Tuesday August 25, 2026

Miss something? Running late? Just one another dose of Austin? You're in the right place. Welcome to the Roads Rewind. The Austin Road Show, on-demand and on your schedule. From 95.1 WGAC. Let's do it! Ironically I'm in a play right now. Beautiful, the uh, Carol King story. That not only tells a story of Carol King and her husband, boyfriend and then husband, Jerry Goffin, who wrote an enormous amount of incredible music. But it also tells the story of their best friends, Barry Mann, and Cynthia Wilde, who wrote also a ton of great music, including, you've lost that love and feeling by the righteous brothers and then later on, Holland Oats, but gracious. By the way, do you remember her character name in 9-5? I don't. Dorley Roads, how about that? I was honored to share name with her for many, even if it was my belief. Um, like I said, not quite sure how to say thanks to somebody that entertained us as well and as much as she did. I mean, she did it all. It just occurred to me when we were talking Chris O'Kelly and I were talking about it. And I was like, you know, I remember my mom taking me to the theater to see Best Little Horror in Texas. How old were you? I was, I had to look it up because I thought I was about 10, but I was actually 12 when that came out. So, but still, as she was so protective of me and so, I was so sheltered in so many ways. But it had to be done. Yeah. It was dolly and I loved dolly. So there was no, me not going to see that. And equally odd thing because there was never a woman more straight laced than my grandmother. No, no, no, my grandmother, me, me. She was never drunk. She was T totaler. I think that, but why in it, you know, New Year's or a champion of New Year's? Never drank liquor, never drank beer. None of that didn't, didn't much care for it. Anybody else did either. Very, very church-going woman. She loved dolly parton. And the only copy of any kind of off-color anything I ever saw in her house was when dolly parton was on the cover of Playboy Magazine. And she wanted to read the article, believe I'd hand to her. My grandmother wanted to read the article and because she loved the pictures of dolly in it, they were all clothed. She didn't have the heart to throw it away. Somehow, 12-year-old Austin found that thing. I don't know how I did. But anyway, I always read it for the articles, right? But man alive, she likes that she did it all. She was a writer, a producer, an incredible vocalist. Well, her TV show too came along when I was at an age in that. Her TV show. Yeah, when she had. You mean the Porter Wagner show? Well, she had a little show herself too. I didn't know that. I knew that she. You know what? It was a variety. It had the butterflies. And that's right. And it would start off with Jo Ling. Yeah. That's right, that's right. You know, of course, Sushi Road. I will always love you for. Yeah. Porter Wagner, which folks, you want to see something funny. Go look up Porter Wagner. I love his career. He was the red neckiest rhinestone dime-store cheap. No, I'm not not in his music. I'm just saying, Lord, I had to play a lot of it from the country route show, "Gemeny Almighty." That was my broadcasting boot camp was hosting the country route show. I actually was the voice and the physical hands on the turntable, spinning those records, majors. It was a duty that I could not turn down because it was literally the owners of the radio station. Randy Watkins and Pat Blanchard, who would come in on alternate Saturdays, Randy would come in on Saturday, pat the next. And I would play those country route songs. So, I played God knows in the mid-80s. I was playing Porter Wagner. God knew it. One of these days, I'm going to be standing at the pearly gates and they're going to say, Mr. Rhodes, a lot of people said a lot of things about you, but you hosted the country route show for three years on WMTZ and Augusta. You've been to hell. You go right in. You go right in. But anyway, they would throw in some old dolly back in those days. I always loved her. I had a dolly part in Barbie doll. Really? Was it top heavy? It was. She actually was much more realistic than the other bar because I had also what was his name? Donnie Marie. I had the Donnie Marie dolls. Really? Oh wow. In purple? Yeah. The purple outfits. Yeah, the purple outfits and who else? Fair faucet and the $6 million man. So, let me real quick mention something about Dolly's incredible talent as a business woman. She parlayed Dollywood into hundreds of millions of dollars in fortune. Matter of fact, somebody, a few minutes ago, I was flipping around and selling like radio on the way in. Somebody mentioned that they thought that she was worth north of a billion dollars and that would not, that would not surprise me at all given the way that they value music rights these days. Well, not just that, but her other ventures too. She did all kinds of things. But very entrepreneur. She made more money off of Whitney Houston's version of I will always love you than any song that she ever had anything to do with. At the very beginning, when that song was a big hit, people said, "Oh, she ripping me off." No. I was begging her to sing that because I knew what her range was Dolly talking about. Whitney Houston said, "I knew what her range was and I knew that she could nail it and she did and she's I'll never forget driving down the road and hearing that song in the radio for the first time." And I pulled over and she said, "It moved me to tears, she's I'd heard it before." But as I was watching in traffic, other people listening to it as well. She was back in the days and everybody listened to the radio from music. It was an incredibly moving moment and it was the biggest song of the year. Tremendous talent Dolly Parton, passing with the age of 80. You knew she was sick because she had bowed out of several recent concert tours and kept saying, "I'm hoping to get back soon." But it was never, and man, you just hate it, but she lived hell of a life, packed a lot of life in 80 years. Okay, we have business to get to and we're going to get to that and just a minute, George Lopez is here from the Diaz I apologize. I'm going to call you Lopez to the day you died, George. First of all, welcome back to the show. How are you doing? You're good or hot? Yeah, it is hot outside. It is hot. George, the political genius behind the winning, you know, Bentley campaign, the winning Garnett Johnson campaign, and the winning Stephen Kendrick campaign. Notice all the losers I left out of there. There's only four. There's only four. There were two of them that I personally helped you lose. But anyway, George is one of the keenest political minds in the state of Georgia, not just for races and Augustine, so he and Argonne, spend a little time chatting this afternoon about not just the political races that they sit today, but the future of Augustine Columbia County and his thoughts on the controversial issue of the day, which Clay and Buck jumped on pretty hard today, and that's the data center business. There should be some fairly significant conversation about that coming up in the next several weeks or so, and it's really going to be interesting to see how the news lands here locally. I'm fascinated by people's response to this incredibly new technology and the way that folks don't understand it. They don't understand it to praise it or to cuss it, and it's fascinating. And by the way, I was sending Clay Travis Lee Munn's contact information when they said they wanted to find out who the know-it-all person on data centers was. See if we can set him up, set him up with them. I'm going to take a quick break. We'll do that. We'll be back. You sad day in the world of entertainment, and George, you kind of surprised me a little bit knowing what you just hit me with during the break. I knew about it because I'm old, and I'm a pop music aficionado and I love trivia of all kinds, and we were discussing Michelle and I were the song, "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston, of course. Some by Whitney Houston, written by Dolly Parton for Porter Wagner. And when she first wrote it back in the, I guess what it was, early 70s, 71, maybe 70, because when she left, it was for Porter Wagner. And Elvis wanted to record it, and Colonel Parker asked for half the writing credit, and she said, "No, thank you." I'll tell you this, I'm a big fan of music, and I love living legends, and that's one that I wish I would have seen. I would have loved to see a Dolly Parton concert. I've seen Willie Nelson. I've seen Ray Charles. I've seen BB King. So did you miss JB? James Brown? Yeah, I'd never got a chance to see James Brown concert. I would have loved that. And you get to meet him and I get to meet him either. Nope. Dan is a great friend, but never got to meet the Godfather. He was something. He was a man. He really was. And, you know, I wrote a piece in the spirit years ago. He became one of the very, very first artists to sell their catalogues. They sell it, basically, lease it. And I want to say it's of, it was a 40-year lease or something like that. He got like $75 million in cash all at one time that I think he's been three days. But he, and what was funny about that, when it happened, no one had done it before. And I went and researched it. And these are in the days before Internet much. And he was one of the few true superstars of that era that did not sell off the rights to his music. He didn't take the cheap way out or the easy way out for the quick buck, like Lenin and McCartney. Yep. Michael Jackson ended up buying my catalogues. So now I think, if I remember correctly, I think McCartney has bought that back. But anyway, they didn't at the time. They sold them. And the big story, they got a lot of attention for the sale of the