May 15, 2025 • 57 mins
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Pierre Beard and Bobby Johnson, candidates for Columbus Ward 4, square off in a heated debate about the ward's present condition and future direction. The incumbent Beard defends his record of progress while challenger Johnson paints a bleaker picture of a neglected area needing new leadership.
• Beard is asked about his brushes with the law and draws a distinction between his personal life and his record on the council.
• Beard pushes back on suggestions Ward 4 is in worse shape than other wards while Johnson agrees it is a "warzone."
• Both agree on the need for better youth intervention programs to address crime
• Columbus Police Department staffing has improved but remains below capacity at 49 officers out of 55 budgeted positions
• Debate reveals stark contrasts in candidates' views of the city's administration effectiveness
• Johnson advocates for making CPD officers the highest paid in the Golden Triangle
• Beard emphasizes his independence from party affiliation as a strength
The election will be held on June 3, and voters can also attend the upcoming mayoral forum on May 27 at 6pm.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
From the opinion page of the Commercial Dispatch.
This is Between the Headlines.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
This is Peter Imes, publisher of the Dispatch.
One of our hosts of Between theHeadlines is the managing
editor of our newsroom.
Typically, we try to keep newsand opinions separate, but
reporters have a unique insightinto the workings of local
government and their analysiscan be helpful for readers and
listeners.
The Dispatch remains committedto journalistic integrity and
(00:37):
our reporting will alwaysreflect that.
And now Between the Headlines.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
This week, on Between the Headlines, we have an
exclusive interview with theWard 4 candidates, independent
incumbent, mr Pierre Beard andBobby Johnson.
God dang it, bobby.
Welcome.
Here you are on the ballot asRobert Johnson IV.
Gentlemen, I thank both of youfor being here.
Before we get to the interview,let's hear a word from our
(01:06):
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And now a message frompolitical candidate Bill Strauss
.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
This is Bill Strauss, your 2025 candidate for mayor
of Columbus.
As election time draws near,ask yourself are you satisfied
with our city leadership?
What has been done to eliminateour flooding issues?
What has been done to eliminateour housing blight?
Are our streets safe?
Why have we not kept up withWest Point, starkville and
Tupelo?
We must have new leadership.
(01:58):
Out with the old and in withthe new.
Elect Bill Strauss, your newmayor.
Paid for by campaign to electBill Strauss mayor 2025.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
And now a message from political candidate Jason
Spears.
Speaker 5 (02:12):
Hello, I am Jason Spears, your Republican
candidate for City Council, ward6.
I am grateful for the citizensof Ward 6 support in the primary
and respectfully requesteveryone's continued support in
the upcoming general election.
It is time to restore fiscalresponsibility, economic growth
and optimism back to our city.
I, like you, believe we can getback on track and know that, as
(02:32):
a community, we're going tomake it happen.
I approve this message and, onJune 3rd, vote Jason Spears for
Ward 6.
Paid for by the campaign toelect Jason Spears, ward 6.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
All right, you are listening to Between the
Headlines with managing editorof the Commercial Dispatch, mr
Zach Player, and my name isDavid Chisholm.
In the studio today we have MrPierre Beard and Bobby Johnson.
Welcome, fellas.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Welcome.
Thank you all for coming.
I appreciate being here.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
Very much glad you are here.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
And we did invite Ms LaVon Harris, the Democratic
candidate in this race, and shesends our regrets.
Work obligations kept her fromattending, so I'm just going to
jump right in and also throwjust a little bit of friendly
shade at my co-host herecandidate forum at his
(03:23):
conference room that got live onFacebook with Republican
candidates for counsel,including Mr Johnson, here Now.
Mr Johnson didn't say this, MrChisholm did.
He characterized Ward 4 as awar zone and I want to start
with you, Pierre.
How does that hit you?
What do you think about thatkind of rhetoric and how would
(03:44):
you characterize your ward rightnow from a health and safety
standpoint?
Speaker 6 (03:48):
It's most definitely not a war zone.
I mean, I guess when you saywar zone, you look at
destruction, but when you lookat Ward 4, you look at
progression, you look at thingsthat don't look nowhere near how
it looked six years ago when Ifirst got there.
So we can go ahead and, youknow, delete that rhetoric.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
Can you give some examples of things that?
Speaker 6 (04:12):
have improved.
Example of things that haveimproved I have 85 percent of my
roads in my ward main roads,the largest percentage of roads
in the ward paved of roads inthe war paved.
As far as dilapidated housesbecause I heard that was a major
issue that dilapidated housesare becoming more so involved in
a program, a federal program,with George Irby who's now
(04:35):
purchasing those homes, in theprocess of purchasing those
homes to rebuild those homes andstarting some type of first
homeowner buyership program.
These are things that arealready in the work.
As far as people taking prideback in their home, you know,
just pride back in their garden,in their yard, keeping their
yard maintained, own complaintsand fixing issues like keeping
(05:03):
the gutters cleaned and keepingthe drains, the leaves and
different things graded off,cleaned off, so it's more so as
a pride thing.
That's coming back into war, forwhat I call the forgotten war.
We got the multi-milliondollars, different grants going
into the watershed issue to fixthat flooding issue.
(05:26):
You know, since I was a child,people always talk about
flooding in Ward 4.
Well, whether I'm there or not,that issue is going to be
resolved 3.4 million give ortake grant that was approved
through Neal Schaefer, plus themillion dollar match that.
We did Speak with our CFO whosaid we had the money in reserve
to match that.
We did speak with our CFO whosaid we had the, the, the money
in reserve to to match that, tomatch that grant.
(05:47):
So war, for, like I say, mymotto is a progressive roar.
It has progressed.
People taking pride back intheir things, people taking, you
know, they just feel included.
Okay, is that?
Speaker 7 (05:59):
how you see it, mr Johnson?
Absolutely not.
Um, no-transcript.
(06:31):
The whole of Columbus is prettymuch a forest.
Even the antebellum homes, themagnolia trees, are overgrown.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
An overgrown war zone .
Speaker 7 (06:51):
I'd probably say um so trees trees against houses,
trees that are just too big.
Yes, we call the city ofcolumbus.
If you go to any other city,you won't see as many overgrown
trees as close to structureshere.
Speaker 6 (07:01):
Uh, in that, in these places, so is that a city issue
or a homeowner issue?
Uh, it's a little bit of bothhow is that a city issue or a
homeowner issue?
Speaker 7 (07:08):
It's a little bit of both.
How is it a city issue?
Well, if you look at SanfieldCemetery, it's overgrown.
Speaker 6 (07:16):
It's been overgrown for before we were born, all of
it.
The historical side ismaintained by the city, but the
other side has private ownership.
Speaker 7 (07:23):
The historical figure Robert Glee.
Speaker 6 (07:25):
So there would be a liability if the city would go
in and do something to privateownership.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Unless, it violates code.
Speaker 7 (07:31):
Exactly.
Speaker 6 (07:33):
Private ownership.
Speaker 7 (07:34):
Are we saying that the cemetery is privately owned?
The cemetery is privately owned.
Speaker 6 (07:40):
The owner of the cemetery receives money to bury.
However many bodies they buryover there.
I have a question.
Speaker 7 (07:47):
There's two sides of the street.
Right you got Sanfield, themain area, and then you got
Fresh Graves being put on theother side.
Speaker 6 (07:53):
Are they owned by the same people?
No, they're not owned by thesame people.
The city owns the historic sideof it.
Speaker 7 (07:59):
Okay, how long have they owned that?
Speaker 6 (08:02):
I don't know when we had our discussion.
I told you that that cemeterywas moved into Ward 4 through
redistricting.
Speaker 7 (08:10):
Up until Kentucky it had been taken care of.
Speaker 6 (08:12):
I can't control what happens in someone else's ward,
but once it comes into my ward,then I have full disclosure and
discretion to do what.
Speaker 7 (08:19):
I can see how long has Sanfield been in the 4th
Ward.
It just got in there this yearthrough redistricting, because
that's one of the reasons whyI'm running sir, because I asked
you about Sanfield and youcouldn't tell me whether it was
in there.
Speaker 6 (08:30):
So let's put this out .
You told me that you wouldsupport me.
You told me that you would helpme.
Speaker 7 (08:34):
I did not say that.
Speaker 6 (08:35):
Yes, you did.
I got the text message so I cango through the show Support you
, and then we had a conversationpertaining to Pros.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Park.
We had a conversationpertaining to no sir, you called
me.
Speaker 6 (08:48):
I have all the text messages.
Speaker 7 (08:49):
You called me.
I have every last text message.
Stephen Jones gave you mynumber, mr Johnson, mr.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Johnson.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
I want to jump in here.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Mr Johnson, you did, and we've talked about this.
I think we talked about itseveral times during this
process.
You jumped in the race, thenyou got out of the race and when
we talked about it you said youdidn't feel like you were ready
at that time.
And then you jumped back intothe race, saying that you had
talked to some of the othercandidates I guess including Mr
(09:18):
Beard, mr Turner, ms Harris anddecided no, I think I am going
to run, explain kind of whathappened there and why you made
the decision that you made.
Speaker 7 (09:29):
These people called me, marty Turner called me,
pierre Beard called me.
I reached out to Stephen Jones.
My mother was a fan of StephenJones.
Rest in peace, stephen Jones.
After I had told him that I wasgoing to run and started asking
questions about what I wantedto do, I said I could probably
(09:52):
do this as a private citizen.
Just get behind the candidatewho wanted to champion my issues
.
At that point, stephen Jonesgave Pierre Beard my number and
he called me.
That's why, when I answered thephone, I was confused as to why
you reached out.
(10:13):
I was not a fan of you, whichis totally fine.
Speaker 6 (10:18):
You don't have to be.
There's a lot of people notfans of me.
But, like I stated, since we'regoing to go to the beginning of
the conversation, yes, I didreach out to you and I told you.
I said Stephen Jones told me tocall you.
You said I don't know what that, what was that about?
And what did I tell you?
I said I don't know either, butI'm just doing what I was asked
to do.
Do you have any issues orconcerns or what's going on?
(10:38):
And then you went on a list anda rant of different things that
you had going on.
And what did I tell you?
I said well, I can help you tothe best of my ability.
Then you asked about Pros Park.
And then I told you that we hadthat Pros Park meeting at the
Trotter that the county and thecity had did together.
Then you called me back afterthat because I invited you there
.
And then you called me back andwhat did you say?
Speaker 7 (11:09):
You said that's not the meeting that I was thinking
about rewind.
Speaker 6 (11:11):
Then you ask why they're not.
Speaker 7 (11:11):
Let's talk.
Let's talk about pros parkyou're coming to.
I'm trying to explain to you,sir.
One of the one of the things Iasked you in that first
conversation is why doesn't prospark have a basketball court?
Because the local residents areasking for a basketball court
and they ask and then, what isit?
Speaker 6 (11:21):
what was my?
Speaker 7 (11:22):
pickleball.
I don't have anything againstpickleball, I said the design
was not made for basketball.
Speaker 6 (11:28):
The design that they put was for softball and
baseball.
I said Pros Park was notdesigned to be a basketball
center.
Did I not say that it's a park?
Did I?
Did I not say that to you?
It's a park.
So the money that we put intoand you know what?
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Do you remember what I said to that?
Speaker 6 (11:42):
Money that we put into, and you know what Do you
remember what I said to that yousaid good luck.
You said thank you and goodluck Absolutely not.
And then you went andregistered the next day.
Speaker 7 (11:50):
I said the sport of baseball, the sport of
pickleball, it requires aninvestment from the people
playing with it.
I said the barrier to entry forbasketball is lower.
Just grab a ball, you can goout there and play by yourself.
Now, in order to play baseball,you got to have other people,
you got to have equipment, yougot to have.
(12:11):
And the same thing withpickleball.
I said if you were thinkingabout the residents, you'd
consider a sport with a lowbarrier to entry.
Speaker 6 (12:21):
Pickleball was something that the citizens of
Columbus wanted in Pros Parts.
That's nothing that we wanted.
Did you walk the neighborhood?
Speaker 7 (12:29):
around there.
Those were the people who wouldbe visiting the park, the
people of Columbus did a survey.
Speaker 6 (12:35):
I don't think you were here at the time because
you're not from here.
Speaker 7 (12:38):
Well, you're originally from here, but I
think you were out of town.
Speaker 6 (12:40):
Hold on, hold, on hold on Hold on, let on hold on,
but the people Hold on.
