Autolight and its 96,000 dealers present. Suspense! Tonight, Autolight brings you Mr. Charles Boyer in the case of Henri Vibar, a suspense play produced and edited by William Spear. Gilbert's taking me to the junior prom tonight, isn't that exciting? Why, Dora, my tempestuous teenage neighbor, it's almost as exciting as that exemplary exponent of extra starting dependability, the Autolight's stateful battery. A battery that needs water only three times a year in normal car use. Gee whiz, Mr. Wilcox, I want to talk about the dance. Well, so do I, Dora, the dance of delight you devotees of driving will do when you find out how much more you get with an Autolight stateful battery. You see, tests show this famous battery gives 70% longer average life than batteries without stateful features. And those tests were based on SAE life cycle standards. Gilbert's kept every dance in reserve. Reserve? That reminds me, Dora, the Autolight stateful battery has three times as much liquid reserve as batteries without the stateful features. That's why it needs water only three times a year in normal car use. Mr. Wilcox, you ought to see... So friends, see your neighborhood Autolight battery dealer tomorrow. Remember, you're always right with Autolight. And now, with the case of Henri Vibar and the performance of Charles Boyer, Autolight hopes once again to keep you in suspense. I watched the taxi cab enter the gate and roll slowly up the driveway toward the entrance. Gladstone Memorial Rest Home is a big, busy place.  And yet somehow this cab caught my attention and held it. It seemed to fascinate me. As it approached, yes, I got a definite feeling of manners from it. These warnings, these premonitions, they come to me. Whenever I'm in danger. Danger? What danger? The cab stopped just below my window and a man got out. Surgeon Jack Freeman of the London Bureau of Missing Persons. He came here often checking on you arrivals. Nothing to fear from Freeman.  But now he was assisting a woman from the cab. The sight of her made something snap inside my head. The woman was Mary, my wife. Mary, the sudden sight of her made me furious. I would have enjoyed striking her date then and there. But how was it possible? Mary, free? Walking around like a decent woman? She'd been convicted of murder, sent as to life in prison. Now, now, now, was it possible she was out on parole? No, I think this justice is harsh with killers. And Mary's crime had been called blood and murder. Suddenly I understood. Mary was being brought here to Gladstone Race Home to identify me. Such simple people. Trap and reviver? It was amusing. I might have a few unpleasant moments, but that would be all. I would make a fool of her. I'd always made a fool of her. Very meant by the window for some time, planning just what to say and how to act. After a while, there was a knock on the door. This would be Dr. Samson, the chap who runs this place. Nice fellow, Samson. Not too smart, but... Come in. Good afternoon, Mr. Ricler. Oh, Dr. Samson, come in. He'd like another chat with you in my office. Oh, Freeman, the bloodhound. Tell me truly, doctor, does he ever find any of the people he looks for? Oh, indeed he does. Hundreds of them every year. Well, he has failed, utterly in my case. With you, Monsieur, he has a good excuse. Most victims of amnesia have people searching for them. Friends or relations who can identify them. I'm beginning to think you'll just have to recover your own memory. Recover my memory? I wish I could forget. A few minutes later, I was sitting across the desk from Sergeant Freeman. I had the upper hand, of course, because I knew what was coming. As usual, he was humble, apologetic, and yet, for the first time since I'd known him. Oh, I got a definite feeling that he was deliberately trying to trap me. That means some trifling mistake. Yes, I have an instinct that warns me. Just a few more questions, Monsieur Leclerc. Well, as many as you like, Sergeant. You're looking very well. Thank you, sir. Now, think hard, sir. Does the name Vibar mean anything to you? Only Vibar? Vibar? Vibar? No, no, I can't say it does. How about Falmouth? Ever spent a summer at Falmouth, down in Cornwall? Never heard of the place, Sergeant. Very well. How about the name Willard? An American, retired sea captain. Sickly old fellow in a wheelchair. Oh, tell me more about him, Sergeant. Well, sir, unless we're wrong again, you married his daughter. Oh, a wife and a father-in-law. You're very generous, Sergeant. Did you bring them along? Captain Willard was an infallid. He committed suicide. Felt he stood in the way of his daughter's happiness. Left a bit of money, though, about £10,000. I could hardly keep from laughing at Freeman. He went on telling how Mary and her father came to England on a visit. How I met her at Falmouth. How her father objected to our romance. Freeman had most of the facts straight, except that Captain Willard did not commit suicide. No, I arranged that little matter. It was quite easy. He suffered from a bad heart condition. Took staking in for it. So I managed to contrive and overdose for him. I put it in his pot of tea. He had a bit of tea, I imagine, but then he liked it strong. When Mary and I returned from the beach, he was dead. But he didn't leave £10,000, more like £5,000. Freeman went on with the stories. Oh, my son. Well, completely wrong. You and Mary Willard were married. Settled up Captain Willard's estate, which was practically all cash, then went up to London to live. Now, Monsieur Leclerc, does none of that strike a familiar note? Well, you seem to think it should. Why, Sergeant Freeman? Because you've been identified from those pictures we took of you when you first came here. Really? Who? Oh, the woman, of course. Yes, sir. Mrs. Vibar says you are her husband. Well, she probably discovered that I have money, and... How? How could she possibly know that, sir? Well, you could have told her, Sergeant Freeman. Innocently, of course. It's no secret. Oh, I don't mind. But it makes me a perfect target for designing women. One moment, Monsieur Leclerc. Let's talk about your money for a while. Doesn't this strike you as strange that a man could walk into this rest home, as you did three years ago, carrying $200,000 in American money? Well, of course, it's strange. Suppose. Suppose you had committed a crime. Wouldn't it have been a perfect way to allude the police? Yes, but if I were a criminal, you would have my fingerprints. You said so yourself three years ago. Remember?  No extra clothing, no papers, nothing by which you could be identified. Now, Sergeant, what sort of crime are we discussing? Murder. It would have to be murder. You detectives. And who did I kill? Well, to be honest about it, we don't know. Or just anyone. To be this woman's husband, I must have murdered somebody. Well, that makes her very attractive, I'm sure. Tell me, did she help me with the job? She was tried for the murder, convicted and sentenced to spend the rest of her life in prison. Would you care to hear about it? Not particularly, but it's part of your job. We'd rather take an over at Dr. Samson's office. Oh, that's quite all right. I find this very interesting. Well, it's not interesting to me, because free men are the story all wrong. You just knew Mary's side of it, and there was so much she didn't know. We buried the old man, got married, collected the old man's insurance, and went up to London to live. It was very nice for a few months, but the money didn't last long. Very soon I was broke. Nasty feeling, being broke. It's been nervous. Uncertain of myself. Unfortunately, just as things were getting really bad, I met an American friend, a chap I had met in New York a few years before, named Nick Blackburn. He had a lot of American bonds, hot bonds he called them, but he