catalog and ended up being revoked because it was improperly handled, was Brian Wilson's father signed away all of their catalog, all of the Beach Boys catalogues, which is enormous, as you can all imagine. And they went to court over that and fought over it, but James Brown held on to his music rights. And because he did that, by the time the time was right, he could, he could cast out all at once. And the music that he had performed, not just the hits, but the secondary songs. All of that started being pushed. And I want to say the very first big was the Jackie Chan movie, The Tuxedo. Did you remember that? No. Jackie Chan played a secret agent, who's, and it was kind of an inept secret agent, but he had a Tuxedo that was like basically a magic suit and it could do anything. And he, there's a scene in it where I think either James Brown wears it or the, or the suit sees James Brown and starts doing James Brown stuff to mock him or to imitate him. And it's a real funny thing. Anyway, that was, if I remember correctly, that appearance was part of his new partnership company, pushing the James Brown catalog. Wow. And that's when you started seeing his stuff pop up everywhere. James Brown was innovative, man. I mean, you still see people using a lot of his blueprints, whether it's through his music sampling or whether it's through his business. And I'll just tell you this, I mean, you know, we were just talking about Dolly Parton too, but if I'm not mistaken, I think James Brown was a first black man, first African-American to buy a jet, a private jet. Supposedly. Yeah. That's one. Also the first one to buy a radio station. Yeah. And it was WRDW that we had, but we were the last company to own it, unfortunately, like a lot of low power AMs that we ended up going off the air and just, you know, those things happen. It's old technology. Brad Eschry, Cedric, I hope you all listen and keep that name on the, on the stadium. Well, I was going to, it's funny that you mentioned that because, you know, you and I deal a lot with politics and the way that things sound and the way that things land, whether or not legislation is attached to it or not. In other words, are you going to say that and make a stink bomb over here and ruin yourself or, you know, and, and boy, I'll tell you what, is my, I love our Coliseum Authority. For the most part, they have done incredible things. Have you been down there lately? I've, I've seen it, I've, I've haven't had the opportunity to tour it, but I agree with you. It's going to be fantastic. I think Brad, Cedric, Bonita Jenkins, the whole, those are the three that I can remember off top. I had Darryl Smith, I think, is also a part of that, Darren Smith, excuse me. And I think they do a great job. I just really hope that they find a solution to this thing because they got to keep that name on that arena. Well, if I'm not mistaken, I think we just saw the University of Georgia do some things, still keeping Sanford Stadium in Dooley field. So hopefully, whenever they do what they, they need to do to, you know, make some revenue for the building, they'll figure out a way. And James Brown's family has said, we don't mind if it's James Brown arena, the, the, the Budweiser stage, James Brown arena. I remember like the very first day of this broke about a year and a half ago, maybe two years ago, I called Brad Ushery right then and I, you know, I was talking to Brad and, and at that point, I think Brad didn't really realize how big and how long this thing was going to come into and I said, I said, Brad, the solution is easy. That James Brown arena powered by blank. Yeah, you go. James Brown arena powered by blank. Energize. Yes. Whoever you want to put in there. So hopefully they, they, they keep it on there and, and those folks can, can really recognize James Brown. How much of politics is PR? I think it's a lot. I think it's not just a lot of PR. I think there's a strong journalism base in it too and, and when I talk about the journalism base, I really talk about the story telling ability. Being able to tell a story, tell your story like, for example, you look at Rick Jackson right now. Gosh, that guy has a fantastic story that can appeal to anybody whether they're black, white, Democrat or Republican. So I think when you're looking at politics, you definitely have to incorporate, you know, a journalistic story telling your PR and it's a combination of both, which is why I believe there's politics and everything. You know, charisma is a lot of it too. Yeah. There's no doubt in my mind that Geno Brantley was one of the few human beings in, in Augusta that could have taken on. Roundtree and beat him and, and, and the, the combination of his background, his physical appearance, his persona, he's a nice guy. I mean, what's funny is he had a reputation as being a ball buster. He was tough. He was a tough guy. He's a crime fighter. Yeah, he's a crime fighter. Batman don't play. Yeah, yeah. That's, and anybody that blasted him because of that, I kind of raised my eyebrows and so you know what? Nobody really cares about what Crooks think. Yeah. But anyway, it took exactly the perfect combination and he, like I said, nothing against the other guys that were running. They never had a chance. Well, and the other thing was, is I, I remember the very first day Sheriff Brantley called me and we were talking. I mean, he was a, he was a, what was his rank? He was a sergeant at the Marshall's office. And literally, I tell people all the time, I tell those stories. I mean, look, Sheriff Brantley on Tuesday morning, he woke up as a sergeant at the Marshall's office. And when he went to bed, that Tuesday night, he was a Sheriff elect. I mean, that is a bunch of ranks. And part of it is really because, like you said, his personality, his way to connect with people. But the other thing too, Gino is a very smart guy. He knows what he knows. He knows what he doesn't know. He was super smart in hiring us. I mean, that's, I mean, I think that's one of the biggest things. I remember talking to Sheriff George's political, so. Yeah, to hire a Georgia strategy group. I mean, and I remember even talking to Sheriff Brantley at one point and I was like, Sheriff, you know, it could have been us, right? And he said, Oh, George, I couldn't afford you. I said, well, I'll tell you what Gino did and look at him now and he's doing great. And I have a lot of respect for Sheriff Brantley. He's one of the folks that literally I've had the opportunity to work with a lot of candidates. The majority of them are self-funded. Sheriff Brantley, I'm sure, isn't shy about that. He wasn't independently wealthy. When he decided to run, he put a lot on the line. And I'll tell you, I mean, I have a lot of respect for him because when they came in and paid me the first time, I could tell. I mean, it was like, one's five's, ten's, you know, twenty's. I mean, they literally, you know, got a potluck together and everybody chipped in and kudos to him and his team and what they're doing. And break open the piggy bank to pay George. How many, how many employees now? So we got six, six, and with me and Chris, you got about eight, so I don't really count us because we don't take pay checks yet. Now, are you the boss? Chris is the boss. Chris is the boss. No, I mean, Chris is, I mean, obviously, I've started the company and but really there is no boss in the sense that I think we all, everybody that's a part of our team plays an important role in my house, boo is in charge. She's the little black cat. Well, Vail is in charge of our house, my four-year-old daughter, she's the boss. So well, by the way, I had a couple of folks chiming in on what we were talking about with Denise Graham, yeah, or darlings, you know, darling. Austin, the last person in South Carolina needs is darling Graham. She thinks she will win on her last name alone and she probably will. Did Clayton Buck have an argument on their show or are they just pushing Graham? No, that was the whole thing. They were kind of staying out of it until the Taiwan China thing. But, and they had had, I think they were planning on having both of them on. They had Norman on after that. They very clearly came out against darling after the snafu and I don't blame him. Pretty important thing to mess up on if you ask me. Today they announced Clayton Buck announced that darling had been welcomed with open arms and they were not going to, they made it clear they weren't going to ambush you or anything like that. But she did not want to appear on the show. I got to be honest with you, don't know why she would do that and every, every campaign I've been in part of, I tell people, the more people you reach, the greater your chance of winning. And an opportunity like that is hard to come up. I had a comment here. This is interesting. a claim book is in Ralph Norman's pocket, which is strange. They need to stay out of South Carolina's business. Well, okay, I get the fact that you think of a national talk show host or two national talk show hosts or sticking their nose in the South Carolina's business, but just understand what's at stake here is not South Carolina, it's the United States Senate. And every Republican ought to be worried sick that it stays in our hands and in good hands and in aggressively conservative hands. And Darlene is just not the one comparatively speaking. I haven't seen one thing about Ralph Norman that concerns me as far as the issues go. You know, is he charismatic or any of that? And I don't think anybody will ever match Lindsey Graham and it's funny, he got a bad rap because of his quote unquote closet lifestyle, which I still think it's reprehensible that all these people came out after he died. Where were these gutless spineless? - Does it matter? - It's kind of my thing like does it matter? - You