Main Street Idaho Podcast Episode 7: Representative Rick Cheatum
“Whether you want to talk about schools or water or sewer or fire or cemetery districts or whatever it might be, the problems are different. They’re being handled differently because they’re being handled by local people who understand their constituency and what’s needed within their county, what isn’t being done or done as well as it could be done. They know how to solve those problems. And I don’t think somebody sitting across the state 250 miles away has the ability to say, this is how we do it here and that’s how we’re going to make you do it over there. That is appropriate.”
.
Follow Along With The Transcript
Brennan Summers (00:00):
Welcome to Main Street Podcast, an opportunity to talk to I Idaho's elected leaders about the issues that matter to you. We are here today with Representative Rick Cheatham at a district 28 in Pocatello.
Representative Rick Cheatum (00:19):
It's Bingo Wednesday.
Brennan Summers (00:21):
Yes, it is. Representative. We're so happy that you could join us here today. Thank you. I appreciate being here. Now you are in a unique position because not only do you represent the Pocatello Ban area in the state legislature in Boise, but you're also serving on the Pocatello City Council, correct?
Representative Rick Cheatum (00:35):
Yes. I served in the legislature in District 28 C Day, which is Franklin and Power Counties, and then enough of Bannon County to connect those two, what we call the donut, the Pocatello City. Most of it is the donut hole, but the peripheries, the donut, and that's what connects those other two counties. So in addition to that, for the last five and a half years, I've also served on the Pocatello City Council, and currently I'm the president of the council.
Brennan Summers (00:58):
Well, that's perfect. And using the word donut, if anyone wasn't paying attention before, now we've got their attention. Right. We're talking donuts, we're talking city Council Service Now. Has it been a challenge? You're a freshman in the legislature, but you're also fulfilling these responsibilities for the city. How have you managed to manage your time in all this?
Representative Rick Cheatum (01:18):
It is been a little bit of a struggle. In fact, I was encouraged not to do this in the legislature because of the time that's required to do both jobs and do both jobs well. But the one thing we learned during COVID was how to work remotely and by utilizing electronic technology, computers, microphones, all the things that we have today, I was able to stay in Boise, use my office in the Capitol as a base to Zoom meeting in or GoToMeeting in at the city council meetings in Pocatello, at Capitol Chambers. What the people in the chamber saw was me on a 30 inch screen television setting in my normal spot. But I was able to do the research ahead of time to stay up on the issues, ask the questions by working later in the evenings and taking time out when I could have been getting a free meal from a lobbyist to do call in and get things ready to go so I could continue to participate and represent the citizens of Pocatello on the council.
Brennan Summers (02:16):
I think it's fair to say that no matter what happens in these upcoming elections, it'll be real hard for anyone to accuse you of not working hard enough. Right.
Representative Rick Cheatum (02:22):
Well, I've been accused of that, but there are those who don't think that I can fairly represent the city while I'm in Boise and I disagree. We have across the state, lemme back up a second. I also am on the board of directors of the Association of Vital Cities, and I represent District seven, which is bannock and power in Oneida and some of those counties in southeast Idaho. And I went around a year ago, two years ago and encouraged people to attend the annual meeting in Boise. And when I walked into those other council meetings to stand up and talk to them about encouraging them to come, I found a couple three people who were spending time in Arizona in the winter who were on television screens, on their spots on the day. So this is not something new, but the technology has gotten much better and much easier to do.
Brennan Summers (03:12):
Perfect. Well, and I love the idea that you've got, you're in the know. So today we're going to cover a lot of issues. We're going to be talking about your first session. We'll be talking about some issues that you want to spend more time with and then we'll look ahead in a few years down the road. But let's start with, you are a conservative Republican, is that correct? I say
Representative Rick Cheatum (03:30):
Consider myself a moderate conservative
Brennan Summers (03:33):
Republican and conservatives tend to talk about local control with your unique position on a city council, but also serving on the local government committee in the Idaho House. Let's talk about some of these local control issues that come before you and what issues you think are appropriate for the state to handle and maybe some issues that you think the state shouldn't be handling. We should actually let the cities run with it.
