Episode 24 - Deidre Hazelbaker - Loveland City Council Candidate

We've been living in sin so long.

All

Welcome to episode 24

of Let's Talk Claremont. I am your host, Patrick,

and I appreciate you listening. You know, I've been saying this some I have a real good time doing this, so I really appreciate everybody that that's out there, you know, listening and supporting.

Everything's going pretty well, so all good here.

We are getting new people. That's been a common theme for the last couple episodes. So I I would like to start out by saying,

just talking about what we're doing here. So we're gonna start out with a little bit of news, then we're gonna go into our interview, and we'll wrap things up with some events going on around Clermont County. So let's get into the news.

We've got a county wide thing to start off with. The ODNR,

they're gonna need some help reporting any sick or dead deer.

They're tracking a potential disease outbreak and the specific disease they're concerned with.

And, man, I hope I pronounce this word right.

Epizootic

epizootic

hemorrhagic

disease.

And we're gonna call it EHD, so I don't have to say that word again.

But it causes high fever and swelling in deer. It also doesn't sound like it's related to chronic wasting disease, which is a prion disease,

like mad cow, and actually prion diseases are pretty terrifying. So it's good that it it's not related to chronic wasting disease.

So far, there's been seventy cases of this in Hamilton County and forty five in Clermont County. And so when you do when you're looking at these deer,

signs that they're sick are gonna be things like respiratory distress, swelling of the head, neck, tongue, or eyelids,

and any deer that seems disoriented

or it has little to no fear of people. Those are gonna be kinda your red flags.

You also don't need to worry. EHD is not dangerous for humans. It's just dangerous for deer.

You can go on to the ODNR website, and there is a reporting portal there.

There's also no known risk from eating venison

or

healthy

appearing deer,

with this disease.

That said,

you know, don't

eat sick deer. That wouldn't be a good thing.

And don't touch deer that look like they might be sick. You know, if if you need to touch it for some reason, put some gloves on, maybe even some kind of mask, something like that.

In general, you should probably just stay away from sick animals. So there's a little public service announcement for you.

And I think I said this before, but I'll just reiterate it. You can go to the ODNR website, and there's a reporting portal there. So you can help out the ODNR that way. And as an aside,

if anybody out there knows somebody from the ODNR that would like to come on and talk about their work and deer population, I'm a hunter, so I'm I'm very interested in,

deer and healthy deer. Also, I know the ODNR does a whole bunch of work. So it'd be really interesting to talk about.

Moving on to Goshen, they have a development that's going in or looking to go in. It's not fully approved yet. So there's a developer that is looking to replace the 163

acre Eagles Nest Public Golf Course

with 127

townhomes,

208

single family homes,

several apartment buildings,

and a retail center that'll have things like restaurants,

groceries, gas stations, stuff like that.

Residents of Goshen seem a little concerned that it will make traffic

even worse on Route 28.

Some people are also concerned that it could possibly be another one of these tax abated settlement, developments. So

people who buy property there pay it's like the CRA in Batavia. They pay on the unimproved property value,

for x amount of years, something like fifteen, twenty years, something like that. That's not to say that this is a tax abated development. It's just that people are concerned that it might be.

They still need to do a traffic study,

but the Goshen,

Township Zoning Commission has approved the necessary zoning change, and the board of trustees is gonna take this up later in September.

And if it's all approved at the Goshen level, the county, Clermont County, will then have to resue review the design

and construction details.

Last bit of news we have is from Milford. And before we get into this, if any I wasn't able to find a video for,

yesterday's oh, I'm sorry. I guess it'd be two days from now. I record on Wednesdays, publish on Thursdays.

The ninth, September 9, they had a special meeting about,

that development that was going in to revoke,

their, I guess, their permission to do that. I couldn't find a video or any news around that. So if anybody out there has any news on how that went, please let me know.

But

this is a different story from Milford, and it's not related to the city. The city has nothing to do with this, but the Oakwood Apartments,

they've got a trash problem. They've got some overflowing dumpsters near their front entrance.

And it sounds like this trash has been piling up for about a month, and Republic Services says the trash was suspended on August 15 for nonpayment.

So somebody's not paying the bills.

The past due balances were paid on September 2,

and services have resumed.

So it sounds like this problem was fixed, but this complex has had other issues. I think it's had trash issues in the past.

From the article, it says there's also outdated fire extinguishers.

So

there's some problems there, and it kinda seems to point to the owner of

the property manager and the owner Preservation Partners Management, and they have not commented on the issue,

which doesn't mean, you know, they're you know, they just don't wanna comment on it.

People seem to think that because you don't say anything, you're guilty, which isn't the case. But

I don't know. If they're not paying their bills, that's a problem. So, anyway, that's what's going on in Oakwood Apartments in Milford. So pretty light week of news. Nothing crazy going on,

which will lead us into,

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So with that out of the way, let's talk about who we're talking to today. I sat down with Deidre Hazelbaker.

She is the first ever local candidate that we're having on our show. So a very big thanks for, Deidre to coming on the show. You know, as a as somebody who's running for public office, you know, you

you probably get a little nervy when media starts, you know, knocking on your door. But,

she was, she was really great.

And we talked a lot about just kind of her vision for Loveland and why she's running, what it's actually like to run for local government, which is, you know, I I don't wanna spoil anything, but it's it it ain't easy.

We talk about development and the need for thoughtful balanced development, which frankly, I strongly agree with.

And along with that development, she's also very concerned about the health of the river and preserving green spaces.

We talk a lot about communications. She's in the marketing communications world.

And we talked about, you know, the need for getting better information to people.

And overall, I think it was a really, really good conversation. And I don't live in Loveland, so,

you know, I really don't have any skin in that that council election, but I do wish her luck, come November. So

with all of that said, I hope you enjoy the interview.

I'll start this like I've started every single one of them. Why don't you just tell us who you are and and, I guess, what you are doing?

Yeah. Absolutely. So I'm Diedre Hazelbaker, and I'm running for Loveland City Council.

I did run-in '23 as well, and definitely was inspired to make the commitment to run again. So I'd planned that originally as well.

I have moved to Loveland 8 Years ago, a mom of two wonderful energetic girls.

So Oh, you have two girls? Two girls. Yeah. And so Good luck. I've only got one and it's

oh, man.

She's

she's a pistol, I guess you'd say. Yeah. I mean, I think it's I mean, they're absolutely

wonderful. I I've heard that, like, it's easier for girls when they're younger and then I have I have an 11 year old that's starting to have that challenge,

as they go into more of the tween teen years Yeah. For sure. But,

you know, there you know, we've been really active. I do coach my youngest daughter in volleyball as well and, you know, really active in Girl Scouts in the school. And, I mean, we

love love on schools in this community. So it's been great because it's, you know, we call it our forever home.

We even joke that the garage is flat. So when I need to be in a wheelchair, I can go somewhere. You can go right out. And we can live on one floor because it's ranch.

So and my oldest says she wants to be a teacher in Loveland Schools. Oh, really? And I legit think she's thought through it. Like, she says it pretty consistently and pretty well thought out. So

I think we're here for the long haul, so that's

exactly my motivation Yeah. Of why to get involved.

We love it here.

We think

for sure, just even as my family and then as it becomes my position to run,

is

keeping that kinda quaint charm and that, like, small town feel,

making sure that, you know, people are feeling welcomed and heard, you know, in the conversation is an action. Right? Like, to to make sure that we're thoughtfully developing,

preserving that historic downtown and making sure that we're working to preserve our green space and protecting our river.

Obviously, with all of the impact kind of across, you know,

you know, we're seeing all the wildfires. We're seeing all these sorts of things. Like, taking care of our waterways is actually super crucial. Very important.

In Ohio, especially because we're so well central,

to kind of, you know, kind of ride this out. And so, you know, but we have to take care of it now. We have to make sure we're not over build over developing it or rebuilding on the river. We're protecting our flood ways.

And so that's, you know, really kind of been the focus of getting involved, getting active

within the community. Again, you know, as we moved here eight years ago about, you know, pretty quickly in, like, started with the schools being involved with those, but then really started attending the council meetings, the historic preservation meetings, parks and rec meetings.

And as, you know, we really start to kinda hear the stories,

there there is little,

awareness about what's going on until it's almost too late. Yeah. So that's kind of the third thing that I'm really focused on improving, obviously, with my communications background.

I did I started as a designer by trade, and then went into communications and had a communications,

digital marketing business for ten years.

And I think I can really bring those skills of trying to make sure, how do we make sure we highlight stories,

and projects that are happening, give good, simple, clean overviews,

and get that input early before it's too late. Yeah. And so, you know, I think our, city manager and our city staff do an amazing job of,

getting the packets posted and making sure that it's, you know, it's there and it's Yeah. It is there. It's not like they're hiding. I I never feel like they're hiding. It's hiding. Like, I especially when I started this, I thought, well, I'll just search around for news and that'll be easy.

It's not. I mean, it's really and it's not the fault of really any township or municipality. It's just difficult to do, especially because

I started trying to look at council minutes from different towns and stuff like that. Then you come to realize before they post the minutes,

they have to be approved.

And so if you're if you're trying to go off of that, sometimes

they could be a month old. And by that time, it's like you you as a citizen Yeah. Don't really have time to react. Exactly.

And it's not like bite size. Like Yeah. We all have so much that we're doing in our daily lives

that, you know, you to go download a packet, they get usually get for council meetings. They get posted on the Friday before. So you really just have that Friday before until that following Tuesday when that meeting is Yeah. To digest, you know, sometimes a hundreds of hundreds of pages.

I know. Because I've downloaded some of those packets, I was like, I don't have time for this. Right. Right.

And, oddly, this is where AI actually does Yeah. Not to, like, digress into No. No. No. Listen. This is a long form interview. Digress as much as you want. Okay. But, so now I've started to get, really efficient in, downloading because it's all public record. Right? Yeah. I think it we do have to watch of anything that's not public to to kind of feed it into AI. But those are public records.

So downloading those packets,

I've kind of, trained mine to kind of care about the things that I care about. So I care about the river, care about thoughtful development, I care about making sure the community centered in decisions, keeping,

level and safe community

services being upheld,

from our public works, which we do have by far the best public works. Yeah. I won't lie. I like that. Listen. I grew up in Middletown, Ohio. You wanna talk to a place with corks. It's Yeah. Yeah. And Yeah. That's one of the things I love about small towns, though, is it the corkiness of them. Yeah. For sure. And, like, our charm and stuff. So I have, like, our kind of, like, my my value set that I love to see in Loveland and that I've heard from residents as well. Like, because I I'm a one of 13,000. Right? Like, my opinion doesn't, you

know, more important than anybody else's.

So but I, so I'll download that, and I'm also a part of this Riverside Protection Group, and I will upload that and then I have it create me a summary that says, you know, highlight if there's any projects impacted, you know, from our key areas,

give a little synopsis of it, and then highlight kind of the, you you know, what's that next action. So if there's gonna be a historic commission meeting, or if there's gonna be a parks and rec meeting follow-up, or planning and zoning, because obviously, planning and zoning

really is the most important It absolutely is. Commission that impacts, you know, kind of where our city goes,

then I'll be able to highlight that. And then I make it really bite sized for other people to hear about that. Yeah. So that's been my approach of how I, you know, can try to get,

even not being on council or not being on Yeah.