just want to find him right now. - Like how does it matter? - Like, that's one thing. We were burying a guy today, Charles Walker, who I have had many, many, many differences with in his life. I've also praised him when it was time to praise him. - And had a reconciliations with him. - Well, we came on the show, we joined him here. We joined forces over Garnett Johnson and I think he didn't he bagged, you know, if I'm not mistaken. You know what, I don't want to speak for him. - I don't think he liked round tree. - I don't know, I don't know. - But bottom line, he and I had a lot more in common toward the end of his life than we ever did during his life. But I'll tell you this, I will not say one thing about Charles Walker today that I didn't say before he passed, probably a little bit nicer, simply because I got to see him snow a little bit, but having said that, these people that come out start throwing slings and arrows after somebody dies, special kind of scumbag, yes, me. - Rest in peace, Senator Walker. - All right, we gotta take a break. We'll be back, stay with us, the Austin Roadshow. - This is the Roads Rewind, Austin Roads on the land. - From 95.1 WGAC. - I was reminding George, you were talking about former Congressman John Barrow. Now, it's kind of hard when you sit back and try and compare 10th and 12th districts because there's been a lot of redistricting, but originally Augusta's balls to the wall, Congressman was a guy named Doug Bernard. - Yeah. - It was a conservative Democrat for many, many, many, many, many, many, many years. - I had the opportunity to interview him. - When he retired, I think John Barrow won the seat for one term, maybe. I was trying to remember, he's actually what I was in. Charlie Norwood, maybe Charlie Norwood won it outright in '94. '94 was when Norwood was part of the Republican Revolution, Newt Gingrich, little nine yards, and Norwood was in until he passed away. - Gabe Sterling from the Secretary of State's office, ran Charlie Norwood's campaign. - And then Paul Brown took it over, and that was the big Jim Whitehead race that he should have won to Columbia County, forgot to vote. That's unbelievable. That's when I got out of the prediction business right there. I was publicly saying, somebody's gonna win that, for sure, you can take it to the bank. God, that was the biggest swing in a mess I've ever seen. It wasn't Whitehead did everything right. His people just, oh, they're going there. And didn't show up for a runoff and Paul Brown, who was a terrible congressman. He didn't vote incorrectly on any of the congressional issues, and his constituent service was fantastic. I, as a matter of fact, a lot of the folks who were working for Mike Collins right this minute used to work for Dr. Brown. Having said that, Brown's head was as big as a wheelbarrow. - He was also a doctor, right? He was an MD, wasn't he? - Yes. - And he decided he wanted to be a US senator, and I told him to his face. George, I sat right here and said congressman. I'd said it off the air, and I think I kind of, I said the way I'm about to say it to you, and then on the air, I was a little more nice. I said congressman, you can use your hat handed to you. You can be the 10th district congressman until the day you die, if you don't screw up. I said, but this Senate seat is, you're not going to win the Republican nomination. I said, I think the Republican will end up winning, but you're not going to win the Republican nomination. And I was right, he came in distant, distant last, if I'm not mistaken, or close to the last, and like a three or four person race, and he's never been able to get back into politics since then. But then, then, Jody Heiss took that seat over, and then Heiss tried to run for Secretary of State against, what's his face? >> Brad Ruffinsburg. >> Brad Ruffinsburg, no one can say that right, or spell it. And then, there was a very, very interesting conversation about when Rick Allen was running for the seat that John Barrow eventually won. >> I remember that. >> And he ran for the seat against right McLeod, did not win the first time around. Decided to challenge him again. That was when my daughter came to me and said, Dad, I want to go to work for Rick Allen. And I said, please don't do that. And she said, why don't you like him? I said, I love Rick. I think Rick's going to, would make a great congressman. I don't think he's going to win. I just don't think he can beat John Barrow. I just don't see it at all. >> It was a very close race. >> It was, it was. >> Very close race. >> You'd all gone if Rick didn't beat him. And my daughter was one of two staffers that was with him from the beginning of his campaign until the night that he won. And that was when, you know, he said, ladies, you help get me here so far. I want you to stay with me and she's been with him ever since. But when everybody says, oh, you got your daughter that job. >> Exactly the opposite. >> Well, I advised her not to take it. >> I remember I was a reporter during that time. I covered that race. I followed Rick, especially on that election day. And, you know, I'll just tell you this, I have never seen a more beautiful family than Rick Island's family. Have you seen his daughters, his grandchildren, his son-in-law, his wife? Gosh, what a beautiful family. >> Good looking family. I tell you who else got a good looking family? He's Bobby Christine. >> Okay. >> He's got two beautiful daughters and a handsome son. >> Okay. >> And a beautiful wife, of course. That's another name that is going to be around for a while. You know, we're talking off the air. Let's not mention any of what we said off the air. >> Just have to remind George every now and then, the microphone's on here. We were talking about people in their political futures. If Bobby Christine wants to run for Congress, I would hate to have to run against him in this area. >> I don't see why he wouldn't. I honestly don't see why he wouldn't. I mean, I've heard a couple of the names, but I think he would be the right fit, especially with his connection, not only to Columbia County, to the region, but that kind of administration and his brothers role. >> That may not be big enough, though. And let me tell you what I think would be a great thing, certainly for Bobby, but I think a great thing for the administration as well. If Bobby Christine is nominated to be a Supreme Court justice, he goes straight from being judge advocate general of the Army and the Armed Services. He's literally right this minute and folks don't know this and it's a shame. Somebody in the journalism field needs to do a deep dive on just how important Bobby Christine has been to Donald Trump. The combination of the military being used around the country for certain things that needed to be done, the combination of using the military to help secure the borders and that type of thing. It was some dicey legal maneuvering that was all constitutional, not a bit of what they did was ever thrown out by the courts, by the Supreme Court, and Bobby was behind virtually all of it. - Well, that'd be a heck of a gig for him and I think maybe Attorney General. - I think the best job in the federal government is being a Supreme Court justice. I don't think there's a better gig. - I'd be wondering if there's a better gig. - Let's talk real quick about your thoughts on Stephen Kendrick coming in as mayor. You represented Garnett Johnson the first time around. The second time around, you gave Garnett a figure that he didn't want to pay. And so did you give the same figure to Steve Kendrick or did you give him a discount? - No, initially I gave him the same figure and then we negotiated and he made a counter offer that was actually competitive and it was lower, it was lower, but he negotiated. And he didn't try to negotiate. - Well, he negotiated, but I'll just say that his counter was rejected by my board. - Okay, all right. - That would be Christine, what's the dog name? There's a good, there is a strong board. I mean, I do have a very strong group of people that kind of help us on the executive level of it. It's a small intimate folks, it's five of us and not part of the day to day team, but they really have helped me build this up. I mean, I really can't take the credit. I mean, I am a hard worker. I love politics and when I get into something, I get into it full force, but I'd be lying to you if it was all just me. Aside from being able to craft the platforms and the talking points, I have another great group that's a small into group that helps me with the business side of this, because I'll tell you, never in my life had I thought I was gonna start a business, be an entrepreneur, having to negotiate this. This literally just fell into my lap and you know the first foray that I got into this was literally Kendra Morgan. I mean, I gotta give a lot of credit to Deep Copenhagen, I remember when I was a worker. working at news 12, and I was getting, and I told Dika, I said, look, I got to make some money. I'm not, I got to make some money. Are you allowed, I said not allowed. You're allowed if you want to, or are you comfortable discussing what TV reporters when they come into Augusta make? Absolutely, I think it's very important to talk about, 'cause I will tell you this, you know, folks don't-- First of all, you gotta keep in mind if you watch channel six, channel 54, and channel 12, and 26, of course. You watch the three main news channels here in town when new reporters come in. They're not really 17, they just look that way. Yeah, I mean, that's true. Look, they smell of clearasil, simply because it's probably, they use a little bit of it. But they're very, very, very young. As a matter of fact, I can't remember, she might even have a rule against it. I haven't spoken to her about it, so I can't say. Does a still even hire people that aren't out of school, I don't think, I don't know, I don't think so. I know for a while, I mean, there have been a couple of people who came in. And I will say there are, I remember Ryan Houston, he came from another market, so he didn't come straight out of college. But here's what I will say, look, I went to college with Laura Warren. Laura Warren and I sat next to each other at UGA and David Hesinski's class, and she can vouch for me and call in Laura if you're listening. I remember we were sitting in class and David Hesinski told us, you know, your first job when you get out there, you're gonna be lucky if you're making $22,000 a year. And I remember Laura was sitting next to me and I bumped her elbow, I said, he's full of beep. I said, there's no way they're gonna pay us $22,000 with a college degree, I'm making $27,000 a year right now, running a boys and girls club. (laughing) There's no way. And I remember when I got here, what was the offer? 