Full Transcript for Community Connection - October 30, 2026, Tina Cosby - Days Away from Election Day

provide a great option for families in the city. But I also don't believe that our Traditional school systems should be diminished, should be, I think, bullied is the word I use in the way that they're being bullied, just like with the enroll anything. Most of us didn't know that IPEC had already had the authority in the law to take over enrollment. What does that have to do with making people work together? And I just got a question for you. My question is, they keep talking about unified enrollment. Well, when they created the charter law, they didn't create a unified system. They talked about competition. So I still really don't understand what the charter reform groups are hollering about, how this helps families make a choice to have unified enrollment in a system that was designed to be competitive. 00:07:33 Speaker 1: And thanks for taking my call. Those are excellent points. I hear you. I understand, you know, some of the frustration. I do know, I got to say, I do know Kariga. I think he's an excellent leader for this particular moment. The person that's going to be leading IPAC, he's had a national kind of background. And so to have somebody of that caliber take on this, you know, situation is, I think, helpful. In the particular situation that we're in with respect to, you know, the question, I think, you know, IPS has made its decision, the charters, they have their system and we will see true competition. Now folks will continue to have choice. But what's most important is if we don't let the referendum pass, then we were going to be dealing with less options. we will have less control or less ability to define our future. And so I've been following the EnrollMD and I forgot what IPS calls their system. I've been following that as well. And the reformers are concerned about that. And IPS has this position. That's not my... That's not my fight. My fight is to make sure we support our children as we move forward as a community together. 00:09:02 Speaker 5: Yeah, James. 00:09:04 Speaker 1: Thank you for your comments. 00:09:05 Speaker 2: Tina, yeah. Thanks for giving me this chance right here because I know we're not going to have a whole lot of time with Marshawn. I looked up this Chalkbeat article from September, and it explains it really well. I want to get Marshawn to comment on this. It says in 2025, the state made sweeping changes to property taxes, limiting the future property tax revenue that districts could expect to raise. Lawmakers also limited referendums to the general elections because turnout was higher. But here's the crux of it. One of the biggest sources this article says a financial strain at the district is the cost of special education services, which the district is required by federal law to provide. Officials estimated that the district has incurred 24 million, a 24 million deficit from special education education costs. And of the 95 million they would get from this referendum if it passed, around 63 million of the funds would be used for programming, including programming for students with disabilities and those learning English. according to the spending plan submitted by the IPEC. The remaining 32 million, so that's 63 million for the programming for students, the remaining 32 million would be used for staff retention and professional development. Can you comment on that? Is that pretty much correct? 00:10:36 Speaker 1: Yes, that is definitely correct. And I actually had the opportunity to be at a school yesterday, an IPS vet, where we learned about how they approach special education. And one of the things I learned is that children who need extra support, it varies with the cost. I mean, it could be an additional anywhere between $ 20, 000 to $ 40, 000. to be able to provide services to this young person. And one of the things I walked away with is first, we need to be advocating to the state to provide more resources to support English as a second language, as well as special education. But it's also a statement of us as a society. If we don't figure out how to protect, support, and take care of the folks that need assistance the most. I remember Bill Crawford. He used to say that whenever he looked at a budget, he saw people. And I think in this situation, when we're thinking about this referendum, we have to see our kids. We got to see them for the potential in the future that they bring to the city, the vibrancy. If we're going to have a vibrant economy, We've got to be making those investments, and somebody made an investment in us. So, yes, those numbers are correct, and the IPS also kicked off their legislative priorities, and that's going to be among the top priorities that they're pushing for, special education. You'll probably hear me come back and talk about that. I'd love to. 00:12:19 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's great. So what you're saying is this $ 63 million would be used for programming for students, and then the $ 32 million to try to be competitive with staff retention and, you know, hiring teachers. 00:12:35 Speaker 1: Yeah, they have a breakdown of how they're trying to do that on their website, how they're trying to spend it. But it is for personnel. It is for those kinds of things, yes. 00:12:45 Speaker 2: Okay. 00:12:48 Speaker 7: Daniel? 00:12:49 Speaker 5: Yeah, so Marshawn, the simplest way, the easiest way to relay your message or to convey your message is presenting this, how would you present this? 00:13:06 Speaker 1: We have to support our kids. If we vote no, then what we're doing is voting against our own interests. And I remember Bill Crawford used to talk about know your interests. He would always say that whenever you're going into a situation, know your interest. And our interest, I believe our interest as a community is to support our kids. Somebody had to do it for us, and I think it's our responsibility to do it for them. We're talking about an impact of $ 9, like a $ 9 difference month to month if you have a