Speaker 7 (12:43):
let me jump in here.
I'm born and raised here.
I'm born and raised here.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Let's jump in here and change the subject a little
bit.
Kermagee site in Ward 4, that'ssomething that has come up a
lot.
Mr Beard, you've had some ofthe pine yard for redevelopment
(13:15):
so you have continued to saynothing goes on there until it's
all clean.
Why?
Speaker 6 (13:23):
This is the same EPA that tested this site not once,
not twice, but three timesbefore they discovered that
something was chemicallyimbalanced over there.
This is the same EPA that'ssaying that they cleaned off 22
acres of land with no cap, withnothing to block it from
(13:45):
contaminated land.
So you're telling me that ifyou put clean land and dirty
contaminated land side by sidewith no cap, that the rain,
weather, all of that things arenot pushing that chemical?
Speaker 1 (14:02):
So what do you want to see happen over there?
Speaker 6 (14:04):
The only thing that I can see going over there was a
solar farm and I made clear ofthat to cut down costs on
utilities.
In that aspect, on whoever, Idon't feel like the land is able
to be developed.
But I don't work, for I'm not achemist either.
But this is just going off ofcommon, my personal common sense
(14:25):
, and we're talking with peoplethat that that contamination has
hurt, harm and killed peoplefor so many years and whether
just taking a chance and saying,hey, this is clean and let's
put this over here, and 50 yearslater we got this major thing
going on yet again.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
Well, what about the residents that live around that?
Speaker 6 (14:44):
area.
They don't want it.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Well, I mean, should they be there?
I mean hearing what you'resaying.
Shouldn't they be encouragedthrough public program to go
somewhere else?
Speaker 6 (14:58):
Of some type of form, shape and fashion.
Yes, I feel like that.
And fashion, yes, I feel likethat, but the the way that the
epa saying it is the chemical isnot as strong in these
neighborhoods.
But the chemical has flownbecause of the, the way that the
chemical was being, you know,produced, has flown from north
side to south side.
(15:18):
It had traces over there orwherever they have traces.
Then you got the water that'spushing these chemicals.
So, yes, I mean the entireColumbus may be contaminated.
Who knows?
Let me ask you.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
this Mayoral candidate, Darren Leach, has
kind of made this his hobbyhorse for quite some time and
he's ready to do something outthere.
Do you think that he's actingin bad faith or do you think
that he's naive in trusting thecurrent data that's out there?
Speaker 6 (15:45):
I can't speak for his personal beliefs, but from a
professional standpoint Ihonestly feel if all of that
land is not clean, nothingshould go over there, and
somebody that goes home to cleanland should not be too much
focused on placing something oncontaminated land without the
(16:09):
full understanding and the fullknowledge.
Look at what, what justhappened with the epa.
A lot of those people losttheir jobs.
So who, who, who, who can werely?
Speaker 3 (16:18):
on now that a lot of those people lost their jobs
because of an abundance of waste, fraud, fraud and abuse on the
federal level.
There was an ungodly amount ofmoney spent per lot I would say
in many cases more than the lotswere actually worth to dig out
tons and tons of dirt, haul itto wherever they put it and
(16:42):
bring in fresh dirt.
Was that a waste?
Speaker 6 (16:47):
No, that's something that I can't speak on because,
like I said, I'm not involved inthe in the chemistry aspect of
that.
I only know what I see at facevalue.
What they show us and whatthey're showing us is 22 acres
of land is clean, but they'renot showing is the contamination
flowing.
I, when I go to these CAGmeetings that Darren Leach hosts
(17:10):
at his church, I ask thesequestions but never can get a
clear answer, never can get aclear understanding.
So if I'm the councilmanrepresenting that district,
representing that ward, and Ican't get a clear understanding
on what's going on with thechemical imbalances and things
in this land, then no, nothingshould never go over there.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
I think one thing that you and I have in common is
we have a healthy distrust ofgovernment.
And you know one thing that Ican tell you from a historical
perspective you know, when I wasa teenager and I would drive
down 14th Avenue, the stench wasvery strong.
I played in it, it was awfuland so.
(17:49):
But now you don't.
You don't smell anything, Imean just from a from the looks
of it.
You know, I made the joke thatI would eat chicken spaghetti
off of the gravel out there just, it does not look um to me like
a contaminated site.
And we're just at one point.
At what point do we say, hey,let's, let's trust at least some
(18:12):
of the data?
I just it's just.
I don't see any problem withputting something there, a road.
Speaker 7 (18:18):
A road okay.
A road, like I want to continueMLK all the way to 7th Avenue,
but the only obstruction okay,my mother's buried in Union
Cemetery, which is straightahead, straight ahead.
So right there at the end, uh,with a railroad track and
Sanderson plumbing meets, Ithink we could put a road
straight right through there toavoid that train, safely, avoid
(18:39):
the train.
That train is an obstruction.
That's something that we coulddo with that.
That that area Solar.
I like solar panels, we canagree on that.
But at the same time, uh, I'mlooking at other people's solar
panel capacity.
If you go out towards WestPoint, you got about two sides
of the road a square mile ofnothing but solar panels.
(19:02):
And I'm thinking, if that muchsolar capacity is used for for
Clay County, that little smallarea of of Kerr-McGee is not
going to be enough to supply theentire Columbus.
I would like those solar panelsto to supply that solar energy
to lower the cost of the peoplein that area affected by the
(19:25):
contaminant To your point.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
I'm looking back at the grant that was um applied
for, uh, against the citycouncil's wishes.
Let me ask you, pierre, do youthink the council pissed in the
whiskey by turning down thatgrant money?
I do not, okay.
But at the same time you didsay you were in favor of having
solar panels out there right nowto be clear they, they did.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
I mean it was retroactively.
Speaker 6 (19:53):
They, they've agreed to accept the grant if they, if
they receive it we did agree to,we didn't go through all the
whatever to cancel it.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Stop it just so it's still a possibility then.
Yes, that's a good thing you'relistening to between the
headlines.
We've got to come.
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Speaker 1 (21:21):
Councilman Beard.
I want to jump back in here andtalk about something that has
come up during the last termseveral times, especially in the
last couple of years, and it'scome up in the campaign when
citizens are talking, when youropponents are referring to you.
They're talking about yourarrests, one, what's going on?
(21:49):
And how do you I guess, how doyou respond to concerns from
from citizens that CouncilmanBeard and individual Beard maybe
behaves differently?
Speaker 6 (22:03):
I can tell everybody to take it away.
And what do you have If youtake that away?
What do you have?
That's all you can say.
That's one.
Two I was a strong supporter ofInitiative 65A medical
marijuana in the state ofMississippi, of which it passed
astronomically in Columbus andLyons County.
I need to go get my med card.
(22:25):
I have seizures.
Speaker 7 (22:27):
Diagnosed with seizures.
But you crossed that state lineand you're in trouble.
Speaker 6 (22:32):
And I need to go get my med card.
That's that.
Third, your Republicanpresident has had how many
felonies against him?
That's life.
People are dealing with it.
It happens.
Move on from it.
(22:52):
Accept it.
Learn from.
Move on from it.
Accept it.
Speaker 7 (22:57):
Learn from it and keep going.
I don't want to interrupt.
Speaker 6 (22:58):
I'm sorry you can't interrupt about my personal life
.
Speaker 7 (23:01):
So make sure you're interrupting about something
else.
You know what, go ahead.
Thank you, I'm sorry.
Speaker 6 (23:07):
And that's all I got to say about it.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
So I mean people who are concerned about that
behavior, you or those arreststhere's.
Speaker 6 (23:16):
Has it stopped them from getting limbs picked up
when they call?
Ok, has it stopped them from?
What has it stopped them fromreceiving?
It has not affected Ward 4 atall.
It's affected me.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
It has taken a toll on me in my life.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
You cannot speak on my personal life.
How has it taken a toll?
Speaker 6 (23:32):
on me in my life.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
You cannot speak on my personal life well, how is it
taking a, how is it taking atoll on?
Speaker 7 (23:37):
you, your arrest record, have nothing to do with
each other.
Speaker 6 (23:40):
Exactly, you just made my point valid, but I'm
telling you just made my pointvalid no, you, you just made the
point that I said that theydon't have absolutely anything
to do with each other.
Valid, you just?
Speaker 7 (23:52):
did that columbus.
Columbus has a perception andit's not a good one.
When I was working a while backin aberdeen uh, someone asked
me where you from I saidcolumbus, oh, kill umbus, kill
umbus.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
I was like, yeah, listen that kind of talk is
about every town you knowTuscaloosa has Holt, jackson has
Jackson and Columbus has Ward 4.
Okay, I hope that you're right.
I hope that Ward 4 is on theverge of a renaissance and
(24:29):
turning itself around, but Istand behind what I believe to
look like a war zone currently.
Now let me talk about thatbriefly when I say that I really
see three things there.
I see poverty.
A lot of that is things thatyou know.
(24:49):
It's in education, it's statelevel issues.
It's poverty, it's a education,it's state-level issues.
It's poverty, it's a problem.
Another thing is mental health.
I see people walking around.
They're talking to themselvesand they're not talking
pleasantly.
They're angry about somethingand I worry about those people
and I think a lot of it.
Thirdly, is drug-related.
(25:10):
So you've got these threethings working against Ward 4
and it's not exclusive to them.
Speaker 6 (25:16):
Those three things are in all six wards.
Speaker 3 (25:18):
They are.
You're exactly right.
Do either of y'all have anyplans to help with those issues
that I've mentioned there?
Speaker 6 (25:26):
Well, with the homelessness.
You have the Homeless Coalitionthat's been moved into ward
four after redistricting.
It's on airline.
So we got the homelesscoalition that's already working
on aspects and getting peoplewith help with homelessness.
You got the community outreachdepartment with the police
department and with the citythat's been helping with issues
(25:47):
of homelessness.
But, as stated and has beenreported several times, some of
these people just don't wanthelp.
Some of these people are, are,are, are, I guess I could say,
comfortable with with their,with their, with their living,
dwellings and stuff like.
And with people like that, howcan you make them?
You can't make anybody doanything.
(26:09):
You can give them resources,you can educate them or inform
them on what's going on, but ithas to be for them to accept
those things.
When it comes to that, they'renot harming anybody, they're not
bothering anybody, they're notdoing absolutely anything to
anybody.
That's just their preference.
And whatever happened in theirlife, like if something was to
(26:32):
happen in either of our lives inhere, whatever we feel like our
preference would be, that'swhat.
That's just what happens.
But there are resources outthere for homelessness.
In Columbus there has been anuptick in that, not only in
Columbus but in the entire stateand in the entire world.
I mean, that's that when itcomes to that.
As far as the other two, canyou state the other two again?
Speaker 3 (26:54):
Well, I mentioned mental health and I think that,
in terms of the health ofMississippi, mental health is a
very big issue.
And I think that it's.
We are way behind other stateswhen it comes to that.
I hope something that can bedone.
But I mean, at the same time,look at, we were talking about
certain neighborhoods East StLouis, missouri, no, east St
(27:17):
Louis, illinois.
It's right across the riverfrom St Louis, probably one of
the most dangerous neighborhoodsin America.
The cops will tell you to runthe stop signs.
Do not stop there.
I can't tell you how manyfederal dollars have been poured
in there.
Money is not always the answer,right, but um d, are you guys
(27:39):
willing to make the phone callsand and and look up the grants
and see what help is available,to just just lift ward four out
of the mire?
And look, I'm not saying thisdisparagingly, because these are
, because it's all wards yeah,it's all wards right.
It seems to be a little moreconcentrated there.
Um, what kind of lobbying doyou have on your agendas?
Speaker 6 (28:03):
I mean we we hired susan wilder, who's an excellent
grant writer, I may add, who'sbeen doing a great job.
I can actually get with her ifshe's not already looking for
these type of, already lookingfor these type of actively
looking for these type of things.
She's actively searching andlooking for different grants in
our city that can help with allof those things that you noted.
And when it comes to mentalillness, I can brag on the
(28:24):
Columbus Police Departmentthat's a training, mit training
that they have 10 officers rightnow certified to assist with
mental issue calls that arecoming through, of which they
have been proactively doing thatwith the attempted suicide that
we had and the different thingsthat we've been having going on
(28:44):
.
So all of these things that youare focusing on, are speaking
about, are issues that arealready being attacked, are
issues that people are alreadyworking on, people that the
embattled Ward 4 Councilman hasbeen talking to, people to
already do these things.