19,000. (laughing) And I remember looking at a stove, - You know what, you know what's bad about that? - That's probably what you started off with. - I don't know, what was your, what year was that? - For you. - 2013 and 1989, I got my first job offer from channel 12, cheerly rents. I was offered the job of producer. - Okay. - And I had just gotten married. It was a three to midnight job. And my wife at the time, some medical assistant that worked bright and early, I never were to see her. And I had to turn it. And I was working as a radio reporter here, making, I think, I think I was making 16,000, 17,000 here. And she wanted to pay me 18 to be the producer. And I had to turn her down. And it was a heartbreaking thing for me, 'cause I, wow, this is my big chance, I thought, 'cause I'm moving up in the world and TV, and I'll be all when you're in your early 20s. And keep in mind, I never college degree either. And so, I told Sherry, no, thank you, but no, thank you. And she said, no worry, and I completely understand. That's one good thing about having a female boss back in those days. They were, she was very sympathetic about, you know, personally. And about three months later, their assignment editor job came open. And she called me up, she said, how would eight to five sound rate to six sound? And I said, that would be great. And she said, great, come in, we'll talk about it. And when she came in, she said, Austin, I was sitting here going over some stuff and Charlie Moody. - Yeah, Charlie, yep. - Said that he had known you since you were a little bit of a kid and that he had actually sought some commercials that you did for the Augusta players. You were doing some players, and I said, yes, ma'am, years ago he did that. And she said, I went and pulled him up. You got a presence. I said, well, thank you. And she said, I want you to sit down at the desk, reach some scripts for me. And I did it. And she said, would you be our morning news anchor and assignment editor? And I got paid the 19 five for that. - I just look, I hope Estelle doesn't mind me sharing this. I don't think she will because she did the right thing. I remember when I walked in there, she told me 19,000 dollars a year, my jaw literally dropped. - Do you mean from 1989 to 2000? - What? - No, 13. Wow, 19,000. So I remember I looked at her and I said, Estelle, I want this job so bad that I'm gonna take that money. But here's what's going to happen. She said, what? I said, you're gonna have people coming up to you, saying, hey, isn't that your reporter? And I'm gonna be bartending or busing tables or be in a wager because that's how bad I want this job. But I don't need this money to pay a beamer. I don't need this money to pay a yacht. I need this money to pay my student loans. And Estelle gave me 23,000. - How about you? - And then, and then I'll share this too. I mean, the most that I made at WRDW right before I left was about 40,000 dollars. - And they, and it's part of their business model. - Yeah, it is. - They bring in, they get as much out of you as they can. And then it's time for you to move on and go do your thing. - When I made the 40 grand, it was because I was at that point now doing city government. I remember telling Estelle too, I was like, look, not only will I do city government, but Estelle, I'm the only person in this newsroom that has the ability to serve two communities if you need it. Because I can speak fluently Spanish and I can speak fluent English. And if something happens and you got to send somebody to a certain neighborhood, I'm the only person you're going to be able to send. - Triple murder and Puerto Rico, good job. - Why, you know, you never know. There's, and that, and there were things that did happen that I had opportunities in August to just because I spoke Spanish or just because I came from different backgrounds. I was thinking about this today. The first interview that Senator Charles Walker gave when he walked out of jail, if people don't remember it, was to me at WRDW. - And it was a radio interview. - How were you able to secure that? - I got to give credit to one person. And that's Oz Nesbitt. Oz Nesbitt was a first person that introduced me to Charles Walker. And that-- - Networking is important for us. - And then Charles Walker and I develop a relationship from there and then it grew even stronger. Once I started running Garnet Johnson's campaign, and I remember Charles was Senator Charles Walker was one of the few people that I called when I was facing this dilemma. I've never shared this story with anybody, but I can share it now when I was facing this dilemma and negotiation between Garnet Johnson and Stephen Kendrick. And obviously Charles Walker was a Garnet Johnson fan. And I thought he was going to be upset with me. And when I told him everything, he'd say, "Look," then he said, "George, you bad, boy." "Go do your thing." And that's what I did. - Absolutely, all right. We can take a break to what Steve has is in with us to have new political consultant extraordinaire. We're gonna talk data centers in a minute. He thinks the data centers are getting a bad rap. Yes, I do, maybe there's-- - China. - Yeah, well, we'll be back. Stay with us. - Our back. George has been watching the Georgia conversation, the statewide, not just the local conversation on data centers, like many of us have. And your thoughts, you genuinely think that the local passion is fueled by Chinese propaganda. - I really do. And here's my thought process on this look. Do I think that the Chinese communist government is talking to Lee Mom's? No, I don't think that. But I do think that there are people in those circles and in those networks that are getting information. And that information is coming from third parties that are involved with China. I mean, the same way that you hear on the-- - Are you sure there's not a guy sitting in Shanghai saying, "Ah, must get information to Wii Months?" - I don't think that's happening. But I do think that they have bots, that they have those kind of things going on and they see what he's researching. They see what certain people are researching. They find these people that are coming to public meetings and they start flooding them and inundating with information. And look, this is the same thing that I hear sometimes conservatives talking about on the right side of about people like George Soros and some of those left leaning that they influence things, not directly, but indirectly through their money and how they get information. And here's what I have to, like I just don't get it. I don't get it. Look, I am not a conservative. I'm not a Republican. I'm also not a Democrat. And I'm not a leftist. I'm really kind of an independent and believe and who's the best person for the job. But like, why would we want these data centers anywhere else but America? Like, I don't understand that. Like, and the other thing that I don't understand is how do they think we power these things? I mean-- - He's holding his smartphone. - I mean, all these computers, and I'm full disclosure. I'm not hired by any data centers. None of them are my clients. I'd love for one of y'all to be my clients if you want, but I have none of those. I have no interest in that right now. Other than, might as well be, because right now, because you've said that, now they're gonna accuse you of being on the payroll but they've been accused of it. - And that's why I wanted to say that. It has nothing to do with the payroll. Look, I got involved when I first left news, I got involved in the energy industry. And you remember that, I brought Alan for here. I was working with Kender Moore. - Kender Moore. - And that really showed me the importance of energy and dependence and how much it fuels our economy. And now we're looking at energy, too, in a different way. I mean, think about all the things that we're powering right now. That require, you know, a data center, that require not only data centers, but even battery sites, right? battery sites that are that are conservative and energy so it to me I'm very surprised that conservatives are the ones right now kind of carrying this banner of anti-datacenters which I do think regardless of whatever you think of Trump I think it's great that he's getting involved in the conversation because hopefully he's the only person that really seems to get sometimes two conservatives so I just don't understand it I wish I had proof that I could show you that they're outside sources but it just doesn't make sense to me Austin I don't get it and and I think that people in Columbia County should be hopefully very excited about Google being here well not only that but the president they seem very fond of most of the time is the biggest fan in the world which means everybody on the left is gonna hate it but those of us in Columbia