didn't know how to dispose of them. It was a simple matter for me, with my connections on the continent. Blackburn stipulated one thing. He wanted to be paid in American dollars. That delayed matters for a few days, and finally, when I received the money, I decided not to share it with Blackburn. So, instead of keeping my appointment with him, I went to my hotel, sent Mary out on a fool's errand, and packed my grips for a quick disappearance. I'm very clever at quick disappearances. I was all packed, ready to leave. When there was a knock on the door, that startled me. If Blackburn didn't know where I was living, then Mary could get home for an hour. Who could it be? Again the knock. My nerves stetted down. They never failed me in a tight spot. Hello? What is it? Sergeant Randall, Scotland Yard. Well, what do you want? Some information, that's all, sir. Did you attend the Palladium last night with a man named Nick Blackburn? Well, yes. Yes, I did. What about it? I'm trying to find Mr. Blackburn. Do you have his address? I'm trying to catch a train. I know very little about Nick Blackburn, except that he's a thoroughly respectable businessman. You've been misled, Mr. Vibar. Nick Blackburn's a bad one. Tell me, did he talk to you about bonds? Bonds? What sort of bonds? Stolen bonds, Mr. Vibar. They're part of an American post office robbery during which two policemen were killed. Only today we traced the bonds to Nick Blackburn. Oh, this is too silly. Please, clear out. See me some other day. Oh, too bad, sir. I can't. We must get Nick Blackburn's address. Well, suppose I say I don't know it. Oh, I can't accept that, Mr. Vibar. Perhaps you better come along with me to the yard. If you can convince Captain Nickel... One moment, please. Blackburn did give me his address. Well, if I remember it and give it to you, will you go away and stop bothering me? Mr. Vibar, I ask you a simple question. All I want is an honest answer. All right. I'll give it to you. Blackburn lives at the Afton Hotel, suite 618.  No, no, no, no. I mean it. He's probably there right now. Here. I'll get him on a telephone. Ah, never mind the phone. Of course he's there. Waiting for you to show up with our money. Where is it? Where we came with your English accent. Come up with that dough and quit. Well, I don't have it. I put the money in the mail. I've been tailing you all day. I saw you sell the stuff an hour ago. Come on, Vibar. I want the money. That gun doesn't frighten me.  No, but I can put a couple of slugs in your legs. How about that?  No, no, wait. Wait! I intended to deliver the money to Nate personally, but... Well, since he doesn't trust me... Ah, please. Put that gun away. There, that's better. I have an aversion to fire. Where's the money? There. In that grave on the table. Huh? The small one. Huh. Good. Old bills. Not in sequence. Can't see any marks. Grab that money. Huh? Hey, what's that thing? A gun? Put that money on the table. Let's see that gadget. Stand still. Don't move. Don't tell me it shoots real bullets. Stop. Stay where you are. Stay away from me. Give me that thing. Stop, I said. I'll shoot. Come on. Hand it over. No! No! You jerk! You silly... You fell... dead... right at my feet. Auto-light is bringing you Charles Boyet. In the case of Henri Vibar, tonight's production in Radio's Outstanding Theatre of Thrills. Suspense. What's matter? You look blue. Filbert just called. His car wouldn't start because the battery... Dry your eyes, my pretty neighbor. I'll lend Filbert my car. Oh, gee, thanks, Mr. Wilcox. You're wonderful. Oh, not half as wonderful as the auto-light stay-full battery. The battery that needs water only three times a year in normal car use. If Filbert knew that, he wouldn't be stuck.  He just hasn't heard that the auto-light stay-full battery has a fiberglass retaining mat, protecting every positive plate to keep the power producing material in place for longer battery life. By and recent test, based on SAE life cycle standards, auto-light stay-full batteries gave 70% longer average life than batteries without stay-full features. I can hardly wait to get started. Well, you don't have to wait to get started with an auto-light stay-full battery. It's a good option for starting stamina and needs water only three times a year in normal car use. I'll tell Filbert to remember... You're always right with auto-light. And now, auto-light brings back to our Hollywood soundstage our star, Charles Boyer. In the case of Henri Vibar, a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense.  Just the memory of it made me sick. I must have betrayed my feelings because Sergeant Freeman stopped whatever he was saying. Anything wrong, sir? Oh, follow me, Sergeant Freeman. My mind strayed for a moment from what you were saying. But you look ill, Monsieur. What? Are you sure you feel all right? I'm quite all right, Dr. Samson. Sergeant Freeman, please continue with your story. Yeah, I found it quite interesting. Oh, thank you, sir. Well, when Madame Vibar returned, her husband had a fantastic story to tell her. Only a woman in love could have believed her. Tick-tock tale. There you have an example of Sergeant Freeman's intelligence. Fantastic? It was a masterpiece. Where above anything his meager brain could understand. I think I told you how my mind works best in a crisis. Well, it worked now like a well-old machine. Had nothing to fear from the police. I could explain this dead man as a well-fear for a burglar. But what about Nate Blackburn? After this, it never stopped looking for me. It is a killer. Human life means nothing to him. No, no, I'd have to disappear. Make it absolutely convincing. Well, I could do just that. No one, not even my adoring wife, would ever hear of me again. I would dissolve into thin air and take $200,000 with me. The sight of the dead man sickened me. So I dragged him into the bedroom and closed the door. Then I sat down and blend out every detail of the wonderful scheme. Of course, I wiped my fingerprints from the little gun I had used and left it on the table where my wife would be sure to handle it. Funny thing, Nate and I had talked about fingerprints. He had bragged that none of his men had ever been fingerprinted. Neither had I. Maybe that's what gave me the inspiration. By the time Mary came home, I had every detail of my plan. Hello, dear, your man didn't show up, maybe. Kenny, what's the matter? Mary, I'm in trouble. Trouble, dear? What? I... I killed a man. Henry, don't fool about such things. I'm not fooling, Mary. Look, here. No, don't go in. Who is it? How did it happen? Good girl. I was afraid you would go to peace. Never mind me. What about you? Well, I'm in for it, I guess. No, it couldn't have been your fault. You wouldn't hurt anyone, please. Henry, how did it happen? Well, this man in there, he gave me some bonds. Asked me to sell them for him. I lost them. Don't ask me how.  