[0:02] good afternoon everyone again on behal
[0:05] of the north chamber executive committee
[0:07] bo staff want to thank you for being
[0:09] here today I have the priv of serving as
[0:12] mentioned as the chair of government
[0:14] Affairs the
[0:17] year year proud to have at table on
[0:21] chamber issues in
[0:25] our
[0:27] reform polies supported um we supported
[0:31] and advocated on important issues such
[0:33] as employee retention tax credits San
[0:36] Antonio to DC non-stop lights and
[0:38] funding for the advanced rapid transit
[0:41] to name a
[0:42] few of course we look have look forward
[0:44] to having a great discussion today with
[0:45] our County Judge Peter Sakai but before
[0:48] we get started we want to acknowledge
[0:50] and thank those elected officials who
[0:51] have joined us here today several of you
[0:53] have joined us for our government
[0:55] Affairs meetings and we look forward to
[0:57] having um those who have not attended
[1:00] join in the future if you can please
[1:01] stand and be recognized when your name
[1:03] is
[1:04] called obviously the man of the hour be
[1:06] County Judge Peter
[1:08] [Applause]
[1:13] Sakai be County Commissioner pring three
[1:16] Grant
[1:18] [Applause]
[1:21] moty May County Commissioner Precinct 2
[1:24] Justin Rodriguez
[1:26] [Applause]
[1:31] city councilman District 9 John
[1:38] courage city council woman District 3
[1:41] phis
[1:45] vagan city councilwoman district 7
[1:48] Marina Alber
[1:51] [Applause]
[1:53] garito city councilman District 8 Manny
[1:56] palas
[1:58] [Applause]
[2:02] city councilwoman district 6 Melissa C
[2:07] [Applause]
[2:09] hav I believe we also have the bar
[2:12] County tax assessor Albert weski
[2:15] [Applause]
[2:18] here the mayor of the city of Lio Mary
[2:23] [Applause]
[2:26] Dennis councilman city of Converse Stacy
[2:34] Adams be County Sheriff Javier
[2:39] [Applause]
[2:42] salaza representative of the 120th
[2:45] District representative German
[2:51] Hawkins representative of the 118th
[2:54] District uh representative Luhan
[2:58] [Applause]
[3:02] a newly elected fa County Appraisal
[3:04] District Board member Naomi
[3:08] [Applause]
[3:11] Miller and we have uh from the county Manager David Smith and I not
[3:16] sure if he joined us after all but the
[3:18] city uh manager Eric supposed to be here
[3:20] so give everybody a round of
[3:25] applause again thank you all for your
[3:27] service to our community pleas please
[3:30] let me know if I miss anybody um one of
[3:32] our core tenants as a chamber is
[3:34] advocacy what does that look like for
[3:35] the north chamber well it looks like
[3:37] signature programs like this one
[3:39] leadership programs including Civic
[3:41] Leadership Academy breakfast with the
[3:43] Mayors that's coming up in August and
[3:45] City Vision are just some examples of
[3:47] our efforts to inform our members about
[3:48] what's going on in our community and
[3:50] then Advocate on their behalf we also
[3:53] have our monthly government Affairs
[3:54] meetings where as mentioned prior we
[3:56] invite Civic or elected leaders to uh to
[3:59] come inform us about issues and topics
[4:01] that are important to them and to our
[4:03] membership so I mentioned the mayor's
[4:05] breakfast um I I have to give ourselves
[4:07] the shame shameful plug uh but we're
[4:10] really looking forward to that breakfast
[4:11] coming up on August 9th information
[4:13] about the event could be found using a
[4:15] QR code in the program we have currently
[4:17] 11 Mayors uh committed so far so please
[4:20] help us get the word out so finally I'd
[4:22] like to introduce my friend uh and key
[4:25] member of the north San Antonio Chamber
[4:27] of Commerce uh board of directors and
[4:29] executive committee Chris
[4:31] Coro Chris come up Chris has done an
[4:34] amazing job chairing our Workforce
[4:37] committee the past couple years uh but
[4:40] more importantly for
[4:41] today um for today at least he's here
[4:44] representing our title sponsors George
[4:46] General Contractors so let's all give
[4:48] Jorge a big thank you and let's give
[4:50] Chris a
[4:50] [Applause]
[4:54] welcome well good afternoon everyone and
[4:57] on behalf of Gary Jor 50 employees of
[5:01] George General Contractors were very
[5:03] pleased to be part of sponsor for
[5:05] today's event be county has been home GE
[5:08] contractor since G's father founded the
[5:11] firm in
[5:12] 1967 G's father was very involved in
[5:15] community very involved in trades sub
[5:18] trades that we work with and that's
[5:20] still happening today our
[5:23] mission is to transform people in places
[5:27] and we do that by becoming involved in
[5:29] we live I want to tell all of you the
[5:32] north chamber has been a great partner
[5:35] from Geor contractors over the years
[5:37] honored to be serving on the board I'm
[5:39] sharing Workforce Development bringing a
[5:42] lot of people to the table there's a lot
[5:44] of great entities trying to do good
[5:45] things with Workforce right now the one
[5:48] thing that I've seen that's been lacking
[5:50] to some extent has been bringing
[5:52] everybody in the room and then bringing
[5:54] the business community and their HR
[5:56] directors to provide feedback
[6:00] program the north chamber has been a
[6:03] huge advocate for us in past years as I
[6:07] look out across this room today and look
[6:10] at the relationships that we built over
[6:11] the past 57 years it's really an honor
[6:14] to be here to say that whether it's
[6:16] University Health System University of
[6:18] Texas San Antonio Texas A&M Credit human
[6:23] um city of San Antonio they're all
[6:26] represented here today and we are just
[6:28] so proud part of this community and on
[6:31] behalf of Y and employees we are very
[6:34] pleased
[6:36] Toons I have the great honor of
[6:39] introducing our new CEO and chairman
[6:42] Brett Finley Brett's been on the job all
[6:44] of seven months he uh is a Texas State
[6:48] grad he got his BS in kinesiology from
[6:50] Texas State University got a master in
[6:53] arts and political science most recently
[6:56] the past six years he was withan Board
[7:00] of realtorss where he represented 16,000
[7:02] reals across be County advocating for
[7:05] public policy for them and I'm really
[7:08] honored to welcome him up to the stage
[7:10] today it's our president and CEO and he
[7:13] will be moderating with our guest of
[7:16] honor judge Peter Zak Peter speaking of
[7:20] getting back to the community he has had
[7:22] a career of Public Service um he was
[7:25] appointed to uh CH be the children's
[7:28] judge for years ago he served four terms
[7:32] as a
[7:33] 225th circuit court judge he was elected
[7:35] to that he joined the office of uh uh
[7:39] judge of bar County in 20 uh January of
[7:42] 2023 so both of them are relatively new