County have a track record of backing conservatives they all seem to be very much in favor of the concept we'll be back we were talking about what reporters make and I might I might have shocked some folks when you come in to to this market and to be honest you and I neither one have been around the channel 12 newsroom for many many years maybe it's changed I hope I was gonna say but again it didn't change that much from 89 to 2004 did you say 13 there's four people there's four people that make money on TV stations doesn't matter what market you're in there's four people the GM the salesman sales manager engineer well yeah but I think the four but there's five top people right GM your sales manager your news director and your two prime time anchors yeah because I mean you know I can tell folks you don't have to worry about Richard Rogers or Brad Means they making 20 grand a year okay I can promise you that but but yeah I mean they're not not Richard anymore yeah not Richard and Richard's enjoying his retirement he seems like he's having a lot of fun I saw him on Instagram with the beard so he looks like he's enjoying it but you know the other thing you're asking me earlier you're asking me about Stephen Kendrick and how I think this is going look one of the things that I'll tell you I think it's very innovative what he's doing right now with this transition team is that really necessary is I mean I think it's a whole bunch of glad handing not that there's anything wrong with glad handing but you know it's not like the the mayor is not like the sheriff and that he can hire a whole bunch of people he can hire a couple of people but not a whole bunch of people and there's just not a lot of power there well we'll see what he does with it here's what I think number one the reason why I think it's important is because look whether there's power or not the mayor's office carries a lot of influence number one second of all I think people do care when you go out and meet them where they're at and you learn things from listening to people and here's the other thing you ask if it's necessary if it's necessary no maybe not but here's the other thing no other mayor has done this and I was hearing somebody yesterday tell me about how super you know the former chamber president of the greater Augusta chamber was literally giving kudos to Stephen in in this room telling him no mayor has done this and the whole room got up and clapped and you asked me if it's necessary obviously it's necessary because you see the crowds in these rooms I mean we're talking about 200 300 people well celebrating in necessary are two different things that's not a celebration though I mean there's real conversation what's the purpose for the transition well a couple of things number one is really being able to hear even more from folks what they want in these different areas that they're having whether it's parks and recreation whether it's budgeting whether it is the management whether it's the structure of the mayor's office and that's one of the things that I will say that maybe the previous speaking you're really only three great me from wrong you're only three well none that's excuse me the mayor's personal assistant and the EMA director of the only two humans up yeah that that he has direct ability to hire but here's the other thing I mean why can't why do we say oh Stephen Kendrick doesn't have any influence and he can't do anything but then when we talk about garnet Johnson people are like oh well yeah you know he has the ability to do this and did that and he got the vote and here's the other thing it is growing the influence of the mayor's office is growing because I also think the greater Augusta community is understanding one thing which is look the mayor is the only one on the commission elected citywide and also whenever there's a problem people go to the mayor the buck stops with you know there's no doubt about that and again he's got the bully pulpit he can bring attention to things he can he can make calls and you know kind of the differences and Stephen will tell you this and he can't I mean I'm hard on everybody now the difference is what to Stephen what I should say what does mayor elect Kendrick do with this information how does he implement it how does he show tangible results to the people of Augusta and I'll tell you one thing I hope that this commission reconsideres how to shift the tax burden from the residents here we go back to the data center I'm just telling you how but even whether it's data center or whether it's just investment economic investment there has to be something that has to give in Augusta and here's a bigger picture before we even start wonder whether it's worth it or not with what happens with mayor elect Kendrick transition team I hope everybody's going to that commission meeting tomorrow I hope you read that Augusta press article today I hope you had the same questions I had when I said hold on why in the heck are they putting in this on the eleventh hour why aren't they saying what the millage rate is and I'm not even going to say what I'm going to what I suspect will happen tomorrow because I don't want to change their game plan because if I say what I suspect what's going to happen tomorrow they'll change their game plan but I just encourage folks to get their butt out there and listen I don't I mean hand to heaven because if God you know less America they came up with a data center it would still be two three years four years before sort of paying off what the hell are they going to do with the amount of money they spend and still bills are due for the jail that they they hit again kick kick the can down the road on that thing too long matter of fact I got an invitation tomorrow I just remembered I didn't notice VP to it I need to if I can go the Columbia County Sheriff's Department is having a grand opening if you want to call it that of their new pod and I don't know if you've heard me talking about it before but Greg Rickubon I went out there not once but twice or I went twice I went once and was so amazed and impressed I called Greg Upsen you got to do this you had to come out here and it was mainly to look at the video center which is phenomenal but also to tour the jail and see it it was right about the time that round tree was giving tours of the Augusta jail and Scott Hudson called me up and said I almost threw up at the smell and I said what did it smell like and he said weed poop urine and chemicals and I said well why and he said well they're smoking weed in there the plumbing systems terrible and when the and there's so many inmates they get mad they pee on the floor they'll poop at each other really well you walk into the jail in Columbia County it smells like you Graham mama's kitchen I've heard you not and it's unbelievable two different worlds I understand different circumstances having said that you buy a brand new car and don't change oil for five years you got a piece of junk in five years you change the oil you're doing okay they didn't maintain that jail in in Augusta Richmond County that goes directly to round tree and his leadership team what and and I feel I feel sorry for Gino because there's only so much he can do without a huge inflow of cash and he needs it and I hear you what you're saying about former sheriff round she but I also think it's a bit unfair to put it all on him because here's one thing that I say the commission plays a role oh they play a huge role when they put the bully pulpit spot you're talking about George is far more bully and far bigger pulpit when you're the sheriff than when you're absolutely never one time heard round tree go I gotta have money or we're gonna shut this jail down turn it over to the feds and every day I'm one of y'all are gonna get to see now the one thing that's the one thing I would disagree with you on is he did say that but did he use it in the public forum did he do it in commission he did it didn't happen and and that's where I think maybe he should have reconsidered it you know it's funny I mean a lot of folks a lot of folks love talking about what Donald Trump says in private I couldn't care less I care a lot about what he says in public because really yeah yeah because now I'm talking about when he's talking about getting things done okay because that's he's sending his message out we got to do this we got to have this etc etc if he's behind the scenes waffle him a little bit that's fine what you're telling me is is it round tree was beaten desk behind the scenes but he was a wet rag limp rust I didn't say what rag you did but I'll what I will say is that heartbeat What I will say is that, look, I think, first of all, rest in peace share for Richard Roundtree. There's just like we were talking about Senator Lindsey Graham, I'm by no means am I trying to beat on the dead. And what I am saying is you got to give credit where credit is due or not even that. You just got to be fear. And I think if Richard Roundtree was around right now, I think one of the things that he would tell you is that he probably would have re-evaluated how he presented himself in the public sphere and how he interacted with community. And I think some people really discount that. You were asking me earlier how much of public relations-- He knows that he had people in his ear repeatedly telling him. I get that, but that was also his personal way. I mean, listen, I also had a raging problem too. That I can't speak to. I'll speak to Drey. He was a sadly, and I've had friends and family members that were impacted by this. And none of them were sheriff. I wouldn't have let them be sheriff. I would have blasted them. He was an alcoholic. Well, Lane and Dan said, I don't know about that. But what I will tell you is that I think that his biggest downfall was really