So let's just say so, Chris. Let's just get right into it. Orient Township is the safest city with a population over 25,000. And Michigan. What have you done to help achieve that kind of ranking?

Speaker 2

Robert, thank you. And first, thanks for having me on the podcast. I'm a fan. Listen to the first episode on my way to Nashville a few weeks ago, and we'll talk about that hopefully soon. But, yeah, I've been in my role as township supervisor for 13 years here, and, our community's about 40,000. For those people not familiar with Orient, we're about 30 miles north of the city of Detroit.

Speaker 2

And in Michigan, we have townships and cities. Very similar cities have mayors, townships have supervisors. Just to kind of lay the groundwork for folks listening, to understand how, what I do in my day job. So I'm sort of like the mayor. And I also get to oversee the day to day operations of all the departments of the township, including police.

Speaker 2

And so, yeah, that's something we're really proud of here in our community. Is safety to me. You know, my job as the township supervisor is to protect and grow people's investment. And that's either their business or their home. And certainly the number one factor, in any community, in any where in America is public safety. Safety, if you're if the community is not safe, the schools, decline, property values decline and vice versa.

Speaker 2

So that's been our high focus. And, it's it's sort of the motto we live by. And so we have for the last six years has been either number one or number two in the entire state of Michigan, over 1700 communities. The safest. Yeah.

00:01:45:22 - 00:01:50:00

Speaker 1

I had, when I saw the 19th, safest of all communities. Yeah.

Speaker 2

But then if you look at that and. Yeah. And so that's why we say the safest of 25,000 or more is that, that a lot of those are a little small, you know, villages that one couple hundred people and you know.

Speaker 1

That makes.

Speaker 2

Sense. So yeah, we and it's something we're really proud of and, and I think one of the other ways we've been able to do that is, you know, our residents support our police very, actively, through there, through the villages, the the way we fund our police department and it allows our police to be more of a in a proactive, policing mindset instead of reactive.

Speaker 2

Many communities, unfortunately, and mostly due to finances, or lack of funding, are only able to run to the 911 calls as they come in, and sometimes they can't even keep up. That's why you're some of these big cities. The response time 20 30 minutes. In our case, the reaction that, you know, we have districts that they're constantly in and they're not just there to write tickets, they're there to go to the elementary schools and be seen by the students and, be at the community events, and seen, you know, we do ribbon cuttings, they show up, you know, and they're part they're part of the fabric of our community.

Speaker 2

So when they do have to do the hard parts of their job, people know them as well. But it's been really a successful sort of approach for us, and we've been blessed to be able to do it. Not every community can do that.

Speaker 1

Yeah, I know offline you and I were talking about, the customer, you know, and you said a little bit right there is, is that the, the population? Everybody in your city is your customer. Yeah. Can you give me a little bit of background and, you know how you flip the script?

Speaker 2

Yeah. So we it's funny, I talked to the fourth grade students every year. It's part of their, regular, programing, to have a local government section of, of government class and I usually get to go to visit them and that's my favorite question, you know, and I said, who do you think my boss is? I tell em a lot about my job.

Speaker 2

I get to work with the police and the fire and the parks and the water department. And they always say the president and the governor, you know, and Congress and and I say and I say the clue is I have 40,000 of them. And, then they usually figure it out. But that's the challenge. I mean, in our community, we have 40,000 residents.

Speaker 2

Each one of them is my constituent. They're my boss. They they pay me. And so it's my job to do the best I can and provide the best customer service for them. So that's there's a couple things there to your question. Unfortunately, in 2025, heading into 2026, trust in government is at an all time low in our lifetimes.

Speaker 2

And that's a fact. I mean, Harvard just came out with a study a couple of weeks ago. I read, the closer you get to the people, the more trust there is. But federal government almost. You know, people don't trust the federal government in general. State government follows suit. Local government is similar. A little bit more trust as you get closer to the people because sometimes they know you.

