1
00:00:04,879 --> 00:00:07,160
Speaker 1: What's going on. Thank you so much for listening to

2
00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:09,640
this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon

3
00:00:09,679 --> 00:00:12,480
to three on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you

4
00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:16,719
want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream,

5
00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:19,239
my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron,

6
00:00:19,320 --> 00:00:22,640
go to dpeakclendershow dot com. Make sure you hit the

7
00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:25,160
subscribe button. Get every episode for free, write to your

8
00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:27,719
smartphone or tablet, and again, thank you so much for

9
00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:36,240
your support. Let's start with our Charlotte City Council corruption, chicanery,

10
00:00:36,799 --> 00:00:39,079
whatever you'd like to call it. We have a new

11
00:00:39,159 --> 00:00:44,920
chapter in this unfolding saga now that the North Carolina

12
00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:49,280
State Auditor has announced via a letter to the Charlotte

13
00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:53,159
City Council and mayor that he will be probing them.

14
00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:58,960
E he will be investigating them. Yes, he's investigating the

15
00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:02,840
City of Charlotte over it's reported payoff, or, as the

16
00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:06,200
Charlotte Observer calls it, a settlement. I think it's a payoff.

17
00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:10,760
I think a settlement occurs when you have litigation and

18
00:01:10,799 --> 00:01:15,400
there isn't litigation. There wasn't litigation, there were no lawsuits filed.

19
00:01:16,079 --> 00:01:19,280
So it's just a payoff or a payout. If you'd

20
00:01:19,359 --> 00:01:22,959
like a little bit more palatable of a term, it's

21
00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:27,239
a payoff to the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Chief, Johnny Jennings,

22
00:01:27,599 --> 00:01:31,840
over what we don't know, but as best I can tell,

23
00:01:32,239 --> 00:01:37,680
I'm going with the hurt feelings narrative, because again, there's

24
00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:42,079
no lawsuit filed, and without a lawsuit filed, there's no

25
00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:50,560
outline of harms actually suffered or alleged, And even the

26
00:01:50,599 --> 00:01:54,200
ones that are alleged were not defamatory because they were

27
00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:57,760
not public to a third party, and if they were

28
00:01:57,799 --> 00:02:00,519
public to a third party, they were only made public

29
00:02:01,159 --> 00:02:05,280
by apparently the chief himself, in trying to get an

30
00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:11,120
ethics complaint filed with the city attorney against City Councilman

31
00:02:11,199 --> 00:02:16,120
tarc Bakari. Tark Bacari no longer on city council. Edwin

32
00:02:16,159 --> 00:02:20,039
Peacock was named his replacement on Monday. Tark Bacari took

33
00:02:20,039 --> 00:02:22,960
a job up in the Trump administration, but before he

34
00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:27,159
left there was a complaint, an ethics complaint filed against

35
00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:30,759
him with the city attorney. That ethics complaint was filed

36
00:02:30,759 --> 00:02:34,240
by the president of the Charlotte Chapter of the NAACP,

37
00:02:35,599 --> 00:02:39,719
woman by the name of krinn Mac. That complaint contained

38
00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:45,960
language that came from an email exchange that she had

39
00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:50,120
had with the police chief's right hand and I guess

40
00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:52,560
left hand, so I call them the hands of the chief,

41
00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:57,479
the chief's hands that crafted the language that then wound

42
00:02:57,560 --> 00:03:02,400
up in the ethics complaint. And apparently they reports are

43
00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:07,280
that she submitted a Freedom of Information Act request in

44
00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:12,319
order to get evidence of the nature of the defamatory

45
00:03:12,719 --> 00:03:17,400
language that Councilman Bakari used against Police Chief Jennings. And

46
00:03:17,479 --> 00:03:21,960
in submitting that FOYER request, she knew apparently the keywords

47
00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:26,639
from the private text message exchanges between the chief and Bokari.

48
00:03:28,319 --> 00:03:31,639
So that tells me that the chief gave the text

49
00:03:31,719 --> 00:03:36,719
messages or told her to foya the city for these

50
00:03:36,759 --> 00:03:39,919
text messages and use these keywords to ensure that she

51
00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:42,919
got the correct evidence that she could then incorporate into

52
00:03:42,919 --> 00:03:46,280
the ethics complaint again with other language that was crafted

53
00:03:46,639 --> 00:03:51,120
by the hands of the chief, and submits that to

54
00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:55,520
the city attorney. The city attorney then says, no to

55
00:03:55,560 --> 00:03:59,280
your ethics complaint. No, there's no merit here for an

56
00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:05,400
ethics violination. But then the city attorney, the interim city Attorney,

57
00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:10,080
Anthony Fox, turns around and advises. So the reports are

58
00:04:10,639 --> 00:04:14,599
that the city council needs to approve the payoff to

59
00:04:14,639 --> 00:04:20,279
the chief, reportedly of about three hundred thousand dollars. We

60
00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:23,519
don't know if it's three hundred thousand, two hundred thousand,

61
00:04:23,879 --> 00:04:27,839
a billion. We don't know because the city attorney refuses

62
00:04:27,879 --> 00:04:34,040
to release the settlement the amount, what for whatever, and

63
00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:37,519
he claims it's part of the personnel records of the chief.

64
00:04:38,319 --> 00:04:41,240
That is an opinion that is not shared by basically

65
00:04:41,279 --> 00:04:46,600
any other lawyer. Then you have the matter of the

66
00:04:46,639 --> 00:04:55,199
way the city council voted on the payoff because the

67
00:04:55,399 --> 00:05:01,079
dismissal of the ethics complaint was apparently reported not known

68
00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:07,279
to several of the city council members. How many don't know.

