Cory Bowman - Running for Mayor of Cincinnati

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Here's your SENNA nine first Warning weather forecast. Not too bad,
is going to get warmer, thirty one the High to
day with mostly sunny skies, down to eighteen overnight with
partly thoudy skies. Tomorrow partly sunny and thirty six for
the High. Now to twenty one overnight, clear skies, Sunday
partly cloudy, forty four for the High, and they're expecting
temperatures in the fifties next week. Right now, it's eighteen.

(00:25):
In time for a traffic update, Chuck.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
From the UCEL traffic center. You see health.

Speaker 3 (00:29):
You'll find comprehensive care that's so personal it and make
sure best tomorrow possible. That's found most care for better outcomes.
Expect more at you see health dot com. Highway traffic
just beginning to build on suthbound seventy five Pata Lackland.
Still not a major time delay at all northbound seventy
five or northbound fourth seventy one coming into town, Chuck

(00:51):
Ingram on fifty five KR see the talk station.

Speaker 1 (00:57):
That is seven point thirty fifty five KAR see the
talk station. Very happy Friday to you, and I'd like
to welcome back and congratulate running for mayor of the
City of Cincinnati, got the signatures turned in, They've all
been approved. He is running for mayor. He is Corey Bowman. Corey,
good to have you back on the morning show.

Speaker 4 (01:15):
Good to be back, Thanks for having me.

Speaker 1 (01:17):
Did you get a lot of people showing up at
your coffee shop to sign the petition to get you
on the ballot.

Speaker 4 (01:23):
It was a combination of a lot of different things
that brought it all together at the last minute.

Speaker 1 (01:28):
You have a lot of people out there on the
streets working for you, I hope.

Speaker 4 (01:33):
Yeah. So we had We had many individuals that were
just very excited about what we were doing. They were
going door to door, we were going to communities, families.
When it came down to it the last night, we
were driving around till midnight gathering whatever we could.

Speaker 1 (01:48):
Well and again they've already certified. You have on kind
of board of Elections to certified the signatures for you.
And when you're out and about gathering signatures to get
on the ballot, and you're gonna have to continue to this.
On the campaign trail, people are going to ask you
questions about what you stand for, what your goals, your motivations,
and your ideas are for the city. So did you
hear a lot of or did you get a lot

(02:08):
of questions along those lines when you're around circulating position?

Speaker 4 (02:12):
Yeah, And honestly, I I'd made a lot of those
questions myself to the people a lot of times when
we weren't just you know, paying somebody to get the
signatures on our behalf. We were actually going out to
our future voters. And so most of the people that
we if we had the time to we would ask
them what are the issues that are important to you?
And then we would have really great discussions.

Speaker 1 (02:34):
What are you hearing from folks? What are the issues
that are most important to them?

Speaker 4 (02:39):
I mean, for the most part, if you're downtown, they
just say, fix the damn potholes.

Speaker 2 (02:45):
My god.

Speaker 1 (02:46):
One of my favorite pet peeves about the city of
Cincinnati is just the absolute deteriorating, deteriorating nature of the infrastructure.
You know, Corey, what they're like four hundred and fifty
million dollars worth of projects behind. They're supposed to do
X number of road miles a year and repairs, They
have the money allocated for it, and for some reason
or other, it never gets done. I mean that's that

(03:07):
that should be a motivating factor to run for mayor
in and of itself.

Speaker 4 (03:12):
Yeah, can you imagine from day one of being elected
that that's the first thing that we actually do that
we said that we were going.

Speaker 2 (03:20):
To do, just kind of like Donald Trump, Ye get
a lot of people.

Speaker 4 (03:26):
It's you know, we live in a city. There is
certain key issues that pertain to the residents of our city,
and so yeah, there's a lot of issues that face
the country as a whole, and there's a lot of
broad statements that we could make, but ultimately there's real
issues that people care about. And you know, if you
drive over a pothole, it doesn't matter whether you're a
Democrat or Republican. You're tired getting.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
Flat exactly right, and supposed notably, those neighborhoods that seem
to be overlooked, you know, for decades, it's as if
they don't exist. And I don't know how in that situation,
someonel continue to vote for the same party that hasn't
served their interests for however many years we've been going
on with this problem. So maybe you stand a chance.