Speaker 2

But that's the challenge we have. And people don't, you know, knowing that that's the world I work in. How do I provide great service? Well, to me it's listening. And we do a lot of that.

Speaker 1

Yeah. When you talk about that, the the connection to people don't vote at the local levels as much as they do at the larger levels. My son and I were driving from California to Colorado last weekend, and we actually were talking about how do we improve the voting system. We were trying to come up with ideas is how do you get people, how do you educate people?

Speaker 1

You talk about it. You're educating people in the fourth grade. But I can tell you, a, kid that's from 18 years old, they don't necessarily know how to how to vote or why why they're voting. That civics test, they they say, how did when did the Northwest Territory become part of the United States has no relevance to what we're talking about, but education seems to be the strongest suit to help people, you know, vote the right way.

Speaker 1

What do you guys do in the community to educate them, to what you're doing and how you're doing it?

Speaker 2

Yeah, I mean, that's the challenge we all face and we try to find creative solutions that one of the things we do is we're really out there. I mean, and even though I'm really out there, we're out there with our communications plan, our strategy, and through the social media platforms, we have a quarterly magazine. That's one of the things I when I first knocked doors in 2012, when I was running for this job, one of the things I heard over and over was we don't get a clear communication from our local government.

Speaker 2

So I said, well, what if we what if we had a real high quality magazine that we did with all the community partners, the schools in the downtown, the library, and we did that and we did it with excellence. We won national awards. And we we are very strategic about our plan to communicate. I see that as the Achilles heel of many, people in my position.

Speaker 2

They think they know what's best, and they operate in a bubble and that doesn't work. Good for them. I mean.

Speaker 2

So, that that's the challenge that, that we have in this role is to realize and, and it takes a lot of humility, frankly, that, sometimes you have to make decisions that might even be a little bit off of what I might decide if it was just my decision. But I take the input of my bosses and and put that all together to, to come up with.

Speaker 1

Yeah. Give me an idea of a decision that you have to make because not all decisions are popular. And so what type of decision have you made that maybe the community doesn't understand that is in their best interest for safety? You know, how do you balance freedom and safety? Yeah.

Speaker 2

I think I think the thing we get the most scrutiny about is, when we when we approve developments that come to town and the process that's, that's, that's we were required to follow. And I am a big rule follower. I think that's important. That's when people like my rule get in trouble when you create your own set of rules.

Speaker 2

But the residents, I think taking the time to explain and I say customer all the time instead of writing them to our customers, why we do the things we do and why we make the decisions we make, there's lots of folks that think our community is exactly perfect the way it is today, or the way it was 15 years ago.

Speaker 2

We don't need anything else. But, you know, there's this little thing called personal property rights and freedom that people have that we live in this country. And, so that's the challenge that we have. And our role sometimes is to balance that. And I would say the things that people get the most upset about are when we are proving these new projects is new growth in our community, that not everyone understands the value of these new developments coming to town and or thinks we don't have the infrastructure capacity.

Speaker 2

And that's where the level of trust comes in. And if you have that built that, you know, capital that you have built up over the years and built that trust up with the residents and with your customers, it makes it a lot easier when you have to make those decisions.

Speaker 1

Obviously, you know, my brother's a building official here, and we talk about business and decision making all the time. And he he's one of the things he's done as a building official as he said, he's flip the script just like you say. And I'm sure it's a top down menu. You know, it comes from the top. You guys set the standard because he goes out in the field and when he inspects the house, he's inspecting it as they're the customer, and he's helping them get through the process rather than walking in and said, hey, that plug's out of line.

Speaker 1

And then they walk out. Rather, he tells me he goes in, he explains them what you need to do to do it right. Yeah. You know, and again, this leads to safety. So it's a mentality that you've built within your community and in your people.

Speaker 2

It's a mentality and it's a trust. And that builds trust also. But I'll tell you, it's all about I'm big on mission and vision. Where are we headed? And we have one. And simply put in there's five different values that set it up. We exist to exceed our residents expectation for how local government should serve them.

