Sports
Ep. 38 - Cleveland Heights in Chaos and Mollie's Margaritas
In Episode 38 of Pod Poppilai, the hosts delve into the chaos engulfing Cleveland Heights, discussing local politics and the upcoming mayoral recall vote with guest Josie Moore. They also celebrate a ...
Ep. 38 - Cleveland Heights in Chaos and Mollie's Margaritas
Sports •
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Interactive Transcript
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This is Pod Poppilai, podcast, or The People.
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Hello, it is opening night of Beachwood Football.
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It is opening night of Beachwood Football.
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We walk into the season undone.
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We're undefeated.
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We are undone to nothing.
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No, no, we haven't played it.
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No, they haven't played it.
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Oh, they have a scrimmage.
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Scrimmage, not scrimmage.
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If they want to count it, they count it.
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They want to have scrimmage.
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When I played hockey, I counted the goals I scored one month.
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So I mean, well, I'm not sure that counts.
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Well, scrimmage, they count it, OK?
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Well, let's, before we get really into it,
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let's celebrate your stud of a sun.
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Oh, we had a Beachwood Middle School football victory.
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Beachwood Middle School football victory in the rain,
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tough conditions.
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Yeah.
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Oh, it comes out of me.
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So I think we're going to go eight.
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No.
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I'm like, well, let's not get ahead of us.
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That's a good skip.
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But that might not be the case, but they are currently also
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one and oh, led by your quarterback son, which is pretty cool.
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Yeah.
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Listen, it's fun for him.
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So I love that he, you know, I told him, he, like he played basketball
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last year.
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And basketball's never really been a sport.
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It was like, you got to keep playing basketball because I love going to the games.
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And it's really creepy if I go to all these games and I don't have a kid on the team.
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So do it for dad.
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So I think he's going to, I mean, basketball is the one sport where he's not that great.
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Like those sports, he's.
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Yeah.
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I, I, he's, I'm not going to be great, but like, he's beach would good for the other sports.
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And I actually think he likes basketball because there's not that pressure.
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He knows he's not one of the better players, but he really has fun.
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But let's, let's, let's introduce who our guest is.
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And then I do want to talk about some before we go into what we're here.
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We've got Josie Moore.
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And I've been excited because we've been trying to get somebody on from Cleveland Heights,
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who's kind of in the mix.
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We can opine and explain the things that are going out there.
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Mayor, the recall vote, the batshit craziness.
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Yeah.
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That's going on.
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It takes a lot for us to say another city is more dysfunctional than I've seen.
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And it really does.
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And I've got like, I actually said this pisses me off because it makes other cities look
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like we are so well run compared to the stuff that's going on there.
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Right.
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And it's like, we're not like, but compared to you guys, it looks like we really got our
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shit together.
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Yeah, we, we aspire to be as good as Beachwood.
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That's what I hate.
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Like, but anyhow, we're going to come back to do about two or three minutes.
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A couple of things I want to talk about.
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One, this is a shameless plug for bar Italian.
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Let me explain why.
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First of all, I don't know if you ever been to bar Italian.
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Delicious, delicious food.
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Oh, love bar Italian.
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Oh, good.
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In fact, if you haven't, Jesse, you would eat this.
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I get their zucchini noodles.
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Oh my God.
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Those things are crack.
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They are crack with their pesto sauce and grilled chicken.
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It is like decadent.
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I mean, it is such an amazing meal.
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And it's healthy.
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I don't know if it's that healthy.
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You're talking about the zucchini that's for the fried zucchini, the little, okay?
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No, no, they're actually beetles.
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The beetles, beetles, beetles.
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Okay, so I was thinking about the fried up at the front.
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I don't know if I can measure that would actually be really delicious.
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So I'll tell you this.
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I am sober.
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Okay.
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But I love cocktails and I miss them terribly.
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Okay.
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So bar Italian, they make these mocktails and they put in a muddled, sweet, sweet, sweet,
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slice of jalapeno.
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Well, let me explain why this is so rough.
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Alcohol and all.
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Well, let me explain.
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Because it brings that bite.
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Yep.
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And I'm like, I'm going to drink these all night.
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Did you think your bartenders there were excellent?
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Yes.
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Okay, well, let me explain why that's relevant.
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One of the bartenders is a beachwood resident, Molly Wool.
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Her husband Ricky and his sister, Lindsay, they have been beachwood residents forever.
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Their parents, you know, Jack, unfortunately, hit their dad passed away two years ago.
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But they're just wonderful people.
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Molly, they've got three kids.
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Addy, she is 16 and then you got Brennan, who's my son age and then they got Cal, who's
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I think in first grade.
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And about a year ago, Molly, who's the bartender at Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays at
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bar Italian, she just wasn't feeling well.
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She couldn't figure it out.
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Went to a bunch of doctors, everyone's like, ah, you know, this is nothing.
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And finally about two or three months ago, some doctors like, wait a second, starts
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adding up, they start doing tests and I don't want to get the kind of cancer wrong.
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Do you do you know what it is?
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I don't.
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I think it's Hodgkin's lymphoma stage four.
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And you know, this is a shock to everybody.
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And one bar tell you, it's been one, you'll, one of the things about this is, now I'm
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not going to say don't pray for it because prayers don't hurt.
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But Molly doesn't need prayers.
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She's going to kick the shit out of this.
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In a year, we're going to be talking about boy, did you kill this?
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But when you have a two income family and all of a sudden one income income and
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come in for at least six months because it's going to be a tough six months of aggressive
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treatment.
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And bar Italian is doing a lot, you know, to help her out.
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But one of the other things are doing it.
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There's a go-fun me page and can you try to put, I'm going to get it to, can you kind
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of put it up there when I get you what the exact, you know, destination of it?
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Yeah, yeah.
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I'll put it up there.
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But one of the things that bar Italian is doing is there's a special team Molly's
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Margarita that they're putting on the menu.
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And part of the proceeds go to her.
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But I'm also, if you don't want to Margarita, if you just go there and say I'd like to
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donate $10 to whatever goes to Molly, believe me, that can help.
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The go-fun me page can help.
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Yeah.
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We're hosting our girls night there next Friday night after the podcast.
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So I'll be there with some lady friends and we are going to drink many Molly Margaritas.
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But one of the things is bar Italian has been wonderful to her.
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And I just, not only should you go there because it's great food, you should also support
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businesses that do good things.
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Yeah.
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And this is one of those businesses that do good things.
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So if you're listening and Cleveland Heights, you've never listened to this and you're
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thinking where are we going to go tonight, choose bar Italian one of these nights.
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A little more time reward them for being good people and good citizens and helping out people
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in a country.
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And if you're a liquid resident and you have one over there.
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Well, that's right.
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Just go over there.
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You know, crossover.
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Come over here.
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Yes.
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And I know Molly will be back, but it's going to be tough six months.
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So any other before we go at her last week, we had in sung loving in a head to go now,
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Rick, because I don't want to screw it up.
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And she was so classy.
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She didn't talk bad about her opponent.
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She didn't talk about her opponent.
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She talked about herself, which was great.
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She's running for Cleveland municipal judge.
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It was so fun to listen to her when I, when I listened to our podcast this week.
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First of all, she has the most beautiful voice.
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So just listening to it.
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She's not if you're a defendant getting sent to court.
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Well, I don't know.
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They might be like, wow, this is bad news, but it is delivered with a lovely voice.
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Yeah.
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But the things that she was saying, you know, in the moment, you're paying attention,
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but you're thinking about the next thing.
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Just being a pure audience member this week, I just, she is going to be such an amazing
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jurist.
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Seth, right?
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Yeah.
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I believe so too.
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If she's got compassion, like, you know, for the people are going to be in her court.
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Yes.
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And that's very important to me.
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Yeah.