[7:45] um he um has a great family story as
[7:50] well his family Japanese World War II
[7:53] his dad his family were involved iner
[7:55] camps so he is very very very concerned
[8:00] about civil rights rightfully
[8:02] so near and dear his heart he's also
[8:05] been great about back to community
[8:06] himself his wife Rachel is an educator
[8:09] like my wife congratulations 32 years in
[8:12] Harlandale ISD Rachel will you please
[8:14] stand
[8:16] [Applause]
[8:20] recogniz my wife said be sure and let
[8:22] everybody know that she's doing God's
[8:24] work so thank you for what you've done
[8:26] in Harlandale I noticed we had the
[8:28] opportunity to BU University Health
[8:30] System there new Women's and Children's
[8:31] Tower we had Jim Adams in the audience
[8:33] today Jim's chairman of board University
[8:36] Health System he and his wife celebrated
[8:38] J's 65 years of marriage and you all are
[8:40] graduates of our Harlandale ISD so
[8:43] thought I would put a plug in for them
[8:45] as
[8:49] well so without further Ado I'm going to
[8:52] ask judge SC to come up and uh let's get
[8:55] this thing picked off again we're so
[8:57] grateful to have you all here today
[9:07] thank you
[9:10] Chris BR how are you come on down all
[9:12] right thank you we're good okay we made
[9:15] it welcome everybody to uh the state of
[9:18] business in bear county event as Chris
[9:21] mentioned I'm Brett Finley president CEO
[9:23] and we have got a a lofty agenda for
[9:26] today a lot of topics to to dive into
[9:29] and I'm really excited and so thankful
[9:31] that everybody could be here to have a little fireside chat with 350 of
[9:35] your your closest friends and family
[9:37] maybe next year we'll try to work with
[9:39] AV to get like a a fire kind of going
[9:41] not not literal fire not in this heat
[9:43] all right it's bit too hot out there
[9:46] just missing a glass of scotch and a
[9:48] cigar or something but we are going to
[9:50] have a bit of a chat today so U without
[9:53] further Ado judge and I think when when
[9:54] folks talk about your role as County
[9:57] judge you were certainly focused on both
[9:59] Regional investment but also foreign
[10:01] investment and not just Mexico but also
[10:04] Beyond and I know overseas you had a
[10:06] recent travel over to Japan uh trying to
[10:09] really strengthen international
[10:11] relations with prominent Business
[10:12] Leaders um you want to touch on that and
[10:14] also maybe a few welcoming remarks for
[10:16] our Audi sure sure well thank you Brad
[10:18] let me thank the north chamber and the
[10:20] work yall
[10:22] do feedback and uh just want to thank
[10:25] all of y'all um y'all are kind of the foundation for our community at
[10:32] least from the business community so I
[10:34] want to thank all those that participate
[10:36] all those that support the north chamber
[10:39] Brett thank you and and your board and
[10:41] thank you Gary jores for being the title
[10:44] sponsor along with all the sponsors that
[10:46] make this opportunity for me to come and
[10:49] talk to y'all and really all we're
[10:51] hoping today was to have a conversation
[10:54] as to uh what I've been doing where am I
[10:58] going and what I'm hoping that we can do
[11:01] in collaboration to make their County a
[11:03] better place and so Brett thank you for
[11:07] this op okay so talk a little bit about
[11:10] your your recent trip to Japan J you
[11:12] want to talk about maybe some
[11:13] accomplishments what's what's on the
[11:15] horizon for for foreign investment
[11:17] potentially here count Well Middle May
[11:21] uh I made a decision to take a trip to
[11:24] Japan a delegation over there uh I want
[11:27] to thank my team who went with me uh it
[11:32] was myself and Rachel along with the bar
[11:35] County team Matthew palanco was Chief of
[11:39] Staff David Marquez with the bar County
[11:42] Economic Development and a staffer
[11:44] Marshall hul we also had great ratx and I want to thank uh Sarah kabus Rush
[11:52] and Charlie fish for being part of that
[11:55] team one of the kind of unknown people
[11:58] that really was a strank that team for
[12:00] those that are not aware we had a Texas
[12:02] Japan leason hio
[12:05] wavis and he was very instrumental in
[12:09] making sure that we were success so in a
[12:12] nutshell Brett I would say we
[12:16] scored uh we knocked it out of the park
[12:20] okay and we did very very well uh for
[12:25] those that and sometimes the public
[12:27] needs to understand why we do these
[12:28] things
[12:30] why is because I see those these type of
[12:33] trips as to help develop and expand the
[12:38] economic base of Bear County pure and
[12:41] simple there is a return and investment
[12:43] for these type of trips also too it was
[12:47] my opportunity to develop the
[12:49] relationships with the high government
[12:51] officials in Japan and we met a few and
[12:55] also to meet the businesses and
[12:57] industries that are dealing and working
[12:59] here in bar
[13:01] County and I will tell you in 5 days
[13:05] five working days we had 22 meetings
[13:08] five national press interviews and we
[13:11] work from the morning to the evening so
[13:13] we were very very focused we strategized
[13:17] and like I said uh some of the outcomes
[13:21] the return investment on that I will
[13:24] tell you we have some new manufacturing
[13:27] companies from Japan that are coming
[13:30] this year to come see what bar countyy
[13:33] is all about uh I am confident those opportunities are going to become
[13:39] realities also too I had an opportunity
[13:42] to meet some high government officials I
[13:45] met the honorable T Kono who was the
[13:50] minister of digital
[13:52] Technologies and I believe he may be the
[13:54] next prime minister of Japan if given
[13:57] that opportunity and so we had a great
[14:00] opportunity to discuss the strength and
[14:03] the industry of cyber security I will
[14:06] tell you it's interesting Japan doesn't
[14:08] really take a they they really both in
[14:11] the private and the public sector really
[14:13] didn't have that uh issue so to speak
[14:18] with cyber security I don't know if
[14:20] that's because they haven't had issues
[14:22] or it's not a high concern but I wanted
[14:25] to make sure they understood that cyber
[14:27] security was an integral part of our
[14:30] economic basee in bar County especially
[14:32] with UTSA being one of the leading
[14:35] institutions for cyber security and the
[14:37] education and the two buildings are
[14:39] building right there by the
[14:41] courthouse and so one of the things I
[14:43] think I was able to plant to seed both
[14:46] in the government and in the private
[14:48] sector was you better take care of cyber
[14:50] security cyber security is something you
[14:53] need to integrate into your business
