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<v Speaker 1>Hi, friend, Thomas. Happy to welcome to the Pick About

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<v Speaker 1>Taisy Morning Show and congratulations. So the Cincinna acquires Scott

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<v Speaker 1>Whartman taking over. Do you rad your big shoes of

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<v Speaker 1>Sharon Coolidge and Scott. That's not to suggest Sharon has

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<v Speaker 1>big feet, but she's been around covering since my local

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<v Speaker 1>politics council and the shenanigans that goes on with the

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<v Speaker 1>county commissioners for a lot of time, and she's been

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<v Speaker 1>on the morning show, you know, passing along what she's

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<v Speaker 1>learned and what she stayed on top of. So it's

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<v Speaker 1>an important position and one that we all value very much, Scott,

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<v Speaker 1>because we really truly need to know what's going on

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<v Speaker 1>with city and county politics, and there's so very little

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<v Speaker 1>reporting on it. So Cincinnati dot com is where youre

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<v Speaker 1>going to read what Scott writes about local politics. So

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<v Speaker 1>you're excited about the job, Scott.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh, I'm very excited. It is daunting, though, because she

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<v Speaker 2>did set a high bar and everybody knows her and

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<v Speaker 2>if anything was happening in the city, I mean, that's

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<v Speaker 2>that you've heard it first from her, and that's what

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<v Speaker 2>I hope to provide that level of deep coverage, but

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<v Speaker 2>I also, you know, I want to get into a

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<v Speaker 2>lot of the I grew up here in the Cincinnati

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<v Speaker 2>area on the West side, went to Elder and I

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<v Speaker 2>want to be able to tell a lot of the

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<v Speaker 2>neighborhood stories. A city has a great, interesting history, and

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<v Speaker 2>I'm really excited about, you know, taking on this beat.

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<v Speaker 2>But it is it's going to be a challenge.

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<v Speaker 1>Well it is, and responsible reporting is a challenge, and

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<v Speaker 1>I know we can expect responsible reporting from you. But

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<v Speaker 1>I like the idea that it's not just going to

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<v Speaker 1>be all you know, heady, gloom and doom topic politics.

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<v Speaker 1>If you're going to get out into the world and

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<v Speaker 1>talk about some of the finer aspects of this city,

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<v Speaker 1>I think we could all use a really healthy injection

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<v Speaker 1>of that.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh. I agree, And there are a lot of great

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<v Speaker 2>stories to tell in the neighborhoods. I've been covering the

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<v Speaker 2>County Commission and like local congressional politics for the last

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<v Speaker 2>seven or eight years, and before that I was covering

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<v Speaker 2>the river cities in northern Kentucky. So I'm kind of

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<v Speaker 2>excited to get back to more like local city reporting

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<v Speaker 2>and what's going on here back at home rather than

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<v Speaker 2>the national scene, which is like NonStop news.

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know if you've Yeah, I'm aware of that, Scott,

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<v Speaker 1>painfully aware of it that every single day of my

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<v Speaker 1>life it's covering those stories, and you know, it becomes

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<v Speaker 1>overwhelming for me. But moving back, this is an exciting

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<v Speaker 1>year to be playing this role, Scott Wortman, because we've

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<v Speaker 1>got a mayoral race and Corey Bowman looks like he

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<v Speaker 1>may get some traction in a city that's voted all

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<v Speaker 1>Democrats for such a long time, a lot of people

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<v Speaker 1>a little dissatisfied with the direction of the city's going

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<v Speaker 1>and have connected communities, got the folks in Hyde Park

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<v Speaker 1>rubbing the wrong way. Corey Bowman may end up getting

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<v Speaker 1>some support from some otherwise pretty die hard blue voters.

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<v Speaker 1>You're looking forward to covering that race and what's your

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<v Speaker 1>perception of it?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's interesting because I mean, Cincinnati hasn't had a

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<v Speaker 2>Republican candidate since two thousand and nine when Brad wensch

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<v Speaker 2>Strip ran for mayor. I don't know. At this point,

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<v Speaker 2>I can't handicap his chances. I don't know, because I

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<v Speaker 2>mean every office in the city is held by a Democrat,

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<v Speaker 2>so I mean it is an uphill battle, but it

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<v Speaker 2>is ostensibly a nonpartisan race, so the party doesn't appear

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<v Speaker 2>on the ballot, So it'll be interesting to see how

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<v Speaker 2>much how much noise he can make.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, of course, with Sharon covering, since I politics for

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<v Speaker 1>such a long time, I know she had established I

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<v Speaker 1>don't know whether they were good or bad, but she

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<v Speaker 1>at least had access to and had good established relationships

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<v Speaker 1>with the elected officials. Have you got your foot in

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<v Speaker 1>the door on that element of it? Scott?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I mean I know the people that are in office,

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<v Speaker 2>I've dealt with them before, and definitely from a county perspective,

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<v Speaker 2>I have good contacts there and I think that I

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<v Speaker 2>don't think that should be too much of an issue.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm not going into this completely blind.