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But one of the things I realized was her opponent, who she didn't say a thing about because
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she wanted to talk about herself, her opponent is the law director, assistant law director
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of East Cleveland.
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Assistant law director.
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That should disqualify you.
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I would agree.
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Because one of your jobs is law directors to ensure that your city and its officials are
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following, you know, the law and the guy.
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I think those who don't know news flash, no law following happening.
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I don't believe one.
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It's not.
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So there's a city that actually might be more dysfunctional than Cleveland Heights.
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Yeah.
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Right.
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Might.
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We point at Beachwood and say we want to look like we'd like them.
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And then we point to East Cleveland and say, don't.
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Yeah.
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We don't want to become East Cleveland.
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But so that's all I'm going to say about that.
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That's fine.
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I don't want to.
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No, I don't.
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No, I don't.
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We don't need to say.
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We don't need to bash.
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We just need to say people do your homework.
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Yeah.
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Look at who you're voting for.
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Judges matter.
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Yeah.
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Judges matter.
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So do local elections.
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So now we're going to go to what our whole focus is.
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And I'm glad you kind of brought that up.
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I think it's a good segue because it seemed like and I don't follow the East Cleveland
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drama all that closely.
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But it also seemed like these people really didn't hide that they were kind of criminals.
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You know, where the thing that I think makes this Cleveland Heights thing so interesting
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is if you just look at it a half inch deep, don't go much deeper.
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You're going this searing guy.
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He's articulate.
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Like, if you don't, he, I'm going to say a fraud.
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I'm going to start right now where I think.
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But, but if you don't take more than five minutes and you just like, he is so compelling.
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You're like, oh, this guy's got to be great until you actually dig into it.
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And, and then you go, this guy is nothing like he brands himself.
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Tell me this.
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I imagine if you were, were you a supporter when he was running?
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Because I know a lot of people were because they probably hadn't realized that all the,
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the things that are, you're, they're going to come.
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Well, because I know a lot of people are like, boy, was I wrong?
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You know?
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Well, I actually ran for mayor.
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Okay.
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And then I pulled out of the race before early voting started.
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And I pulled out of the race so that we wouldn't split the progressive ticket and that he
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would move on to the November election.
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But I also ran because I had heard so many people who had so many reservations about him.
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And so I had those reservations and when he asked me for his endorsement, for my endorsement,
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I said, let, we need to talk because I need to really clear up what I've heard about
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you.
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And so we had a lot of conversations.
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And I think one of the things that I did wrong in those conversations is when I asked questions,
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I would kind of give context to why I'm asking.
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And in the process, basically say, here's what I want you to tell me.
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And then we're all guilty of that.
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We want someone to be good, so bad that we really lead them to where they don't want to
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go, but we want to hear.
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So everything he told me, I thought, okay, I missed judge this guy and I endorsed him.
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I, my endorsement was in the Heights Observer.
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And I believed in him.
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I, after that, I campaigned for him.
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And, and then I spent the first six months on council of that year just doing this mental
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gymnastics, trying to continue to believe what I had believed in him while also observing
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and experiencing someone completely different from that.
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So is it just, he's just nothing like he portrays himself to be or just tell me this,
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is it just that he believes in these things, but then he's just a horrible manager of a city,
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which unfortunately, no matter whether you're progressive, liberal, conservative, when it comes
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down to it, most important thing is can you run a city, a city like Cleveland Heights is what,
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a $70 million a year operation.
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Something like that.
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I mean, all those other things, I'm not saying aren't important, but they're not as important as
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actually having logical, good managerial sense.
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Right.
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And was that his big downfall?
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And then that just triggered and, you know, criticism made him just double down on stuff.
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I mean, I've only, well, I've only filed it until recent, usually I, I filed it pretty
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closely, but I first started paying attention when your council last year was like, no,
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we're not going to prove this budget until you actually give us numbers.
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And like that is not like, and he was fighting that.
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Like this is council's job.
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This is council's only responsibility actually is to be hold the purse strings.
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Right.
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And they're like, we, you know, we need to see, not only this year, we need to see a three
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or five year.
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And by the way, three or five years are not supposed to be exact, but you're supposed
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to say, okay, we're going to assume a 2% growth in income and our expense are going to grow
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2% and we, and here are the big projects we have.
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We think we want to do a year, two and three in this.
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And here we have the money to do it.
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And so it's important if you're saying we're going to do it.
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It's just like if you're in your personal life, it's like, okay, yes, I can make ends meet
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now, but we have college next year.
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We got a bar mentor.
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We got a wedding.
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You have to play in a little bit further.
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And yes, you know, your assumptions are not going to be correct, but they've got to be
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ballpark.
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And he was like, no, I'm not doing that.
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And he just, and it seemed like your council finally was like, this was kind of a standoff.
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Right.
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And that's when I kind of started paying attention because to me, that's a very important
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thing.
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Yeah.
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Well, I will say that from the get go, excuse me.
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Do you want another water yet?
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I heard.
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So from the get go, like within the first two weeks of becoming mayor, he began withholding
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information from council.
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And also would not allow council to have conversations with department directors.
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And Josie, you were on council at this time.
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I was on council at this time.
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And so there's a bit.
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Let me just make sure I understand.
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There's a difference between you're not allowed to talk to them and you're not allowed
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to tell them what to do.
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Right.
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I do agree.
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You're not supposed to give them directives.
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Right.
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But I don't agree with you're not allowed to talk to these people ask questions, have a relationship
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with them.
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I mean, that to me, if you're a city leader, you should have that.
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But as long as you don't cross the line and say, direct them to do something.
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Yeah.
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So very early on around the same time of early 2022, there was also this park ballot initiative
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in which someone wanted a group of people wanted to put a really fancy park in where there
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would be a development on the Cedar Lee Meta Brook.
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And they gathered a bunch of signatures and they got it on the ballot.
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And then people who were opposed to it reached out to someone who reached out to me and said,
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would it be possible for the city to offer them a different space?
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A different space.
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And I said, I don't know.
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And I don't know what the planning director would think about that because I knew that he
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just has a larger vision for the city.
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And I said, let me ask his opinion.
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And the previous day, I had called the law director, Ness, for his opinion and was able to get
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him on the line.
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And so I called and they were like, a hilling me back.
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And I said, okay.
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And then he emailed me back with Seren, C.C.
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And he said, he's saying any question you have, he has to be C.C.
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And I'm like, I just wanted your opinion before shooting this up the chain.
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What you thought of this.
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And I said, okay.
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Well, I was just a resident brothers to me.
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I just wanted to know what you think.
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And then a few days passed and then Seren replied and said to be clear, this is a non-starter
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we will not be doing anything like this.
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We will not be subverting democracy.
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And I'm like subverting democracy.
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And I was just like, I'm having my values called into question because I'm bringing a question
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from a resident who's doing your job as a council member to represent your constituents.
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And by the way, there's nothing wrong with floating good ideas, bad ideas.
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That's what floating ideas are supposed to be about.
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Right.
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So as somebody who lived in the heights, I had maybe half an eye more open.
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But as somebody who cares about the region, obviously around the same time you've got
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Justin Bib running for mayor in Cleveland.
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And there are a lot of similarities between the two at least superficially, right?
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And I'm probably going to piss off every progressive on the East side.
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But there are a lot of non-progressives on the East side who don't think Bib's doing
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a very good job.
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And many have questioned his age and his experience.
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And you want to say the stakes are higher in Cleveland than they are in Cleveland Heights.
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I mean, we're talking about the future of this entire area.
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But say what you will about Justin Bib, it doesn't seem to be a question of his core moral
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compass.
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And his...
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And by the way, let's put it out there.
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It's a tough job.
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It's a tough job.
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Cleveland Heights is a tough job too.
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I mean, you know, I mean, we have ridiculous amount of money coming in because of our business
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core.