A commission right now

is how I've been able to contribute

to really get people in the know of what's going on in a bite sized way so that they can kind of,

interact as as they wanna get involved and have their opinion being heard. Whether it is on social media, we're

really to be heard, you have to show up to those meetings. You have to take,

you know, a few minutes out of your day to, you know, collect your thoughts and sign up to speak, you know,

beforehand. It's really not that scary,

to just come and, you know, sign up. And and, you know, I I do really love that, like, you know, our our committee meetings,

and the people that serve and volunteer

really do listen. Right? So if they if you show up, and if there's something that really is like, this is not what we wanna see in our city, like, we've been able to like fill the room in a commission meeting, and they're just like, okay, it's just a good sign of like, okay, usually there's one or two people here. Yeah. Why are there 50? Why are there 50? Yeah. We know that that's a really important thing to take thoughtfully, maybe table Yeah. So that we can do due diligence. Yeah. I've always

I need probably need to do it more, but I don't know if there's any issues of but that I care about that much at this point.

In any event, I think that's

a good call out. It's like, you do need to get involved. Yeah. Like, if you really wanna see change and I think we talked about before we're recording. You know, it's

it's easy to get wrapped up in the national picture, but this is your community. Yeah. You know? You gotta and you gotta find a way to like, you talked about AI.

I've done the same thing where I, like, have it try to scan all these minute meetings Yeah. Or meeting minutes and then give me a little synopsis of them and Yeah. Just to try to figure out what's going on because, like you said, it's it's just tough. Yeah. And I think there'd be, it it'd be a really good resource, I think, for the city to offer that. Right? Like, we have this, civic plus,

platform, which does have,

you know, the it's a it's an attempt. I'm not I never want it to be like they're not trying different avenues, but I think it'd be really exciting to start to see, like, any really big impact projects. I don't know if you measure it by it's over a million dollar investment

or, you know, it's gonna impact, you know, maybe 500 plus residents, whatever that key metric might be,

for that impact, really making sure that it's clear. This project is going on. This project is going on. Not full.

They do have these big plan documents, but they're they're huge, and they're they're just really

this top level. Right? It doesn't get into the nitty gritty of what we're really doing, and they're strategic plans. Right? They're not the actual

what what is the, you know, the roundabout that's, you know, gonna be planned in. Like, yes, that was a part of this, you know, kind of master plan originally, but now, like, it's tangible. It's real. People can start to put it together.

You know, obviously,

I for me,

I've built a million strategic plans for brands over the years. And strategic plans,

while I love that the city doesn't just, like, put it on the shelf and not bring it back out,

you really it's a plan. It's it shouldn't be set in stone. It should always be having those It's like a living document. It's a living, breathing document. And I I think our

current kind of council and staff doesn't quite see it as that. They see it as

we got ours and it was in 02/2019,

and that's six years ago Yeah. And right before a pandemic.

Yeah. Yeah. So a little bit's changed. The world has changed. Our community has changed. Our the people that are here have changed, and I really just want better pulses

on these projects.

So

love that they made a strategic plan. Love that they work to get survey results

of of kind of as many residents.

But I do feel like we're getting one siloed kind of opinion. The people that had time to input into that

were probably mostly retired. Yeah. Their voice matters. Absolutely. But so do families, so do those that have,

different income levels.

We need to figure out a way to get more people's voice involved so we have more of a consensus. We're not gonna agree on everything. No. But I guarantee you, you won't.

But I If you got into politics thinking everybody's gonna agree that the everything,

I hate to break it to you. That's not gonna happen. For sure. But I I wanna make sure that people aren't surprised. Right? Right. I mean, this this one I think that's when people get most upset Yeah. Is when they they're shocked that something's happening, and then you get 50 people at a council meeting. And then by that time, it's probably too late. Probably too too late. And, you know, I can see, you know, the devil's advocate side of, like, woah, we posted it. You know? Yeah. I mean, okay. You you posted it on some hard to reach corner of the Internet. Got it. Okay. So, I mean, I hope that I can put energy and effort into, you know, whoever's most impacted,

making sure that they know, they're informed, they're involved.

Will it be perfect? Nope.

But I I think we can put an extensive amount of more effort into

making sure that

those big projects, those

major changes

that could could affect the city for

you know, we're talking

decades and decades of generational. Like, my my kid will be impacted. Yeah. Exactly. Some of these decisions that councils make Yeah. I mean, you're you're right. They have ripple effects that can be decades long. Yeah. You know? And if you don't make the right choices now Yeah. Ten years from now, you could be in a whole mess of trouble. Yeah. You know? I think that's what

also ties into being fiscally responsible.

I think if you plan well and you have those check ins,

like, it's okay to go slow. Yeah. Like, for me, like, that that's what thoughtful development means. Like, take our time, make sure, you know, if we're talking maybe a traffic kind of impact, you know, as we have these kind of studies and, you know, what what can work in our plan, I wanna have after action reviews as well.

Did it work that we put in a new parking lot? What what was that impact? Like, okay. Well, that actually moved the needle maybe 3%

of an of decreasing traffic and highly on the Warren County side, or maybe there was a slight impact to the Clermont side that actually

was here or there. I'm not speaking facts here. I'm just speaking, like, kind of general impact. Yeah. Absolutely. But I want us I want us to make sure that we have those check ins afterwards so we could say, okay, and our next plan is this. So we need to move the needle a little bit further because that didn't quite work as well as we wanted it to or

Or work great. Right. We gotta do this again. Right. Let's find out how to repeat it. Exactly.

So, and, like, just taking and putting those kind of,

I went to a the bridge plan.

There's now three plans kinda out there for the new For Loveland or for the For Loveland Bridge. Okay. Right. Right. So, I mean, it impacts we are three counties Mhmm. Multiple townships.

Like,

getting work done here is complex. I imagine. Lots of,

kudos to to Dave and,

the current counsel for that work on how that collaboration has to take effect.

But there's three plans out there right now.

And

when I was kind of asking the questions of, like, some of the plans,

there's been other studies that, like,

this company did this study, like, how does that impact this? Right. There wasn't there wasn't a good answer. There wasn't a good connection

between those, and we spend so much money on these studies, which I 100% agree with. But I think we need to better connect them and better make sure that it's maybe not just, like, in

maybe a couple, you know, institutional knowledge of Dave or or Chris or, like, they see all the plans. Like, how do we actually pull that together? Well, that's a problem with a lot of organizations. Just siloed info siloed information. Right? It's like one guy's got 20 of institutional knowledge. Well, how do you get that out of him? So Yeah. Everybody knows. And then especially important at the at the government level, you know, because people need to know Yeah. What's going on. And then how to like,

then it can't be

delivered in a way that's still, you know, kind of government speak. Right? Yeah. It needs to be really form formulated into a story

of kind of what the project is, who it impacts

so that it's easy for people to kinda know quickly what

they might wanna weigh in on. And accurately.

Right. I mean, because it's it's easy to read government speak in, like, public notices and stuff like that and fixate on one part of it Yeah. When that might not actually be the big part. You know what I mean? Like, it's I've trust me. I've after doing this podcast, I've read a lot of government speak from notices and things like that,

and it can be dense and confusing, and that's not helpful. It's not. And people can get wrong ideas about it. Yeah. They fill voids because they think some way. And so, I mean, I would love more of that, and that's that goes into just kind of that true conversation.

For me, I'm excited about, starting to offer

just kind of a meet, like, just a conversation like this. Like, come meet me,

you know, kind of in a public space so so that we can have dialogue, have questions.

And I really wanna take that into council. Right? I wanna offer, you know, office hours. I wanna off offer Do they offer office hours now? Not right now. Like, I you know? Because I imagine council is I mean, it's not a full time job. A full time job. Yeah. So you'd have to make space for that, you know, kind of on the individual level.

Right now, I mean, you they're accessible. Right? You can email them. You can,

you know, kind of see and try to get kind of input.

I would say there's, you know, twofold. Some some really respond well and some don't. Yeah. And so I would I know that I I know what I can control. I can control myself,

and I would be super responsive to both email, making myself accessible.

But I also think there's just, being able to make space for kind of,

having either just, you know, town hall or,

office hours, I think is is really crucial to show that, like, I'm centering that first. Mhmm. And so that's how I would approach it as well. So you talked about development, and I've kind of I I focus

myself on development because I live in Batavia

and not not the village. I don't live in the village, so I'm not I don't have a I don't have a dog in that fight. Okay.

I've been concerned about it because the airport's a Yeah. Good commodity, and I don't want that to go away. Yeah. But like I said, I'm in the township.

But where we live is kind of rural, and it's the same thing. It's like, I don't wanna wake up and the farm fields behind my house are suddenly

dollar generals. Yeah. You know? So

my question would be how but I also understand that you need growth. Yeah. Like, you need to grow. Yeah. So in your mind, how

how how would you balance that? The need for growth, but also developing in a in a way that's not going to, you know, nuke the charm of of Loveland. Yeah. Absolutely.

And that that's exactly the keyword is balanced or thoughtful. Yeah. Of the of those two words. And I think, moving a little slower Okay. As well. Right? So that would be my approach. So I'll give you an example

of one that just,

two actually, that just came up. There was a development plan along Riverside,

which was 12 homes

that had they needed all of these zoning changes because they were going into flood plains. There was they were increasing the density in the area, which, again, I'm not opposed to increase density But he gotta be careful. In a thoughtful way. Right? Because it can impact your traffic, it can impact your waterways, it can impact all kinds of things. And this development was doing just that. Yeah. It was just in a space that could not support this amount of amount of homes. It was going

both,

the Little Miami Conservancy

and,

the Ohio,

Army

Corps of engineers. Corps of engineers. Thank you. You're welcome. I was like, I'm gonna mess up. Don't forget the corps. Yeah.

You know, we're able to really bring their expertise

into that plan and say, absolutely, there's no way to make this environmentally

safe for this community.

And but we had

to we had to have one

to make this happen, people keeping an eye on it. Right? So peep I mean, like, we I've kind of a group of people that we attend meetings. Right? We share information.

We can't be at every meeting at every time. So we need more people, right, to be involved and kinda to share that knowledge.

And then we also needed to center the people that are the experts. I am not an expert Right. On

waterways and impacts.

You should talk to John McManus at the soil and,

water department. Yeah. So we but we can we can alert them. Right? Make those build relationships,

get those experts in the room so that they can give us, like, hey. This this has my spidey senses going off. Can you provide your knowledge and impact on it? And then, you know, residents, like, the residents in that area, they already know and experience the flooding that they have in their yards and what that impact would be. So

we need to center them. Who's most impacted? Well, it's actually people over on Ohio and over there. It's actually I'm on Claremont side. Right? Like, so

this probably

wouldn't fully

negatively impact me from that standpoint, but I I go to Nisbett Park all the time, and that's exactly what you'd see down on the river. We're all skipping rocks. Yeah. Yeah. That's what you would see now. So that does impact my family. Right? And that impacts everybody who visits

Nisbett and the Little Miami to kind of see and experience that,

yes, that would be an amazing experience for those 12 families that lived in that home. Yeah. But I really feel like that that river and,

is a community. Yeah. Well, it's a good asset too. Right. I mean, you you think about the the rivers that we have around here. You know,

I hope I don't get this wrong. A little Miami and even the Ohio. Mhmm.

Just in terms of tourism. Yeah. Oh, and and just people who come and enjoy the river, kayak on the river. I mean, it's not just,

I mean, it's beautiful. I love the rivers, but it's also economic. Yeah. And and you don't wanna ruin the economic value of your rivers

because somebody wanted to put, you know, 50 homes on them that are now running off into the river and everything just looks horrible. You know? Exactly. We have the best,

kayak,

livery just right in our historic downtown. Yeah. And just, you know Actually, don't know a whole lot about Loveland. So Oh my god. I didn't know you had kayak, kayak livery. Oh, like, legit the best one. So, yeah, you're probably really biased on that.