Representative Rick Cheatum (03:57):
I felt several times during the session that I was the little bird over in the corner saying local could fall, local issue, stay out of it. And I was the only one advocating for that. There are only two of us that I'm aware of right now who serve in the Senate or the House and the legislature who also were serving on city council. The other one's Chris Allgood from Caldwell. Chris is a former police chief of Caldwell and he ran for city council and he's also is serving with us this last year. Great guy, a guy that when he came to local issues, particularly with law enforcement, had a unique insight from the inside as to how some of these things, Mike kin, he's been a real source of help when those kind of questions came before us.
Brennan Summers (04:43):
And so when we look at what are some of the things I guess that you wrestle with every day on the city council that you might not wrestle with in the state? So it might come to mind, issues that people take advantage of every day, like snow removal or making sure Representative Ray Bold was here and she talked about people don't think about their toilets flush. You can tell they don't flush. And these are important water issues that come
Representative Rick Cheatum (05:06):
Up. And when you look at local issues and you look at local jurisdictions across the state of Idaho, they're all different. The city of Idaho Falls and the city of Pocatello and the city of Coeur d'Alene and the city of Boise are all different. And then you go, you look at the county level, you look at Ada County, 840,000 people living in Ada County according to some census figures I saw last week in Clark County, we have 800 and the differences across the state and the local jurisdictions are huge. Whether you want to talk about schools or water or sewer or fire or cemetery districts or whatever it might be, the problems are different. They're being handled differently because they're being handled by local people who understand their constituency and what's needed within their county, what isn't being done or done as well as it could be done. They know how to solve those problems. And I don't think somebody sitting across the state 250 miles away has the ability to say, this is how we do it here and that's how we're going to make you do it over there. That is appropriate.
Brennan Summers (06:13):
Well, and I think a lot of your voters would agree with you, right? Because we see that the term local control gets deployed on campaign literature, but then it sounds like in Boise it's not getting deployed enough. So I can appreciate that perspective and I think your voters would say keep being that little bird in the corner.
Representative Rick Cheatum (06:27):
Well, and what you hear when you go to Boise is complaints about how the federal government treats states, right, how they're trying to dictate from Washington DC how Idaho is managed, but they turn around and do the same thing from Boise to the local jurisdictions across the state, whether it's Northern Idaho problems, eastern Idaho problems, wherever they might be. They're not the same problems that are faced in Boise. The city of Boise, for example, doesn't have a water system. All their water system is private, but there aren't very many cities in the state that have that same luxury.
Brennan Summers (07:00):
Well, dozens and dozens of mayors and city council residents are cheering right now as they hear you talk about this. And I'm sure they're happy that you get to be that voice in Boise. Let's talk a little bit about your first session as a freshman. Why don't you walk us through, first off the beginning, what in your right mind made you think it'd be a good idea to run for the legislature?
Representative Rick Cheatum (07:18):
You really want to know, huh? Well, I've served on the association of Idaho City's board of directors for the last five and a half years. Right after I became stepped on the, in the council seat in March a I c brought a regional district meeting to Pocatello and we had an opening on that board from that district. There's two representatives in each district, and there was an opening, in fact, there were two openings that year. Both seats were vacant. And a fellow counselor from Pocatello turned to me, he'd been on the council several years, turned to me and said, Hey, you want to be on the board? And I thought there's one way to get your feet wet and figure out what this is all about. And I said, sure. So he nominated me and I got defeated. I got beat out by representative from Preston.
(08:00):
So when the second seat came up, the first seat was for one year, the second seat was for two. He threw my name in the hat again and I got elected. But that experience gave me a headstart on learning the issues that are faced at the state level because on the Association of Idaho, Idaho Cities Board, we set as the legislative committee, and each time an issue comes up that affects cities, the board sits down, discusses the issue with the executive director, talks with all the various members on the board, 20 odd of us, and decides whether we're going to oppose that issue, work in favor of the issue or stay neutral. And that gave me a perspective that I didn't have. And when it came time for the last election, I've always said I wouldn't run against an incumbent conservative, I wouldn't do it.
(08:48):
But we had a member of the Idaho House District 28 a Randy Armstrong decided not to run for reelection. And I'd always thought this would be an intriguing thing. I retired in 2017, so I didn't have a full-time job, but I was being a city councilman and I thought maybe this is the chance, maybe the stars are aligned. So I filed originally for 28 B and then changed my candidacy to 28 A and ran for that and got elected. And some of it was out of a concern for the extreme right that has occupied the legislature on both the House and Senate. And I was tired of those kinds of viewpoints and I knew that I didn't represent that side of things and I wanted to bring a more normal voice back to the legislature, at least one vote.
