September 26, 2025 • 35 mins
In this episode, we are saying goodbye to our podcast co-host and CUPF Director, Ramona Bell-Pearson. Please join Communications and Outreach Specialist Derek Ross, along with CUPF Summer Fellow Sarah Hoffman as we say goodbye to Ramona and Ron. On this podcast, we will be joined by CUPF Program Specialist – Childcare & Special Projects, Emily Brewster-McCarthy. Plus, the questions are rolling in regarding school reservation policies and procedures. We are here to help!!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (00:13):
Welcome to Off the CUPF.
This is the community use ofpublic facilities podcast
powered by the InteragencyCoordinating Board, also known
as the ICB, and that is ourgoverning board.
Did you know you can reserveindoor and outdoor community
space in a school?
Well, schools are great placesto conduct a wide variety of
activities, classes,performances, camps, and
(00:36):
cultural and religious programs.
How about regional servicecenters?
They provide an opportunity forbringing together county
resources, community activities,and support groups.
Available venues are here to bereserved, and we are the office
that can make it happen.
We are CUPF, and thank you forjoining our community podcast.
Let's get started.
Derek Ross (00:57):
Welcome back.
Here we go, here we go.
You know what?
We just had another, anotherwonderful, wonderful voiceover
by director Ramona Bell Pearson.
And you know why I like sayingthat right now?
Because the title of thisepisode is A Goodbye Worth
Remembering.
But do we really want to saygoodbye?
I'm not too sure, but we'lljust go along with it.
And we're wishing Ramona BellPearson and Ron Maxon Jr., you
(01:19):
know, a bon voyage and all ofthat good stuff.
But I'll save it because that'smy opportunity just to jump in
a little bit.
But hello, Ramona.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (01:26):
Hi Derek.
How are you doing?
Derek Ross (01:28):
I'm good.
I'm good.
I like to talk like that as ifyou're not here and just you
just trying to jump in likethat.
But yes, yes.
But how are you feeling,Ramona?
Let's let's get into it.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (01:35):
I'm feeling very busy right now.
Derek Ross (01:37):
Yes.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (01:38):
But um I'm I'm okay.
unknown (01:40):
Okay.
Derek Ross (01:41):
Okay.
Do you want some highs andlows, or you just want to Sure.
Okay.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (01:44):
Um, I guess the highs would be I'm looking
forward to retirement in twodays if you don't count today.
Speaker 02 (01:51):
Okay.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (01:51):
The lows are retirement in two days if
you don't count today.
Um, and that's largely becauseit's it's hard to leave.
It's always hard to transition.
We're gonna miss you.
Got a lot of good people atCUPF.
We do some really good thingsfor our community, and I'm gonna
miss that, but I'm sure I'llfind other ways to serve.
Derek Ross (02:07):
Yes, you are.
Yes, you are.
Very talented individual, verytalented, our director Ramona
Bell Pearson.
Uh, I'll I'll I'll make itquick.
I'll make it quick.
My highs and lows, my highs.
Uh, I think we're we're we'reon to some great things.
We're onto some great things.
We have awesome leadership, andthis leadership has been very
supportive of the communicationsdepartment.
We have uh, well, we haveannual reports coming out, we
have uh virtual tours we'reworking on, we have a lot of
(02:30):
things that are we're working onto try to get it done, and
we're gonna get it done as fastas possible because we just want
to make sure the community'shappy and all that good stuff.
Lowe, I think I made a mistake.
Um, I think last podcast,Ramona, I said my son kind of,
you know, aggressively woke meup and stuff like that.
It wasn't aggressive,everybody.
What I did was I actuallyclosed my eyes and I waited for
him to approach me while I wassleeping so I can kind of fake.
(02:52):
And then he tapped me veryaggressively, Ramona, just to
wake me up because he had hewanted a snack.
So I I think I was overlyplaying it up as if he had, I
mean you know, he woke me uppretty rough.
So that was my low.
I think I over-exaggeratedsomething that my son did, I
hope.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (03:10):
But it was so did your son listen and say,
Daddy, come on.
Derek Ross (03:15):
There was a look.
You gotta be thinking about it.
There was a look.
You're doing too much, Daddy.
There was that look.
But yes, highs and lows.
So yeah, everything is goingwell.
Everything is going well.
So let's get around to theround table discussion.
Who do we have here?
Sarah.
Sarah Hoffman (03:30):
Hello.
Derek Ross (03:32):
Welcome, Sarah.
Sarah, if I and I'm gonnarepeat it again, or I'll just
let Sarah say, you know, oursummer fellow, Sarah, by all
means, highs and lows.
How are you doing?
Sarah Hoffman (03:41):
I'm doing great.
Today was our big day for asummer fellowship.
So we got to present ourresearch project.
So that was definitely a highto be done with that.
Low, I would say we were justtalking about, but I feel like
the summer went by really fast.
And so everything's alreadywrapping up again.
So another transition.
Derek Ross (03:59):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
You did a five fabulous job.
Sarah Hoffman (04:02):
Yeah, thank you.
Thank you.
She did.
She did.
Derek Ross (04:04):
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
You were on TV.
You know, I mean, we we have anongoing joke here, but yes, you
were on TV.
You were having a good time.
You spoke the questions andeverything like that.
So everything is going great,and it's wonderful.
Once again, thank you, Sarah,for being here.
And those weeks went by prettyfast.
But as we go around the table,we have another person here, a
new new person.
(04:24):
Ramona, would you mind, youknow, introducing this person?
Ramona Bell-Pearson (04:27):
Certainly.
Emily Brewster McCarthy comesto us from HHS.
She's been with us about ayear.
Um, she was with the StreetOutreach Network and the Child
Welfare Division, and now she iswith our child care division.
And Emily has been doing greatthings with child care.
She's working closely with theproviders that go into our
elementary schools and onemiddle school, I think.
(04:49):
Um, and so we we've beenlearning a lot from Emily
because she brought a lot ofknowledge with her, but we're
also teaching her a lot from thechild care perspective.
Derek Ross (04:58):
Emily, Emily, Emily.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (05:00):
Hi.
Derek Ross (05:01):
Hi, Emily.
Hi, how are you?
How are you?
Highs and lows.
We could just get intointroduce yourself.
Let's just just just tell theworld about yourself.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (05:07):
Uh well, I want to thank Ramona
first.
That was a wonderfulintroduction.
Uh, I wouldn't, I mean, thankyou so much for speaking so
highly.
I will take that.
I will take that.
So let me sit with that for alittle bit.
Okay, that's good.
Um, so my highs, uh, it's agood day.
It just feels like a good day.
Yeah, I have nothing tocomplain about.
(05:28):
Lows, I will say, kind of likeSarah.
Summer's going by really fast.
And also Ramona's retiring.
And I think that has us all alittle bit, you know, I don't
want to say down in the dumps,but you know, kind of, you know.
Derek Ross (05:41):
Oh, yeah.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (05:42):
So uh, but yeah, I think Ramona said
everything that I could sayabout myself professionally.
Maybe not everything, right?
We'll keep some things, youknow, for future episodes if you
if you'd have me on.
Derek Ross (05:52):
Save some.
Yeah.
If.
If.
Okay, we'll talk about thatlater.
Yes.
So, well, welcome, Emily.
Thanks.
Thank you so much.
I know that, you know, I I Iwant Ramona to be around here
forever and just enjoying this,you know, picking her brain.
Because I would jump in to justsay that Ramon and Ron have so
much information.
There's just so much.
I'm thinking about if there's away to plug in and get this
(06:13):
information from them, like syncthem and then also plug them
into a computer.
I think we can make a movie outof it.
It's probably already beendone.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (06:19):
Upload.
Derek Ross (06:21):
But hopefully we can do that and get the information
from them.
But while they're here, andwe're we're getting so much from
them and we appreciate them somuch.
But we'll do so much more lateron and giving them the flowers.
I think Ramona, we're gonnajust yell out speech so we can
get all that from Ramona.
But let's jump into it.
Let's jump into it.
Quickly, we're gonna do a didyou know?
A did you know?
Did you know or do you knowabout CUPF School and County
(06:42):
Facilities user guidebooks?
The Fula facility use licenseagreement.
Very important, very importantuh reading and going through it
and understanding a lot aboutCUPF, but I'll stop talking.
Ramona, what about this FULA?
What about the user guidebooks?
What do you think about it?
Ramona Bell-Pearson (06:58):
Well, FULA stands for Facility Use License
Agreement, which in the name isthe word agreement, which some
people may not realize is acontract.
So when you decide to permit afacility, we require you to
acknowledge on your applicationthat you have read the
agreement.
That means you understand andaccept once you check the box
(07:24):
the terms and conditions in thatagreement.
There are many people who don'tread, and I'll admit, you know,
like you get those Appleagreements every time it's time
to do a no new iOS, and youthere's like six pages and you
scroll through them all and getto the bottom and click agree
and you don't look at a singleword.