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I mean, Cleveland Heights does not have those luxury.
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So that's a tough job too.
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But it pales in comparison to the city of Cleveland's job.
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But this feels like somebody who is not well, not well, maybe operating from a point of
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really not trusting people, thinking everybody's after him.
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I mean, it's a little bit of conspiracy.
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And I do have compassion for people with, you know, some mental issues.
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And just seeing some of the things...
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Yes, but they shouldn't be mayor.
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Very true.
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I mean...
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I mean, and again, there are other cities in our midst where there have been questions
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about a mayor's health, physical, mental.
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I think we need to be really careful about what we accept in terms of our elected officials.
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I see one of the things is that just drew, like that just blew my mind was that press
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conference he had after the life went into the house for an hour.
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Like, if you didn't see the video, you'd be like, I believe in me, so God damn it.
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He's so good at him.
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I'm articulate and compelling.
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And even though I had seen the video and I knew what he was saying was a lie, what
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what just is so fascinating to me is he almost convinced me he was telling the truth, even
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though I sought with my own eyes.
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Like, that's almost how strange and weird he is that he thought knowing that these people
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had seen the video.
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And I think he said it 15 times.
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She did not go in.
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She did not go in the house.
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She knocked out, you know, it's like, I'm starting to believe him, but I did see the video.
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And that's exactly not what happened.
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And I just...
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So even before all of this with the wife, which that is another whole side of crazy down,
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City Council probably has a front-row view more than any other people in the community
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of what's starting to deteriorate within the mayor's office.
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What does through from your perspective, you were on council at this time, did you then
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decide not to run again?
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I resigned from council.
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You resigned from council?
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It was extremely toxic.
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Yeah.
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At the time, the council leadership were very much in lockstep with everything that the
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mayor was doing.
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And so it became three council members.
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And then four other council members who were just like, we're just trying to get information.
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We're just trying to develop legislation that we set on the campaign trail that we would
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try to develop.
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And we're essentially getting vilified for it.
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And really disparage.
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And how much of that, if I can ask, was falling around race lines or gender lines?
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It was.
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It was so much fun.
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The council president, the white woman, the council president, the council vice president
spk_0
at the time was a black man.
spk_0
And then the other guy was a black man.
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Okay.
spk_0
It was the first board.
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It was a guy.
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Don't listen to her because the mayor has said all of this is about race.
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It must be.
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And then I'll just why I'm asking the question.
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Right.
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And then on the other side, on the four council members who were just like, we're just
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trying to do our job here.
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We had to be a Russell's black woman, me and then we had Tony Kuda, white man, and then
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Gaye Larson, a woman.
spk_0
No, no, that's just not true.
spk_0
Cleveland Heights is so racist, but they elect all of these black people and women.
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But according to Sarah and everything that goes against them, it's because of systematic
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reasons.
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And that is what's, there is race in this world.
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But when somebody uses it like this, it is so disgusting.
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It's so disgusting.
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Yeah.
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Like that.
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It's so offensive.
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Yes.
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And to turn it on, I shouldn't say, I know Chris Bitten, but not very well.
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His girlfriend, they've been, they've been here for like 10 years.
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She's good friends with my friends.
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We should.
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And this is the chief.
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Yeah.
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We used to spend Christmas Eve at their house.
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And he was off in there.
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And this was when he wasn't the chief.
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This was when before he was a chief.
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And my kid was three years old.
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He was just such a down to earth, not power hungry.
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Like no ego.
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I remember he said, oh, let me go in the car.
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I got some cool coin for Jack, you know, like some policemen coin.
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And that's remember, this is, and also, I don't know if you'll Christophe.
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There were always, he's another long time policeman.
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I'm like, these guys are like what cops are supposed to be.
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They're not about ego.
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They're not about power, you know.
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And to hear him being vilified, for him just doing, you could tell he wants no part of the publicity.
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Like, like, like when, and to try to put this on him as he's got some.
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Right.
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I mean, the body camera videos from when Miss McDaniel was detained, what you see is
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Chris Britton arrives on the scene and immediately it says, we are going to find someone else
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standing in those case because he immediately knows that there's a conflict of interest
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with his police department doing it.
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And then the press conference, Sarah, implies that there's something wrong with that.
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And then in the press conference given by her attorney just a few days ago, he didn't do
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a quick enough that he didn't do it quick enough.
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So it is all this really confusing like, what do you mean?
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And then her attorney is saying she did enter the house, but not for very long.
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Yeah.
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Because that makes it okay.
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I know that that's different now.
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No, but it is like there's this kind of these shifting stories.
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Right.
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And if anyone who is thinking that what happened there was okay, it has to just go along
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with the shifting stories somehow.
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And I, but that's where I disagree with you because if you listen to her lawyer's press
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conference, what he said was, yes, my client did enter the house.
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Yeah.
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Okay. Now we didn't say that meant she broke the law, but by definition, going into
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somebody else's house uninvited is breaking the law.
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Yeah.
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And then he was like, but he only did it for a few seconds.
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That's okay.
spk_0
Like, I don't know this.
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I mean, Shayna, let's just play along and pretend that her story made sense that she's
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like, oh, there's a contractor in there.
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I want to get on.
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That's just so unbelievable.
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But let's just for a minute pretend it is.
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And you go, oh, that's a nice house.
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I bet you that good contractors.
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I'm going to go get their number.
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Okay.
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That's crazy in the first place, but let's pretend it's not.
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If you, would you just walk in the house?
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No.
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Of course, that nobody would.
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You're standing outside.
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You're knocking.
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Hey, is anybody in there?
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And you don't go in.
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Otherwise, somebody says, oh, yeah, says come on in.
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Right.
spk_0
In no, in no world, would anybody just walk into a house and for them to pretend like,
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nothing wrong with that.
spk_0
It's all you people, it's a race thing.
spk_0
And that's the point here.
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I mean, his wife, there have been a lot of people who question the recall because they
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say, you know, like, should we recall him because of what his wife does?
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And the answer is, no, you shouldn't recall someone because of what their spouse does.
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Unless you have empowered that person and you've done so in the context of the city.
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And she was a presence at presence at city hall.
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He likes to claim it.
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Have only started last October.
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But that's not true.
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But what even if it did that's true?
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That very first city administrator, Joe Synod, who was there for only one year.
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So 2022.
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He has said that, and he didn't say this publicly, but he has said that if he knew the role
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that his wife, that the mayor's wife would have in city hall, he wouldn't have taken the
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job in the first place.
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So she has been there starting 2022.
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And I don't know if it's just been an increasing capacity that I don't know.
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But he empowered her at city hall.
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She could direct staff, counsel can't direct staff, but she could direct staff.
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Staff were expected to follow her directions, even if they didn't make sense.
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And even if it resulted in them not doing their actual jobs well.
spk_0
That's outrageous.
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I mean, like she screamed at city hall.
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She screamed for fanaties at city hall.
spk_0
She made it a really toxic workplace.
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And he is the one who empowered that, who allowed it to continue, who defended it, and
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who shielded her from accountability.
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And in the process refused to shield staff from the harm that she posed.
spk_0
So like what he should have done is seems pretty basic saying, honey, you can't come in
spk_0
here.
spk_0
Like, this is just, I mean, you actually work with your husband.
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I work with my husband.
spk_0
They don't, let's give a plug.
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They own a hardware.
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We do.
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We have a hardware soror.
spk_0
Thank you.
spk_0
But if you didn't, but look, Jason and I are both.
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Whatever, it doesn't matter.
spk_0
If one of us is having a moment and is being inappropriate, it happens to everybody, right?
spk_0
The other ones, you know what?
spk_0
I'm just going to take a break.
spk_0
I got this.
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Right.