Brennan Summers (09:42):
Yes. And let's dig into that a little bit because throughout Idaho we often hear there are conservatives that get elected and then they get accused of not being Republican or conservative enough from what you would deem the far right or the Freedom caucus of the legislature. Walk us through the frustrations of that and how you've taken a governing approach to saying, I am a conservative Republican and even if I'm going to get accused of not being conservative Republican enough, this is the right position for me to take. Well,
Representative Rick Cheatum (10:14):
I guess it comes down to how you look at a bill and what stance you want to take on it. And when I look at a bill that comes before us and we don't get much time unless you're setting on the committee in which that routing slip is introduced where it becomes a bill and you go through the hearing process, you don't know much about one, it comes to the floor and you get usually a day to read it, figure it out. If you haven't talked to a legislative advisor lobbyist ahead of time to learn more about the bill, you got one day to figure out if that's a good piece of legislation. So I've always tried to read them first from a personal interest, read it again from my district and then read it again for the state of Idaho. Okay, how's it going to apply? And if it can't work in Clark County and in Ada County and in Bock County and in K County, it's not a good bill.
Brennan Summers (11:05):
Okay. I think this is really interesting. So just to reiterate, this first time you read that bill, it's this is what Rick thinks should happen, my own view. Second, do I
Representative Rick Cheatum (11:14):
Agree with that?
Brennan Summers (11:15):
Yes. Do I agree with that? Perfect. The second time, it's alright, district 28, how's this going to affect my district? Is this something that they can get behind? And then the third time you take kind of a holistic state view, how's the gem stake going to progress or fall apart based on this legislation? That's
Representative Rick Cheatum (11:28):
The way I spent from usually eight o'clock until midnight most nights during the legislature was doing that. In the beginning of the session, things were really slow. I was wonder of what we're spending so much time for. We go in, go and have a general session at nine o'clock in the morning with a committee and go in there and have a 10 minute meeting and oh, well, okay, here we are, go upstairs, sit down in the chamber and meet at 11 o'clock and 1115 we're gone. And I'm thinking, wow, this is slow. When are we going to get something done? There are 120 odd different appropriation bills that have to go through. And the first two or three weeks I kept a journal. That's what this book is. I kept the journal of each day's transactions and the first ones are two or three lines,
Brennan Summers (12:15):
Really
Representative Rick Cheatum (12:16):
Very, very slow. But by the end of the session we're shooting out 30, 40, 50 bills a day with virtually no chance to see 'em ahead of time. And that's when it got hairy. So it was difficult to judge those bills without talking to other legislators who might've been in that committee where the bill hearing was held or to talk to lobbyists who were carrying that bill who had an interest in it and wanted to tell you why you should or shouldn't vote for it.
Brennan Summers (12:43):
Yeah, it's almost like the legislature, not to be disrespectful, but can be compared to the teenager that needs to clean their room. They'll wait until the last possible moment and then they're really good at getting it clean, but without that deadline, they're not going to get it done. So we kind of see that on our end too as we watch all it's quiet in the session. And then those of us who kind of follow the legislature were blown away at how quickly things are moving.
Representative Rick Cheatum (13:04):
We had bills pile up on the slate of things to come up. At one point there had to be 30 bills linked here that we weren't acting on and to talk to others. There were things going on behind the scenes that as a freshman legislator I didn't see. I didn't know about the negotiations with the senator, negotiations with the governor's office for this particular version of a bill. And that's apparently what was happening. And then when those things reach some kind of a nexus, then boom, we're passing a bill every 90 seconds. Yeah.
Brennan Summers (13:37):
Let's talk specific issues maybe. Is there an issue that came up in the legislature as you talk about wasting time and let's get things going. Is there a specific issue that you personally felt we're spending too much taxpayer dollars talking about this issue and we should move on to more important things. And then as you think about that, maybe on the flip side we can talk about is there an issue you thought the legislature needed to spend more time on?
Representative Rick Cheatum (13:58):
Well, one that I thought I couldn't understand why we fiddled with it. There was a bill passed on vitamins,
Brennan Summers (14:04):
Vitamins
Representative Rick Cheatum (14:04):
Sold in the state of Idaho. It was a bill that legalized the sale of F D A approved vitamins in the state of Idaho. And I listened to that debate and thought their F D A approved, they'd been through the testing process, their legal products, why are we legalizing them? Why are we going through the cost of drafting a bill, making an r r s, running it through committee, getting a vote, tying people up, bringing it to the floor, doing the debate. So when that was over, I went up to legislative services office, which is where the bills are normally drafted and ask 'em when it cost to pass a bill and they couldn't tell me. Oh,
Brennan Summers (14:43):
Really?