Anyway, this man came up here today and demanded the bonds or the money from them. I tried to explain to reason with him, but he wouldn't listen. He got rough, and I... Well, I managed to get that little gun of yours. We struggled for it. Went off and... No. But it was self-defense. Oh, what English jury would believe that. The man did give me the bonds before witnesses who would believe I didn't sell them and keep the money and then kill that man to keep him from talking. We've got to be practical, Mary. Did you call the police? No. No. I waited for you. Why, Henry? Why? Because there is a possible way out if you'll stand by me. Stand by you? But I'll do anything you say. Mary, we take nerve if you weaken. Henry, you're my husband. I love you. Tell me what to do, and I'll do it. If all life's problems were as simple as women, I told her my plan. The dead man looked like me in a general way, my size, black hair, eye glasses, and after he dropped 20 floors to the street he wouldn't have any features. Mary would simply hurry downstairs, perhaps if it is theoretical, which would be difficult in the circumstances, identify my broken body, and allow herself to become so. It could be suicide or an accident, whichever suited her. Unless she forgot. She forgot about the bullet in the man's body. Yes, the bullet that would convict her of killing her own husband. My plan was a great inspiration, but it had one terrifying angle. To make identification complete, I had to change clothes with a dead man. That was a fearful ordeal nightmare that it had to be done. It was almost too much for me, but I think I told you, I'm equal to anything if I put my mind to it. But I'll take to my grave the horrible memory of dragging that body to the bedroom window and pushing it through. I walked down the back stairs, 20 flights of them. I saw the crowd in the street around the body. I took the bus, the first one I saw. I changed to another and another, destroying everything that might identify me, but keeping the little bag fit with money. It's quite a coincidence, Monsieur Leclerc. What? What? I didn't get that. I say it's quite a coincidence that you came to this rest home the day following the murder of Henri Vibard. Well, very well. Make the most of it. Dr. Samson, do you consider that coincidence? I had to come here sometime. Yes, Sergeant Freeman.  Well, apparently you've brought this woman with you. Bring her in! Let's get through with his force. Thank you. Thank you. Perhaps that would be best. Madame Vibard, would you come in, please? A big moment. And I wasn't even excited. I'm like that. My friends may bother me, but big things, really important things, and my nerves are like steel. Mary walked into the room. I looked at her without a flicker of an eye. She was a changed girl. Now, so different from the girl I married. Prison does that, Miss Poole. She was looking at me. Her eyes met and held. For a moment, there seemed a shadow of doubt in her face. Then she took a step toward me. Hello, Henry. Now, young woman, please. Don't try to involve me in your troubles. A plenty of my own. And it won't do. You can't get away with it. Now, Dr. Samson, this woman is either a crooked or a crazy. Let's take this calmly. Madame Vibard, you are positive this man as your husband. Oh, yes. This is Henry Vibard. Never mind the pronunciation. Is he the man? Yes, sir. He's changed a little. It's only three years. He looks older. His hair has turned gray, and he isn't wearing his glasses, but he's the same age. Glasses? One moment, please. I never wore glasses in my life. My vision is perfect. Sir Leclerc, that is your name. Suppose you try to read this newspaper without glasses. Oh, no, no. Look, I'm in no mood to give demonstrations. Just to please... There, you see, he doesn't dare. Make him try. I can't bring a word. I tell you not a word. Mr. Leclerc, it might be expedient. It would certainly settle the issue once and for all. Oh, very well, doctor. Since you suggest it, give me the paper. I pretend to be nervous. Just to give them a thrill. Then I open the paper to the want-ads. To end them off, glibly. The small print. Glasses? I've got eyes like a hawk. Mary didn't know that because in the summer I met her. I was avoiding the police, and part of my disguise included glasses and touching up my prematurely gray hair. I never told Mary. And you know how far I could trust her. When I finished reading the paper, Mary just stared at me, unable to believe the evidence of her own eyes. Silence for a moment, then I'm... Sorry, sir. Well, perhaps this young woman can think up some other difficult trick. She'd like me to perform. Trick? It was a trick. He can't read. But I'm with her. We've had quite enough. No, this is my opinion. Fool you. That's all that paper. It's a trick. Of course, a trick. I did it with mirrors. Young woman, you're not clever. You've got plenty of nerve, all right, but you're not clever. Oh! Why didn't you say I have a mole on my right shoulder? A small scar on my hip and very flat feet. Almost anyone could have told you these things. I use a swimming foot every day. Sergeant Freeman, I can't applaud your part in this. For three years I've done my best to help you because I thought you were trying to help me regain my memory and take my right foot place in society. Well, I must tell you, sir, I no longer feel that way. Not after you try to connect me with this jailbird. Jailbird? That's right, Henry. I'm a jailbird and I deserve to be. I helped you and that was wrong. But don't think you're safe.  You'll be dead. I haven't seen it. Take this woman away. Yes, Sergeant. Come along, madam. No! Let me tell him something. You've forgotten Nate Blackburn. Henry, well, he hasn't forgotten you. The man came to me in prison and I told him the whole thing. By tomorrow he'll know right where to find you. He knows now. In the doorway stood Nate Blackburn, the gun in his hand. He was smiling. Dr. Simpson and Freeman started forward, but he waved them back with the gun.  Hello, Frenchie. Well, you had some mistake. Yeah, but you made it, Frenchie. I had a hunch you'd get together with your wife sooner or later. I spent a lot of time and money keeping an eye on her. Look here, my man, put away that gun. That sort of thing doesn't go in this country. You're right, copper, I know. Only this is a special occasion. You won't get a mile away. I know that, too. No, Blackburn. I'll give you the money. What money? Well, I'd bring back Jack Randall. Will it put this girl back in circulation? Listen to me. I can explain if you let me. It wasn't like you think at all. Nate, we used to be pals. Remember? New York? San Francisco? Paris? We are lots of fun. I bail you out in Rio. I'll make good, Nate. I swear I will. Only... Don't! Don't! Don't! Don't square it. I lasted. You didn't think I was good, did you, Doc? You don't know me? Any time I... really try... I can... Dr. Samson, can you sign this confession? I doubt it, Sergeant. He's too badly off. Yes. Yes, I... I... I can... I didn't think he could. Was he gone? That's all. Strange fellow. What is the criminal type, Doctor? What is the criminal type, Doctor? I've never found it. Suspense, presented by AutoLite. Tonight's star, Mr. Charles Boyer. Why do you always say you're always right with AutoLite? Because, little jitterbug, it's true. AutoLite makes more than 400 products for cars, trucks, planes, and boats in 28 plants coast to coast. These include complete electrical systems used as original equipment on many makes of America's cars, generators, coils, distributors, voltage regulators, wire and cables, starting motors, electric windshield wipers, all engineered to fit together perfectly, work together perfectly because they're a perfect team. Don't accept electrical parts supposed to be as good. Ask for and insist on AutoLite, original factory parts at your neighborhood service station, car dealer, garage, or repair shop. Remember, you're always right with AutoLite. Next Thursday, for suspense, our star will be Mr. Broderick Crawford. The play is called Deadline, and it is, as we say, a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense. Tonight's suspense play was produced and edited by William Spear and directed by Norman McDonnell. Music for suspense is composed by Lucien Mora-Wacken, conducted by Lud Bluskin. The case of only Vibar is an original play written for radio by Bradbury Foote. Charles Boyer may soon be seen in the Douglas Cirque production The First Legion. You can buy AutoLite's safe batteries, AutoLite's standard or resistor spark plugs, AutoLite electrical parts at your neighborhood AutoLite dealers. Switch to AutoLite. Good night. This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.