69
00:05:07,639 --> 00:05:11,199
They won't talk about that. We don't know who was

70
00:05:11,240 --> 00:05:15,600
aware of the ethics complaint dismissal before they agreed to

71
00:05:15,639 --> 00:05:19,879
the payoff, some of them. Some council members have told

72
00:05:20,639 --> 00:05:23,680
reporters in town that they were not aware of the

73
00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:27,759
ethics complaint dismissal and that that may have changed their

74
00:05:27,839 --> 00:05:33,680
vote knowing that information. So who knew about the ethics

75
00:05:33,680 --> 00:05:38,120
complaint dismissal? Why would the city attorney dismiss the ethics complaint,

76
00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:43,040
but then advise the payoff. What was the legal rationale

77
00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:48,040
for it, and what are the harms alleged? We don't know.

78
00:05:49,639 --> 00:05:54,360
Defamation requires there be a third person that hears the defamation.

79
00:05:56,079 --> 00:05:59,079
Otherwise it's not defamation. If I call you a bunch

80
00:05:59,079 --> 00:06:01,480
of bad names and it's just us on the phone

81
00:06:01,480 --> 00:06:04,040
together or me in a text message with you, and

82
00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:06,439
I don't say it in public, and you don't say

83
00:06:06,439 --> 00:06:08,759
these things in public, then there is no defamation.

84
00:06:09,959 --> 00:06:10,120
Speaker 2: Right.

85
00:06:11,319 --> 00:06:15,000
Speaker 1: There isn't any third party to hear the defamatory language,

86
00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:19,399
So why would you settle? It doesn't make any sense.

87
00:06:19,759 --> 00:06:25,000
None of this makes any sense except what I hypothesize

88
00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:30,319
based on the reports and what limited information we have.

89
00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:36,319
My hypothesis is simply that during the fight over the vests,

90
00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:41,439
the bulletproof vests that Bakari said a lot of rank

91
00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:45,399
and file officers want to wear instead of the under

92
00:06:45,439 --> 00:06:50,319
the shirt vest, they wanted the outer carrier vests. And

93
00:06:50,399 --> 00:06:53,319
what I suspect occurred, I don't know this. I want

94
00:06:53,319 --> 00:06:56,519
to be very clear, this is wild speculation. What I

95
00:06:56,600 --> 00:07:00,480
suspect may have occurred, though, is there were council members

96
00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:03,480
that did not want to take a public stance by

97
00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:10,000
voting no on a budget item. That's my bet. They

98
00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:14,519
didn't want to be seen as crossing CMPD officers that

99
00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:20,199
were asking for this other bulletproof vest, particularly after four

100
00:07:20,319 --> 00:07:24,519
law enforcement officers, one of whom was CMPD, were murdered

101
00:07:24,879 --> 00:07:30,279
while trying to serve and arrest warrant in East Charlotte.

102
00:07:30,399 --> 00:07:34,439
They were shot and killed, and the rank and file

103
00:07:34,519 --> 00:07:38,759
cops now asking for these vests. Tark Bacari tries to

104
00:07:38,759 --> 00:07:42,079
put it into the budget, and they didn't want to

105
00:07:42,120 --> 00:07:46,199
have to vote no. And so during what's called the

106
00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:49,439
straw voting, where you have a budget that comes in

107
00:07:49,519 --> 00:07:52,720
that the proposal comes in from the city manager and

108
00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:55,920
they do in. They're not binding votes, that's why they

109
00:07:55,959 --> 00:07:58,160
call them straw votes, but it's a budget workshop and

110
00:07:58,199 --> 00:08:00,839
the council members will just kind of to raise their hands.

111
00:08:00,879 --> 00:08:03,439
They'll go line by line through various budget items and

112
00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:05,879
they'll say, all right, who supports this spending and you'll

113
00:08:05,879 --> 00:08:07,839
get a show of hands, and if there's a majority,

114
00:08:07,879 --> 00:08:09,399
then it stays in the budget. If there is not

115
00:08:09,439 --> 00:08:12,000
a majority, it doesn't get into the budget or it

116
00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:16,319
gets cut. So that straw vote meeting that they had,

117
00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:22,360
but Cary pulls the funding request for the vests, but

118
00:08:22,519 --> 00:08:25,720
then promises that he will make this a public campaign.

119
00:08:25,759 --> 00:08:28,480
He will raise the money privately. Right, He's going to

120
00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:29,879
go out and he's going to get a go fund

121
00:08:29,920 --> 00:08:31,519
me set up. He's going to raise a bunch of money.

122
00:08:31,519 --> 00:08:35,519
He's going to get donations. City council not wanting to

123
00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:39,440
go on the record as voting against bulletproof vests for

124
00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:42,799
cops in the aftermath of the murder of four law

125
00:08:42,879 --> 00:08:46,480
enforcement officers, but they so they didn't want to have

126
00:08:46,559 --> 00:08:50,039
to do that. So what do they do. They asked

127
00:08:50,080 --> 00:08:54,360
the chief to say, no, make the chief the face

128
00:08:54,399 --> 00:08:58,120
of the opposition to this, because nobody would you doubt

129
00:08:58,159 --> 00:09:01,399
the chief's commitment to his own officers. So if you

130
00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:04,279
make him the face of the opposition, and he comes

131
00:09:04,360 --> 00:09:07,519
up with this excuse of well, the vests make the

132
00:09:07,559 --> 00:09:13,000
cops look too militarized. It's purely esthetic. Not the most

133
00:09:13,039 --> 00:09:16,360
solid of arguments, to be sure, But he goes out

134
00:09:16,399 --> 00:09:19,159
and makes that case. I because the argument isn't so solid.