Representative Rick Cheatum (14:45):
They're so variable. They could be, the one that I wrote in passed was one page, it would like six lines. It was a simple thing. It took me six weeks to get it squared away so that the committee chair and other people that I was bouncing these ideas off of agreed with it, but they couldn't tell me exactly what it takes to pass a bill. Instead, the guy I was talking to pointed to the window alleged in his office and said, there are 2200 bills setting there that I've written this year. Wow. But you take a dozen attorneys or so in that process, whatever they cost, and you take the staff that it takes to organize the legislature to keep things running, and we passed about what, 350 I think, bills when it was all done. Somehow there ought to be a way to divide that out and say it cost X thousand dollars and why are we messing around with that when there are educational funding bills to pass? There are other things that need to be done to keep our state running and we're fooling with passing bills on ps. Right.
Brennan Summers (15:46):
Well, and I hope we dig in and get an answer of why that was so important to pass.
Representative Rick Cheatum (15:52):
It was that particular freshman legislator's first bill, and I guess she was doing it to get her feet wet, but it just seemed like a total waste of
Brennan Summers (16:02):
Time at the very least. I hope next session you show up with a bottle of vitamins for every legate. Yeah. What do you think now maybe an issue you think would've been wise to spend more time on?
Representative Rick Cheatum (16:13):
Well, education is a big issue. I listened to Dave Lentz discussion with you as I drove up here today, and Dave's a smart guy and he's got a handle on education and so does Julia Yamamoto, and there are people in the legislature who have devoted years of their lives to trying to build the best educational system possible for the state of Idaho. And I think we've got a good start on it. This last year we had some money to spend. We're not going to have that money to spend this next year. State revenues are down. We've cut income tax down to 5.8%. Many of the state revenue sources at the end of this last fiscal year, July one, are off from the year before and it was planned to be that way. We've still got a surplus, just barely, but we've got a surplus. We funded that this year.
(17:07):
It appears that the revenue money isn't going to be there. So I'm very concerned about how we continue to fund some of these ongoing needs of the state, whether they be education or other state agencies that we need to keep this state running. That's a big concern to me, and I don't think you can spend too much time talking about ongoing needs, especially in the face of a lot of money. I heard it said in Boise this year that lots of money is easy when you're short and you're talking about salary cuts, layoffs, lower expenditures, that's when things get really tough and I don't think we're going to be there this next year. The forecast is for the 23, 24 fiscal year to be down a little and then toward the middle of the 24, 25 year things should start improving again. So we'll see how that goes. Yeah.
Brennan Summers (18:02):
You've been in the Bock County area for 45 years now?
Representative Rick Cheatum (18:06):
Almost 46.
Brennan Summers (18:07):
Almost 46. Fantastic.
Representative Rick Cheatum (18:08):
It's not like a kid saying I'm almost seven. Right? Yeah.
Brennan Summers (18:11):
45 and a half. No, I love that. So you represent in district 20 some really rural areas, but we're still in this state experiencing historic growth. Are your, how's your district changed in the last few decades and where do you see it going? What are the issues that are going to be important to the Franklin counties?
Representative Rick Cheatum (18:31):
I think it's urbanization. Franklin County, Preston lies very near Logan, Utah, and they're heavily influenced there. A lot of people in Franklin County drive to Logan, Utah to work. It's still a large agricultural production area, but it's not an agriculture industry area. Nothing in 28 is we don't have much agricultural industry in Power County and Bannock County or in Franklin County. I grew up in a tiny little town of 1800 people in western Kansas, and I lived on a farm. So I understand agriculture, but I don't understand potatoes completely. We didn't grow potatoes in Kansas. We grew cattle. We grew wheat primarily, but the problems that we have, things like water are, they handled that in Kansas in the sixties, and it was the same fight that Idaho is going through right now.