That's okay. I realized how excited I am. This isn't CNN. You can be biased. Only just because, like, you know, you go down and, like so you're gonna kind of, you know, get into the water just being in our store downtown so you could, you know, you could bike, you know, around as well. You can make a whole day of Well, I've been to downtown. It's I mean, it's the bike path runs right through. Yeah. So, where the trestle is, that gets hit a lot.

Oh, is that the It's right next to it. Oh, yeah. I saw that on. So the delivery delivery is legit right next to it because they've they've even got, like, a canoe sitting out there that looks super cute. And,

so yeah.

That and I wanna keep that. That's, like,

core. Like, there's certain things that are just core to Loveland that if we don't do things that really kind of protect our businesses that we have, the restaurants that we have,

and if we kind of overdevelop and build in areas, like, our businesses that we have will suffer. Yeah. Our,

residents that are that are here will suffer. Now, again, so now going to the thoughtful, how do we grow?

There's a lot of opportunity on Loveland Madera. Okay. And the council is does have a plan,

and they're working through it right now.

This is the plan that I I feel like needs kind of a, like, check-in. Right? So most of it was built around five, six years ago. We had the pandemic post, you know,

we've had growth in some areas of our residents and kind of a decrease in others.

So this

this is, by far, the most key project that I think Loveland has on the docket right now besides the bridge,

which is a more like 10 to 15. This one's happening right now. Okay. Most of it's

already really planned. Most of it's already really

got money approved for it. Yeah.

But they're trying to kind of really extend

the downtown and make more

entertainment, restaurant bars. And I just really firmly believe we need more diversity in our business. I think we need, you know, health services.

I firmly believe we need a community center. We have no place in Loveland

to really book a party. We have no place for, like, our seniors to, like, play bingo. Really? There's no, like, community

center type thing? Zero community center, zero community pool,

zero place for people to go have sports, you know, whatever it might be indoors that's a shared public space. Yeah. Montgomery has it. Mason has it.

We have nothing. Yeah. Yeah.

They had tried in 02/2007.

I think the town Batavia Township even has something that you can Most They've got like a splash pad at least.

Most communities have something. Yeah. We have great parks. Oh, yeah. Yeah. We have beautiful outside areas,

but we live in Ohio. We have winter. Yeah. That yes. We do.

Just, you know, throwing it out there that, you know, we really have an impact on our our businesses, our residents

when we don't have space to kind of gather together,

throughout the year. And so I think that would be a project that,

we need to kind of resurface

back in that survey that happened in 02/2019. It was actually the number three requested Really? Item. What were the one and two?

Oh. Oh, no. I knew you were gonna ask indirectly. If you don't know, that's not I I should've I should've. And, you know, I think it it always comes back to kind of traffic and kind of pulling up, which did influence, like, when they did the NISBET plan, they did the,

the the strategic plan across the board, which didn't start to say, like, you know, that growth,

on Love and Madeira. So,

you know, that need is there to not say, but balancing it with a place that we can gather,

I think does really matter.

And, you know, it's gonna be contentious because we surely can't raise taxes. Yeah. 100%.

Yeah. Agree that we cannot fund it that way. That's also not a great way to get elected is talking about raising taxes. I mean, even if it if it what it's it's not see, that's what I,

I hate that, like, campaigning part Yeah. Yeah. Of of serving because I am a if you ask me a straight question, I will answer a straight question. Like, I can't lie. I have integrity.

So it does suck. Are you sure you wanna go into politics? Oh, I know. It's horrible.

I won't lie. It's absolutely horrible.

But I do care like, I legit care. Yeah. And so,

I I mean, I I 100%

know that I can't recess, not just so I get elected.

I know that we have a strain

on our seniors especially Mhmm. In this area. I know we have a strain on our families Yeah. In this area. Well, property tax in general is a big issue statewide. Exactly. With do you talk about development?

I mean, land values,

especially look at place like Columbus and even Claremont Yeah. Going through the roof. Going through the roof. And now it sometimes I think people's property taxes are almost more than their mortgages at this point.

Yeah. I mean, it's starting to even out for us. So we we were we're in Claremont County, obviously.

Because so I always have to preface that with some, maybe not your podcast because it's focused on Claremont County, but Loveland is three counts. Yeah. So there's the other side of the river. We go a little bit outside. Hamilton and,

Warren over,

across the side, like, you know, if I keep going that way. So we are on the Claremont side though, and we were impacted by that, you know, 40% increase

of property taxes. So we were impacted, and we're

comfortable, like, we're in a in a great space, but, like, yeah. Not. I mean, like, if if you have an expectation that these are my property taxes, this is my income,

and this is how I live, and then your property taxes go up 40%.

Yep. That's a I mean We had to make a shift even just at our level, and so I have no clue how others that are on fixed income

or, you know, kind of experiencing maybe kind of some of the job transition or kind of under income.

I don't know how they're they're managing it. Because even I had to, like, pivot to where, like, oh, I actually need to, like because we don't have ours. And,

I'm, like, one of those still weird ones I don't have at escrowed. Yeah. Yeah. So I, like, actually You don't have an escrowed? I don't I don't Really? I had a really bad issue my very first house Yeah. That, like, it wasn't making it to, like Oh, really? It would and I think it's rare. I think it's

that's why I don't even like to talk about it. So you actually, like, have to write a property tax I pay my property tax directly every Really? Twice a year. I know.

But I just I like to kind

of have it just separated and my money like, I like to know exactly where the money goes. Yeah. That's fair enough.

But I with the increase, I could usually use, like, maybe a bonus or maybe

some sort of fund that I had set up. Now I, like, legit have it Yeah. Almost my personal escrow account, and it did increase. Like, you know, because

the I mean, blessed at the property tax because we bought right before kind of it went crazy. So we do have a lot of value in our home, but, like, whoo. Yeah. It's a I mean, it

I mean, it like you said, it didn't especially if you're on a fixed income. Yeah. Like, if you're senior and you own your home

and it's paid off Yeah. And you've got a little bit of property tax paying rent again. Exactly. I mean, exactly. And I I don't know. I I don't know how contentious property tax issue is. But I mean, it's a real issue. It's insanely contentious for sure. And I and it gets a lot into state level, but I think that does impact at a local level because I need to be thoughtful Yeah. About not trying to use that as the avenue

to fund any problem or any sort of project.

I think there's a million ways to fund this through grants. I think there's a million ways to fund this through,

getting private sector involved. Yeah. So if we just look private partnerships. I mean, they're

it's it's a really good thing sometimes. Sometimes not. But Right. It can be challenging. You know, sometimes it can get you in trouble. But But that's how I would approach it. So is that gonna be a quick fix? Nope. Because we have to figure out how to, you know, kinda what the need, where. But I think there is a lot of opportunity on Love of Midiria to have that be a centered if we circle back to kind of that, you know, growth that we should have. I think more diversity in our businesses that we have, not just restaurants and bars,

because we really only have 13,000

residents. Yeah. And we have competition. Right? There's we're we're amazing. Don't get me wrong. Like, it is a great place to go, but so is Montgomery, so is Mason, so is all of these, you know, as New Richmond starts to build. I'd love to see those things. Right? They're gonna start to be competitive. I've interviewed a couple people from New Richmond. Yeah. And, man, those people love New Richmond. Yeah. And they are all in on making that place great. Yeah. So, yeah, I mean, you are gonna have some competition. And so we really have to be

smart about not

overly bringing in one industry over another because then

we already have two different places in our historic downtown that just cycle through restaurants. Right? Yeah. There's always one, isn't there? There's always one. We have we have two two key areas and maybe, like, another, like, spot that we'll see. Yeah. I don't even wanna say the business because I Oh, that's cool. I wanna make sure that they I like, one, I even, like I'll go and I'll be like, man, it's it seems light in here today. Like Yeah. Are you doing okay? Do I need to promote, like, you know What what can I It's the one I want to stay? Yeah.

Like, really badly.

And so

I I just don't want to, like, build so much more

that we can't sustain Yeah. The the restaurants here that are here or that we can't sustain.

I'm I'm sure there's a balance. Like, a a town of third like you said, a town of 13,000

people

can only sustain so many restaurants. And I think And we do pool. I know I have to say that we don't pool from Miami Township and Yeah. Ocean and but But it's anchor. It's like anchor businesses. Right? I wanna take care of residents first. Yeah. And I think,

especially if you talked about, like, health care companies and things like that,

those are places people work. Mhmm. You know? And

it's it, like, will anchor people in this community. So, like, if you think about growing,

what do you is a bar or a restaurant going to grow your population?

Maybe. Is some place where 500 people work gonna grow your population? Probably. Yeah. Like, I bet on that horse rather than a Yeah. Musk hunt. You know? And then we have to again, that pairs with, okay. Well, if we're gonna have an increase of 500 people, you know, where does Yeah. Then then you gotta develop more. We have a housing crisis for sure.

So again, we just have to really kind of, I think, better map that out and really plan kind of what that impact is so that we can,

you know, support the the businesses.

I I still like, the businesses that are here and the residents are here always they're they're my priority. Right? Like, they're my boss. Like, whatever, you know, they're feeling and they're needing, like, that's first. And then, okay, well, how do we, like, make this, you know, kind of what what really do we need from a community

and then start to kind of attract and kind of pull those in versus just like, well, people love our restaurants and bars. Let's do more.

Is that real like, have we really figured out, like, where we are at a threshold? Because I would say we're pretty close. They're

super busy during the summer. Oh, yeah. I I didn't like driving through Loveland in the summer because it's I I call it I call it my sun time. So if because I have to cross the bridge a decent amount because I have kids that go to school and this both the schools are over on the other side of the river. And so I'm like, okay. It's sunny and warm today. I gotta add fifteen minutes. Yeah. It's not anything, like, I mean, maybe an accident, things like that, you know, can cause it as well. But, like, you know, the school times obviously increase. And then,

man, if it's sunny, you've got an

increase. It routed me yesterday. The other way around, technically, I can go down to the other bridge,

into Branch Hill,

and it routed me that way. I'm like, what's going on downtown, guys? Because it's not sunny. Right. And schools are already out, and there was actually another accident on the trestle.

So I think that's probably the one I saw. Yeah. It's what is it? Like an eight foot clearance? It's an eight foot clearance.

And there is if you want

There's gotta be a web page or something like that. Navigating the Loveland Bridge.

Whoever runs that page, like, you know, I love them.

But,

they did actually just do and it's this was a resident. Again, I don't even know who it is really behind it. I probably should. But,

they actually went out and did the measurements because there was, like, oh, it's there's no way it's just eight. Right? And it's always, like, lower on that other side. And they went out and measured it, and it is at least eight foot at every piece that hits the road, but there is one lower corner that's, like, eight feet and one inch. Right?

But it is it is eight feet.

So I think I you know, for me, I think

we need to address that trestle as well. Like, because I I do think it has impact traffic, which is Although I don't know you would completely ruin this guy's website. I mean, that that might be something to consider. Right. What are entertainment be? I was gonna say, what you talk about charm. That's pretty charming. That is pretty charming. Expensive. But it's a very expensive charm. I think I would,

I mean, hey, that I saw the sign. It says eight feet. It does it does say eight feet. There are sirens. It's not to say that I haven't tried.