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Because if you're going to work with your spouse, you got to be able to do that.
spk_0
But then it won't work together.
spk_0
She doesn't have a role.
spk_0
spk_0
I mean, she did have a role, but she had a key fob.
spk_0
We don't know if it was a signer if she was just taking the mayors, but she had a key
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fob.
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She had, and if she had the mayors key fob, that meant that she had full access.
spk_0
So she could walk into the legal department.
spk_0
He says she couldn't, but if she had his, and this is what we don't know, if she had
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his, then she could walk into legal department because we saw on video that he could walk
spk_0
into the, into the law department.
spk_0
And he went in and the fact that she don't know whether or not she had her own key fob.
spk_0
Like these are things that should be tracked and probably are tracked, which means somebody
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is not sharing information.
spk_0
Right. Exactly.
spk_0
Which means she's probably using his key fob.
spk_0
Like, let's be honest, this is such a unique issue.
spk_0
Can you think of like any other situation where, like, where this has happened where, like
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any, anything else was said, remember on Elrose Place?
spk_0
I mean, honestly, it sounds like an evening soap opera.
spk_0
Like, can you just invite me?
spk_0
Right.
spk_0
I have heard people say, you know, like this whole thing is kind of like when you're
spk_0
listening to a crazy, this American life, and you pull into your driveway and you just
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want to listen a little bit longer.
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And the next thing you know, you've been sitting in your car for a half hour because this
spk_0
is also nuts.
spk_0
Right.
spk_0
But it's not, it's not an episode of this American life or a soap opera crime drama.
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This is our city.
spk_0
It's not just that.
spk_0
It's what's the guy from Akron, who used to be the mayor of Akron?
spk_0
Damn, very good.
spk_0
Okay.
spk_0
So I imagine he's not independently wealthy.
spk_0
He, you know, like a mayor of Akron pays nice, but it's not.
spk_0
He's not making money as a simple surrogate.
spk_0
And to get a job that I imagine was paying 130-ish to 150-ish, that's what a city manager
spk_0
makes and heights, right?
spk_0
It's, I doubt that because I would mean he's making more than the mayor.
spk_0
Okay.
spk_0
So it's a six-figure job, probably.
spk_0
Probably.
spk_0
spk_0
Those don't come, they don't fall off trees.
spk_0
And he had to make, and I think he's a hero where he had to make the decision of, I either
spk_0
have to just allow this to happen except it because if I don't speak up, it's, it's basically,
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what's the word?
spk_0
By God, why am I blanking on it?
spk_0
He's complacent.
spk_0
I was just complicit.
spk_0
Or I have to say, I can't work here if this is going to happen.
spk_0
And that's easy for all of us to say in theory, but when you have a job, a six-figure job
spk_0
that you probably need, it's really hard to make that choice.
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And it seems like he's not the only one who had to walk away from the job because, I mean,
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good jobs don't come out, aren't easy to find and to have these people say, I'm going
spk_0
to leave this job and leave that income because I have morals.
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And by the way, if he didn't do that, that really got people that really put...
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He let the cat out of the bag.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
I mean, he's a hero for doing that because...
spk_0
And we're grateful for it.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
And he suffered.
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I mean, I imagine he wanted that income.
spk_0
spk_0
So, Citizens got together and decided to put a recall on the ballot.
spk_0
Right.
spk_0
Okay, walk us through what that looks like and how it happens and where are we now?
spk_0
You got to get a lot of signatures, right?
spk_0
We had to get a lot of signatures.
spk_0
It was a exciting time.
spk_0
Is it like the two-thirds or some percentage of the votes from the...
spk_0
It was 25% of the number of people who voted in the most recent mayor election, which
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was the only one.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
Yeah, so, you know, many...
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There are large groups of people who have known for a long time that he is not doing a
spk_0
good job and it was just this steadily growing group.
spk_0
And there was probably about 12 to 20 who were being organized by a friend of mine and
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what she was wanting was what do we do?
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What can we do?
spk_0
And so, we were on a Zoom call trying to figure out.
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And the first plan was we're going to hold a community meeting and we're just going to
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share information so people know more about what is going on.
spk_0
And then it was like, you know what?
spk_0
The recall is a possibility.
spk_0
And of course, this had been floated so many times within the last couple of years prior
spk_0
to his claim.
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It...
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I don't think it was floated before he took office.
spk_0
But it had been floated in the last couple of years, or not.
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And we just always said, you know what?
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I don't think it would fly at this moment.
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Because people just didn't know what was happening.
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And so, you know, I...
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But we just kind of said, well, let's go get the petition and start collecting signatures
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and see what happens.
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And Gary Cantor was one of the first people to sign.
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And he put up a post in the neighborhood chat or saying, I just signed a recall petition.
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And it was a slip of people.
spk_0
spk_0
And the first couple of weeks were just so exciting because we didn't have to work hard
spk_0
for it at all.
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We just basically, you know, we told people, the circulators, tell us when and where you'll
spk_0
be, we'll post that information and we had people flocking to us to sign.
spk_0
I believe that is very rare because I just think most people...
spk_0
And I just think of you, no matter how, in so many instances, even when you have terrible
spk_0
leadership in a city, people just...
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To want to recall is a huge step.
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Absolutely.
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And I think it would gain traction in few, in so few circumstances that the fact that
spk_0
this gained so much traction just speaks volumes of...
spk_0
He dug this hole himself.
spk_0
Of course he did.
spk_0
And I don't think if it was any other way, I just...
spk_0
There's so many ways he could have prevented this, you know, this sentiment.
spk_0
There's so many steps.
spk_0
So like, thousands of steps if you could have just stepped differently, we would be in a
spk_0
different place.
spk_0
I mean, when the revelation about the anti-Semitic comments came out about his wife had said,
spk_0
and again, he tried to claim that this was between...
spk_0
This is a private conversation.
spk_0
And I said, except it wasn't a private conversation.
spk_0
It wasn't a city of private.
spk_0
It wasn't a city of private.
spk_0
It wasn't an employee on the text and they were discussing city business.
spk_0
This was a public record.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
spk_0
No reason to think that this was a private text thread.
spk_0
And I'm not sure it makes any better.
spk_0
Yeah, and it doesn't make it any better.
spk_0
But if you're saying it, private.
spk_0
But that's how we try to defend it as though that makes it better.
spk_0
But I don't say those things to my husband, right, because that's wrong.
spk_0
Right.
spk_0
Right, exactly, exactly.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
Everything about some of these arguments were just like, did I hear that right?
spk_0
Like, is that what he's going with?
spk_0
And like some of these things, I'm seeing him going, God, he's a smart guy.
spk_0
And this is what he came up with.
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This is a...
spk_0
Oh, I wanted to see...
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We were thinking about getting our floors done.
spk_0
Like, I'm sitting here after he said that that's the best he could come up with.
spk_0
How about, you know what?
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I wasn't thinking.
spk_0
You know, I...
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Duh.
spk_0
I stepped in.
spk_0
There was absolutely...
spk_0
I didn't steal anything.
spk_0
I didn't do anything.
spk_0
Yeah, what an idiot I am.
spk_0
I'm sorry.
spk_0
This thing's over.
spk_0
This thing goes nowhere.
spk_0
You know?
spk_0
Like, they don't...
spk_0
Maybe they charge, but it goes nowhere.
spk_0
It says, they don't do that again.
spk_0
But now it's like, you have no choice but to set a precedent here to hold somebody accountable.
spk_0
And they're not even accepting what they did was wrong.
spk_0
No.
spk_0
I mean, the whole thing just...
spk_0
You see it so often is people mess up all the time.
spk_0
And somebody mess up...