This is Think Tech Hawaii, Community Matters here. Aloha, I'm Roger Jelenek, your host of Think Tech's book world's program. And my guest today is Scott Hobel, who's Vice President, Senior Vice President of Marketing at iHeart Media, the largest radio network here in Hawaii and across the nation. He's the author of a new book called Persuade, the Seven Empowering Laws of the Sales Maker, which is an unusual title. Welcome, Scott. Thank you. Thanks for coming. Thank you for having me. Scott, you've been in Hawaii 20 years, you said? 20 years as of next month, that's right. And always with iHeart Media. Used not to be called iHeart Media, it used to be called... Yes, we were clear-channel before and then became iHeart Media. And you had a pretty critical crisis recently, well, not recently, but the trigger of this book. Tell us about that. Yeah. Well, it's kind of an interesting story. I guess the story starts back in about 2011. I was actually at iHeart Media and I had an interesting meeting there with a guy named Mark Cole. He's the CEO of the John Maxwell Company. I've been what I would call a Maxwellian student for years. I followed John Maxwell in his writings and for those tuning in who weren't familiar with John, he sold more leadership books. He's written almost 100 leadership books at this point than probably anyone else on the planet before. And so I've been a student following his for many years. So we had an opportunity with John Maxwell's seminar. So I found myself meet with Mark Cole. So I had an audience with him for about an hour. Mark and I had hit it off. And I always had this idea that why doesn't John write some laws for the sales profession? Because if you figure the leadership lane is this big and leadership is such a big category in the book business, so many people need it. But how many more people are in sales and services, even a bigger audience? So why doesn't John write something for that? So I had shared with Mark Cole that night what potential sales laws could look like. He liked the idea and he said, I'm going to take it to John so I was flattered. I was over the moon. And he came back the next day and here's what he said. I shared these with John. He liked them, but he can't write a sales book. He's got to stay in his lane, but we think you should do it. So that kind of hit me like a thud on the heart. That was the same year I actually became a certified John Maxwell speaker, trainer, and coach. This is where the answer to your question comes from. That was March of that year. A few months later, I was diagnosed to have a plasma cytoma in my left scapula. So that would be my first run in with cancer. We hope the last one. Yeah. Well, I've had a few since then. But that's suddenly focused you. It did. The first thing it did was derail me. Having gone through a number of radiation treatments in the last seven years, I can say the first part of the journey was very difficult spiritually and emotionally. I've had other bouts where it's been more taxing physically. But when you see the end of your days, it definitely focuses you more in your present day. Well, you would never know looking at you today that you had any such crisis. Tell me about how you went about, well, first of all, you committed to writing the book. And then how did you go about it? Because it's not a conventional approach to writing a book. Yeah, well, I think my first step was obviously making the decision. There was this a few years ago. There was this thought that permeated my heart at the time. The thought was if you only had one lap left to live, what's left undone that needs to be done? Of course, a book was towards the top of that list. So one of my main motivations was after spending almost three days in sales and marketing and media, I wanted to leave something behind for my sons who were this year, 14 and 17. So if I only had five or 10 years left to live, Roger, I wanted them to know how their father thought, how their father behaved, what his beliefs were about a profession he'd spent almost three decades in, how he thought about people and relationships. And once that decision was made, I started asking questions about, well, gosh, I don't know anything about the book business. What would I talk to? And that's when I met Brian Heathman from Made for Success Publishing. But what I was alluding to is that in the book itself it's full of stories, full of stories of people that you admire and that you've met. And they're absolutely key to the book. Did they happen enough? Did you organize it in some kind of programmatic way or were they happenstance? Are you drawing on stories from way back when or all since you committed to writing the book? The short answer is yes and yes. So the most common question the new author gets is how long did it take you to write the book? Well, my first answer is 47 years. So I did draw from a lifetime of experience. But just in the last year, two years, three years, people who have come on my path, I filled the book with stories from that too because, frankly, I find a lot of business books to be generally boring. So I wanted to fill persuade with stories of life and love and family and friends to kind of pull the reader through the book, not just with business analogies and principles, but things that people can relate to in their everyday life whether they're in business or not. So that's why the focus is on relationship selling. And you say in the book that all of life is a form of selling. It is. It's one of your mantras. Yes. Do you want to elaborate on that a bit? Sure. Well, we're all in the persuasion business. I would say even from cradle to grave, we're all in pursuit of something. It's in bread within us. It's human nature to want to pursue something. The question is, are you any good at it? Let me give you an example. Sell or sell, yes, so customers will buy. Leaders persuade and lead in a way as to cause followers to want to follow. In my business, the music business, singers sing in a way so fans will buy their albums. But I would also submit this to you that whether you're a teacher in a classroom trying to win a student's heart or mind over so you can mentor them and make deposits in them that will help them, or you're just a child, some of the most important conversations we'll ever have, Roger, are not financial in nature. They're not business conversations. They're heart to heart. They're one to one. They're between a daughter and a mother, a son and a father. And employing a boss, wanting someone's appreciation or affirmation. And how we go about doing that, how we go about persuading to get what we need or want in life is a very important skill. And how did you apply that to the book here? That's a good question, yeah. It's a big question, too. The short answer is throughout seven chapters I had to decide early on what to title the chapter is. There's so many aspects, sales and persuasion and leadership and life and relationships. There's all these micro skills. There's so many components to the subject. I had to figure out what would be the key ingredients I would put in this book. And I intentionally front-loaded the first three chapters, the law of connection, the law of listening, the law of relationship. I call those the relationship chapters because those needed to be first because if we don't get that piece right, the rest really doesn't matter. There's also the environment that you're selling in. You've had 20 years, probably 47 years, I think you said, of selling experience. What has changed radically that really affects your message in selling? Great, that's a great question. You know, people are people. You've heard the old expression, probably people change, but only a little bit. I think the biggest impact in the sales profession has been the fact that technology has changed how we communicate with each other. In fact, in some cases, technology that promises to bring us closer together keeps us apart. In fact, one of the stories I tell in the law of connection is my son was home one weekend and his girlfriend was taking SATs. And he all of a sudden noticed because he was home for an extended period of time. Oh my gosh, everyone's in their own room and we're feeling disconnected. So technology, I mean, we've all had the experience before. We're all in the house, but we're in different rooms and we're talking on our phones. So that's one of the ways. So technology can separate us, but it can also bring us together. That's one of the big things that's impacted not just the sales profession, but relationships in general. Another thing is the fact that a salesmaker today, knowing that we're all in the persuasion business, they're not just working in a sales department. Salesmakers today, Roger, are media and marketing executives. They work at social media companies and search engine companies. And yes, inside and outside sales organizations. So to that degree, we've all become frontline persuaders. We've all become frontline salesmakers because if you're in a company that needs to make a profit to stay in business, you're selling something to somebody. The question is, are you when you go to it? And is the customer king? You