It's also contentious because the railroad owns Yeah. So you can't do anything on the actual trestle.

But I did just talk to you. So, again, me

like, a part of my approach is really talking to residents and hearing what they say because I think ideas can come from anywhere, and we should really be trying to engage,

our residents as much as possible. And they had an absolutely amazing idea that is actually used over on Camargo Road Okay. Where their trestle, they actually have a stop sign in front of it Yeah. That if you're taller

than the trestle, it stays red. Oh, okay. It just stays red as a stoplight. So you'd have to be actually running a red light To go through it. To go through it. That's pretty smart. And it works. And then they have a little turnaround right next to it. That's a that seems like a probably pretty inexpensive

That's what I think. Solution.

And I did I don't know. I don't know what things like that cost. Yeah. I mean, it's expensive, but I mean because everything's expensive. Less expensive than if you can't touch the trestle. It's less expensive than excavating the road down to try to get some more clear. They They actually did have a plan that was exploring that.

It's it I don't know why it's not feasible, but I did get word that it isn't feasible,

which could, you know, obviously, like Dave or anybody would answer that question if we asked him to it.

But yeah. Because it it does flood right there as well. So going down probably isn't the best solution, but I'm excited about that one. I need to send it off. It's weird because I just got that information, and I shared it here first. Oh, nice. But Breaking news. Breaking news.

No. I did speak at council and made some some, you know, because I think we need more joy and humor in life, as well. But I made, like, a little graphic that says, like, you must be this tall or this short to pass Yeah. The trestle. And I was like, maybe we can You should blow that graphic up. Right. Maybe just make it humorous. Right? Because that's just a cutout, like, at least people. But I honestly think, like, people think that they can make it. Yeah. But and, like, the siren, we were just talking about this with the resident too. Like, that have gotten bigger too.

Yeah. I mean, it's mostly the like, either if you've rented a box truck Yeah. That's you know, because you don't know. You don't ride that all the time. Yeah. I don't understand why the Kroger box trucks hit it all the time. Like, if I was Kroger, I'd be like Stop. Like, you must use this navigation app, and we've programmed it. So that Never go that way. Is that a big problem, the Kroger box trucks hit it all the time?

I I can personally remember three. Three. And that like, that's expensive. Right? Like, I don't want Kroger to have to, like, always have to have an impact on their insurance. Right.

So, and then the others are, like, the work trucks with, like, ladders on top. Like, they're they're not,

we actually have a camper and ours is a nine foot tall camper and, like, the amount of fear we have of accidentally going that way sometimes.

Like, don't go that way. Don't go that way. Don't go that way. Because what would you do? I guess you'd have to, like, back up. You do. You have to back up and turn around. So I think there could be,

I really like this stop because one, it already works. Like, they said, like, the Camaro Bridge

used to be hit all the time Yeah. And then now doesn't get hit. They did lose their page

of hitting the Camargo Bridge, but,

I guess that's just sacrifices you have to make. It is. I mean, I'm sure we'll find something else. There'll be something else.

And I I I would really like to see, because I I think as we talk to residents,

you even though and I know it annoys anybody who's, like, trying to make progress on something that it's it's not a quick fix, it's traffic. Yeah. It's still the number one. Still the number one. And it's been the number one for

probably fifty years.

Well, I mean,

development, influx of people, traffic's gonna be an issue. Yep.

So I would love to really have, you know, again, just I think these small pieces and solutions can help

make an impact, and I wanna just track that. Right? Right. Like, let's make a traffic page and say, here's all the projects we've done, here's all the studies, and here's kinda where, you know, we got this much, you know,

decrease in traffic from the parking lot and that access point for Warren County,

that right turn lane. I just was talking to Warren County residents. And, I mean, I don't lie. They were loving that turn lane Yeah. And loving so residents can be very happy. I think sometimes we get a bad rap that we're complaining all the time. Well, you it's like you only really hear the complaints. Right. Like, if somebody's I mean, you're in marketing. You know that. But it's like if somebody's happy, they're less likely to tell you about it than if they're really mad. Yeah. For sure.

So I'd love to celebrate that more. Right? Like, hey, that actually which I think this, you know, the city can help do. Right? Like, we did this thing. What are y'all thinking about it? Is it helping? Is it hurting?

You know, we did another study that says that it decreased traffic by blah blah blah blah. I think just

maintaining,

that consistent those pulses and those checkpoints with both residents and experts Yeah. I think matters.

So you mentioned safety a little bit. Can you talk about that part of your I guess you call it your platform.

Yeah. Absolutely. So safety is like a really big word. Yeah. That's why I wanted to ask about it. Yeah. So and safe is,

there's actually been some contention around what safe means, to people. So for me, I'm just gonna speak for my truth.

When I talk about safety,

one,

you know, it's about maintaining services. Right? Like, putting those residents first. Like, obviously, we, you know, have to maintain, you know, our police force, our fire force,

and our services that we have from, you know, public works. Right? Like, potholes need to be filled. Like, if there's a pothole, somebody hits it, which, again, I'll say it again because I don't think they get enough love is that public works is by far the best public works Yeah. In,

that I've been experienced with. Not to cut you off, but I think No. No. Departments like that, I think, sometimes do get a bad rep. But Yeah.

I think on balance because I've interviewed people at different departments kinda like that. They're really doing their best. Yeah. I mean, they really are. I I don't think a lot of people realize that they don't have

overwhelming resources. You know? Especially here. Right? Like, we're, like,

big but little. Yeah. Exactly. So what our city pulls off with what the resources they have. But I think, again, like, I would prioritize that first over

a development

of, you know, that's more of like a beautification. I'm always gonna prioritize those key services first.

And so that's, you know, that's one level of safety is kind of just maintaining those base,

services.

I believe in safe drinking water. Yeah.

So we are a I can get on board with that.

I'd rather not be poisoned with my drinking water. Yeah. It's usually pretty good.

And so, for me, I always operate under,

once you know something,

you know it. Yeah. And so you have to take it into consideration. I understand that, like, more information is always coming out,

but we know that we have PFOS. You guys have recently got a grant for that. Right? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So we did we now have a grant for I'm sorry. Yeah. I think I cut you off before you said PFOS. Yep. Yep. So we are talking polyfluoroalkali,

something around. The more like The the like layman term is forever. Yeah. There it is.

And so And the levels aren't

above current EPA regulations. It's the EPA is going to They are now the current. They're now the current. Okay. Right? But you have five years to create a plan. Okay. So,

it's now

but we do meet the current standards. Did you guys figure out why those levels are there? Yeah. Absolutely. So they haven't, I think, pinned down the exact source. Mhmm. But there are multiple water, multiple municipalities,

oh, what a word,

that,

feed from the same waterway. Yeah. I was gonna say it's probably

upstream from Loveland. Yep. Absolutely. And so there are multiple

and so

for us, like, this has been known for a while. Warren County was really proactive in in fixing their water. You know? Why do you even think about that? You've got three county water departments to deal with. No. No. No. We have our own water. Oh, you have your own water. We like, pretty cool. Yeah. I mean, to be honest.

So but that puts more pressure on our city. Right? Because we have to maintain our own water.

But the city of Cincinnati was really proactive. And,

so that information has been out here for a while. Right? But

the standard was not that you couldn't have PFAS in your water until

Oh, so the so the standard went to zero PFAS? Yeah. Oh, I didn't know that. So so we test,

I think it might be four parts

per trillion. Wow. I mean, that's so low. So low. Right? Four parts per trillion. And we're four times that. Right? And we just like,

and there are others that are much higher than that. So,

we also have, you know, think it's twofold. We actually have really hard water as well. Okay. And for me,

as hard water isn't as much of an health impact,

it is a major impact on our pockets. Yeah. Because

I've lived here for eight years. We have replaced our dishwasher.

We've replaced our water heater twice. Yeah. And we replaced our washer. And every single appliance person that we had come out said It's got a whole bunch of calcium. Hard water. Yeah. The calcium build up, and then it and then it,

breaks down the machine. And so you don't get as much life out of your appliances. Yeah. Well,

I did have the means to install a full house system. So I do have now reverse osmosis on my seat. One of those too. It's really nice. Yeah. It do it's like Makes the best coffee.

That's why I gave you a good cup of coffee. It it was delicious, by the way. I I totally got for the coffee. Because I have really good water. People drink our water now, and they're just like, like, woah. Like, I mean, we could probably start bottling it out of our house for sure.

Bring your own refillable,

for sure. But,

so If council doesn't work out, you can start selling bottled water. Yeah. For sure. Council doesn't pay the bills either. So I mean, it is more of a service and giving, for

sure. Giving, for sure. There is some payment, but,

it the people that do it, you know, aren't doing it for the money for sure.

But,

I had the means, but not everybody in Loveland has means. We actually have a 10% that fall under that,

you know, those facing,

kind of income challenges. Right. And so,

I really wanna make sure that we have opportunities

while we're doing this plan because

it's there's a lot of unknowns and there's a lot of factors that we can't control. I love that the city, you know, has now,

we're we're a part of a lawsuit,

to go after those that put the PFAS Yeah. In the water.

We have a plan Nice. And a grant,

that doesn't have an impact to, you know, the residents, which is great. That'll help build us our plan.

And it seems as though we're we're gonna stay committed to it. Might have to sneeze. I'm sorry.

No worries.

No. We're good. What's the word you're supposed to say when it's gonna come? I don't know. I can't remember. I can't. I think I'm good. I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I'm not doing it as well.

Not at all.

Sneezes happen. Yeah. I know.

Especially with allergies Yeah. This time of year.

But, you know, kind of I I love the actions that they're kinda doing, but I think it took a lot of work to get

that focus

and priority Yeah. For Loveland.

Are we doing, I think, great things now,

but we I think communication matters here as well. And I think this is again why I can add value of you have to be even just that word safe. I almost laughed because there's been this whole, like, conversation about, like,

you can't call our water right now safe Yeah. Because it's not. The EPA has told us it is unsafe. In the lawsuit, it says it's unsafe. Right? So the water is not safe. It meets standards

Right. Right now. It's just it's,

Well, it's more government speak. It's more government speak. But I think for the residents, they need to know that there are things that you could do right now. Because five years is a decent

timeline, and

most things get more delayed.

Right? I don't know if it'll be delayed, and I think we're we're staying the course. But I think that is an action to stay the course. Right? We have to keep the pressure on to say this is a priority for Loveland.

I think they also did a great job of just a step back of Warren County being really proactive. We actually now have

Chris Winich from Warren County. Oh, okay. And so we brought all that institutional knowledge That's nice. Of yeah. I mean, just what a smart strategic move, you know, on that part. So I love there are plenty of things that I love and the approaches that we're taking it. But I still think we have to be so super careful and try to be

even more proactive with protecting our residents

on on this issue because there are pretty affordable home options you can do. Yeah. I'm not just like I'm not a waterways

expert and soil expert, I I'm not a water expert either here, but there are great resources that the EPA has put out that says you can get a charcoal filter, you can get reverse osmosis.