So when you speak about allthese things, like I say, make
(29:05):
sure you speak about them in allwars, especially in Ward 6 and
in Ward 3, because Ward 3consists of East Columbus and I
see the same thing over thereand in Ward 6, it happens there
too.
So let's not just you knowwe're here talking about Ward 4.
But when we talk about theseissues, let's make sure that we
are saying that these issues arecity and the crime that is
(29:25):
happening within Columbus.
This is not organized crime.
This is not crime that oh myGod, I, I'm gonna go outside and
shoot me 13 people todaydomestic stuff.
This is not that.
This is things that's out ofour control.
This is stuff that's going onwithin people, homes that once
the law is involved, then theytake an action to to solve these
things.
But this is when the, when the,when the, when the ratings and
(29:48):
when the, when the, when the um,when the.
You know what I'm trying to saythe stats, the stats come out.
When all of that stuff come out, like they say, it's a decline
in crime, not only in the citybut in the county as well.
But then when you put thatinformation out, that crime is
declining in the city and inLyles County, you have people
(30:09):
that say, well, the city ishiding their data, the city is
not reporting all their data,while praising the county.
Speaker 3 (30:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (30:16):
But these are two entities that should work hand
in hand.
They should, all of us shouldbe working hand in hand.
All of us that are elected havetaken an oath to all working
hand in hand and we should allbe on the same goal, regardless
of party affiliation.
That's why I never chose theparty, because you have this
side doing this and you got thatside doing that.
(30:36):
I can see both sides, I canhear from all aspects and that's
why I was elected well, let me.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
Let me jump in here, pierre, because one of the
things that even the chief hassaid uh and and yes, uh, the
statistics seem to show thatcrime is going down, not only
locally and in the county, butnationwide.
Violent crime is trending down.
But one thing that even thechief has said is a large
(31:08):
portion of what's going on inthe news cycle.
He keeps characterizing it asthe same handful of knuckleheads
that are going around everyward, shooting in the air,
shooting at houses, shooting atcars, and sometimes are getting
caught, sometimes are not.
Speaker 3 (31:26):
Or they may not be adjudicated.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
Well, what resources do the police need?
What does the city council needto do to, you know, mitigate
the thing that your chief saysis aggravating the public the
most about crime right now?
Speaker 6 (31:42):
Well, you, know I'm a major supporter of Columbus
Police Department.
Shout out to our chief, who'sthe chief of all chiefs of
Mississippi.
But to get that underhand, wehave the NOLA cameras.
We have all of these camerasystems that we have, but we
don't have anybody activelywatching them.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
Yes we have.
Speaker 6 (32:00):
NOLA.
Don't say that I can't say thatwe have NOLA, the people in New
Orleans, the people that we arebuying the cameras from.
Yes, they are monitoring them.
So let me back up and say wehave no one locally that is
watching them.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
Y'all don't have the screen room with the three
people that are rotating.
Speaker 4 (32:18):
That's right.
Speaker 6 (32:19):
That's why we're advertising for a petitioning to
the people for the legislator,for a crime center.
But once reelected I want to.
During budgeting season, I wantto get a figure out, a way that
we can get at least twocertified officers to be
monitoring our cameras herelocally.
(32:41):
That's the goal for the.
To the camera thing because wehave a camera.
If a gunshot go off, the camerazooms directly to where that's
half.
If we have someone that'sactively sitting in front of
that, then they can activelycall in and say this is where it
going.
The little a minute 30 seconds,however long it takes for them
to call and get somebody at theactual facility.
(33:03):
That can be however long thatwe already had.
Speaker 3 (33:06):
But the technology of the camera.
Here's the gunshot and it zoomsdirectly to that area.
Speaker 6 (33:12):
That's a good thing, Is that enough, Bobby?
Speaker 1 (33:16):
How do we intervene to where the crime maybe isn't
happening as much to begin with?
Speaker 7 (33:22):
Mr Beard wants officers watching the cameras,
but he has an officer retentionissue.
Speaker 6 (33:30):
We're at 49 staff capacity.
We're budgeted for 55.
Speaker 7 (33:34):
So if we've lost if we've lost so many officers,
then a lot of new fresh officers, and I'm glad I'm glad that we
have new certified officers inthe city of Columbus Mr Beard
let, Mr Johnson respond.
I'm glad, as I said the nightbefore, the shot spotter is a
(33:54):
good thing.
If a shot spotter picks up ashot, it should be an officer en
route to that area before 911is called.
I've called 911 before afterhearing a gunshot, but this is
after I saw a news report of agentleman.
(34:15):
He was shot dead in his ownhome.
People in the surrounding areaheard the gunshot but did not
call.
Now I hate.
I'd hate to be in that positionbeing shot and no one called
the police.
Now every time I hear a gunshotI want to to call 911, which is
the proper response.
The police need tools.
(34:36):
Shot spotter would be excellent.
We talk about federal grants toget that kind of stuff.
I'm in support of every kind oflaw enforcement grant possible.
We need more money to ourofficers.
We need more money to ourofficers.
I'd also like to solve ourofficer retention thing that
we've had in the past beforegetting so many new officers.
(34:57):
I am totally in support ofincreasing the officers pay.
I want the Columbus PoliceDepartment's officers to have
the highest pay in the GoldenTriangle.
That way that allow us to hireHigher, slow and fire fast.
You know what I'm saying?
(35:18):
It to put the power back in ourhands instead of all of our
officers going to the LowndesCounty Police Department.
Speaker 3 (35:27):
Yeah, I'm 100 percent on the law enforcement side.
I have no opinions of howthings are being done now
because I don't know thesituation.
Are you as optimistic as youropponent?
Is that the tides are turningand things are improving both
optically and in terms of crime?
Speaker 7 (35:49):
No, I feel like you could be complacent.
You could think things are goodand all of a sudden it's not.
I think their uh, perfection isongoing.
Perfection is evolution.
You always have to worry aboutthe next thing maintenance is
ongoing.
Uh, this is the thing that, ifyou look at it administratively
(36:11):
there uh, jason Spears talksabout the vulnerabilities and
the levers that you can pull onan operation you got to know
your soft spots, the sensitiveareas, and in the recipe for
maintaining a city, you havemaintenance.
You got overgrowth.
(36:32):
You a city, you havemaintenance, you got overgrowth.
You got crime, you gotpopulation growth.
You know what I mean.
All these things to worry aboutis proper maintenance.
That goes into this.
The police are something thatyou need to continue to allow to
get better, more technology toour police, more weaponry.
(36:53):
I don't want to militarize ourpolice force, but they need the
latest, updated tools.
Speaker 1 (37:01):
Right, I want to jump in here.
Everything that y'all havetalked about has been deterrence
and enforcement.
Everybody that is on the ballotat one point or another has
mentioned youth intervention toprevent these types of things,
(37:22):
to prevent the handful ofknuckleheads from, you know,
going to jail or going to juvie.
The question for both of youguys is what does that look like
practically, and what can thecity actually do for that?
Speaker 7 (37:37):
Youth employment.
I want to make a way for theseyoung people to make money,
because I've had young peopleknock on my door hey, you got
work for me, you got some leaves, you got a yard I can mow.
I feel like if we could helpthese young people put money in
their pocket, I think they'dstay out of trouble.
(37:58):
What about you, mr bear?
Speaker 3 (38:03):
he nodded toward Bobby.
I think he agrees with thatparticular sentiment.
Speaker 6 (38:07):
Maybe all I can say is, when it comes to all of this
thing, people on the outsidelooking in don't have an earthly
idea.
If they were so invested onwhat's going on in our community
, they should be invested onwhat you guys report in the news
about the community.
As far as the Columbus policedepartment because he did state
that Columbus police departmentthey just got a raise.
Speaker 7 (38:29):
And this is a raise that the chief of police asked
for himself.
Speaker 6 (38:30):
I want him to get another one.
The entire city of Columbus hasmoved up to $15 an hour minimum
wage of something that I foughthard for.
For all of these things, withthe help of my colleagues the
ones that did approve of it,I've been fighting for city
workers.
I've been fighting for thepolice department fire
department.
Since I got here 2017, I wasn'teven a councilman.
I took to the current mayor aprogram about hiring homegrown
(38:54):
police officers.
That's why I'm so proud aboutthese young officers, because
people are taking an interest inbeing a police officer,
something that is frowned uponat this day and time.
So anybody that's wanting to bea public servant by police or
fire, I applaud them to theutmost and whatever it takes.
(39:14):
I'm actively every day talkingto the chief and talking to our
CFO about raising the pay, notjust for the police department,
before our entire department.
When it comes to the youthpublic work, public works has a
program that goes on during thesummer.
The Columbus Park and Rec has aprogram that goes on during the
summer that we just put moremoney into to hire more people
(39:38):
to be down there.
So these things are already inplace.
So I guess, as far as a city,the promotion of these things I
could take the fall for, andthat's just me being here on
behalf of the city.
But all of these things thatyou speak of are already in
place.
It may be that we are notperforming well enough with the
(40:00):
pushing the things out to thepeople to know that these things
are going on.
And you say, every time you hearabout a gunshot or something in
your neighborhood, that that'syour right as a human being.
If someone is shooting aroundyour house or you hear gunshots
anywhere, that you should call9-1-1.
Me being a councilman, everytime I hear shots I call 9-1-1.
(40:23):
The last time I heard shots andcalled 9-1-1, they called me
back and told me that theypicked up someone on Shady
Street.
That's where the shots werecoming from.
So I don't know if that's thesame time that you were scared
to call 9-1-1 or you didn't call9-1-1.
Speaker 7 (40:36):
Hold on, you, said he did call 9-1-1.
Speaker 2 (40:38):
Oh, you did OK, I'm sorry.
Speaker 6 (40:39):
I had tuned out a little bit.
I do apologize for that, butbut they do they do report if
someone calls.
And I stress that at everymeeting that I go to, because I
hear constituents always saythat well, we call 911 and the
police never come.
Well, the police has to comeanytime they are dispatched.
If you do not see them, thatcan be a different thing.
(41:02):
But, like I called, and when Icalled I said I heard shots on
Shady Street Street.
They called me back and saidthe shots were not on Shady
Street, they were on Moss Street.
So I would not see them if theywere to come to Shady Street
because they went where, to MossStreet.
So if you call or someone callsand says, well, I call, well, do
(41:23):
you want the police to come toyour home and talk to you?
That's something that you haveto let them know.
And also, dispatch is not ranby the city, dispatch is ran by
the county.
That's one of the things aboutthe officer retention.
People lose, people quit jobsevery day.
I mean every day.
People walk off jobs every daywhen it comes to officer
(41:45):
officers.
At Columbus Police Departmentwe are at the highs that we have
probably been in a while atthis current moment in time and
we got five more officers thatare about to go to the academy
now, but pierre, let me jump inhere because the city used to be
uh, I want to say that the cityused to be budgeted for 70
officers at one time.
Speaker 1 (42:05):
And so the standard for what is capacity has
actually lowered by 15, andy'all still aren't meeting it.
Other cities are I mean they'restill dealing with turnover,
but other cities in the GoldenTriangle are staying closer to
capacity more often.
Y'all have been in the 30srecently.
Speaker 6 (42:25):
And we're not there now, thank God.
Speaker 1 (42:28):
Right, but I mean, how do you keep it from going
back?
Speaker 6 (42:29):
but and with those statistics that being given and
a report came in that crime isdeclining, I feel like those two
can actually cancel each otherout.
But in the next budgeting cycle, like I stated how, how
supportive I am of the policedepartment, I would like to
raise the pay, I would like toincrease the budgeted limit for
(42:53):
officers.
Like I said, we have five thatare about to get ready to go and
that'll take us up to 52, Iwant to say Okay.
Speaker 1 (43:00):
So if you raise it to 60, though, and y'all still
bandy between 44 and 52 for thatentire budget year.
I mean, what's the point ofraising it to?
Speaker 6 (43:10):
60?
.
That's why we should activelystart back recruiting like
they've been doing.
Keep recruiting.
We got old officers that usedto be officers coming back.
Speaker 1 (43:20):
I know that there are fire departments in other areas
that are doing the same kind ofthing.
Speaker 6 (43:23):
We got people that once they leave here we're
putting things in place.
Once you come here, you have acontract you have to sign.
Now you have to stay for somany years because you're not
going to get us.
Let us train you and then justleave and go somewhere else.