Speaker 2

We exist to give our customers the white glove treatment. And you just gave a perfect example. A lot of residents have no idea who I am. You know, they might know who some of our police folks are and our fire chief, they might not know who. Dave Goodloe as your brother, a building official. And that's the feeling they get, because that's sort of what's been ingrained in our heads coming, you know, growing up and through the system, government doesn't always look out for you.

Speaker 2

And when that building official comes into your house, he's looking to give you find any reason to give you that red tag, not the green one. Well, that's not how we roll in orange Township. And that's, I agree it has to be top down. I preach this literally every week to our team. Matter of fact, we had an all staff meeting just yesterday, and I told the story the night before.

Speaker 2

I stopped in the Lowe's to pick up something. And as I walked in, a gentleman said, Welcome to Lowe's. Just like this with a big old smile. And I was in a bad mood. I had the worst day. I was running late to see my grandma. I had to get in and out. I was cranky as heck and he completely changed my demeanor.

Speaker 2

I smile literally smiled. His name was. Notice his name was Bob. I said, thank you Bob, how are you? And as I'm walking around the store, I was literally chuckling to myself, like, that guy just changed my trajectory. I tried to go find him to take a selfie so I could show my whole team, hey, we need to be more like Bob.

Speaker 2

And I couldn't find him. He probably was on break. But, that's the mentality. I think there is. Unfortunately in 2025, this overall distrust of the government, what whatever level on they're not necessarily going to help me. And they're always trying to put their thumb on me. And we want to be the opposite. We want to be seen as no, we are your advocate.

Speaker 2

We are your helper. We are a supporter. And, and if we do a good enough job that will trickle through our whole organization.

Speaker 1

So, you give me a lot of information about you, the city, how the city has done. But one of the things is, as a leader, I know I get to talk to my brother about your heel. Heel? You're very inspirational in your team follows you tell me a little bit more about you. I want to know.

Speaker 1

You know, I know, you know, when I first did the podcast, I heard that you want to start your own podcast. So I said our hardest part about starting a podcast is just doing it. So you get out there and just do it. And I know that a couple weeks ago you drove down to Tennessee to to welcome in a grandson.

Speaker 1

Yes. And and so I want to know, I want to know more about you and how you set up yourself. So how does that translate to the job? Because you're writing your act. You're you're you're not acting. You're you're you're acting like a mayor. You're giving me all of the okay, the the things that.

Speaker 2

Let's get into it. Yeah. No. Because under the hood.

Speaker 1

Yeah. Get it. Let's get underway. Let's talk about you and you know your values, okay? And how did you. You've got three daughters, all very successful. How did you how did you bring them up to be successful girls? What? You know what didn't you compromise on? What? Listen. Hear about you? Because I think that all of this stuff that you're talking about is it's a reflection of what you've done growing up.

Speaker 2

So thank you and thanks for the opportunity. Yeah, I think and I, I love giving credit. I'm a I am an at words of affirmation guy and I like to receive them. But that means I also I like to give them I love to give the credit to my team. And I don't it it is a little awkward sometimes to talk about yourself, but but I'm humbled and honored to do that because I think I, I want to give the credit to, first and foremost, the people that raised me.

Speaker 2

I grew up in a household. My dad was a fireman and my mom was a teacher. And, so we just sort of grew up in a house, the four of us that we serve other people, that's what we sort of how how we were wired. And and yes, I have said, I'm going to start a podcast.

Speaker 2

So now that we're on the record, and aware, prepared and willing. Right. Now I have to do it and I'm going to but, you know, I think I learned from I've learned so much from other people, I, I, and I want to give credit to the people I've learned from, including my three daughters. I joke that I'm 13 years into this job and I still don't really know what I'm doing.

Speaker 2

That said, I've had the amazing honor of being elected these national boards, and I've won the highest recognitions. And it sounds even worth saying about myself that a person could win in my role in the state of Michigan. From the three organizations that matter, I've won their highest award. I don't know if anybody else has. So that's cool because that's recognition for my peers.