Was it in the EPA? We'll

will just tell you what to get or will they actually give you funds to get? They will not give you funds. Oh, that's a shame. It is a shame. And that's exactly what I'd like to bring,

to There's gotta be a grant there or something like that. I wanna get grant funds. We had a pretty good program for the Heights and neighborhood where if if you were investing some in your house, that they would do a matching grant. I think we could do the same thing for,

water filtration. Yeah. So, you know, if you don't have the means, maybe we do I would also love a survey to see, like, who has already addressed it in their home? Yeah. I I am very transparent person. I have a whole water system now. We have addressed the hard water, and I was not buying another appliance until I fixed the water. Because I just for me, I think about return on investment. Yeah. And that's a big return on investment. My hair is better. My skin's better. I feel better. Who did you who did you use for that, by the way? I feel like this is weird. This is not an endorsement. No. No. No. Because I I wouldn't be surprised if we use the same thing. We used Ohio Valley water. Oh, I think we use someone different. Okay. I can't remember the name of them. And mostly, I just went to Nextdoor and most people were using it. And, I mean, it's it's crazy when you think, like, you know, when he came and installed, he's like, oh, no. We know Loveland Water. We know the system. Like, that should be a a pretty big sign that, like, there's a major issue. Right? Yeah. And it's every single household because we have our own water system. So 13,000

residents, if you haven't done something,

are drinking water that impacts your health in a negative way. Yeah. And if you go hard water, two very separate issues. Right. It's impacting your appliances in a very negative way. And your hair. And your hair. I know hair is so much better without hard water. Hair and skin. Yeah. Like, it's like night it was night and day. Like, I went to my, like, hairstylist, and he was like, oh my gosh. What have you done? And I was like, I got a water.

And that and, like, he knew it without me saying, like, doesn't my hair, like Yeah. Like, I don't know. That's

I don't know if that's returned on. That's what my hair is better. Right? And that's it's not just me anecdotally, like, saying, like, oh, my water is better and, like, we need to do something. There's, like, really tangible benefits. There are.

Not to turn this into a pitch for whole water systems. I get it. I get it. I did I did that. I was just curious. But I think that goes back to just I I really wanna make sure, like, you know, we are a pretty high income area. We do have,

a, you know, a pretty diverse, like, an aging population

that are now on fixed income, and then we have those experiencing,

you know, less than or or some poverty level, we have about 10%. So as much as people are, like, would think that we are just a, like, high income neighborhood, we're not. I would have thought that to be honest with you. You know, I I when I think of Loveland, I think upper middle class professionals.

And we have that. Yeah. But we have But there's still people that There's still I mean, it sounds like it's a much more diverse community than I've realized. Exactly. And we we do have high resident. We do have low business. It's a challenge. Right? Because that's, again, going back to the taxing, like,

our largest employer is the school. Yeah. I didn't know that, really. Largest employer is the school system. Really? That's insane. Right?

So we don't have the luxury of having, like, all of these big businesses in our areas.

So, you know, for me, like, I think

kind of pulling how it kinda a community works full circle. Like, the school system isn't just, you know, a great to attract people here and to kind of, support, you know, kind of, the public school needs, But it is also a really good

driver of business Yeah. And income tax because they're our largest employer. So you start to see, like, okay, we do need to support them because they actually give back to the community Yeah. From that level, right, in actually a really large way. So I do think, you know, of where I would put my thoughtful development, it would be on trying to figure out how to have that diversity in business and those that are like you just said, that density of employers. Yeah.

Maybe they don't have to necessarily

live here, but we don't have a transportation system. So, I mean,

there is sort of some sort of, like, they have to live somewhere close Yeah. Because otherwise, it'd be hard to get here. But,

and it would put another taxing on our parking or traffic and Yeah. Of that nature. But that's that's where I would try to find out. In in Middletown

so Middletown, when I was growing up, had a hospital.

AK was there, and I'm I'm pretty sure they made all the hospital employees live in the city. Yeah. I think all the execs at AK and engineers lived in the city. Yeah. And then when

the hospital moved and told all of the people that worked at the hospital don't have to work in Middletown anymore,

and then AK got bigger and bigger, moved their corporate headquarters to Westchester,

you just saw a drastic drop off in Yeah. Everything.

It I mean,

it's right to be concerned about the people who are struggling, but then you also have to realize that

these professionals are, like, getting involved in the city and they're driving initiatives and they're paying taxes. Yeah. And so to have companies and tell them, like, look, your residents have gotta live here. I don't I would be an advocate for that. But I don't know if you can do that or anything. But Yeah. It I you know, I really haven't I don't think at the city level you can do that. Yeah. I don't have a great,

answer to them, but it's something to think about of, like, I think it's more about how do we attract and maintain Yeah. And retain,

businesses,

that are

serve a community need. Yeah. I think it's just that that more kind of thoughtful way to approach it Yeah. Versus, like,

sometimes it makes sense to kinda just do what you're already good at, but, like, I think

it's not it doesn't create a sustainable city. Well, if you only do what you're good at, you're never gonna change Right. And you're never gonna grow. And you're not gonna have

you're not gonna be as resilient

Yeah. To different impacts. Right? Like Well, think about the pandemic. Yeah. Exactly. If if your entire

economic base is bars and restaurants, and then you have I mean, I guess it was like a once in a lifetime thing. Yeah. You have something that shuts everything down. Yeah. There's a million different things that impact that.

So yeah. Agree. I think it's just it's better to be have a strength in kind of not having too much of one thing. Mhmm. I think it's always good.

So

this is gonna be kind of an oddball question.

But how do

in at least in your mind right now, how does the city and the schools, do they play nicely?

It's interesting.

They do. I'm not gonna say that they I because I think sometimes there's friction between cities and school districts. Do. Yeah. Yeah. I'm sure there is.

It's interesting because I think we've improved. Mhmm. When I first moved here, like,

level of like separation of churches too. Right? Like, it was a separation

of school and city. Like, if you were on city council, like, oh, that's a school problem. If you were on school, that's a city problem.

I think there has been improvement on just that communication.

They actually

in regard to,

property tax and kinda school funding, like, I feel like they've been working together even a little bit more.

I I'd be intrigued to hear that answer from others,

as well.

But I I don't think that there's the friction that I think some communities have.

I do think we have friction

around and this goes a little bit about a city council. This goes more school board, but

we do have a diverse population

of retired

Yep. And fixed income

and schools Yeah. Families.

And those don't tend to have the same Those are loggerheads.

Right. Yeah. And so I would love to kind of have that better,

just

shared community, like,

understanding

about what the school does bring Yeah. To the community. It's tough to convince people without kids. Yeah. And they have no matter what age you are. Like, we have a high parochial school, you know, involvement, and,

I support that. Like, I I support, like, having, you know, kind of what opportunity you think is best for your family.

But I'm we really need to make sure that we have everybody kind of can have access Yeah. You know, to that. And then they'll see that value. Like, I want return on investment for those that are paying property tax to go to a school, whether you have kids going to program school or whether you don't have kids anymore. Right?

There is return on that investment still. Yeah. Yeah. There's always a return on that. Property tax, you know, or sorry, not property tax, property value,

making sure that we have, you know, kind of that employer

employer tax and that employer base. There's and making sure that we're attracting people.

Obviously, families that have kids are gonna go and enjoy the restaurants as well and,

enjoy our businesses that we have.

So I I I think there's a really good,

bin and pool and Yeah. Kind of Well, no. I mean, it's value to each. It's also the future of the city. Right? I mean, it's if if you do a good job

educating your kids in your city Yeah. I think there's probably a higher likelihood that they're gonna stick around and they're gonna do good things. This goes back to safety too. Right? Like, if you have a, you know, good programs for our kids, if we have good school systems,

crime goes down. Yeah. Data is there. I don't have the report in front of me, but it's there.

I mean, if if if you have a good education, you can get a good job, and then you're less likely to need to do crime. Yeah. I mean, that that makes complete sense to me. So I think it just they're I I hope that they we can build better understanding,

and also meet the needs of those either on fixed income, especially our retired,

you know, that are seniors that are living on fixed income. There has to be a better solution. I don't know that solution.

Obviously, they've been working on it for

but At this point, it was the seventies, I think, when they, you know, kind of addressed the property acts tax issue with schools. Well, it's 2025

now. Yeah. Oh, in fifty five years, we haven't really figured out a solution yet. So I I do think it's important to to figure out the right solution

to meet the needs Yeah. Of, you know, the residents and impacted.

But I do

I would approach it as just to going back to, like, how I would approach it, keeping those good conversations with the schools. You know, we have a traffic issue, right, on,

Lovell and Madeira where the two schools are, and that's where they're gonna put a roundabout in. Like, we have to be in good conversation, you know, kinda with the schools. And I do think going back to do we think that they are, I have heard from Chris that he is having a good conversation with what does that drop off pickup look like

down the road when this is in there as well. So I just encourage more of that. I would probably do more because I don't think you can over communicate

because I'm a communication person.

I am in the same boat. Yeah. My wife is not particularly a verbal communicator, so I'll just keep talking and talking and talking and talking and I see her eyes glaze over. Yeah. I'm talking too much. Yeah. Well and then we have to figure out how to meet people where they are. Right? Yeah. Some people need their information. I think,

we do things.

Right? We we have all these, like, touch points with the city or alerts or things like that. But I don't think we have clarity on, like, who really needs to have something in their mailbox. Right. Who really needs What's more in your audience too? Yeah. You know, it's like, who's my audience? Who needs to hear this? And how do they need that information delivered? Yeah. Sometimes it's a mailer. Sometimes it's a Facebook post. Yeah. I mean, in the world, we I'm sure you're familiar with the term omnichannel.

Yeah.

Yeah. That big buzzword from I don't know if it's still a buzzword, but I think it is. There's a there's a truth to it. Right? It's like and it's difficult for not just businesses, but governments

to have that kind of communication

presence. Yeah. And I think we have to be able to pause and ask ourselves, like, how do we know people know? Yeah. Yeah. Right? Like Yeah. Exactly.

Like, what's gonna be What's that feedback? Yeah. Yeah. Like, where we know we have enough input.

We know we have enough diversity in our input. It's not just those that have time. Right. Like, how do we those and then how do we make sure that people are really strapped for time? Like, people work multiple jobs. They have families, you know,

I can speak for my truth of of,

having a family.

Like, my amount of time I have in a day Yeah. Is minuscule. So I need I need quick

snippets. I need to know impact. Yeah. Like, okay. This is this project. Okay. I got where it is. Hillary, it's gonna cost a million bucks. You know, that's probably a pretty big impact.

And it's gonna like, it's in this area. It's gonna impact, you know, 500 residents. And it might impact the rest of the community by x y z. Right? Like, we just need to get clearer and simpler on how,

governments can interact with their residents. Yeah. Because I think

I think The technology and tools are there. Yeah. You know? Exactly. Like, it it's possible to do I mean, podcasts are a great example of that. I mean, fifteen years ago, to do something like this, you'd need a radio. Yeah. You know? Now you don't need that. Yeah. Now you with a minimal investment, you can get talk about whatever you want online. Yeah. Absolutely.

And, you know, and I think

some will say, you know, that are doing the work and that they're getting oh, we did this. We got it. I'm like, okay. Well, you reached maybe 50 people. Yeah. With with that, you know, and so you can't just check it off that, like, well, I said it or I put it there.

You know, how do we reach people where they are and Yeah. How they wanna receive information. It's hard. But it's the classic marketing problem. Yeah. You know, how do you get the right information to the right person at the right time? And I think it's just

exacerbated when we're talking about people's lives. Right? Like, we started talking about this before we started recording. Like, the further down the bound ballot or the smaller the, like, role, the more it act actually impacts your your backdoor,

or your backyard and your door, like, it just matters so much that, like, our day to day lives, I spend

I mean, I work from home, so I spend most of my I do too. My time

right here in Loveland,

going, you know, going to the the businesses, the coffee shops,

you know, biking around here, walking these

on Clermont side. We don't have very many sidewalks Yeah. Where we are in the residential area of Clermont because, technically, our historic downtown is in Clermont County as well.