Well, a lot of us do that withthe FULA too.
(07:44):
But that doesn't mean thatyou're not bound by everything
in that agreement.
Um, we often find that peoplewill be held responsible for
doing something that they didn'trealize was a violation, and
they'll say, Well, nobody toldme, and we'll direct them to the
Fula, and then they'll say, Oh,I didn't know that was in
there.
So ignorance of the law is nodefense.
(08:06):
That's true in CUPF.
It's true in court.
Um, so unfortunately, we dohave to hold people to that.
So I would recommend thatpeople make sure they look at
their license agreement,especially if they have a
question about something theywant to do.
And most likely it's coveredthere because we've had a lot of
experience with different typesof events and activities and
(08:29):
special interests that peoplewant to do, and we've had to
incorporate that into theagreement over the years.
So it's probably there.
Derek Ross (08:36):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I think for me too is realizingthat there's two different ones
specifically because there's alot of information.
So you had to split it up.
Sarah, I know we've done itbefore talking about all the
information and stuff thatyou're looking up.
So when we mentioned like fulasand user guidebooks, and even
when Ramona mentioned likeApple, I was thinking about it.
I was like, I don't even thinkI've read through.
I don't even want to tell itmyself.
(08:57):
Never mind.
Sarah, what do you think abouta lot of this stuff?
Sarah Hoffman (09:01):
Yeah, I think yeah, Ramona said it's important
to read about it just to knowwhether the event or the program
that you're planning for, ifanything that is being planned
falls within or outside of thoseguidelines.
And I mean, I I guess thequestion I would have for you
guys is like sort of what whathappens if someone like breaks
(09:23):
the terms of the agreement andlike sort of what happens.
I think that's something that Iwould be interested to hear
more about.
But um, in terms of the workI've been doing with you all, I
think highlighting some of theareas that people seem to have
like repeated questions about issomething that maybe I can help
create for these last two weeksthat I'm part of the program.
I think a big one that wetalked about earlier was field
(09:45):
use and people having a lot ofquestions about field use
agreements.
Derek Ross (09:49):
Yes, there are a lot of questions, a lot of
questions.
Before I jump back and get backto Ramona, Emily, I know you do
a lot with the childcare andeverything like that.
But when we mention stuff likeFULAS and user guidebooks, how
does what does that do for you?
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (10:02):
Well, uh childcare's FULAs are a
little different, uh, buteverybody should read over the
FULA.
Uh and when we say FULA, Iactually just want to uh clarify
you can actually go on whateverbrowser uh you have on your
phone, laptop, and you canliterally just type in C-U-P-F
FULA F-U-L-A, and it will takeyou straight to our FULA.
(10:24):
Thank you.
Uh, which is super awesomebecause it's, you know, just you
don't even have to write outthe acronym.
You just put in, you know, ourstuff and CUPF FULA, and it
shows right up.
So just please read it.
Derek Ross (10:37):
So I know we're we're still on the topic, and I
know we're gonna just jump backto Ramona.
I know Ramona, what we'relooking over.
I'm looking over the scriptlike you know, it's a ton of
questions, but based off of justa few of the questions it had,
even what Sarah just throwingthrough in there.
Is there anything specificabout the FULA?
I know I have down, you know,the benefits of having it, you
know, how do staff utilize theguidebook, you know, why should
the community read?
(10:58):
And I think we went over alittle bit, but I would love to
hear from the director, youknow, just just what is your
take?
If we dive a little bit deeperinto your take on that.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (11:05):
Sure.
Well, first you mentionedthere's two, and you're right.
We have two separate guidebooksand two separate FULAs.
One is for school use and oneis for government building use.
With regard to Sarah'squestion, which is a great
question, what happens if youbreach or violate the FULA?
Well, we have a process, andthe process is the core service
(11:26):
staff manager will review thecomplaint or the concern.
We often hear the informationabout the breach or the the
violation from the schoolbecause either the building
service people will haveobserved or a principal will
come in the next morning andthere's damage or there's some
incident that has to becorrected.
We then will communicate withthe user group, um, the permit
(11:49):
holder is the one responsible,and indicate to them what the
problem is and come up with aplan for either a restitution if
there's some damage, or wemight have to ban the group if
it's a violation that's seriousenough that the school's saying
they're no longer welcome to useour facility.
Um sometimes that's on a caseby case where it'll just be one
(12:10):
school, so we have to move themto another school, or it could
be serious enough that eventhough it's only one school
saying it, we know that there'snot going to be any other school
that's gonna accept the group.
So once they're banned, thereare various lengths of banning.
It could be for six months, orit could be as long as as 18
months.
The maximum is 18.
(12:32):
If you want to appeal thatdecision, you can have request a
meeting with the director, me,and I would sit with the core
services manager to hear theexplanation and the discussion.
At that point, we would makethe group aware that we would
consider their mitigation orwhatever information they gave
us, take it back to the school,deliberate with the school
(12:53):
because it is school propertyand it is their decision as to
whether they will permit peopleto come back.
If the violations are such thatthey're on the fence or not
quite as serious, we may be ableto make the decision without
having to consult with theschool and just find another
school to place the the groupin.
But but that's generally how wehandle it when there's there's
(13:14):
a breach.
We try to be as fair and openas possible, but at the same
time, you have to respect theproperty of others.
And the school has as its mainpriority educating students.
So when you have community usecoming in and doing something
that takes away from theirability to educate and have a
safe, clean environment, thenyou're no longer welcome.
Derek Ross (13:35):
Wow.
Wow.
And thank you for that too.
Sarah, that was a goodquestion.
I think it was a lot of peoplethat wanted to know that answer.
So I think a lot of us wantedto know.
Um, so jumping around, jumpingaround, we're going to keep it
going.
We're still talking aboutschools and we're still gonna,
you know, of course, go back toRamona as well, too.
So, Ramona, we had a couplelists, you know, and I think
this list was kind of createdfrom core services team about
(13:56):
certain topics that are I wouldare they just being brought up
or just how does this work?
Or is it just something thatjust continues to happen or is
just noticeable situations thatare happening at schools?
Uh so we have food trucks notbeing permitted, uh light
portables, we have parking, uh,alcoholic beverages and smoking.
(14:16):
Uh I'll throw the last one inthere is pickleball fields as
well, too.
And I'm being loose about itbecause I I know that we have
like a little bit of a breakdownfor, but when I'm throwing out
those topics like food trucks,light portables, parking,
alcoholic beverages, smoking, uhnon-pickleball fields, is there
something specific about itthat you want to jump in on it
or just let us know?
Ramona Bell-Pearson (14:35):
Sure.
Um, I will say that some of thethings that I'm gonna mention
that are for the general publichave some exceptions for the
type of permit holder it is.
For example, Emily could jumpin and tell you with the
providers they're permitted todo and permit things that the
general public isn't permittedto do because they have, as a
mandate, their safeguard ofchildren for a specific period
(14:56):
of time before and after school,and they have to meet exercise
requirements and foodrequirements that are different
from the general public.
But food trucks are somethingthat whether you're on a public
street or at a plaza, a countyplaza, or at a school, you have
to have a permit.
And the permit isn't from CUPF.
The permit is from HHS becausethey manage certification and
(15:18):
licensing of food to make suresafe handling occurs, make sure
it's it's um clean, sanitary, etcetera.
There also may be a permitneeded from permitting services,
which is not CUF, but a countyagency that permits events
functions, building stages atconcerts, dealing with crowd
control, noise.
(15:39):
Well, noise is environmentalprotection, but but generally
they will deal with a lot ofdifferent things related to um
that type of thing that couldinclude food trucks.
Um, and that includes thevendors.
Um parking is something thathas always been an issue.
We cannot sometimes permit aschool, even if it's available
online, because we know thatthere's a field next to it, that
(16:01):
there's a game going on or aleague that's using, and they
have a lot of parking needed forthat.
So the school can accommodateboth for parking.
While the facilities might beempty, the parking lot will be
full.
So we have to think that whenwe're considering what we will
agree to permit.
Wow.
Um, alcoholic beverages aresomething that if you look at
(16:22):
our facility use licenseagreement, the you'll see that
it does not permit alcoholicbeverages on school campuses.
And that is because MCPS hasmade a pretty um straightforward
rule that that's not to bepermitted.
You can understand why.
There are children around.
Yeah, these schools are inneighborhoods right next door to
homes where kids live.
(16:43):
Um, the streets are communitystreets, so they don't want
people who may be inebriateddriving up and down, et cetera.
However, the school makes thefinal decision on that.
So we have in our FULA ageneral announcement that there
is no alcoholic beveragepermitted.
So that's that's the generalrule.
I got you.
(17:03):
The pickleball courts aresomething, our fields are
something that we have seen arise in from uh MCPS.
And it's really nice becausethere's more and more coming,
although it's re-lining orwhatever they call it,
restriping the tennis courts.
So we also hear from the tenniscommunity that, you know, they
(17:24):
want their tennis space and thensome people want their
pickleball space.