135
00:09:19,799 --> 00:09:22,799
He is mocked and ridiculed for that. So maybe the

136
00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:26,639
defamation was actually against the city council for hanging him

137
00:09:26,679 --> 00:09:29,639
out to dry and not standing up and supporting him

138
00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:34,320
while he became the sole face of the opposition to

139
00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:39,080
the vests. Because when they came out and the city

140
00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:42,200
council did their press conference, not about the vests and

141
00:09:42,279 --> 00:09:44,720
not about the payoff, but about how one of the

142
00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:49,240
council members was leaking information and accusing the city of corruption,

143
00:09:50,279 --> 00:09:52,720
that made them very angry. They call their press conference,

144
00:09:53,159 --> 00:09:56,120
and what do they do. They praise the chief. They

145
00:09:56,159 --> 00:09:59,799
apologize to the chief for not standing with him publicly

146
00:10:00,159 --> 00:10:04,440
last year during the vest fight. Why would you do that?

147
00:10:05,799 --> 00:10:11,679
Was a public apology part of your settlement agreement? Or

148
00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:15,080
maybe it was actually heartfelt that they do apologize. We

149
00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:16,960
should have stood up for you, We should not have

150
00:10:17,039 --> 00:10:19,919
been cowards and let you take all of the slings

151
00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:25,679
and arrows on this debate. That's kind of that's what

152
00:10:25,799 --> 00:10:29,480
I think might have happened. Again speculative. I do not

153
00:10:29,639 --> 00:10:34,600
know that. But now the state Auditor would like some answers,

154
00:10:35,240 --> 00:10:39,399
and that is entirely appropriate. I welcome it. I'm glad

155
00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:43,799
for it, Thank goodness. State Auditor Dave Bullock announced an

156
00:10:43,879 --> 00:10:48,720
investigation in a letter to Mayor vy Lyles, and it

157
00:10:48,759 --> 00:10:52,279
was shared with the media by his office yesterday afternoon

158
00:10:52,360 --> 00:10:55,799
after I got off the air. Not that I'm bitter

159
00:10:55,799 --> 00:10:58,399
about it, but no, I'm just kidding. But it did

160
00:10:58,399 --> 00:11:00,360
come in after I got off the air. I have

161
00:11:00,440 --> 00:11:03,399
the letter. I'll give it's not long. I'll give you

162
00:11:03,399 --> 00:11:05,039
the highlights. Well, I'll probably just read the whole thing

163
00:11:05,039 --> 00:11:07,759
because it's not very long. Here's a great idea. How

164
00:11:07,799 --> 00:11:10,879
about making an escape to a really special and secluded

165
00:11:10,919 --> 00:11:13,720
getaway in western North Carolina. Just a quick drive up

166
00:11:13,759 --> 00:11:16,919
the mountain and Cabins of Asheville is your connection. Whether

167
00:11:16,919 --> 00:11:19,840
you're celebrating an anniversary, a honeymoon, maybe you want to

168
00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:22,679
plan a memorable proposal, or get family and friends together

169
00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:25,440
for a big old reunion. Cabins of Asheville has the

170
00:11:25,519 --> 00:11:28,320
ideal spot for you where you can reconnect with your

171
00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:31,559
loved ones and the things that truly matter. Nestled within

172
00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:35,200
the breath taking fourteen thousand acres of the Pisga National Forest,

173
00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:38,240
their cabins offer a serene escape in the heart of

174
00:11:38,279 --> 00:11:41,279
the Blue Ridge Mountains. Centrally located between Ashville and the

175
00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:44,159
entrance of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. It's the

176
00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:48,240
perfect balance of seclusion and proximity to all the local

177
00:11:48,279 --> 00:11:52,919
attractions with hot tubs, fireplaces, air conditioning, smart TVs, Wi

178
00:11:52,919 --> 00:11:56,320
Fi grills, outdoor tables, and your own private covered porch.

179
00:11:56,600 --> 00:12:00,639
Choose from thirteen cabins, six cottages, two villains, and a

180
00:12:00,679 --> 00:12:04,720
great lodge with eleven king sized bedrooms. Cabins of Ashville

181
00:12:04,759 --> 00:12:08,039
has the ideal spot for you for any occasion, and

182
00:12:08,159 --> 00:12:11,399
they have pet friendly accommodations. Call or text eight two

183
00:12:11,519 --> 00:12:14,919
eight three six seven seventy sixty eight or check out

184
00:12:14,919 --> 00:12:17,919
all there is to offer at Cabinsofashville dot com and

185
00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:21,039
make memories that'll last a lifetime. I have a couple

186
00:12:21,120 --> 00:12:27,200
messages here. This one is from Rodney. In my opinion,

187
00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:30,120
if the Charlotte City Council cooperates in any way with

188
00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:33,799
the State Auditor in this investigation, then they are hiding

189
00:12:33,919 --> 00:12:36,200
a lot more than people know, and they just want

190
00:12:36,279 --> 00:12:38,559
him to be done as quickly as possible. So I

191
00:12:38,600 --> 00:12:43,559
hope his office digs deep into the council's activities. I

192
00:12:43,639 --> 00:12:45,159
had not even considered that.

193
00:12:45,159 --> 00:12:52,919
Speaker 3: That's uh, yeah, they well, they've they've got a they've

194
00:12:52,919 --> 00:12:55,960
got some decisions to make, both personally and at an

195
00:12:56,039 --> 00:13:01,919
organizational level, Dave says, the way the council wanted to

196
00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:05,320
keep the payment secret, I can't help but wonder about payoffs.