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You know what?
spk_0
I fuck that up.
spk_0
Sorry.
spk_0
It's like nine times out of ten and what's what you did is really, really terrible.
spk_0
There's no doubt the intent behind it was intentional.
spk_0
You know, most people can understand that.
spk_0
Yeah, people are forgiving.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
spk_0
Accountability is something that I have really become to admire in other people.
spk_0
And now that we have our mayoral candidates, that's one thing that I'm saying really
spk_0
loud to people is look for their ability to take accountability.
spk_0
spk_0
I mean, even just like a minor misstep of like, oh, I'm a spoke there, even just the ability
spk_0
to do that shows that they are capable of learning.
spk_0
Right.
spk_0
Because if you can't take...
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I mean, because we all make mistakes.
spk_0
We make the steps.
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We make the space.
spk_0
We always think, he is, we think, are just amazing.
spk_0
And then you realize, oh, that wasn't...
spk_0
You know, like things like that.
spk_0
Right.
spk_0
Or you didn't know enough at the time and you proceeded and it happens.
spk_0
We're all human.
spk_0
And no one is going to step into that office knowing everything that they need to know.
spk_0
They will need to grow and learn in that position.
spk_0
And that's impossible if they're unable to own when they made a mistake or a misstep
spk_0
or unable to have an open mind to fear somebody, try to make their case to them.
spk_0
Right.
spk_0
And so, you know, that is absolutely one thing that I think we all need to be looking for.
spk_0
Because now Cleveland Heights is in this moment.
spk_0
And there are a lot of people who, you know, they aren't sure whether they're going to vote
spk_0
for the recall, but they know that they don't support Sarah.
spk_0
But they have a whole lot of people saying, how do we avoid this mistake in this future?
spk_0
spk_0
Because we really misjudged.
spk_0
Yep.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
Well, let me just say this to Cleveland Heights voters.
spk_0
Cleveland Heights is a tough city to run.
spk_0
It's, you know, it's not Cleveland.
spk_0
Right.
spk_0
You know, like there are tougher jobs, but 50,000 people, right?
spk_0
Under that.
spk_0
They're about 46.
spk_0
Okay.
spk_0
But yeah, okay.
spk_0
So in that neighborhood, it's a big city.
spk_0
It's got old infrastructure.
spk_0
It doesn't have a huge business base.
spk_0
So you're relying a lot on municipal taxing your own people, you know, and property tax.
spk_0
You've got all sorts of challenges and you don't have a huge budget to work with.
spk_0
It is a very tough job.
spk_0
You guys need, you guys need somebody who's smart.
spk_0
Like you said, willing to hear all sides of an issue change their mind when the information
spk_0
you know, convinces them that they should and not be petty.
spk_0
Right.
spk_0
What, one of the things we, we talked on the phone, what about for about five or seven
spk_0
minutes?
spk_0
Because I was like, Hey, tell me more about.
spk_0
And one of the things you said to me that I want to bring up is when you got on council,
spk_0
you said, you know, I was, I, you were, I wouldn't, I'm, I'm not going to phrase this
spk_0
the way I'm trying to.
spk_0
It's not that you weren't confident.
spk_0
It's like you felt like you had a lot to learn.
spk_0
So you were kind of, and this is kind of what I want to say to you.
spk_0
It's like you're, you're, people vote for you because they want your opinion, you know,
spk_0
and to anybody, when you get on council, yes, you're supposed to, nobody is supposed to,
spk_0
you, you, you were qualified enough to have your own opinion.
spk_0
And I wish everybody get on council goes, you're supposed to have an opinion.
spk_0
Like you shouldn't be scared of it.
spk_0
You shouldn't be scared for people to agree with you, disagree with you because, and
spk_0
I could believe me.
spk_0
I was on council too and I felt those same pressures.
spk_0
And I just think it's so unhealthy.
spk_0
I just hope it's, it's, it's very healthy for it to be encouraged.
spk_0
Just a new person.
spk_0
Don't listen to it.
spk_0
Anybody else, don't listen.
spk_0
Be, you know, listen to what people say, but we want to hear your opinion on this.
spk_0
Even if it is the only one that's saying this, and like you, I felt that way too.
spk_0
Like I, geez, I don't want to be the only one saying this.
spk_0
And believe me, there's many times, this isn't important enough.
spk_0
I'm not going to really go out there on this.
spk_0
And I only would when I thought was important, I mean, God was it uncomfortable.
spk_0
It is really hard.
spk_0
And when you do so.
spk_0
And I can see why you stepped down.
spk_0
Like I believe me.
spk_0
I can totally see why you stepped down.
spk_0
It was a very difficult situation.
spk_0
And there are people who like to, who've never talked to me, but like to try to tell my
spk_0
story and say, well, this is why she stepped down.
spk_0
And it's not.
spk_0
It took months and months of struggling with what I was going through and then talking to
spk_0
my, my family a lot about it.
spk_0
But it was this build up.
spk_0
And I had this moment in which I was driving in the car and my daughter, who was about
spk_0
four at the time, and we used to have this game where she would growl in the back of
spk_0
the car.
spk_0
And then I would say, we don't allow bears in the car.
spk_0
And she's loud.
spk_0
And I'm just sitting here in my head is just filled with all the drama that's happening
spk_0
at City Hall.
spk_0
And my daughter is behind me growling or making like chicken noises and barking.
spk_0
And I'm just like, you're not enjoying it.
spk_0
I'm not even listening.
spk_0
Yeah.
spk_0
I'm not even there.
spk_0
I am not there with my daughter when I should be.
spk_0
Because I can't get away from City Hall.
spk_0
And I'm sure like many people, you ran because you want your kids experience in the city
spk_0
to be better, to have more.
spk_0
And you know, it is such a, we have so much of our elected officials when they run.
spk_0
But to be in that position where there's just so much mismanagement and misleadership
spk_0
and point and deflecting.
spk_0
And, you know, I hope that you run again.
spk_0
I do.
spk_0
Well, you basically are running by leading this.
spk_0
You took a huge leadership role here.
spk_0
Right.
spk_0
And I've become a lightning rod and I've become the target of a lot of people saying a lot
spk_0
of things.
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And I knew I was a lot more aware of it this time than I was before that this is what
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I'm inviting on to myself.
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And so I was, I was prepared for that it would happen.
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I wasn't prepared exactly for all the things I would say.
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And they, one person compared me to bull Connor.
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Well, it's a good thing that I probably, most people are like me that I don't know who
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that is.
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Oh, yeah.
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I imagine it's not a good reference.
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Do you?
spk_0
I don't.
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Okay.
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Well, bull Connor was the chief of, I think, the fire department in Montgomery, Alabama
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and he's the one who put firehoses on children.
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So is that what you're doing?
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Are you doing that?
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There was a time when my kids got pain all over them.
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And I tried to, and I turned the garden hose on them before allowing them back in the
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house.
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Maybe that's what they're referring to.
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But gross.
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But yeah, I mean, but it is pretty crazy and yeah, I listen, just trying to make some
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change.
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Really?
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It's, it's weird because I understood that type of anger towards you when the people who
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were doing it really had something to gain financially.
spk_0
Like if they were taking checks, I'd at least understand that.
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You know, if they were getting envelops, it's like, okay, that's horrible.
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But like, they're doing it well for the, like suck the power of being a beachwood city
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councilman.
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Like, you're doing all this over something like that.
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At least I understand it if you were on the tape.
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Right.
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There's a whole lot of questioning.
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Yeah, what are her real motives here?
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And that I don't get because like the people who support Sarah and I don't think they support
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Sarah because they have ulterior motives or, or like some hidden agenda or ambition.
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I think they just see things differently from how I do.
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But yet when it comes to the people on the other side of it, they're all ascribing that
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there's some secret ambition.
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And I'm like, why don't you just think that I see things differently from you?
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Because that's all it is.
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Imagine that.
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Well, I tell you, I mean, I said this because I taught the Gary Cantor, you know, at least
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once or twice a week about this.