So now we're putting things inplace to retain these officers,
to keep them here.
But we also have officers thatgo to the county that you spoke
of and then they come back.
Speaker 7 (43:45):
You know, we also have officers that go to
tuscaloosa and then they comeback you know the amount of new
officers do how many seniorofficers on hand, because that's
a brain drain issue.
Overall, you have people thatget a degree here and leave.
Speaker 6 (43:59):
Are you an officer get?
Speaker 7 (44:00):
experience at the cpd and leave I just spoke on that.
Speaker 6 (44:04):
I just spoke how many senior officers do you have?
Speaker 7 (44:07):
It seems like we have a brain drain issue.
Speaker 6 (44:09):
Answer it for me, because our whole command staff
are senior officers.
We have a lot of people withfive-year or more.
So what is your interpretationof a senior officer and how many
have you came in contact with?
Well, you said how many newofficers that we have.
Speaker 4 (44:26):
Everybody should have new officers, right what's
considered an experiencedofficer.
Speaker 6 (44:30):
You, you answer that.
You asking the question.
Speaker 1 (44:32):
I can't answer your question to kind of wrap things
up here, and I know this, thisquestion is going to be.
You know when, when you answer,mr johnson is going to be
outside looking in.
I want to start with youLooking from the inside, pierre
the current situation with thecouncil and the mayor and
(44:52):
getting things done in the city.
Not to say that there aren'tthings getting done, but it's
been pretty maligned how poorlythings are working together
between the administration andthe council.
Speaker 6 (45:06):
The administration may not work good at all.
May or may not.
When I became councilman, wewere at an $800,000 deficit.
We are at a $5, $6 millionsurplus.
Give or take.
Don't quote me on the numbers.
The council, the way that we'reset up, is strong council, weak
(45:29):
mayor.
Right, we got six people thatcollectively work hand in hand,
that try to make the business ofthe city better.
The city without the six of usthat was there this year, if all
of us had a part in enhancingthe city of Columbus.
The city of Columbus has growntremendously, despite what
(45:53):
people say.
You got businesses popping upevery day.
You got downtown that's growing, according to Ms Barbara
Bigelow that they're gettingcloser to capacity.
You got all of these differententities working and that are
growing, that are pushingColumbus forward.
But when it comes to ouradministration and getting along
(46:14):
, I feel like we got along great.
Speaker 1 (46:17):
OK, so you don't, you , you don't think anything needs
to, but what needs to improvefor better functionality next
term between among the counciland between the council?
Speaker 6 (46:26):
a better communication.
Better communication withoutwithout um violating the open
meeting act okay, how is thatachieved?
just basically in work sessions,different meetings, if the, the
person that we had in chargenow came up with these ideas to
not violate the Open MeetingsAct.
(46:47):
But when we get in thesemeetings and get in these public
meetings and public, where wecan talk about things and handle
things how we should handlefeelings, get involved, emotions
, get involved and to actuallybe a part of this and a part of
this.
Whatever going on government,that's one thing that you cannot
(47:08):
wear on your shoulders is yourfeelings and your emotions,
because things will be said thatyou may not agree on, things
will be said that you, thatthat's, that's your core value.
But somebody may say somethingand it hurts everything that you
ever thought about.
But if we're all here sayingthat we're working for the
betterment of the city ofColumbus, then we should all be
(47:31):
able to compromise, we shouldall be able to negotiate, we
should all be able to come to acommon ground to make the
citizens of Columbus feel likesomething good is being done.
But through this administrationwe've been attacked, we've been
all type of things been done toeach and every one of us on
that board, on that council, butat the end of the day, the city
(47:53):
of Columbia who's doing the?
Speaker 1 (47:55):
attacking.
Speaker 6 (47:56):
I wouldn't dare say their name on y'all's platform
shame the devil.
But what was I saying?
You made me mess up when youbrought those.
You brought those knuckleheadsnames up, but we're all if, if
that, if that would not havehappened, the city of columbus
(48:16):
would have crumbled because ofthe, the the main person that's,
that's in charge who came inthinking that they had all this
power from heaven and earth whenall they really needed to do
was try to communicate with thepeople.
Yes, you do day to dayoperation.
Yes, we are single individualslike this, but we talk to people
(48:39):
from all aspects of lifebecause we're actually out here
trying to to do the work, tryingto assist with the work, etc.
Speaker 3 (48:46):
Out here trying to do the work, trying to assist with
the work, et cetera.
Okay, you are listening toBetween the Headlines with Zach
and David.
Before we conclude ourinterview today, I would like to
put a plug in for the mayoralforum that will be on the 27th
of May.
Is that a Tuesday night or aThursday?
It's on the calendars at 6 pm.
I believe that's right.
(49:07):
Yes, Okay, and seating islimited.
So you do want to get aThursday?
It's on the calendars at 6 pm.
I believe that's right.
Yes, Okay, and seating islimited.
So you do want to get a ticket.
This is sponsored by both theLyceum at Lee and by the
Dispatch, no cost for the ticket.
But, like things go with that,we do want to have a head count
and I hope it'll be a goodshowing cdispatchcom slash forum
.
(49:27):
Do you guys have any predictions?
Will you be there?
Speaker 6 (49:30):
I got my two tickets.
Speaker 3 (49:32):
Who's going to win?
Speaker 6 (49:34):
Win.
What the debate?
Speaker 4 (49:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (49:39):
We should all go and find out.
Speaker 1 (49:41):
I think we should.
Who's going to win the election?
Speaker 6 (49:44):
You already know that .
Speaker 1 (49:46):
I know who you're supporting.
Well, you really don't.
Speaker 3 (49:50):
Speaking of that, I do have an interesting question
to you.
This is a matter of publicrecord.
At your address, there are 18registered voters listed on the
city roll.
You got 18 people staying atyour place.
Speaker 6 (50:05):
You know, when you said you were remodeling, my
grandmother, retired businessowner, 17 years, worked at UT,
one of the first women to everwork in factories out at United
Technologies in East Columbus.
Her house burned down in 2017,I want to say, and when she
rebuilt she added a bedroom anda bathroom.
(50:26):
My grandmother's blessed tohave a six bedroom, three
bathroom house.
My mother stays with her.
The same people that we are notspeaking of sent the ethics
commission to that house.
Speaker 1 (50:38):
And you're talking about ABC's, leslie.
Speaker 6 (50:40):
Sorrell.
The ethics commission came inthat house and called out every
name on that list.
You know where they came to thefront room.
This is not a small house.
Speaker 3 (50:52):
Okay.
Speaker 6 (50:52):
I have seven brothers and sisters of all voting age.
I'm the oldest.
Who do you think they stay withmy mom?
Speaker 3 (51:01):
Okay, that question's been answered In closing here.
Unless you have something, I'vegot one here.
I've got a little pet peeve ofmine.
Speaker 2 (51:15):
Lord yeah.
Speaker 3 (51:17):
Zach's gearing up for it.
Historically, Highway 82 hasbeen called a bypass.
Okay, I guess, because itoriginally bypassed downtown
Columbus.
It's not really a bypassbecause it goes right through
the middle of town.
Okay, Do you think that, as isin the case of many small towns
(51:40):
out there, that the building ofthat freeway kind of caused,
like, let's say, Waterworks Roadand areas like that to be
forgotten, simply becausethere's less traffic going
through there?
And then you know if, ifthere's something that's
blighted or a problem but nobodyreally really drives past it
(52:02):
and sees it, then it's lesslikely to get addressed?
You think that's part of it.
Speaker 6 (52:06):
No, I'm not going to say that, I'm not going to put
any emphasis on anything likethat.
What I'm going to say is thelack of things that happen in
any war not just war fordetermines the person that's in
in that position and whoever inthat position, whether if it's
me or if it's not me they haveto have a heart for the people,
(52:32):
they have to want to work forthe people because, like I said
before I got there, war four wasthe forgotten war.
Now, what all you hear peopletalk about pierre beard, ward
four and police.
Speaker 3 (52:38):
So war four is not forgotten in your hand, and hand
I got you.
Speaker 7 (52:41):
That's the problem, that's the.
That's the problem.
Speaker 6 (52:44):
I got perception I gotta get this in here you can't
have councilmen in thenewspaper, like that, and we
can't speak on personal people'sbusiness, because I can speak
on you, you're publicly electedAren't you a.
Republican?
Have you always been aRepublican?
You're publicly elected.
Speaker 4 (52:57):
Does your Facebook?
Speaker 2 (52:57):
show that you are a Republican from the past.
Speaker 7 (53:00):
What, okay, don't speak on.
I've been a Republican since2008.
Look, I've been in the Republicsince 2008.
Look, I'd like to clear it.
Don't speak on.
Speaker 6 (53:09):
Don't speak on Today marks the death of the GOP
Republicans and a new day forthe Affordable Care Act.
Remember Obamacare upheld theSupreme Court, so it is the law.
The more people signing forObamacare, the cheaper it gets.
I think the Republican Party isscared it may end up being free
.
Hmm, I can't let that happen.
How long will this continue?
(53:31):
How long will we continue?
How long will we continue tocelebrate?
How long will we continue tocelebrate 9-11?
That happened so long ago.
Get over it.
That's how you feel.
Speaker 4 (53:42):
And you were in the military.
Don't start with me sir.
Speaker 7 (53:46):
Have a great day.
What year was that?
Have a great day?
What year was that have a greatday?
What year was?
Speaker 1 (53:48):
that I think we're going to.
Speaker 7 (53:49):
All right, check this out.
Hold on, I would like to clearthis this man has said I'm not
from Columbus.
I'm born and raised in Columbus.
I don't know you.
That's why I I'm just pastHamilton called Lackey
Mississippi, I know.
Lackey Well my grandmother'smaiden name is Lackey and my
(54:10):
great-grandfather's buriedsomewhere out there.
I am a part of the dirt here.
I'm born and raised in Columbus.
Speaker 6 (54:19):
I left in the thousands.
Get your Republican running inthe blackest ward in the city.
That's right, that's right.
It tells me that he's a freethinker.
Speaker 2 (54:27):
My values are Republican.
Speaker 7 (54:28):
I'm a conservative, you know, you know.
The thing about that is, I wasinvited to be a Republican too,
by the.
Federation of Women.
Black people historically wereRepublican.
Speaker 2 (54:39):
You know I lean more towards that side sometimes
Robert Glee was a Republican.
Speaker 7 (54:42):
He hated the Democrats Conservative.
While we wrap up here, let'swrap this one, let's wrap it up.
Speaker 3 (54:48):
I've got Zach, I've just got to ask this question oh
.
Lord, which one of y'all aregoing to take a sump pump to
that swamp behind the old toiletseat factory?
Have you seen that between HuntSchool and that toilet seat
factory?
Speaker 6 (55:02):
I want to roll there.
Speaker 3 (55:03):
There's alligators out there, man.
Speaker 6 (55:05):
We're working on that now.
I've been talking with KevinStafford about seeing what we
can do with that area over there.
But that's something isn't it.
That's definitely like I mepersonally.
I'm so glad that y'all did this.
I want to thank y'all again fordoing this.
But, I feel like there isabsolutely something that needs
to happen from a city'sperspective so that we can start
(55:26):
getting you know more of whatwe're doing, so it won't look
like we're hiding or not doingthings within the city.
But every, every issue that Ican say that people bring up,
they are being honestly, they'rebeing looked at, they're being
addressed and I would say thatif I can try to do it before I,
before the election, beforewhatever happens, is to try to
(55:48):
get someone that can be more onthe inform.
We did have a PIO that we had,joe.
Speaker 1 (55:55):
Dillon.
Speaker 6 (55:56):
Joe Dillon was great about getting information out
and I feel like that's a void inour, in our administration, in
our, in our city, that we needto feel so we can get these
questions when people havedifferent issues like that,
because everybody needs to havea voice when it comes to city
government.
If they're paying taxes, ifthey're not paying taxes, if
they're homeless, if they have amental issue, whatever wrong
(56:17):
with them, if they're in thecity of Columbus, everybody
needs to have a voice and I willfix that.
Speaker 3 (56:22):
I want to thank both of you for coming in here today.
It does take a lot to putyourself out there, and so I
congratulate both of you forchoosing to do so.
We also thank our listeners forjoining us today.
Be sure to subscribe, share andrate, and send us your comments
.
We would love to hear what youwould like to say about this
interview here today.
Tips at cdispatchcom.
