive for him to do it. That was us stepping on our own feet. You know, I've seen it like I said. You know talking to businesses that are still here on 28th Street where they're like, hey, all I'm trying to do is expand. You know, why is it so hard for me? This is already my problem, right? You're like, well, there's these zoning rules and there's this and this. I'm like so you know talking to Ray and talking to the zoning board saying how do we like limit this?
Speaker 2:Well, like in the township here, I mean, we don't have a building department per se in the township. I'm in a township here, okay. So when I wanted to put on my patio, it was a zoning issue. I mean, I did have to get the zoning approved on it, but then after that I'm done, I don't have to get an architect, I don't have to you know what I mean. It's like, hey, we need this and then an architect's 10 grand and we need this person Right right, right right.
Speaker 3:You know, is this going to hold up?
Speaker 2:And then we need an inspection, and I'm not saying that you don't do that, but I think that there should certainly be maybe a level. You know what I mean. Like, say it's.
Speaker 3:Like a category, like a tier yeah, a tier Like if you're not two-story, why?
Speaker 2:I mean one-story buildings. Let's just do that. Whatever we can do to make that simple, like just little add-ons or whatever, but once you start getting three and four, sure it's got to get really tricky.
Speaker 1:Just like having a little council where you go in there, just like how you did there. Just go in there, you talk to them, tell them what you want to do.
Speaker 2:And they do. They have a zoning board. It's the same thing, yeah but then there's different steps. Well, that's just one step of the process.
Speaker 3:That's what I'm saying Too many steps, that was my only step Right, right, right, right, right. That's what I'm saying. If it was good, you're like all right.
Speaker 2:I'm actually thinking about putting an addition on again now. So I'll have to go to the zoning board and talk to them, and that's it. That'll be done.
Speaker 1:All right, you know.
Speaker 2:So if this was in, Lorraine's what $1,500?.
Speaker 1:And the problem is when you get an architect.
Speaker 2:An architect has to take out insurance. So whenever he goes, if I put an addition on, it's not the architect doesn't take the insurance on the addition. He has to take the whole building. So his fees are astronomical because the whole building has to be included now because it's part of that building. You see what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, no, I get it so it runs it up.
Speaker 2:I mean, it runs it up astronomical.
Speaker 3:I mean it gets way up there. Then you've got to find one or two that are actually available to do it too Sure, yeah, so that's six months too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it could be.
Speaker 3:So it's a time thing, so it's just a long process and that's what I've heard from businesses.
Speaker 3:And you know, I think having an able body like Ray and you know I didn't know Sanford too much, I grew up with his son but I didn't know Sanford, who was a previous safety service director but having someone with, with Ray's mentality and knowing economic development, knowing about building, being in that position before council for 20 some years, I think that's helping. So it's starting to make the process a little bit more streamlined. He's seeing, you know, he doesn't just do, hey, this is how we've always done it that he hates that, saying he's like how do we change this, how do we make it more? Because he knew he sees what it was like for people to try to get business here in South Lorraine. So it's, it's a small, it's a slow process but it is starting to help, you know. So with, like I said, without the, the, the lack of trying, there are some things that are happening to try to streamline that process, but again, it takes, you know, a little bit. It's how do you get it right?
Speaker 2:how's the mill doing over there? How's the the?
Speaker 3:mill, the mill um the mill. There's some process. You know that's going on in the mill that we're we're working on. You know it's still kind of you know, low key. It was purchased right somebody bought it so the mills? Are you talking about? The republic side, are you talking?
Speaker 2:about either one. I don't, I don't know, I don't know the difference.
Speaker 3:So two separate sides If we're talking about the West side portion of it. So the Republic that has been owned by a company in Mexico or an organization that's based out of Mexico for a few years, for several years now. They are responsive now now, so they're starting to talk to us about different things and we have some entities that are looking at redeveloping certain sites of that area. So we're working on that process and still kind of what about the non-disclosure? Uh, that's still the same. You know, nothing's really changed on on US side.
Speaker 2:Who owns that USS Steel?
Speaker 3:The same company owns it. I don't think they've transferred any titles yet and there's work that's happening behind with the Dredge site, but in terms of that site I wouldn't really talk too much about what I don't know. I know that there are some inner workings and things that are happening to to redevelop certain sites and they're really open. They've been. You know, there's many meetings that are happening now that weren't happening before, which is good news.
Speaker 3:Right, sure, yeah you go eight, 10 years with no one responding. And then you got to do a search warrant in certain areas, like you know. Finally, we got to start holding these people accountable, and you know, you look where it started. It started with when ray took over, you know. So you know it's like all right, what can we do because this? So what have you achieved? Oh, whoa. So one year in, what have you?
Speaker 2:achieved one year. In what have you achieved?
Speaker 3:One year in, you know I've achieved a lot of knowledge.
Speaker 1:That doesn't help you at all. That doesn't sound good.
Speaker 3:No, no, no. So that's a big question. So, you know, in terms of what I've achieved is, you know, I've been able to understand and meet with a lot of partners. There are people that it takes a long process, so it's not something that you could say, hey, here's a business, come and build this right now, um, but what I've achieved is, you know, we've created a uh more of an efficient response to uh maintenance issues. Uh, which we're we're talking about road, cause people talk about roads and stuff like that all the time.
Speaker 3:Oh, you came to the wrong place, uh-oh, but we talk about roads and stuff like that Get them, get them, get them.
Speaker 1:Have you looked over there? By what is that Riverside?
Speaker 3:Oh, Riverside is rough, so that's a big. It's hard to kind of go into how cat got his tongue now. Look at me, because you know. So, first of all, I'm not, you know I'm not a development guy. So you know I have to be careful in what I say, because that first, that's maintenance, that's not development.
Speaker 1:What's that?
Speaker 3:That's me, no no, no, but listen, I'm talking about in terms of Throwing out stuff that I want to make sure what I say is going to be accurate, right? So when they look at streets overall, they put them on a tier, right?
Speaker 2:So you know, look at it.
Speaker 3:I don't have the shovel, I don't have the. You know it's not me, okay? So they say, hey, these are priorities and this is how it's explained to me. So these are priorities and this is how funding works. So, when it comes to streets, you know if there's a certain set of funding that can go to that type of project, right Depending on who voted or what. Depending on who pays more taxes in that area. That's funny.
Speaker 1:I'm listening because I got comments. Go ahead.
Speaker 3:So Riverside is absolutely terrible, have you personally seen it. What do you mean? Yeah, I live in this area. I'm on that street all the time. You know Riverside. Yeah, okay, go ahead. What?
Speaker 2:do you?
Speaker 3:drive. What do I drive? I have a Ford Fusion, an older Ford Fusion, like a 2008.
Speaker 1:It's got to be lifted.
Speaker 3:No, I'll stop A 2014 Chevy Impala. And then I got a lifted truck too.
Speaker 1:See.
Speaker 2:When he goes to Riverside. A lifted truck is what he's taking.
Speaker 1:So look to go into people's driveway. They really bottom out their whole car to get in their own driveway. That is horrible, and that's not something that was just happening within the next last three, four years.
Speaker 3:I think that that happened. That was something that because that's been like that for a long time, and how the ground moved and how they built, that that's my point.
Speaker 1:It's terrible for a long time and it was how the ground moved and how. That's that's my point, that's not. It's not a two or three year problem. That's been for a long time. So they pay taxes too, you know Absolutely. So that's I live in, I live in the area too man, I'm bottomed out.
Speaker 3:Now there goes the extent.
Speaker 2:Well, if you're talking, you're buying a house for $140, $160 in South Lorain.
Speaker 3:If you go to look at a house in that neighborhood, and you see, those roads, you're not buying that house You're not going to.
Speaker 3:So that area is a challenge of itself and these are communication. I can show you emails over and over again where we talk about that property and to go more into it in terms of their priorities or how the streets department says, hey, we can do this and from an engineer standpoint, this is what we have to do to close this whole road. You know it's been a challenge. You know, working with these guys it's not, it's not a good answer because it's not an answer it's not.
Speaker 3:So when you go and you say, hey, you know I can go out there and stand in a pothole or stand on a street and say, hey, it's up to my knee, yeah, okay, like what can we do for this street, and they give you, hey, there's a priority and this is how much it's going to cost and we don't have the money to do that type of project right now, but it's in the works. You know it's not a good answer, so there isn't any answer. You, you know it's not a good answer, so there isn't any answer. You know, the cat got my tongue is because I don't want to. I don't want. I have a good relationship with getting certain things done right now where I don't want to jab and dagger anybody. Well, make us this promise.
Speaker 2:Make us this promise you put that in your top three right now. Make us that promise You'll put us in that top three right now. Jesus, I don't know. Make us that promise you put us in that top three right now.
Speaker 3:For the riverside. Yes, oh, absolutely, riverside's been in my top one priority for for since I got there. But it's not about I don't have the money, I don't write the check. Yeah, okay, I appropriate the money or not, but we appropriate the money for these projects. And then they say, hey, this is on the next year's level. So it looks like next year that this is on the priority. I can show you a list and I've shared it plenty of times of you know how, where their list is in terms of every street, and it just hasn't got up to that level.
Speaker 1:What? I'll tell you what. I don't see them showing me a worse street. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3:I mean that area over on Chelsea is bad too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, those are potholes. That's different. These people can't get in their driveway.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but that's a little bit different.
Speaker 1:I mean, these are completely streets torn up, put some asphalt in them, but I'm saying them other ones, you can't get in your driveway. That's horrible.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's like the way. It's like sunk in or whatever. It's like sunk in, it's like curbs setting up. Yeah, you got your curbs setting up.
Speaker 1:You got your street going down, and then you got your apron going down, and that's a frequently driven street.
Speaker 3:Well, you're talking.
Speaker 1:Riverside. We're not talking Riverside. We're talking the one between Riverside and You're talking about Tacoma. No, not Tacoma, the one next. What was it? Oh shit.
Speaker 2:Talbot no, that's too far Riverside Circle.
Speaker 1:There's.
Speaker 2:Riverside, then there's Riverside Circle. There's two different roads there.
Speaker 1:Okay, so you pass Tacoma, the first street you come to, turn left. It's between Tacoma and Riverside. Damn somebody, what's her name? Just sent it to me the other day.
Speaker 3:Was it Brooke's mom or something? Who Brooke? I don't know, Because her mom lives over in that area too. No, no, no. She talks about that. No, no, no.
Speaker 1:No, no, it's like when you come the first street past.
Speaker 2:I'm about to go on the map.
Speaker 1:So I'll tell you in just two seconds. Yeah, I'm lost right there, but I can't remember.
Speaker 3:Well, you said Riverside, so I'm like okay.
Speaker 1:So you got Tacoma and then the next street over.