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And when he was going to run, I go, there's no way he's like, maybe I'm completely off
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base and don't really understand the pulse of Cleveland Heights.
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He needed what only 400 signatures or something to get on the mayor's ballot.
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Call out, yes.
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Okay.
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Well, that doesn't sound like a lot to most people.
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Not compared to the thousands you guys needed.
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I know as somebody who had to get 150 signatures, it doesn't happen by itself.
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It's an effort.
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And I was like, how is he going?
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There's no way like with all this going on that he can rate, you know, get those signatures.
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And then all of a sudden, instantaneously, he got it and I go, there's something wrong.
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Like, and sure enough, there's a bunch of invalid ones because I just couldn't believe
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that he even had 300 people who were willing to write their name.
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And it turned out there wasn't.
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So my point is you probably hear all the people who are supporters and every single one,
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you probably hear louder than it's actually proportional because I just can't imagine
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there's too many people who are in his corner.
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I really hope that this recall election makes a statement.
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And you know, some people, oh, why didn't they just let it, why didn't they just let it
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go till the first of the year?
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Right.
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Because I think it's important for a statement like this to be made.
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Well, I think it is really important.
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Like, people don't realize just how much harm is happening at City Hall.
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We have really excellent, excellent directors who go in every single day thinking,
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this is probably going to be the day I'm going to get fired.
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And they are hesitant and they, they are kind of paralyzed and don't want to do anything
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because they are so afraid of Saran's mercurial nature that if they do something,
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they may get fired for doing their job.
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And so you've got like a whole lot of City Hall staff just kind of paralyzed and not being
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able to do anything because they are living with so much fear because their paychecks
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and their family's insurance is dependent on this.
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Very recently at the August, I think it was the 19th Finance Committee meeting,
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it's just kind of casually dropped that the City now has no bond rating with moodies.
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What?
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Yes, because they did not submit their financials and their audit.
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And so the City did have an A1 rating and now has no rating.
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Who did he blame for that?
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He is the mayor.
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He is responsible for these types of things getting done.
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I'm imagining it's everybody else's fault.
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Well, I mean, I'm sure he will, but really what this is about is financial mismanagement,
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like gross financial mismanagement and terrible managerial incompetence.
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But we've got this City and people are just, they really want lower lake to be saved.
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They want the City to rebuild the dam.
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And I said, and I'm just thinking that's not going to happen unless you put a bond on the ballot.
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And we can't get a bond rating.
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And we don't have a bond rating.
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So if you don't have a credit rating, you can't buy a house.
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If our City has no bond rating, we're not getting a new dam if that's what the citizens want.
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And this is probably the grossest that I've heard of actual damage to the City.
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But I've told Mike a few weeks ago, I got a call from somebody in Columbus,
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who's a graphic designer, who had been asked to, I guess they were looking for a new logo for
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the paint park. And my understanding was, it was kind of a sham process because they just
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picked somebody that the first lady who was friends with.
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Right. And they paid her like 18, I don't, I'm probably getting it wrong, but they paid her a stupid sum.
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I'm funny to look exactly the same, honestly, like for something someone can do with AI in 12 minutes.
spk_0
Exactly. Right. I mean, I, but they're shameless about it.
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Didn't they just put that woman in charge of communications?
spk_0
Yes, they, they fired an extremely competent and very well-liked communications director.
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And then they defamed her like they, he put out a news report that was 100% full of lies.
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And I'm just like, you didn't need to do that. That was absolutely not, I mean,
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it was a non-necessary. But you didn't need to do that. But they, I think he absolutely miscalculated.
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And he didn't realize just how much she is, just how well-regarded she is in the community.
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Because this happened while we were still collecting signatures, we were in the last
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weekend of collecting signatures. And I had people come up to me and say, do you have a petition?
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I wasn't going to sign. But then I found out about Jessica. Yeah.
spk_0
So, so one thing is I don't want to go on for too long. And I know we talked about for a second
spk_0
before we came out. And I think you and I are going to disagree about this. And this kind of, it
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brings it up is at what point do you put it on the law director when he puts out a statement like that?
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There's a lot of things I feel like the law director had a role of stopping. But that's especially
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one of them. Not even in a city, anybody who is a manager when you fire somebody, you don't
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put out a statement publicly. Like it's such legal, it's a terrible legal decision to say anything
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about it. Perfect. No, we don't talk about that. No statement. Like where like that's why there's so
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many things that have happened that I'm sitting here going, is anybody going to hold the law director
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accountable? And you know, he has a role here. And I know that I think you do. Do you think he played any,
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do you think that that statement never came across his desk before it will get put out?
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Okay. And that one, no. But the public records request lawsuit that's totally in his realm.
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I don't care if Seerence says I don't want to go out. It's his job to say, hey,
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I'm the law director. There is no argument that this is not a public record. I have to,
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I have to, one, I think it's in his realm, whether he releases it or not, I don't think it's Seerence.
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But even if I'm wrong about that, it is Seerence. I think it's his role to come out publicly and say
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Seerence is the one who actually has the authority, whether each city is different. But I just
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want to say as a law director, I advised him that there is no legal argument. Like so I do believe
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that in like on this one, you're ready. Probably didn't run it by the law director. But on
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that public records one. So let's look at the alternative here. So what happened with the
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communications director is that she wouldn't do what he wanted to do. She got fired and then he
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installed someone who is just doing a whole lot of damage. So Bill Hanna, I think, is doing as much
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damage control as he can. I think he's trying to do as much as he possibly can to protect the city
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and not get fired. Because if he gets fired, then first of all, the law department is already
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grossly understaffed because people are leaving like rats from a sinking ship. Is that the metaphor?
spk_0
It is. Well, thank you. But then not only that. And then who gets put into that place is someone
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who will do exactly what Seerence has unashamedly. Well, I hear this. So this is the position that Hanna's
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so I will say here's the difference. I see between the communications person and Hanna.
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One, if the communication person gets fired, it is a bigger lift for her to file a lawsuit
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over all this. If Bill Hanna gets fired by doing his job and making sure the city follows the law,
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it costs him nothing. His law firm is filing a whistleblower lawsuit like right away. Like it's just
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his his repercussions are very easy where I understand somebody who's not that connected to
spk_0
legal world's going now I got to find a lawyer. You know, I do think Bill Hanna knew that
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if I get fired over making sure the city follows the law or advising that this is against a law
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of whistleblower protection, I will be made whole. I just feel that he could have stopped this.
spk_0
Right. Or. And then if he would have gotten fired. What's the difference?
spk_0
Seerence has done whatever he wanted to do with her without him. I think he's doing his very best
spk_0
to protect you. You're closer to the me. So I'll take your work for it. And I think he's navigating
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a really impossible course. Okay. Is it is he a brother reproach? No. But I will can see you
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away closer to it than me. So I think I think we have to give a little grace that he's in an
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impossible situation. Just like Chief Britain isn't in an impossible situation. And for a very long
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time was trying to navigate it. And then when Sarah and came out of the police department, he said
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I'm I just got I have to speak out. But he's still that you Chris Britain from what I hear
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just would really like to retire soon because he's so close to it. And so he's just trying to
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like hold on long enough so that he could retire. And I hope that that happens for him. I think
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he's doing it. I think you're pointing an impossible situation. Mike, you you you tend to live
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those values are so strong to you that you live in that edge, right? I think most people don't.
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I understand. I understand. Most people like that's why I really think and I'm the mayor of
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Akron who like you are I think he's a hero. Yeah. He really sacrificed personal interest because
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this was a line that he was just a no there was no gray area here. Right. And I always said it's
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much easier to stand on principle when you have the financial ability to do it when you could
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listen. Most people don't you know, worse than can happen as I when I was on I lose my counsel job.