Speaker 2

But I really think that, what has helped me find success is surrounding myself with just the best people and stealing their ideas.

Speaker 1

I agree with you 100%. I do that, you know, reading and listening and adding new value. The last podcast I did was on the Growth Mindset Carol Dweck book. And if you if you know you're not always that where you you want to get to, you're not you're not you do not have a fixed mindset, that's for sure.

Speaker 1

Especially when you surround yourself with people that know more than you. The other thing I really I noticed is, is the family foundation. I know, the family foundation, the where prepared willing podcast. You know, we do this for parents that are sending their kids from high school to college. And we talk about these values. We've talked about the victim mindset, the growth mindset, and how to raise kids.

Speaker 1

But it really sounds like your your base came from a strong family value at home.

Speaker 2

First. Yeah, we were rooted in family and rooted in God. And that's how we were raised and we didn't have much. And, but we were great. Really great. Learn to be grateful for what we had. And that's never left me. And hopefully my daughters and. Yeah, I have three daughters. They all live in Nashville, which is hard for me now because my grandson, Cole is also in Nashville.

Speaker 2

Yeah. So, so when you're raised that way, when you're raised by two parents that literally their entire lives are about serving others, it sort of becomes second nature. And and we learned I learned quickly. That's not that's not always normal, unfortunately. And so my, ex-wife and I did our best to instill those values in our three daughters.

Speaker 2

And now I have a grandson to do the same, with as well. But to me, I can't give enough credit to the people that I have learned from. And, starting first, you know, with my mom and dad, but my friend who's a mayor of Columbus, Ohio, we may hate their football team, but I like his, I like a lot of their ideas.

Speaker 2

And, you know, he said, you know, in the, in the education space, they call it plagiarism. In, in local government and government, we call it best practices. And, and really the rest of life, it's best practices. What you do training others is you take you have the experts pass on what they know. And unfortunately, I think in society we've gotten away from that so much.

Speaker 2

And you see it in today's kids and you see it, hopefully not in my grandson.

Speaker 1

Right. Well, so yeah, let's, you know, now talking about that now you've got another generation that you're leading. Now you've got you've been in this community for 13 years leading it. And when we, my son and I were talking about Ralph Waldo Emerson and in one of his essays, and he was talking about self-responsibility and reliance, and we, we also listening.

Speaker 1

He also talks about how inheritance can lead to a decay in society and what what he kind of means is that, as you as you grow in society, you get stuff without learning how to do it or doing it. You end up, missing out. And you, you you lose those values, you lose those learnings. And going forward.

Speaker 1

So now you've got a third generation coming up. You you've been here for, you know, 13 years as you keep going. What are you systems in place for that next generation to come. Keep the mission oriented township going.

Speaker 2

Listen, I mean, on the family side and just in general, and I'll relate it back to my day job. I believe in having winners and losers, I think, I think the. And I might get in trouble for some of this, but I'm okay on your podcast. But this this, era of everyone wins and participation trophies is harming this generation, our next generation.

Speaker 2

And I think it's okay for kids to understand the importance of working hard and winning, and the importance of working hard and losing and learning from losing. And I'm not just talking about sports, I'm talking about life. I don't think we've done any favors by the worst ification. And I that's my I just made that one up.

Speaker 2

But I listened to your first podcast, I my way to Nashville. My daughter was in labor. I was so excited. I'm going to be a new grandpa for the first time. And I and I'm not I'm not blowing smoke. But when I got to their home and we were just getting ready to head to the hospital, I said, I just listen to this podcast and I just, you know, we didn't know if was going to be a boy or girl.

Speaker 2

It's it's Cole now and he's healthy. But I said, whatever you have, you got to say the it's a vagina and a penis, not a private part because.

Speaker 1

Thanks Steve for that. That was a great comment in the first part.