So, you know, it's up to you.
But Emily, do you have anythingto add on the child care in
terms of how their permits mightbe different?
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (17:34):
I think childcare really the biggest
difference is because we have tofollow the child care
licensing, uh, everything thatgoes along with that.
Um, so they have to submit umvia MSDE.
Basically, the school systemand childcare have an agreement
uh and they're allowed to usespaces that maybe the public
wouldn't have access to.
So, like the kitchen sink, uhthings like that, because they
(17:57):
need access to running water,they need access to a bathroom,
everything that pretty muchstates uh that they state on
their license for childcare, uh,they need to have available to
them at the school.
So it's a little different thanthe public, but uh we still
have the opportunity for thepublic to rent like bat a
bathroom inside or a kitchenspace.
Uh, I believe we spoke about itin uh an episode or two ago.
(18:20):
Um, so you can go ahead andcheck back uh to those episodes
for more details.
But available on all platforms,available all platforms.
Yeah, so there's definitely a asmaller um, there's a small
difference, but it's typicallythe same uh for all users.
Derek Ross (18:37):
Wow, wow.
And and thank you for that too,Emily.
It's always great.
And and Ramona, when youmentioned that too, it's there's
so many different divisions ofCUPF that it it it I wouldn't
say the rules change a littlebit, but when you look at the
fool and stuff like that and theguidebooks and stuff, it does
matter.
So when you when you want toreach out to CUPF communities,
the public facilities, about anyquestions, reach out to us and
we we encourage you to reachout, email us or call us because
(18:58):
there some of these questionsabout facilities can get a
little detailed, and you know,we're here to help.
We are here to help.
But Sarah, Sarah, I know whenI'm always referring to you for
the new eyes and perspective,when we're mentioning facilities
and portables and food trucks,beverages, well, alcoholic
beverages, um, and pickleballfields and courts and stuff like
that.
What what for you when you'rehearing all that, what what how
(19:20):
does that how do you read that?
How does that make you feel?
Sarah Hoffman (19:22):
Uh, I mean, I think it uh I think something
that Ramona mentioned earlierthat really like helps inform me
while I'm reading these is likethis is property of either the
schools or the government.
So like there needs to be sortof these set of guidelines and
rules in place to ensure thatlike the facilities are still
being able to be used for liketheir primary purposes.
(19:44):
So I think that's sort of themotivation behind these rules
and regulations is to like helpensure that the facilities are
able to like still do thosepurposes, but also offer
opportunities for the communityto get involved.
So I think that's how I sort ofread through these rules as
you're going through them.
Derek Ross (19:59):
Oh yeah, oh yeah.
And you see, see, this is whyyou're on the podcast.
You were doing all thisresearch and looking up stuff on
the website.
You're just getting all of thisinformation, just a book.
You just got it all downpacked.
So we're here at this pointnow.
We're here at this point whereyou know what?
The goal, Emily, I think, isfor us to make Ramona cry in a
good way.
We want to give Ramona so manyflowers.
(20:21):
We just want her to sit at theend of the table and be like,
just stop, guys.
Just stop, everybody.
I just can't take it no more.
But Ramona, you know, this isour time to just say that.
Also, too, also too, that youdid a great job, Emily.
You know, Ramona had anawesome, it was a retirement
party or celebration.
Yeah, we'll call itcelebration.
Yeah, I would say celebration.
I don't want to say thatbecause I feel like, you know,
(20:41):
Ramona's such a great person.
I definitely hope we get to seesee you after all of this is
over with.
Oh, you will.
Yay! But I just want to tellyou and tell all of the crowds
that Emily did a great job.
Were you the MC host?
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (20:53):
Uh yeah, I think I played a little
bit of every role uh forRamona's uh retirement
celebration.
So thank you for that.
Derek Ross (21:01):
That was I I was passing it back to you because I
I I want that same energy thatyou get.
Emily brought it.
We had what the CE was there.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (21:09):
Well what the former county executive,
yeah, the current countyexecutive for both things.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (21:13):
That was a really wonderful surprise.
Yeah.
Um, former county executive IkeLeggett was there and he spoke
for a little bit.
Um, you guys have a wonderfulhistory.
I had no idea.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (21:25):
He even remembered me from law school.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (21:26):
That's like, geez.
That was such an amazingmoment.
I'm just really glad that I wasthere to explain.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (21:32):
He didn't even teach me, he taught my
husband.
Yeah, which is even so betterfor us getting together.
Yeah, basically.
Derek Ross (21:38):
Of course, of course.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (21:39):
Uh yeah, that was really, really
nice.
And then obviously, we had uhour current uh county executive
there, Mark Elrich, and he waswonderful.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (21:47):
He was.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (21:48):
And we had your other bosses, I guess.
We had Fariba and Rich.
We had Rich, and we had a wholebunch of other people.
We had staff.
It was just really wonderful.
Uh, the energy was amazing.
Uh, I think we all justgathered and we love Ramona.
This is something that we tooka lot of time and energy to
plan, and this came from theheart.
(22:10):
It was a lot of love.
Yeah, the staff, we really wegot together secretly a lot.
Uh, Ramona was giving us eyes alot.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (22:18):
We were hiding our people shuffling
stuff.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (22:22):
We were hiding our laptops, our phones.
I mean, I'm pretty sure shewalked like right by me when I
was doing the um welcome signdesign.
So I was like, let me justclose this real quick.
But uh yeah, and I had toobviously, she already knew that
why I would be asking her thesequestions.
But I'm like, Ramona, what'syour favorite kind of music?
Ramona, what's your favoritetype of cake?
(22:42):
Ramona, do you love to eat?
What's your favorite food?
Derek Ross (22:45):
Yeah.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (22:45):
Uh so we made sure we got things, you
know, as tailored as possible uhfor Ramona for her celebration.
And like I said, I mean, Icould shout out the staff that
helped, uh, but it reallyeverybody had their hands in
this in some capacity, in someway.
And you didn't get to see this,but I got to experience it
(23:06):
this.
And I know Derek got toexperience this a little bit
too.
But the team got together andit was all hands on deck for
Ramona.
We were very much like, itdoesn't matter if we sleep, we,
you know, eat, we want, we wantto get this done and we want to
do it right because you'vededicated a lot to us.
And we can tell, I've only beenhere for a year and some
(23:29):
change, and it feels like I'vebeen working with you for a
really, really long time.
Like I've known you for a longtime.
No, but it's but it's it's sucha comforting and amazing
feeling to me to have somebodylike you to not only look up to
professionally, but to justspread your, I said this at the
celebration, but I needeverybody to hear this.
Ramona's such an amazing humanbeing.
This is not just for show.
(23:49):
This is not just her persona atwork.
She is genuinely an amazinghuman being.
And you could tell by being atthat celebration, her friends
and family came up and theyshared.
And when I tell you, if youdidn't cry, you were on the
verge of crying when whenwhoever came up and said thank
you.
Literally, everybody had themost beautiful things to say
about Ramona.
And in a way, as a person thatlike, when I go up and meet
(24:13):
somebody new, you know, you tryto be on your P's and Q's and
everything.
And hearing that other peoplein her personal life had the
same experience as we've hadhere at work just proves the
type of person, the type ofwoman, the type of human being
that Ramona is.
And I am so fortunate to havebeen in her presence, let alone
have the honor to host MC herretirement party.
(24:35):
That's amazing.
Uh, so we're we're sad to seeyou go, right?
But you're stuck with us.
So, you know, whether, whether,you know, just checking in or
uh we we really we know you'regonna have an amazing time
during your retirement andtraveling and doing all of these
things that you don't have toworry about, you know, little
(24:55):
CUPFf anymore.
Um, but we're here and and weplan on carrying the torch, and
we're just so happy and so proudto have you as our director.
So I just those are the flowersthat I want to give you.
I'm sure everybody else hassomething to say, but I mean,
you you say it a lot.
Derek Ross (25:11):
I mean, I've had a chance to be around Ramona for a
few years now, a few years,even prior to even being hired
by CUPF.
Uh, my experience in trying tounderstand and being on the
board, my experience of justwitnessing what Ramona was all
about.
I was like, oh, okay, okay.
So there's that fine line.
You know, there's that fineline when you're cool with
somebody, but you don't want tobe rude because you respect them
(25:32):
so well.
So you want to get the workdone.
That is Ramona, too.
So he was like, I respect herso much, but I don't want her to
think I'm that cool.
I want just get the work done,Derek.
That's what we're gonna that'swhat we're gonna do.
Um, but that, but yeah, Ramona,I hope you know that.
I hope you know that we reallydo care.
We appreciate you a lot, a lot.
If you haven't heard it, andit's funny how you hear it now,
we can I guess we could havebeen saying it for a couple
weeks.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (25:51):
You think you have to.
Derek Ross (25:53):
We're just doing it now, y'all.
We're just gonna put it righthere now.