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I mean my counsel salary wasn't what you know paid my bills. But if it was if it was actually my
spk_0
real salary, you're a lot less brave. And so I understand that. But and you did bring up a really
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good point with the the body cam footage that the mayor is making the city shield and protect and
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keep from being getting released. And so first he had the city deny paid people who are requesting it
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say that they will not release it. And then they hired outside counsel. So that's added cost to
spk_0
the city. And we still don't even know that city does have like legal insurance to cover that sort
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of thing. However, the insurer looked at it and said we won't cover it. Yeah. So now the city it
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is being paid for directly out of city coffers. This is coming directly. These are taxpayer dollars
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that are paying for this outside counsel. And now we have a report from a special master and people
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are kind of confused about what this is. This doesn't have any legal teeth. This is a recommendation
spk_0
to a judge. But it these recommendations are taken very seriously. And he's saying it is a public
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record. It must be released. Not only that, the city needs to pay for all the legal costs and
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curd from the people who challenged the city not releasing it. And one of those is the plain
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dealer. And they used them sure of Baker. I think they use what they I'm sure they use a very
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expensive law firm. And just for people who aren't familiar with public records law, even if he didn't
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don't forget that the mayor also reached out to the county prosecutor to have them investigate
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whether the officer who recorded it should be charged with the crime. So even if he didn't do that,
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there's absolutely no argument that this recorded footage wasn't a public record. But the fact that
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he believed that this officer on duty might have committed a crime. Now there's absolutely no
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argument at all that's of competency that this isn't a public record. And the fact that I bet you
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once all said and done, it's going to be at least $50,000. Right. You know that that somebody should
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have said, this is how this is going to end. Yeah. Right. We are you're going to have to release this.
spk_0
We are going to spend all this money in. But I think I think somebody probably didn't
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he said, I don't care. Not coming out of my pocket. Right. Exactly. I mean, we have streets littered
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with potholes. We have our sidewalks are cracked. I mean, we have so many so many things that
spk_0
Cleveland Heights needs to pay for. And instead, what we are paying for is the mayor spending tens of
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thousands of dollars to shield his wife from accountability at the cost of shielding employees
spk_0
from harm and at the actual fiscal cost of these legal. So when is early voting?
spk_0
Because this is not the November election. This is September election. So we are in the midst of
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early voting. Okay. We over 1,600 Cleveland Heights residents have either already voted or
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received their mail-in ballot. Okay. And so I think what we're seeing is a lot of really high
spk_0
turnout. And I hope that that is a. That is a good thing to come to. And yeah, the election day is
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September 9th. Okay. So we encourage everyone to please get to the holes. We are said to cannot wait
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until December. There is a lot of fear about what Seren will do if there's nothing keeping him in
spk_0
check. Because right now it's keeping him in check is that he wants this recalled affair. Right.
spk_0
If he could have controlled that by acting differently, but so and so now that's what he is trying
spk_0
to prevent. And so that is holding him back a little bit. Okay. But what happens for 3 and a half
spk_0
months? If there's now nothing holding him back, he's not running for reelection. How does it work
spk_0
that the vote is on September 9th? Okay, it gets certified a week later by September 26th.
spk_0
And then it gets certified that day and that day that minute that he's out. Okay. And so and then
spk_0
our city can start healing. Yeah. We can take over. It uh if if for any reason the mayor can't be
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mayor anymore, then it is in our charter that the county council president would become interim mayor
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until a new mayor is elected. So the city council president is Tony Kuda. As he the
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sorry to be descriptive like is he the white guy with the ponytail? He's the white guy. I've really
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thought we're just watching run these meetings which were very uncomfortable. Yeah. I thought he did
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a very good job being a grown up not being petty not trying to stick it to the mayor. Like
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my guess is he probably I don't know him. Tony's a long time progressive. He's a good guy. I just felt
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like this this guy is being is being very professional. Yeah. And which I would I my poker face is
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that I could I you know I was very impressed and he's not running for mayor is he? He's not running
spk_0
for mayor. So any accusations that he's just doing this as a power play doesn't make sense. That's
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why you have a grown up there who's got no ulterior motives. And all he wants is just try to fix our
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city as much as possible so that the elected mayor will be elected in November is not walking into a
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dumpster fire on January 2nd. Okay. And so that's all he wants. And so that was really. We are we are
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really hoping that he will be able to secure an excellent interim city administrator. We do think
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that the city administrator at the permanent one should be decided upon by the incoming mayor. But
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you know we're hoping that he'll get a really excellent city administrator who will come in and
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just be you know the pinch hitter. That's the correct sports term. You got it. You told me
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you're much better. I'm talking sports. You're doing good balls. There we go.
spk_0
Yeah. And so he can get that get someone in and just really just do everything he can to start
spk_0
healing city hall. I know that it is the morale there is. Oh, it's got to be terrible. It is
spk_0
lower than anything I've ever seen before. And I worked in restaurants. Well, so
spk_0
well, let's end it there. Speaking of restaurants. Yes. Go to Baratale. Go to Baratale.
spk_0
Reward that place for doing right by a Mali's Margarita. And if you don't like Margaritas,
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go up and tell the bartender. I don't like Margaritas, but I want to give you some money for Mali.
spk_0
Perfect. And I wanted to make a recommendation to you, Josie Verbena, on West 29th. Actually,
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our friend in son Jay Loving has an event there Friday evening this today. But it's a free spirit
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cafe. Yeah. But apparently no alcohol. Okay. But apparently like delicious. Oh, free spirit.
spk_0
Free drinks. Excellent. Yeah. Thank you so much. Oh, no. Thank you for coming. Yeah. Thank you very
spk_0
much. All right. Well, we got to get out here because I want to go to the beach with football game.
spk_0
I mean, we have time. What do you want to talk about? I want to talk with Josie about something
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non-politics. What do you want to talk about? Let's talk about. Let's just wait. Wait. Wait. Are you in
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Arby's? Are you in Arby's or Sheets person because? Oh, God. Let me tell you. She doesn't eat it either of
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those. I can tell. I do love sheets. Oh, my God. Oh, you lost all credibility.
spk_0
Arby's three to one. I know. I'm the only one, I guess. I'm also the Geterian. So, okay,
spk_0
well, then she doesn't count. That's should ask that first. I should ask that first. You can't
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ask her judge Arby's. We got the meats. Yeah. I'm not sure it's meat. That's, yeah. That is
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stretch. And I think it actually is stretchy. Yeah. It's deliciously stretchy. You want to
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correct? No, I will say that horsey sauce. Okay. So you're coming around. No. I mean, I like,
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I can like a sauce somewhere. I'm not going to eat there. Do you need ice cream before I ask?
spk_0
I love ice cream. Okay. East Coast custard or Mitchell's. The Joss comparison.
spk_0
I'm sorry. Okay. Now, I at least can accept that reasonable people can disagree on that.
spk_0
Unlike the sheets, Arby's argument. Well, I mean, East Coast custard, which I love. I think,
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I think you're. You think they're vanilla. I think East Coast custard vanilla is the best in the world.
spk_0
East Coast custard vanilla, Far Out Ranks, Mitchell's vanilla. Okay, but you're talking about
spk_0
their whole repertoire. Okay. That's yeah. Okay. Yeah. I can, I can understand that.
spk_0
Speaking of, I have a court of fresh peach and a pint of caramelized chocolate in my freezer
spk_0
right now. Too much. I know. I'm so excited. Yeah. Ellie actually got at Mitchell's the other day.
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Like they got the strawberry thing that was delicious. Oh, do they have a new strawberry? Yeah. I think so.
spk_0
Yeah. So like I'm not shooting at Mitchell's. Wait. I just saying like I judge ice cream places
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by their vanilla. You got the Dubai chocolate. I did. I did. And so let me preface this. I got it
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from 7-Eleven. Right. So I don't know if I got the good stuff. No, but it was expensive.