(04:11):
Did you get a sense of you there's a possibility
for you because you know, it is the city of Cincinnati.
You're not running as a Democrat, Corey, And I just
wonder what your enthusiasm level is after going out and
about meeting with folks out in the communities.

Speaker 4 (04:26):
My enthusiasm level probably was improved every day that I
spoke to people. I'll be honest. I mean I had
no clue whether this was the right decision or not
when we first made We just knew it it had
to be done. And every morning I would wake up,
I'll just say, you know, what are you doing, Corey?
Why are you making this run? And every night I

(04:46):
would go to bed more encouraged than not because of
the conversations I had. People are very excited about what
we stand for, They're very hungry for change in the city.
And yes, it's going to be an uphill battle the
next da months, but every conversation I had just gave
me that extra energy that I needed to keep.

Speaker 2 (05:05):
On going well.

Speaker 1 (05:06):
And I know your jd Vance's half brother, and that
propelled you sort of the national stage. I mean, there
was a lot of reporting on major media outlets that
you were, in fact or you are in fact running
for the mayri City of Cincinnati. Do you feel as
if it's a I mean, it's a benefit for me
from a publicity standpoint, but you somehow feel maybe you're
in the shadow of your vice presidential half brother.

Speaker 4 (05:28):
Well, like I said in my post whenever I announced it,
that you know, he's a great role model of mine.
And when I saw the enthusiasm and the hope and
the change behind you know, the inauguration weekend, that's what
inspired me because our hometown can't fall behind these next
four years. So we're gonna We're gonna work very hard

(05:50):
the next eight months to go into every district, talk
to every community. We're going to get the right endorsements,
We're going to get the right groups behind us. But
then also I think one of the biggest motivators for
people to vote for us is going to be this
upcoming year with the current administration.

Speaker 1 (06:07):
Well, certainly a lot of talking points and different ideas
are welcomed by a lot of folks across political stripes.
One of the things I want to ask you when
we come back, Corey, is about this Connected Communities program,
because a lot of folks are rebelling against it, and
it's a program that was pretty much shoved down every
single neighborhood in the city's throat without their input. Let's
bring Corey Bowman back. He is running for mayor the

(06:28):
city of Cincinnati, and we'll try to be remain optimistic
for him.

Speaker 2 (06:32):
In the meantime.

Speaker 1 (06:32):
I want to mention affordable imaging services because your hospital
imaging departments just is outrageous in terms of what it
charges for any kind of given image, echo cardiograms, MRI,
ct scans, ultrasounds, affordable imaging services. You have a choice
when it comes to your medical care. So why would
you pay thirty five hundred dollars at the hospital when
you can get an echo cardiogram at affordable imaging services

(06:54):
for a mere five hundred dollars Not that that's not money,
but a mere compared to thirty five hundred. If you
need an enhancement, it's only eight hundred. And that enhancement,
of course, will cost you more. At the imaging department
at the hospital. You'll probably pay separate for the board
certified radiologists to read the image. You get that included
in the low price. So five hundred dollars including the

(07:16):
radiologist report. I like that a lot more, especially given
it's a new calendar year, and you got a huge
chunk out of pocket liability, most notably for folks who
are like under Obamacare plan or maybe you don't have
medical insurance and that image will empty out your bank account.

Speaker 2 (07:30):
You have a choice.

Speaker 1 (07:31):
Check it out online, go to Affordable Medimaging dot Com
mri CD. They're all a mere fraction same kind of equipment.
It's just low overhead, so don't expect bells and whistles,
just to expect a perfect image with the radiologist report
that your doctor will not have any problem with. Isn't
that what it's all about? So give them a call
five one three seven five three eight thousand, seven five

(07:53):
three eight thousand again online Affordable Medimaging dot Com.

Speaker 2 (07:57):
Fifty five KRC to station.

Speaker 1 (08:00):
The countdown is on to our nhame time with the
letter Channa nine. First warning weather specifically and look forward
to next week. It's going to warm up into the fifties,
they're saying. But between now and then, we've got today
with mostly sunny skies in a high thirty one. It's
going to be partly cloudy overnight going down to eighteen
thirty six under partly sunny skies Tomorrow twenty one the

(08:21):
overnight low with clear skies and a partly cloudy Sunday
by a forty four again, segue into the fifties next
week twenty degrees. Now time for traffic.