No, we've been we've been we'vebeen saying that for a long
time, and we want to continue tosay that.
But I know Sarah, Sarah, you'vebeen around for a couple weeks
now, and I know we've had achance to meet with Ramona, and
I know you've been with Ramonaon different occasions, but how
do you feel about Ramona BillPeterson, Cup Director?
Don't put her on the spot.
Sarah Hoffman (26:11):
Yeah, I can speak.
She's actually So I mean, yeah,I joined only about eight weeks
ago.
Um, but within like this shorttime, these two months, it's
been like a really great honorto be able to join this team and
to work with you.
And like like what everyoneelse has said, like you're
really inspiring, both likepersonally and professionally.
And as I'm like sort ofnavigating me entering the
(26:35):
workforce, like I definitelyfeel like I have so much to
learn from you.
Um, so I just like want to saythank you for bringing me onto
the team and like showing me theropes and like guiding me
through this journey of thissummer, but also just as I enter
my adult life into the, youknow, enter the workforce, it's
it's been a great help.
Yeah.
So thank you.
(26:55):
Well, I hope so.
I've enjoyed working with youtoo.
Yeah, thank you.
Derek Ross (26:59):
Oh, see, we we we just just look, we holding
hands, y'all.
We we just having a good time,but we're gonna we I know we're
gonna end this podcast soon, butfor a moment, I I put speech
down.
Dude, would you like to sayspeech?
Give us something, please.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (27:13):
Well, I will say I have been with the
county for 35 years now.
Wow.
Um, I had just gotten marriedwhen I came here, didn't have
any children, so I went throughall of that as a county
employee, and it was a greatopportunity.
It's a great place to live inthis county, it's a great place
to work for the county.
The government is fantastic.
(27:35):
CUPF is unique, which is veryinspiring because when we
started doing research for ourfee study, for example, we found
there was no other entity likeus in this country.
And we couldn't even findanything close by in other
countries, like looking inCanada or Mexico or anything
that borders with us.
So we should be proud of whatwe do.
(27:56):
And I'm very proud of whatwe've accomplished in the eight
or so years that I've been here.
Um, I'm also proud of the otheryears I had with the county,
working with the countyexecutive's office under Ike
Leggett, working with the countyattorney's office, working with
HHS as the privacy officer,working with uh Office of Human
Rights, dealing with their astheir compliance director.
(28:18):
So I had a lot of experiencemoving around.
And what I always tell peoplewhen they talk to me about how
can I advance?
How can I motivate my career?
How can I stimulate myself?
I always tell them when you arein a position that you feel
like you've learned pretty mucheverything and you're starting
to get bored or you're startingto be antsy, thinking, you know,
(28:40):
what else can I do?
How can I make this exciting?
Reinvent yourself.
Reinvent yourself either inthat position or find something
else that's within the countybecause there are so many
opportunities in this county.
Um, you should also be open tochange because I've gone to
positions where I didn't knowanything about it and I had to
rely on what I had learnedpreviously and use those skills
(29:02):
to learn and to adapt and andyou know do a new job.
So I guess I would say 35 yearsgoes very fast.
If if you learn to be flexibleand motivated, because
transition is hard.
Um, this is hard for everybodybecause I guess they feel like
just as soon as you've gotten toknow me and comfortable with
(29:22):
me, then I'm moving on.
But that's the way life is.
I mean, when you're raisingchildren, as soon as you get to
be the point where you feel likethey're friends and they don't
need as much guidance and maybeyou can let go a little bit,
then they're gonna move on.
And you have to be able to letgo, but you're never really
gone.
You're always around, andthat's what I'll be.
(29:43):
I'll be here in the county,I'll be at least for several
months doing a contract to uhhelp with the knowledge transfer
to the new director.
So I'll be here.
Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I'll be there.
Derek Ross (29:58):
Okay, okay.
I don't want fully sing and allthat stuff anyway you know what
we're gonna try to end this ona good positive note we're gonna
close out this podcast but wealso mentioned another name as
well too and i i'll save sometime for that as we close it out
because i'll actually you knowi'll actually leave that for the
end so so let's just jump intolike a little bit of a positive
note emily do you have any waysdo you want to close this out
(30:19):
with anything do you haveanything you want to say uh i'm
just really grateful to be hereto be a part of our team we have
a lot of wonderful thingscoming up uh we're revamping
some stuff so you'll see us inyou know hopefully a new fresher
capacity uh when we're out youknow and about doing outreach or
(30:39):
community events if you haven'tyou know seen me before you
will at some point uh or you'llknow my name at some point uh
just because we're gonna workreally um hard on on getting the
word out to the community andmaking sure that we are reaching
out in the appropriate way andin the most effective way.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (30:58):
And you know the last little bit we're
gonna miss you so much Ramona.
I'm so grateful to have youknow been on the team for the
last year and some change andI'm excited for what's to come.
Transitions are hard, right?
But you know the next personthat's gonna come in, I'm sure,
you know, as long as we meetthem with the same energy we'll
be fine.
(31:18):
It'll be great.
So and I'm just excited for youRamona you get to start you
know fresh you get to travel youget to do all these fun things
that I don't I have to wait likeanother 15 years or so until I
retires so yeah I'm justdreaming via uh vicariously
through Ramona right now.
Derek Ross (31:33):
Sarah Sarah any last words?
Sarah Hoffman (31:35):
Uh just yeah enjoy uh retirement and take
advantage of everything thatyou'll be able to do and uh I
mean I'm way farther away thanEmily so I'll also live
vicariously through you um butyeah just it's been a great
adventure starting exactlythat's true yeah oh yeah your
movie just started yeah we in itwe in it uh so and the reason
(31:58):
why I did that just getting thelast few words from Emily and
Sarah is because we also shoutedout Ron Ron Maxon Jr.
Derek Ross (32:05):
If I'm saying this I'll just say his whole name
just get it out there is notcurrently with us on this
specific podcast I feel like ifI said it in a certain way I'm
like where is he at?
Anyway what do you mean?
But I want to also give thisopportunity to give a shout out
to Ron Ron thank you so muchthank you so much for everything
Ron is one of those individualsonce you get the chance to
understand him just like Ramonathat you know it's we business.
(32:28):
We about to do this.
CUPF was really really reallyhad the we really had the honor
I'll probably say of havingpeople that are involved with
this this company this businessthis industry 35 plus years wow
I don't know why I'm looking onlooking off like that like it's
not far fetched to believe andthe same with Ron too Ron put in
a lot of years as well too inthe county and I definitely want
(32:50):
to tell Ron that I mean I I Idon't want to cry so I'm not
gonna cry but Ron I appreciateyou man really do Ramon I
appreciate you y'all have doneso much for CUPF and y'all
continue to do so much for thecounty as well too I get
surprised when I talk to you andyou bring up your name drop I'm
like well Ramon who who don'tyou know Ron who don't you know
y'all just just know y'all knoweverybody but Ramon I'll leave
(33:12):
it up to you is there anythingyou would like to say on behalf
of Ron just anything sure when Icame eight years ago Ron had
been here for over 10 years.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (33:22):
I think he's been with CUPF for maybe 20
years and he was with thepolice before he was with CUPF.
And he was invaluable I couldtell from the minute I walked in
the door he not only knewpeople, he knew how to do
things.
And it wasn't necessarily thathe knew them because he had been
here for so long it was becausehe has a style and grace that
(33:42):
gives him the ability to manageand to organize and to just be
good.
We're definitely going to misshim.
I can tell you when our boss inum the counting sex office
heard we were both leaving onthe same day she was very upset.
She was concerned nervousworried what's going to happen
(34:03):
we kept saying we got it we gotit we're gonna you know we'll
both be here we'll work throughit and we have but I can
understand her concern becauseand everybody's concerned um
because he he's a um a pillarfor CUPF has been for years uh
but he he deserves to move on umhe's moving out of state and
(34:24):
he's got a new grandbaby and sohe's got bright ventures ahead
too so he'll be good.
Derek Ross (34:31):
Oh yeah see see thank you for that that's a good
word pillar that's a good wayto describe both of y'all yeah
yeah 30 anyway anyway well thatis it that is it we were going
around with that with Ramon wasthat your last words too did you
want to have give it good closeus out with anything I'm good
okay okay I I you know I had todouble that back just to make
sure just to make sure becausethis is this is we are
celebrating so this is iteverybody this is it for the
(34:54):
podcast want to say thank you somuch and check in next time
thank you this podcast isbrought to you by County Cable
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Welcome to Off the CUPF.
This is the community use ofpublic facilities podcast
powered by the InteragencyCoordinating Board, also known
as the ICB, and that is ourgoverning board.
Did you know you can reserveindoor and outdoor community
space in a school?
Well, schools are great placesto conduct a wide variety of
activities, classes,performances, camps, and
(00:36):
cultural and religious programs.
How about regional servicecenters?
They provide an opportunity forbringing together county
resources, community activities,and support groups.
Available venues are here to bereserved, and we are the office
that can make it happen.