property that's $ 150, 000. Some of us have lower values, so it could be less than $ 9 a month. And I know affordability is a challenge, but I think it's extremely expensive to not support this and have to deal with the consequences on the back end. 00:14:02 Speaker 2: Yeah, but Marshawn, how can you assure the listeners, there's a lot of people listening right now, How can you ensure them of the criticisms that have come that are not true, that people are saying that IPS is turning into another New Orleans? Indianapolis public schools are turning into another New Orleans and proliferating charter schools. It's going to become a charter school district. How can you say that that's not going to happen? 00:14:36 Speaker 1: So here's a couple things that have occurred. With the passage of the bill that formed IPEC, one of the challenges we had was we had a bunch of authorizers that could authorize schools inside of IPS boundaries. That has been limited now. So that's one thing that has occurred. The second thing that I would also say is if we don't vote yes on this referendum– then the IPS goes away. It is a takeover situation. It goes into receivership. That is how you end up like New Orleans. A vote for a no vote is the path to New Orleans. 00:15:23 Speaker 5: How soon would that take place, Marshawn? Would that be immediate after the referendum or after December, I guess, when the other funds run out? Would it be as early as January? 00:15:34 Speaker 1: Well, I think they'd have to figure something out. I'm not sure exactly on the timing of it, but it would be pretty soon because, you know, you only have so much money. And the state would have to, you know, step in and make sure the district was, you know, solving. And here's the other thing. It is true that even if the referendum passes, there's still going to be difficult decisions that have to be made. 00:16:00 Speaker 5: Yes, that's what Dr. Johnson said. 00:16:03 Speaker 1: Yes, but at least it will be decisions that will be made by folks in this community as opposed to folks from the state. 00:16:15 Speaker 2: Yeah, how much of this has to do with the state law that is really forcing many districts, school districts across the state, including central Indiana, to put out these referendums on a ballot and because the property tax, deep cuts to the property taxes. How much of this came about because of that? 00:16:39 Speaker 1: Yeah, I know people are talking about Senate Enrolled Act No. 1, which was an effort to reform property taxes, and it's had a significant impact on cities and other agencies, including schools. And so that's been a major driver of this. It also has to do with just how we fund education now. I think what the legislature has said is, you know, we're going to, we're going to operate on a reference. We're going to give you only so much. And from there, you'll have to make community decisions about what you want to do with property taxes and what you want to do or what you

want to do with property taxes as it pertains to capital investments or operating. And so I think what, we have to consider is the power is in our hands. And if we make the right decisions, we can keep the power in our hands. 00:17:36 Speaker 5: All righty, Marshawn. Final thoughts before we have to let you go? Yeah, final thoughts you want to share with our listeners? 00:17:44 Speaker 1: I think it's important that our community just understand that if we vote yes, we can continue to support our kids. If we vote no, then we lose a bit of the ability to define our future. 00:18:02 Speaker 5: That's important. Absolutely. All righty. Thank you, Marshawn. And you got to get to the polls, though. So let's encourage folks to get there and and vote. And of course, you have to live within IPS to be able to vote on the IPS referendum. I don't know if we pointed that out or not, but only people living within the Indianapolis Public School District will be able to vote on this referendum. So thank you, Marshawn, for coming on. Really appreciate it. 00:18:28 Speaker 1: Thank you. 00:18:29 Speaker 5: We'll be back with more right after this. 00:18:38 Speaker 3: Let's get back to the conversation. It's Community Connection with Tina Cosby from the Praise Indy Indigo Studios on Praise AM 1310, 95.1 FM. 00:18:51 Speaker 5: And we are back with Community Connection. We're staying with the elections because we're staying with the elections. We are staying right there, James. James Patterson, our contributing analyst, is with us, as is our producer, Eric Garns. And James, one thing that you can't see is what's coming in in our chat, our chat strands, our chat, chat, in our chat. YouTube chat. 00:19:16 Speaker 2: Yeah, and you know what? I, Tina, I, oh, I wish I could. 