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<v Speaker 1>No, And you're going to go into it having to

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<v Speaker 1>attend a lot of city council meetings, aren't you?

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<v Speaker 2>That That is the one the one downside. Because I've

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<v Speaker 2>been with covering the congressional politics and the county Commission,

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<v Speaker 2>I haven't had to necessarily go to a lot of

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<v Speaker 2>municipal meetings, but that's kind of how I cut my

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<v Speaker 2>teeth in the business, going to late nights and at least,

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<v Speaker 2>they're reasonably timed, you know, there in the afternoon, so

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<v Speaker 2>I won't be there till midnight or something like that.

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<v Speaker 1>True that now, in terms of the County commission, you're

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<v Speaker 1>still going to have some you be doing coverage for

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<v Speaker 1>the commissioners because you know, this is an exciting time

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<v Speaker 1>for that one. Because we of course have this stadium

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<v Speaker 1>negotiation thing going on, and.

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<v Speaker 2>That was something with Sherry we kind of tag teamed

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<v Speaker 2>because that is going to be the big story in

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<v Speaker 2>the next year or two years if the deal gets

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<v Speaker 2>done and what that will look like. At this point,

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<v Speaker 2>the progress is very slow, but there is a deadline

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<v Speaker 2>in June. The Bengals have to decide whether they're going

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<v Speaker 2>to extend the least for another two years, and they

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<v Speaker 2>can do that by themselves, they don't need county or

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<v Speaker 2>taxpayer approval. So we should be hearing something in the

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<v Speaker 2>next couple months, and yes, I will be monitoring that.

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<v Speaker 2>We will have a county reporter coming on board sometime

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<v Speaker 2>in the next month month and a half. But yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>that is also that's going to be other than the

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<v Speaker 2>mayor's race, that's going to maybe even more so. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>that's going to be the big story locally, what happens

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<v Speaker 2>with that stadium. Well, at this point, no one knows.

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<v Speaker 1>No one knows, and I'm hoping we find out that

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<v Speaker 1>there is someone on the opposite side of the table

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<v Speaker 1>of the Brown family as opposed to being on the

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<v Speaker 1>same side of the table as the original agreement was negotiated,

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<v Speaker 1>because I don't think there's a human out there. And

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, we have made national attention on how terrible

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<v Speaker 1>that stadium deal was for the taxpayers here in Hamilton County.

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<v Speaker 1>I think we're looking for a little bit more love

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<v Speaker 1>from the Brown family this time around.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and they're playing their cards close to the vest.

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<v Speaker 2>But I mean I can say the county and the

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<v Speaker 2>elected officials they're they're not really making friends with the

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<v Speaker 2>Bengals are And it's been very adversarial so far, a

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<v Speaker 2>lot of brinksmanship. I don't know how much of that

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<v Speaker 2>is also playing out behind the scenes, but it does

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<v Speaker 2>seem actually, I mean a lot of the emails that

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<v Speaker 2>I've gotten between county officials and the team, it's been

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<v Speaker 2>pretty acrimonious. So there is a lot of pushback from

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<v Speaker 2>elected officials on what they want from this lease.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, Scott Ortman will find you at Cincinnati dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>I reckon my listeners. I go ahead and bookmark that

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<v Speaker 1>and get yourself a subscription so you can get your

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<v Speaker 1>popcorn out. And what Scott's going to be writing about.

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<v Speaker 1>Lots of interesting topics for you to cover this year, Scott,

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<v Speaker 1>and I wish you all the best of luck in

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<v Speaker 1>the new role. And I appreciate you coming on the

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<v Speaker 1>program and sharing your time with my listeners and me,

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<v Speaker 1>and you have an open invitation here in the fifty

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<v Speaker 1>five Carcy Morning Show to give us an update on

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<v Speaker 1>the exciting stuff that you're covering.

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<v Speaker 2>Brian, I appreciate it, and I look forward to it,

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<v Speaker 2>and I hope I don't fiss the point.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm sure you won't. Good luck, Scott, and thanks for

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<v Speaker 1>again for coming on