We are CUPF, and thank you forjoining our community podcast.
Let's get started.
Derek Ross (00:57):
Welcome back.
Here we go, here we go.
You know what?
We just had another, anotherwonderful, wonderful voiceover
by director Ramona Bell Pearson.
And you know why I like sayingthat right now?
Because the title of thisepisode is A Goodbye Worth
Remembering.
But do we really want to saygoodbye?
I'm not too sure, but we'lljust go along with it.
And we're wishing Ramona BellPearson and Ron Maxon Jr., you
(01:19):
know, a bon voyage and all ofthat good stuff.
But I'll save it because that'smy opportunity just to jump in
a little bit.
But hello, Ramona.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (01:26):
Hi Derek.
How are you doing?
Derek Ross (01:28):
I'm good.
I'm good.
I like to talk like that as ifyou're not here and just you
just trying to jump in likethat.
But yes, yes.
But how are you feeling,Ramona?
Let's let's get into it.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (01:35):
I'm feeling very busy right now.
Derek Ross (01:37):
Yes.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (01:38):
But um I'm I'm okay.
unknown (01:40):
Okay.
Derek Ross (01:41):
Okay.
Do you want some highs andlows, or you just want to Sure.
Okay.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (01:44):
Um, I guess the highs would be I'm looking
forward to retirement in twodays if you don't count today.
Speaker 02 (01:51):
Okay.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (01:51):
The lows are retirement in two days if
you don't count today.
Um, and that's largely becauseit's it's hard to leave.
It's always hard to transition.
We're gonna miss you.
Got a lot of good people atCUPF.
We do some really good thingsfor our community, and I'm gonna
miss that, but I'm sure I'llfind other ways to serve.
Derek Ross (02:07):
Yes, you are.
Yes, you are.
Very talented individual, verytalented, our director Ramona
Bell Pearson.
Uh, I'll I'll I'll make itquick.
I'll make it quick.
My highs and lows, my highs.
Uh, I think we're we're we'reon to some great things.
We're onto some great things.
We have awesome leadership, andthis leadership has been very
supportive of the communicationsdepartment.
We have uh, well, we haveannual reports coming out, we
have uh virtual tours we'reworking on, we have a lot of
(02:30):
things that are we're working onto try to get it done, and
we're gonna get it done as fastas possible because we just want
to make sure the community'shappy and all that good stuff.
Lowe, I think I made a mistake.
Um, I think last podcast,Ramona, I said my son kind of,
you know, aggressively woke meup and stuff like that.
It wasn't aggressive,everybody.
What I did was I actuallyclosed my eyes and I waited for
him to approach me while I wassleeping so I can kind of fake.
(02:52):
And then he tapped me veryaggressively, Ramona, just to
wake me up because he had hewanted a snack.
So I I think I was overlyplaying it up as if he had, I
mean you know, he woke me uppretty rough.
So that was my low.
I think I over-exaggeratedsomething that my son did, I
hope.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (03:10):
But it was so did your son listen and say,
Daddy, come on.
Derek Ross (03:15):
There was a look.
You gotta be thinking about it.
There was a look.
You're doing too much, Daddy.
There was that look.
But yes, highs and lows.
So yeah, everything is goingwell.
Everything is going well.
So let's get around to theround table discussion.
Who do we have here?
Sarah.
Sarah Hoffman (03:30):
Hello.
Derek Ross (03:32):
Welcome, Sarah.
Sarah, if I and I'm gonnarepeat it again, or I'll just
let Sarah say, you know, oursummer fellow, Sarah, by all
means, highs and lows.
How are you doing?
Sarah Hoffman (03:41):
I'm doing great.
Today was our big day for asummer fellowship.
So we got to present ourresearch project.
So that was definitely a highto be done with that.
Low, I would say we were justtalking about, but I feel like
the summer went by really fast.
And so everything's alreadywrapping up again.
So another transition.
Derek Ross (03:59):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
You did a five fabulous job.
Sarah Hoffman (04:02):
Yeah, thank you.
Thank you.
She did.
She did.
Derek Ross (04:04):
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
You were on TV.
You know, I mean, we we have anongoing joke here, but yes, you
were on TV.
You were having a good time.
You spoke the questions andeverything like that.
So everything is going great,and it's wonderful.
Once again, thank you, Sarah,for being here.
And those weeks went by prettyfast.
But as we go around the table,we have another person here, a
new new person.
(04:24):
Ramona, would you mind, youknow, introducing this person?
Ramona Bell-Pearson (04:27):
Certainly.
Emily Brewster McCarthy comesto us from HHS.
She's been with us about ayear.
Um, she was with the StreetOutreach Network and the Child
Welfare Division, and now she iswith our child care division.
And Emily has been doing greatthings with child care.
She's working closely with theproviders that go into our
elementary schools and onemiddle school, I think.
(04:49):
Um, and so we we've beenlearning a lot from Emily
because she brought a lot ofknowledge with her, but we're
also teaching her a lot from thechild care perspective.
Derek Ross (04:58):
Emily, Emily, Emily.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (05:00):
Hi.
Derek Ross (05:01):
Hi, Emily.
Hi, how are you?
How are you?
Highs and lows.
We could just get intointroduce yourself.
Let's just just just tell theworld about yourself.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (05:07):
Uh well, I want to thank Ramona
first.
That was a wonderfulintroduction.
Uh, I wouldn't, I mean, thankyou so much for speaking so
highly.
I will take that.
I will take that.
So let me sit with that for alittle bit.
Okay, that's good.
Um, so my highs, uh, it's agood day.
It just feels like a good day.
Yeah, I have nothing tocomplain about.
(05:28):
Lows, I will say, kind of likeSarah.
Summer's going by really fast.
And also Ramona's retiring.
And I think that has us all alittle bit, you know, I don't
want to say down in the dumps,but you know, kind of, you know.
Derek Ross (05:41):
Oh, yeah.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (05:42):
So uh, but yeah, I think Ramona said
everything that I could sayabout myself professionally.
Maybe not everything, right?
We'll keep some things, youknow, for future episodes if you
if you'd have me on.
Derek Ross (05:52):
Save some.
Yeah.
If.
If.
Okay, we'll talk about thatlater.
Yes.
So, well, welcome, Emily.
Thanks.
Thank you so much.
I know that, you know, I I Iwant Ramona to be around here
forever and just enjoying this,you know, picking her brain.
Because I would jump in to justsay that Ramon and Ron have so
much information.
There's just so much.
I'm thinking about if there's away to plug in and get this
(06:13):
information from them, like syncthem and then also plug them
into a computer.
I think we can make a movie outof it.
It's probably already beendone.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (06:19):
Upload.
Derek Ross (06:21):
But hopefully we can do that and get the information
from them.
But while they're here, andwe're we're getting so much from
them and we appreciate them somuch.
But we'll do so much more lateron and giving them the flowers.
I think Ramona, we're gonnajust yell out speech so we can
get all that from Ramona.
But let's jump into it.
Let's jump into it.
Quickly, we're gonna do a didyou know?
A did you know?
Did you know or do you knowabout CUPF School and County
(06:42):
Facilities user guidebooks?
The Fula facility use licenseagreement.
Very important, very importantuh reading and going through it
and understanding a lot aboutCUPF, but I'll stop talking.
Ramona, what about this FULA?
What about the user guidebooks?
What do you think about it?
Ramona Bell-Pearson (06:58):
Well, FULA stands for Facility Use License
Agreement, which in the name isthe word agreement, which some
people may not realize is acontract.
So when you decide to permit afacility, we require you to
acknowledge on your applicationthat you have read the
agreement.
That means you understand andaccept once you check the box
(07:24):
the terms and conditions in thatagreement.
There are many people who don'tread, and I'll admit, you know,
like you get those Appleagreements every time it's time
to do a no new iOS, and youthere's like six pages and you
scroll through them all and getto the bottom and click agree
and you don't look at a singleword.
Well, a lot of us do that withthe FULA too.
(07:44):
But that doesn't mean thatyou're not bound by everything
in that agreement.
Um, we often find that peoplewill be held responsible for
doing something that they didn'trealize was a violation, and
they'll say, Well, nobody toldme, and we'll direct them to the
Fula, and then they'll say, Oh,I didn't know that was in
there.
So ignorance of the law is nodefense.
(08:06):
That's true in CUPF.
It's true in court.
Um, so unfortunately, we dohave to hold people to that.
So I would recommend thatpeople make sure they look at
their license agreement,especially if they have a
question about something theywant to do.
And most likely it's coveredthere because we've had a lot of
experience with different typesof events and activities and
(08:29):
special interests that peoplewant to do, and we've had to
incorporate that into theagreement over the years.
So it's probably there.
Derek Ross (08:36):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I think for me too is realizingthat there's two different ones
specifically because there's alot of information.
So you had to split it up.
Sarah, I know we've done itbefore talking about all the
information and stuff thatyou're looking up.