(19:25):
That's a problem. Urban areas use somewhere between two and 4% of the total water in the state. Agriculture uses the rest of it, and that's going to be an issue we've got. And I firmly believe, I've been listening to these water talks for the last couple of years, and I firmly believe we have enough water. We just don't use it very well. We don't store it long enough. We don't have good diversions from stream flows that we can get that water where it's needed and still maintain repair and habitat. So water is an ongoing huge issue. I'm sure everybody's heard about those things going across the state, but that battle isn't over. Yeah.
Brennan Summers (20:04):
We often talk about how it's not the easiest issue to wrestle with. It's not the easiest issue to understand, but those in Preston, Montpelier area are sorting out their farming and those around Bear Lake Water absolutely is going to be front of their mind in the coming decades. I agree with you there.
Representative Rick Cheatum (20:18):
And that area is just going through the same adjudication that the Eastern East Snake Plains aquifer did back in 2017 that's coming to them. And they're scared to death that they'll end up with a similar bill or similar legislation and laws and rules is what E S P was in because that didn't solve the problem. They want a solution, a real solution when we start managing the water of the Bear River and the Port and some of those other drainages.
Brennan Summers (20:45):
So as we hear you talk, you sound very similar in some of your responses to some of these legislators that you work with. Right. You already mentioned Senator Lent is somebody you kind of look up to on education. Representative Rabel could definitely teach you how to grow potatoes. Right. She could teach us all fingertip Stephanie Nichols
Representative Rick Cheatum (21:01):
That you could
Brennan Summers (21:01):
Absolutely. They wouldn't be shy about it. You're part of Main Street Caucus with a lot of these good colleagues of yours. Why join the caucus?
Representative Rick Cheatum (21:12):
I was elected to my first term across three counties, all the district 28 by a total of 400 votes out of 9,000 cast. Running a campaign on that scale was very different than running a campaign for a city council job. I was pretty well known in Pocatello. I spent a lot of my career working in jobs that put me in the face of the public, but outside of Pocatello, nobody knew who I was. And I think this next session is going to be much more difficult to get reelected, and that campaign stuff's already started. I mean, we're already starting to raise money for the next primary, get it going and facing some of the issues with deeper minds than mine on specific issues. I mean, I feel like a shallow stream. I'm six feet wide and inch deep, but I think to be able to understand and talk about these issues takes a conglomeration of experts.
(22:11):
And the mainstream caucus is representative of people from all across the state of Idaho, and they all have an individual expertise. And drawing on that helps me with my votes, helped me express my concerns when I get in front of the electorate. I just think it's a better way to organize. There was a lot of opposition to individual caucuses forming when the Republicans got together in Boise. We heard about it. We were told not to do that, but there are some caucuses that already exist that we're trying to fight against, and I think the Main Street caucus is a good way for the broad stroke of Idaho to get together and say, this is the way we want our state to go.
Brennan Summers (23:00):
Yeah. So you mentioned being well known in pocus. Hello. And to those that you work with on the city council to those you interact with every day, you are well known. They know you and your dear wife Deborah's in studio, and to you, you're just Rick to her. Right. But to those out there who don't know you, that you're not just Rick to, why don't you tell us a little bit about who you are. I mean, as I read up on you, I was fascinated to find the time you spent with the Idaho fishing game or that you reload your own ammunition. Don't you just give us a little glimpse to who Rick really is.
Representative Rick Cheatum (23:28):
Well, as you mentioned earlier, I came to Pocatello in 1977 as general manager of a radio station. I was 26 years old. I just turned 27 years old, and that job didn't last as long as I had hoped it would. Radio was in those days. I ended up in the car business, spent 20 odd years in the car business, and I met thousands of people, thousands. I sold about 4,000 cars over the term that I was in the car business, and three generations of people came to buy those cars, and I made a lot of friends from that aspect. I missed the car business. Things changed there again, and I got into credit unions, spent some years working in credit unions, had a little time on my hands through the years and did spend a lot of time with fish and game. I served on the Fish Game Wildlife Feeding Committee for region five.
(24:24):
I've been active at the city council level in getting a wildlife feeding ordinance passed in Pocatello to stop people from drawing deer out of the hills down to the streets. We had a fawn killed on South Manock Highway day before yesterday. Oh boy. And we have approximately 600 deer living in the city of Pocatello because of the unique nature of that community. As I mentioned earlier, every city's a little different. This is not an unusual thing in the West. So that had me concerned. We finally got a bill passed or an ordinance passed in Pocatello that allows that put some penalties if you're caught feeding deer in the city. I retired as I mentioned earlier in 2017, and decided to spend my retirement years instead of sitting at home watching educational television, of course, doing something different doing this, and I've thoroughly enjoyed it. I have a degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Kansas, William Allen, white School of Journalism, and I spent those years I spent in broadcasting.