not understanding how vital the public relations piece was. And I think a lot of politicians fall into that. And I think a lot of politicians, in particular, I'll say this with all due respect. Your current mayor, Garnett Johnson-- I mean, I remember telling him one time. I said, Garnett, I don't think you've realized how much of a bubble you're in. And one of the conversations he had when we were negotiating said, George, this is going to be easy. I'm going to win again. And I said, why? He said, because I'm being incumbent. And when he told me that, I said, I got to be honest with you, sir. You're off. You don't know. I was asking you earlier, what do you think was one of the reasons why the election didn't go his way. And I'll let you decide if you want to share that. Why? I said, primarily, downtown Augusta was a huge factor. That was a factor. But here's the other thing. I don't think he really realized how much the African-American community, especially the South Augusta community, was really hoping and pushing for him. And there were some decisions, some things that he made, like, for example, with the NGOs and the budget. I don't care what you tell me. I understand deficits, but in certain communities, in certain ways, that's just the make-up of everybody, what you're talking about when you say NGM. Well, the nonprofits, the nonprofits in Augusta. And there was a huge slash. And there was a huge back and forth. And I'm sorry, folks. But that is the make-up of it. That's the identity of the Augusta government. And you don't do that in an election meeting. And it is, sadly, sadly. I hate to tell you that. And that's how some communities operate. Columbia County does not operate that way. You go to Atlanta, they operate that way. You go to Rockdale County. They don't operate that way. So you have to remember who you serve. And people forget that. Because they get caught up with these five, six people that are always, you're the gray, you're awesome. Sorry, bud. And that's why people love me or love to hate me. I mean, I just got to be honest with you. OK, all right. This is fun. All right, wait. And I appreciate you coming in here because two things. Number one, very few folks with the institutional memory and knowledge that you have that can have this conversation with me, without me having to explain everything, who is that? Oh, that was so inside that kind of thing. That's number one. Number two, you got some backbone saying some of this stuff. I'm surprised you hedged your bet, though, on the alcoholism. Because you know I'm right. You know it's true. I don't know it. You did not know that. Gino never told you that. Never. No, I mean, everybody-- I can remember sitting in here with Gino and Johnson. Garnett? No, no, no. Johnson, huh? Oh, both, Johnson. Oh, sorry. Got my own son. Both, Johnson, and was it Richard Dickson? Yeah, yeah, Richard Dickson was on all three of them. Yeah, I was going to say we seem running things. He went into commercial break. And somebody made a comment about Roundtree not being present. I never knew that. And we commiserated among ourselves. And my question was, at that time, is somebody going to confront him on this? And it was said back to me, you know it's a medical thing. And I laughed out loud. I said, my mother was an alcoholic. And yes, it is a bit of a medical thing. But I was on her, like, white on rice. And I would not have let her run for office. And I don't think much of people who were in the private audience of a person like that and who doesn't grab them and tell them, you've got a damn problem, you need help. I would tell you, I'd never experienced that. And here's one thing that I will say. Richard, Roundtree, share, Fritzard Roundtree, was the best opponent I ever have. And here's what I mean. He was always courteous. He never helped it personal against me. And I remember, I remember even when I called him, he was just, I mean, there's things that I can say, but he was a bust man. I think he didn't think you had a chance against him. Maybe, maybe. I am told that was the biggest shock that you'd ever had in his life when he lost it. What would be the accident was? You asked for more Austin, and here it is. This is the Roads Rewind. Your anytime, anywhere, replay of the Austin Roadshow from 95.1 WGAC. George D.S. is a political consultant with the Georgia Strategy Group. - I agree with you, I'm sorry. - Yeah, GeorgiaStrategyGroup.com, G-S-G, and reason we came up with that acronym is because God is good. - Absolutely, okay. There were a couple of questions here for you that came in. How much does Mr. D.S. charge to consult or just for shooting the breeze? (laughing) - I think shooting the breeze should do for free, don't you? - Yeah, yeah, I mean, basically somebody's buying you a sandwich or something. - Yeah, yeah, no. I mean, I love to, like I tell people, I mean, I love to talk about this Austin. I mean, you know, me and you have phone calls from time to time where I'm sure we look at our phone where like, man, an hour's already passed by. No, look, I tell people all the time, it really depends. I mean, we have clients that have us on a monthly retainer. A lot of those are some in the corporate field or in the government field, and then when it comes to political campaigning, I'll just give you the range. I mean, our lowest package is $40,000, and our highest package is hovering about 151.75. - What did you ask Garnett Johnson for that he couldn't come up with? - I will let you ask him that the next time he's sitting at the seat. (laughing) - Well, I know the answer to it. - I know you do. - But you don't want to, you don't want to. - Well, look, look, and honestly, I can be very frank here, and the reason why I feel comfortable, so that way people can look it up. - Yeah, that's exactly what I'll say. - This is a reason why I'm comfortable saying this because all of this is public record. All of this is public record. The first time we worked with Mayor Johnson, it was $105,000 plus the living expenses and everything, and at the end, it ended up probably about 125. That was a very first time. - Did you get an apartment in your stay in hotel? - No, Garnett Johnson put me up at a cabin or a cottage, house I should say of a friend of his who has a beautiful house in Somerville. - Oh, what? - So that definitely helped them, but they still had to pay food, gas, things like that, 'cause I'd literally picked up my life and moved up here, and I was 24/7 all the time with Garnett. - And your child had not yet been born? - No, but my wife was pregnant at that time, and sorry, honey, I got to stay in Augusta tonight. - Yeah, no, and now I was there. So literally, I was here four months, I mean, literally working every single day. And that's the thing that I share with folks. But yeah, you know, and then when we were coming to this thing, people can look up the records. It's public knowledge. It was 150, what we ended up doing with Steven Kendrick, and then now, you know. - How about Geno Rock? - That was 80. Was it 80? I think it was-- - Let me explain to folks how it works. And you may not know this. When you are the sheriff of Richmond County, or Aiken County, or Columbia County, and you've got an important race coming up, you put the word out, and everybody that works for you, it depends on you for their livelihood. Usually chips in, or they chip in whatever they can, and they tell every, their mother, their brother, or their ever ever. And that's where the real power is when you're sheriff. I'm not saying that you make everybody do that. You just kind of put the word out. And, you know, and I'm a big believer in supporting who supports you. - Exactly, I'm a big believer. - But there are some people that feel like they're being coerced into it. And I'm not saying that happened in any of these situations. I'm just saying that if Clay Whittle ever had a legitimate candidate run against him, businesses would come out. - I would hope so. - His own employees would come out. - I hope the vendors. - I would write him a check, or maybe not, I don't know. If you needed it. It's amazing to me how naive some folks are about that position in particular. And that's one of the many reasons I question Roundtree's judgment. He could have raised $80,000 in one afternoon. by calling five businessmen. - Yep, that's true. - And it probably would not have been a official campaign money. It would have been, throw me a fundraiser, one of those famous fish fries, when all of a sudden $30,000 ends up in a basket and look what came in the door. - And that's how it happens all the time. That's how it happens all the time. He's shrugging his shoulders. - I don't know. - I really don't know. - I don't know. That's the time tested, you know, fundraising thing. When prominent business people want to support someone, they'll throw them a party and say, everybody have fundraiser, yeah, yeah, everybody's looking. - I'm sure folks know this. I mean, Rick Jackson was just in Augusta last week. And I have some folks and I will tell you that, I won't say who hosted the fundraiser, but it was just power players in the Augusta and Columbia County area. And the folks that are involved with that told me that that was the largest fundraising event that they've had in Augusta, larger than Brian Camps. - Wait a minute, wait a minute, say that one more time. - So last week, Rick Jackson was in Augusta. He held the fundraiser. I won't say who held it for him, but it was a lot of prominent folks in Augusta. - In Augusta, okay. A lot of prominent folks from Augusta hosted it and I'm sure folks from Columbia County came too. And they were telling me, George, how much do you think we raised that night? One night, I said, I don't know. They said, well, I'll tell you, it's the biggest one that's ever happened in