[14:55] models as you come to the United States
[14:59] also too had a great conversation with
[15:01] the governor of aichi prefecture
[15:04] governor omura and he uh has a great
[15:08] relationship that's where Toyota Japan
[15:11] the corporate headquarters is located
[15:13] and one of the things that we committed
[15:15] to was to continue a United States Japan
[15:19] student exchange and so I'm looking
[15:22] forward working with Rachel to see how
[15:25] we can become closer in the relationship
[15:28] obviously this trip by coincidence came
[15:31] after I was invited to the Prime
[15:34] Minister cida's joint address to
[15:37] Congress and I also used his address to
[15:40] tie back to Bear County which is the US
[15:44] Japan relationship is not as strong but
[15:48] it's going to need to be stronger and
[15:50] they're going to really look to link
[15:53] more so I took that commitment that
[15:56] prime minister kashida had to take it to
[15:59] the private sector to say we need to do
[16:02] even more so I'm excited about the seeds
[16:05] I planted so to speak the opportunities
[16:08] that I was trying to let the Japanese
[16:11] Industries especially in the
[16:12] manufacturing world and so finally I
[16:16] think Brett what I really wanted to
[16:19] accomplish was this I wanted to build
[16:22] consensus and build an understanding
[16:24] with our uh Partners there in Japan I
[16:28] want wanted to deepen that relationship
[16:31] I wanted to I'll be real blunt I'm a
[16:34] Japanese American so it gave me
[16:36] tremendous leverage in having those
[16:39] conversations with the officials in
[16:41] Japan and finally I wanted to convince
[16:44] Japan and the industries there that it
[16:47] is in their best interest to look to
[16:50] Bear County and then from a regional
[16:53] perspective of what Bear County and the
[16:55] regional including looking South into
[16:58] Mexico could create for these business
[17:01] Industries so I think it was a
[17:03] tremendous success that fantastic Jud
[17:05] and thank you for your I think
[17:06] intentional leadership I think you
[17:08] mentioned cyber security we talk about
[17:09] military City USA but I don't think a
[17:12] lot of folks know we've got over
[17:14] 16,500 cyber Security Professionals
[17:16] right here second largest Hub of cyber
[17:18] security in the United States outside of
[17:20] Washington DC I see Jim herbach back
[17:23] there with Fort San Antonio LED Martin I
[17:25] know they've got room for growth with
[17:26] over 15,000 square feet of you know
[17:29] facility space uh to bring in
[17:31] potentially new employers they they're
[17:33] aggressively hiring as we speak USAA I
[17:36] know they're they're killing off I think
[17:38] 1 million and plus cyber security
[17:40] attacks in their cyber Center on a
[17:42] regular basis just to say a few things
[17:44] there on cyber security I want to
[17:47] transition let's talk a little bit about
[17:49] Transportation we've got the Texas
[17:51] Mexico Automotive super cluster that's
[17:54] everyone's favorite acronym for this
[17:56] afternoon the T the TM
[17:59] ASC initiative uh we've got some top
[18:02] findings about advancing economic growth
[18:05] this was a a strategic partnership
[18:07] between Texas and the four most northern
[18:10] Mexico States I think in 2013 it was
[18:13] first started seen a lot of good work
[18:15] there can you talk a little bit about
[18:16] that new initiative new isue well one of
[18:18] the things bear county has focused on
[18:20] and I give credit to David marz and his
[18:22] team at our Economic Development shop
[18:25] was that we have the county has always
[18:28] looked at the regional uh perspective of
[18:32] growth which means look at the
[18:35] manufacturing Trail so to speak that
[18:37] starts and I think we have it up on the
[18:39] screen that starts in Mexico central
[18:42] Mexico with the manufacturing plants in
[18:44] there literally comes to Laro and uses
[18:47] I35 to uh as a trade Corridor throughout
[18:51] the country and so one of the things
[18:54] that I think was important about task
[18:57] and having to study
[18:59] was that that we were able to give data
[19:02] driven analysis to the private sector
[19:06] and even to the public sector for that
[19:07] matter but the private sector really
[19:09] need to understand what the
[19:12] opportunities they have to come to Bear
[19:15] County and then understand that what
[19:18] we're looking at from a county
[19:19] perspective is how do we tie in the
[19:21] regional concept and so one of the thing
[19:25] Tass did was give Japan and those
[19:28] officials data metrics analytics so that
[19:31] they could make their cost benefit
[19:34] analysis also too we were big on making
[19:38] the pitch from a fact based data
[19:41] perspective and having the Tass report
[19:44] as an underpinning of that presentation
[19:47] and that's the reason why I applaud my
[19:49] team we were very focused we were very
[19:51] prepared to address the needs of each
[19:54] company we talked to we were very very
[19:56] intentional with that and then two I
[20:01] pitched as the County Judge about
[20:04] collaboration how I am making a special
[20:07] effort that City County works together
[20:10] on these type of issues of bringing
[20:13] corporate opportunities uh to our
[20:15] community I also told them that I work
[20:18] with the county judges my counterparts
[20:20] all in South Texas I'm going to continue
[20:23] to look at things from a regional
[20:25] perspective and so what I was want them
[20:28] to understood is it just wasn't a sales
[20:31] pitch of Bear County this was an
[20:34] opportunity that they had to come to
[20:36] expand and establish a corporate base
[20:39] ultimately I was also pitching they need
[20:42] to bring the corporate headquarters they
[20:44] need to be physically located in our
[20:47] County and so I'm convinced that the
[20:50] business growth that this initiative and
[20:54] this the trip to Japan Bo will increase
[20:58] the economic base of bear county and so
[21:01] the Tass was an example of having the
[21:04] data and I think I'll be honest with you
[21:07] we didn't go try to pitch them the world
[21:09] we gave him the facts and we left it
[21:11] saying read it in fact I believe the
[21:14] Tass report is in all your QR codes I
[21:18] want to make a a shout out for that to
[21:20] say if yall want to see that report and
[21:23] we also put it in Japanese so that there
[21:26] was no going to be no issue of
[21:28] interpretation or what I will tell you
[21:31] in a couple meetings we really did a
[21:33] deep dive in that t- mask they really
[21:36] wanted to go what do you mean Mexico to
[21:38] Laredo to San Antonio and on up and so
[21:43] one CEO literally got on and just
[21:47] started going on the map going where