197
00:13:05,440 --> 00:13:07,559
Speaker 1: Did the chief agree to a little payback to the

198
00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:10,600
council members if he got his money? Was there collusion

199
00:13:10,679 --> 00:13:14,039
or conspiracy? That's just where my mind goes when something

200
00:13:14,080 --> 00:13:17,080
is meant to be secret. Yeah, Look, it could be

201
00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:24,720
something as banal as they just didn't want people to

202
00:13:24,799 --> 00:13:27,600
know because they didn't want to answer any questions, and

203
00:13:27,639 --> 00:13:32,519
it would be embarrassing. They made a political calculation in

204
00:13:32,559 --> 00:13:37,080
an election year to pay the chief, you know, assuage

205
00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:40,679
his hurt feelings. We're sorry we didn't stand with you

206
00:13:40,799 --> 00:13:43,840
against that mean, nasty tark Pacari. But he's gone now.

207
00:13:43,879 --> 00:13:46,759
He can't hurt you anymore, you know. And now he's

208
00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:51,360
up in the in the federal government. But he's in

209
00:13:51,399 --> 00:13:55,679
a position regarding transportation, and the City of Charlotte would

210
00:13:55,759 --> 00:13:59,639
very much like to have him be a conduit for

211
00:13:59,720 --> 00:14:04,600
fun for light rail lines and you know, bus rapid transit,

212
00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:07,919
electric vehicles, that kind of stuff. And so you don't

213
00:14:07,919 --> 00:14:11,559
want to anger him now that he may have some

214
00:14:11,679 --> 00:14:16,480
influence over millions, hundreds of millions, maybe even billions of

215
00:14:16,519 --> 00:14:20,000
dollars in transit funding that the City of Charlotte would

216
00:14:20,080 --> 00:14:22,919
very much like to secure. So you want to just

217
00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:27,440
keep the payment to chief. You just want to pay

218
00:14:27,519 --> 00:14:30,000
him off in quiet. He gets his money. It's a

219
00:14:30,080 --> 00:14:32,879
hush money, it's a go away money. You know that

220
00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:37,039
could be it don't know. So here's the letter from

221
00:14:37,919 --> 00:14:43,480
State Auditor Dave Bullock to Mayor Lyles. But then the

222
00:14:43,519 --> 00:14:51,240
City Council is also included on the CC. Constituent requests

223
00:14:51,720 --> 00:14:56,159
and recent reporting involving the Charlotte City Council have raised

224
00:14:56,240 --> 00:14:59,960
serious concerns regarding the potential disbursement of public dollars out

225
00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:03,559
side of the public view. It is my understanding that

226
00:15:03,639 --> 00:15:05,799
there is a possibility that as much as one hundred

227
00:15:05,840 --> 00:15:10,879
thousand to three hundred thousand in public dollars may It's italicized,

228
00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:15,440
may have been given to Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny

229
00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:19,759
Jennings for a legal settlement that may have been entered

230
00:15:19,759 --> 00:15:23,480
into by the City Council. This is only what has

231
00:15:23,559 --> 00:15:28,559
been gathered by the Auditor's office from news reports, social media,

232
00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:34,480
and conversation. The truth of the matter remains unclear. While

233
00:15:34,559 --> 00:15:37,399
answers to some of the more pressing questions could be

234
00:15:37,440 --> 00:15:41,159
provided through quick release of information from your office, which

235
00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:45,759
I strongly encourage. There remains a list of unknowns regarding

236
00:15:45,799 --> 00:15:50,399
the potential settlement or payout to the police chief on

237
00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:53,279
behalf of the citizens of North Carolina and the nearly

238
00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:56,919
one million people who call Charlotte home. The North Carolina

239
00:15:57,000 --> 00:16:00,759
Office of the State Auditor will be investigating this matter.

240
00:16:01,639 --> 00:16:05,159
The Office of the State Auditor will be asking how

241
00:16:05,240 --> 00:16:09,919
much money was reportedly paid out, whether a payment exists.

242
00:16:10,519 --> 00:16:13,799
We still don't even know that right, did they actually

243
00:16:13,799 --> 00:16:18,559
cut the check yet, where did the money come from?

244
00:16:18,679 --> 00:16:22,639
And several other pertinent questions. Even if the payment was

245
00:16:22,679 --> 00:16:25,840
worth one penny, it should be disclosed to the public

246
00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:29,960
in a timely and transparent manner. There is no tax

247
00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:33,559
dollar free from public scrutiny. Our office will be in

248
00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:48,639
contact to establish lines of communication and engagement city councils

249
00:16:48,639 --> 00:16:55,080
in trouble, as they should be. So thank you to

250
00:16:55,159 --> 00:16:59,600
North Carolina Auditor Dave Bollock and his team his investigators.

251
00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:05,400
Thank you. They obviously heard and this is a right there.

252
00:17:05,759 --> 00:17:09,000
The Auditor gets involved in stuff aside from like your routine,

253
00:17:09,119 --> 00:17:14,519
regularly scheduled state mandated audits and the like. The auditor

254
00:17:14,559 --> 00:17:19,200
is only aware of this kind of this kind of

255
00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:24,079
an issue. If you get people that file on file

256
00:17:24,079 --> 00:17:29,799
a complaint through the website or their hotline. That's where

257
00:17:29,799 --> 00:17:35,440
you go to whistleblow. If you think there is some waste, fraud, abuse, corruption,

258
00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:39,279
something that requires an audit, you go through the state

259
00:17:39,359 --> 00:17:44,079
Auditor's office and you ask for that. You ask for

260
00:17:44,200 --> 00:17:48,519
some attention to be paid to it. The other way

261
00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:54,640
is through media accounts, right, which of course then inform

262
00:17:54,759 --> 00:17:57,279
the public, and then the public and file complaints. But

263
00:17:57,720 --> 00:18:00,720
the auditor's office they become aware of the things through

264
00:18:00,839 --> 00:18:06,640
media reports as well. So that's apparently the only sourcing. Well,

265
00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:09,880
he also says and conversation. So I'm not sure who

266
00:18:10,319 --> 00:18:14,240
his office has spoken with about this issue, but I

267
00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:19,599
would imagine they've probably gotten some complaints from not just citizens,

268
00:18:19,599 --> 00:18:23,279
but people maybe inside the Republican party, maybe some city

269
00:18:23,279 --> 00:18:27,680
council members went to the auditor's office. Right, But this

270
00:18:27,880 --> 00:18:30,920
is what the auditor is supposed to be doing, all right.