(56:44):
Again, that is tips atcdispatchcom.
You can also follow me onFacebook or x at dchism00.
All right, signing off untilnext week from Catfish Alley
Studio in historic downtownColumbus.
Your host has been Zach Playerand I'm David Chisholm.
Until next time, y'all keep itfriendly out there, and we will
(57:06):
do our best to keep it real inhere.
Speaker 2 (57:17):
Opinions expressed on this show are those of the
speakers and not necessarilythose of the Commercial Dispatch
.
From the opinion page of the Commercial Dispatch.
This is Between the Headlines.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
This is Peter Imes, publisher of the Dispatch.
One of our hosts of Between theHeadlines is the managing
editor of our newsroom.
Typically, we try to keep newsand opinions separate, but
reporters have a unique insightinto the workings of local
government and their analysiscan be helpful for readers and
listeners.
The Dispatch remains committedto journalistic integrity and
(00:37):
our reporting will alwaysreflect that.
And now Between the Headlines.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
This week, on Between the Headlines, we have an
exclusive interview with theWard 4 candidates, independent
incumbent, mr Pierre Beard andBobby Johnson.
God dang it, bobby.
Welcome.
Here you are on the ballot asRobert Johnson IV.
Gentlemen, I thank both of youfor being here.
Before we get to the interview,let's hear a word from our
(01:06):
sponsors.
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And now a message frompolitical candidate Bill Strauss
.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
This is Bill Strauss, your 2025 candidate for mayor
of Columbus.
As election time draws near,ask yourself are you satisfied
with our city leadership?
What has been done to eliminateour flooding issues?
What has been done to eliminateour housing blight?
Are our streets safe?
Why have we not kept up withWest Point, starkville and
Tupelo?
We must have new leadership.
(01:58):
Out with the old and in withthe new.
Elect Bill Strauss, your newmayor.
Paid for by campaign to electBill Strauss mayor 2025.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
And now a message from political candidate Jason
Spears.
Speaker 5 (02:12):
Hello, I am Jason Spears, your Republican
candidate for City Council, ward6.
I am grateful for the citizensof Ward 6 support in the primary
and respectfully requesteveryone's continued support in
the upcoming general election.
It is time to restore fiscalresponsibility, economic growth
and optimism back to our city.
I, like you, believe we can getback on track and know that, as
(02:32):
a community, we're going tomake it happen.
I approve this message and, onJune 3rd, vote Jason Spears for
Ward 6.
Paid for by the campaign toelect Jason Spears, ward 6.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
All right, you are listening to Between the
Headlines with managing editorof the Commercial Dispatch, mr
Zach Player, and my name isDavid Chisholm.
In the studio today we have MrPierre Beard and Bobby Johnson.
Welcome, fellas.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Welcome.
Thank you all for coming.
I appreciate being here.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
Very much glad you are here.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
And we did invite Ms LaVon Harris, the Democratic
candidate in this race, and shesends our regrets.
Work obligations kept her fromattending, so I'm just going to
jump right in and also throwjust a little bit of friendly
shade at my co-host herecandidate forum at his
(03:23):
conference room that got live onFacebook with Republican
candidates for counsel,including Mr Johnson, here Now.
Mr Johnson didn't say this, MrChisholm did.
He characterized Ward 4 as awar zone and I want to start
with you, Pierre.
How does that hit you?
What do you think about thatkind of rhetoric and how would
(03:44):
you characterize your ward rightnow from a health and safety
standpoint?
Speaker 6 (03:48):
It's most definitely not a war zone.
I mean, I guess when you saywar zone, you look at
destruction, but when you lookat Ward 4, you look at
progression, you look at thingsthat don't look nowhere near how
it looked six years ago when Ifirst got there.
So we can go ahead and, youknow, delete that rhetoric.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
Can you give some examples of things that?
Speaker 6 (04:12):
have improved.
Example of things that haveimproved I have 85 percent of my
roads in my ward main roads,the largest percentage of roads
in the ward paved of roads inthe war paved.
As far as dilapidated housesbecause I heard that was a major
issue that dilapidated housesare becoming more so involved in
a program, a federal program,with George Irby who's now
(04:35):
purchasing those homes, in theprocess of purchasing those
homes to rebuild those homes andstarting some type of first
homeowner buyership program.
These are things that arealready in the work.
As far as people taking prideback in their home, you know,
just pride back in their garden,in their yard, keeping their
yard maintained, own complaintsand fixing issues like keeping
(05:03):
the gutters cleaned and keepingthe drains, the leaves and
different things graded off,cleaned off, so it's more so as
a pride thing.
That's coming back into war, forwhat I call the forgotten war.
We got the multi-milliondollars, different grants going
into the watershed issue to fixthat flooding issue.
(05:26):
You know, since I was a child,people always talk about
flooding in Ward 4.
Well, whether I'm there or not,that issue is going to be
resolved 3.4 million give ortake grant that was approved
through Neal Schaefer, plus themillion dollar match that.
We did Speak with our CFO whosaid we had the money in reserve
to match that.
We did speak with our CFO whosaid we had the, the, the money
in reserve to to match that, tomatch that grant.
(05:47):
So war, for, like I say, mymotto is a progressive roar.
It has progressed.
People taking pride back intheir things, people taking, you
know, they just feel included.
Okay, is that?
Speaker 7 (05:59):
how you see it, mr Johnson?
Absolutely not.
Um, no-transcript.
(06:31):
The whole of Columbus is prettymuch a forest.
Even the antebellum homes, themagnolia trees, are overgrown.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
An overgrown war zone .
Speaker 7 (06:51):
I'd probably say um so trees trees against houses,
trees that are just too big.
Yes, we call the city ofcolumbus.
If you go to any other city,you won't see as many overgrown
trees as close to structureshere.
Speaker 6 (07:01):
Uh, in that, in these places, so is that a city issue
or a homeowner issue?
Uh, it's a little bit of bothhow is that a city issue or a
homeowner issue?
Speaker 7 (07:08):
It's a little bit of both.
How is it a city issue?
Well, if you look at SanfieldCemetery, it's overgrown.
Speaker 6 (07:16):
It's been overgrown for before we were born, all of
it.
The historical side ismaintained by the city, but the
other side has private ownership.
Speaker 7 (07:23):
The historical figure Robert Glee.
Speaker 6 (07:25):
So there would be a liability if the city would go
in and do something to privateownership.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Unless, it violates code.
Speaker 7 (07:31):
Exactly.
Speaker 6 (07:33):
Private ownership.
Speaker 7 (07:34):
Are we saying that the cemetery is privately owned?
The cemetery is privately owned.
Speaker 6 (07:40):
The owner of the cemetery receives money to bury.
However many bodies they buryover there.
I have a question.
Speaker 7 (07:47):
There's two sides of the street.
Right you got Sanfield, themain area, and then you got
Fresh Graves being put on theother side.
Speaker 6 (07:53):
Are they owned by the same people?
No, they're not owned by thesame people.
The city owns the historic sideof it.
Speaker 7 (07:59):
Okay, how long have they owned that?
Speaker 6 (08:02):
I don't know when we had our discussion.
I told you that that cemeterywas moved into Ward 4 through
redistricting.
Speaker 7 (08:10):
Up until Kentucky it had been taken care of.
Speaker 6 (08:12):
I can't control what happens in someone else's ward,
but once it comes into my ward,then I have full disclosure and
discretion to do what.
Speaker 7 (08:19):
I can see how long has Sanfield been in the 4th
Ward.
It just got in there this yearthrough redistricting, because
that's one of the reasons whyI'm running sir, because I asked
you about Sanfield and youcouldn't tell me whether it was
in there.
Speaker 6 (08:30):
So let's put this out .
You told me that you wouldsupport me.
You told me that you would helpme.
Speaker 7 (08:34):
I did not say that.
Speaker 6 (08:35):
Yes, you did.
I got the text message so I cango through the show Support you
, and then we had a conversationpertaining to Pros.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Park.
We had a conversationpertaining to no sir, you called
me.
Speaker 6 (08:48):
I have all the text messages.
Speaker 7 (08:49):
You called me.
I have every last text message.
Stephen Jones gave you mynumber, mr Johnson, mr.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Johnson.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
I want to jump in here.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Mr Johnson, you did, and we've talked about this.
I think we talked about itseveral times during this
process.
You jumped in the race, thenyou got out of the race and when
we talked about it you said youdidn't feel like you were ready
at that time.
And then you jumped back intothe race, saying that you had
talked to some of the othercandidates I guess including Mr
(09:18):
Beard, mr Turner, ms Harris anddecided no, I think I am going
to run, explain kind of whathappened there and why you made
the decision that you made.
Speaker 7 (09:29):
These people called me, marty Turner called me,
pierre Beard called me.
I reached out to Stephen Jones.
My mother was a fan of StephenJones.
Rest in peace, stephen Jones.
After I had told him that I wasgoing to run and started asking
questions about what I wantedto do, I said I could probably
(09:52):
do this as a private citizen.
Just get behind the candidatewho wanted to champion my issues
.
At that point, stephen Jonesgave Pierre Beard my number and
he called me.
That's why, when I answered thephone, I was confused as to why
you reached out.
(10:13):
I was not a fan of you, whichis totally fine.
Speaker 6 (10:18):
You don't have to be.
There's a lot of people notfans of me.
But, like I stated, since we'regoing to go to the beginning of
the conversation, yes, I didreach out to you and I told you.
I said Stephen Jones told me tocall you.
You said I don't know what that, what was that about?
And what did I tell you?
I said I don't know either, butI'm just doing what I was asked
to do.
Do you have any issues orconcerns or what's going on?
(10:38):
And then you went on a list anda rant of different things that
you had going on.
And what did I tell you?
I said well, I can help you tothe best of my ability.
Then you asked about Pros Park.
And then I told you that we hadthat Pros Park meeting at the
Trotter that the county and thecity had did together.
Then you called me back afterthat because I invited you there
.
And then you called me back andwhat did you say?
Speaker 7 (11:09):
You said that's not the meeting that I was thinking
about rewind.
Speaker 6 (11:11):
Then you ask why they're not.
Speaker 7 (11:11):
Let's talk.
Let's talk about pros parkyou're coming to.
I'm trying to explain to you,sir.
One of the one of the things Iasked you in that first
conversation is why doesn't prospark have a basketball court?
Because the local residents areasking for a basketball court
and they ask and then, what isit?
Speaker 6 (11:21):
what was my?
Speaker 7 (11:22):
pickleball.
I don't have anything againstpickleball, I said the design
was not made for basketball.
Speaker 6 (11:28):
The design that they put was for softball and
baseball.
I said Pros Park was notdesigned to be a basketball
center.
Did I not say that it's a park?
Did I?
Did I not say that to you?
It's a park.
So the money that we put intoand you know what?
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Do you remember what I said to that?
Speaker 6 (11:42):
Money that we put into, and you know what Do you
remember what I said to that yousaid good luck.
You said thank you and goodluck Absolutely not.
And then you went andregistered the next day.
Speaker 7 (11:50):
I said the sport of baseball, the sport of
pickleball, it requires aninvestment from the people
playing with it.
I said the barrier to entry forbasketball is lower.
Just grab a ball, you can goout there and play by yourself.
Now, in order to play baseball,you got to have other people,
you got to have equipment, yougot to have.
(12:11):
And the same thing withpickleball.
I said if you were thinkingabout the residents, you'd
consider a sport with a lowbarrier to entry.
Speaker 6 (12:21):
Pickleball was something that the citizens of
Columbus wanted in Pros Parts.
That's nothing that we wanted.
Did you walk the neighborhood?
Speaker 7 (12:29):
around there.
Those were the people who wouldbe visiting the park, the
people of Columbus did a survey.
Speaker 6 (12:35):
I don't think you were here at the time because
you're not from here.
Speaker 7 (12:38):
Well, you're originally from here, but I
think you were out of town.
Speaker 6 (12:40):
Hold on, hold, on hold on Hold on, let on hold on,
but the people Hold on.
Speaker 7 (12:43):
let me jump in here.
I'm born and raised here.
I'm born and raised here.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Let's jump in here and change the subject a little
bit.
Kermagee site in Ward 4, that'ssomething that has come up a
lot.
Mr Beard, you've had some ofthe pine yard for redevelopment
(13:15):
so you have continued to saynothing goes on there until it's
all clean.
Why?
Speaker 6 (13:23):
This is the same EPA that tested this site not once,
not twice, but three timesbefore they discovered that
something was chemicallyimbalanced over there.