And so, like, I feel it. Yeah. If I was given

an extended

sidewalk, that would

majorly increase It would really impact you. My impact life. Because, you know, when I'm going down to five points, I don't like that people are, like, just zooming around on that right hand turn. Yeah. And I can't cross safely. I have two kids. Right? Like, I can't tell my kid that they can actually go out and about on their own, or I think they actually have the responsibility level themselves. I mean, we we live right on two twenty two. Yeah. Terrifying.

Yeah. Terrifying. Right? I mean, they can't put sidewalks on 222. I'm not insinuating any of the should, but Right. I know the fear. Right. So I think that we can just better get that, you know, connectivity is the buzzword right now. And I think the city is doing work, you know, kinda to prioritize kind of where we need to connect.

But I think heavily focusing on it and maybe putting some of the other projects on the back burner, I think would be smart.

So this is kind of a switch from, I guess, you'd call it your platform.

What what is this experience actually like? Like, what is it like to run for city council?

I feel like I wanna caution this because I want more people to run.

It is

hard. No. I I mean, I'm I'm a transparent person, so I'm not gonna deny that it's not really hard,

because

I think people don't take the time to understand intention

Mhmm. Around running.

I'm not running because I think the current council is doing a horrible job. I'm not running because I think the current city is doing a horrible job. I think in many ways, we're doing a great job.

I'm running because I think we need diversity in our thought on council.

I'm running because

we need to have

just re reenergize,

I'll just say reenergize energy doesn't make a lot of sense, but we just need new energy. We need we need people who are really, have different skills and different background. I'm digressing to not answering the question. Yeah. That's I will I'm I'm trying to kinda circle back, to the why. But that's that's kind of my, like, why I'm running. But,

so what it's like to run is it puts a lot of pressure

on my family. Right? Because I already do a lot. I'm a very active energy extra money person. Yeah. So I coach volleyball.

I have, two right now, it's two part time jobs equal my full time job. So I'm an I'm executive director of a nonprofit,

and I am a communicate I work for a communications company. So I split my time between those. So that's a full time job. It's also probably tough to switch those gears. Right. I know what that's like.

I right now, I joke that I'm five D dress.

Yeah. Which one do you want? City council,

marketer,

nonprofit,

coach,

mom,

sometimes I'm a wife. Sometimes when you have time. My poor husband,

we it and so that's a strain that it puts on, you know, the family relations.

But I think if it's if it's not hard, it's probably not worth it. Right? Like, it's gonna be hard. I think it matters. I think it matters to have

again, I don't think you should have to, like, be in a retired age or,

be from a certain set of

I hate this word, but, like, privilege Yeah. To be able to run. Right? Like that because then we just don't get diversity in our opinions and thoughts and lived experiences.

And so

it is really hard for me to run Yeah. Because I have all of these things, and then I've added

I knocked doors. I was about to ask you if you go out knocking on doors. Yeah. Because I think that matters. Right? It does. It does. I think I would be so two faced if I said it really matters. You didn't like talking to the residents. Sitting in the And then didn't talk to the residents. Right? Like, that's not that's not how I'm gonna I don't have any evidence for this, but I think door knocking is still one of the most effective ways

to get your name out there. Yeah. I I I I think it is. I've heard people say that you've gotta do it. Absolutely. I mean, I I think it's twofold. Right? One, I think there's data to say that the strategy works, so to not to to talk to people.

But two, I wanna talk to people. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Like, I I love these people. To have a communications platform and not talk to anyone. And be like, oh, no. I'm just gonna work in my little silo over here and just bomb you with Facebook posts.

So

yeah. But that it takes a lot of time. Right? And you know what?

I have to have literature Yeah. To pass out, and that costs a lot of money. Yes. It does. So So do you fund like, how does that work? Yeah. So Do you have to go ask them people for money? I do a lot. And I Are you a person that that can do that? Because I am not. Oh, so I can now. So my first election So you had to learn how to do that? Yeah. Because I I grew up with West Van. Yeah. And I'm a person that's like, I've got this, right, on my own. I do not ask for help. I've gotten better. No. But I don't like to ask for help. I don't like to ask for, like

I don't I don't like the word handouts, but, like No. I know I know what you mean. I don't I don't I wanna do it myself. Right?

And so the first election was really hard. Yeah. So I self funded in the beginning, but then by the end, I did raise enough money to

basically, like, loan yourself Mhmm. The money and then you can pay yourself back if you raise enough funds,

which I which I was fortunate too. I have a lot of I didn't know you could do that. So that's so you essentially I don't know. It was like an LLC or something that you set up? So it's It's a particular It's a political

campaign committee. Okay. And so And then you yourself can pay into that.

No. It's weird how it works. And I I really feel like I just wanna shout out to, like, Deb Acura at Hamilton County. So you've got somebody that There are resources online,

but you have a designated treasurer.

And, so you there's just it's a really particular process. So I, do I follow Well, probably rightfully so, because you don't want the money can money can money things up. Yeah. Right. I don't wanna, like, be taking people's money and then just, like, going out to eat. Right? Like, that's illegal. Like, don't do that.

And so it's it's a really,

but you can, like, it's kinda like sell you can sell fund. Right? If I was made of money, I could sell fund myself.

That's unfortunate. Right? Because then it allows people who can sell fund probably able to run more often.

But I I was really proud of my first election, and it kind of reminded me that this next election that, like,

I needed to start

as I wish to proceed. Right? It's a kind of way I operate in life.

And in that first election, I had

the the most smallest amount of donations from actual residents.

I I go to a Quaker meeting and my Quaker meeting is really supportive of me as well because they get to see me every day. So they know that, like, I'm passionate about, you know, impacting

my community as well. So I I am fortunate to What's a Quaker meeting? Oh, it's

it's Quakers.

Are you a Quaker? Yeah. I didn't know you were. That's it. I know. It's so You and Richard Nixon.

Hey.

Don't only bring up the only negative one. That's the only Quaker I know. That is the Quaker Oats. That's the only she can Quaker Oats have nothing to do with it as well. Sorry. I don't I'm not equating you to Richard Nixon. Yeah. Thanks. That's what people will take away for this whole hour.

Is she the same as Richard Nixon? Seriously.

Fine. No.

Quakers are you know, it's Christian based for this. It's about, like, simplicity

and, peace and,

you know, stewardship of the earth, quality. Like, I don't know. It's just a really good simple way to be involved, not to digress too much into,

because like you and I, I believe very much in separation. Oh, as as do I. But it does drive my values. Right? Yeah. Yeah. It it is it really does center my values and how I approach things.

Gosh. Where were we going with it? You're talking about fundraising and going to the clicker meeting. Yeah. Yeah. So they they you know, so my and that's that's out of the Cincinnati area. Only a couple,

people live in the city of Cincinnati from there. But or city of Loveland. Most of them are from the city of not a whole lot of Quaker. I don't There's not. There's three meetings in the Greater Cincinnati area and pretty low attendance in most of them. We're growing though,

which is good.

But anyways, so

that that made me really proud. Right? Because when I looked at my list and I pulled the other candidates' reports, because everything's public. Right? So you can go pull all candidates' reports and you can see exactly where my money came from and exactly where my money goes, and from each candidate. That's not unique to me,

because you have to report it. But that reporting that time, like, learning the, you know, kind of how and the processes of that, like,

we're everyday people. Yeah. Like, it's and I'm not a lawyer. I'm not, like but I think we need more everyday people at the table. Right? You know, because I think being in the room where it happens and being at the table where things decisions are made, like, matters to have different,

kind of types of people there. So, but yeah. So it's, you know, you're out knocking doors,

you're raising funds.

Again, like,

I don't care if you support me or any local candidate, but if you can just give a little bit of time or treasure

to any sort of local candidate, like, you have return on your investment. I promise you.

More than just, like, donating to big national campaigns or whatever it might be, like, I think it's getting out of control what people are spending on campaigns. But, like, man,

I I went out and knocked the doors. I'll try not to make the story too long, but it, like, legit made my day. So this is the return on, like, joy Yeah. Of running. I was out talking to residents, had an amazing conversation. My nine year olds,

went with me on this one. Sometimes my kiddos go with me. Yeah. People think we're selling Girl Scout cookies, so people open the door more.

I was about to ask if that was

just getting your kid out of the house or if it was a a ploy to get people to open the door. It's a little bit of both. Right? Because it's multitasking for me. I could spend time with my kids while I'm campaigning. Right? So the more I can be efficient on my time Yeah. The better.

Two, we're getting our steps in. Right? And the kids are out and we're outside. Right? We're not on technology, things like that or trying to limit that. And

people are more like they'd open up. And it's a little more disarming.

Yeah. I wish again, I wish there weren't as many dogs in houses because then Gandalf, my dog Yeah. Who's a chocolate lab, the most friendly lab ever could go with me. Like, people would be, like, nonstop. Like, if they like dogs at all, like, would be opening the door to meet Gandalf.

But anyways, had a great conversation with her. We agreed,

on

multiple, like, local level issues.

And,

and I would think you also, like, in in kind of the apps, you kinda know where people do stand politically, which I don't love because it's a nonpartisan race. But sometimes you kinda it helps to kinda navigate,

kind of where you might disagree on a national level, but on an in a non it's a 100% nonpartisan race. And at the local level, those issues don't tend to pop up. Right? We're talking pothole sidewalks. Exactly. You know, parks and green spaces. Like, those Whatever you think about the war in Ukraine doesn't really impact your potholes. Yeah. Absolutely. So,

and so, you know, we had this great conversation.

And then maybe three, four hours later, I got back and I get the alerts. Right? Like, the the candidate gets the alerts of the donations coming in, not some I don't have a team Right. People.

It's just me, and I do have a campaign manager, and she's unpaid too. Right? Like and she kind of helps support a lot of us. And so I get back, and a donation of $20 came in. Nice. And I about flipped out because it doesn't happen. Right? Yeah. Like, normally, you're, like, calling, you know, the people that knew you close, and maybe you're calling people who are active, you know, in sort of community organizing.

Like, I never had that happen at that level, right, where she knew nothing about me personally. Yeah. People who know me, no.

I tend to have high integrity. I have a lot of energy. I'm an optimist at heart, like and so they're like, I can support that. Yeah. But having that, like, short

conversation Talk to somebody and convince them that you're worth $20 to go to council. That's awesome. I don't know. And I still, like I it gave me hope. It gave me just energy of, like, why it matters to talk to residents.

But, again, that takes time. Right? Like I was about to ask you, how much time

does it actually take to campaign?

So I am a little insane when it comes to my time Yeah. Because I ran a business for about ten years, and I had to track my time there. Right? Because you Yep. We had this conversation too. Right? A lot of times, you're actually, like, charging based off of your time. Right? So I I know down to, like, fifteen minutes what I can get done Yep. In fifteen minutes. Right? So right now, when you're in the heavy campaigning season, I spend about fifteen hours a week campaigning. I mean, that's a lot, but it's It's a lot. It's less than I thought it was gonna be, to be honest. I mean, maybe

I don't count a lot of the heart and think time. Oh, no. This is like physical Physical do it. Yeah. Yeah. That's a lot of that. Like, I'm I'm a designer by trade, so designing Designing things. Designing things, getting social posts, knocking doors,

making sure that you're,

you know, attending, you know, different events.