So when we mentioned like fulasand user guidebooks, and even
when Ramona mentioned likeApple, I was thinking about it.
I was like, I don't even thinkI've read through.
I don't even want to tell itmyself.
(08:57):
Never mind.
Sarah, what do you think abouta lot of this stuff?
Sarah Hoffman (09:01):
Yeah, I think yeah, Ramona said it's important
to read about it just to knowwhether the event or the program
that you're planning for, ifanything that is being planned
falls within or outside of thoseguidelines.
And I mean, I I guess thequestion I would have for you
guys is like sort of what whathappens if someone like breaks
(09:23):
the terms of the agreement andlike sort of what happens.
I think that's something that Iwould be interested to hear
more about.
But um, in terms of the workI've been doing with you all, I
think highlighting some of theareas that people seem to have
like repeated questions about issomething that maybe I can help
create for these last two weeksthat I'm part of the program.
I think a big one that wetalked about earlier was field
(09:45):
use and people having a lot ofquestions about field use
agreements.
Derek Ross (09:49):
Yes, there are a lot of questions, a lot of
questions.
Before I jump back and get backto Ramona, Emily, I know you do
a lot with the childcare andeverything like that.
But when we mention stuff likeFULAS and user guidebooks, how
does what does that do for you?
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (10:02):
Well, uh childcare's FULAs are a
little different, uh, buteverybody should read over the
FULA.
Uh and when we say FULA, Iactually just want to uh clarify
you can actually go on whateverbrowser uh you have on your
phone, laptop, and you canliterally just type in C-U-P-F
FULA F-U-L-A, and it will takeyou straight to our FULA.
(10:24):
Thank you.
Uh, which is super awesomebecause it's, you know, just you
don't even have to write outthe acronym.
You just put in, you know, ourstuff and CUPF FULA, and it
shows right up.
So just please read it.
Derek Ross (10:37):
So I know we're we're still on the topic, and I
know we're gonna just jump backto Ramona.
I know Ramona, what we'relooking over.
I'm looking over the scriptlike you know, it's a ton of
questions, but based off of justa few of the questions it had,
even what Sarah just throwingthrough in there.
Is there anything specificabout the FULA?
I know I have down, you know,the benefits of having it, you
know, how do staff utilize theguidebook, you know, why should
the community read?
(10:58):
And I think we went over alittle bit, but I would love to
hear from the director, youknow, just just what is your
take?
If we dive a little bit deeperinto your take on that.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (11:05):
Sure.
Well, first you mentionedthere's two, and you're right.
We have two separate guidebooksand two separate FULAs.
One is for school use and oneis for government building use.
With regard to Sarah'squestion, which is a great
question, what happens if youbreach or violate the FULA?
Well, we have a process, andthe process is the core service
(11:26):
staff manager will review thecomplaint or the concern.
We often hear the informationabout the breach or the the
violation from the schoolbecause either the building
service people will haveobserved or a principal will
come in the next morning andthere's damage or there's some
incident that has to becorrected.
We then will communicate withthe user group, um, the permit
(11:49):
holder is the one responsible,and indicate to them what the
problem is and come up with aplan for either a restitution if
there's some damage, or wemight have to ban the group if
it's a violation that's seriousenough that the school's saying
they're no longer welcome to useour facility.
Um sometimes that's on a caseby case where it'll just be one
(12:10):
school, so we have to move themto another school, or it could
be serious enough that eventhough it's only one school
saying it, we know that there'snot going to be any other school
that's gonna accept the group.
So once they're banned, thereare various lengths of banning.
It could be for six months, orit could be as long as as 18
months.
The maximum is 18.
(12:32):
If you want to appeal thatdecision, you can have request a
meeting with the director, me,and I would sit with the core
services manager to hear theexplanation and the discussion.
At that point, we would makethe group aware that we would
consider their mitigation orwhatever information they gave
us, take it back to the school,deliberate with the school
(12:53):
because it is school propertyand it is their decision as to
whether they will permit peopleto come back.
If the violations are such thatthey're on the fence or not
quite as serious, we may be ableto make the decision without
having to consult with theschool and just find another
school to place the the groupin.
But but that's generally how wehandle it when there's there's
(13:14):
a breach.
We try to be as fair and openas possible, but at the same
time, you have to respect theproperty of others.
And the school has as its mainpriority educating students.
So when you have community usecoming in and doing something
that takes away from theirability to educate and have a
safe, clean environment, thenyou're no longer welcome.
Derek Ross (13:35):
Wow.
Wow.
And thank you for that too.
Sarah, that was a goodquestion.
I think it was a lot of peoplethat wanted to know that answer.
So I think a lot of us wantedto know.
Um, so jumping around, jumpingaround, we're going to keep it
going.
We're still talking aboutschools and we're still gonna,
you know, of course, go back toRamona as well, too.
So, Ramona, we had a couplelists, you know, and I think
this list was kind of createdfrom core services team about
(13:56):
certain topics that are I wouldare they just being brought up
or just how does this work?
Or is it just something thatjust continues to happen or is
just noticeable situations thatare happening at schools?
Uh so we have food trucks notbeing permitted, uh light
portables, we have parking, uh,alcoholic beverages and smoking.
(14:16):
Uh I'll throw the last one inthere is pickleball fields as
well, too.
And I'm being loose about itbecause I I know that we have
like a little bit of a breakdownfor, but when I'm throwing out
those topics like food trucks,light portables, parking,
alcoholic beverages, smoking, uhnon-pickleball fields, is there
something specific about itthat you want to jump in on it
or just let us know?
Ramona Bell-Pearson (14:35):
Sure.
Um, I will say that some of thethings that I'm gonna mention
that are for the general publichave some exceptions for the
type of permit holder it is.
For example, Emily could jumpin and tell you with the
providers they're permitted todo and permit things that the
general public isn't permittedto do because they have, as a
mandate, their safeguard ofchildren for a specific period
(14:56):
of time before and after school,and they have to meet exercise
requirements and foodrequirements that are different
from the general public.
But food trucks are somethingthat whether you're on a public
street or at a plaza, a countyplaza, or at a school, you have
to have a permit.
And the permit isn't from CUPF.
The permit is from HHS becausethey manage certification and
(15:18):
licensing of food to make suresafe handling occurs, make sure
it's it's um clean, sanitary, etcetera.
There also may be a permitneeded from permitting services,
which is not CUF, but a countyagency that permits events
functions, building stages atconcerts, dealing with crowd
control, noise.
(15:39):
Well, noise is environmentalprotection, but but generally
they will deal with a lot ofdifferent things related to um
that type of thing that couldinclude food trucks.
Um, and that includes thevendors.
Um parking is something thathas always been an issue.
We cannot sometimes permit aschool, even if it's available
online, because we know thatthere's a field next to it, that
(16:01):
there's a game going on or aleague that's using, and they
have a lot of parking needed forthat.
So the school can accommodateboth for parking.
While the facilities might beempty, the parking lot will be
full.
So we have to think that whenwe're considering what we will
agree to permit.
Wow.
Um, alcoholic beverages aresomething that if you look at
(16:22):
our facility use licenseagreement, the you'll see that
it does not permit alcoholicbeverages on school campuses.
And that is because MCPS hasmade a pretty um straightforward
rule that that's not to bepermitted.
You can understand why.
There are children around.
Yeah, these schools are inneighborhoods right next door to
homes where kids live.
(16:43):
Um, the streets are communitystreets, so they don't want
people who may be inebriateddriving up and down, et cetera.
However, the school makes thefinal decision on that.
So we have in our FULA ageneral announcement that there
is no alcoholic beveragepermitted.
So that's that's the generalrule.
I got you.
(17:03):
The pickleball courts aresomething, our fields are
something that we have seen arise in from uh MCPS.
And it's really nice becausethere's more and more coming,
although it's re-lining orwhatever they call it,
restriping the tennis courts.
So we also hear from the tenniscommunity that, you know, they
(17:24):
want their tennis space and thensome people want their
pickleball space.
So, you know, it's up to you.
But Emily, do you have anythingto add on the child care in
terms of how their permits mightbe different?
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (17:34):
I think childcare really the biggest
difference is because we have tofollow the child care
licensing, uh, everything thatgoes along with that.
Um, so they have to submit umvia MSDE.
Basically, the school systemand childcare have an agreement
uh and they're allowed to usespaces that maybe the public
wouldn't have access to.
So, like the kitchen sink, uhthings like that, because they
(17:57):
need access to running water,they need access to a bathroom,
everything that pretty muchstates uh that they state on
their license for childcare, uh,they need to have available to
them at the school.
So it's a little different thanthe public, but uh we still
have the opportunity for thepublic to rent like bat a
bathroom inside or a kitchenspace.
Uh, I believe we spoke about itin uh an episode or two ago.
(18:20):
Um, so you can go ahead andcheck back uh to those episodes
for more details.
But available on all platforms,available all platforms.
Yeah, so there's definitely a asmaller um, there's a small
difference, but it's typicallythe same uh for all users.