Speaker 3 (08:31):
From the UCL Tranthhics Center, and you see healthy and
find comprehensive care that's so personal it makes your best
tomorrow possible. That's boundless care from better outcomes. Expect more
at U see health dot com. Northbound seventy five slows
a bit, buttermilk towards Kyle's and I'm just hearing dispatches
for a wreck northbound seventy five near the Western Hills.

(08:51):
Five do stapbound seventy five. That slows a bit. That
the Reagan Highway chucking from on fifty five KRC the
talk station.

Speaker 1 (09:00):
Seven forty fifty KCIT talk station. Brian Thomas was Corey Bowman,
who is officially a candidate for the mayor of the
City of Cincinnati. Got all the signatures been certified, and
he's going to hit the ground running. You'll see him
in neighborhoods. You're planning on having town halls and things
of that nature. Corey, You're willing to actually meet and
talk with the people. I kind of got that impression
in the last segment.

Speaker 4 (09:21):
Yeah, I think that's got to be a key thing
with this campaign. We're definitely going to be doing live
q ands on livestream, most likely every week. I'm trying
to about what the best day is for it, but
then every week we're going to have to hit different
areas in different districts. My goal would be to find
the local key businesses in the area. You know, we

(09:43):
had our first one of our first meetings in our
downtown coffee shop and it was a great response. You know,
we had a meeting in price Field Chili. So what
I want to do is just find these key businesses
in these districts with the business owners that are hurting
and really just have these events there and hear.

Speaker 1 (10:02):
From people wonderful and by way of background, and I
think it's important for our listeners to know you Uh,
you own the King's Arms Coffee Roasters, which we've been
mentioned a couple of times. You're also a pastor at
the River Church in Cincinnati. I suppose being a pastor
you have to regularly communicate with parishioners and spread the
message and relate and connect to people. Does that is

(10:24):
that a is that that served you well in your
efforts thus far?

Speaker 4 (10:30):
Yeah, I joked around because one of the biggest things
that helped me in politics unexpectedly was ministry. And partly
because you deal with people and you're dealing with people's
opinions and you're talking with people, also because you care
for people. But then another is because ministry they'll cut
your throat at any point in time, and so that's

(10:51):
something that I'm learning about politics as well.

Speaker 1 (10:54):
Fair enough, Now moving over to one of the more
interesting and I think problematic issues for the same the
Cincinnati residents is this connected Communities thing that city Council
passed really without any input from the various neighborhoods within
the city of Cincinnati, requiring you know, changing in zoning
and dense population in other words, knocking down single family

(11:15):
homes and putting up higher volume apartments, many of which
will not have any parking. I know neighborhoods like Hyde
Park are worried about impacting the community where these people
are going to park, but it's all design to get
people on buses, and I think it's really an affront
to the single family property owner to know that, you know,

(11:35):
how next door neighbor could have sellar house and next
thing you know, you're living in next to a ten
twelve unit CONDOMENTI or rather apartment complex. Where are you
on connected Communities?

Speaker 4 (11:46):
Corey, Well, when I first heard about these issues, you know,
I decided we have to hear people's opinions, we have
to research. So one of the first things that we
did over the course of find these signatures was we
went to a hall meeting that was in bond Hill
area related to this Connected communities and Sky Johnson, Counselan

(12:08):
Sky Johnson and Vice Mayor Kearney were there and as
we were there, I give it up for the councilmen mayor.
They were kind of, you know, doing some crowd control
with the very disgruntled people in the room. But a
lot of people showed up and you could tell that
they're very frustrated with how this has been brought to
the city. And so I was going through asking people

(12:31):
questions and I think the biggest thing is that if
you take the cover sheet on top of these connected
community policies that most likely were written by chat GBT,
you would sit there and say, yeah, we kind of
like bringing communities together, but yeah, we look like helpless
in need. We like bringing business. But it's what they're
trying to kind of sneak in through these policies, and

(12:54):
what they're really trying to sneak in through this is
exactly what you're talking about. It's, you know, prop improperly
managed affordable housing policies. You're bringing in big time developers
instead of small time businesses that actually want to enhance
the properties and want to utilize the historic buildings that
are there. And then you're exactly right. They're trying to

(13:16):
get it to a point to where people have to
take the bus, they have to be in a multi
level apartment, they can't own their own home, they can't
park anywhere, and this isn't right for certain communities to
where the historic aspect that like Park and other areas
in our city that's invaluable and connected. Community policies like

(13:37):
this are just going to rip that out from people.