Speaker 2:There's Colombo Riverview. There's a lot of streets. There's Colombo and Riverview. It's Riverside, colombo and Riverview. There's nothing else there. Talbot, riverview and Riverside, that's it. Homewood is the one that goes running east and west. Camden was redone.
Speaker 1:Camden is more this way.
Speaker 3:Riverside is the street that kind of goes, it's from the back.
Speaker 1:You got Riverside right here, right Tacoma is bad if you're talking about.
Speaker 3:Tacoma to 31st Riverside is the street that kind of goes. It's from the back what I'm saying. You got Riverside right here, right, Tacoma is bad If you're talking about Tacoma to 31st.
Speaker 2:There, gito, there's your map.
Speaker 3:Tacoma to 31st. That's where you see a lot of that. It looks like the street had been melted, yeah, and then you get over to East 31st Street, you get over to East 34th and 31st, so between those streets it looks like the street has been melted, and that's been a lot of our concern.
Speaker 2:What's this street right here, right next to Tacoma, right next to Tacoma.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that one I just blew up.
Speaker 2:Camden. That's a sack or willow or that's a sidewalk. Oh, let me see We'll get it, he's 40th or something but so so anyway.
Speaker 3:So there's many streets in our area, uh that are really concerned and those have been a lot of addressing. Those have been addressed on multiple uh instances. So, uh, packard, pack, god, it's bad down there too. Oh, packard is terrible. He said it's a pothole issue. You gotta drive over there.
Speaker 1:That's a whole street issue, regardless of what I'm saying. I'm just saying that whole area. The roads are just Packard, riverside, tacoma.
Speaker 2:You just basically went from Tacoma.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you just added to your list.
Speaker 2:All the way from the cement factory all the way to the park is just basically all destroyed. All destroyed.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's bad, holy crap and they've done like small patches to try to fix it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's not.
Speaker 3:Tacoma. I think Tacoma is the street you're talking about.
Speaker 1:No, it's not Tacoma. It's 100% not Tacoma.
Speaker 2:He drives Tacoma every day. Yeah, that's his you ever see like Tacoma.
Speaker 3:It looks like a semi-truck drove right after they poured the asphalt.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it does have a dip in it.
Speaker 3:yeah, and there aren't a lot of driveways on Tacoma on the east side.
Speaker 1:Okay, you got Riverside. You got Homewood, tacoma, the next street past Tacoma. That's what it is. I don't know it's.
Speaker 2:Riverview. I just looked it up, yeah okay.
Speaker 1:I think that is what it is.
Speaker 3:Or going east.
Speaker 2:Yeah, going east, you're saying right.
Speaker 1:So that would be north and south. Right the street itself is north and south.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's probably Homewood. That's probably Homewood or 40th Street, one of those two. Well, regardless.
Speaker 1:The next street past Tacoma, between Riverside and or Global.
Speaker 3:Yeah, camden and Camden and Howell, or whatever Talbot.
Speaker 2:Talbot Riverview, riverview Riverside, that's it, I just spanned it out.
Speaker 3:Either way, we are all in agreeance that those streets are rough. So those have been priorities for me. They were priorities in Ray's administration too. There are priorities in Ray's administration too. I don't know what the answer is, besides them tearing up the entire street rerouting everybody so they can fix that road. That's how they do it anytime for any street. But what comes in is money, is how can they afford that project?
Speaker 1:But I'm saying that property you can tell that's not been dealt with for years. Probably I'd say 20 years. Sure, Say 20 years, right, but then people have been paying taxes for 20 years.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know what the problem is. What's the percentage now over there that are rentals compared to homeowners? I don't have that number.
Speaker 3:I bet it's a lot of rentals. Right, there's a lot of rentals over on that Chelsea area.
Speaker 2:I think so.
Speaker 1:No, not that Right by Tacoma, that's a working.
Speaker 2:A lot of people I know rent back there. A lot of people that come in here they're renting, it doesn't matter the house taxes are being paid.
Speaker 1:They've been paying them for over 20 years.
Speaker 2:I don't disagree. I don't disagree.
Speaker 3:People pay taxes. They deserve better streets. They deserve better streets.
Speaker 1:People should not have to ramp their fucking driveway to get in it. I just think it's horrible.
Speaker 3:One year in. These have been a lot of emails and a lot of the concerns that I've faced or that I've been stressing as well. Like I mentioned before, they give you a priority list and I don't know how to move us up on that priority.
Speaker 1:Besides continuous, besides continuous arguing and bitching about it, know how to move us up on that priority.
Speaker 3:Besides, continue, yeah, no, that's right here, besides continuous, you know, arguing and bitching about it, and this has been a long, trust me, you know we're on the phones.
Speaker 2:I'm on, the beauty of it is. The beauty of it of it is is that the people in South Lorraine, they're the patient, they're the only ones that you have to answer to, so you could piss everybody else off. No, that's the truth. I mean honestly, and that's where it needs to be.
Speaker 3:I think so. That's why you see a lot of these videos of me standing out there talking about the streets. You see a lot of the emails and a lot of the correspondence to them.
Speaker 2:I question everything that happens I got mobile microphones and stuff, we can go do some shit now, if you want, we can put it right there on the street.
Speaker 1:That road just aggravates the shit out of me, yeah he talks about it all the time.
Speaker 2:That's why, when you said that I'm like, oh, get him get him.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's bad man, no, but that's it.
Speaker 1:I don't even live over there, it's not my business, but it's all of our business I was cutting a friend's grass on the corner.
Speaker 1:Hers is the same way on homewood. So when I leave her house to go down the street, to turn the corner, just to come back and do a loop to go back to my house, I'm looking at these driveways like holy shit, this is crazy. And they got asphalt poured in these slopes so that these people can get in their driveway and it's like you just know I recently heard about a resident that redid their apron their apron or whatever themselves.
Speaker 3:Like some of the residents, I brought that up during council me I'm like I was like hold up. Why is a resident redoing their apron?
Speaker 2:Because they can't get it. Here's my question.
Speaker 3:But to continue talking about that process, like this has been an argument all the time.
Speaker 2:So what if that person in that house lets their grass grow 14 inches?
Speaker 1:They'll give them a ticket $300 ticket.
Speaker 2:What happens? You'll cut it and bill them, right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean, that could be a process that they would, so then they can just fix their aprons and bill you.
Speaker 2:I mean not you, but the city. There's been arguments about that.
Speaker 3:I mean not arguments, but there's been, If they can bill me, I can bill you. Hey, trust me, I say the same thing, man. When I did the gas line to my house, they came there like, hey, you got a gas line. So they tore up my whole, I mean from the street, all the way in. I'm like all right, who's doing this over?
Speaker 1:here, that's on you.
Speaker 3:I was like bullshit. What if the?
Speaker 1:homeowners just all got together and just put all their tax money in escrow and be like I ain't paying you shit until this thing gets fixed. It's there, they paid it, but you ain't getting it until that shit gets fixed.
Speaker 2:I mean that's a possibility, they are allowed to do that. I mean they are are allowed to do that.
Speaker 3:They are absolutely allowed to do that and they should If you don't see anything happening and if you don't see that work doing, you've got to do what's best for your, and that's the problem.
Speaker 1:What people will do is they're so tired of dealing with that, they'll just move out of the ring.
Speaker 2:I let them sidetrack us. What did you do this year?
Speaker 3:So my goal this year was specifically community development, community relations, continuing some of the processes that we had already had from the previous years to keep people engaged. What I did initially, starting when I first took office, is I went to every business in all of South Lorain and introduced myself, talked to them, gave them information about certain grants that they can apply, for which some of them never knew you know, facade grants, things like that Trying to bridge the gap between how they can request certain funds. Some took advantage of it, some didn't.
Speaker 2:Some have taken advantage of it, some didn't. Some have taken advantage of it.
Speaker 3:Some took advantage of it in terms of well, not took advantage in a positive, but not like.
Speaker 2:No, no, I'm saying they've used it. Some people have used this already. That's an achievement.
Speaker 3:Yeah, to rebuild and redo their facade or redo some of their interior, which is good, because there was money out there that people could use and they didn't know how to get a hold of that.
Speaker 1:So as an achievement for me, I don't think you got an example of one.
Speaker 3:I mean, if we're talking about specific businesses.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like you said, you got the front facade done and stuff.
Speaker 3:Well, no one's done the facade yet, Okay, but they've received their process. So I think you know El Centro has definitely taken advantage of certain properties, that's the bank right the old bank El Centro. They got multiple properties.
Speaker 2:Do they still have the one on 30th Street? The original El Centro. No, so they just they still have the one on uh 30th street, uh the original l central no, they don't have.
Speaker 3:You're talking about the old building. Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, who's got? That I don't know who's been. I mean, that is another, that's another organization, kind of more like a uh um apartment complex type safe. Oh okay, here's something that that's not in your area, I guess. But what about that 21st street hospital? What's going on with that? Complex type safe?
Speaker 1:Oh okay, here's something that that's not in your area, I guess, but what about that 21st street hospital? What's going on with that?
Speaker 3:So they just really there's money for that. So they're in that process of uh, that's a legal process, so they had to go after these people and they're in that process right now of um kind of that type of litigation but there is money that has been secured for to clean up that area. I wish that the Lorain City Police Department would have moved there years ago. I mean, that would have been an excellent opportunity In terms of that property. That's been a long stand.
Speaker 1:That was way before me, no no, I know, I know, and then I know that's not your area, but it doesn't matter, it's not my area.
Speaker 3:That's still a concern. Yeah, it's a concern.
Speaker 1:Everybody wants to hear about that one Cause. That's a mess, but we just as well as the Stove Works property. But that's what you're going down.
Speaker 3:You're going, I'm going throughout the whole city. You're talking about that.
Speaker 1:I'm saying specifically right now I'm talking about that. When you're going down Broadway you know you're going down to go to the Black River stuff and all that.
Speaker 3:And then you see a war zone yeah, it's horrible. You, and then you see a war zone yeah, it's horrible.
Speaker 1:You know. And then they talk about the stigmas of Lorraine and that's a big one when you're going on Broadway and you see that shit.
Speaker 3:And you know, you highlight Fligners, everybody highlights Fligners, which is, you know, one of our you know statement places in Lorraine.
Speaker 2:Success stories in.
Speaker 3:Lorraine and then right next to it you got a war zone. Right is in Lorraine. You know success stories in Lorraine and then right next to it you got a war zone Right. So I think it's taken long, I think it's taken way too long to clean that area up. That has been a voice of everybody's concern, but some has just kind of let it. You know, and you go back to previous people on count to like so we could talk about it all you want, but what have you got? What have you got?
Speaker 2:Right For the last three years.