00:19:20 Speaker 8: I guess you could see it. 00:19:21 Speaker 5: Well, you can see it. I mean, if you start watching on YouTube. But anyway, yeah, you can see it. Erica reminded me, and I saw this as well in the chat, someone saying around 1230-ish at the government center in Warren Township, the parking lot is full, the line is out the door. We are getting reports like that daily from all parts of town. It's not just And James, I think you shared with us that you checked out two places before settling on the third based on the length of the lines. And this was in the middle of the week. 00:19:54 Speaker 6: Right. 00:19:54 Speaker 2: VoteinTime.org. You're absolutely right. You all, you and Eric, turned me on to that because of a guest you had. And it is absolutely a great tool to have if you're. 00:20:06 Speaker 1: Going to vote. 00:20:07 Speaker 2: VoteinTime.org because If there's a line over here, then you can look on there and maybe some of the sites. I've seen some of the sites on the south side of Marion County. 00:20:18 Speaker 5: Yeah. 00:20:19 Speaker 2: They particularly have not had, they don't have nearly the volume they did in 2024. I can tell you that for sure when they were out the

door. 00:20:29 Speaker 5: That's probably telling for some reason. 00:20:31 Speaker 2: Yeah, the other ones do. 00:20:32 Speaker 7: Yeah, yeah. 00:20:33 Speaker 5: Well, we know we've got a big weekend coming up in addition to for the kiddos, Halloween and trick-or-treating. This is the final weekend before midterm elections on Tuesday, November the 3rd. A number of partner congregations are providing direct transportations to vote centers from various locations. That is Souls to the Polls. That's coming up on Sunday. Purpose of Life Church, they're going to be taking off at noon. Antioch Fountain of Grace and St. John Missionary Baptist Church, 1245. Olivet Baptist Church, 1 o'clock. Eastside Baptist Church, 2 p.m. There may be others that we haven't listed here, but check with your church to see if your church is participating in Souls to the Polls on Sunday after services. Now, Saturday, tomorrow, a number of regional activities and rides and gatherings are going to be taking place to encourage people to get out and vote. And one of those areas is Pike Township. And we have with us here Pike Township Trustee Annette Johnson. Welcome back. 00:21:39 Speaker 9: All right. 00:21:39 Speaker 5: That's your seat. That's the same one you sit in. I sit in all the time. 00:21:43 Speaker 10: I just thank you all the time for the opportunity. 00:21:46 Speaker 1: Yeah. 00:21:46 Speaker 5: And you brought with you Sean Johnson. He's the founder and executive director of the Growth Project. Sean, welcome. 00:21:52 Speaker 8: Thank you for having me. 00:21:52 Speaker 5: I appreciate it. Yeah, representing a younger demographic, James. 00:21:55 Speaker 10: We've got a younger demo, James and Eric, so we love that. 00:21:58 Speaker 2: Okay, come on now. 00:21:59 Speaker 1: Absolutely. 00:22:01 Speaker 4: We need them. 00:22:02 Speaker 2: We need the 30-somethings, the 25-somethings. 00:22:04 Speaker 1: We do. We really do. 00:22:05 Speaker 5: Yeah, you were just sharing, Sean, being a 30-something. Go ahead. 00:22:09 Speaker 8: Yes, ma'am. I just recently turned 34 years old. And we just want to continue to show that we care about democracy and care about the country we live in. I think I speak for a lot of Folks in my demographic, we are tired of paying what we're paying for gas and groceries and as well as daycare. So those are things that we are tired of. 00:22:30 Speaker 5: Daycare is unbelievable. 00:22:31 Speaker 8: I mean, I think I pay about $ 300 a week. Yep, that's about right. We need some help. 00:22:39 Speaker 11: Yeah. 00:22:39 Speaker 5: So tell us about the event, the stop in your area, in Pike Township. 00:22:43 Speaker 10: Well, again, I'm just excited to be on board with this. I got a phone call from Mr. Sean Johnson saying, Trustee, you have a big parking lot area. Let's utilize it. And so, again, I'm excited just to be able to participate in this event that will happen on tomorrow from 3 to 6. And I'll let Sean kind of share a little background about it as well. 00:23:05 Speaker 6: Yeah. 00:23:05 Speaker 8: So the organization is the Transformative Justice Coalition. I went through a cohort with them a couple years back, and I've always been excited about working with them. And I've tried hard to get Indiana as part of their bus tour. Well, we were selected. 00:23:23 Speaker 1: Mm-hmm. 00:23:24 Speaker 8: And so what we're doing is we have two locations that we're going to be doing this at. We have Pathway Resource Center on the east side, and then we have Pike Township Government Center. And what we're doing is, one, we are bringing the excitement to the area. How are we doing that? We have a food truck, so we want to make sure folks are eating good. We have, I think that's a really important part. 00:23:54 Speaker 5: Very much so. 00:23:54 Speaker 8: We also have some music, so we're going to have a DJ. Shout out to DJ Mary Jane for that, another younger DJ in the area. And we're going to be having some games and fun. And then we have our big tour bus, and it has our sponsors on it, and John Lewis, who, as we all know, is a voting rights champion. He was our guy. He believed in making good trouble. And so we put