Speaker 1 (13:39):
Well, and hasn't the city learned anything over the years
about absentee landlords, which have been a problem and a
plague on the general Greater Cincinnati area for so long
properties deteriorate, they're nowhere to be found. When you finally
try to find them, they change the corporate structure, so
you have to start all over again. In terms of
any litigation you're waging against them. I mean, you know
that season written on the wall or baked into the cake.

(14:01):
When you got these outside developers building these units.

Speaker 4 (14:05):
Well you know when me and my wife have lived here,
and well, we lived here, I've been from here my
whole life. But being downtown for four years with the
Church of Business, We've had many friends that have never
visited Cincinnati before, and then they come in and they're
blown away by the historic buildings. They're blown away by
the beauty of Dayton Street and other areas that have

(14:27):
these amazing town homes, amazing business fronts. I mean, I mean,
my coffee shop is in one of these buildings. And
when you bring in developers and absentee landlords and all
these things, it's taking away from the beauty and the
character of our city. And also, I'll be honest with you,
we've been in the West End and we have many

(14:48):
people connected to us that are small time business owners.
They can only flip one property at a time or
have one business location at a time. And they are
hungry to utilize these spaces to better the community. But
these policies took out developers, any of these small businesses
that really want to utilize this. And so, yeah, you

(15:11):
have thousands of vacant properties, but it's done by the
hand of the city policies.

Speaker 1 (15:18):
Well, and you know, obviously tinkering with other people's neighborhoods
and individual zoning rules. I just I mean, it's such
an intrusion into that neighborhood's own rights and freedoms and
ability to control their own direction that they just passed
this without going to the various communities and getting input
and asking if any given neighborhood was in favor of

(15:39):
it ever or not. Some of them are, many of
them are not. Again, I turned back to Hyde Park,
and I guess the idea is this is going to
somehow make a housing affordable. I mean, I'm sorry, but
I'm a little skeptical that any player in Hyde Park,
regardless of who builds it, it's going to be affordable.
I mean, a lot of people love Hyde Park. It's
a beautiful neighborhood. It's it's if it's walkable, it's got

(16:01):
a lot of businesses that you can just walk around
generally speaking. But if you build an apartment building there,
the apartments are going to fetch a pretty high rent.

Speaker 2 (16:08):
I'm willing to bet anyone.

Speaker 4 (16:11):
Well, even if it does become affordable. This is a
major issue in our city. Is that for the sake
of affordable housing or income based housing, what's happening is
that you have poorly managed policies that are really keeping
those individuals. Yeah, they might be able to afford it,
but they'll never be able to afford something higher in
their lives because the way that they're structuring this, it's

(16:33):
keeping people in bondage to the system.

Speaker 1 (16:35):
It's a great way of putting it. We can end
on that note. Corey Bowman, He's got a Facebook page
Corey Bowman Bowma and beautiful. You got a beautiful wife there,
so congratulations on out kicking your coverage, my friend, and
a beautiful a beautiful family as well.

Speaker 2 (16:50):
You got three children, is that correct?

Speaker 4 (16:53):
Yeah, we have a fourth on the way to end
of June, early July.

Speaker 1 (16:56):
No, that's beautiful. Well, good luck with all that, and
thanks for been a time with my listeners me. I know,
and I hope that you and I will be talking
a lot between now and the election, and I wish
you the best of luck. Get the message out there
and maybe we can transform the city to a better
place for everyone.

Speaker 4 (17:11):
Absolutely, we're going to do it.

Speaker 1 (17:12):
Thank you so much, Thank you brother. Have a great
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That's