Speaker 3:I've looked at this. Okay, you've been here for three years, right, right, you know so. I know the administration. Just if you look at some of the council meetings, they we just released some money to clean up that, to clean up that area. I don't know if there's going to be a development plan.
Speaker 1:you know as as I just talked about cleaning it up.
Speaker 3:So cleaning it up. There is some money that was just released to clean that up and we're hoping that it gets cleaned up next year. If not, we're going to be arguing with them again. We're talking about many properties like that. Who owns that property? I think the city still owns that property now. The city owns it.
Speaker 1:What the old hospital yeah they own that?
Speaker 3:I think the city owns it. If not, it's a developer. It's, you know, that same company. I think the city is either trying to take direct control of that property or they do.
Speaker 1:Or why isn't the other part tore down?
Speaker 3:I have no idea, that's just weird to me. The parking lot, the parking lot, yeah, the parking lot. Yeah, I said, why garage? I said that, why did they just? I think that they were.
Speaker 2:I think that they were were hoping to use it. I think is what I was thinking.
Speaker 3:I always said, like before you walked out, we were talking about the police department. You know we talk about our, our cars sitting outside, you know, under the elements all year long. You know some cars not being driven, you know police cars or whatever. I mean that would have been a shoo-in to say, hey, park it in a garage. You know, like what they have in California or wherever. I don't know why they never.
Speaker 2:I don't know if it's structurally sound to park in anymore.
Speaker 3:Well then you knock it down though, yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean I don't know, I really don't know. I mean it could be, I mean it's hard to say I don't know, because I mean people are skateboarding and stuff in there all the time, are they?
Speaker 1:really yeah, I think I would too yeah.
Speaker 2:Me too.
Speaker 3:You're like well shit.
Speaker 1:You can go all the way to. I grew up in that area, so 18th, 19th and long area. So, like I said, I know I know that's not your thing, but you're just really curious about that.
Speaker 3:So so going back, so you know, for for my goal this year is I had to learn the job right. So I had to learn about you know I didn't know anything about. You know the inner workings of city council? Um, I knew a little bit because of my previous working for Congress, working for a Congresswoman. I knew a little bit. So my goal this year was to really just read, ask questions, deny everything, right. Deny everything, huh. So in terms of any time, that's how he did us Just now?
Speaker 3:So no in terms of like any time. Did uh just now? So no, in terms of like anytime. Someone's like hey, this is what we have to do. I'm like no. Like I want to know why. Like, why are we? If you want me to vote yes on something, I need to know why. It needs to be clearly written so the layman person, anybody, can read this. This, not just a whole bunch of bullets about a whole bunch of you know, uh wants and needs. So my goal was to like really and when I said deny, it was really more question, so question, deny everything right?
Speaker 2:so, um, deny defend and dispose to pose I defend and dispose to pose. Yeah, you have they wrote it on that bullet.
Speaker 3:Hey, was it into the united health care oh yeah, I was just watching that last, I was just watching that a couple days ago, but you know. So my, anyways, my goal was to really learn, uh, how the inner workings of government worked, and it took a little bit longer, you know, for the first couple months. So just, I mean, with everything, well, like that's what they're saying, that's what Trump said.
Speaker 2:Right, I mean Trump said that his first, his first uh term that he got rolled, kind of. That's what he said basically like like they, like, like I was supposed to know, yeah.
Speaker 1:He didn't know, he didn't know, he'll be honest, I mean, but he was the president.
Speaker 2:But he's saying right now I really didn't know. And he's saying this time it's going to be different, because that first one I learned.
Speaker 3:Well, now you've got a year in to learn you know and, and I think I've uh, I think you know, based on the responses, I think I've learned a lot more within my first so many months than other people that have been on council for a long time. Have you want to?
Speaker 1:call out any names no.
Speaker 2:But what you're saying?
Speaker 3:Everybody on council. You know everybody who serves and I believe that wants to be a public servant in general, regardless if they're looking for an election right now, if they're running for an office. There's some genuine and maybe not all everybody, but I I genuinely feel that everybody has a their, their intention is to do what's right and to do originally.
Speaker 3:Yes, originally, I believe that, and it's not just do what's right, uh, only for for themselves, but for the people to try to come in here and fix things that have been broken. And that's what really what I came in for. You know, I didn't plan on running for office. It kind of fell in the cards, you know, inadvertently, and you know I was like, hey, I'm already doing these things in the community. I'm already, you know, doing events. I'm already having, you know, conversations with people in the community. This is just something else that. So I really thought that's what all it was going to be like. Right, come in, you know, bring everybody together, bridge a gap. And then it was like no, here is, you know, our correspondence for this council meeting, and it's 700 pages or something. I'm like, wow, I got three days to read.
Speaker 3:I'm sure you probably ran in there thinking you can make some changes automatically and you got all these roadblocks, yeah, so so when you so, when you say dodging a bullet to a lot is because you know there are some uh, there are some things where I was like man easy be an easy fix and you're like what you know, like streets.
Speaker 2:What is that? What is what is that? What is the one thing that shocked you the most? Now that you are in an elected position, what's the one thing that you're like really?
Speaker 3:uh probably all the red tape to get one little thing, I would say you know what he was, don't speak for. Yeah, don't speak for it I was don't speak for him. I was hoping you out no no, no.
Speaker 3:Well, because there's several. So you say one thing, but I think it adds all together. So red tape is kind of the third thing. The first thing was a lot of people vote yes for something they probably didn't even read, and that's not a good thing. And I'm not saying any names because I think that every it's not all the time, but you can tell when you're sitting on council.
Speaker 2:Is it a party lines thing?
Speaker 3:Well, I don't know, I'm not really affiliated specifically with how the party. Well, I'm not saying.
Speaker 2:Democrat or Republican. I guess I'm saying a click thing is what I'm saying, more than anything.
Speaker 3:Like, is it a click thing? I would say that there are. You know, in every government there are certain people that kind of vote yes to things that you vote yes to, or vote no to the things that you vote no to yeah.
Speaker 3:So I would agree. Well, you know, and it's the lack of probably not knowing, you know, I hear a lot of oh, I went to this place and I've been checking there and I'm like, did you really drive by that street? Did you really go see this? Like, I don't think so, because I've never seen you in my community, you know. So I think that that was shocking, that everybody just votes yes to everything and it might be because it's a um, a more partisan, a partisan city. So when you say party line stuff, that could be a reason, um, but that was most of the city is all sitting on democrat tickets anyways, right yeah, the entire city, yeah.
Speaker 3:And then you know, the second thing was that's encompassed all that's a red tape. Voting yes, voting yes on something that you haven't read Red tape is red tape was very hard to kind of dig your teeth into because you know, I would talk to Ray before, before I even took office, when I was in that process, we met maybe six or seven times and he just went over different projects that have been working in the city and where he was with them and where they are, and some were like four years. You know, and I'm like man, yeah, that's not acceptable.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's got to get you know, and.
Speaker 3:I'm like, ok, so why? You know, and you know he explained. But he he draw out a good picture of why certain things was certain things haven't happened the way that they were, and a lot of them were. You know, some businesses would come in they'd say I want this, but this is what I, this, I'm looking to do this, this is my development, but this is what I want. But they're like, okay, let's help you out with that. And then they'd be like, no, I can find something better. So, like, a lot of people would walk away. They'd create a something and they walk away. When you're talking about um, organizations like non-profits, you know, which are definitely beneficial to our city, but sometimes they believe like everything needs to be given to them. You with no substance in there, no substance, no income, you know, no provisions at all. They're like, hey, we want, I'm looking to build this here. This building was donated to me and I only have five grand. I'm like, well, shit, five grand ain't going to get some shoes or something.
Speaker 2:Well, the problem with that, if you allow that to go on, then you've got somebody that's going to fail. I mean, they don't have the money substantially to do it, so you don't need to do it.
Speaker 3:So that was another challenge. So that all encompasses in that one thing is the red tape is they created their own red tape, a lot of them, because you knew, coming into this, that you didn't have the means, the capital, to do a project. And yes, the city might be able to help with some, but I mean, we can't build your entire vision. You know I'm saying so. I think that that was hard to understand too, because I wanted some of these organizations that had taught to do well so okay, so I all right.
Speaker 2:So red tape is number three. What's number two?
Speaker 3:number two is um, number two is just the the speed of things. Like my priority is in my priority and my speed is not the same as everybody else. Like I'm a person that if there's an issue or there's a problem or whatever, I want to get it solved like right away. Like OK, you talk about somebody's streetscape, or OK, if I have you know, I've donated my entire council money to organizations, to projects I haven't done, I haven't used.
Speaker 2:What do you get?
Speaker 3:paid for council. It's like 800 or something a month.
Speaker 2:Okay we were curious, we were asking. I said it's not much, because I know they all have to work. Yeah, you ain't?
Speaker 3:no, it's not. And I think as, uh, I think, like council president gets a little bit more or something, but, um, you know, they didn't vote for any pay increase or anything. As you see, some other cities they got like extra money, extra money, I think, like, or whatever good for them. Um, but you know. So, going back to that, so there have been issues with some of the constituents where they're like, hey, I'm trying to get this done, the city's not giving me. So I have helped.
Speaker 3:I've said, man, I'll just pay for this thing, it can't be this hard. Like, you need your tree down? Okay, I'll call a tree guy and he'll knock your tree down. You need this picked up. I'll call somebody and have them do this. So that second portion was just, people don't work as fast as you do. And I found that and that's hard for me because I'm always going, I'm always like moving, I'm always trying to find ways. You know, whatever organization I've been on securing money, I've done grants and I've said, hey, you know, and we've, we've gotten the money right away. So I like when things move quickly and it doesn't seem like everybody has the same intention or priority as I do, and that's probably the most challenging, can you put a a committee together that helps with that.
Speaker 2:Is there a way to do that? We have a committee.
Speaker 3:We have a city council.
Speaker 2:No, no, no, no, no. I'm talking about, in South Lorain, a committee that helps write grants for businesses. Helps that like a committee that are volunteers that sit on a committee of some sort, a development committee that helps all the individual businesses that they can go to.
Speaker 3:They say you know, I've got an idea, they can come to them, they can help them write it so that it comes out the most professional that can work and there's organizations, like you know, I throw a lot of respect to El Centro because they have a program, even though it originally started, as you know, one specific goal, you know, for the Hispanic and Latino community.
Speaker 3:They do have a program where you can go in there and learn how to write grants, help your businesses and stuff like that. So they are and they're a volunteer, but I do agree that maybe a committee would work volunteer, but I do agree that maybe a committee would work. What I found with a lot of committees and I've been on tons of committees where some I've had to step away from because it seems like they're stepping over each other or they're not working efficiently and I don't know what the root cause of that is I think that people, like we talked about council, they want to go in there and they're like, hey, this is a good plan, but then as soon as they get a little controversy or a little bit of like, oh, I don't think that's going to work then they're out and then you're like, damn, where did Jim go?