(25:26):
I did much what you're doing here, but over the airwaves instead of over broadband, and I enjoyed councils. My first job was in Garden City, Kansas, and when the city council met, I was there for every meeting they had. I was sitting there and writing stories, getting interviews, doing things. My second job, that station actually broadcast city council meetings live if they had a city council meeting. We had a live mic, every mic, everybody was micd in the room on the council diocese and the mayor, and we carried them live from dabbled to gavel and it just created an interest in local government for me. And that's kind of where I think my interest today has evolved is listening and paying attention and being able to analyze and write stories about what was happening and explain those issues and the background at study sessions to the general public, and I enjoy the heck out of it. Yeah, it
Brennan Summers (26:23):
Was such a long resume of public service and opportunities to make friends and get involved in the community. What are you hoping that your legacy will be when all is said and done and you ride out of town, what are you hoping people will remember about you?
Representative Rick Cheatum (26:38):
Well, I haven't started to write an epitaph yet, but I'm not sure I know how to answer that. I haven't given much thought. I haven't tried to build a pyramid. That hasn't been my goal. Just that maybe that I helped a little. I got some things done that made a difference in people's lives. We had some issues at the session this last year. Some of the things that bugged me that I hope I can make a difference in people, things like carve outs, existing statutes that somebody breaks, somebody goes in violation of, then they come on and say, Hey, change the law for me. I'm better. I'm different. I know people. We had a couple of those and I stood up and protested against every one of 'em and didn't do a bit of good. They passed anyway, but I made people aware to watch and look for those things, and one of them, the governor vetoed after it passed. So I felt like I'd accomplished something there. But I guess this is more personal satisfaction and whether I leave a mark on people down the road, that isn't a goal. This is more personal ego satisfaction and gratification,
Brennan Summers (27:51):
And we talk legacy, but you're not going anywhere. Right? We're gearing up for another campaign. We're just getting our feet wet as you would put it, other than hopefully some lively vitamin bills. What are you looking forward to in the coming session?
Representative Rick Cheatum (28:04):
Well, water, that's going to be a big one, is going to be water. How we continue to move on K to 12 education and higher education, how we fund it, how we make it more important. And I think in people's minds across the state of Idaho, how do we stress to people that if your kids are going to be successful 20 years from today, you've got to start planning that today. We've got to do something about it now to make a difference. It's like trying to turn a big ship a little bit now, makes a big curve down the road, and we got to get there. I think we're behind in some areas across the state, but I guess the things that scare me the most are the population that's coming to Idaho. That forecast that I saw of 840,000 people at ADA County by 2045 is forecast to be 1.4 million. Wow. Pocatello has grown 15.7% from 2016 to 2021. It's the 17th fastest growing state in the nation according to Wall Street Journal, a city 17th, fastest growing city. We have to plan for that. I look at things in Pocatello like Jefferson Street that should have been fixed 75 years ago, and now we have a little narrow two lane street. That's a main thoroughfare. We need to fix those things now and look further down the road so that they aren't those kind of problems for the next generation or two. Yeah.
Brennan Summers (29:30):
Well, representative, we've covered a lot today. We appreciate your time. There's no doubt that you're putting in a lot of legwork for the city and for your district, the district 28, and you've got a long-term view of how to solve these problems, which I think a lot of the voters and a lot of the people on the public will appreciate. Any parting words you'd like to leave as those listening to the Main Street Podcast? We're listening to regular people speak to regular people about regular issues. What type of parting words might you want to give us?
Representative Rick Cheatum (29:57):
Vote the election's coming up in May for the legislature. City council elections are coming up this fall, and you need to listen to the people who are running and see if they represent where you want your city or your district or your state to go in the future and get out and vote and help those people who are doing what you feel is right. Put a yard, sign up, make a donation, get out, get involved. And don't be one of those people who sets back and says, well, I didn't vote this last year, but boy, they sure aren't screwing it up. They, there's too much of that. People need to get out and get active and don't sit by and watch it happen. Help make it happen.
Brennan Summers (30:38):
Amen brother. Amen. Representative Rick Cheatham, district 28, seat A serving out of Poel. Thank you so much for being with us today. Thank you.