This is the same EPA that'ssaying that they cleaned off 22
acres of land with no cap, withnothing to block it from
(13:45):
contaminated land.
So you're telling me that ifyou put clean land and dirty
contaminated land side by sidewith no cap, that the rain,
weather, all of that things arenot pushing that chemical?
Speaker 1 (14:02):
So what do you want to see happen over there?
Speaker 6 (14:04):
The only thing that I can see going over there was a
solar farm and I made clear ofthat to cut down costs on
utilities.
In that aspect, on whoever, Idon't feel like the land is able
to be developed.
But I don't work, for I'm not achemist either.
But this is just going off ofcommon, my personal common sense
(14:25):
, and we're talking with peoplethat that that contamination has
hurt, harm and killed peoplefor so many years and whether
just taking a chance and saying,hey, this is clean and let's
put this over here, and 50 yearslater we got this major thing
going on yet again.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
Well, what about the residents that live around that?
Speaker 6 (14:44):
area.
They don't want it.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Well, I mean, should they be there?
I mean hearing what you'resaying.
Shouldn't they be encouragedthrough public program to go
somewhere else?
Speaker 6 (14:58):
Of some type of form, shape and fashion.
Yes, I feel like that.
And fashion, yes, I feel likethat, but the the way that the
epa saying it is the chemical isnot as strong in these
neighborhoods.
But the chemical has flownbecause of the, the way that the
chemical was being, you know,produced, has flown from north
side to south side.
(15:18):
It had traces over there orwherever they have traces.
Then you got the water that'spushing these chemicals.
So, yes, I mean the entireColumbus may be contaminated.
Who knows?
Let me ask you.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
this Mayoral candidate, Darren Leach, has
kind of made this his hobbyhorse for quite some time and
he's ready to do something outthere.
Do you think that he's actingin bad faith or do you think
that he's naive in trusting thecurrent data that's out there?
Speaker 6 (15:45):
I can't speak for his personal beliefs, but from a
professional standpoint Ihonestly feel if all of that
land is not clean, nothingshould go over there, and
somebody that goes home to cleanland should not be too much
focused on placing something oncontaminated land without the
(16:09):
full understanding and the fullknowledge.
Look at what, what justhappened with the epa.
A lot of those people losttheir jobs.
So who, who, who, who can werely?
Speaker 3 (16:18):
on now that a lot of those people lost their jobs
because of an abundance of waste, fraud, fraud and abuse on the
federal level.
There was an ungodly amount ofmoney spent per lot I would say
in many cases more than the lotswere actually worth to dig out
tons and tons of dirt, haul itto wherever they put it and
(16:42):
bring in fresh dirt.
Was that a waste?
Speaker 6 (16:47):
No, that's something that I can't speak on because,
like I said, I'm not involved inthe in the chemistry aspect of
that.
I only know what I see at facevalue.
What they show us and whatthey're showing us is 22 acres
of land is clean, but they'renot showing is the contamination
flowing.
I, when I go to these CAGmeetings that Darren Leach hosts
(17:10):
at his church, I ask thesequestions but never can get a
clear answer, never can get aclear understanding.
So if I'm the councilmanrepresenting that district,
representing that ward, and Ican't get a clear understanding
on what's going on with thechemical imbalances and things
in this land, then no, nothingshould never go over there.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
I think one thing that you and I have in common is
we have a healthy distrust ofgovernment.
And you know one thing that Ican tell you from a historical
perspective you know, when I wasa teenager and I would drive
down 14th Avenue, the stench wasvery strong.
I played in it, it was awfuland so.
(17:49):
But now you don't.
You don't smell anything, Imean just from a from the looks
of it.
You know, I made the joke thatI would eat chicken spaghetti
off of the gravel out there just, it does not look um to me like
a contaminated site.
And we're just at one point.
At what point do we say, hey,let's, let's trust at least some
(18:12):
of the data?
I just it's just.
I don't see any problem withputting something there, a road.
Speaker 7 (18:18):
A road okay.
A road, like I want to continueMLK all the way to 7th Avenue,
but the only obstruction okay,my mother's buried in Union
Cemetery, which is straightahead, straight ahead.
So right there at the end, uh,with a railroad track and
Sanderson plumbing meets, Ithink we could put a road
straight right through there toavoid that train, safely, avoid
(18:39):
the train.
That train is an obstruction.
That's something that we coulddo with that.
That that area Solar.
I like solar panels, we canagree on that.
But at the same time, uh, I'mlooking at other people's solar
panel capacity.
If you go out towards WestPoint, you got about two sides
of the road a square mile ofnothing but solar panels.
(19:02):
And I'm thinking, if that muchsolar capacity is used for for
Clay County, that little smallarea of of Kerr-McGee is not
going to be enough to supply theentire Columbus.
I would like those solar panelsto to supply that solar energy
to lower the cost of the peoplein that area affected by the
(19:25):
contaminant To your point.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
I'm looking back at the grant that was um applied
for, uh, against the citycouncil's wishes.
Let me ask you, pierre, do youthink the council pissed in the
whiskey by turning down thatgrant money?
I do not, okay.
But at the same time you didsay you were in favor of having
solar panels out there right nowto be clear they, they did.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
I mean it was retroactively.
Speaker 6 (19:53):
They, they've agreed to accept the grant if they, if
they receive it we did agree to,we didn't go through all the
whatever to cancel it.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
Stop it just so it's still a possibility then.
Yes, that's a good thing you'relistening to between the
headlines.
We've got to come.
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Speaker 1 (21:21):
Councilman Beard.
I want to jump back in here andtalk about something that has
come up during the last termseveral times, especially in the
last couple of years, and it'scome up in the campaign when
citizens are talking, when youropponents are referring to you.
They're talking about yourarrests, one, what's going on?
(21:49):
And how do you I guess, how doyou respond to concerns from
from citizens that CouncilmanBeard and individual Beard maybe
behaves differently?
Speaker 6 (22:03):
I can tell everybody to take it away.
And what do you have If youtake that away?
What do you have?
That's all you can say.
That's one.
Two I was a strong supporter ofInitiative 65A medical
marijuana in the state ofMississippi, of which it passed
astronomically in Columbus andLyons County.
I need to go get my med card.
(22:25):
I have seizures.
Speaker 7 (22:27):
Diagnosed with seizures.
But you crossed that state lineand you're in trouble.
Speaker 6 (22:32):
And I need to go get my med card.
That's that.
Third, your Republicanpresident has had how many
felonies against him?
That's life.
People are dealing with it.
It happens.
Move on from it.
(22:52):
Accept it.
Learn from.
Move on from it.
Accept it.
Speaker 7 (22:57):
Learn from it and keep going.
I don't want to interrupt.
Speaker 6 (22:58):
I'm sorry you can't interrupt about my personal life
.
Speaker 7 (23:01):
So make sure you're interrupting about something
else.
You know what, go ahead.
Thank you, I'm sorry.
Speaker 6 (23:07):
And that's all I got to say about it.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
So I mean people who are concerned about that
behavior, you or those arreststhere's.
Speaker 6 (23:16):
Has it stopped them from getting limbs picked up
when they call?
Ok, has it stopped them from?
What has it stopped them fromreceiving?
It has not affected Ward 4 atall.
It's affected me.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
It has taken a toll on me in my life.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
You cannot speak on my personal life.
How has it taken a toll?
Speaker 6 (23:32):
on me in my life.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
You cannot speak on my personal life well, how is it
taking a, how is it taking atoll on?
Speaker 7 (23:37):
you, your arrest record, have nothing to do with
each other.
Speaker 6 (23:40):
Exactly, you just made my point valid, but I'm
telling you just made my pointvalid no, you, you just made the
point that I said that theydon't have absolutely anything
to do with each other.
Valid, you just?
Speaker 7 (23:52):
did that columbus.
Columbus has a perception andit's not a good one.
When I was working a while backin aberdeen uh, someone asked
me where you from I saidcolumbus, oh, kill umbus, kill
umbus.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
I was like, yeah, listen that kind of talk is
about every town you knowTuscaloosa has Holt, jackson has
Jackson and Columbus has Ward 4.
Okay, I hope that you're right.
I hope that Ward 4 is on theverge of a renaissance and
(24:29):
turning itself around, but Istand behind what I believe to
look like a war zone currently.
Now let me talk about thatbriefly when I say that I really
see three things there.
I see poverty.
A lot of that is things thatyou know.
(24:49):
It's in education, it's statelevel issues.
It's poverty, it's a education,it's state-level issues.
It's poverty, it's a problem.
Another thing is mental health.
I see people walking around.
They're talking to themselvesand they're not talking
pleasantly.
They're angry about somethingand I worry about those people
and I think a lot of it.
Thirdly, is drug-related.
(25:10):
So you've got these threethings working against Ward 4
and it's not exclusive to them.
Speaker 6 (25:16):
Those three things are in all six wards.
Speaker 3 (25:18):
They are.
You're exactly right.
Do either of y'all have anyplans to help with those issues
that I've mentioned there?
Speaker 6 (25:26):
Well, with the homelessness.
You have the Homeless Coalitionthat's been moved into ward
four after redistricting.
It's on airline.
So we got the homelesscoalition that's already working
on aspects and getting peoplewith help with homelessness.
You got the community outreachdepartment with the police
department and with the citythat's been helping with issues
(25:47):
of homelessness.
But, as stated and has beenreported several times, some of
these people just don't wanthelp.
Some of these people are, are,are, are, I guess I could say,
comfortable with with their,with their, with their living,
dwellings and stuff like.
And with people like that, howcan you make them?
You can't make anybody doanything.
(26:09):
You can give them resources,you can educate them or inform
them on what's going on, but ithas to be for them to accept
those things.
When it comes to that, they'renot harming anybody, they're not
bothering anybody, they're notdoing absolutely anything to
anybody.
That's just their preference.
And whatever happened in theirlife, like if something was to
(26:32):
happen in either of our lives inhere, whatever we feel like our
preference would be, that'swhat.
That's just what happens.
But there are resources outthere for homelessness.
In Columbus there has been anuptick in that, not only in
Columbus but in the entire stateand in the entire world.
I mean, that's that when itcomes to that.
As far as the other two, canyou state the other two again?
Speaker 3 (26:54):
Well, I mentioned mental health and I think that,
in terms of the health ofMississippi, mental health is a
very big issue.
And I think that it's.
We are way behind other stateswhen it comes to that.
I hope something that can bedone.
But I mean, at the same time,look at, we were talking about
certain neighborhoods East StLouis, missouri, no, east St
(27:17):
Louis, illinois.
It's right across the riverfrom St Louis, probably one of
the most dangerous neighborhoodsin America.
The cops will tell you to runthe stop signs.
Do not stop there.
I can't tell you how manyfederal dollars have been poured
in there.
Money is not always the answer,right, but um d, are you guys
(27:39):
willing to make the phone callsand and and look up the grants
and see what help is available,to just just lift ward four out
of the mire?
And look, I'm not saying thisdisparagingly, because these are
, because it's all wards yeah,it's all wards right.
It seems to be a little moreconcentrated there.
Um, what kind of lobbying doyou have on your agendas?
Speaker 6 (28:03):
I mean we we hired susan wilder, who's an excellent
grant writer, I may add, who'sbeen doing a great job.
I can actually get with her ifshe's not already looking for
these type of, already lookingfor these type of actively
looking for these type of things.
She's actively searching andlooking for different grants in
our city that can help with allof those things that you noted.
And when it comes to mentalillness, I can brag on the
(28:24):
Columbus Police Departmentthat's a training, mit training
that they have 10 officers rightnow certified to assist with
mental issue calls that arecoming through, of which they
have been proactively doing thatwith the attempted suicide that
we had and the different thingsthat we've been having going on
(28:44):
.
So all of these things that youare focusing on, are speaking
about, are issues that arealready being attacked, are
issues that people are alreadyworking on, people that the
embattled Ward 4 Councilman hasbeen talking to, people to
already do these things.
So when you speak about allthese things, like I say, make
(29:05):
sure you speak about them in allwars, especially in Ward 6 and
in Ward 3, because Ward 3consists of East Columbus and I
see the same thing over thereand in Ward 6, it happens there
too.
So let's not just you knowwe're here talking about Ward 4.
But when we talk about theseissues, let's make sure that we
are saying that these issues arecity and the crime that is
(29:25):
happening within Columbus.