Speaker 3:You know, where did Antonio go? And it's like, well, because you guys aren't doing what you set out to do. Like, if you're going to do this, then do it from a kind heart. It's not about your specific goal and your organization, it's about everybody reaping the benefits from that type of committee. So I do agree, that's something maybe we can work on coming into next year to see if individuals we do have the Southside Block Watch where they meet often and we talk and everybody shares ideas. But then it went from this to like there's only two people showing up or three people showing up every once in a while and it's not even really.
Speaker 2:Uh, it helps because there's some kind of concerns and complaints that I could take back and try to fix and and mitigate or mitigate Um but I guess my thing was is if you could get somebody, if you could get a committee to help write grants and help a business to to to get through the red tape, would that speed it up? Is what my point when you said speed is what?
Speaker 3:grant writers here in the city. The city has hired grant writers, so there's, there's options out there. Not a lot of people know how to get it, get a hold of it. I've proposed, you know, maybe the same thing that they have on at City Hall, that board, the bulletin board thing, that you put that here. You say, hey, free grant writing class. And then you know, every month it's something different free grant writing, free business development. You know, and they have been doing some of those. I don't know if they're really active in getting that material out. They post stuff on Facebook. Not everybody's on Facebook. They need to put it out. They need to send mailers out. People don't read their bills, so there is some information on your water bill. Every time someone gets their water bill there's a little bit of information on there. Man, that thing's pain in the ass.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'll have to fix it.
Speaker 1:I'm going to try it. Yeah, there you go. Well, what it needs, is it probably?
Speaker 2:just needs another headset. I can't see if I got another one.
Speaker 1:There you go. I think he's better now. He's good it tightened up. Let me try those ones too. Let me see real quick. I think he's better now. He's good it tightened up. You can try those ones too Let me see real quick, let's try these.
Speaker 2:We put these on. Nope, that's big jacks. That's why, never mind, I can't do that. That's why it's these. These are lots of shit.
Speaker 1:Oh well, that's good. Sound like a bird.
Speaker 2:Closing the closet.
Speaker 3:No but having a committee is good. You know, like I said, I've been on a couple committees where it started off strong and then they kind of weakened up at the end and, like I said, I don't know what the root cause of that. I know, me personally, I have like an ape personality, so like if it's not working quick or if I don't see a lot of progress, I'm like, okay, what we're meeting, we're wasting three hours and we're not really doing anything right now, like what's the next step?
Speaker 2:so from then. You need better people on the committee and you do that's what you need. I mean, that's that's.
Speaker 3:It's that simple, yeah and then you get people that come in and they have their own agenda. That has nothing to do with what that committee was for. Yeah, everybody has their own agenda.
Speaker 3:That's true with everybody and you're like this isn't even what we're here for. Guys like, let's, let's keep this moving. So we do have a few committees and that's a lot. This is why we do a lot of projects and we do a lot of, uh um, community events and stuff in south lorraine is because that community has stayed strong, you know. Rest in peace, rosa Garcia, that was part of some of those committees as well, rosie Garcia, and but you know, when you lose someone that strong too, that actually has a passion then you're like how do you fill those shoes for that?
Speaker 2:How did the how? How does? How does a number one sit then in all of this?
Speaker 3:you had three, two now we're on one, so so number are you talking about? So number one was everybody votes yes that was number one.
Speaker 2:That is it. So that was it. That everybody votes. Yes, that was okay, so I missed that a part of it so number one.
Speaker 3:And then the red tape was on the third end, because there is a lot of red tape in the city, as we talked about before. That it looks like it's starting to change a little bit, especially with, I believe, having Ray on the mayor's team is having that knowledge, being able to kind of use some better practices and really hold people accountable. I think accountability is real important around here I think that's going to help. And again, this is his first yeah, accountability is very, very important.
Speaker 2:I got a question. We sponsor a softball league all the time with George, yeah, and he's always telling me he has to take care of the fields himself and get them ready. How come that is?
Speaker 3:Well, not all the time, but there are A lot of times. There are a lot of times that he has to do it and it's just because of the multiple events that they have, and he's just a great person so he loves doing that. You talk, um, that was rosie's uh. That's rosie's uh family. Okay, rosie garcia's family, so, um, I'm just curious.
Speaker 2:I mean because they do pay for the field when they're there, right? Yes, so they pay for. So they pay for the field and they maintain it not all the time they do. They do most they do a lot of work. He does a lot dude. He's a lot of times he's doing it, but you know if you with that too.
Speaker 3:If you contact me or you were to contact ray, I mean we'll get that done.
Speaker 3:You know, and they had a little a change up in the uh parks and recs department where they vowed they hired mindy, they hired eric lajetta that have been a little bit more responsive, but before there wasn't anybody in that position. So those people were hired specifically to to handle those right okay, specific issues, right to be someone that's engaged with the people that are doing things in the community which they didn't have years prior, okay. So now they have someone there that they can call and say, hey, I need we rented this, we need this cleaned, and to get them out of there. And then it's manpower issues, right. So you know, or they make something about it's manpower issues, but we do have a good crew in Oakwood Park now. And what's good about, if we're talking about the parks in general, the more things that you do in the parks, the more activity that you have. It forces them to be involved and it forces the city to be like, oh my God, I'm going to cut the grass, I'm going to do this.
Speaker 1:Oh man, what happened with the books? Did you see that shit? That shit was this high this year.
Speaker 2:Yeah, was it.
Speaker 1:Literally this high.
Speaker 3:Really yeah, literally this high, really yeah, oh, wow, in the park. Yeah, yeah, oakwood Park.
Speaker 2:How come the trees? What happened with that? Remember they started cutting the trees out of there. What happened with that? What was the deal with that?
Speaker 3:Why is it still there? Are you talking about back in the day?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, back in the day.
Speaker 3:Remember they were going to start cutting all the trees out and everybody a park. You know, that's the, the statement of the park right there, you know. So I think that there was um, and I don't know. This was years before. If we're talking about now, I could talk, we'll talk a little bit about that, but years before there were some trees that were cut down and it went missing, I guess. I guess that's the the, you know. I don't know if someone sold them or someone made money I have I have no idea about that.
Speaker 2:You know that that question you could, you know, and I'm still kind of no, I, if I remember right I'm like I don't know anything about these If I remember right, I thought that there was like a uh, there was a big plan to redo the whole park. There was park there was and they were going to tear down all the trees and cut them down and replant new trees. But however they do it and for some reason everybody threw a fit wanting the trees not knocked down and so that's so.
Speaker 3:That's why that original plan kind of went out. And that was a plan. There was like a there was going to be a big kind of pond in the middle and they were going to move the courts and they were going to, but they were going to go down to like one, one court. They were going to go down to like one or two fields instead of all the fields they were, and people threw a fit about that and that was during I think that was during a raise administer, raise a council.
Speaker 2:That might even been before, ray, and maybe even I think it was before, but either way, you know when people are going to bitch about it.
Speaker 1:So what? Just do it. And then, once it's done, they'll be like oh yeah, that is much nicer. You just can't just go by.
Speaker 3:Well, I mean, if you look at how it was going to be done, I was like man, this is pretty dope.
Speaker 2:I thought so too when I seen it. I remember looking at it, going, oh, that'll be cool, you know.
Speaker 3:And it was going to redo some you know Veterans Memorial for that committee. They used some of those plans, some of the outline, to do where to sit that memorial in the parking lot. It's similar to how the plan was originally going to be drawn, but just in that little corridor right there. But anyways, that plan went sour in some way, whether it was funding, whether it definitely was from community yeah, they were definitely community feedback, but also, I think, was funding whether and it definitely was from community.
Speaker 2:uh, yeah, they were definitely community feedback.
Speaker 3:Uh, but also, I think, was funding was a big issue for it. Um, that went away, so I I don't know if they had started cutting trees down during that time and yeah, they did for you know, yeah, they had already started. Yeah, and people are like hey, where'd those trees go?
Speaker 1:yeah, but then you have to tear them down. They didn't even grind the stumps down. You know what I'm saying? That's horrible. The stumps are still there. There's stumps, all over that.
Speaker 3:Well, if we're talking about. So now fast forward to this last storm that we had. So the last storm, uh, was, you know, unprecedented? It was, it was unpredicted, or maybe it was predicted, but uh, it not, you know. Whatever, it knocked down a lot of trees and what it also did was open up the I guess, the eyes to other trees that were rotten. They were like, oh my God, we got not just these trees, we got knocked down a lot of trees. It opened it up. We can see, you can stand right in the middle of these things and they need to be knocked down.
Speaker 3:So then they put a halt on the park, like, okay, no one used the park. They put out bids, like they have to do, for people to cut trees down. A lot of the bids were at an enormous amount, which not an enormous amount for the company. The company's like like this is a big job. You know, I'm not coming to do this for 20 grand. You know, right, right, hundreds of thousands of dollars. We'll cut them down, we'll remove the stumps and do everything, but this is the price it's going to be and there wasn't money for that type of project. But so then, fast forward until just recently. If you go over there, there's a crap load of trees that were knocked down. Uh, they were able to bid out a contract, um, and maybe even through uh the city, uh, the city workers as well. That's what I was gonna say, does the city?
Speaker 3:got a tree service like I mean, they got equipment to cut trees, they got, they got all the stuff to do, I think, minus a grump style, uh, but you know what, though, If Marsh Heavy Equipment?
Speaker 2:they just opened up. They've got a building right in front of the old consumers there, Max, and he has a stump grinder. He could rent it out. I mean, I would promise you he loves the rain, I promise you he'd give them a good deal on it. You know Marsh heavy equipment? Okay, and I'll message that to you too.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but I mean he would definitely do something to help you guys out and I'll look to see who the contract is, if they even have. It might even be.
Speaker 2:But you said they've been there for a long time. You said, Well, who the?
Speaker 3:stumps, oh yeah.
Speaker 1:He's talking about, yeah, the previous, from when they cut down the trees? Well, no, when they fell down before. The stumps are still there. Oh, recently, no, no, no, not recently. They've been there for a while.
Speaker 3:There's some other ones Like last year, no, probably longer than that. That's what I'm saying, Like before my time.
Speaker 1:I know that there were some trees that fell down, regardless, there's stumps and they come, the same thing.
Speaker 3:It comes into budgetary constraints, right? So how do you pay for it if they don't have their own equipment? You know, everything has to be funded through a certain line item, right? So they have to say, hey, this is going to meet, this is what's the priority, right? Is the priority? Put money into the new pool Is the priority, you know? And like I, said this was before.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I know If pool is the priority, you know, and, like I said, this was before. Yeah, I know, if I had a stump grinder I'd go over there and be grinding.