these two events together to make sure that we're bringing it to our people and making sure they can go to the polls and vote. 00:24:30 Speaker 5: Yeah, indeed. So, James, go ahead. I know you wanted to jump in here, I know. 00:24:36 Speaker 2: Yeah, I was intrigued about that bus tour or bus deal because... you know i mean that that will get people's attention when you say the dj explain a little bit further on that how the dj is going to interact with with people in the community or neighborhood or gathering where you're going to be at and and how that's. 00:24:56 Speaker 8: Going to work so the just your typical dj's set up they're going to have some music going to keep the mood light we don't want people to just you know just be standing around we are the kind of people we love music we love bringing energy to everything we do So that's what that is for, to make sure that energy is there so people can feel safe and comfortable. 00:25:18 Speaker 10: And just really, the DJ will be someone that is really, again, pumping up the crowd. If there's any questions, hopefully that music will carry a couple of neighborhoods over and those individuals will come out of their houses and come over and see what's going on and get them engaged. Hopefully get on the bus that will be out front there and take them over to the Pike Library to vote. 00:25:41 Speaker 5: Yeah, so you all are going to take busloads. Are you going to make round trips? 00:25:44 Speaker 10: As many trips as it takes between the time frame to ensure that voters have access. 00:25:51 Speaker 5: So get on the bus and head over to, in this instance, Pike Library, but there's going to be others around the country we'll talk about as well that are marches to the polls tomorrow. So this is your version you're

coming in to share with us, and we really appreciate that you are. But, yeah, it's... It's just hard to imagine that no one would be enthused or excited about. I think they will be. You think they will? 00:26:15 Speaker 3: Okay, go ahead. 00:26:16 Speaker 5: I think they will be. 00:26:16 Speaker 10: I mean, we have a lot of good partners with us on this tour. Again, we've got Common Cause, and I know they've been on here so many times. Yes, and League of Women Voters. And, again, you know, we thank State Senator Lakeisha Jackson for her involvement as well. But just. 00:26:34 Speaker 5: Again, we just want to. 00:26:35 Speaker 10: Her district. Yeah, we're almost at the ending stretch. You know, three days we have, you know, that we'll have left to vote between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. at these early voting sites. And again, just from 3 to 6... We want to really engage our residents in Pike Township and encourage them. If they haven't voted yet, again, between 3 and 6, we'll have this bus. Again, there will be individuals there to answer questions that they may have on candidates. But we want to just galvanize and get people there. 00:27:07 Speaker 5: So, for example, Trustee Johnson, in Pike Township, what are the voting habits, patterns, or anything? I mean, do you have a pretty healthy— okay, go ahead. 00:27:16 Speaker 10: You know I'm smiling because we have a very healthy voting activities going on in Pike Township. That's always been the case. So I'm always excited to see that. I've been up at the— early voting site every day. Again, it's Pike Library from 11 a.m. 00:27:32 Speaker 5: To 6 p.m. 00:27:33 Speaker 10: The lines have been out the door to the parking lot. 00:27:37 Speaker 5: No particular time of day is better than any. And the weather. 00:27:42 Speaker 10: We can't ask for a more beautiful weather that we're getting. Absolutely. 00:27:47 Speaker 5: Phenomenal. No, go ahead, Mr. Johnson. 00:27:51 Speaker 9: Go ahead, James. 00:27:53 Speaker 5: No, go ahead, James, and then we'll let Mr. 00:27:55 Speaker 1: Johnson. 00:27:55 Speaker 2: Okay, okay. I was going to say that I have kept track of this voting app, this voting app that I told you about, and every single day, every single day, there's been lines. Now, even at the Even at the places where it doesn't, because somebody, it's an interactive, somebody has to report when they're in line for them to get an accurate count of how many people are in front of them and behind them and so forth. And even at the ones where, when you go into this app, like I am right now, where there are no people, like, for example, Cranard Park Community Center, where we went to vote and there was nothing listed as far as wait times for Cranard Park. 605 South High School Road, there was still a line. There was still a line when we got there. So this shows you the enthusiasm. And we talked with folks. They were upbeat. They were like, we got to do this this year. This year, we got to do it. And I wanted to