271
00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:34,240
So spring is here a time of renewal and celebrations.

272
00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:38,039
You've got graduations, weddings, anniversaries, and the special days for

273
00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:40,480
mom and dad your family's making memories that are going

274
00:18:40,519 --> 00:18:42,920
to last a lifetime. But let me ask you, are

275
00:18:43,039 --> 00:18:46,160
all of those treasured moments from days gone by? Are

276
00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:49,519
they hidden away on old VCR tapes, eight millimeter films,

277
00:18:49,680 --> 00:18:54,039
photos slides? Are they preserved? Because over time, these precious

278
00:18:54,039 --> 00:18:58,200
memories can fade and deteriorate, losing the magic of yesterday.

279
00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:01,559
At Creative Video, they help you protect what matters most.

280
00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:05,640
Their expert team digitizes your cherished family moments and transfers

281
00:19:05,680 --> 00:19:08,519
them onto a USB drive, freezing them in time so

282
00:19:08,519 --> 00:19:11,559
they can be enjoyed for generations to come. I urge

283
00:19:11,599 --> 00:19:14,720
you do not wait until it's too late this spring,

284
00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:18,319
celebrate your past. Visit Creative Video today and let them

285
00:19:18,319 --> 00:19:21,720
preserve your legacy with the love and care that it deserves.

286
00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:26,359
Creative Video Preserving Family Memories since nineteen ninety seven, located

287
00:19:26,359 --> 00:19:29,000
in mint Hill, just off four eighty five. Mail orders

288
00:19:29,039 --> 00:19:31,960
are accepted to get all the details that create a

289
00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:36,720
video dot com. Here's a Pete tweet from Steve who says, Pete,

290
00:19:36,720 --> 00:19:41,759
thanks for your breakdown of the shakedown gate. It's a contender.

291
00:19:41,799 --> 00:19:43,960
I like it. I'm open to other ideas. How we

292
00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:50,079
want to brand this this Charlotte City Council payoff corruption

293
00:19:50,640 --> 00:19:54,920
scandal that has been brewing because you always need to

294
00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:57,839
have a brand, you know, because so you put it

295
00:19:57,880 --> 00:19:59,720
on the bottom of the TV, you know, with like

296
00:19:59,720 --> 00:20:06,000
a hash tag on it. So d Stewart says that

297
00:20:06,039 --> 00:20:10,480
the mayor should resign, and Melissa says, when you say

298
00:20:10,559 --> 00:20:16,720
issue pete and by that I mean chic canery. Yes, yeah,

299
00:20:16,799 --> 00:20:22,559
chic canery is I think that's a that's a sanitized

300
00:20:22,599 --> 00:20:27,000
word for what I suspect is some form of corruption.

301
00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:32,319
I don't know that, but I suspect it very strongly.

302
00:20:32,839 --> 00:20:35,359
Let's go to the phones and talk with Rick. Hello, Rick,

303
00:20:35,440 --> 00:20:36,839
welcome to the program.

304
00:20:37,359 --> 00:20:39,720
Speaker 2: Hello. Yes, I'd like to say that I've seen some

305
00:20:39,799 --> 00:20:43,519
original report on this from Steve Harrison, and what it

306
00:20:43,519 --> 00:20:45,720
looks like is he said that there was a vote

307
00:20:45,759 --> 00:20:49,279
of five to two with two people against the settlement.

308
00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:52,400
As you know, there's the city Council's eleven people, so

309
00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:54,839
you need a majority of six to pass something. They

310
00:20:54,880 --> 00:20:58,640
needed seven for quorum. The original reporting said one of

311
00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:01,359
the two people who voted no left the room, and

312
00:21:01,519 --> 00:21:05,559
policies and procedures indicated that one of the two no

313
00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:07,079
votes was changed to a yes.

314
00:21:08,119 --> 00:21:11,839
Speaker 1: So what I read the when I read the Steve

315
00:21:11,880 --> 00:21:16,720
Harrison piece at WFAE, and he's done good work on

316
00:21:16,759 --> 00:21:21,680
this story. My interpretation was that if it was that

317
00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:25,079
the no vote would have been cast. What happened was

318
00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:29,000
there was another member that was in the meeting, but

319
00:21:29,119 --> 00:21:34,319
before the vote they left, and that person who so

320
00:21:34,359 --> 00:21:35,880
you're talking about, so was a five to two There

321
00:21:35,880 --> 00:21:38,799
were seven voting, there would have been eight initially in

322
00:21:38,839 --> 00:21:42,960
that closed session, and one left, and when that person left,

323
00:21:43,279 --> 00:21:46,240
they did not count a vote because they didn't vote. However,

324
00:21:46,599 --> 00:21:50,400
you are correct. The rules say that if you start

325
00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:52,039
a meeting, if you're there at the beginning of a

326
00:21:52,079 --> 00:21:54,279
meeting and then you have what's called an unexcused absence,

327
00:21:54,319 --> 00:21:57,400
you leave. Any vote that is taken during the rest

328
00:21:57,480 --> 00:22:00,119
of that meeting. When you leave is your vote is

329
00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:03,319
counted as a yes vote. And that's been standard procedure

330
00:22:03,359 --> 00:22:06,559
in Charlotte City Council meetings. I mean back when I

331
00:22:06,599 --> 00:22:09,200
was covering council. That happened. That happened on more than

332
00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:11,400
one occasion. Usually when they didn't want to take a

333
00:22:11,440 --> 00:22:14,799
controversial vote, they would just leave or they would show

334
00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:17,279
up just to get the yes vote, you know, on

335
00:22:17,319 --> 00:22:19,759
the record, so they could whip the sufficient number of

336
00:22:19,839 --> 00:22:22,839
votes and then the member would leave, so like that.