[21:49] does this all go so I'm just telling you
[21:52] it was again there was a very strategic
[21:54] process to our presentation there in
[21:57] Japan also too I think what's important
[22:00] is to recognize t- mask is the
[22:03] underpinning of what I call local
[22:07] regionalism and I call I use the word
[22:09] Texas Diamond uh the old Texas triangle
[22:14] is been really Dallas Austin San Antonio
[22:17] Houston right and how all that could
[22:20] develop into an economic generator I
[22:23] have wanted to create What's called the
[22:25] Texas Diamond San Antonio at the top
[22:29] Corpus to the east Oro to the west down
[22:33] to the real Grandy Valley which I grew
[22:35] up in so I know that Community very very
[22:37] well and into Mexico more specifically
[22:41] monter understanding that that is going
[22:44] to be the key to the growth from this
[22:49] strategy of from an international to a
[22:51] national to our local community let's
[22:54] bring in and I've been down to Laredo
[22:57] I'm going to Corpus right Vic Boer I'm
[22:59] going to Corpus chity this Friday to
[23:02] share and all we're doing is not making
[23:04] any pitch what we're trying to do is
[23:07] help help them understand that the
[23:09] projects we have hopefully is going to
[23:12] collaborate with the projects they have
[23:14] and that we just don't look at silos
[23:17] that this is all barar County this is
[23:19] all South Texas no how does it all come
[23:21] together and that was one of my
[23:23] takeaways in Laredo is we have a lot of
[23:26] work to do to bring that perspec effect
[23:28] of collaboration that their projects
[23:31] that they're creating now I will tell
[23:32] you one thing we learned that I learned
[23:35] was that they've got a tremendous
[23:36] investment on the bridge and the
[23:38] capacity of the bridge they have clearly
[23:40] said there is more traffic to come which
[23:44] means more truck traffic to move
[23:46] Commerce which means more trucks on I
[23:50] ag35 which will I'm sure will touch on
[23:53] other collateral issues and so again um
[23:57] I think there's a full report report on
[23:59] t- mask and I want to invite everybody
[24:01] to use the QR code uh what I believe is
[24:04] at their table we take a look at that
[24:07] and again we've got a ton of opportunity
[24:09] I think by virtue of some some OD you
[24:11] know 310 plus local suppliers in the
[24:14] automotive specific side of the industry
[24:17] 50,000 employers here in Texas another
[24:20] 400,000 employees who are living and
[24:23] working in Mexico um I want to touch on
[24:25] a little bit of Workforce Development
[24:26] specifically in that space of advanced
[24:28] manufacturing I know the county has a
[24:30] couple of programs you'd like to shed
[24:32] some light on how hey we we have
[24:34] eagerness from industry do we have the Willpower the training the trainable
[24:40] Workforce uh to to fill those jobs the
[24:44] short answer is yes I mean obviously
[24:45] we're fulfilling the needs of Toyota
[24:48] Navar HB Holt uh you know and and more
[24:53] companies to come one of the things that
[24:56] I I want the North chamber and everybody
[24:59] in the room to understand is the county
[25:01] does have specific programs in the
[25:04] Workforce Development sometimes it's
[25:06] mentioned but it I I didn't really
[25:09] understand till I became County Judge
[25:11] what work the county is into the
[25:14] Workforce Development and we have
[25:16] basically two programs and uh we have
[25:19] Texas Fame and Texas fast sometimes
[25:22] those programs are kind of interl and
[25:24] they sound like the same one but they're
[25:26] not so let me make sure everybody
[25:28] understands Texas Fame Texas Fame is a
[25:31] two-year program Advanced manufacturing
[25:34] program we partner up with the Alo
[25:35] College District and I believe their
[25:37] campus right now is down on the Paulo
[25:39] Alto campus and in the St Phil Philips
[25:43] Southwest Campus and what it is is it's
[25:46] a joint
[25:48] venture of the workforce where uh
[25:52] students are given two days of class
[25:55] work uh in the on campus with a 3 days
[26:01] on the job training of a sponsoring
[26:04] company and let me I'm referring to
[26:07] notes because I want to be very specific
[26:09] about our numbers and our success out of
[26:12] Texas Fame we've gotten 212 graduates
[26:17] 91% placement rate with an average wage
[26:21] rate of
[26:22] 2831 ideally what we're hoping out of
[26:25] Texas Fame is that people will get a a
[26:28] associates degree if that's what they
[26:30] want and they will get a certification
[26:32] in the advanced manufacturing trade and
[26:35] they got a guarantee for job and I think
[26:39] it it is a very successful program now
[26:42] Texas fast is a SE is all part but
[26:46] separate Texas fast is a 10-week boot
[26:49] camp it's basically getting its entry
[26:52] level maintenance
[26:54] technicians and it's people that have
[26:56] not been in the workforce generally
[26:59] we're focusing on older uh students
[27:03] we're focusing on people that perhaps
[27:04] have made bad choices and are coming out
[27:07] of the criminal justice system if you
[27:09] know what I'm saying or we're dealing
[27:11] with people that have really never
[27:13] engaged in the workforce and what we're
[27:16] doing in that 10we boot camp Brett is
[27:19] that what we want to do is just get them
[27:20] to get a skill set and have the employer
[27:24] committed to take that graduate and then
[27:26] skill them up in other words the company
[27:29] will really then engage in a full-time
[27:32] Workforce Development program for them
[27:35] numbers 121 Texas fast graduates 88%
[27:39] placement rate with an average wirly
[27:42] Rage of
[27:43] $26.78 cents I will tell you one of the
[27:46] things that we picked up in the trip to
[27:48] Japan was that we got feedback that I
[27:53] think it was Toyota it was one of the
[27:55] manufacturers in Mexico that had to shut
[27:59] down because of the shortage of Labor
[28:02] and I grabbed that and said you're not
[28:04] going to have that here one of the
[28:07] things that I'm committed to and it's
[28:08] something I've committed to from a
[28:10] pledgees a campaign to what I'm doing
[28:12] now as County Judge is I want to see
[28:13] public private Partnerships I don't want
[28:16] to see County having to do everything
[28:18] and doing the heavy lift I'm looking at
[28:20] you private sector to say hey what can
[28:23] we do to partner up and then bring in
[28:25] the other public institutions such as Al
[28:28] College districts such as the public
[28:29] school districts anybody that has infal
[28:33] people into the skilled Workforce the
[28:36] other thing is and I'll say it on the
[28:38] record I want an employer driven program
[28:41] I want the employers to say what they