ask Ms. Johnson, Trustee Johnson, are you familiar with the Souls to the Polls kind of collaborative, it looks like, operation with Purpose of Life Church, Antioch Fountain of Grace, and St. John Mission. It looks like they're in different places, not just Pike. Can you comment on that? 00:29:25 Speaker 10: I mean, you already hit it on the nail, James. I think you already got that information out there. We have various churches that are located in Pike Township, outside of Pike Township, that are, again, doing so supposed, as you said, Pastor David Green, Purpose of Life. They also will be leaving at one o'clock to go downtown. You also have my pastor, Pastor Ronald Covington over at Friendship. We'll be leaving Friendship at 1 p.m. and we'll be going over to, yes, to Thatcher because that's the Westside location, early voting site. So we'll be leaving from church as well with Friendship Mission. 00:29:59 Speaker 5: And you're all leaving at 1 o'clock? 1 o'clock. We'll be loading. 00:30:02 Speaker 10: And I do that every year that we have voting. I am the bus monitor. 00:30:06 Speaker 5: I help. 00:30:07 Speaker 10: I was just thinking about this when he called and said, let's do this Saturday. I said, thank God it's Saturday because I'm booked up for Sunday. 00:30:13 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:30:14 Speaker 11: Yeah. 00:30:14 Speaker 5: It's going to be a busy weekend. 00:30:16 Speaker 10: I'll be out here all weekend working. 00:30:18 Speaker 11: Yeah. 00:30:18 Speaker 5: We shared. 00:30:19 Speaker 6: Yeah. 00:30:19 Speaker 5: So the Sunday is all, you know, and again, if you know that your church is, by all means, let me know. Because this is just a very... Thank you for letting me. I didn't know your church. 00:30:27 Speaker 10: Friendship is on there, too. 00:30:28 Speaker 5: Most of them are. Most churches, almost all churches are. 00:30:30 Speaker 10: Covington wouldn't do it any other way. 00:30:31 Speaker 5: Yes, yes, indeed, indeed. 00:30:33 Speaker 11: So, Mr. 00:30:35 Speaker 5: Johnson, go ahead. 00:30:36 Speaker 7: Johnson, yeah. 00:30:37 Speaker 8: Yeah, so I just, I want to speak directly to our younger voters for a second. 00:30:44 Speaker 12: That's what I was going to ask. 00:30:45 Speaker 8: I was going to ask that. 00:30:46 Speaker 1: Yeah. 00:30:46 Speaker 8: This is important for our future. We see what we are dealing with right now. We're dealing with those repercussions in our bank accounts. And for us, that's pivotal. You know, I'm 34 years young. I'm a father. And there's things that I would love to be able to go pay for. But unfortunately, I can't because gas is extremely high. Diapers are extremely high. Daycare is extremely high. So to my younger voters, I say to you, show up and show out. Take a buddy. Really, really make a plan. Make sure that your status is correct. You can do that at vote411. org. You can also, if you have any other questions, you can email the tjccoalition.org and call 866-R-VOTE if you encounter any

problems. Do not allow anyone to fearmonger you and spread falsehoods to turn you away from the polls. Your voice matters. Your vote matters. And if it didn't, and I know we hear it all the time, we wouldn't try so hard to prevent us from voting. So understand that and know that when you show up to these polls, you are voting for gas prices. You're voting for daycare prices. You're voting for property taxes. These are the things that are important, especially to our generation. And I, for one, will speak for us and say I enjoy seeing money go into my bank account. 00:32:14 Speaker 5: Not coming out. 00:32:14 Speaker 8: Not coming out. So please show up. We have these locations available for you. We got food. We got fun. We got giveaways. And most importantly, we have community. And that's one piece that I really want us to start getting back into is the community. 00:32:32 Speaker 1: Yeah. 00:32:32 Speaker 5: You know, I like the way one– I'm sorry. Go ahead, James. 00:32:35 Speaker 2: Well, real quick, and then Tina, don't forget your thought, but Mr. Johnson, did you happen to see that clip of those North Carolina A & T students who marched from the university as soon as early voting started in North Carolina to the polls? Did you see that? 00:32:51 Speaker 1: Yes, sir, I did. 00:32:52 Speaker 2: I mean, lines of them, blocks of them. So that's why I like the movement that you are shaking up here and beginning here. I really like your voice. 00:33:01 Speaker 5: Yeah, indeed. And, you know, I like the way one I wish I could attribute this to who I heard it from. But there was one person, you know, basically encouraging young people. He was older. He said, please don't throw away your inheritance. You know, your vote is, yeah, I love it. 00:33:18 Speaker 3: I love it. 00:33:19 Speaker 5: You have inherited the right to vote. We all have inherited. So we should not throw away our inheritance. And it goes back to what you were saying about how valuable it is. If it were not valuable, people would not be trying to take it away from you. 00:33:34 Speaker 8: Absolutely. And we can do it for free now. You know, my grandmother, we were just having a conversation and she was talking about how she had to pay $ 2 to vote. And that's not the case. We can vote for free. And we just need to we just need to take advantage of it. It's not this is a completely nonpartisan thing. That's what voting should be. And and we see others attempting to fearmonger and take that away. And so, again, just to reiterate, you know, the Transformative Justice Coalition, we are doing our part to make sure that we are engaging with our community. And educating our community, that is the most important part is the education, because we have forces of evil, I'll say, that try hard to make sure we don't understand what's going on. And it's 2026. My generation, we're fired up. We're tired. And we again, we want to keep our inheritance. That's what we want. 00:34:36 Speaker 5: Yeah. 00:34:36 Speaker 11: Yeah. 00:34:36 Speaker 5: By all means, keep it. We don't want to throw it away. And so what you think will motivate your age and younger or your age and maybe a little older, you think the motivating factor is going to be affordability? 