It ebbs and flows. Right? Yeah. Like, once we get into the heart of it, it'll be about once if when I ran in '23, once you get closer, you're looking more like twenty, thirty hours a week. How do you balance that with your

I guess all all the other deidras. Yeah. I don't think I'm doing great right now. But,

because, like, I care like,

one, I don't like to do something if I don't do it the best that Yeah. I feel like it can be done. So I don't tend to, like, weigh in this join something if I can't feel like I can do it the best that I can do it.

So it is hard right now because I have,

I adamantly care about city council. I adamantly care about both of my jobs that I hold. I adamantly care about my kids. Yeah.

And I like, right now, I coach coaching volleyball is, like, like, legit my joy that I have. Yeah. Like, that's my, like, moment of joy Mhmm. Because I love it. So Did you play? I did. But I went I grew up in Leesburg, Ohio, which is Highland County. Leesburg. It's Highland County. Okay. So it's, you know, ten minutes from too far away from here. No. It's it's like it's legit just an hour out twenty eight.

You say Hillsborough? Yeah. Because I know Hillsborough. Ten minutes from Hillsborough,

twenty minutes from Wilmington.

I always say, like, if you look at a map and, like, here's Cincinnati, here's Dayton, here's Columbus, if you draw a line up to the middle of nowhere from all of those equally Yeah. Because growing up, this will start to age myself, but we actually had three news stations

because we got news Because you got news from all the different Three of them, right, from our antenna.

So you could get we have three channel nines. Yeah.

Is it a farming community? Or Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, my husband my husband and I are high school sweethearts. Oh, really? I know. It's it's crazy because, like, you don't you don't hear that, so that's awesome. I know, like, because we graduated with, like, 55 people.

And we were in different classes, so a 110 people to choose from.

But, like, it did mainly my best friend for sure. And so,

it's really exciting that,

we can that's why a lot of why we chose Loveland too because it was, like, kinda small town feel, but, like, access to, you know, because we both have jobs. Like Batavia.

Yeah. Absolutely.

And it's about an hour. That's one of the big selling points for Clermont County in general. And one of the reasons why development is, like, I really want them to do it well Yeah. Because I don't wanna lose that small

intimate feeling. You know? Yeah. Not to not to call you too far. But No. I think it's super important because, you know, I

we have to be open to sharing resources. Right? And we have to be open to, you know, that there is growth that's gonna happen and how we but I think you just and I would love to see more cross collaboration with,

like,

like, the urban communities as well. Right? So that we can really start to thoughtfully plan together. Right. Because I think if we just silo into, like, what's city level gonna do? What's Claremont County gonna do? Like, man, if we were all working together, we'd probably come up with some better solutions. Yeah.

And I because

a lot of people smart people are working on it, but I don't think we've got there yet of, like, everything just seems reactionary to, like, this development wants this, this wants that, this wants that, and it just happens for those that have the funds to pull it off quick. I don't know how much you pay attention to the state house.

But Adam Bird, our represent I don't know if it's Loveland's representative, but I know from a lot of Clairemont, he represents them at the state.

I'm gonna get this wrong. I think it's house bill one sixteen.

There's a couple different house bills out there for development specific that I think Adam Bird has sponsored.

And a lot of it seems like what they're trying to do is take some of these developmental decisions

and kinda centralize them at the county level. Give the county more power More power. Yeah. I know. Like Yeah. This is not good for the county. You can't do it. Yeah.

I I like collaboration across all levels. Right? I I I love,

empowering. I think the closer

the impact is who you gotta center Yeah. In that solution. Right? So that is gonna be the county level. That's gonna be the city level because that's who's most impacted on that decision. If you don't center them in the solution, it's gonna be the wrong solution. Yeah. But we have more resources

Mhmm. More talent and treasure

as we start to kinda grow and work on things together. And, obviously, like, there's a ripple effect of something that is done

here can impact, you know, elsewhere as well. So,

always for me, whoever's most impacted is center of of the solutions and the ideas and the insights or whatever it might be. So I love local level.

I don't like the word control because I I don't think it should be a control. I know what you mean though. But it should be a I guess oversight perhaps. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So,

but yeah. So that's that's campaigning for the most part. It takes takes money. It takes time. Passion, I imagine. It takes I mean, you

you gotta, like You gotta want it. Legit

want to,

you know, be a service,

to your community. Because it's a it's a it's a thankless job. It's it's a

service oriented.

So, you know, it does take,

and it

and for me,

what I wanna bring to the table is really checking my ego at the door too. Right? Because sometimes once you're at the table, you start to, like, think that you have all the answers. Yeah. And I, like, I hope I can check that. And and I have people that I have are, like, if I ever get to that level, like, you have to, like, you know, slap me across the face or something just to, like, put myself in check, because it happens to us. Right? We're human. Yeah.

And so I hope that I can always

have that. I don't have all the answers.

I need experts to come to the table when I don't know. Mhmm.

And I this goes into a little bit of marketing speak, but the five whys deep. Mhmm. Like, traffic is bad. Why is it bad? Mhmm. Well, why is that bad? Well, why is that? Why is that? And then usually, you get to a good solution when you go about five. Like a root cause analysis. Yeah. Yeah.

Right. Going into making sure that we're not just, you know,

kind of fixing things at a surface level. Right? We really have to get to the depth of the cause and going If you only focus at the surface level, it's gonna be a problem again. Right. You know? And you're gonna just have wasted resources. I'm like,

cool. We did that, and it did not It's like a not that

I think there's a metaphor you'll probably appreciate. It's like websites. Right? I can't tell you many website projects I've been a part of where it's just like, oh, we'll just slap a new coat of paint on it. It's like, no. Your website doesn't function. Yeah. Like, you need to go down another level Yeah. And really fix the code or you need to fix the way this is laid out. But a lot of times, people just wanna slap a coat of paint on things and move on. Yep. Lo and behold, a year later Right. Maybe we need a new website. Right. Which is why I just I think just moving

not to bring Quakers too much into this, but Quakers move pretty slow in their decision making process.

We we have a very long discernment process is the word that Quakers like to use. And I I think we get to better, longer lasting solutions. We get to better,

it's it's more affordable because you didn't have to pay for it twice. You didn't, you know, if you do one study of a traffic study and, like, what can we use from that one to inform the next one and what do we still have a void of knowing?

I just I think it just is smarter. Yeah. No. I wouldn't disagree with that at all.

I if you don't wanna talk about being a Quaker, that's fine. But I I gotta I I really wanna ask you about it because I don't know much about Quakers. Yeah.

Do you want it if you don't wanna talk about it, that's fine. I mean, I can. It's interesting of Did you grow up a Quaker? I didn't. It's a I have a really weird path to, like, how

faith really impacts me.

So I did have when I was little,

my grand grandpa was a Methodist in Wilmington. I talked about Wilmington. They lived in Wilmington.

And right by Caesar's Creek, there's this little village chapel. So I would go there,

and and love kind of just, again, that community Yeah. Like, feel feel there. But then and I would, I lived in Highland when I was a little kid,

and I would walk myself. This is like I mean, I was I'm legit talking five, six years old. So Yeah. One part of it is I didn't have the best of, like, home Sure. Security. But,

I would walk myself down to the Methodist Church there every Sunday on my own. No no parents. Just I loved again, that's, like, community feel and just the school. Then I went away for it for a long time,

probably a solid next two decades, right, of my life

for reasons I won't get into. Because I think they're just super personal. I think everybody navigates it themselves.

But then as I started to have kids and grow my family,

I just had that, like, miss of, like, having that extended community

and,

found Cincinnati Friends is where I go.

It's it's weird because it's

Quakers are pretty simple in their approach. They're like, we don't have, like,

big Yeah. Yeah. Fancy things, like, which, again, to each their own on how they Yeah. Well, listen. I'm Catholic. I I know the big fancy things. So we, like, are, like, legit the polar opposite. Right? Like,

and, again, both

both matter.

And but I just I fell in love with the simplicity. I love to camp. Okay. And camping has that same simplicity. Right? You just are in a small space. You know, you basically have to, like, eat, drink, and

sit around a fire. Right?

And Quaker kind of approached life that way, but they're also pretty

they believe in the same my values really come from that. Like, not only simplicity, but that peace, and that's inner peace and Mhmm. Peace within a community that's, which looks many different layers of peace.

They do believe in equality, which I I firmly am grounded in that integrity,

fully grounded in my integrity,

and then making sure that we, like, take care of this earth. Right?

Like, pretty solid we get one. Like, we should probably take care of it. So I just I fell in love with them. They're simple. They're not like, they're just

good people. Yeah. At least at our meeting. Right? Like Yeah. I'm sure there's

I'm sure there's unpleasant Quakers somewhere. I'm sure there are. I wanna meet them.

And so,

I don't know. I just I fell in love with it. My kids love it. I don't I don't force it on them. And they anytime we're like, hey. Do you wanna go today?

They say yes most of the time. And it's simple. Like, it's just you know, they we don't have a great kids program, but, like,

the people that care about them there, like, I was telling somebody, like,

I most of my family on my side is gone. Mhmm. So I have my sister. I have my nieces. To be honest, that's about it. Okay. My parents are gone. My grandparents are gone.

Extended family, not great relationship,

and they're like, they're my family. Yeah. Yeah. And so I love it. Like, if I if we've been blessed with good health and, but if if I wasn't, if something came up with our family, like, that's I gotta make one phone call Yeah. And they're there for you. And I would love to see that community. It doesn't have to be faith based, but, like, man, just that community care.

Like, man, when you see it happening, you're like, life is good. Right? Like, we you know, it's I don't know. So that's

that's Quaker. That's Quaker. At least to me. Yeah. Well, that's fair enough. I'd

this is it's just fascinating. I I think you're the first Quaker I've ever actually met. Yeah. And I've only been a Quaker for, like, five years.

I don't know if I'm the best Quaker. Yeah. Well, it's interesting too. You talk about, you know, the two decades away from it, and I have a very similar experience. Yeah. And it I think it's

just getting older, but I don't know. There's something about faith in your life that Yeah. It seems like it's a need. Yeah. And whatever that faith is. I know. You know, it's just like, I think people need a faith Yeah. In something. Yeah. And I for me, I I started to parallel to community. Right? Yeah. I don't care what it is that puts you in spaces with other people,

but it's needed. Right? Like, especially coming off the pandemic, I don't think we've navigated well how to get back into life together.

The isolation

creates fear. Yeah. And I think that I have a lot of friends who lived in bigger cities,

and it broke some of them. Yeah. Like, because they were isolated. They we lived in Felicity. So it's like we're in 10 acres of land, and I was having the best time of my life. I know. Like, I'm out there and, you know,

do gardening and cutting grass and working from home. Made sourdough bread. Oh, man. Lots of sourdough, lots of lots of cooking.

But some people's experience with that pandemic was locked in an apartment for two years. And it and it and it did come down to means. Right? Like, and so, I don't know. I think being get we all have to come back together in community. Yeah.

Whatever that means is,

just so that when we are in out of the restaurants together and we're walking on the bike trail together,

like, we just like, I love that, like, that wave, that smile. Yeah. Like, man, I just the

people are, like,

really yell at each other a lot right now. Like No. They do. Just so you're at a traffic stop. Like, dude, like, if we could just bring a little patience back, like, just so that, like, it's okay. It annoys me. Believe me. I'm a very impatient person, but, like, we don't need to yell at each other or honk our horns at each other because

the light turned green, and we know it's gonna only last thirty seconds. Yeah. We have to get through because we have to get to wherever we're going. Like,

being a little bit more joyful in that moment of just like,

I'm just gonna chill here. Yeah.