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Wasn't. I don't think they're pretty. It's not bad. Okay. But it wasn't $20 for the bar good.
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Tell me you didn't spend $20. Of course I did. Because you have an 11s. I guess.
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So I'm a steal at $9. Is that what you're selling? Yeah, that's a minus. Yeah.
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I bet it's 10. It was good. Yeah. But it, I mean, it's really, it's a tick-tock thing.
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Is it okay? Yeah. Yeah. It's like, it's like all the kids want it because they see like, you know,
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this is the best thing I've ever eaten in my life. And then they, by the way, I'm following
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us some guy on Instagram. And because they was like Mr. Will or something. He's a middle school
spk_0
teacher. So he comes and he teaches parents about what the kids are saying. So at least say
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mid now. How was how was food? It was mid. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I've heard that one. The mid's been around
spk_0
for a while. I like that. Apparently there's a. I'm going to start talking like a.
spk_0
Six seven. Have you heard the six? Yes. And I'm sure there's something. I've got to do some
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research because I'm not sure if it's someone supposed to shut down. Is there something bad? No,
spk_0
it literally means nothing. Okay. But all the kids are saying it. And now there's a new number.
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So kids are like, they're doing the six seven. There's like, I've got to do some research to
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find out if this someone's supposed to shut down or it's not. No, it's just annoying. I know.
spk_0
AF. Okay. So you don't live in my house. There's my threshold for annoying is getting so high.
spk_0
Yeah. All right. What did you want to talk about? So back to school week, right? Like everybody's gone
spk_0
back. Cleveland Heights went back. I saw this week as well. So I'm just curious how you split the
spk_0
duties in your household for getting the kids ready for back to school. So for instance,
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who does the back to school shopping for the new shoes? Are you serious? This is a question.
spk_0
You know who does it in my house? You know what I do? What? I drive them to school. Niki does
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everything that's hard. So does your husband have any responsibility for the
spk_0
getting the things for the back to school? Yeah. He loves to take the machine shopping.
spk_0
That's it. So my husband loves clothing. Like has multiple rooms filled with designer suits.
spk_0
Love clothing. Very different from me. Right. I've got a couple of pieces.
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Yes. And so he loves making sure that they've got the good shoes. I'm like, let's just get
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them something from Target. But now I do this school supply shopping. And the person who does most
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of the pickup and drop off. We don't do that so much with our older kids because they have
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taken a lot, but our seven year old. But he's doing it today because I'm here.
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Well, Niki, the only reason because I've got, I got rear ended and I've gotten this cheap
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with Wrangler, which by the way, when I was 16 to 20, I thought it was going to be the coolest car ever.
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Now is a 49 year old. I can't stand it. And my car is supposed to be 30 days by the time my car is
spk_0
ready. So Ellie loves this thing. Yeah. So she's like, I want Dad to drive me, which makes me feel good.
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Yes, but it's just because of this car. Yeah. And as soon as I get my car back, that'll be the
spk_0
end of her wanting me to drive. Probably. Right. So I'll take it. Well, I'll take it while I can.
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My husband, because you know, it's a partnership, says, Hey, I'll, I'll get Jack's back to school shoes.
spk_0
Okay. No problem. Like, Oh, man, that's, that's great. Yeah. They come home. Jack's got two new pairs of
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shoes. He shows them to me. They're beautiful. Jack comes home the first day of school crying.
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I said, what's wrong? My shoes hurt. And I said, well, you know, you're supposed to break them in
spk_0
before school. What happened? Well, I, you know, whatever. He had an excuse. I pick one up.
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It's a four and a half, which happens to be the size that he just grew out of.
spk_0
Before he went shoe shopping. Can't expect Jason to know these things. You can expect him to have
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him try on shoes. I got an offend Jason here. You can expect him to put the little silver foot
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thing and step into it. And oh, you're a five and a half. And this is why I have never been given
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their responsibility. Yeah. Come on. That's the best part of the foot store. The shoe store is
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putting on the silver. Yeah. So you might have noticed, although you are about as attentive as Jason,
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that I came in with some new ink today. Oh, yes. So part of my turning 50 this year was 50 ways
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to celebrate myself. And I felt like new ink was something to do. When did you get that?
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Yesterday. Yeah. I noticed that you have. Yeah. You noticed. Jason has not noticed. Yeah.
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I'm sure he has. He's I'm going to have to text him. I mean, now I'm going to have to.
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Oh, that's cheating. Now I have to decide whether I like maybe if you would invited him to your 50th
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birthday party, he might have treated you a little bit better. Do I keep up the facade until Tuesday
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when he hears this? Or do I like point it out? Jack's, Jack seen it. Jack knows. Yeah. By the way,
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Nikki is throwing me a 50th birthday party. We got to figure out. The problem is our theme.
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No, it's just going to be a company out of my house. But it's got I think there's going to be a lot of
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people because yeah, I like cookouts at my house. Yeah. And the dates are going to be tell me this.
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Yeah, I'm I turn that turn 50 the 29th. The problem is of August September September.
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The problem is we can't do it. Well, what day is that we can't the Friday before that is there's
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something there's a reason we can't do it. Can you do a party like 12 days ahead of your birthday?
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Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I mean, this is like a dead end. My 50th a few days before I remember.
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Well, not a few days. It's like 12 days. So the 29th is Monday. Yeah. What's wrong with?
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Because that's what you're after? Well, so one, it's going to be outside. So you don't want to get
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I'm out, you know, it's a October 4th. It's still nice. Can you write in that? And let's remember
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global warming. Yeah. Okay. October still. Or what's wrong with the weekend of your birthday?
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The 27th because my dad has this cigar night every year at the Cleveland's game club,
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which is like, one, it's a great thing, but like it's my dad's thing. So we can, you know,
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that's really good. Yeah, I can't really get a kind of that. Right. So it's either got to be the
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week before that. Well, I think that's fine. I did. I did my big flaming fiesta. By the way,
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we will invite women there. We won't be so. I had a lady's only. Yeah, it was a lot of fun.
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And the way you did. It was my golden 50th. So I made everybody wear mommos.
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Yes. And we had punch and on the one eye. By the way, we have awesome time at my house during
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your party. I'm sure you did. Well, there is, there is, we continue to celebrate my birthday
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with you and your lovely bride after the fact when we went out to the comedy show. Yeah. So
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you don't have to give a fuck. And so if people don't like the way you chose how to do your birthday,
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guess what? I don't care. I don't care. We don't care. Can I give it? Tell you a secret? Shane
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had to do that way before she was 50. Yeah, that was pretty much on that train. I will say, I,
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I joke about my husband's lack of attention, but he is, he blew it out of the water for my 50th.
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And he is a, he is a good guy. And I have to go down. And every Tuesday, the first thing he does
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when he wakes up is play our podcast. All right. Yeah. That's good. Let's get going. And my,
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my husband makes the school lunches. And he does all the cooking. Except for when he's not in
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town. And then I heat up frozen pizzas. Wow. The one thing I do is I cook. You like really have a
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partnership. We really do have a partnership. I do have a grilling. And we grill a lot. And we
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also have an amazing grill from Ace Hardware in Aurora. Yeah. Nice. My son is grilling now as well.
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I bought him this year. I bought it. Didn't Jack sell you that grill there? Jack, I walked in and
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he's pointing me to the most expensive grill you have any sun. All right. Well, let's, we're
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going to go cheer on a beachwood. Yes. Yes. Go sports. Go sporties. All right. Hey, thanks again
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for coming. I'm really glad. That was great. Hey, oh, my God. We guys don't forget to follow us
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like us. Share us. Review us. And give them big thanks to Pod Populi for being the absolute best
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partners our podcasts could have. All right. See you next week.