337
00:22:23,039 --> 00:22:26,039
So that's my understanding. I don't know if what you're

338
00:22:26,079 --> 00:22:28,079
telling me is that one of the two no votes

339
00:22:28,559 --> 00:22:31,480
left and they had their vote counted as a no

340
00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:34,480
before they left. But I don't I have not seen

341
00:22:34,519 --> 00:22:35,079
that reported.

342
00:22:36,079 --> 00:22:38,680
Speaker 2: Okay, I just read the Steve Harrison article. Yeah, and

343
00:22:39,319 --> 00:22:42,079
I was wondering if we can get some good reporting

344
00:22:42,079 --> 00:22:42,279
on this.

345
00:22:42,799 --> 00:22:47,359
Speaker 1: Well, it's tough because it's a closed session, right, and

346
00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:51,480
the city attorney has been browbeating all of the council

347
00:22:51,519 --> 00:22:54,480
members that they're not allowed to leak anything, they're not

348
00:22:54,519 --> 00:22:57,000
allowed to say anything about what happens in closed session

349
00:22:57,319 --> 00:22:59,680
or else they're going to be investigated and could face

350
00:22:59,759 --> 00:23:03,279
crime charges. And that's not true, not for this kind

351
00:23:03,319 --> 00:23:06,640
of information. It's that's just not true. Now. It does

352
00:23:07,039 --> 00:23:10,960
just it does harm the trust right among city council

353
00:23:10,960 --> 00:23:14,240
members and staff that you're in a closed session meeting,

354
00:23:14,240 --> 00:23:16,519
and if you're talking about stuff outside of closed session,

355
00:23:17,039 --> 00:23:19,759
then you know they may not be, as you know,

356
00:23:19,880 --> 00:23:23,480
interested in having an honest conversation in the closed sessions

357
00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:26,319
with you in the future. That's one of the downsides

358
00:23:26,359 --> 00:23:29,759
of leaking. But my understanding of the way the city

359
00:23:29,759 --> 00:23:33,440
council rules operate is that you can't like if I like,

360
00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:35,279
if you and I are both in the meeting and

361
00:23:35,799 --> 00:23:37,880
we're both no votes, and we're like, I'm gonna vote no,

362
00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:39,480
I'm gonna vote no, and then all of a sudden

363
00:23:39,519 --> 00:23:42,880
you get called away. We don't count your vote as

364
00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:46,000
a no vote because you're gone. But maybe that did happen.

365
00:23:46,039 --> 00:23:49,160
I've just not seen that reported, and that wasn't my

366
00:23:49,319 --> 00:23:53,519
understanding of the Harrison report. But yeah, but that is

367
00:23:53,559 --> 00:23:57,400
the challenge that you face as a reporter, as Harrison

368
00:23:57,519 --> 00:24:00,000
is trying to, you know, piece together what actually occurred

369
00:24:00,119 --> 00:24:03,599
in the closed session. You've got council members that won't talk,

370
00:24:03,799 --> 00:24:06,119
and so you have to try to get some of

371
00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:10,160
them to talk anonymously and then corroborate each of the

372
00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:11,160
anonymous accounts.

373
00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:14,880
Speaker 2: I agree with everything you said, and it seems like

374
00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:18,119
you and Steve are doing good reporting on this. But

375
00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:20,240
like you said, it's hard to do good reporting.

376
00:24:20,359 --> 00:24:24,359
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, it is very difficult. It costs money and resources,

377
00:24:24,440 --> 00:24:27,319
and that's why a lot of newsrooms have been cutting

378
00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:31,319
their staffs because they cannot afford. You know, you sit

379
00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:34,519
out and sit outside of a closed session meeting and

380
00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:37,400
they come out and they don't say anything, and now

381
00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:41,559
you've just wasted, you know, three hours sitting outside the meeting,

382
00:24:41,599 --> 00:24:44,119
and you don't have a story to turn and that's

383
00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:46,480
not helpful for a newsroom that has to fill the

384
00:24:46,519 --> 00:24:49,680
news hole. You've got to have content. So that's difficult.

385
00:24:49,799 --> 00:24:53,319
So yeah, it's a challenge, Rick. I appreciate the call.

386
00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:55,039
Speaker 2: Man, Thank you, sir.

387
00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:59,200
Speaker 1: Yeah, take care. Yeah. I give credit where it's due

388
00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:01,240
and report. I try, Like if you listen to my show,

389
00:25:01,279 --> 00:25:06,359
I am always giving the bylines of the reporters that

390
00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:09,440
do stories. I try to give the headlines and so

391
00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:11,920
you can find it, and I try to give the

392
00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:15,200
website so you can find it. But I because I look,

393
00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:21,279
I you know me, I drag enough reporters and media

394
00:25:21,319 --> 00:25:26,720
outlets for shoddy coverage or biased coverage. So I try

395
00:25:26,799 --> 00:25:31,160
to give credit where it's due. And like I said, Harrison,

396
00:25:31,279 --> 00:25:34,079
Joe Bruno has done good work on this over at

397
00:25:34,119 --> 00:25:38,240
WSOCTV as well. They've gotten a lot of you know,

398
00:25:38,279 --> 00:25:41,480
people to talk about stuff and to confirm details on

399
00:25:41,599 --> 00:25:43,640
this story. I would not be able to talk about

400
00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:45,920
the story as I have been. Had they not done

401
00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:49,720
the actual work, I'm just running my mouth. They were

402
00:25:49,759 --> 00:25:53,720
the ones that did the reporting, you know, so if

403
00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:58,279
anything's wrong, it's there full I'm just kidding, no, but

404
00:25:58,319 --> 00:26:00,799
it is. I recognize, like, because I was a reporter.