Derek Ross (18:37):
Wow, wow.
And and thank you for that too,Emily.
It's always great.
And and Ramona, when youmentioned that too, it's there's
so many different divisions ofCUPF that it it it I wouldn't
say the rules change a littlebit, but when you look at the
fool and stuff like that and theguidebooks and stuff, it does
matter.
So when you when you want toreach out to CUPF communities,
the public facilities, about anyquestions, reach out to us and
we we encourage you to reachout, email us or call us because
(18:58):
there some of these questionsabout facilities can get a
little detailed, and you know,we're here to help.
We are here to help.
But Sarah, Sarah, I know whenI'm always referring to you for
the new eyes and perspective,when we're mentioning facilities
and portables and food trucks,beverages, well, alcoholic
beverages, um, and pickleballfields and courts and stuff like
that.
What what for you when you'rehearing all that, what what how
(19:20):
does that how do you read that?
How does that make you feel?
Sarah Hoffman (19:22):
Uh, I mean, I think it uh I think something
that Ramona mentioned earlierthat really like helps inform me
while I'm reading these is likethis is property of either the
schools or the government.
So like there needs to be sortof these set of guidelines and
rules in place to ensure thatlike the facilities are still
being able to be used for liketheir primary purposes.
(19:44):
So I think that's sort of themotivation behind these rules
and regulations is to like helpensure that the facilities are
able to like still do thosepurposes, but also offer
opportunities for the communityto get involved.
So I think that's how I sort ofread through these rules as
you're going through them.
Derek Ross (19:59):
Oh yeah, oh yeah.
And you see, see, this is whyyou're on the podcast.
You were doing all thisresearch and looking up stuff on
the website.
You're just getting all of thisinformation, just a book.
You just got it all downpacked.
So we're here at this pointnow.
We're here at this point whereyou know what?
The goal, Emily, I think, isfor us to make Ramona cry in a
good way.
We want to give Ramona so manyflowers.
(20:21):
We just want her to sit at theend of the table and be like,
just stop, guys.
Just stop, everybody.
I just can't take it no more.
But Ramona, you know, this isour time to just say that.
Also, too, also too, that youdid a great job, Emily.
You know, Ramona had anawesome, it was a retirement
party or celebration.
Yeah, we'll call itcelebration.
Yeah, I would say celebration.
I don't want to say thatbecause I feel like, you know,
(20:41):
Ramona's such a great person.
I definitely hope we get to seesee you after all of this is
over with.
Oh, you will.
Yay! But I just want to tellyou and tell all of the crowds
that Emily did a great job.
Were you the MC host?
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (20:53):
Uh yeah, I think I played a little
bit of every role uh forRamona's uh retirement
celebration.
So thank you for that.
Derek Ross (21:01):
That was I I was passing it back to you because I
I I want that same energy thatyou get.
Emily brought it.
We had what the CE was there.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (21:09):
Well what the former county executive,
yeah, the current countyexecutive for both things.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (21:13):
That was a really wonderful surprise.
Yeah.
Um, former county executive IkeLeggett was there and he spoke
for a little bit.
Um, you guys have a wonderfulhistory.
I had no idea.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (21:25):
He even remembered me from law school.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (21:26):
That's like, geez.
That was such an amazingmoment.
I'm just really glad that I wasthere to explain.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (21:32):
He didn't even teach me, he taught my
husband.
Yeah, which is even so betterfor us getting together.
Yeah, basically.
Derek Ross (21:38):
Of course, of course.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (21:39):
Uh yeah, that was really, really
nice.
And then obviously, we had uhour current uh county executive
there, Mark Elrich, and he waswonderful.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (21:47):
He was.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (21:48):
And we had your other bosses, I guess.
We had Fariba and Rich.
We had Rich, and we had a wholebunch of other people.
We had staff.
It was just really wonderful.
Uh, the energy was amazing.
Uh, I think we all justgathered and we love Ramona.
This is something that we tooka lot of time and energy to
plan, and this came from theheart.
(22:10):
It was a lot of love.
Yeah, the staff, we really wegot together secretly a lot.
Uh, Ramona was giving us eyes alot.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (22:18):
We were hiding our people shuffling
stuff.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (22:22):
We were hiding our laptops, our phones.
I mean, I'm pretty sure shewalked like right by me when I
was doing the um welcome signdesign.
So I was like, let me justclose this real quick.
But uh yeah, and I had toobviously, she already knew that
why I would be asking her thesequestions.
But I'm like, Ramona, what'syour favorite kind of music?
Ramona, what's your favoritetype of cake?
(22:42):
Ramona, do you love to eat?
What's your favorite food?
Derek Ross (22:45):
Yeah.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (22:45):
Uh so we made sure we got things, you
know, as tailored as possible uhfor Ramona for her celebration.
And like I said, I mean, Icould shout out the staff that
helped, uh, but it reallyeverybody had their hands in
this in some capacity, in someway.
And you didn't get to see this,but I got to experience it
(23:06):
this.
And I know Derek got toexperience this a little bit
too.
But the team got together andit was all hands on deck for
Ramona.
We were very much like, itdoesn't matter if we sleep, we,
you know, eat, we want, we wantto get this done and we want to
do it right because you'vededicated a lot to us.
And we can tell, I've only beenhere for a year and some
(23:29):
change, and it feels like I'vebeen working with you for a
really, really long time.
Like I've known you for a longtime.
No, but it's but it's it's sucha comforting and amazing
feeling to me to have somebodylike you to not only look up to
professionally, but to justspread your, I said this at the
celebration, but I needeverybody to hear this.
Ramona's such an amazing humanbeing.
This is not just for show.
(23:49):
This is not just her persona atwork.
She is genuinely an amazinghuman being.
And you could tell by being atthat celebration, her friends
and family came up and theyshared.
And when I tell you, if youdidn't cry, you were on the
verge of crying when whenwhoever came up and said thank
you.
Literally, everybody had themost beautiful things to say
about Ramona.
And in a way, as a person thatlike, when I go up and meet
(24:13):
somebody new, you know, you tryto be on your P's and Q's and
everything.
And hearing that other peoplein her personal life had the
same experience as we've hadhere at work just proves the
type of person, the type ofwoman, the type of human being
that Ramona is.
And I am so fortunate to havebeen in her presence, let alone
have the honor to host MC herretirement party.
(24:35):
That's amazing.
Uh, so we're we're sad to seeyou go, right?
But you're stuck with us.
So, you know, whether, whether,you know, just checking in or
uh we we really we know you'regonna have an amazing time
during your retirement andtraveling and doing all of these
things that you don't have toworry about, you know, little
(24:55):
CUPFf anymore.
Um, but we're here and and weplan on carrying the torch, and
we're just so happy and so proudto have you as our director.
So I just those are the flowersthat I want to give you.
I'm sure everybody else hassomething to say, but I mean,
you you say it a lot.
Derek Ross (25:11):
I mean, I've had a chance to be around Ramona for a
few years now, a few years,even prior to even being hired
by CUPF.
Uh, my experience in trying tounderstand and being on the
board, my experience of justwitnessing what Ramona was all
about.
I was like, oh, okay, okay.
So there's that fine line.
You know, there's that fineline when you're cool with
somebody, but you don't want tobe rude because you respect them
(25:32):
so well.
So you want to get the workdone.
That is Ramona, too.
So he was like, I respect herso much, but I don't want her to
think I'm that cool.
I want just get the work done,Derek.
That's what we're gonna that'swhat we're gonna do.
Um, but that, but yeah, Ramona,I hope you know that.
I hope you know that we reallydo care.
We appreciate you a lot, a lot.
If you haven't heard it, andit's funny how you hear it now,
we can I guess we could havebeen saying it for a couple
weeks.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (25:51):
You think you have to.
Derek Ross (25:53):
We're just doing it now, y'all.
We're just gonna put it righthere now.
No, we've been we've been we'vebeen saying that for a long
time, and we want to continue tosay that.
But I know Sarah, Sarah, you'vebeen around for a couple weeks
now, and I know we've had achance to meet with Ramona, and
I know you've been with Ramonaon different occasions, but how
do you feel about Ramona BillPeterson, Cup Director?
Don't put her on the spot.
Sarah Hoffman (26:11):
Yeah, I can speak.
She's actually So I mean, yeah,I joined only about eight weeks
ago.
Um, but within like this shorttime, these two months, it's
been like a really great honorto be able to join this team and
to work with you.
And like like what everyoneelse has said, like you're
really inspiring, both likepersonally and professionally.
And as I'm like sort ofnavigating me entering the
(26:35):
workforce, like I definitelyfeel like I have so much to
learn from you.
Um, so I just like want to saythank you for bringing me onto
the team and like showing me theropes and like guiding me
through this journey of thissummer, but also just as I enter
my adult life into the, youknow, enter the workforce, it's
it's been a great help.
Yeah.
So thank you.
(26:55):
Well, I hope so.