[28:43] need and what what are the the
[28:47] attributes the skills that they need and
[28:49] then like I said we have a program that
[28:52] can really put people on a career path
[28:54] with Texas Fame have an associates
[28:57] degree I would assume some people may
[28:59] decide they want to go back into the get
[29:02] a higher uh degree of a bachelor's or a
[29:05] master and so that they can move up but
[29:07] we want to get them into the advanced
[29:09] manufacturing training programs and so
[29:12] that's where the Count's at and I think
[29:14] it's very successful and I am committed
[29:16] to expand that especially from an
[29:19] employer driven program that is I think
[29:22] from a chamber perspective judge any
[29:24] employee driven program as it relates to
[29:26] Workforce Development that's that's our
[29:28] love language so we're we're right on
[29:30] par there um so you mentioned I35 and I
[29:33] know you've been strengthening
[29:34] relationships not only across the seas
[29:37] but also here with your counterpart
[29:39] Travis County Judge Andy Brown um and
[29:43] passenger rail has been a topic of maybe
[29:45] a little bit of the past but maybe
[29:48] reconstituted we're still trying to work
[29:49] on some things I want to kind of glean
[29:52] your optimism uh on a scale of like one
[29:55] being it's it's a pie in the sky there's
[29:57] no going to happen to tend being hey
[30:00] look like we we've got some momentum
[30:01] here and it's absolutely a certainty are
[30:03] we somewhere in the middle right now how
[30:04] does how does passenger rail what's the
[30:06] Outlook right now on the optimism scale
[30:08] let let me say this I think it's going
[30:10] to happen but it's going to be a slow
[30:14] methodical process uh one of the things
[30:17] let me kind of give you the background
[30:19] with judge Andy Brown and I so that you
[30:22] understand this relationship that we
[30:24] have uh obviously the Spurs have to come
[30:27] to the commissioner court and I know
[30:28] commissioner Moody commissioner
[30:30] Rodriguez yell in the room you know they
[30:32] need
[30:33] permission for by the way this I'm the
[30:35] landlord of the Spurs okay and and I
[30:38] mean that in a a in a in a positive way
[30:42] they had to come to the court to get two
[30:44] games in Austin and we had to give
[30:47] permission and we got some push back
[30:49] there was some public why why are you
[30:51] giving them permission the Spurs are
[30:53] leaving they're going to go to Austin
[30:55] and I had to put the breakes on that
[30:58] so in my conversations with Judge Brown
[31:00] out of this particular incident I told
[31:03] him hey are you taking my Spurs and he
[31:06] goes no okay will you say that publicly
[31:08] he goes yeah I'll say it publicly okay
[31:11] we do we have a shake of the hands and
[31:13] I'm I'm going Shake of the hand kind of
[31:14] guy I also had a conversation with Peter
[31:16] John and Peter John said no we're not
[31:18] moving so we obviously allowed the first
[31:21] to go and has allowed this uh I35
[31:26] relationship and I think it's really
[31:28] brought uh uh Travis County and Bear
[31:31] County more together and then and again
[31:33] in a very collaborative way just with
[31:35] the fact we started a conversation of
[31:37] common interest so let's get to what
[31:39] you're asking for about rail Judge Brown
[31:42] is like I want Rail and I had to
[31:45] initially say I want rail but I got to
[31:48] say it a little
[31:49] quietly uh it's been tried and it hadn't
[31:52] happened and I'm not going to make the
[31:54] same mistake over he on the other hand
[31:57] hasn't they got Light Rail in Austin you
[31:59] know I mean they got they they do all
[32:01] kinds of things right bear is bear we
[32:04] got to go at the pace that the community
[32:07] will Embrace and so in regards to rail
[32:11] we agreed that we needed to look at
[32:14] multimodal
[32:16] transportation we could not build out
[32:18] more Lanes of 35 it's we're doing it now
[32:22] and I'm going to tell you from my
[32:23] reports we're going to have too much
[32:25] truck traffic and we're still going to
[32:26] have choke points on
[32:29] 35 so rail is going to be a
[32:33] necessity thank y'all very
[32:35] much now why did Judge Brown and I start
[32:39] the conversation because there are
[32:41] opportunities and those are the
[32:42] conversations we continue to have the
[32:45] Biden Administration has $66 billion in
[32:48] order to uh invest in passenger derail
[32:51] we wanted a conversation so that we
[32:54] could make the pitch to the federal
[32:56] government as you think you can give us
[32:57] some money and we made the pitch but you
[33:01] know we didn't get in line a lot of the uh passenger rail was East Coast
[33:05] West Coast and so we understood that we
[33:09] also understood that Amtrak is a
[33:11] stakeholder partner has to be involved
[33:13] because they do run a a rail but it's
[33:15] only once in the morning once in the
[33:17] evening and there's there's not good
[33:19] reports coming out of the service of
[33:22] Amtrak and so what we have done now is
[33:25] we have brought stakeholders together
[33:27] bring this conversation bring this
[33:29] collaboration and we've had multi
[33:31] meetings and I want to recognize to give
[33:33] a shout out to councilwoman Melissa Hava
[33:36] uh who is uh representing the city of
[33:39] San Antonio and has quite frankly is out
[33:42] front of this along with the myself and
[33:45] behalf of the county and so we have all
[33:49] also two County judges and City
[33:51] officials in between and so it it it
[33:54] just aligns with the regional
[33:56] partnership it aligns with the Regional
[33:58] because I'm also saying why aren't we
[34:00] also looking from San Antonio to Laredo
[34:03] because we know that there's been a
[34:04] study from Monteray to Laredo and that
[34:07] Mexico is prepared to invest in rail so
[34:11] my perspective
[34:13] is let maybe we can't make highspeed
[34:16] rail happen but Judge Brown and I says
[34:20] look what we want to do is we want the
[34:22] opportunity for people to go up and down
[34:25] 35 I see the opportunity and growth of a
[34:28] commuter rail whatever that could be and
[34:31] whatever we can create with whatever
[34:33] resources we have that people would come
[34:36] from the from s Austin to the Frost Bank
[34:39] Center to come to Spurs gate I mean
[34:41] they're coming but we want to see that
[34:43] growth I went to two sellout games in
[34:46] Austin I'm telling you the the Austin
[34:48] people embraced the San Antonio Spurs so
[34:51] why aren't we making it convenient why
[34:53] aren't we developing and enhancing our
[34:56] entertainment centers I get it Travis
[34:59] County Austin has some really great neat