know, one of those, it reminds me of the old, what you just said of the old adage, the customer's always right. Well, anyone who's been in the business for any amount of time knows that that's not always true. But if we're going to win friends and influence people, we've got to handle the customer with care. So when we're dealing with a customer problem, and that's what the law of relationship is really focused on, it's how to service a customer, how to handle a customer with care. We've got to remember that we're not just handling a problem or handling a person. So the customer may be king, they may be always right. Whether you believe that or not, what's most important is what will they remember, think and feel about you after they've left you? Will they be better off because of their interchange with you? And if the answer is yes, you created an opportunity for one, a good reputation and two to create referral and reoccurring business with them. Can you elaborate more on how a professional sales person communicates, establishes a relationship? Good question. The law of connection is the first chapter in the book. And one of the things I was very intentional to do after filling the chapters with stories of life and love and family and friends and practical examples was every chapter ends in a similar way. And this is what it is, Roger. There's seven to 10 very practical ways to apply what the readers learned in the chapter. So for example, to answer your question in the law of connection, there's, I talk about 10 different ways people can connect with one another. One of them is connecting on common ground. And in other words, if I start asking you questions to determine what it is you and I might have in common, that starts to form a connection.  The reason it's an intelligent book is because it's book ended with stories of my wife. So the first few words of chapter one, start off with my wife, Kate, in the first paragraph, in the last chapter, tells a story about falling in love with my wife, Kate. But here's what happened, Roger. How do we build connection? How do we build relationships? When I was writing that chapter, I asked my wife, who was also in the advertising business, I said, honey, you're such a good connector. How do you establish rapport? How do you find common ground? And it was very interesting what she said because she didn't say anything that's what she did. She turned the tables on me, Roger. And instead of answering my question, she demonstrated how to connect with somebody. And here's what she did. She started asking me questions about me instead of talking to me about her. And here's what it is. A professional salesperson, when they want to establish rapport, common ground connection, and birth a new relationship, if they want to impress you, they'll talk about themselves, their company, their product, but they're really good ones. When they want to impact you, they'll ask about you. See, because when I start asking you questions, it has the emotional effect between us of pulling you towards me. But when I start telling you about me, it can create the emotional effect of pulling you away. So- Yeah, there's always resistance. There's always resistance. Everyone's resistance. Absolutely, absolutely. Why do you think everyone resists sales? I think it's a stereotype. Nobody likes to be sold anything, but I'll tell you, you know what people love? They love to be asked about them, about what they like, about what their problem and their pain point is. And remember, when we were talking earlier about everyone's in the persuasion business, a great salesmaker to get to the heart of how to sell someone, they identify what the customer's in pursuit of. What is the customer's pain point or problem? What is their pleasure? And then how do they give that to them? See, people don't want to be sold, but they love to be asked about what they like. Well, we return to the seven laws in the second part. Thank you. Thank you very much. We'll just pause for a moment. This is Think Tech Hawaii, raising public awareness. You can be the greatest, you can be the best. You can be the king, come playin' on your chest. You can be the coutts of glad, go bangin' on his door. All right, we're back again with Scott Hogle and his book, Persuade, The Seven Empowering Laws of the Sales Maker. What are the seven laws? Just spell them out. You don't have to explain them yet. Sure, sure. Well, there's the law of connection, the law of listening and the law of relationship. Those are what I call the relationship chapters. And I get those in the book because if you don't get the people skills part right, the rest really doesn't matter. The next three laws, Roger, are what I call the competency chapters because you gotta be good at what you do. If we really like each other and we have a business relationship, if I don't deliver for you, if I can't meet your needs, that will eventually impact the relationship in a negative way. So the second three chapters are what I call the law of discovery. That's entirely about asking and leading with questions. In other words, in the law of discovery, there's a sales makers roadmap with 21 different areas of probing as well as different types of questioning skills. There's a very interesting chapter which is the fifth chapter. It's called the law of the sixth sense. So in the sixth sense, there's three things that I mentioned. Timing, intuition and emotion. And then the sixth chapter, which is one of the competency chapters, is called the law of the close. And the law of the close simply says this, that everybody sells, but it takes a sales maker to close the sale. Back to we're all in the persuasion business. But I have to confess, I think my favorite chapter is the last one. It's very different than the first six and it's called the law of the prospector. Well, let's go backwards. Okay. Let's start with the law of the prospector. Okay. This is your favorite chapter. So what is that law? So the law of the prospector says this, the sales maker develops the potential within them. They discover the opportunities around them. So this is a natural talent or is it something you can learn? Well, it starts with, as we develop the potential within the side of us, we're able to discover more opportunities around us. And I start that chapter talking about discovering your vocational calling in life. In fact, at one point, I even say, gosh, if you've been in sales for more than a few years and you're not having fun or you don't like it, you should leave because it's too hard of a job. Tom Hopkins, who wrote my forward, he was considered number one sales trainer in America for many years. He says this, that sales is the lowest paid easy work and the highest paid hard work. So if you don't love what you do, there's probably easier professions to be in out there. But the thing is that the more you develop yourself on the inside, it's kind of like climbing a ladder in life. The higher you go, the more you can see, the more you can see, the more you can seize. So as you become better, everything else around you becomes better as well. And when, give me an example of how you prepare for a sale. Good question. With using that particular law. Okay. So the law of the prospector has a dual meaning. It's, there's 10 many lessons in it. So there's 10 letters in the word prospector and each one stands for one of the lessons. So for example, the first P in prospector stands for a salesmaker develops a purpose driven mindset, in other words, how to self motivate. You know, the skills are the skills. You know, we could talk about hard selling skills for a very long time, but the truth is you've got to learn how to motivate yourself. If you can't learn some of those soft skills, you'll fail in life. No matter how good of a closer or relationship builder or relationship builder or question asker that you are. But to get to your question, whether I'm given a speech or I'm going to meet with somebody one-on-one, I start with asking myself a few questions. Even though I may not have met with them yet, I'll start to find out, what is it that I think they might need? What might they need to hear? How can I best serve them? So it's first approaching that process with the right heart to serve, because especially in today's environment, you have to add value before you ask for value. So it really starts with serving the person in front of you. And as I just to repeat one part of my question, is this a natural born talent or something you, can you learn it? Can you, are you trained for it? So the skill sets anybody can learn, but the skill sets alone will make you successful. There are inbred talents, and I'll define talent as a reoccurring pattern of thought or behavior that can be productively applied. So I can teach a fifth grader the skill sets of sales, but I can't teach him perseverance. I can't teach him attitude. He's got to grab ahold of those things himself. No, that's a good point. Okay, let's go back to the right order this time, okay? So the first law is? The law of connection. Connection, okay, we've discussed that some. The second law? It's the law of listening. No, listening. I'd like