I've enjoyed working with youtoo.
Yeah, thank you.
Derek Ross (26:59):
Oh, see, we we we just just look, we holding
hands, y'all.
We we just having a good time,but we're gonna we I know we're
gonna end this podcast soon, butfor a moment, I I put speech
down.
Dude, would you like to sayspeech?
Give us something, please.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (27:13):
Well, I will say I have been with the
county for 35 years now.
Wow.
Um, I had just gotten marriedwhen I came here, didn't have
any children, so I went throughall of that as a county
employee, and it was a greatopportunity.
It's a great place to live inthis county, it's a great place
to work for the county.
The government is fantastic.
(27:35):
CUPF is unique, which is veryinspiring because when we
started doing research for ourfee study, for example, we found
there was no other entity likeus in this country.
And we couldn't even findanything close by in other
countries, like looking inCanada or Mexico or anything
that borders with us.
So we should be proud of whatwe do.
(27:56):
And I'm very proud of whatwe've accomplished in the eight
or so years that I've been here.
Um, I'm also proud of the otheryears I had with the county,
working with the countyexecutive's office under Ike
Leggett, working with the countyattorney's office, working with
HHS as the privacy officer,working with uh Office of Human
Rights, dealing with their astheir compliance director.
(28:18):
So I had a lot of experiencemoving around.
And what I always tell peoplewhen they talk to me about how
can I advance?
How can I motivate my career?
How can I stimulate myself?
I always tell them when you arein a position that you feel
like you've learned pretty mucheverything and you're starting
to get bored or you're startingto be antsy, thinking, you know,
(28:40):
what else can I do?
How can I make this exciting?
Reinvent yourself.
Reinvent yourself either inthat position or find something
else that's within the countybecause there are so many
opportunities in this county.
Um, you should also be open tochange because I've gone to
positions where I didn't knowanything about it and I had to
rely on what I had learnedpreviously and use those skills
(29:02):
to learn and to adapt and andyou know do a new job.
So I guess I would say 35 yearsgoes very fast.
If if you learn to be flexibleand motivated, because
transition is hard.
Um, this is hard for everybodybecause I guess they feel like
just as soon as you've gotten toknow me and comfortable with
(29:22):
me, then I'm moving on.
But that's the way life is.
I mean, when you're raisingchildren, as soon as you get to
be the point where you feel likethey're friends and they don't
need as much guidance and maybeyou can let go a little bit,
then they're gonna move on.
And you have to be able to letgo, but you're never really
gone.
You're always around, andthat's what I'll be.
(29:43):
I'll be here in the county,I'll be at least for several
months doing a contract to uhhelp with the knowledge transfer
to the new director.
So I'll be here.
Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I'll be there.
Derek Ross (29:58):
Okay, okay.
I don't want fully sing and allthat stuff anyway you know what
we're gonna try to end this ona good positive note we're gonna
close out this podcast but wealso mentioned another name as
well too and i i'll save sometime for that as we close it out
because i'll actually you knowi'll actually leave that for the
end so so let's just jump intolike a little bit of a positive
note emily do you have any waysdo you want to close this out
(30:19):
with anything do you haveanything you want to say uh i'm
just really grateful to be hereto be a part of our team we have
a lot of wonderful thingscoming up uh we're revamping
some stuff so you'll see us inyou know hopefully a new fresher
capacity uh when we're out youknow and about doing outreach or
(30:39):
community events if you haven'tyou know seen me before you
will at some point uh or you'llknow my name at some point uh
just because we're gonna workreally um hard on on getting the
word out to the community andmaking sure that we are reaching
out in the appropriate way andin the most effective way.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (30:58):
And you know the last little bit we're
gonna miss you so much Ramona.
I'm so grateful to have youknow been on the team for the
last year and some change andI'm excited for what's to come.
Transitions are hard, right?
But you know the next personthat's gonna come in, I'm sure,
you know, as long as we meetthem with the same energy we'll
be fine.
(31:18):
It'll be great.
So and I'm just excited for youRamona you get to start you
know fresh you get to travel youget to do all these fun things
that I don't I have to wait likeanother 15 years or so until I
retires so yeah I'm justdreaming via uh vicariously
through Ramona right now.
Derek Ross (31:33):
Sarah Sarah any last words?
Sarah Hoffman (31:35):
Uh just yeah enjoy uh retirement and take
advantage of everything thatyou'll be able to do and uh I
mean I'm way farther away thanEmily so I'll also live
vicariously through you um butyeah just it's been a great
adventure starting exactlythat's true yeah oh yeah your
movie just started yeah we in itwe in it uh so and the reason
(31:58):
why I did that just getting thelast few words from Emily and
Sarah is because we also shoutedout Ron Ron Maxon Jr.
Derek Ross (32:05):
If I'm saying this I'll just say his whole name
just get it out there is notcurrently with us on this
specific podcast I feel like ifI said it in a certain way I'm
like where is he at?
Anyway what do you mean?
But I want to also give thisopportunity to give a shout out
to Ron Ron thank you so muchthank you so much for everything
Ron is one of those individualsonce you get the chance to
understand him just like Ramonathat you know it's we business.
(32:28):
We about to do this.
CUPF was really really reallyhad the we really had the honor
I'll probably say of havingpeople that are involved with
this this company this businessthis industry 35 plus years wow
I don't know why I'm looking onlooking off like that like it's
not far fetched to believe andthe same with Ron too Ron put in
a lot of years as well too inthe county and I definitely want
(32:50):
to tell Ron that I mean I I Idon't want to cry so I'm not
gonna cry but Ron I appreciateyou man really do Ramon I
appreciate you y'all have doneso much for CUPF and y'all
continue to do so much for thecounty as well too I get
surprised when I talk to you andyou bring up your name drop I'm
like well Ramon who who don'tyou know Ron who don't you know
y'all just just know y'all knoweverybody but Ramon I'll leave
(33:12):
it up to you is there anythingyou would like to say on behalf
of Ron just anything sure when Icame eight years ago Ron had
been here for over 10 years.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (33:22):
I think he's been with CUPF for maybe 20
years and he was with thepolice before he was with CUPF.
And he was invaluable I couldtell from the minute I walked in
the door he not only knewpeople, he knew how to do
things.
And it wasn't necessarily thathe knew them because he had been
here for so long it was becausehe has a style and grace that
(33:42):
gives him the ability to manageand to organize and to just be
good.
We're definitely going to misshim.
I can tell you when our boss inum the counting sex office
heard we were both leaving onthe same day she was very upset.
She was concerned nervousworried what's going to happen
(34:03):
we kept saying we got it we gotit we're gonna you know we'll
both be here we'll work throughit and we have but I can
understand her concern becauseand everybody's concerned um
because he he's a um a pillarfor CUPF has been for years uh
but he he deserves to move on umhe's moving out of state and
(34:24):
he's got a new grandbaby and sohe's got bright ventures ahead
too so he'll be good.
Derek Ross (34:31):
Oh yeah see see thank you for that that's a good
word pillar that's a good wayto describe both of y'all yeah
yeah 30 anyway anyway well thatis it that is it we were going
around with that with Ramon wasthat your last words too did you
want to have give it good closeus out with anything I'm good
okay okay I I you know I had todouble that back just to make
sure just to make sure becausethis is this is we are
celebrating so this is iteverybody this is it for the
(34:54):
podcast want to say thank you somuch and check in next time
thank you this podcast isbrought to you by County Cable
Montgomery your source for newsand information from the
Montgomery County governmentconnect with us via cable
Facebook Instagram or YouTube bysearching for County Cable Moko
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Ruthie's Table 4
For more than 30 years The River Cafe in London, has been the home-from-home of artists, architects, designers, actors, collectors, writers, activists, and politicians. Michael Caine, Glenn Close, JJ Abrams, Steve McQueen, Victoria and David Beckham, and Lily Allen, are just some of the people who love to call The River Cafe home. On River Cafe Table 4, Rogers sits down with her customers—who have become friends—to talk about food memories. Table 4 explores how food impacts every aspect of our lives. “Foods is politics, food is cultural, food is how you express love, food is about your heritage, it defines who you and who you want to be,” says Rogers. Each week, Rogers invites her guest to reminisce about family suppers and first dates, what they cook, how they eat when performing, the restaurants they choose, and what food they seek when they need comfort. And to punctuate each episode of Table 4, guests such as Ralph Fiennes, Emily Blunt, and Alfonso Cuarón, read their favourite recipe from one of the best-selling River Cafe cookbooks. Table 4 itself, is situated near The River Cafe’s open kitchen, close to the bright pink wood-fired oven and next to the glossy yellow pass, where Ruthie oversees the restaurant. You are invited to take a seat at this intimate table and join the conversation. For more information, recipes, and ingredients, go to https://shoptherivercafe.co.uk/ Web: https://rivercafe.co.uk/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/therivercafelondon/ Facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/therivercafelondon/ For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iheartradio app, apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.