00:34:49 Speaker 1: Absolutely. 00:34:50 Speaker 5: Okay. 00:34:51 Speaker 8: Absolutely. We're seeing folks saying, you know, an affordable mortgage is $ 2, 200. How? How can we say that's affordable? 00:35:00 Speaker 5: That's daycare for a month. Exactly. 00:35:02 Speaker 8: The average person is making maybe $ 60, 000 a year. That's not again, that's your gas, that's your groceries. If you have children, that's, you know, diapers, wipes. And we're not even talking about it. If they get sick, what if you don't have an HSA plan? Those things are important. And so if we don't show up to the polls and make our voices heard, there's one, there's no reason to complain. I'm big on that. Don't if you don't show up to the meetings, you don't ask the proper questions, you don't vote. Respectfully, I don't want to hear it because there's just too much going on for us to sit this one out. It's just too much. 00:35:38 Speaker 5: It's too easy to be heard, too. Entirely too easy to be heard. And you have rides, y'all. You have a way. People will entertain you. They will feed you. They will transport you to and from. It's never been easier. It's never been made easier. And this weekend is a prime example. Like I said, starting with Sunday, the Souls to the Pulls. Tomorrow, all of the activations, including the march, the rally, the bus ride, all of that. 00:36:07 Speaker 11: Go ahead. 00:36:08 Speaker 10: Well, what I like, too, about this particular opportunity to get voters out between 3 and 6 p.m. is just being at the Pike Library, the parking is very limited. And so I'm just thinking cars coming in and out. There's no place to park. And people get discouraged and just drive on off. But see, this provides, you know, capability for us to, we're going to take you up there. You don't have to worry about trying to find a parking space and trying to park. Again, that parking lot at the Pike Library is very congested. And so I'm thinking about that's a plus, too, for individuals. Hop on the bus. We're going to take you up there, save you a little gas, and then take you back. 00:36:48 Speaker 5: And the bus, if it's warm, it'll have AC. If it's cold, you will have heat. There is nothing to complain about. 00:36:55 Speaker 8: And the best part about this is, and this is something that I really take pride in, this bus is fully accessible. 00:37:03 Speaker 5: Oh, okay. Accommodatable. 00:37:05 Speaker 8: Anyone that has any form of anything, we will make sure you get to the polls. And this is a... For me, this is a little deeper. I recently lost my mother and it was it was one thing she made me promise her was is that I wouldn't take my foot off the gas and I would continue to pour back into whatever community

I was a part of. And for me, that is I do live in Lawrence. It is about the greater Indianapolis, us all as a whole. showing up and showing out and also taking away those things that we know hinder us. Those, those temptation things, if you will, I might be cold. Oh, there's not going to be food. Oh, it's not going to be fun. We got all that for you. And we got transportation. 00:37:50 Speaker 5: So everybody's working together. Everybody's working together with Pike Township. 00:37:54 Speaker 8: We are all across because that's, that's how important this is. It truly is. 00:37:59 Speaker 5: Yeah, indeed. James. Yeah. 00:38:01 Speaker 13: Mr. 00:38:01 Speaker 6: Johnson. 00:38:02 Speaker 11: Yeah. 00:38:02 Speaker 7: Yeah. 00:38:03 Speaker 2: I want to just drill on him or either trustee Jonathan, but either, either one of them, And that is the you all you all are aware, aren't you? 00:38:13 Speaker 14: Mr. 00:38:14 Speaker 2: Johnson talked about the high, you know, daycare care costs, the groceries, the gas, you know, and whatever. You all are aware as as leaders that your elected leader in Washington in the White House. is he is receiving well beyond his multi-hundreds-of-thousand-dollar salary to the tune of over a billion dollars a year. A billion dollars a year, and here we are struggling for health care, struggling for child care. You all are aware of that. So I wanted to reiterate, Mr. Johnson, or Trustee Johnson— How can somebody get on the bus, you know, to get to the free food, to get to the entertainment? How can I get on the bus? Can you tell us that? 00:39:07 Speaker 1: Yes. 00:39:08 Speaker 8: So we are encouraging everyone to first meet at these locations, which the Pike Township Government Center from three to six. You meet there. There is a registration table. You register and make sure everything is good. And then you simply say, I would like to go vote. And we will. ask you onto the bus and you will go from the bus to the polling location and you will be able to vote. When it comes to the food truck, we want to make sure we're not bottlenecking. So after we register, we do ask for that to be 18 and over simply because we have tickets to make sure that we're keeping track of what we're doing. Um, and, and we want to make sure that this is also kid friendly. I mean, this is going to be on Halloween, so we will have some, some candy to pass out to the babies. We, we want this to be family, fun, excitement, and change the way that we think about the political process. The way we do that is just historically going back to the roots of things that we as people really love. That's food, that's music. We put those two things together, mixed with some great leaders throughout the city, We got a party. 