Speaker 1:Well, I could go run it and go do it myself too. Can I get the bid? But anyways, what I'm saying is you got that. It had nothing to do with me exactly so, um, like I don't know, there's just so much stuff in lorraine. Trying to put a plug in lorraine wastes so much money on stupid shit. It's unreal like there's a lot of waste for money look at.
Speaker 1:Remember when they put that thing. We've talked about that before. Remember when they put that that, uh, asphalt down broadway and then they put that, uh, brick stamp in it. It didn't last a year. You probably don't remember it. Where was that? At right close on downtown. Yeah, right, right by the police station from there to, I think, close to 21st street, wasn't it?
Speaker 2:no, I think it was only up to the underpass, like under the tracks you might be right I remember some yeah, yeah, yeah, like I remember some type of, so they wasted all my
Speaker 1:tires when I was driving, so listen they put asphalt and then they put some brick design all the way down from like what he said. I think it was under right above, like by like eight street basically.
Speaker 2:Yeah, eight street up yeah.
Speaker 1:So eight street up they put this asphalt brick looking I'm like it's asphalt. You know you're driving on asphalt, it's gonna get hot, it's gonna wear. It didn't last a year, so I'm like they wasted that money to put brick design in asphalt.
Speaker 3:That was horrible. There's been several, you know I think there's a lot of. You know, definitely previous. You know where you see something one year and then you're like, okay, they tore that down and redid the whole thing, right, right, just like the first time.
Speaker 1:What's that weird little curbs that come out there, right there at scorchers again. Oh, I hate those. Those are so stupid. I'm like, and there's one on 21st street.
Speaker 2:They did those on uh, on uh, east Avenue and Elyria, and it's horrible, because the ones on East Avenue they bumped them out like that, you know, took it out of the road, they bumped it out of the road, they bumped it out like that, and then they don't do anything with it, so now it's just weeds in the middle of there.
Speaker 3:So, without knowing about it, what I've heard is okay. So it was a redevelopment of that area. Slow traffic down, let's build these. But I've sat at that union hall, or at Scorchers too, where we'd meet after some of our organizational meetings, and when they first did that, I would watch Car After Car, boom, boom.
Speaker 2:And then you'd see one.
Speaker 3:And I think in one night one night I seen at least seven cars with their emergency lights on because they blew their tire Because right where Broadway Marys is, because no one knows. Like if there aren't any cars, they think that that's a full straight and they're like no, the curve comes out. So I think that was a horrible design. I don't know who's responsible for that design.
Speaker 3:I know it was in the previous, maybe a continuation of the previous administration to the new, to Jack taking over, actually, because I know it was done while jack being the mayor, but I never understood that. Anyways, I do understand the concept of slowing traffic down, but I don't understand the middle. Yeah, the middle part of there because then you come from two lanes underneath the underpass and then you go everybody goes. It's like yeah, it's like a setup right, but hold up.
Speaker 3:There's plenty of those in the street, especially with the new bike lanes. You know, the new bike lanes are just uh.
Speaker 2:I actually like what they did with 21st street. I do actually like the bridge too, like, yeah, well cause they?
Speaker 3:because they can change it from they. They like put it where there's only the two lanes and then it's got. I like that.
Speaker 2:But you know, being someone that drives that, you know my, my uh job involves me being in a car for most part of the day.
Speaker 3:right, right, right, right. It doesn't make sense to me sometimes where I have to go from a two lane and then come out of a two lane to go back into a lane to make a turn. It confuses even me, yeah, and so I can only imagine what like just a regular person is like okay, what do I do? And the worst one is 31st.
Speaker 2:No, I think the worst one is 57. What they did, the way it just dumps you into a turning lane when you're coming. Like if you're heading North on 57, the way it's set up now, like you, you're just in a turning lane when you're in the left lane there oh, you're talking about going on a 90 yeah, yeah, yeah that's a that. That's the spot when I'm on the bike, where I'm like okay, let me watch because somebody's gonna miss and jump over.
Speaker 3:How many accidents? A lot of them.
Speaker 2:there was just one real bad Friday, I believe, look how many accidents.
Speaker 3:It's horrible. That is a cluster, but that's a lyric.
Speaker 1:I don't got nothing to do with it. I knew you was going to say it.
Speaker 3:But coming into Lorraine you know it's a cluster, especially coming over the bridge on both sides. I think it takes a little bit of time for people to get used to. But I think so I understand the concept to slow people down and that's like a major error where there's accidents all the time. So they're like okay, how do we congest this a little bit? Or maybe that's not the right word, but limit this a little.
Speaker 3:limit this, I mean for us it's congested a little bit to slow traffic, so to limit the. You know, and people smarter, smarter than me decided that that is the best way, based on whatever studies, and and that's, that's what happens?
Speaker 1:a lot down, let's kill them.
Speaker 3:But, that's what happens. A lot too is you know they, they, they do these studies and that's what you know. If we're talking about streets and roads, you know these are all studies that people have done and they go through this. You know, for our city. They say, hey, we've done a study and that's just not at that priority yet because of this study that we paid for says that we don't need a light on 28th and 57 on Grove anymore.
Speaker 2:Right, well, yeah, the problem is. The problem is is that what? One thing I know for sure is that these experts that are always experts are not experts? Yeah, they never come up with their stuff. Is that these experts that are always experts are not experts? Yeah, they never get on a field.
Speaker 3:I'm like, drive your car here and see this. See how many accidents happen at 31st and Clayton. That's a big priority. I yell about that all the time. You know we've just got by way of you know, my first year in council, we got a couple of those speed. I don't know if you've seen them. You know, does it really slow down? I don't know if you've seen them, they, you know, does it really slow down? It's supposed to be a deterrent, so it helps to slow people down by seeing your speed and seeing it flashing.
Speaker 1:You're going too fast, now you've got the kids flying by to see how fast they can go, yeah, well that too.
Speaker 3:But you know, I, you know, engaged with that my first year because I seen that that was on some of the priorities you know from that list, from that carryover list, and I'm like, well, why can't it happen? They're like, oh well, these cost this much money. I'm like, okay, so you have it. We just appropriated money to your department to do it. I don't give a shit. We need some signs that slow people down on this road, because that's what everybody's complaining about it's their money.
Speaker 2:I think one of the biggest taxes and spots is, and I don't know how that feeds into South Arena. It kind of does, though is this 254 right here, or Northridge Road?
Speaker 3:To me it's too fast 45 is too fast out there, no 45 is too fast and 50 or 45 is way too fast on Grove Avenue, especially when you're not coming into anything but it don't have the curb cuts. Here you've got curb cuts and it's ridiculous people stop right here on 254 norford's road and they how fast can I get before I go under that on that bridge right? You know, and they freaking haul and that's why we've had so many accidents right there on homewood.
Speaker 1:I mean deaths on homewood, on mayfield you need to put a cop there and start giving tickets.
Speaker 3:I haven't seen it. I drive there every day. Well, people mention that and if you look, if you can pull, you can do a public records request, which I've done, and you can see the amount of stops that happen on that street. We might not see it all the time, even me. I'm like, if I don't see you, it didn't happen.
Speaker 1:If I'm like if I don't see you, it didn't happen.
Speaker 3:If I didn't see it, it didn't happen.
Speaker 1:No, no but I drive a truck through here. I drive somewhere, I get in the truck I go through. I rode 20 times a day.
Speaker 3:They do pull traffic a lot back here. Hey, what's up? They do pull traffic a lot in South Lorain. Now you know they have. I mean, it's very actively engaged in that area. But I mean, look at the calls they're going to. In the rain though, too, shots fired. They're going to multiple different calls. They can't sit on a road. I know this too. They can't sit on a road 24-7.
Speaker 3:They can sit there for a while and you do see some of that call log is what I'm saying. If you pull some of the public records report, you say, hey, how many traffic stops have you made on this street or whatever street? You can see that the activity is there, but then when we don't see it and then there's an accident, that's what we complain about a lot. I can't see everything. I get that.
Speaker 2:You know who Fred Ramirez is. He used to own the subway there in South Lorraine when I was a kid. He had a Corvette with nitrous in it and I remember pulling off of Homewood Avenue on a 57. He goes floor it and I come out of there flooring it why do you put nitrous in a Corvette?
Speaker 3:Oh, he hit that.
Speaker 1:No, old Corvettes are slow. Yeah, oh yeah, they were back then.
Speaker 3:We're talking old school. It looks like it's fast when you look at it.
Speaker 2:No, I think my Corvette that I have at home. I think factors like 150 horsepower Horrible.
Speaker 1:Horrible 600?.
Speaker 2:No, it's a V8. That's a 350.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's the L82 or whatever, but you're thinking it's today's technology.
Speaker 2:You get a Focus that'll beat that.
Speaker 3:Right, right, right. You're thinking it's today's technology. You get a focus that'll beat that it's just technology.
Speaker 1:But back then that was fast but he hit that nitrous.
Speaker 2:We were going sideways from like basically all the way to the bridge. Essentially I was scared, I let go of the wheel. I mean, that was the. That's the place you do your runway, that's your strip.
Speaker 1:He was talking to me, about me speeding that one time and you're talking about this. I was a dumb kid and he was talking to me about me speeding that one time and you're talking about this I was a dumb kid and I was listening to Fred.
Speaker 3:He's like I never speed. I was driving and you're like, yeah, you speed every once in a while. Yeah right, he's got to speed a little we have to. You guys went back and forth for like 30, 40 minutes.
Speaker 1:No wait, he has a Challenger right. He has a Challenger right. He's got a Challenger.
Speaker 2:He's passed me for real. We could pull the tape of how many times he told me how fast his Challenger is. Now, how does he know that? Right? I mean, how would he know that this is Norwalk? What are you talking about? I never said when I was— he would tell me how fast it is.
Speaker 1:You said he's listening.
Speaker 2:Nobody says, I never said that.
Speaker 1:But that's all right. I could say how fast it was. I wasn't driving, joey was driving.
Speaker 2:Joey was driving my car.
Speaker 3:It wasn't me. It wasn't me it was.
Speaker 2:Joey.
Speaker 3:But you know so things like that, you know. So adding some of the speed equipment was some, you know. I mean, I felt like that was a success, even though it's a small little instrument.
Speaker 2:But that's something you achieved, yeah. Instrument, um, but that's something you achieved, yeah. But there you go, you got something under your belt?
Speaker 3:Yeah, but I don't, I don't, I don't really uh you know it's not on your big list.
Speaker 1:No, I mean, what's your, what's your, you know. So the main thing you want to do, no of 28th street you know, that's that's my goal, you know.
Speaker 3:So when I meet and I talk to people and I'm on phone calls, I'm on zoom calls with companies that are looking to purge or looking to buy into South Lorraine or to our area, that's what I'm asking for, you know, as I'm like hey, you know what can we do to help you out, to get you that to that level? But I don't see, but I don't feel, even though they're there now they're actively engaged.