This is not organized crime.
This is not crime that oh myGod, I, I'm gonna go outside and
shoot me 13 people todaydomestic stuff.
This is not that.
This is things that's out ofour control.
This is stuff that's going onwithin people, homes that once
the law is involved, then theytake an action to to solve these
things.
But this is when the, when the,when the, when the ratings and
(29:48):
when the, when the, when the um,when the.
You know what I'm trying to saythe stats, the stats come out.
When all of that stuff come out, like they say, it's a decline
in crime, not only in the citybut in the county as well.
But then when you put thatinformation out, that crime is
declining in the city and inLyles County, you have people
(30:09):
that say, well, the city ishiding their data, the city is
not reporting all their data,while praising the county.
Speaker 3 (30:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (30:16):
But these are two entities that should work hand
in hand.
They should, all of us shouldbe working hand in hand.
All of us that are elected havetaken an oath to all working
hand in hand and we should allbe on the same goal, regardless
of party affiliation.
That's why I never chose theparty, because you have this
side doing this and you got thatside doing that.
(30:36):
I can see both sides, I canhear from all aspects and that's
why I was elected well, let me.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
Let me jump in here, pierre, because one of the
things that even the chief hassaid uh and and yes, uh, the
statistics seem to show thatcrime is going down, not only
locally and in the county, butnationwide.
Violent crime is trending down.
But one thing that even thechief has said is a large
(31:08):
portion of what's going on inthe news cycle.
He keeps characterizing it asthe same handful of knuckleheads
that are going around everyward, shooting in the air,
shooting at houses, shooting atcars, and sometimes are getting
caught, sometimes are not.
Speaker 3 (31:26):
Or they may not be adjudicated.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
Well, what resources do the police need?
What does the city council needto do to, you know, mitigate
the thing that your chief saysis aggravating the public the
most about crime right now?
Speaker 6 (31:42):
Well, you, know I'm a major supporter of Columbus
Police Department.
Shout out to our chief, who'sthe chief of all chiefs of
Mississippi.
But to get that underhand, wehave the NOLA cameras.
We have all of these camerasystems that we have, but we
don't have anybody activelywatching them.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
Yes we have.
Speaker 6 (32:00):
NOLA.
Don't say that I can't say thatwe have NOLA, the people in New
Orleans, the people that we arebuying the cameras from.
Yes, they are monitoring them.
So let me back up and say wehave no one locally that is
watching them.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
Y'all don't have the screen room with the three
people that are rotating.
Speaker 4 (32:18):
That's right.
Speaker 6 (32:19):
That's why we're advertising for a petitioning to
the people for the legislator,for a crime center.
But once reelected I want to.
During budgeting season, I wantto get a figure out, a way that
we can get at least twocertified officers to be
monitoring our cameras herelocally.
(32:41):
That's the goal for the.
To the camera thing because wehave a camera.
If a gunshot go off, the camerazooms directly to where that's
half.
If we have someone that'sactively sitting in front of
that, then they can activelycall in and say this is where it
going.
The little a minute 30 seconds,however long it takes for them
to call and get somebody at theactual facility.
(33:03):
That can be however long thatwe already had.
Speaker 3 (33:06):
But the technology of the camera.
Here's the gunshot and it zoomsdirectly to that area.
Speaker 6 (33:12):
That's a good thing, Is that enough, Bobby?
Speaker 1 (33:16):
How do we intervene to where the crime maybe isn't
happening as much to begin with?
Speaker 7 (33:22):
Mr Beard wants officers watching the cameras,
but he has an officer retentionissue.
Speaker 6 (33:30):
We're at 49 staff capacity.
We're budgeted for 55.
Speaker 7 (33:34):
So if we've lost if we've lost so many officers,
then a lot of new fresh officers, and I'm glad I'm glad that we
have new certified officers inthe city of Columbus Mr Beard
let, Mr Johnson respond.
I'm glad, as I said the nightbefore, the shot spotter is a
(33:54):
good thing.
If a shot spotter picks up ashot, it should be an officer en
route to that area before 911is called.
I've called 911 before afterhearing a gunshot, but this is
after I saw a news report of agentleman.
(34:15):
He was shot dead in his ownhome.
People in the surrounding areaheard the gunshot but did not
call.
Now I hate.
I'd hate to be in that positionbeing shot and no one called
the police.
Now every time I hear a gunshotI want to to call 911, which is
the proper response.
The police need tools.
(34:36):
Shot spotter would be excellent.
We talk about federal grants toget that kind of stuff.
I'm in support of every kind oflaw enforcement grant possible.
We need more money to ourofficers.
We need more money to ourofficers.
I'd also like to solve ourofficer retention thing that
we've had in the past beforegetting so many new officers.
(34:57):
I am totally in support ofincreasing the officers pay.
I want the Columbus PoliceDepartment's officers to have
the highest pay in the GoldenTriangle.
That way that allow us to hireHigher, slow and fire fast.
You know what I'm saying?
(35:18):
It to put the power back in ourhands instead of all of our
officers going to the LowndesCounty Police Department.
Speaker 3 (35:27):
Yeah, I'm 100 percent on the law enforcement side.
I have no opinions of howthings are being done now
because I don't know thesituation.
Are you as optimistic as youropponent?
Is that the tides are turningand things are improving both
optically and in terms of crime?
Speaker 7 (35:49):
No, I feel like you could be complacent.
You could think things are goodand all of a sudden it's not.
I think their uh, perfection isongoing.
Perfection is evolution.
You always have to worry aboutthe next thing maintenance is
ongoing.
Uh, this is the thing that, ifyou look at it administratively
(36:11):
there uh, jason Spears talksabout the vulnerabilities and
the levers that you can pull onan operation you got to know
your soft spots, the sensitiveareas, and in the recipe for
maintaining a city, you havemaintenance.
You got overgrowth.
(36:32):
You a city, you havemaintenance, you got overgrowth.
You got crime, you gotpopulation growth.
You know what I mean.
All these things to worry aboutis proper maintenance.
That goes into this.
The police are something thatyou need to continue to allow to
get better, more technology toour police, more weaponry.
(36:53):
I don't want to militarize ourpolice force, but they need the
latest, updated tools.
Speaker 1 (37:01):
Right, I want to jump in here.
Everything that y'all havetalked about has been deterrence
and enforcement.
Everybody that is on the ballotat one point or another has
mentioned youth intervention toprevent these types of things,
(37:22):
to prevent the handful ofknuckleheads from, you know,
going to jail or going to juvie.
The question for both of youguys is what does that look like
practically, and what can thecity actually do for that?
Speaker 7 (37:37):
Youth employment.
I want to make a way for theseyoung people to make money,
because I've had young peopleknock on my door hey, you got
work for me, you got some leaves, you got a yard I can mow.
I feel like if we could helpthese young people put money in
their pocket, I think they'dstay out of trouble.
(37:58):
What about you, mr bear?
Speaker 3 (38:03):
he nodded toward Bobby.
I think he agrees with thatparticular sentiment.
Speaker 6 (38:07):
Maybe all I can say is, when it comes to all of this
thing, people on the outsidelooking in don't have an earthly
idea.
If they were so invested onwhat's going on in our community
, they should be invested onwhat you guys report in the news
about the community.
As far as the Columbus policedepartment because he did state
that Columbus police departmentthey just got a raise.
Speaker 7 (38:29):
And this is a raise that the chief of police asked
for himself.
Speaker 6 (38:30):
I want him to get another one.
The entire city of Columbus hasmoved up to $15 an hour minimum
wage of something that I foughthard for.
For all of these things, withthe help of my colleagues the
ones that did approve of it,I've been fighting for city
workers.
I've been fighting for thepolice department fire
department.
Since I got here 2017, I wasn'teven a councilman.
I took to the current mayor aprogram about hiring homegrown
(38:54):
police officers.
That's why I'm so proud aboutthese young officers, because
people are taking an interest inbeing a police officer,
something that is frowned uponat this day and time.
So anybody that's wanting to bea public servant by police or
fire, I applaud them to theutmost and whatever it takes.
(39:14):
I'm actively every day talkingto the chief and talking to our
CFO about raising the pay, notjust for the police department,
before our entire department.
When it comes to the youthpublic work, public works has a
program that goes on during thesummer.
The Columbus Park and Rec has aprogram that goes on during the
summer that we just put moremoney into to hire more people
(39:38):
to be down there.
So these things are already inplace.
So I guess, as far as a city,the promotion of these things I
could take the fall for, andthat's just me being here on
behalf of the city.
But all of these things thatyou speak of are already in
place.
It may be that we are notperforming well enough with the
(40:00):
pushing the things out to thepeople to know that these things
are going on.
And you say, every time you hearabout a gunshot or something in
your neighborhood, that that'syour right as a human being.
If someone is shooting aroundyour house or you hear gunshots
anywhere, that you should call9-1-1.
Me being a councilman, everytime I hear shots I call 9-1-1.
(40:23):
The last time I heard shots andcalled 9-1-1, they called me
back and told me that theypicked up someone on Shady
Street.
That's where the shots werecoming from.
So I don't know if that's thesame time that you were scared
to call 9-1-1 or you didn't call9-1-1.
Speaker 7 (40:36):
Hold on, you, said he did call 9-1-1.
Speaker 2 (40:38):
Oh, you did OK, I'm sorry.
Speaker 6 (40:39):
I had tuned out a little bit.
I do apologize for that, butbut they do they do report if
someone calls.
And I stress that at everymeeting that I go to, because I
hear constituents always saythat well, we call 911 and the
police never come.
Well, the police has to comeanytime they are dispatched.
If you do not see them, thatcan be a different thing.
(41:02):
But, like I called, and when Icalled I said I heard shots on
Shady Street Street.
They called me back and saidthe shots were not on Shady
Street, they were on Moss Street.
So I would not see them if theywere to come to Shady Street
because they went where, to MossStreet.
So if you call or someone callsand says, well, I call, well, do
(41:23):
you want the police to come toyour home and talk to you?
That's something that you haveto let them know.
And also, dispatch is not ranby the city, dispatch is ran by
the county.
That's one of the things aboutthe officer retention.
People lose, people quit jobsevery day.
I mean every day.
People walk off jobs every daywhen it comes to officer
(41:45):
officers.
At Columbus Police Departmentwe are at the highs that we have
probably been in a while atthis current moment in time and
we got five more officers thatare about to go to the academy
now, but pierre, let me jump inhere because the city used to be
uh, I want to say that the cityused to be budgeted for 70
officers at one time.
Speaker 1 (42:05):
And so the standard for what is capacity has
actually lowered by 15, andy'all still aren't meeting it.
Other cities are I mean they'restill dealing with turnover,
but other cities in the GoldenTriangle are staying closer to
capacity more often.
Y'all have been in the 30srecently.
Speaker 6 (42:25):
And we're not there now, thank God.
Speaker 1 (42:28):
Right, but I mean, how do you keep it from going
back?
Speaker 6 (42:29):
but and with those statistics that being given and
a report came in that crime isdeclining, I feel like those two
can actually cancel each otherout.
But in the next budgeting cycle, like I stated how, how
supportive I am of the policedepartment, I would like to
raise the pay, I would like toincrease the budgeted limit for
(42:53):
officers.
Like I said, we have five thatare about to get ready to go and
that'll take us up to 52, Iwant to say Okay.
Speaker 1 (43:00):
So if you raise it to 60, though, and y'all still
bandy between 44 and 52 for thatentire budget year.
I mean, what's the point ofraising it to?
Speaker 6 (43:10):
60?
.
That's why we should activelystart back recruiting like
they've been doing.
Keep recruiting.
We got old officers that usedto be officers coming back.
Speaker 1 (43:20):
I know that there are fire departments in other areas
that are doing the same kind ofthing.
Speaker 6 (43:23):
We got people that once they leave here we're
putting things in place.
Once you come here, you have acontract you have to sign.
Now you have to stay for somany years because you're not
going to get us.
Let us train you and then justleave and go somewhere else.
So now we're putting things inplace to retain these officers,
to keep them here.
But we also have officers thatgo to the county that you spoke
of and then they come back.
Speaker 7 (43:45):
You know, we also have officers that go to
tuscaloosa and then they comeback you know the amount of new
officers do how many seniorofficers on hand, because that's
a brain drain issue.
Overall, you have people thatget a degree here and leave.
Speaker 6 (43:59):
Are you an officer get?
Speaker 7 (44:00):
experience at the cpd and leave I just spoke on that.