Speaker 2

But you know but it's to me that's the and you can put that, you know, into any situation. But beating around the bush softening things is not I don't see that as helping anyone these days. I think it's only harming our young people and our adults too. I think I think you have to win. I think you have to lose.

Speaker 2

I think that's how you and I learn lots of life lessons.

Speaker 1

I've learned all 99% of the lessons that you learn are from failure. Yeah. We don't let anybody fail any more. When you come to do your first jujitsu class, you're going to learn to fail a lot. The people that grow the fastest in your jitsu, by far, are the ones that try things and fail if you don't fail.

Speaker 1

I taught you, I talked about on one of my last podcast, is that I've got a friend who came in and did one class, and he said, I'm not any good at this. I'm not going to go any more. It was a fixed mindset. So you're in anything you do. You're not good out of the gate. This is this is our fourth, fifth podcast I'm learning every day.

Speaker 1

I get critiqued every day. I gotta slow down. I've got to pause a little bit. I've got great, you know, mentors helping me do this. But really, it's because I want to get this message out. And, you know, I'm very, like I said, I. I'm very fortunate that, I rather gets to work with you. And I hear all these great stories about you, and and I'm really grateful you listen to that podcast, because this is what we're trying to do is help people.

Speaker 2

It's it's really important. And I think, I don't take my role for granted. And I'll tell you, like I mentioned, you know, everything. If I don't understand how people can be in my role and not have a clear mission and vision that they're marching to every day, and I told yours is to provide the best service in local government.

Speaker 2

We give you the white glove treatment. We are your advocate. We are your ally, not your enemy. And so every day when I answer every phone call, when I get an angry resident, I have to put that. I have to see that through. See through that lens. And I, you know, I'll give your brother great kudos.

Speaker 2

And a unique thing. You know, I talk about one of my favorite business books is Good to Great by Jim Collins. He talks a lot about having the right the importance of having the right people in the right seat on the bus. And then some people are on the wrong bus. You need to help them find the right bus, i.e. help them out of your organization.

Speaker 2

And then also just about the he also, another principle that I love that he talks about in the book is just the different levels of leadership. And a level five leader is the highest level of leadership. And a level five leader scenario. You don't know who the leader is always because they've done such a great job empowering their team.

Speaker 2

Now I am not in any way, shape or form near that level of leadership, but I espouse to be that I learn from others that are. And in my day job as the township supervisor and working with your brother, for example, is a perfect example. When we did interviews, building the right members of your team, I'll say this a couple times, is the most important thing you can do in your organization.

Speaker 2

Hiring the right people for your team is the most important thing you can do, because we all understand the concept of cancer. Unfortunately, we all have lost loved ones to cancer. Both of my parents unfortunately way too soon. Having the wrong person in your organization in the wrong role is a form of cancer, and I have experienced it and we all have.

Speaker 2

So your brother, for example, I interviewed and I interviewed and I did not find someone that that really met our mission and vision. Are we going to is this person going to provide the best service in local government, give the white glove treatment, or are they going to show up with a punitive mindset and give him not red stickers because they have authority?

Speaker 2

And everyone I interviewed had that mindset. I could just tell until I met Dave Goodloe. The only problem with Dave though, was he was not qualified to be a building official in the state of Michigan. While he was interviewing to be building official in the state of Michigan. So the great news is, we were able to, through through another neighboring community, meet the requirements and have him sort of work as an understudy until he did meet those requirements are my board, my city council, if you will, trusted me to say, hey, this is the right guy.

Speaker 2

We're bringing him in. And what we what's happened? I get raving compliments from residents, from customers about our building department, because Dave Goodloe has the mindset that our residents come first. Our customers come first. And so that was a really long answer to a short question. But I just get so passionate about speaking and the importance of this in organizations.

Speaker 2

And it doesn't matter if you are a 200 employee organization, running a city with a nearly $50 million annual budget or a two person operation, it applies to any group.