405
00:26:00,880 --> 00:26:03,440
It's a lot harder to do that than this. That's

406
00:26:03,480 --> 00:26:06,640
why I enjoy doing this job. All right. If you're

407
00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:08,440
listening to this show, you know I try to keep

408
00:26:08,519 --> 00:26:10,240
up with all sorts of current events, and I know

409
00:26:10,279 --> 00:26:12,720
you do too, And you've probably heard me say get

410
00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:16,680
your news from multiple sources. Why Well, because it's how

411
00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:19,319
you detect media bias, which is why I've been so

412
00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:23,640
impressed with ground News. It's an app and it's a website,

413
00:26:23,720 --> 00:26:26,119
and it combines news from around the world in one

414
00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:29,640
place so you can compare coverage and verify information. You

415
00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:33,200
can check it out at check dot ground, dot news

416
00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:36,799
slash Pete. I put the link in the podcast description too.

417
00:26:37,119 --> 00:26:39,480
I started using ground News a few months ago and

418
00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:42,240
more recently chose to work with them as an affiliate

419
00:26:42,240 --> 00:26:45,559
because it lets me see clearly how stories get covered

420
00:26:45,640 --> 00:26:48,559
and by whom. The blind spot feature shows you which

421
00:26:48,599 --> 00:26:51,440
stories get ignored by the left and the right. See

422
00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:56,519
for yourself. Check dot Ground, dot News slash Pete. Subscribe

423
00:26:56,559 --> 00:26:58,880
through that link and you'll get fifteen percent off. Any

424
00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:02,480
subscription is the vantage plan to get unlimited access to

425
00:27:02,599 --> 00:27:06,039
every feature. Your subscription then not only helps my podcast,

426
00:27:06,079 --> 00:27:08,400
but it also supports Ground News as they make the

427
00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:12,920
media landscape more transparent. Got a message from the Hellion

428
00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:18,400
on Twitter. I got to Charlotte in late six I

429
00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:21,559
cannot recall which mayor was around when I started keeping

430
00:27:21,640 --> 00:27:25,119
up with council mayor politics. Well, if it was six,

431
00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:29,400
that would have been Pat McCrory, because McCrory first ran

432
00:27:29,519 --> 00:27:35,759
for governor in twelve and lost to Bev Perdue and

433
00:27:35,799 --> 00:27:40,920
then one no sorry, he ran in eight, he won

434
00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:46,359
in twelve and then lost right in sixteen, and Cooper

435
00:27:46,519 --> 00:27:50,799
was governor for two four year cycles and now Josh Stein.

436
00:27:50,880 --> 00:27:52,799
So yeah, so it would have been mayor Pat McCrory

437
00:27:53,119 --> 00:27:57,839
in the probably final his final term. The election after

438
00:27:58,359 --> 00:28:01,920
McCrory was the election between Anthony Fox, not the interim

439
00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:04,680
city attorney, just some other guy named Anthony Fox who

440
00:28:04,720 --> 00:28:08,920
went on to work in the Obama administration, versus John Lassiter,

441
00:28:09,519 --> 00:28:12,960
lassador the Republican Fox the Democrat, and they ran against

442
00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:17,880
each other. Lasster lost and Fox won and there's not

443
00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:25,440
been another Republican mayor since. Anyway, back to the Hellians message,

444
00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:28,720
he says all that I have ever heard none of

445
00:28:28,759 --> 00:28:32,000
them sound like real leaders. I since most get told

446
00:28:32,079 --> 00:28:35,000
what to do. When I hear Lyle speak, I can't

447
00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:40,240
believe she is a mayor anywhere. So keep in mind,

448
00:28:40,559 --> 00:28:45,279
North Carolina has a what's called a council manager form

449
00:28:45,319 --> 00:28:48,720
of government. Our mayors are very weak in our systems

450
00:28:49,519 --> 00:28:53,680
in this state. And because you have a council manager

451
00:28:53,759 --> 00:28:56,200
form of government, the idea was that, well we have

452
00:28:56,279 --> 00:29:00,279
the manager. They are professional and so they will manage,

453
00:29:00,559 --> 00:29:02,799
and the council acts as like a board of directors

454
00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:07,359
to offer direction, do approvals and that sort of thing.

455
00:29:07,359 --> 00:29:10,720
But day to day operations, it all, it's all the manager.

456
00:29:10,799 --> 00:29:14,000
So the managers are very powerful in our state. And

457
00:29:14,079 --> 00:29:16,480
the bigger the city gets, the more staff you get

458
00:29:16,559 --> 00:29:19,680
that works for the manager, and so a lot like

459
00:29:19,759 --> 00:29:23,039
in Charlotte, and it's been this way for forty years.