00:40:23 Speaker 1: Yeah. 00:40:24 Speaker 5: And I remember that, you know, you say you're young, but that's old school, buddy. Because I remember back, and I've told this story I don't know how many times, so y'all indulge me. My grandfather used to have a big party. They'd fry fish. you know, the cinder blocks that they put together. Everybody would dress up. Folks would go up and he would provide, you know, everybody would pitch in and give the other person rise to and from the polls. Music was always playing it. So everything new, old is new again or everything. So this is an updated, newer, fresher, fresher version. But how how good of you to bring that That tradition back. You probably didn't even know that. 00:41:04 Speaker 8: Well, I did. You did know. 00:41:05 Speaker 11: Okay. 00:41:06 Speaker 8: Well, you did know that. My mother instilled a lot in me. 00:41:09 Speaker 1: Yeah. 00:41:09 Speaker 5: People are the Sunday best. 00:41:10 Speaker 8: I mean, the men and the cats and the hats. 00:41:12 Speaker 2: Absolutely. 00:41:12 Speaker 5: And the hats. the ladies and everybody, because they were going to vote. They were so, so proud that they could vote. And I remember seeing that pride as a little, I mean, I was young, believe it or not. I was at one time. And I just, I was just taken over by the feel, you know, the feel that you got and the excitement of the day. And I used to look forward to it. And I just couldn't wait. So, yeah, the fact that this is being brought back and the energy, the music, the fun, you know, ride until you sweat, as they say. Just keep riding, keep riding until you get to where you need to go. 00:41:47 Speaker 10: That's why I like when they do the soles to the poles on that Sunday. 00:41:51 Speaker 5: Yeah, and then the next day. 00:41:52 Speaker 10: Everybody is dressed up. They're so excited. They look beautiful getting off the buses, you know, doing live videos and taking pictures. But Everybody looking good going in there to vote. It shows a lot of pride. 00:42:06 Speaker 5: And it's Communion Sunday for a lot of churches. 00:42:09 Speaker 4: It is. 00:42:09 Speaker 1: First Sunday. 00:42:10 Speaker 2: Trustee Johnson, what is the, for Saturday's event, again, what is the address? 00:42:16 Speaker 9: Oh, okay. 00:42:16 Speaker 2: For the Pike Township Government Center and the time again. So people will be like, you know, when do we go? 00:42:21 Speaker 10: Yeah, 3 to 6 is when we'll be out there in the parking lots with the tour buses taking, you know, individuals back and forth. Again, this is a back and forth type of thing, not just a one-time trip. The location, again, is 5665 North Lafayette Road. So it's 56 and Lafayette Road. So, yeah, 5665 North Lafayette Road at the Pike Township Government Center. And I'm just excited to be a part of it. 00:42:47 Speaker 5: I mean, again, it's. 00:42:48 Speaker 10: All about doing our part to make sure we get this information out, share it, get people engaged, involved, and get them to the polls. And I think a lot of pastors on Sundays, from what I'm hearing, will be putting forth a really good message to get you fired up to get to those polls as well. 00:43:08 Speaker 14: Yeah. 00:43:09

Speaker 5: And, hey, everybody's got a ride. Everybody's going to have a ride. And congratulations, Mr. Johnson, on this event. Congratulations, Trustee Johnson. Thank you all for bringing it in. 00:43:21 Speaker 10: And I do want the listeners to notice now, I know y'all are saying Johnson and Johnson. It's just a coincidence. Y'all didn't find any relation there anywhere? 00:43:31 Speaker 11: No. 00:43:32 Speaker 5: That's like me and Brandon Cosby. 00:43:33 Speaker 2: That's not your son, is it? He sounds like you, Trustee. 00:43:36 Speaker 5: I wanted to make sure we put that out there. 00:43:39 Speaker 8: And I did the research, too. We are not we're not related. I need it because, you know, sometimes we'll have like a third cousin down the line. No, we didn't have that. We just happen to have a great name. 00:43:49 Speaker 10: But I do want to leave one thing just in case individuals want to meet us over at the library and welcome individuals. The Pike Library location is 6525 Zionsville Road. So 6525 Zionsville Road. 00:44:05 Speaker 5: Okay. 00:44:05 Speaker 8: And if you don't mind, lastly, just so we have all the information out, our other location at Pathway Resource Center, the address is 10119 John Marshall Drive, the old Amber Woods Apartments. That's where we will be from 12. From the tour partners. From the tour partners. And then we also have, I mean, shout out to our tour partners, Common Cause, League of Women Voters, Greenland. Who else do we have? The Growth Project, Pathway Resource Center, Black Voters Matter. I mean, we have. 00:44:40 Speaker 5: We want to thank State Senator Jackson. 00:44:42 Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely. 00:44:44 Speaker 8: Absolutely. She's a pillar of that community. And that's why State Senator. 00:44:51 Speaker 12: Any political aspirations like running for mayor or governor? 00:44:55 Speaker 2: Yeah, come on, Mr. Johnson. 