Speaker 1:I don't feel that that's an achievement. Because they're not here. People give you mouth all the time. That Skylift place looks nice over there Skylift.
Speaker 3:Yeah, nick the Jarvis, however you say their last name. Those are really good people, man, and they do a really good job.
Speaker 2:I don't know. No, I didn't. 28th Street.
Speaker 1:Uh-uh, oh, beautiful building.
Speaker 2:I don't go over there, it's shitty. I don't go over there, man, you know they have.
Speaker 1:That's because in Rosen you develop, you don't come to South Lorraine.
Speaker 2:I rarely do. It's not my like. If I do, if I go to South Lorraine, it's literally to go to the bank because my bank is there, or I go down to Rainbows and that's pretty much it. And I grew up there. I love, grew up there. I love the city, I love, I love the. You know south lorraine I just it's just never a reason for me to go there anymore and it's not and that's the thing I think they need to make a reason for me to go there but you know exactly I mean, that's what it is.
Speaker 1:I mean at the diner all the time. That's guy left is nice man that they did a real nice job three stars.
Speaker 2:She's trying to sell. That isn't she restart, I've heard she's trying to sell.
Speaker 3:That isn't she, three Star? I've heard that she's trying to sell. I think one of her sons just passed.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I heard she wants to get rid of that.
Speaker 3:You know. So I mean, and that could be a, but whoever buys that, you're not going to get grandfathered in. So you're going to need a little bit of A lot of You're going, you're gonna need a little fix that make it work and get grandfathered in. I mean, if they don't change use yeah I mean as long as they don't change use, yeah, you know. So some of those things need to be need to be fixed. I mean I eat there, I've ate there because what's gonna happen is they're gonna close it down.
Speaker 1:It's gonna be another empty building yeah, that's a fact.
Speaker 3:Well, there are some, you know, with that south side gateway project there are some, uh, mixed use development conversations that are happening for that whole corridor there and it looks pretty good. I mean, we could potentially get anywhere from $5 to $50 million if we're awarded this grant. And it looks like we're in that window to be successfully awarded that which we just got to keep pushing.
Speaker 2:But you don't own any of that property.
Speaker 3:No, but they have to. So LMHA and the city has to acquire some of that property by whether it's purchase agreements, whether it's donations or whatever, and then that becomes part of that. That's in their plan that they have to have a certain amount of properties.
Speaker 2:Personally, I'd like to see 28th Street just become a side street. That's my opinion. I'd like to see a road go straight through the mill, get another main corridor cutting off to the west and one to the east side with a bridge?
Speaker 3:No, do you think a road goes straight through the middle? I think it would be way better. Oh man, I've been in talks about a bridge.
Speaker 2:I think that to me, that would be. To me, I'd rather see a 28th as a side street.
Speaker 3:That's, that's my opinion of it, you know with the condition the way it is right now, it makes no sense to be a four lane road that nothing's on there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's nothing on it, and most of those buildings would take so much to recover them. It's not even worth it.
Speaker 3:I don I mean, you know we've we've established more proactive citations for some of these businesses that just let their places just come to crap. You know that some of the car lots that are there that aren't, you know they're not even car lots. You can't say you're selling a car and all the tires are flat and all the windows are broken. You know you can't say that. So so we've established a more proactive team. So now they're really citing and going after these people, which I think and then hey, if you don't want to pay it, that's cool, we'll just put it on your tax.
Speaker 2:I'll still tell you that it's got to be. The stigma's got to get fixed. And I'll tell you another company I know that has a property in Lorain and wanted to bring their office there. They have a huge company in New Mexico. They wanted to bring an office in there and they wanted to bring sales reps to come in and work out of the office. But these are high end paying people. And he's like, yeah, they're just not going to want to drive to Lorraine, they're not going to want to drive in Lorraine, and that's it.
Speaker 2:You know, I have these high quality, high quality employees I'm just not putting them in Lorraine and that, if you get, until you change that stigma, like I mean. I don't know how you do that.
Speaker 3:It can be done, though I mean it's been done in other cities. You have to redevelop, you have to change the process of how people can buy.
Speaker 2:No, you got to blow it up, you. You got to do something huge, huge. Something's got to be big, something's got to really change it big.
Speaker 3:Well, you can't, you just answer your question. How do you change the stigma, Is that? But you know preemptively, like before, that you have to start. No, no, no, no, no, no.
Speaker 2:You got to get that first. You got to get that big thing first. You can't focus on these programs. Like you say, we need a community. There's a community center in Lurie. It's there. The Boys and Girls Club are doing their thing. Yeah, they're not taking care of everybody, but the problem is they go to the community center and then there's no job for them.
Speaker 2:So when they get done with the community center, if the community center does exactly what it's supposed to do, okay, and that kid comes out as a successful, intelligent, hardworking person that could have success.
Speaker 2:Guess what he's moving the hell out of South Lorraine, he's working somewhere else, I promise you once he's doing good, there's no thing for him in Lorraine no more, and that's why he engaged with the businesses that are here too, so you've got to get something there first. It has to happen first. We're working on it. That has to happen more than anything else in a community. More than even Ray Carrion. I hated that he was always worried about putting paint on everything and I hated that. Like you, got to do something better than make it look good, because that's not going to fix it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but in the meantime no, there's no meantime Work on one thing.
Speaker 3:No, you are working on that, we are working on that. But in the meantime you have to still keep that community engagement, because if you don't create that community engagement, you don't create that redevelopment, like hey, these are different things that we can add, then the people are going to move out anyways.
Speaker 2:You can focus on one thing, but if that's your whole focus, then you lose sight of everything else. No, no, no, no. Those other things fall in line. Like I said, you're talking about fixing a community of kids at a community center. That isn't going to. They have no hope, and if they, did?
Speaker 3:they're moving the hell out. That's just one thing, and not saying that, hey, this is a priority. We have to get a community center. That's not what I said, but I'm just saying, that's the that's the mentality of most people in the city is.
Speaker 2:That's the type of things Like. I remember that that's what they wanted to do with the old St Joe's Hospital was they wanted a big community center there. You know what a good community center is Middleburg Rec that's a beautiful one. You know another one, another one, avon Guess that's a beautiful one. You know another one, another one, avon Guess. What they have, they have a community that has money that enjoys. So now they have a nice community center to go do things at. You've got to get the money there, you've got to get the wealth there. You've got to get a reason for people to be there, period.
Speaker 3:And anything else. Avon and Lorraine are different right now. So I agree yeah, and Avon and Lorraine are different.
Speaker 2:you know right now, so you have to, so I agree. Yeah, I mean, it's a huge difference.
Speaker 3:So those are the conversations that are happening already. So those conversations and that work is happening, you know. But in the meantime, while you're doing that, if you're not engaged and you're not doing these other things, then you're losing sight of everybody else. So we can work on the working people, on the working class and getting jobs. But you have to. You have to still continue the same programs. You have to build the programs that you already have.
Speaker 2:Those are just catering to failing people. I'll disagree with that. That's what they are they're failing, they're, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're catering to failing people. I disagree, I don't disagree.
Speaker 3:We have people that you know in our community that they're not going to be the people that stay around anyways, right? So you have to care for the ones that are here, you have to develop and you have to continue caring for the people that have decided to stay, and with that you have to bring new business, you do have to bring organizations, you do have to bring new manufacturers.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but it can't be $12 an hour business. It can't be $14 an hour business.
Speaker 3:I don't know any businesses that are paying $12 an hour that much. But you know what I'm.
Speaker 2:I mean most of these factory jobs aren't paying living wages that they're bringing in. Most of them are barely making.
Speaker 3:I mean, they're really not In comparison to where they live people that live in Lorain, or that live in Lorain that are working in Lorain some of them are able to make ends meet, and then the ones that aren't.
Speaker 1:that's why he has us. But once you start going to another, just say, tax bracket, you're moving out of Lorain. Some people do I have Will.
Speaker 2:They will, 100% they will. I bet you will in the next five years Ray.
Speaker 3:Carrion just moved out and he loves South Lorain and he moved out. He's like I'm out yeah but he's still in Lorraine.
Speaker 2:He's in Lorraine and Amherst School District.
Speaker 1:No, he's in Amherst, that's Amherst. He's in Amherst School District. No, it's.
Speaker 3:Lorraine but it's Amherst School District. He's in Lorraine, but you don't have any childhood kids.
Speaker 2:But he went to Amherst.
Speaker 3:School.
Speaker 2:District. He's in Lorraine, though, I'm telling you that anybody that has success is getting the hell out is what I'm telling you. Well, you know you don't have any problem.
Speaker 3:When you need to grow your family and you're still in the same, you know, 1,200 or less than 1,200 square foot house and your family's growing you have to make decisions, and we don't have that here, you know. So my goal is not, we don't have what here.
Speaker 2:Houses bigger than that.
Speaker 3:Bullshit. Well, you have houses.
Speaker 1:I'm talking about new development, Right new development when you can afford it, and you're going to move out just like we said, yeah, but there's nothing that you're going to stop that.
Speaker 3:does that, besides building new development, Engage in a community to want them to stay. You know you have to do that too. Hey, we are moving progress. We are continuing community events. We are gathering people. People are coming from all over, from Avon, elyria and all these big places to come to these community events because they want to see it thrive. Or maybe they want it cheaper, I don't know. You know, maybe they want to buy maybe they want a free event?
Speaker 3:I don't know. But when you continue those community development, those community engagements, people stick around. You know I moved back because of the community. You know I was out of here. I lived in DC for a little bit. I moved back to Lorain because of the community. It was the ease of financial too. You know, not knowing hey, am I going to get a good job that I can pay $2,000 or $2,500 a month? You know bill. No, I pay $686.
Speaker 2:Sadly, the only people that have good jobs in the city of Lorain are police officers, firemen and nurses. That's it.
Speaker 3:There is nothing else there anymore Paying jobs you mean yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, if they're working at Ford, they probably don't live in Lorain, which is a good job, but they probably move out. Most of them move out.
Speaker 1:Well, the problem with that is most of the.
Speaker 3:Fords are a little out now and you know people want to upgrade too, so it's not just about moving out of the city, like this city isn't giving anything to me, that's my whole point.
Speaker 2:Lorain should be the upgrade. That's the mentality.
Speaker 1:We're saying Make Lorain.
Speaker 2:You're saying make Lorraine the upgrade, make it the upgrade. Yeah, I mean you're talking about you're moving to Amherst.
Speaker 3:You have no lakefront, you got no beaches, you got no parks like you do in Lorraine Drive, down Martin's Run. You see, you know.