[35:01] events like South by Southwest but why
[35:03] AR we having it here and so private
[35:06] sector I need you to create these
[35:09] entertainment districts or entertainment
[35:11] centers or events that will bring people
[35:14] down obviously we know that there are
[35:17] people that live in San Antonio work in
[35:20] Austin and so we also want to provide
[35:23] for them and so Brett that's the reason
[35:26] why I am call cautiously optimistic but
[35:29] I think from my perspective and just my
[35:32] way I lead is I want to be methodical
[35:35] and so as I have planted seeds in Japan
[35:38] I'm planting seeds in our community that
[35:40] we must be committed to rail it's great
[35:43] to hear um I know we're running a little
[35:45] short on time we've got other questions
[35:47] to get through and I'm not going to let
[35:48] you off the hook on the county being a
[35:50] landlord of the S train first I knew I
[35:53] opened the door on that one before we
[35:55] get there uh there's a a small ground
[35:57] break on the south side of Bear County
[35:59] just this last week 400 Acres was
[36:01] purchased by JCB some of you probably
[36:03] familiar with him
[36:06] absolutely they've got a 720,000 sare
[36:10] foot facility uh and by Texas math
[36:13] that's a whole lot of football fields um
[36:14] but they're putting in on the south side
[36:16] of Bear County Judge what is that going
[36:17] to mean for economic development and
[36:20] just you know overall here in in Bear
[36:22] County why should folks be excited about
[36:24] JCB because I think JCP is well one if
[36:27] youall know Where It's a UK so uh we're
[36:31] get we've got a one of the largest
[36:33] manufacturing the military and
[36:35] agriculture equipment uh you see some of
[36:38] their equipment along the roadway on
[36:40] road
[36:41] construction I mean you just said it,
[36:43] 1500 new jobs 10 billion billion with a
[36:47] B in 10 years and what that what that
[36:51] goes is what what my strategic plan is
[36:54] use it to develop and expand the
[36:56] economic base use it to defeat
[36:59] generational poverty and the rates of
[37:01] poverty we have in our community by
[37:03] creating really meaningful jobs that pay
[37:06] well uh I see JCB along with also too I
[37:12] think it's already been announced I got
[37:14] to be careful on what announcements I
[37:16] can but Toyota is going to go on an
[37:18] expansion and they're going to go on a
[37:21] half billion dollar expansion on their
[37:23] campus and we're really looking forward
[37:25] to see the economic impact
[37:28] if you just go down to the South Side
[37:30] along with I think it's zaram more that
[37:32] turns in Highway 16 and over to 281
[37:36] you're going to see an explosion of
[37:38] growth we've got the uh Hospital Jim
[37:40] Adams Jimmy H Locker thank you for your
[37:42] leadership on the UHS board we've got a
[37:45] new hospital that's going to include
[37:46] mental
[37:48] health to to meet the underserved needs
[37:51] of that Community you can automatically
[37:54] see that the school districts Southwest
[37:56] Southside and East Cent control are all
[37:58] getting the effects of an increased tax
[38:01] base so I you know I'm not not going to
[38:04] touch that public education and finance
[38:06] I let the people in Austin continue to
[38:08] do that debate but what we can do
[38:11] locally is just kind of keep building up
[38:13] our base and so JCB Toyota and I believe
[38:19] the other businesses that are yet to
[38:22] come but are coming that we're going to
[38:24] be able to really increase tax base
[38:27] which will then allow us as a body and
[38:30] I'm talking to my fellow Commissioners
[38:32] to look at ways to lower the tax burden
[38:35] on seniors on our veterans our First
[38:38] Responders that we can hopefully
[38:41] maintain those tax keep those taxes down
[38:44] so that we don't overburden our system
[38:47] and so I'm I'm just so excited about JCB
[38:51] that as you saw Toyota was a game
[38:54] changer Toyota manufacturing Texas it
[38:56] was a game changer for bar County it was
[38:59] a game Cher for the Southside and now we
[39:01] got a I think we have another game Cher
[39:05] so if you think they scored a lot of
[39:07] points there's more points to score in
[39:09] this in this game we love hearing that
[39:11] and I know speaking of Game Changers San
[39:13] Antonio is really known for their small
[39:16] businesses right truly at the heart of
[39:18] the cause of of what I think us as a
[39:20] chamber really like to lean in on can
[39:22] you talk about from a county perspective
[39:24] the support the resources that y'all
[39:25] have for small businesses
[39:28] well obviously small businesses and and
[39:30] running for this office I made a
[39:33] commitment to small business I knew some
[39:35] of the big projects that we just
[39:38] mentioned there they were going to
[39:40] happen or we had the we really had
[39:42] momentum there we need to continue to
[39:45] focus on small businesses I really
[39:47] believe they're the heart and soul of
[39:48] our community including all the mom and
[39:51] pop operations and so one of the ways I
[39:55] want to help them is for County
[39:58] government to be more accessible to be
[40:01] more transparent to be more accountable
[40:03] to be more user friendly because they
[40:06] need the resources to develop in light
[40:09] of that I will tell you one of the big
[40:11] initiatives I'm doing right now in
[40:14] regards to County government I really
[40:16] want us a big upgrade in County
[40:19] procurement we're still stuck in a lot
[40:22] of the old way so to speak in Old
[40:25] systems and so I really am pushing our
[40:28] County procurement to really be more
[40:31] streamlined I'm also committed and I
[40:33] believe Renee Watson who I was with an
[40:36] event last night we were and let me get
[40:39] my notes with the associated general
[40:41] contractors of America the local San
[40:43] Antonio chapter we had graduates about
[40:46] over two dozen graduates of small
[40:49] business being certified in order for
[40:51] them to enter the job market and be
[40:54] vendors with Bear County and to
[40:57] understand the process and so those are
[41:00] the things the County's committed to its
[41:02] small women minority owned business
[41:04] enterprises with Renee Watson in charge
[41:06] of uh the San Antonio business
[41:08] Enterprise Department uh I'm really
[41:12] proud and I don't know if he's here
[41:13] today but one of our new County
[41:16] department heads is Art Reinhardt uh who
[41:18] heads up our Public Works County
[41:20] engineer I was really proud that we
[41:22] provided really a public input on that
[41:24] appointment and I hope people learn to
[41:26] appreciate I really
[41:27] wanted the community and especially the