Augusta. - That's fast enough. - And they told me how much do you think, Brian Camp? And I went to one with Brian Camp. - Well, one of the reasons it's really interesting is because Jackson's got his own money. He reminds me a lot of Trump. And that, you know, Trump was outspent tremendously by both Hillary and Biden and Harris. So that's-- - He knows how to use free publicity. - Yeah, yeah, no doubt, no doubt. - And the other thing that I-- - So does Jackson. - Well, and here's the other thing too, the more people you reach, the greater your chance of winning. I mean, look, I'm telling you, Trump had a great strategy when he ran against Hillary. Hillary didn't go to Wisconsin, she didn't go to Michigan, she didn't go high, shoot. You would see Donald Trump jump from that plane, going to Ohio straight to Michigan and I'm a big believer. - He was working. - He was working in the fry basket in McDonald's. - And doing all that. And I also tell people, look at what happened in this election against Kamala Harris, you know? And what he did in Michigan. You know, he won the Muslim vote. Do you remember when he brought all those Muslim guys up on stage in Michigan as he was running against Kamala Harris? I mean, he had 12 Muslim guys there. - And it's Kamala? - Yeah, and it's Kamala. - Yeah, it's Kamala. - Yeah, it's Kamala. And some people were given a crap on the right, but this guy is a genius in pushing the boundaries of exposure. The more people you reach, the greater your chance of winning. And I think that's part of the reason why he has been successful. - Well, we're gonna see, this is gonna be a very interesting election. - Midterms are gonna be, midterms are gonna be very, very interesting. And here's the other thing, you know? We were talking about this earlier, the Supreme Court ruling yesterday. I'm, and look, that's gonna play a role in this midterm. And look, I'm not-- - Talking about the mail and ballot. - The mail and ballot. Let me hear in some past you real quick. - Yeah, we've got data center project going in here, as you well know. I know for a fact, city of Augusta officials are being coy about it, but they're trying their best to see if there's something that can be done to generate the kind of revenue for them that'll get them all to look for taxes for property tax increases. It's gonna be a while though. If there were a swell of success all of a sudden, if somebody in the state of Wisconsin or Virginia said, wow, Loudon County just canceled all property taxes because they finally finished building all the crap they were building. And now it's just operating expenses and some minor capital improvements. The data center manage come in more than covers that, no property taxes. If they say that in a major county in Georgia or South Carolina, how huge will that be? - Game of Republicans that pushed it. - I think it would be a game changer, especially when you're looking at communities that may be not even typically vote Republican or conservative. And here's the other thing. I mean, even in Columbia County, right? I mean, people, you know, Columbia County, I don't know if it still holds this title, but it was one of the most conservative counties in the country, but here's the other thing. It's changing. - No politics, no doubt, no doubt. - Political affiliation. And if the folks in Columbia County want it to still remain conservative, my opinion is give that single mother that's working out there, that moved out there, just like my mom, when she left Miami and moved to Kanye's Georgia to give me and my brother the opportunities that we've had. Like that mom is probably going to say, you know what, I'm going to give these Republicans a chance or I'm going to stick with these Democrats who ever holds this banner. In my opinion, it is a changemaker, especially in communities like we're even in Augusta. I mean, we're talking about shifting the tax burden. I'm sure I'm making this number up right now. So Commissioner Slendek, if you're listening and you can correct me, please let me know. But I'm making the assumption that 90% of taxes collected in the city of Augusta come from residential. - Oh, residential. - You don't think so? Is it higher, lower? I mean, it comes, well, I would say that biggest-- - Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, when you say residential, we got a, we got a-- - Homeowner. - Homeowners that are paying their own property tax, not a renter. - Yes, okay. - No, no, I would disagree with you because you're forgetting about business property tax. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - And all of the municuzillion's apartment complexes. - But they still, and those, but those, the apartment complexes. - Those aren't homesteads, though. - Well, there's still, I'm gonna consider them. Here's what I'm saying. I would, I would guess. I would make the taxes paid on residents, you mean? - Yeah, I think residences are the ones are probably giving the bulk of the money. - But here's one of Augusta's problems. - Is that right this minute, voting adults, there is a humongous percentage of voting adults in Augusta that don't pay any tax at all. - Okay. - And they couldn't care less how much you, you whitewash, summerville, Montclair, national hills, Brenwood, rape them on property taxes, they don't care because they either live in rental houses, public housing, or something else. - But whether it's a rental house, whether it's a rental house, whether it's a public housing. - Well, public housing, they don't have the exam. - They don't know, out of sight, out of mind. If they're not paying it directly, nobody that lives in an apartment complex has anything about property tax, they just don't. But I'm here to tell you, again, there is a minority of people in Augusta, Georgia. And this is what got the old city of Augusta upside down, which forced consolidation. They had far more money going out and coming in because their residential property owners were shrinking. And the nice houses that they once stood in some very nice neighborhoods were starting to fall apart. And they weren't being rebuilt, and it is what it is. Augusta is not at that point yet. They're Augusta that we know right now, we can sign it Augusta. But there is a huge number of free loaders when it comes to property taxes in the city of Augusta. Columbia County, whole different ballgame. - And maybe that's the case, but the one thing I'll say is I think that industry and private industry is the best way to reduce milligrate and taxes that every day homeless. - 100,000% agree with you. All right, it's a great way to do that. We'll be back, stay with us towards Diaz. And with the Austin Roadshow this afternoon, we'll be back. - Thank you. This is a lot of fun, George. I appreciate you telling it like it is out there. - I don't know about that. - A lot of fun, a lot of fun. By the way, I heard from my buddy, George, who is a former Richmond County Sheriff's Deputy, said Austin, it's changed when I was with the Sheriff's Department. We didn't have to donate to the current sheriff and could donate to who we wanted to as long as you were not doing it openly. It wasn't nobody's business. John, I'm not talking about what happens behind closed doors. I'm talking about the fact. And the sheriff would never go to each individual deputies and say, okay, point it up. It just is pretty well known. And particularly if you're happy with what's going on, you would be afraid of the new sheriff coming in. And particularly think about the guys that are at the upper echelon. You've got in the Richmond County Sheriff's Department alone 'cause the department's so big, you probably have 40 very well paid uppity officers who, oh by the way, could be replaced tomorrow if another sheriff came in. Well, and here's the other thing too. That's not just something that you see in particularly maybe a sheriff's office. I've never experienced that, but I have seen that in governments. I mean, you have these mayors. You have these county chairmen that appoint these directors that appoint these people that are making 100, 200 grand a year. And yeah, I mean, sometimes those elected officials are like, hey, it'd be great if you could cut me a $500 check so I can buy some signs. 'Cause here's the other thing I tell people campaigns are not cheap. I mean, there, that Trump sign you got right there, probably be about 40 to 60 bucks. - Really? - Yeah. - That much, wow. - 40 to 60 bucks, that sign right there. Number one, Michelle don't steal my signs. But see, that's what I'm saying. And then here's what happens, right? You gotta buy these signs and what happens to them. The wind takes some people steal 'em. I mean, it's-- - Favorite videos during the election season where the people that wired up their Trump signs, booby traps. Because people were coming by and destroying 'em. And people would go up and when they would grab 'em, they would blow up. It was the funniest thing I've ever seen 'em all day. - I mean, it happens. I mean, look, it doesn't just cost money to buy signs. I mean, you gotta do radio, you gotta buy a TV. And here's the other thing, you gotta go out and reach people. And so campaigns are very expensive. - All right, we get to get, unfortunately, take our newsbreakable. - Yo, my nose news, 531, we'll be right back. Stay with us. About another 25 minutes left with George Diaz where he heads home to Christy Etheridge. Wow. Booby-ba. - To be a TV reporter at News 12 all those years ago. How many years ago? - I'll drive, so I think I ended up. It was about 2017, 2018 when I left. - And kind of Morgan. - And Christy left. - She left like two years after I did. - Okay. - So like 2020, maybe 2021. - You worked for Kinder Morgan? - Yep. - Then I went to go work. Then after I finished with Kinder Morgan, I went to go run Osnezbit's campaign, if