Speaker 2:The Amherst school districts yeah, Amherst school district. Amherst school district.
Speaker 1:And they're all in Amherst school District and you know what?
Speaker 3:Here's a funny thing, a lot of those kids go to Lorain too, but you know they it's not Amherst School District but they can. They can do the open enrollments at in Amherst Right or Clearview or whatever school district.
Speaker 2:So but there's a lot of students that still live in that area that live up there that still go to Lorain because they trust in the Lorain City Schools, but there's no city around here that offers what Lorain does, when you're talking strictly geographical, absolutely not. It's amazing.
Speaker 3:Lorain has so much, and for them to piss it away.
Speaker 2:The way they piss it. It pisses me off. They piss away.
Speaker 3:We talked about that. They stepped on their own feet for the last so many years. They, you know, allowed Ford to leave, ford to leave you know which. They should have made some agreements or made what I mean, like you said, giving something to somebody like Ford. What do you want? You know you want this. I mean, I don't know all the constraints of how that contract and how they left and everything I don't know really too much about that.
Speaker 2:Well, they took that to Mexico. They started building Thunderbirds in Mexico.
Speaker 3:But I would have said we don't want you to leave. You know, like a little puppy dog, like come on guys.
Speaker 1:Well, you don't want to be too much like that either. Yeah, but for a company like Ford. You don't want to be too much like that either. Yeah, but for a company like Ford, for a business like Ford, I mean, what do you? They already got that in their head what they're going to do, and I believe that too, they already knew they're building a whole extra facility over there next to connected to Ford, building it bigger.
Speaker 2:Yeah, at a battery place or whatever.
Speaker 3:We could have had that here, so they already had their agenda, or whatever. We could have had that here, they already had their agenda. But those industries, like that Ford, which was the number one producer of jobs in Lorain, to allow them to go.
Speaker 2:What is that place on the east side of Lorain? What's that place called?
Speaker 1:The blue building behind Camico.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what do they pay? An hour?
Speaker 3:No, camico's. I think that is it, camico behind. Huh, that might be a chemical chemical, yeah, what do they pay? An hour or no chemicals, uh I think that is a camco camp blue building behind the post office.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah chemical.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what do they pay an hour?
Speaker 3:I had a buddy that worked there, um, I think he was at. I think their shifts were just crazy. I think they were like seven days a week, like like shit, like that. I don't know how much they pay, I think upward 20s, something like that. I don't even think they're paying that?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, they definitely pay, Probably now, Maybe now maybe, possibly they're upward 20s.
Speaker 3:I had a tenant that was working there.
Speaker 2:He was getting 17 an hour.
Speaker 3:Yeah, somewhere like that 18 to 20 dollars or something like that.
Speaker 2:All you get is garbage workers, though Garbage employees.
Speaker 3:All my friends. I just remember them never being around. I'm like, dude, I gotta work again. I'm like how many days you work? They're like I work seven days a week. I've been working seven days a week, you know, because the overtime and they're like.
Speaker 2:To survive. That's the only way they're going to survive. Wow, did you make that coquito? You brought in. I made it for you. You made it. Yeah, you actually made it all right, awesome, where's your cup? Grab me a cup. We need a couple cups, three cups, so I made this. Four cups, mike's. No, they're right, there should be coffee cups right there, mike.
Speaker 3:I made this last night um, so you know in in, in our tradition, we're talking about community. You know our tradition. You know coquito, it works for me. Yeah, some kind of gesture is good to bring on. Oh, rum, chata, that's a big cup. You got to fill it up.
Speaker 2:Well, no, you got that, I'll use mine. I'll just finish mine.
Speaker 3:But so it's a mixture of rum.
Speaker 1:This is a podcast. What kind of rum did you go with? So it's a mixture of rum.
Speaker 3:Now, this is a podcast. What kind of rum do you go with? So it's a secret rum, secret rum yeah, you gotta have your own secret, all right.
Speaker 3:All right, so it's rum, coconut milk, uh, so if you're any uh restrictions on cinnamon or anything like that, there's cinnamon in here, coconut milk, condensed milk, and then coconut cream, coconut cream and milk cream as well, all right. And then it has a tea. So when you make coquito, some people choose to use a tea, and what you do is you take all the cinnamon sticks, you take your iris, you know the little iris stars or whatever.
Speaker 2:Most people don't know what iris stars are. Do you know what that is? No, I don't.
Speaker 3:So it's another kind of seasoning. Like a spice, like a cinnamon stick is. So it's similar to that, but it has a different, distinct flavor to it. Okay, anyways, you pour a little bit of you have water, you boil it and you just abstract everything from it, all right. And then you use that tea and that goes in here as well. So it changes the flavor up a little bit.
Speaker 2:Everybody thinks they make the best Coquito. No, I know.
Speaker 3:Everybody thinks they do. I'm just saying I made one. Whether it's the best or not, you can tell me if it's good.
Speaker 2:Pour it up.
Speaker 1:I feel like this I never had a bad coquito, I really haven't.
Speaker 2:I haven't had a bad one. You know who used to make good coquito was Ray Ray. You remember Ray Ray? Yeah, he don't like you. Yeah, he don't like me no more.
Speaker 3:We don't talk about Ray Ray. Yeah, we do. I like Ray Ray. You got a cup.
Speaker 2:I like Ray Ray. I was mad at him about something one time, so what?
Speaker 1:No, it's good, you got a good point oh no that's good, that's real good.
Speaker 3:So Coquito, I make it every year. I usually just make it for for it, I don't sell it or anything like that, uh, but we make a big batch. I got this big. You ever seen those large vodka bottles? Yeah, yeah, those glass ones, so I'm making a huge one for new year's. Okay, then I'm gonna bring like hey, I brought the coquito, you know, but these you gotta be these sneak up on you so, depending on how you like the flavor, you could use it in coffee, if you want.
Speaker 1:I made a chocolate.
Speaker 3:I made a chocolate one.
Speaker 1:It would be a nice coffee cream.
Speaker 2:Yeah, delicious.
Speaker 3:But you can drink this and not feel you can make them as hot as you want in terms of like. You can put more liquor in it and where you taste it you're like, whoa, this is like a shot.
Speaker 2:Or you can drink it like this. Traditionally it used to be, everybody was making it with 151.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so that's. But then McCarty kind of got rid of that.
Speaker 2:and then it was like Don't go.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so don't go. If you're going to use you, either use moonshine, stuff that you make yourself.
Speaker 2:Moonshine. You're a councilman and a cop and you're making moonshine.
Speaker 3:It's legal.
Speaker 2:It's legal. It's legal.
Speaker 3:Can't sell it. But you either make some kind of moonshine and it could be a derivative of a whole bunch of different alcohols and you just let it sit, or whatever. Not like make it with the potatoes, or whatever.
Speaker 1:You're not like sitting there with a steel or anything. So if weed's legal now, like if you're a cop, you smoke weed, it's cool.
Speaker 3:No, you can't smoke. It's not legal. I mean it's cool, no, you can't.
Speaker 1:It's not legal. I mean it's not you know, it's still. Uh, I know I can't smoke, I don't smoke anyways, but I'm saying I'm a truck driver, I can't smoke yeah, so no, you know, you, you uh, people, I mean people, people smoke.
Speaker 3:Yeah, why can't you smoke as it? That would be the the question. So whatever your answer is probably feels the same, it's probably the same so if I'm high, I get in a wreck and they test me.
Speaker 1:Well, say, like I got a high two days ago, I get in a wreck and then they test me and it comes back that I was. Yeah, it wouldn't be good. So yeah.
Speaker 3:So so for us it's not, you know, weed you know, or any any type of drugs. Are you know strictly you know, forbidden drugs are you know strictly you know forbidden? And for me, specifically as a younger kid, you know, tried and did, did that thing. And you know, when I had my kid at a certain age I was like I'm done. You know, I don't want my, you know, I'm just curious. Do I agree with people doing I don't care, right?
Speaker 3:I don't do you know, do it, do whatever you want to do. That you know, especially if it's for medical reasons, because there are some medical problems.
Speaker 2:I think it's killing my business. I've been having that conversation with a lot of people around here lately. What do you mean? I think that the newer people I think that's their thing they like to smoke weed and order DoorDash. They don't go out. You know what I mean. I think that's what happens.
Speaker 1:They don't go out. We were talking about the kids getting fatter. Now the young adults are going to be sitting around getting fatter. They do.
Speaker 2:They sit and play video games and it's their socialization.
Speaker 3:I mean, it's just become like smoking a cigarette now. Everywhere you go, people are just smoking weed and that's fine. They can do whatever they want. But it's like I don't like the smell of it myself. I hate the freaking smell of it. I hate like when you're just at like a regular event or you're at dinner and someone sits behind you and you're like yeah, you know especially if it's strong to skunk, smell.
Speaker 1:You're like, oh my god it's in her pocket, doesn't bother me at all it doesn't bother me even a little bit, but I smell it everywhere I go.
Speaker 3:But people do the gummies and things like that, which is you know. And there's some medicinal purposes. People got the medicine card. It's still illegal to smoke, you know it's like drinking and driving. It's still a little illegal to have like a burnt order of marijuana. I like to be smoking in the car while you're driving. You know it still has that in, but what do you do?
Speaker 2:So you pull somebody over and you smell that, what do you?
Speaker 3:do I mean, the laws are way different now, smelling, you know.
Speaker 2:It's not enough, huh.
Speaker 3:It's not enough, you know. But if they're sitting there like what's up, bro, you know you can get an OVI If they're impaired.
Speaker 2:You can, you know?
Speaker 3:they can be arrested or tested, you know, for impairment and if they are impaired, how do you test for impairment?
Speaker 2:Me and him were having this conversation. Because weed stays in your system for so long. How do you know that they were actually high while they were driving, or they were just high three days ago?
Speaker 3:They say the eyes don't lie. There's tests that you can test for their eyes to see if they still have.
Speaker 2:So that's how you show up with court. In court you have to say you, you witnessed it, yeah, you observed it, you know. And then you know obviously the it's open to too much bullshit and that you know that's okay.
Speaker 3:So you got reasonable suspicion, probable cause. So then you have them. You know maybe they want to. They do a sample for you. So they take a piss test, you send it out to a lab, comes back that they were impaired and then that that's what would sit in court really just same as same as doing a breathalyzer there's our answer. There is none same as doing a breathalyzer test. That uh, you know, um, that's pretty much on the cop taking them all.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's really depending, you know but for the most part you just let it go, huh yeah, why would you?
Speaker 1:why would you fight it? I guess it, it would be so hard.
Speaker 3:Well, like I said, it really depends. Just a smell of weed is not probable. Causing it doesn't give you enough to say, okay, this is all the circumstances. We had somebody come in here one day.