[41:30] business Community to tell us who were
[41:32] the best people to become part of be
[41:35] County government and our really has
[41:37] really great job of trying to open up
[41:40] and making Public Works a more public
[41:42] friendly private sector friendly so uh
[41:45] all I want to do is encourage all of
[41:47] y'all to go to the county we have our
[41:50] Vendor Portal uh especially for your
[41:53] commitment or your small business
[41:55] members let them understand understand
[41:57] and perhaps there's more training to do
[42:00] in order to let the small business
[42:02] Community grow I want them to grow along
[42:06] with the large businesses that are
[42:08] coming they both have to be rising up at
[42:11] the same time that to me is going to be
[42:15] a big accomplishment and I'm I'm
[42:17] confident we're going to get there
[42:19] that's great to hear judge and I know
[42:20] from the chamers perspective there's
[42:21] been a great deal of receptiveness from
[42:24] you and the county leadership hearing
[42:26] and gaining that feedback from from
[42:28] small business owners say hey look this
[42:30] is where the support we're needing this
[42:31] is where maybe the Mark isn't being hit
[42:33] and let's let's adjust according well
[42:35] let me let me just quickly follow up I
[42:37] know that we're short on time but one of
[42:39] the things that we passed and I want to
[42:41] give credit to the court and to the
[42:43] commissioner we established a
[42:45] construction bonding assistant program I
[42:48] think it's the only one in in town so to
[42:50] speak where we're going to expand
[42:53] through County Assistance the ability to
[42:56] assist contractors to build and expand
[42:59] their bonding capacity which means
[43:02] they'll learn to compete at a higher
[43:04] level that is something I'm really
[43:06] excited I really want to see the results
[43:09] the ROI on that program because I think
[43:11] that's a game Cher also too and I think
[43:14] some of y'all may be involved especially
[43:16] the public institution is our supply
[43:18] essay I think mayor former mayor
[43:21] secretary Saros has head headed that
[43:23] opportunity to look at procurement from
[43:26] entire
[43:28] Community perspective I think we got 14
[43:30] plus governmental entities public
[43:32] institutions that have all signed on to
[43:35] make the procurement process so as I'm
[43:38] working on County we are working and
[43:41] much and part of that and I think David
[43:43] Smith our County manager has been the
[43:45] leader on the local level from the
[43:47] county perspective of having how do how
[43:50] business gets certified how do business
[43:52] know about the opportunities and so
[43:55] again that's that's another exciting
[43:57] uh initiative that the county has led
[44:00] let's let's go a little bit further down
[44:01] the question board here on anything else
[44:03] that we haven't covered and we've got in
[44:05] addition to Economic Development your
[44:07] stated priorities in public safety
[44:09] Public Health I know you touched on the
[44:10] new hospital development we've actually
[44:12] got Mr George Hernandez the president
[44:14] CEO of the University of Health here as
[44:16] well as Mr James Adam chairman of the
[44:17] board of managers for Bear County
[44:22] Hospital can talk a little bit about on
[44:25] the public safety side and public health
[44:28] aspect some of your your focus points in
[44:30] that sure one of the things as running
[44:33] for this County Judge obviously I
[44:35] brought a skill set being a judge in the
[44:37] court system about our justice system
[44:40] and obviously last fall we had a
[44:43] situation where we had the media God
[44:46] bless them uh they covered all these
[44:49] situations where there were shootings
[44:50] between repeat offenders and uh police
[44:53] officers which was obviously a danger
[44:56] and an issue that needed to be addressed
[44:58] I think some of the conversation at that
[45:00] time was really finger pointing of well
[45:03] it's you're to blame no to you to blame
[45:06] and this is where my relationship and my
[45:09] commitment to this community came in I
[45:11] called the mayor the mayor called me I
[45:13] don't know called first he said look we
[45:15] got to stop this we got to stop the
[45:17] finger pointing and we've got to fix
[45:19] this and so what I did was con and we
[45:23] and along with the mayor and he and we
[45:25] worked together on this issue we brought
[45:27] all the stakeholders together we brought
[45:29] the chief of police and the San Antonio
[45:31] Police Department we brought the sheriff
[45:32] and the sheriff's deputy we brought the
[45:35] court system uh judge Ron ronel
[45:37] represented the courts we represented
[45:40] the um all the other stakeholders that
[45:44] are part of Public Safety and what we
[45:47] did is we broke it down and we analyzed
[45:49] it and I had my 18 my staff Cynthia C uh
[45:54] was really my leader on that initiative
[45:57] and we basically put a public safety
[46:00] plan together we put I think as I recall
[46:03] my notes showed about three dozen uh
[46:06] dozen steps that we all adopted as a
[46:10] group to help bring and tighten up the
[46:13] criminal justice system and I truly
[46:16] believe that we as a result we are
[46:19] keeping our community safe I know there
[46:22] things that happen and I continually
[46:25] have conversations with the sheriff I
[46:27] have continual conversations with chief
[46:28] police what do we need to do and so we
[46:32] timed up some of the issues of release
[46:35] of especially repeat offenders we looked
[46:38] at whether our magistration system
[46:40] needed to be tightened up so to speak
[46:42] the use of our personal bonds our
[46:44] electronic monitors all that kind of got
[46:47] looked at and so what I want the public
[46:49] to understand and it's it's it's an
[46:51] ongoing issue even right now the public
[46:54] is safe because we have committed
[46:57] elected and appointed officials who want
[47:00] to do the very best what we need to
[47:02] learn to do is we need to learn on how
[47:05] to work together and to communicate and
[47:08] then and as Commissioner's Court or City
[47:11] Counsel and I know we have city council
[47:13] how how much do we invest in that
[47:16] because it takes tax dollars to make
[47:18] some of these uh projects and and steps
[47:21] work and those are the tough decisions
[47:23] we make in light of the tax relief
[47:27] people are asking for so I want to
[47:30] Circle back before we close I want to
[47:32] Circle back and touch on I I can't let
[47:34] you off the hook as I mentioned I don't
[47:35] think anybody's going to let you out the
[47:37] door without asking about the world's
[47:39] greatest basketball teams Spurs the
[47:41] Spurs county is the existing landlord