And I think would bring a lot of

improvement

to our quality of life,

for sure. I can't argue with that at all. Do think I'm inspired by that by faith. Yeah. But I think others get it elsewhere. Right? Yeah. Whether you have a workout group together or a pool club or whatever it is that people can find their way to be in space with other people. Yeah. I think that starts to just create that little ripple effect. Yeah.

Well, I think that's all the questions I have for you. But I do wanna give you an opportunity to make your final pitch. Yeah. So have at it. Well, I mean, this is a Claremont podcast. So, but I'm hoping other people from the city of Loveland, because we are the three counties,

have, you know, learned a little bit more about me.

I'm very accessible. So, you know, if you do have questions of anything that we talked about or,

concerns that you have, like, please go to my website, hazelbaker.com.

Reach out on Instagram or Facebook or I do have TikTok, but I don't post often there because

time.

But I will. I will. I promise.

You can email me. TikTok dances?

You know, I had one of my kiddos doing the TikTok dances. They know they know some of them. I'm not I'm not that good at dancing, but I'll see if people really wanted to see it. I guess I I would answer to what the people wanted.

But you can, you know, email me at Deidre@votehazelbaker.com,

set up that time. But I do hope I've earned,

those in the city of Loveland's vote, November 4. And then, you know, if you're not in the city of Loveland, like, I'm all about cross collaboration.

I was in that Lee Clairemont program and got to see about all the wonderful city services,

in Clairemont. Like, I'm I'm here for making, you know,

focusing on Loveland first, but, you know, love the county,

love Ohio, and just really wanna make it a great place. And so,

and lean into it. So I hope to have people's vote November 4. If you wanna get involved, I mean, we need that that time and treasure. Right?

Don't forget that. I know. So, again, if there if you do wanna get involved, you can go to hazelbaker.com,

and we always need volunteers.

We obviously need money for the mailers and the furniture and the signs. It's about ready to be sign season, which I don't like either of you. I don't like them either,

but we gotta do it. Right? So

that's it. Cool. Well, listen. Thank you so much for doing this, and I'm gonna call it a successful podcast. Oh, I appreciate that. It was a pleasure. Thank you. Take care.

Well, I hope you enjoyed that interview, and thanks again to Deidra for sitting down with me.

Enjoy the conversation and, frankly, whether or not she wins. It'd be nice to have her back on.

If if she wins to talk about how she's doing and what she's doing with counsel. And if she doesn't, just to talk. You know? She was she was really nice. So thank you again, and we wish her luck come November.

So, let's get into some events.

First up, we have the scrap tire collections, September

from 8AM to 2PM.

This is gonna be at the Clermont County Fairgrounds.

The Adams Claremont Solid Waste District, it's their annual tire disposal event, so shout out to Hannah Lubbers doing a great job out there.

You can drop off up to 10 tires per household at the fairgrounds.

Disposal fees are $1 per car light truck tire,

$10 for semi truck tires,

and $20

for large tractor tires.

You can only do personal household tires, so you can't do any commercial or business disposals. And this is pretty important because it's good to get tires disposed of properly so they don't, you know, frankly, so they don't create a bunch of mosquitoes, which, you know,

tires are very notorious for doing if they're just lying around collecting water. And nobody likes mosquitoes. So take your tires, get them disposed of properly.

Next up, we have fall flower crowns and forged tea. This is September 12 from 05:30 to 07:00PM

at Clingman Park.

And, they say you get to become nature royalty by creating your very own flower crown of goldenrod.

You can also sip on goldenrod t while you work and learn about this late summer bloom.

It is free. All ages are welcome, but you do need to register, and you can do that at the park's website.

Wicked Herbs naturalist talk, September 12, 10:30AM

at the Miami Township Library.

This is an adult educational program

presented by local naturalist Carol Mundy, and it explores the folklore history and dangers

of certain herbs and plants.

It's essentially an informative session on the wicked or poisonous side of nature's garden.

The program is free. It is open to the public, but you you don't need to register. Registration open in August. But if you want a guaranteed spot, you should register.

If you wanna just kinda roll the dice, you can walk in and they'll they'll let you in if space is if space permits. So if that's something you really wanna do, I would, recommend registering.

Next up, we have Batavia Fun Fair on September 13 from four to 11PM in the village of Batavia.

And as the name would suggest, it is a fun fair. There will be food, games, music, and fireworks that start at about 09:30PM.

Next, we have the Encore Trio at Harmony Hill Vineyards. This is September 13 from five to 9PM

at Harmony Hill Vineyards.

Lauren Lawyer

leads the trio through a review of the great ladies of pop music,

And it also says that Harmony Hills wonderful wines pair perfectly

with the songs you love and know by heart.

It didn't say anything about,

if the event cost anything or if you need to register anything like that. So my suggestion would be if that sounds interesting to you, check out the Harmony Hill Vineyards website, and I'm sure you can learn more there.

Pickleball beginner lessons. This is gonna be on September 13 from nine to 11AM

at the Miami Meadows Park in Miami Township.

Nancy Hines, pickleball instructor,

is going to hold a two hour

class, I suppose you'd call it,

on kinda how to play pickleball. It's if you've been looking to get into pickleball,

this would be a good class for you. You do need to bring your own pickleball paddle and balls to the class,

and you do need to register,

and you can do that on the Miami Township website.

Claremont Claremont

County Parks District Rocks hide and seek rock painting on September 16,

from 05:30PM

to 7PM at Shore Park.

They say stop in to paint a rock and hide it somewhere in the park for others to find and re hide. Take pictures and tag us on Instagram or Facebook

when you find someone's painted rock.

All ages are welcome and no preregistration

is required. And that is kind of a genius.

That's pretty genius,

at at least in terms of, like, marketing and engagement. So

no. That sounds like a very, very fun event, and it's really cool that, the parks department does that.

Next up, we have homeschool discovery days bugging out.

September 19 from 1PM

to 2PM at the Keeley Nature Preserve.

You get to learn about nature's most successful land animals, that would be bugs,

through hands on activities and games.

They're gonna just get into the whole world of insects, spiders, and all kinds of bugs. The program is free, but registration is required.

And you can do that on the park's website.

Mustard seed market. They we have one, in the fall. Shout out to Sarah Cox. I hope she's doing well out there.

September 19

through the twenty first.

All the times on those days are different. So if you check out rusticgrains.com,

you can see,

what those times are. And it'll be at the Clermont County Fairgrounds.

And I do know that this is a paid event. I can't remember how much it is. But, again, if you go to rusticgrains.com,

you can find that all out. It's not a crazy I think it might be, like, $10, something like that.

But there will be over a 100 makers, vintage curators, specialty food artisans.

There'll be booths indoors and outdoors,

food trucks, live music.

It's

designed as a vintage market with a unique flea market feel.

And I've I've been to a mustard seed market. I've interviewed Sarah on this podcast, and you can go back and listen to that to hear more about mustard seed market. But it's a really great event. It's great for kids. It's I I can't,

I can't recommend it enough. So

check that

out.

Yoga in the park on September 20, 9AM to 10AM at Sycamore Park. Like all the other yogas in the parks, it's a beginner yoga session led by a a certified yoga instructor.

You get to learn new poses and even advanced,

yogis, I guess you'd call them, yoga people. They can strengthen their poke their, poses.

They just tell you to bring a blanket, a yoga mat, and some water. It is free and you don't need to register.

Kids only fishing tournament on September 20, 9AM to 12PM at Miami Meadows Park.

This is an exciting event with prizes for the largest fish in various age groups.

Registration is at Lakeside Pavilion at 9AM.

The tournament is gonna run from 10AM to noon.

If your child does wanna do this, you do need to supervise them, so you can't just let them go out there. You gotta be with them. Weigh ins are allowed throughout the tournament with the final weigh in at the end. Only live fish will be weighed, and stringers are not allowed. Only baskets or buckets can be used. I'm not a fisherman. I don't know what that means, but I suppose if you are, you probably do.

You do need an Ohio State fishing license,

for participants aged 16 to 65,

which 65 might be a little old for kids only fishing tournament, but there you have it.

And each child may use only one fishing pole, which they must bring themselves,

and the event is totally free.

This and I'll tell you, there's every once in a while, you get some events that pop up that just sound absolutely hilarious, and this is one of them. Bigfoot

bash,

September 20 from 9AM

to 9PM,

an all day event at the campground shelter at East Fork.

You get to celebrate the Ohio grass man with fun activities. So you can wear if you wear a sasquatch costume,

you could win a prize.

And, yes, you can ask the campground office for more details on this event. But I didn't realize that Ohio actually has its own kind of, you know, Bigfoot lore with the Ohio grass man. And it's kind of a Bigfoot type creature,

in Eastern Ohio and Northern Ohio.

And,

apparently, there was some people, I think it was in Minerva, Ohio, They noticed these kind of grass huts that were being built,

and that's what people say is there's some kind of Bigfoot creature that builds grass huts, you know, just kinda kicking around Ohio. So I thought that was pretty interesting.

Last but not least,

there is a Red Stockings vintage baseball game and movie on September 20 from five to 11PM

at Miami Meadows Park. It's gonna be 1869

rules vintage baseball doubleheader versus the reds,

h o f,

and 1869

red stockings.

And then after all of that,

they're gonna play the sandlot outdoors and the entire event is free. So if you like baseball, that is gonna be

for you and the sandlot. I mean, that's a great movie. Who doesn't like the sandlot?

So that's all the events that we have for you, and that will lead us right into our final pitch for value for value. We are a value for value podcast.

What that means is that if you find value in what we are doing, all we ask is for a little value in return in the form of time, talent, or treasure.

In terms of,

time and talent,

let us know what's going on in your neighborhood. Let us know who should we should be talking to.

I love hearing from people, all the listeners, producers. I love hearing from you. So please let us know what what's going on in your neck of the woods. For treasure, we have a donations page. Go to let's talk claremont.com.

Click donations, and you can donate via PayPal or Stripe. And any dollar amount is very much appreciated. We appreciate everybody who supports us, monetarily. It really helps us keep going and doing what we do here. But for donations, $50 and above, you'll get a special mention on the show. And for donations $200 and above, you will get an executive producer credit,

which is valid. I will vouch for it. You can put it on resumes, whatever you want. And we'll read a note from you live on air. And as I said in the beginning and in previous episodes, it can be anything. It could be, you know, you could tell me about your kids and how great they are. You can tell all our listeners about that. It could be an ad read for your business.

It could be a nasty gram about me. Right? If you donate $200 to our show, I'll read nearly anything.

So please donate. It helps us keep doing what we do.

And you can connect with us on our Facebook page, Let's Talk Claremont podcast, Instagram at Let's Talk Claremont, and sign up for our newsletter. Go to the website, let'stalkclaremont.com,

click newsletter, Put your email in there. I'm I only email you once a week when a show comes out, and they're gonna be, you know, nice little, like, movie reviews, other things like that in there that we're not gonna get into on the show. So a little bit of incentive

to sign up for the newsletter.

And you can follow us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or whatever it is you use for podcasts, and please do that. It helps the show out, and it helps you out. You'll get notified every time a new show comes out, which is great. And you can always just get in touch with us, if you just wanna say hi, wanna tell us what's going on in your neighborhood, whatever you want. Info at let'stalkclaremont.com.

You know, I don't have an oliveism for you today. Really sorry about that.

I'll try to I'll try to do better with that next week. So that's really all I got for you this week, and I hope you like the show, and we will see you next week.

Let's Talk Clermont