Speaker 2:I swear to God, he stunk up the whole place. That's what I'm talking about. And I'm like, dude, what are you smoking? Out back he goes. I ain't smoked all day, it was just in his pocket. I'm like, holy shit, dude. I mean I honestly kind of wanted to try it, just because I was curious what the hell, and I don't smoke, but it's like what the hell it takes you back to the days when you were around it or something.
Speaker 3:You're like huh, but for me it's never been a. I don't take medications, I don't do any of that stuff. That's me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's how I am too.
Speaker 3:I'm the same way, as you see, even when I come in here, I'll have a beer and maybe a shot or something, and that's pretty cool. I'm cool with that if I'm going to do that and then sit, drink, eat water, drink water, drink a soda, eat dinner, and I'm ready to go. And even at home the same thing.
Speaker 1:I'm like soda, some bourbon I'm like.
Speaker 3:I don't like waking up like, oh man, I got a headache and I don't want to be fat either, and I don't know if a lot of people that smoke weed become fat or not, but it used to be that you would have to eat all the time, right?
Speaker 1:I must be secretly smoking weed, and I don't even know it. Because you're eating a lot. No, because I'm getting fat.
Speaker 3:No, my family has a big weight problem or whatever, or they've had a weight problem in the past.
Speaker 2:Dude, did you just throw your family out there? Did you just say?
Speaker 1:that my asses are all fat asses.
Speaker 2:They're bigger.
Speaker 1:They're bigger than me. He changed up a little bit, they're bigger than me.
Speaker 3:He didn't even deny it. He's like, yeah, y'all fat.
Speaker 2:They're bigger than me. I can't afford Christmas dinner. We're coming to your house.
Speaker 3:No well, they always do it at my house and I'm like, oh my God, that's why he calls them fat. He's hoping they'll eat less this time Listen to the podcast. We're looking at the prices, because prices are just crazy now for everything, even save a lot. I mean, the only thing we have is save a lot. We want to keep them here.
Speaker 2:Dude, I own a restaurant. Can you imagine it's destroying?
Speaker 3:It's so expensive and people are like but how can they do DoorDash? Even though that's probably a relevant business, they spend the money no-transcript. That's a relevant business for you too. You probably do a lot of DoorDash. We have.
Speaker 2:Uber Eats, Uber Eats. But we are going to actually we're going to move. We have DoorDash, we're signed up with them. The problem is with them is that they created the menu and they used a menu they found online from like 2018 or something.
Speaker 1:I'm like, yeah, I can't do that Fried mushrooms.
Speaker 2:I have to go fix all that stuff before I allow that to go online.
Speaker 3:I thought you had fried mushrooms okra you had a whole bunch of stuff back in the days that I wanted when I came out.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, that all got disappeared. Well, not only that, just the prices alone, just the prices are even unbearable. I mean, you could put on an order that we're out of something you know on doordash, but like you know the prices that you couldn't afford to do it at those prices.
Speaker 3:We were looking at prices yesterday, just uh, my wife makes a ham, that's like her go-to thing. She makes a nice honey, ham or whatever and I was like do you want pork as a side again?
Speaker 3:because it's probably the cheapest thing to buy right now. So I just bought another whole pork loin and I'm like I'm not gonna make lechon or panini or anything like that, I'm gonna make a pork loin, I'm gonna do the seasoning like it and I'm gonna cut it real thin like I might serve everybody well, you know what you grew up.
Speaker 2:What did your mom used to make for christmas dinner? Because your mom was a hillbilly white cook. Yeah, my mom made uh like she would make.
Speaker 3:Your mom was a hillbilly white cook. Right yeah, my mom made like she would make meatloaf.
Speaker 2:No, but for Christmas, I mean.
Speaker 3:Pot roast meatloaves For.
Speaker 2:Christmas Really Yep, oh man.
Speaker 3:And she would make like candy, like the yams, the candy yams. She still does.
Speaker 2:See most of us white people. We have Cabbage and noodles.
Speaker 3:No, no, we do.
Speaker 2:Most of us do.
Speaker 3:Thanksgiving again.
Speaker 1:That's kind of like the white family does Thanksgiving again.
Speaker 2:Italians usually do pasta, though.
Speaker 3:But my mom didn't cook, my mom didn't really cook a lot. My dad was a cook.
Speaker 2:Well, you said she cooked more like the hillbilly food.
Speaker 1:My dad was like I don't want that.
Speaker 2:I'm not eating that, I'm just curious.
Speaker 3:He was traditional, like rice and beans. Your dad was a good cook. Yeah, my dad's a good cook.
Speaker 2:We're going to do this year. We're going to do lasagna.
Speaker 3:Well, we were thinking about doing like a lasagna, but like a pastela lasagna. You eat pastelas I do, but like doing that. So the masa, just make it like a lasagna instead of making individual ones.
Speaker 3:Huh, I wonder if that'd be good, well, I don't know, I mean it's the same, sounds, right, it tastes the same, so it's. I mean, it's just not in the yeah, it sounds right and the way that you cook it is you boil it, you put it in a pan like a pastela casserole, right yeah, like a casserole. Yeah, hey, you know, I think there's a name for it, but I don't know.
Speaker 1:Pastelone or something like that I never heard of it. Scotty had that basilito pizza. Oh, that was real good.
Speaker 3:That was crazy. Was it filled?
Speaker 2:No, it was just on the surface it was good, I'll drink it, I'll drink it too.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so we'll see.
Speaker 2:I'm just curious. I know we're doing lasagna this year for the first time.
Speaker 3:So going back to Lorraine because we went off a little bit on thing, but going back to Lorraine is those traditional things, those traditional things is we're losing. You know, as you know, you grew up in the city, so keeping those type of when I'm talking about community events and doing things like that, keeping some of the traditions and keeping that, it keeps the vibe, you know the vibe alive. So you know, Puerto Rican festivals, doing the Easter egg hunts, whatever, and keeping it some kind of international Christmas we just did, where people still remember that, Like the reason we had a Pajarana which was like the band playing, you know, the Guido and all that stuff like that it was because some of the people online on Facebook were like man, we're losing that, and they kept saying and they were sending me a message hey, when can we bring it back? You know the band's back and I'm like all right. So when we looked for a band, we were like we want specifically that band because that's what the people are, that's what the community was asking for.
Speaker 3:Sure, we have a large, you know, Hispanic, the largest Hispanic population, obviously in South Lorraine anyways. So that's, you know, keeping those things going and not forgetting about those in the meantime, in terms of while you're trying to build economic development and bringing businesses, and that being the forefront of your focus, you still have to keep those. For me, I still have to keep those traditional traits alive where people are still coming back, those traditional traits alive where people are still coming back. You know, the reason we focus a lot on the park is, you know, most people see events and stuff happening at the park because, first of all, it's an open venue. Anybody can come, it's for everybody. The more focus that you put in the park, or the more people and the events that you have between Darius and between you know fits for youth and between George, between the baseball leagues, and only in the kickball leagues you keep bringing that, it makes them.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I'm supposed to meet. He was supposed to meet with me yesterday. He wants us to do a kickball league with him again.
Speaker 3:Only you know those people are already doing it in the community. So how do you, how do you prevent them from having to? You know, do this, do the fields again have more events there? And then they're like man, we have to do it. And then you got someone like me and ray that were like no, you guys will be, you know, for the city, you guys will be cleaning this up. Come and cut the grass. You know, do it often.
Speaker 1:Or, you know, redo the electric I just I find it hard when that grass was so high and they could actually give other people tickets for it. That's just crazy.
Speaker 3:No, but you know, someone said that too and I think it was one of us we were talking about. You know the same thing, like if we're. You know, if our grass is high and they come and cut our grass, can they be like, hey, man, the city. Here's a citizen's ticket saying you know you didn't come and pay me. You know we were cutting the grass, sometimes ourself. You know like I mean, I was cut. I cut the grass a few times. You know, in certain areas, you know, around the memorials, around all the memorials, around the ballpark. You know like I mean, because it's just a natural thing to do. Yes, we have to make sure that the city is doing their part too.
Speaker 2:Well, why don't you guys? This is my question. Why can't you guys get somebody out there that has the contract that you could call One of the landscaping companies there's numerous ones, In fact, there's two right here with mowers and trailers that you could have on call that, if something happens, you could send them out there to take care of it? They do. How did the grass get this tall?
Speaker 3:It depends, Did it rain today Come on now.
Speaker 1:It didn't rain, holy shit. That's like saying that road just happened last year Hold on, but which part of the area was that high?
Speaker 3:Who?
Speaker 1:cares. Does it matter? Yeah, does it matter, because I'll tell you one thing they created this. It was right there on 57 and 31st Street. No, 57 and 31st Street, that whole side was just this high.
Speaker 3:It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. I don't know why and this is me too. I've struggled with it I don't know why I can go to Avon and you'll never see another like that. And the lines on the curve would be like I could tell you why.
Speaker 2:I don't know why. Because they got business and money and the reason. Even when we were kids we felt a little hopeless in Lorraine growing up In the 80s, I'm just saying. But we thought we could probably at least get a job at the Miller Ford, right, I mean, at the least. I mean if we couldn't succeed at least we could do that. I mean it wasn't like I personally felt hopeless, Like not hopeless. I just personally didn't feel me and Troy to hit on this this week. I personally never thought I'd live past 32.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we thought that was over 34. As a kid, that's how I thought.
Speaker 2:So I never as a kid I thought 32, 34, I'd never even see that. You know what I mean. So I wasn't all that worried about it. But as a whole I always thought, like you know, like I would at least have a chance, I could get a job at Ford. You know, I thought maybe it'd be hard to get that job, but I thought I could do that if I had to. You know what I'm saying. Where these kids ain't got that hope right now, these guys, right now, they have no hope. They have no, there's no. Like we had to mill through shovel no, not when I was a kid, you had Campana when I was a kid, Campana.
Speaker 1:Okay, Campana.
Speaker 2:That was a good career back then. It was a decent job back then. It wasn't bad, Mill Ford.
Speaker 3:What was next to Ford Atlas? Not Atlas.
Speaker 1:Next to Ford.
Speaker 3:It was like a welding. Then you also had on Elyria Avenue, not Elyria Avenue, on Pearl Avenue too, by the Wonder Bread. That was a good job. Where the trucks parked, they parked their trucks in the back.
Speaker 1:Oh damn, yeah, it was a trucking company. Was it always a trucking? I don't know if it was.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it was a trucking company, but I remember dropping my brother.
Speaker 1:my older brother worked there for a while he was making good money. Back then, yeah, and then they had damn. What was that company called?
Speaker 3:Don't know, the steel mill was the highlight.
Speaker 1:Did some work for the lady that ended up having it. Ford was the highlight.
Speaker 3:No, I know, but I'm talking about for our community.