[47:44] what can you share with us what can you
[47:45] share with the audience give us a little
[47:47] bit of perspective and what the role of
[47:49] the county has been best far those well
[47:53] obviously there are conversations
[47:57] and and and they're continuing and there
[48:00] is nothing concrete to report out and
[48:04] even if I had the ability to tell you
[48:07] something the group has agreed that we
[48:10] need to work in confidence and order to
[48:13] accomplish what the Spurs let me make
[48:15] these points and I've made it publicly I
[48:18] made a commitment to the San Antonio
[48:20] Spurs and Peter John Hull and the whole
[48:22] family to say I support you I'll do
[48:25] whatever I can to and especially keep
[48:27] you here in in our community and so the
[48:31] Spurs know that at the same time I let
[48:34] the Spurs and the city know that I have
[48:38] an investment of the Frost Bank Center
[48:40] that was created when I believe County
[48:42] Judge Cindy CER was on uh court and I
[48:45] said it's still a great facility and we
[48:49] have a lease that goes to 2032 so I have
[48:52] a fiduciary duty as a County Judge to
[48:54] make sure everybody complies with the
[48:57] contract or if we need to
[49:01] renegotiate and so I've made it very
[49:03] clear that I have to protect Frost Bank
[49:06] Center I have to figure out and
[49:08] repurpose what the Frost Bank Center is
[49:11] going to be if the Spurs leave and when
[49:15] they leave and I'm telling you right now
[49:17] we don't have anything concrete to
[49:20] report out and if I did I wouldn't tell
[49:22] you but also two also said said this and
[49:27] this was a big stipulation I told
[49:30] everybody in the room the the whenever
[49:33] they created the Frost Bank Center they
[49:36] made a commitment that they would invest
[49:37] in that community in that East Side
[49:40] especially around Frost Bank Center and
[49:42] that that would the Frost Bank Center
[49:45] would create this economic uh center
[49:49] with whatever they would create I quite
[49:52] frankly told them that that hasn't
[49:54] happened that I truly believe in my
[49:57] conversations with the community in the
[49:59] east side and the leadership in the east
[50:01] side will tell you those promises were
[50:04] never met they feel that those promises
[50:07] were broken and so I have insisted that
[50:11] whatever we do to assist to Spurs and to
[50:14] figure out how we can negotiate it that
[50:17] development in that Frost Bank Center is
[50:19] ongoing and I'm expecting an investment
[50:23] of all the stakeholders involved now
[50:26] what we need to understand is
[50:29] that that may mean a lot of different
[50:32] things so I will tell you that the
[50:35] county is at the table but at the same
[50:37] time the the conversations really are
[50:41] between the city of San Antonio and the
[50:43] Spurs and then once they formulate that
[50:46] then we're going to put I mean obviously
[50:49] we're there to make sure all the pieces
[50:51] of the puzzle and that's going to be my
[50:53] job as the County Judge to make sure the
[50:56] County's protected the county investment
[50:59] is protected but yet I want to be very
[51:01] clear I'm committed to the Spurs we know
[51:04] that wmy won the Rookie of the Year we
[51:06] know that wmy is going to bring another
[51:08] championship to our community and so
[51:11] what we need to do is we got to make
[51:13] things work and that's my commitment to
[51:16] the community we'll figure it out we'll
[51:18] make it work one of the other things to
[51:20] recognize I don't know if they're in the
[51:21] room but I've insisted that the San
[51:23] Antonio Rodeo uh sale and and the bar
[51:27] County Coliseum Advisory Board are at
[51:30] the table the rodeo is a very valuable
[51:34] partner and the Frost Bank Center and
[51:36] that I want them to take advantage of
[51:38] whatever opportunities can come in what
[51:42] this new uh day will be for the Spurs
[51:46] for the city and the county uh we also
[51:48] want to look at what we can do to
[51:50] enhance the grounds of the Coliseum
[51:53] Advisory board that is a crown jewel
[51:56] that was created many many years ago and
[51:58] I'm committed to make sure that the
[52:00] rodeo is also protected they they've
[52:02] been a very good partner with the county
[52:05] yeah that's great to hear and thank you
[52:06] for the Insight your pness U ladies and
[52:10] gentlemen that concludes our our
[52:12] questions for today's program judge
[52:14] before we let you go though um we wanted
[52:16] to just say a bit of a thank you
[52:18] financially speaking uh in regards to
[52:21] the donation to um the Bear County
[52:23] fostering educational success
[52:25] organization the North San chamber is
[52:26] going to be donating $500 towards those
[52:29] charity efforts to make sure that you
[52:31] can get foster kids into that that
[52:33] successful pathway and possibly uh
[52:36] succeeding on the college and bigger
[52:38] things let me give a plug for that
[52:40] absolutely unless we're judge you got
[52:43] let me tell you the bar County uh educa
[52:46] fostering educational success is a
[52:49] foster care program that I created when
[52:51] I was in children's Court along with
[52:53] UTSA Texas A&M San Antonio and the
[52:56] College District and what and Casa and
[53:01] what we did was an example of what I
[53:04] tried to do every day as your County
[53:06] Judge I brought everybody together and I
[53:08] said look we got to take care of these
[53:10] kids that have a tuition way they get
[53:11] free education but they're not taking
[53:13] advantage of it because there's no
[53:15] support for them and I just want to
[53:17] applaud Dr Amy and more importantly Miss
[53:21] Peggy Amy uh the first lady of UTSA that
[53:25] we took it and we have a program that is
[53:28] I'll be honest people all over the
[53:30] country want to know how did you create
[53:32] this and we didn't create it by County
[53:35] city we created by everybody coming
[53:37] together and figuring out what we could
[53:39] do it is one of the most successful
[53:41] programs I've ever put together it's
[53:43] something I'm very proud of and that's
[53:45] an example of what I hope to bring to
[53:48] the county let's fix things let's sit
[53:51] down roll up your sleeves and let's
[53:53] figure it out and we come together and
[53:55] collaborate and that's that's I continue
[53:58] to do that as I serve as your County
[54:01] judge so thank you br and more
[54:03] importantly thank you for the flowers
[54:05] for Rachel I probably would have got a
[54:07] little static at home going where did
[54:10] how come you didn't give me flowers and
[54:12] so thank you for what you do absolutely
[54:14] thank you and thank y'all for what y'all
[54:16] do thank you very much