Speaker 6 (44:04):
I just spoke how many senior officers do you have?
Speaker 7 (44:07):
It seems like we have a brain drain issue.
Speaker 6 (44:09):
Answer it for me, because our whole command staff
are senior officers.
We have a lot of people withfive-year or more.
So what is your interpretationof a senior officer and how many
have you came in contact with?
Well, you said how many newofficers that we have.
Speaker 4 (44:26):
Everybody should have new officers, right what's
considered an experiencedofficer.
Speaker 6 (44:30):
You, you answer that.
You asking the question.
Speaker 1 (44:32):
I can't answer your question to kind of wrap things
up here, and I know this, thisquestion is going to be.
You know when, when you answer,mr johnson is going to be
outside looking in.
I want to start with youLooking from the inside, pierre
the current situation with thecouncil and the mayor and
(44:52):
getting things done in the city.
Not to say that there aren'tthings getting done, but it's
been pretty maligned how poorlythings are working together
between the administration andthe council.
Speaker 6 (45:06):
The administration may not work good at all.
May or may not.
When I became councilman, wewere at an $800,000 deficit.
We are at a $5, $6 millionsurplus.
Give or take.
Don't quote me on the numbers.
The council, the way that we'reset up, is strong council, weak
(45:29):
mayor.
Right, we got six people thatcollectively work hand in hand,
that try to make the business ofthe city better.
The city without the six of usthat was there this year, if all
of us had a part in enhancingthe city of Columbus.
The city of Columbus has growntremendously, despite what
(45:53):
people say.
You got businesses popping upevery day.
You got downtown that's growing, according to Ms Barbara
Bigelow that they're gettingcloser to capacity.
You got all of these differententities working and that are
growing, that are pushingColumbus forward.
But when it comes to ouradministration and getting along
(46:14):
, I feel like we got along great.
Speaker 1 (46:17):
OK, so you don't, you , you don't think anything needs
to, but what needs to improvefor better functionality next
term between among the counciland between the council?
Speaker 6 (46:26):
a better communication.
Better communication withoutwithout um violating the open
meeting act okay, how is thatachieved?
just basically in work sessions,different meetings, if the, the
person that we had in chargenow came up with these ideas to
not violate the Open MeetingsAct.
(46:47):
But when we get in thesemeetings and get in these public
meetings and public, where wecan talk about things and handle
things how we should handlefeelings, get involved, emotions
, get involved and to actuallybe a part of this and a part of
this.
Whatever going on government,that's one thing that you cannot
(47:08):
wear on your shoulders is yourfeelings and your emotions,
because things will be said thatyou may not agree on, things
will be said that you, thatthat's, that's your core value.
But somebody may say somethingand it hurts everything that you
ever thought about.
But if we're all here sayingthat we're working for the
betterment of the city ofColumbus, then we should all be
(47:31):
able to compromise, we shouldall be able to negotiate, we
should all be able to come to acommon ground to make the
citizens of Columbus feel likesomething good is being done.
But through this administrationwe've been attacked, we've been
all type of things been done toeach and every one of us on
that board, on that council, butat the end of the day, the city
(47:53):
of Columbia who's doing the?
Speaker 1 (47:55):
attacking.
Speaker 6 (47:56):
I wouldn't dare say their name on y'all's platform
shame the devil.
But what was I saying?
You made me mess up when youbrought those.
You brought those knuckleheadsnames up, but we're all if, if
that, if that would not havehappened, the city of columbus
(48:16):
would have crumbled because ofthe, the the main person that's,
that's in charge who came inthinking that they had all this
power from heaven and earth whenall they really needed to do
was try to communicate with thepeople.
Yes, you do day to dayoperation.
Yes, we are single individualslike this, but we talk to people
(48:39):
from all aspects of lifebecause we're actually out here
trying to to do the work, tryingto assist with the work, etc.
Speaker 3 (48:46):
Out here trying to do the work, trying to assist with
the work, et cetera.
Okay, you are listening toBetween the Headlines with Zach
and David.
Before we conclude ourinterview today, I would like to
put a plug in for the mayoralforum that will be on the 27th
of May.
Is that a Tuesday night or aThursday?
It's on the calendars at 6 pm.
I believe that's right.
(49:07):
Yes, Okay, and seating islimited.
So you do want to get aThursday?
It's on the calendars at 6 pm.
I believe that's right.
Yes, Okay, and seating islimited.
So you do want to get a ticket.
This is sponsored by both theLyceum at Lee and by the
Dispatch, no cost for the ticket.
But, like things go with that,we do want to have a head count
and I hope it'll be a goodshowing cdispatchcom slash forum
.
(49:27):
Do you guys have any predictions?
Will you be there?
Speaker 6 (49:30):
I got my two tickets.
Speaker 3 (49:32):
Who's going to win?
Speaker 6 (49:34):
Win.
What the debate?
Speaker 4 (49:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (49:39):
We should all go and find out.
Speaker 1 (49:41):
I think we should.
Who's going to win the election?
Speaker 6 (49:44):
You already know that .
Speaker 1 (49:46):
I know who you're supporting.
Well, you really don't.
Speaker 3 (49:50):
Speaking of that, I do have an interesting question
to you.
This is a matter of publicrecord.
At your address, there are 18registered voters listed on the
city roll.
You got 18 people staying atyour place.
Speaker 6 (50:05):
You know, when you said you were remodeling, my
grandmother, retired businessowner, 17 years, worked at UT,
one of the first women to everwork in factories out at United
Technologies in East Columbus.
Her house burned down in 2017,I want to say, and when she
rebuilt she added a bedroom anda bathroom.
(50:26):
My grandmother's blessed tohave a six bedroom, three
bathroom house.
My mother stays with her.
The same people that we are notspeaking of sent the ethics
commission to that house.
Speaker 1 (50:38):
And you're talking about ABC's, leslie.
Speaker 6 (50:40):
Sorrell.
The ethics commission came inthat house and called out every
name on that list.
You know where they came to thefront room.
This is not a small house.
Speaker 3 (50:52):
Okay.
Speaker 6 (50:52):
I have seven brothers and sisters of all voting age.
I'm the oldest.
Who do you think they stay withmy mom?
Speaker 3 (51:01):
Okay, that question's been answered In closing here.
Unless you have something, I'vegot one here.
I've got a little pet peeve ofmine.
Speaker 2 (51:15):
Lord yeah.
Speaker 3 (51:17):
Zach's gearing up for it.
Historically, Highway 82 hasbeen called a bypass.
Okay, I guess, because itoriginally bypassed downtown
Columbus.
It's not really a bypassbecause it goes right through
the middle of town.
Okay, Do you think that, as isin the case of many small towns
(51:40):
out there, that the building ofthat freeway kind of caused,
like, let's say, Waterworks Roadand areas like that to be
forgotten, simply becausethere's less traffic going
through there?
And then you know if, ifthere's something that's
blighted or a problem but nobodyreally really drives past it
(52:02):
and sees it, then it's lesslikely to get addressed?
You think that's part of it.
Speaker 6 (52:06):
No, I'm not going to say that, I'm not going to put
any emphasis on anything likethat.
What I'm going to say is thelack of things that happen in
any war not just war fordetermines the person that's in
in that position and whoever inthat position, whether if it's
me or if it's not me they haveto have a heart for the people,
(52:32):
they have to want to work forthe people because, like I said
before I got there, war four wasthe forgotten war.
Now, what all you hear peopletalk about pierre beard, ward
four and police.
Speaker 3 (52:38):
So war four is not forgotten in your hand, and hand
I got you.
Speaker 7 (52:41):
That's the problem, that's the.
That's the problem.
Speaker 6 (52:44):
I got perception I gotta get this in here you can't
have councilmen in thenewspaper, like that, and we
can't speak on personal people'sbusiness, because I can speak
on you, you're publicly electedAren't you a.
Republican?
Have you always been aRepublican?
You're publicly elected.
Speaker 4 (52:57):
Does your Facebook?
Speaker 2 (52:57):
show that you are a Republican from the past.
Speaker 7 (53:00):
What, okay, don't speak on.
I've been a Republican since2008.
Look, I've been in the Republicsince 2008.
Look, I'd like to clear it.
Don't speak on.
Speaker 6 (53:09):
Don't speak on Today marks the death of the GOP
Republicans and a new day forthe Affordable Care Act.
Remember Obamacare upheld theSupreme Court, so it is the law.
The more people signing forObamacare, the cheaper it gets.
I think the Republican Party isscared it may end up being free
.
Hmm, I can't let that happen.
How long will this continue?
(53:31):
How long will we continue?
How long will we continue tocelebrate?
How long will we continue tocelebrate 9-11?
That happened so long ago.
Get over it.
That's how you feel.
Speaker 4 (53:42):
And you were in the military.
Don't start with me sir.
Speaker 7 (53:46):
Have a great day.
What year was that?
Have a great day?
What year was that have a greatday?
What year was?
Speaker 1 (53:48):
that I think we're going to.
Speaker 7 (53:49):
All right, check this out.
Hold on, I would like to clearthis this man has said I'm not
from Columbus.
I'm born and raised in Columbus.
I don't know you.
That's why I I'm just pastHamilton called Lackey
Mississippi, I know.
Lackey Well my grandmother'smaiden name is Lackey and my
(54:10):
great-grandfather's buriedsomewhere out there.
I am a part of the dirt here.
I'm born and raised in Columbus.
Speaker 6 (54:19):
I left in the thousands.
Get your Republican running inthe blackest ward in the city.
That's right, that's right.
It tells me that he's a freethinker.
Speaker 2 (54:27):
My values are Republican.
Speaker 7 (54:28):
I'm a conservative, you know, you know.
The thing about that is, I wasinvited to be a Republican too,
by the.
Federation of Women.
Black people historically wereRepublican.
Speaker 2 (54:39):
You know I lean more towards that side sometimes
Robert Glee was a Republican.
Speaker 7 (54:42):
He hated the Democrats Conservative.
While we wrap up here, let'swrap this one, let's wrap it up.
Speaker 3 (54:48):
I've got Zach, I've just got to ask this question oh
.
Lord, which one of y'all aregoing to take a sump pump to
that swamp behind the old toiletseat factory?
Have you seen that between HuntSchool and that toilet seat
factory?
Speaker 6 (55:02):
I want to roll there.
Speaker 3 (55:03):
There's alligators out there, man.
Speaker 6 (55:05):
We're working on that now.
I've been talking with KevinStafford about seeing what we
can do with that area over there.
But that's something isn't it.
That's definitely like I mepersonally.
I'm so glad that y'all did this.
I want to thank y'all again fordoing this.
But, I feel like there isabsolutely something that needs
to happen from a city'sperspective so that we can start
(55:26):
getting you know more of whatwe're doing, so it won't look
like we're hiding or not doingthings within the city.
But every, every issue that Ican say that people bring up,
they are being honestly, they'rebeing looked at, they're being
addressed and I would say thatif I can try to do it before I,
before the election, beforewhatever happens, is to try to
(55:48):
get someone that can be more onthe inform.
We did have a PIO that we had,joe.
Speaker 1 (55:55):
Dillon.
Speaker 6 (55:56):
Joe Dillon was great about getting information out
and I feel like that's a void inour, in our administration, in
our, in our city, that we needto feel so we can get these
questions when people havedifferent issues like that,
because everybody needs to havea voice when it comes to city
government.
If they're paying taxes, ifthey're not paying taxes, if
they're homeless, if they have amental issue, whatever wrong
(56:17):
with them, if they're in thecity of Columbus, everybody
needs to have a voice and I willfix that.
Speaker 3 (56:22):
I want to thank both of you for coming in here today.
It does take a lot to putyourself out there, and so I
congratulate both of you forchoosing to do so.
We also thank our listeners forjoining us today.
Be sure to subscribe, share andrate, and send us your comments
.
We would love to hear what youwould like to say about this
interview here today.
Tips at cdispatchcom.
(56:44):
Again, that is tips atcdispatchcom.
You can also follow me onFacebook or x at dchism00.
All right, signing off untilnext week from Catfish Alley
Studio in historic downtownColumbus.
Your host has been Zach Playerand I'm David Chisholm.
Until next time, y'all keep itfriendly out there, and we will
(57:06):
do our best to keep it real inhere.
Speaker 2 (57:17):
Opinions expressed on this show are those of the
speakers and not necessarilythose of the Commercial Dispatch
.
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