to listen to that one bit more. Sure, I'd like that. We can buy the audio book to be able to Amazon or Barnes & Noble. So the law of the listening, very important law. And I'm gonna give you one reason why it's so important. A lot of people think that relationships are negatively impacted when we stop talking. But the truth is relationships are negatively impacted when we stop listening. There's more of the listening than what the eyes see in the ears hear. There's an energy, there's an exchange between people. And that's why the law of the listener says that value is exchanged on both sides of the conversation when focus listening occurs. So there's an emotional transaction that's taken place. One of the things I talk about in the law of listening is the C suite of listening. In business today, many big companies, believe it or not, they have somebody called the CLO, the chief listening officer, they get paid to listen. And I guess it's because we've forgotten how to listen. But I- I can relate to this because I'm by nature a listener. Yes, you are. At a party, I tend to interview people. I don't have conversations because I'm just interested in who they are and so on. And I listen and often I don't say very much. And I'm astonished that when they come afterwards and say, what a great conversation we just had, or they tell somebody else they had a great conversation. I don't remember saying anything much.  You ask good questions. But you see, let's unpack this for a minute. As we're talking, I feel you listening with your eyes, not just yours. I can tell you're listening by your questions. One of the things in the last section of the book I have, Roger, is helping people to identify what their natural listening talents are. And to do that, I give them 10 different pictures or portraits of people in my life who are great listeners. And by being able to look at that picture, what I want to do is trigger something inside of them so they can develop within them the listening skills that are going to help them become more effective, not just as a good interviewer like you are, but just in their everyday relationships. So I would challenge you and anyone watching this, if there's a relationship that you're struggling in your life, whether you're in business or not, whether it's a customer, a spouse, a child, I promise you that if you go back to the heart of where that trouble began, it started with a failure to listen. Yes, yes, I can see that. So after listening, what was the next law? I don't remember. The law of memory, no. You wrote the book. It was the law of relationship. I always have it in front of you. Okay, we've done it. You're so good with the questions.  So it was the law of relationship that is really focused on customer service. Because the environment in business has changed so much, you asked how sales has changed. Today, if you don't take care of your customers, they'll out you on social media. I was talking to my wife the other day who's in marketing and she was telling me how tough it is to get reviews in the book business like on Amazon. She says, you know, Scott, it's hard to get people to give good reviews, but gosh, if they have a negative experience, they're very quick to go online. So customer service today is more important than ever before because you're creating a reputation with every service experience a customer has with you. Well, in my experience, whenever I want to go buy something online, the first thing that I Google is reviews. Yeah. And then you have the problem of which reviews do you actually believe which are planted? So that's a skill we're all learning. It's scary, my friend. You're right. We're all learning, you know. So that we have another one. The law of discovery. Lower discovery. What do you mean by the law of discovery? Let me tell you what the law of discovery is and it will answer your question. The law of discovery says this, anyone can ask a question, but it takes a salesmaker to convert a question into a close. So everybody asks questions, but when you learn how to frame the questions in the way to a salesmaker does, see great communicators. We all have access to the same words, but how we frame them, how we say them, how we put those together determines whether we become on a scale one to 10, a 10 level of success or five. Whether you're in sales or you're in the medical profession, in fact, I'm reminded of a statistic I once read that doctors, the ones who get sued the least for malpractice, they're the people who have the best people skills and the best bedside manner. Yeah, because you wouldn't dream of suing someone you like. Hence you just made my point. So success has a lot about how we communicate and make people feel when we're together. That's great, I know. So after that, we have the law of the close. The law of the close, which we touched on already. So I like that chapter because it really gets into the nitty gritty about how to move people to decision and how to communicate strategically, how to convert emotionally in the moment. You've got to be able to read if you're going to be able to lead, be able to handle people's objections. But when it comes time to get a decision, you've got to close conversationally because if people feel like they're being sold, they're going to pull back and retreat from you. But if they feel like you care for them and you're just having a conversation like we are here now, they're going to keep following you to the end. And the best salespeople in the world, think about the great sales experience you've ever had, Roger. It probably, you're probably being effortlessly carried along in the process and you never felt like you were being sold. Only guided, right? Yeah. You've had some phenomenal endorsements. Yes. And talking about closing, I mean, you actually did some great beginnings with those endorsements. Tell us about some of the great people that you've endorsed. I'll tell you one of the ones that you're really most proud of. So Tom Hopkins, who wrote my forward, that was really important because when I was 20 years old, Tom, through his audiobooks, became a mentor of mine. And I studied him greatly for the first few years. And I attribute a lot of my success to a lot of the skills he helped me with, the very thing I want to do for people today. And here's how the endorsement came about. I was in Las Vegas one day and I had called his office. Tom lives in Scottsdale, Arizona. And I said, will Tom have lunch with me? I have known him a little on and off over the years. So he said, yes, so I drive down to Las Vegas. And so I prepared for the meeting and my goal in the meeting was to ask Tom, not for an endorsement, but I was about to tell my Tom, I just made my first decision to write a book. And I wanted to ask him what advice he would give me. Now, before I tell you what he said, here's what I did. Remember, I said, you have to add value before you ask for value. Because I knew Tom had recently received award, best sales trainer in America. I went to the store and I know Tom likes red wine. So I bought him a bottle of the golden eye with a gold label. You have to bring this to a close. But thank you very much. Persuade, the seven empowering laws of the sales makers available at Bonson Noble and other bookstores. And I'm pretty sure you're gonna see Scott on the airwaves all over the place for quite a while to come. Thank you very much. Great, thank you very much, Roger. Appreciate it. Thank you.


I was just about to, you know, go to the beach and just exercise because I see a lot of people in the gym. I'm like, I'm not going to be in the gym. I just want to do outdoor, you know, workout. And guess who I met? You look so familiar. Hey, guys. What do you mean, but I look familiar, man? No, I've seen your videos. You do a lot of great work on YouTube. So that was pretty cool. All right. Okay. But how did you see the channel, you know, initially? Oh, just searching. As I was exploring Africa, want to know where to go and so on. So landing in Kenya first, so doing research now on South Africa and Namibia as places to visit now. Wow. So the first thing he said, Namibia? And I'm like, I'm not from Namibia, but I know that I've done videos from Namibia. I thought that's where you work, right? Yeah. I'm from Ghana. Oh, you're from Ghana? Yeah, I'm from Ghana, but I did a lot of videos from Namibia. And the guy next to me, he's a YouTuber, so. He's a YouTuber and actually saw his video from Kenya. You know, when you were in the Matatu? Yes. The first ever video that I saw was her being in a Matatu. I'm touting this Matatu. You guys, I'm so excited. This is it. But I'm supposed to fill this whole car, though now it's kind of dark, you can't see me clearly. Because I also travel to Kenya and then I've got a rest. Me too. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, you guys. I'm so sorry. Wait, guns at the mall. Oh my goodness. He was like, give me your phone. I'm like, no. Oh my goodness. I got arrested for filming and I didn't know what to do, so I went on the internet searching for content creators not to get arrested again. So that's how I saw her Matatu video, GM'd her, but she never replied me. Yeah, exactly. She never replied me, man. Oh, really? That's how she replied, how'd he laugh? I replayed three months later. I hadn't seen it. She was busy. Exactly. She was busy. She was busy. She was busy. She was busy. That's so funny. That's hilarious. But which country are you originally from? Oh boy. Lebanon. No. From Beirut. And then after college, I went to the U.S. Okay. I stayed in New York and Boston, but then I said, okay, we need some culture. We need some African culture, that's how we, you know, going around Africa. That's nice, man. This is not the kind of videos that I always do, but I have a photo that has gone viral on the Internet and I feel like I need to come in here to let you all know how it all happened. But hey, I can see that you all are happy for me and thank you so much for tuning in. I appreciate each and every one of you, like DJ Khalid would say, you're a lawyer. I appreciate you. Yeah, but for me, can you please like the video? Thank you. And if you are new to the channel, subscribe and be part of this awesome channel. Listen, I had no idea that this was going to happen. I was on my way going somewhere to my own business when our driver directed the vehicle. And that's when I started shaking and I was like, it's about to go down. I'm a little bit nervous, nervous in terms of what is about to happen. But the appointment that we made today, it just happened randomly and we're just going with the flow. If it happens, yes, that would be great. So if you see this video, it means that it really happened. So we are in Papados and you know that DJ Khalid is also in Papados. This is where she grew up, right? This is where she grew up. The exact neighborhood that Rihanna is from. I just want to come out here and embrace the air and see the trees and see just what everyday Rihanna woke up to. What's the name of the man? Rihanna used to live here. You eat. And she bought it in Saturday last November. And Rihanna used to live here. Man, this is beautiful. This is beautiful. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Hi. Rihanna's cousin. Hi. What did you say? I'm Rihanna's cousin. Hi. So Rihanna was born in here. I remember when she was growing up, like we used to play in here, you know, this street. Right now they've named this street after Rihanna called Rihanna Drive. Oh, she's the best. She's the best we've ever had in the family. So I requested that it's possible to, you know, link up with DJ Khalid. They were like, they're not sure but they're going to keep me posted. So I was on my way going somewhere and they were like, you know what, turn the car, turn the car. DJ Khalid is actually here having a great time. So we're just going to cook something up. So here we are. That's why the entire team is here at the moment. I don't know if it's never going to happen but this is the best. Excited? Are you excited or nervous? I'm both excited and nervous. How are you excited? I'm excited because it's DJ Khalid. Like this is DJ. You know who DJ Khalid is? DJ in the whole world. You know, he's put out mixes like in music. If some have billions of views, billions, you know. And then I'm excited because it's him. And then I'm a fan of him, you know. And then I'm nervous because I'm like, is it really going to happen? Like, I don't know how to approach it. I don't know whether I should be like, oh my God, DJ Khalid. Or if I should just chill like, I don't know. So it's going to be like another one. You're loyal. You're smart. You're beautiful. I love that. DJ Khalid. We are not here alone. Like, it seems like everyone here wants to meet DJ Khalid. Yo. Yo.  You here to meet DJ Khalid? What? You don't want to meet DJ Khalid? Why? I thought we were going to shoot that video. Exactly. Me, even me, that's what I thought. And we're told to just divert. And come here, I hope, but I've seen people calling me. I hope they're not the same people. The restaurant is not, the hotel is not the same people that are calling me. But I'm too nervous. Never been nervous like this. Super nervous. I don't know what's going to happen, but I'm quite nervous. Some of you might be wondering why I'm nervous. I'm not nervous because I'm meeting DJ Khalid. I'm nervous because he has no idea that he's going to meet me. You know what I mean? So he's like, I don't know what is going to happen. And there's what it is. Oh, that's him, man. Oh my goodness, that's him. Damn it. That's him. Let me act cool here. I'm just, that's him, man. Just need to act so cool, man. That's DJ Khalid, bro. Nice to meet you. Wow. That was fast, man. That was fast, man. Really fast. I like how, I like how welcome in DJ Khalid is. I mean, he's giving time for everyone to take photos with him. It's incredible, man. Like, look at that. DJ Khalid is just that simple. I mean, everybody come closer to the photo. And he's welcoming everybody, man. He's not telling anybody to leave. He's just like, you know. I mean, this kind of party. I'll be right here when they come. I just want to tell you something. Like, you know, when I see you from afar, I mean, you have mega superstar. By the way, you're humble with everyone taking photos. That's incredible, man. I love that about you, man. Appreciate that, man. My name is Maya. Maya? From Ghana. Now, I saw you diamond to Black Sherry song. That was amazing. Touch your soul, you know. Yeah, you got to visit Ghana again. No, I never been to Ghana. I got to go.  Thank you. Hope we got well and you can say I can come out here. No, definitely. You live out here now? No, I'm just traveling making videos. I make YouTube videos, by the way. Riyadh is beautiful. Yeah. I saw your video. Riyadh is beautiful. Nice to meet you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Look at that, man. Did you record that for me? That's so crazy. I'm just, like, living the moment. That's it. Exactly. I saw your video. Anyway, in the car, they take new pictures with you. And they say, put on the glass. I want to dream that Riyadh will not breathe. That was good. I just want to breathe. Just want to breathe. Allow him to breathe. Random meet-up, link up ever. You know what? Shout out to Anthony. You're supposed to. Look at that. Stickers right there. No, that's news for Ghana. Today, we're taking over all the blogging pages. I was wearing slippers, bro. People are sending new messages. Who are they? They're sending me WhatsApp messages. Oh, guys. His phone. His phone is now... It's going off because the messages coming in are so many. It's crazy. It's crazy. It's like he's leaving the moment. I know, right? Best days are always on plan. That's why I always tell you, never plan your lives. Just always go with the flow like what a Maya. We went with the flow and I think it's one of the best link up ever. DJ Khalid, thank you so much for the warm reception, even though you didn't know who I was. But I mean, you had a little bit of conversation, which means a lot to me. And to the Barbados Tourism Ministry link, thank you so much for, I mean, linking us together. I appreciate you. Thanks for all the warm reception. And yeah, don't forget to like this video, subscribe, and be part of this awesome channel. I'll see you all in the next one.


It's July and it's getting hot, just like the deals at Appalachian Wireless. All months get the Samsung Galaxy S8 for just a penny with a two-year agreement. But don't wait because the deal ends soon. Better service, bigger savings, that's today's Appalachian Wireless. The Williamson Women's Club is celebrating 90 years of serving its community. The General Federation of Women's Clubs was chartered in 1904 and consists of 80 clubs across West Virginia with more than 2,000 members. The GFWC West Virginia Williamson Women's Club originated in 1927 and has more than 50 active members. We are the ones that you go to when you need volunteers, learning opportunities, cultural things to happen. We do various things through the city, whether we are the actual hostess of the event or if we're giving a monetary donation to support an event. We try to keep our members involved in anything, any aspect of the community, in the city. And also we reach out into other communities. We try to make sure that we are doing everything we can to leave the volunteer spirit as our club directs us. Datsun adds that any club celebrating 90 years is phenomenal. A lot of clubs go through their ups and downs and sometimes they fall. But every club has been a strong influence in our community for going on 91. And I give that credit to the members. We have wonderful strong women. The members of the Williamson Women's Club have roles in just about every event going on in the city of Williamson, Mingo County and sometimes even across the Tug River in neighboring Pike County. We do baskets for Thanksgiving for local veterans. We do back to school supplies. We donate to our Wild Wing Garden Club and to other civic organizations in the city. So anywhere that you see an event happening in Williamson or something going on. Most likely our Williamson Women's Club has been involved in some way. New members will be initiated into the Williamson Women's Club in August. In Williamson, Shelby Porter, EKB News.