Speaker 1

So as I was talking, we you know, we've gone through, you know, our podcast is aware, prepared and willing. You know, I'm I'm very grateful for all this information. You know, I'm much more aware about what a supervisor is. I thought a supervisor was the boss, but I didn't realize it was like America and townships. So, you know, we bring awareness.

Speaker 1

You know, we talked a lot about how you've prepared your people, team. And you, you lead from the the inspirational aspect, I do I can't say that enough because every time I hear, my brother talk about it, it's how you're doing something. It's not. You're just telling people what to do. A lot of the communities, they tell you what they're doing, and I can't tell you how many times you see these board meetings where they just sit up there and they tell the community, this is the way it is.

Speaker 1

That is. And then they just tell them to go away and you're they're just causing trouble. So I know that. So you've done those and then we're talking about the next step of it is the willing, you know, you you have to make tough decisions. We talk about that as far as making the tough decisions. And I what are some tough decisions you've had to make recently for the future?

Speaker 1

Something that maybe we don't know about right now?

Speaker 2

Yeah. I mean every I mean, I don't want to it sounds crazy to say every single day, but but truly every single day. We're making decisions right now. We're in our budget season. We're figuring out how we're going to spend those millions of dollars that we're entrusted with for the betterment of our community. And what what is our what are our priorities?

Speaker 2

And so inevitably, we're letting people down daily. Everyone needs their road repaved. We don't have the funds to do that. So, you know, I see my job as, you know, the uniqueness of the job of township supervisor in the state of Michigan is not only do I chair the legislative body, so I kind of act as the mayor at those council meetings, but I do oversee and run the day to day business of our, you know, 200 person operation.

Speaker 2

And, that comes with lots of challenges. And we and I've learned that you have to let people down at the rate that they can handle, because my job is essentially about letting people down. Everyone comes to us with a specific priority. And we might have anywhere from six people to 100 people in our council chambers on a on a board meeting or council meeting night.

Speaker 2

And I have to remind the board and myself often. And by the way, they never come to tell us we're doing a great job. The people that show up on Monday nights that are taking time away from their families and their dinners and their children are the ones that are upset with something we've done or something we might do.

Speaker 2

But we still have to act. We still have to make decisions, and we have to do that through the lens. And I remind my colleagues all the time that we represent 40,000 people, not just the seven people that came to the podium tonight to yell at us. And sometimes we're going to make those seven people really upset.

Speaker 2

And we do.

Speaker 1

Yeah.

Speaker 2

But what the way we try to do it a little bit different is, minus the Napoleon complex that we don't know all that their, their, their input matters. We, we are empathetic to their frustration about the gas station that's going to be built in their backyard, but also that gas station owner has personal property rights and he has the right to develop his property.

Speaker 2

And, so we try to do the best we can. And in doing that, in my opinion, we're providing the best service and local government and the best compliment that I've ever received, and I do get it fairly often, is I don't agree with the way you voted. I don't agree with your decision on this, but I can't thank you enough for giving me an hour of your time to explain your rationale, to explain the reasoning behind it, and I will give people all the time in the world, if they're willing to come set face to face.

Speaker 2

That's the world we live in. And don't get me going on social media.

Speaker 1

Oh yeah, communication is key. You know, as we kind of come towards the end of here, I got a couple of questions that I really wanted to talk to you. Like I said, I know you are a supervisor, but you're a person first. That, has grown up with a really strong family. Give us an idea.

Speaker 1

Give me one rule that you live by.

Speaker 2

Choose adventure and family first. That's my only tattoo.

Speaker 1

You're got your cell in your city again. Because what's your what's your style?

Speaker 2

Our our motto is we're living as a vacation. And by the way, holidays and all over the world, I'm all over the world to this amazing podcast, which I'm so honored to be a member of part of on so early on. We are we're living as a vacation. It's our identity. It's what we believe. It's, you know, growing up in the 100 years ago, this is where people from the city of Detroit came to vacation on the weekends.