folks remember Osnezbit from Augusta, who relocated to Rockdale County. He won the chairman's seat. And then at that point, I was appointed, I was the youngest appointed director in Rockdale County history. And I ran the public relations department to that for four and a half years. Left Rockdale County, I had no idea what I was gonna do. And ended up. - Did you ever think about getting back into TV? - Nope. It was Christy working in TV at that point. She was working at NBC. And I would love to be able to do TV and radio, but I'll tell you what I just hated about it. I just hated being a one man band. I really did. I did not like the idea. - They were gonna do that in Atlanta? - No, no, no, no, not here in Augusta. That's why I never decided to go back. And here's the thing. And in Atlanta, that is the norm now. I mean, besides WSB, besides WSB, yeah, you're seeing a lot of one man band. And I never know my old friend, Tracy Reeves. Is that name, Ring of Bell? - Tracy. - Oh, Tracy started out in life at Channel 12, went to WSB in Atlanta, worked for years, and then NBC hired him. - Okay. - And I wanna say he was the freelance or, anyway, he spent the last, I think, five or six years on Air Force One. - Oh really? - No, Tracy, but what's, gosh, what's your friend's name? The blonde, Lori. - Lori Geary. - Lori Geary. - Yeah. - I mean, I just talked to Lori Geary a lot. We've collaborated. - I was trying to ask you if you have been invited to sit in with the Georgia gang. - No, you know it should. - It's funny, I have a, I have a, his man. - No, they have it. And it's funny 'cause I take on Theran Johnson a lot. I talk to Theran a lot. And I've told Theran, I said, Theran, I was like, what gives man? How many campaigns do we have to win before he called me in there? But hey, your friends with Phil Kent, aren't you? - Phil and Lori. - Yeah, so you put drop in here and there, drop my name in there. But no, I'd love to be able to do Georgia gang. I love them. I mean, no. - Phil's son, Phillip Kent Jr. is a school board member here in Columbia. - Yep. - And a very, very sharp man. - Yep. - Call me when you're around for reelection, Mr. Kent. (laughing) - He's, I'll say what, the Columbia County Schoolward, I hope that they're joining on the spot, giving the taxpayers as much relief when the data centers get cranked up as the Columbia County Commission seems to be. I don't know why they would hesitate. It's a little more complicated, but the one thing I will give all the credit in the world, it's funny, Scott Johnson catches a lot of hell from the anti data center detractors. But if this thing works out the way that I think that it might, he's gonna be hailed as one of the greatest behind the scenes, movers and shakers in Georgia municipal history. Think about that for a minute. What other county manager have you ever seen that could say we eliminated property taxes? - I mean, it would be a change maker, but I will tell you this, I don't even think he needs that to happen. I mean, what I mean by that is, even if that doesn't happen, Scott, regardless of whatever you think about him, he is savvy, he's political, he knows how to maneuver himself, and I've never seen anybody make the transition so well, 'cause if I'm not mistaken, he was a state trooper, he was a cop. - Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. - He was a county, he was a Columbia County sheriff. And there are a lot of cops and chiefs of police that end up becoming county managers, but the way that he's done it, the way that him and his board have been able to put the spotlight on Columbia County with the president, with the governor. Look, I've spent five nights sleeping in the EMA office when Pam Tucker was running it, and when they had that ice storm, and all that, and I'm just telling you, and it's, look, I mean, I have my differences with, I mean, Austin or Scott, or I have different opinions on a lot of things, but I'm a big believer in giving credit where credit is due. So even if this doesn't come to fruition, I mean, the guy knows what the heck he's doing. The guy knows what he's doing. - Oh yeah, I mean, again, the proof's in the pudding, and if you take a look at Evan's town center, and the things that we know that we can discuss right this minute, Trader Joe's coming in, and a lot of other great projects, or redevelopment, or additional development out at Patriots Park, it's just a lot of great, very positive things coming for Columbia County. - Well, and here's the other thing too. I mean, I'll say this, we've talked about Columbia County, but Augusta also has had some great folks leading it at points. I mean, I think that Steve Castle and Tamiko, when they were running it at that point, and I think they were a dynamic duo. I think Fred Ruff still think they missed their chance when they could hire Steve for administrator. - I'll tell you right now, I mean, I'm a big fan of Steve Castle, I'll be very transparent, and here's one of the things why, is because he was one of the best people to work with when I was a reporter. And I'm a big believer, again, like I've said, from the getting, supporting who supports you. And I just remember when I showed up here, and I was carrying a camera, and I was wearing the suit, sweating my butt off, and probably about 40 pounds heavier than I am now. But, yeah, I mean, I have a lot to owe to Augusta. Augusta says, is my home away from home? I wouldn't have my daughter, I wouldn't have my wife, I wouldn't have my company. - I gotta ask you this, one man band business. It's driving me crazy. - Yeah. - And I'm gonna be sexist here for a minute. - Yeah. - Can you imagine your wife looking as she looks, beautiful woman, especially a few years ago when she was young, traipsing into a crime scene with a carer and a tripod, and especially doing a live spot. - I don't have to imagine it, because I lived it, and I hated it, I think it was a stupidest thing. And I remember at one point, that's when I told Chrissy, I was like, look, something's gotta give. I really, we sat down and we had a conversation, and I said, look, you know, Augusta, you know, it's one thing even in a gut, wherever we were, wherever, whether you're in Augusta, Mrs, wherever you are. I don't like that idea, and not only whether it comes to women or men, but in particularly women, and I also think it has hurt the industry. - It's horrible. - When people talk about why we don't trust the media anymore, I'll tell you, that's part of the reason, and the thing, part of it is because they are rushing these folks. These folks have to do everything. Austin, when you were at WRDW, there were three or four people that would go out on a story. I mean, if you watch Anchorman, that's not fake. There was an audio engineer, there was a field producer, there was a camera man, it's a complicated live shot. Usually a pat, there was never more than two people on a package, but there was always two people on it. But I'm talking about like, when you, if you go back, like, to those Anchorman days, in that movie, that is not a live folks in the '70s, and in those big markets, they had five people going out on one story, you had an audio engineer, it was not unusual for everybody to break out in an afternoon to light. - Yeah, I'm just telling you, and I think that's part of the reason we've weakened this industry, I hope the powers at B will reconsider it, find some ways, I understand, you gotta make a bottom line, but having one person do the job that three or four people used to do, I think it's a shame. - No doubt. You and I are in complete agreement about that. - We agree. - Of course, we agree. - You and I had some conversations behind the scenes about the John Ossoff. - Oh yeah. Colin's race, so you think Oswald's gonna win it. - I think Oswald's gonna win it. I mean, I was even gonna do a lightning round with Rick Jackson or Keisha Lantz-Bauden. - So you think it's gonna win? Now are you gonna vote for Jackson? - Okay, I would agree with you right now. I think if the election was today, I think Rick would win. I think-- - The interesting person though in Georgia is the person that goes in the voting booths and votes for Oswald and Jackson. - That, I mean, that's probably gonna be a lot of people. I really think so. - I mean, I just gotta be honest with you. I think Oswald's gonna win that. - Let me ask you this, 'cause again, you're based in Atlanta now, so you're up there and you hear a lot more of the chatter than I do. Is there a real problem for black women on a statewide ballot in Georgia? - Is there a problem? - I mean, is there some special resistance that they're hitting or that they're getting from their own kind? - Well, I would-- - There'll be traditional Democrat voters for whatever reason don't wanna pull a trigger on a black female. - Well, I don't know that, but here's something that I will tell you that I heard from somebody today at the funeral. Okay, Matt Trolls Walker's for funeral. African-American, executive, very, very popular, very well known. And I asked him, I said, who do you think Keisha are Rick? And his response to me was, do nothing Keisha ain't winning. And he told me-- - What was he going to vote for? - No, he ain't voting for. - And he's a Democratic voter. - Antevoid? - Antevoid Democratic voter. - Interesting. - So we'll see how this shapes out. There's a long time in politics, but-- - All right. - Tell us who you think tonight. - I'm gonna stick with Darlene, but she should've gone on Travis and Buck. You messed that up, baby. - I think Norman's gonna win. All right, see you tomorrow, bye-bye. - Thanks for hanging out with the Rhodes Rewind. If you wanted life, join us in weekdays from three until six on 95.1 FM. Stream it at WGAC.com, or take us with you on the WGAC mobile app. Austin Rhodes on demand from 95.1 WGAC.