460
00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:29,400
It is a staff driven process. Everything staff driven because

461
00:29:29,400 --> 00:29:32,880
when you are a newbie council member, you come on

462
00:29:33,960 --> 00:29:37,640
and you don't know what the processes are. You don't

463
00:29:37,640 --> 00:29:40,720
know who the people are, you don't know where the

464
00:29:40,759 --> 00:29:43,880
bodies are buried, all of that stuff. So you rely

465
00:29:44,079 --> 00:29:48,799
on staff to prepare you, inform you, you know, tell

466
00:29:48,839 --> 00:29:50,960
you the ins and outs of all of these different

467
00:29:51,039 --> 00:29:56,599
issues that you can't possibly be expert on, right, So

468
00:29:56,680 --> 00:30:00,000
you rely heavily on staff, and sometimes you end up

469
00:30:00,160 --> 00:30:05,839
than with a relationship where the council members become very

470
00:30:05,880 --> 00:30:10,519
dependent on staff and then protective of staff. The city

471
00:30:10,559 --> 00:30:16,440
manager is always protective of their staff too, So like

472
00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:21,160
that's always the dynamic that you've got going on. And

473
00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:24,480
so if it's if you get the sense that most

474
00:30:24,559 --> 00:30:28,319
of the council and mayors over the years in Charlotte

475
00:30:28,880 --> 00:30:32,160
are getting told what to do, there's a logical explanation

476
00:30:32,200 --> 00:30:36,440
for it. Is that they are, is that they probably are.

477
00:30:37,759 --> 00:30:40,519
And that's why some of the best city council members

478
00:30:40,519 --> 00:30:43,319
that I've ever I think the best I ever saw

479
00:30:43,640 --> 00:30:47,839
was Don Lockman, the late Don Lockman, Republican from District six.

480
00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:52,880
He was a retired business owner and he would ask

481
00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:55,960
questions because he knew what this stuff meant, Like you

482
00:30:55,960 --> 00:30:59,039
would look at the budgets and stuff, and he spoke

483
00:30:59,079 --> 00:31:02,440
their language. He knew what to look for, what to

484
00:31:02,559 --> 00:31:06,680
ask about, and he always had them on the defensive.

485
00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:10,039
The staff. It wasn't mean about it or anything, but

486
00:31:10,079 --> 00:31:12,079
he was always on the defensive or he put them

487
00:31:12,119 --> 00:31:14,519
on the defensive because they knew that he knew what

488
00:31:14,519 --> 00:31:19,799
they were talking about. Yeah, mayoral power is not strong

489
00:31:19,839 --> 00:31:23,960
in North Carolina. Russ says. You have mentioned the council

490
00:31:24,160 --> 00:31:26,440
rule where if you leave, your vote gets counted as

491
00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:29,440
a yes a few times in the last few weeks.

492
00:31:29,559 --> 00:31:33,279
What is the benign, non corrupt governance explanation for such

493
00:31:33,279 --> 00:31:36,559
a thing. It's so the business of the council can

494
00:31:36,599 --> 00:31:40,279
continue if somebody has to leave and then you don't

495
00:31:40,359 --> 00:31:45,200
end up with enough votes for a majority, right, or

496
00:31:46,359 --> 00:31:49,440
you know, if it's like a protested petition or something

497
00:31:49,519 --> 00:31:52,079
like that in a rezoning, whatever. It's so this way,

498
00:31:52,119 --> 00:31:54,559
if you end up with a bunch of council members

499
00:31:54,559 --> 00:31:56,960
that don't attend, like you get one or two that

500
00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:01,000
are sick or traveling, and then somebody has to leave,

501
00:32:01,039 --> 00:32:03,160
they can't attend the full meeting, but they can show

502
00:32:03,240 --> 00:32:05,880
up and then leave, then you get the vote count.

503
00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:09,759
I think that's the benign rationale for it is so

504
00:32:09,799 --> 00:32:14,480
it doesn't completely slow down the work of the council.

505
00:32:20,119 --> 00:32:23,079
Let's see, this is from moral compass. You may be

506
00:32:23,160 --> 00:32:27,359
thinking to the attorney's advice in the wrong way. There

507
00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:30,519
may be criminal charges for leaking something in the closed meeting.

508
00:32:30,960 --> 00:32:34,920
If they did something illegal in the meeting. Oh well,

509
00:32:34,960 --> 00:32:39,559
now that's fair. Maybe yeah, no, because that would be

510
00:32:39,799 --> 00:32:42,400
like if you did the illegal thing, then you wouldn't leak.

511
00:32:42,759 --> 00:32:45,440
You wouldn't leak it, you know, or maybe you would

512
00:32:45,440 --> 00:32:48,759
in order to throw off the meeting. I don't know,

513
00:32:50,200 --> 00:32:53,119
but yeah, if they if they did something that was

514
00:32:53,200 --> 00:32:56,920
improper in the closed session, there could be exposure there.

515
00:32:57,240 --> 00:33:00,119
But no, the only criminal charges I think we went

516
00:33:00,160 --> 00:33:02,799
over this like a week ago. The only criminal charges

517
00:33:02,839 --> 00:33:05,079
that people would face is if they are like divulging

518
00:33:05,119 --> 00:33:10,279
personnel file stuff. And in fact, Charlotte had an example

519
00:33:10,319 --> 00:33:12,039
of this a few years ago, had to do with

520
00:33:12,079 --> 00:33:15,880
the Charlotte fire captain I believe, or a chief rather

521
00:33:16,200 --> 00:33:20,480
and he just got to reprimand no charges wherever filed.

522
00:33:20,519 --> 00:33:23,759
So yeah, precedent isn't even on the interim City Attorney's

523
00:33:23,880 --> 00:33:27,359
side on this either. All right, that'll do it for

524
00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:30,079
this episode. Thank you so much for listening. I could

525
00:33:30,079 --> 00:33:32,359
not do the show without your support and the support

526
00:33:32,359 --> 00:33:35,240
of the businesses that advertise on the podcast, so if

527
00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:37,279
you'd like, please support them too and tell them you

528
00:33:37,319 --> 00:33:39,400
heard it here. You can also become a patron at

529
00:33:39,400 --> 00:33:43,480
my Patreon page or go to dpetecallanershow dot com. Again,

530
00:33:43,720 --> 00:33:46,279
thank you so much for listening, and don't break anything

531
00:33:46,279 --> 00:33:51,279
while I'm gone.