Speaker 2

And we have stuck with that motto. And that's that's what we lead into. But I have one tattoo. It says Choose Adventure. It's on my bicep. I'm not showing you, but, that's what that's the mantra that we grew up with in our house. We weren't rich, but we always took the opportunity to choose adventure. And and my mom would add show up, show up for others, show up for God.

Speaker 2

And that's how I live. And that's how my daughters live, too.

Speaker 1

Nice. One of the things we talked about was about failure. What's one thing that you failed from that you really learn from?

Speaker 2

I do it still every day. The biggest thing I'm working on right now is speaking very directly. I'm a people pleaser and that is really good in my role sometimes, but it's really bad a lot of times. And those of you who are out there know who you are. They're listening. I have been meeting with my directors today, just met with your brother a little bit ago, and I've been telling you to them, I might say things that are a little more coarse to you.

Speaker 2

I'm not going to swear you or do things like that, but I'm going to be direct with my words. I have a tendency to beat around the bush because I don't want to hurt feelings. And your podcast honestly has helped me understand a little bit about the importance of being direct. So that's I would say that's the biggest weakness that I've been working on for the last decade.

Speaker 2

I'm I'm convinced in 2026 I'm going to make some progress on it.

Speaker 1

Yeah. And what gives you so you you said something about that people don't believe in government right now. If the 57% say that, what gives you confidence that our future isn't doomed? And what sets your community apart for the future that every other community should do and follow your best practice?

Speaker 2

When I got on the board, in 2012, I looked around and there was a bunch of old white people. Now listen, we might that might match the demographic of the community. I don't mean anything by color. I just mean we were a bunch of. And I was I one of the youngest, if not the youngest, I got in trouble, I saying I was the youngest.

Speaker 2

I had one of the boards I serve on when I was the second youngest, but we have to empower the next generation. I started a youth advisory council. I started in 2015. They took a little break and Covid and they're back running now. But empowering the next generation to make decisions for our community. Real. The real decisions.

Speaker 2

And they're doing it. One of the greatest traffic improvements in the history of our community was decided by somebody on my youth council who said, Mr. Barnett, I have I sit in this line of traffic every day to get to school. And why couldn't we add one more lane that turns right here without adding any cars? Just paint.

Speaker 2

There's other areas in the community. She did her research that we can turn in two lanes to the right, and it would save me a minute, and I wouldn't be late to school every day. And I went to the state. I went to the county, and they agreed. And I give her credit. To this day, they you don't have to be a mayor or a supervisor or a boss to make a decision that impacts your community.

Speaker 2

So this Youth Advisory council, we have 12 students this year. They are excited and we empower them. We give them the the the excitement and the opportunity to be part of the decisions we make, not just let the old white people make the decisions. And again, I don't I don't mean anything by it. Besides that saying we need to be more diverse in our opinions and properly reflect our whole community.

Speaker 1

You know that. I think we should end on that note that takes it comes full circle why we're here. You know, the aware, prepared, willing podcast is here to educate the younger generation to to be aware and to be you know, good people in the community, and doing that and, you know, empowering kids and students is amazing.

Speaker 1

Chris, I can't thank you enough for taking the time to to sit on this podcast. Like I said, we're getting it started. You know, you're only number five in love it. So now you can go start yours next.

Speaker 2

I'm. Hey, listen. And I'm hoping that you will join me on mine once I figure out how to use all the controls. But, I just want to thank you. Thank you for what you're doing. Sincerely. My kids, I said you need to listen to this podcast because it's real life stuff that unfortunately, we've gotten away from, we've gotten too soft on.

Speaker 2

And, and to any of the young people out there listening, if you don't like what's going on in your community, you can change. It's remarkable to take my job. You have to be 18 years old and get one more vote than me. And I tell people all the time, I'm ready to hang it up when my ideas are still and all.

Speaker 2

But right now, I'm still stealing lots of ideas from my other friends. But thank you again for having me and can't wait to see what you do with this.

Speaker 1

All right. Thanks, Chris.