t um board of finance would cost upwards of 200 000 so i think it would be imprudent to hold off and get a better um understanding of what the actual tax increase need was um so for that for that reason my long-windedness at this late hour i'm supporting i'm supporting this tonight thank you so we'll go to councillor McGee and then we'll go to councillor jane thank you president paul um i have heard concerns from constituents essentially since i got elected uh a number of years ago to uh about the affordability crisis that we face here in the city and that is only worsening as the arpa funds uh are allocated and spent um and that means that we're going to be having some really difficult budget conversations uh largely will be put on the shoulders of the next council and the next administration um and so i am supporting this tonight because it would be i think imprudent for us to uh remove that tool um for a future council and a future administration it would not be wise for a special election to be called for a tax increase uh potentially careening us towards a government shutdown at the end of june um and i think uh you know this leads us to broader questions of the sustainability of our property tax system um and i i just hope that uh in having this conversation about raising the public safety tax uh leading up to the election in march uh and leading up to the budget discussion in may and june that um we do place a greater emphasis on working with the legislature to to reform the property tax system because i think not just with the municipal side of the property taxes but we're seeing it with the increase to the school side across the state as well so i think not just burlington but many communities are going to be having these hard conversations and this is just the beginning of that so i will be supporting this tonight thank you thank you councillor mickey we'll go to councillor jang um and then carpenter i pass okay uh we'll go to councillor carpenter and then councillor shannon um i don't want to repeat what my colleague said i just keep wanting to remind us that built into this is a three million dollar expectation that we can find efficiencies and that's a big number so we need this increase to put the package together um and and make us whole and the devil will be in the details during our budgeting sessions in may and that we got a lot of work behind us and i do want to just make one comment relative to councillor mickey that i hope we continue our advocacy um with the state particularly on those issues how the homestead credit works or does not work um because remembering 70 percent of our taxes are education related and that's in my opinion not working very well thank you councillor carpenter we'll go to councillor shannon thank you president paul i just want to say that you know the sad fact is that the taxes are unaffordable and basic services are required and expected by our constituents and so looking at um this this tax only funds one year of the rebuilding plan it doesn't get us to the 87 officers that we have approved and that are broadly um accepted as a minimal number that's needed for our police department to be healthy um it it requires three million dollars worth of cuts to we don't know what but i have served long enough to watch the council struggle with with decisions that are tens of thousands of dollars of cuts um and i think that this will be difficult with 17 percent uh inflation and only uh four percent tax increase since the last time we had a tax increase this is modest in comparison with the growth in wages the growth in housing costs um so i think that this this is a reasonable proposal in terms of tax policy there is a proposal in montpelier um to address the property tax and uh you know that would be that would be helpful to all of us as council carpenter just said 70 percent of our taxes are through the education fund um a big portion of the tax increase there is due to needing additional bonding to build a school that nobody else in the state had to build but i'll i'll leave it at that i am supportive and i think that even though i agree with councillor jane that our top priority is educating our students i also hear from the parents of those students that their number one priority is public safety thank you uh thank you councillor shannon um we'll go back to councillor jane and then we're going to go to a vote thank you if i could get in after council of course sure right right after my apologies go ahead yeah um so anyway i i think it just reminded me of an event that i attended just yesterday over 30 people showed up in the new north end to meet a candidate and i think the number one priority including parents right even students were there the number one priority that i have heard from the people over and over and it's been six years that i'm here that affordability is a big problem in burlington i think what we're trying to solve here is a decision that we made in 2020 and i think that cost of that decision the the the consequences of our decision is now starting to catch catch up on us right but if we have two competing priorities which is educating our students building the high school of a 21st century for them and at the same time trying to provide a level of community safety which is greater than public safety where do we need to put our our our box where which one do we need to choose and from my perspective it has been very clear the future generation including climate change the future generation including the education of the future generation of the city i think should should be something that we need to prioritize things have been adding up for quite some time and it has impacted many people right and let's think about this as we deliberate as we move forward in 2025 i'll be supporting to put this on the ballot but i'm not endorsing any tax increases to the taxpayers other than educating the children for now thank you thank you councillor jang we'll go to councillor grant thank you um so yes affordability is a huge issue um vermont has some of the highest uh tax rates um on our residents in the country and i am low especially with the tax increase um on the education side that is coming because we are having to pay for expenses that the with regards to the new high school that quite frankly should have somehow come from the state or the federal government like the fact that um our school district has had to assume um so much of these expenses for a school that was essentially poison is a really huge issue now having said that with regards to using the full funding up to 77 officers we have to be very careful what we say because we don't want to make false promises to the public there's a reason 77 is being used and that is because even though but this plan in place we've increased the salaries retention bonuses sign-on bonuses etc we've done that got this awesome contract we aren't we had some great progress last year but we only have one person going into the academy this year we just lost a lateral transfer possibly because of housing they were having to live over in clackford so so we are not at the pace that is is what we would have wanted to see so we can say yes we can go up to 87 but we're not building back at that rate so we have to understand what that means so 77 is is kind of saying that this is what we would be able to do in the next fiscal year um community safety is something very different now oh quick update in the report um it's not community service liaisons the position actually community support liaisons we have we're doing something really innovative here in barlington the way we are thinking about community safety and how it's including all these other positions that we need desperately to deal with mental health issues and then also we need to be really beefing up harm reduction and different types of services that deal with the drug crisis so um i would i would say that i would vote for this to have the flexibility and also to wait for all these other things we're doing like we're we're looking at all these fees and and and we're we're going to be looking at where we could save other money but we're not there yet and no way do i want to spend money on a special election that's just horrendous and and kind of defeats the purpose of trying to have this extra money um so i would be voting for it although i would probably vote no if it was on the ballot but i want to give people an opportunity and i want to see what the budget's going to look like uh when we we get to the point of working on um getting to the final budget and seeing where we can increase in fees decrease in other areas um so i'll leave it at that but don't make promises you can't keep everyone i mean we have so much information about public safety it's a huge issue we got 77 funded because that's the pace we can't control who's going to submit an application we can't control if they would be qualified we can't control if they go to the academy they come out of the academy we can't control if they get out of the academy and they hit the street that they'll stay we cannot control those things thank you thank you so much um based on what i have heard uh i think maybe we could try to give this a uh uh uh we we could try that we could try this all at one time um seeing no one else um wanting to speak we'll go to a vote uh this is a motion to waive the reading and adopt the resolution which wouldn't mean that this item would be placed on the town meeting day ballot all those in favor of the motion please say aye all right but any opposed please say no that motion passes um and um i know what you're going to say and i am not going to i'm not going to embarrass the the city attorney um that motion passes and i will clarify for the record like me too but i will say president paul was correct if it is a unanimous vote you and and we have a hybrid situation we don't need to worry about a roll call however doing a roll call there is no issue around that so it's always welcome if you want to do that you're welcome to but clearing the record okay so that motion passes um and uh with that that completes our deliberative agenda and and finishes off our entire agenda so i would ask for a motion to adjourn uh made by councillor bergman and seconded by councillor McGee as always um and uh all those in favor of the motion to adjourn please say aye aye any opposed please say no we're adjourned um just to keep in mind for the public our next meeting will be monday february 12th and we will look forward to seeing you then have a good evening