00:44:56 Speaker 8: Well, the answer is yes. 00:44:58 Speaker 14: But. 00:45:03 Speaker 8: I'm OK with continuing to learn and get to and get to know my community at a higher level and continue to learn from those who've done this work before me, because without them, I wouldn't be here. So I stand on on the shoulders of those who's done the work before me. 00:45:17 Speaker 1: Outstanding. 00:45:18 Speaker 5: Outstanding. We'll look for you. We'll look for you on the ballot. Thank you. And we'll be back with more election from the queen herself. I just named her that Miss Cordelia, Miss Cordelia Lewis Burks right after this. 00:45:41 Speaker 3: W t l c a m w two three six c r indianapolis broadcasting from the praise indie indigo studios discussing the issues that matter to you it's community connection with tina cosby on praise am 13 10 95.1 fm and we're. 00:45:59 Speaker 5: Back heading into our second hour james patterson our contributing analyst is here with us as is our producer every day eric garns um Eric, your wife's birthday was yesterday. 00:46:09 Speaker 12: Yes, it was a

big day. 00:46:11 Speaker 1: Wonderful. 00:46:11 Speaker 12: We haven't had a chance to celebrate yet. We probably will at some point. Everything's going on her mom's birthday. 00:46:18 Speaker 5: Her mother has a milestone birthday. 00:46:19 Speaker 8: Coming up this weekend. 00:46:21 Speaker 12: We're looking forward to that. 00:46:22 Speaker 8: She's excited about it. 00:46:24 Speaker 9: We're excited, too. 00:46:25 Speaker 5: James, Eric shared one of the most heartfelt happy birthday wishes to his wife yesterday that I've heard in a long time. 00:46:31 Speaker 7: Wasn't that nice? 00:46:32 Speaker 3: Yeah. 00:46:33 Speaker 2: That was so nice. She was born on the 29th? 00:46:36 Speaker 11: 29th. 00:46:36 Speaker 1: 29th of October. So nice. 00:46:37 Speaker 2: That was beautiful. 00:46:41 Speaker 12: She enjoyed that. She told me when I got home, she said she was smiling really big. 00:46:46 Speaker 5: I'll bet she was. 00:46:48 Speaker 11: Yeah. 00:46:48 Speaker 2: My pastor was also born that day. So that's a popular day, right? 00:46:52 Speaker 1: It is. 00:46:52 Speaker 8: Very popular. 00:46:54 Speaker 2: You tell her that James... This crazy guy on the radio said happy birthday, too. 00:47:01 Speaker 5: I'll tell her. 00:47:01 Speaker 12: I'll definitely let her know. 00:47:02 Speaker 5: Hey, there's a gremlin on my phone because all of a sudden it just started playing. Yeah, they want me to buy. I'm not getting it. 00:47:08 Speaker 12: They want you to buy something? 00:47:09 Speaker 6: They want me to buy it. 00:47:10 Speaker 4: Yeah, they want you to buy it. 00:47:12 Speaker 5: The chat line here. Looking forward to voting with my grandson today after work. 00:47:19 Speaker 1: Yay. 00:47:20 Speaker 5: Can you give an applause line for that one? 00:47:21 Speaker 1: Let me bring it up here. Here we go. 00:47:23 Speaker 11: Yeah. 00:47:24 Speaker 5: Come on, applause. 00:47:25 Speaker 8: There it is. 00:47:25 Speaker 5: Another listener. No one should have to choose which essential need to sacrifice just to make ends meet. That's why it's critical. 00:47:31 Speaker 8: That's so true. 00:47:32 Speaker 5: That we vote. 00:47:33 Speaker 6: Oh, man. 00:47:34 Speaker 2: They are on it, these chat people. 00:47:35 Speaker 7: They are on it. 00:47:36 Speaker 1: They're on it. And Mr. 00:47:37 Speaker 12: Johnson was impressive. 00:47:39 Speaker 5: Wasn't he impressive? Yeah, very much so. 00:47:42 Speaker 12: I mean, he just, the inspiration and encouraging those in his demographic to vote, that's just outstanding. 00:47:49 Speaker 5: He's got a future. 00:47:51 Speaker 4: Yes, he does. 00:47:53 Speaker 5: Well, impressive, outstanding, all words that have been used over and over and over to describe our next guest. She is no stranger to the show, a good friend of our show, especially around election time. None other than Miss Cordelia Lewis-Burks. Miss Cordelia, how are you today? 00:48:11 Speaker 13: I am truly blessed and feeling pretty good. 00:48:15 Speaker 5: Okay, you're sounding great. 00:48:16 Speaker 13: I'm going to get out later and rake some leaves. 00:48:19 Speaker 5: Oh, Miss Cordelia, are you supposed to be doing that? 00:48:23 Speaker 13: No, but you know me. 00:48:25 Speaker 2: Do it anyway. Do it anyway. 00:48:27 Speaker 5: It's a beautiful day. Beautiful day. So I don't know how much of the show you were able to listen to or how much you heard, but it looks like we're coming up on an extremely busy weekend with the rallies and the marches and the rides to the polls tomorrow, the souls to the polls on Sunday. 00:48:45 Speaker 1: Uh. 00:48:45 Speaker 5: from all of the the area churches the reports uh... lines around the early voting centers everyday during all parts of the day what what do you make of all that is going to be well. 00:48:59 Speaker 13: I think it's important that this is one of the most important election and i think that every year because every election day is important but we've never had to put up with the Department of Justice here in Marion and Lake Counties. And you know, they have targeted our counties because this is where most Democrats are in Marion and Lake County, Gary, Indiana. And the reason why the Department of Justice knew this, Diego, the present Secretary of State, gave all of our voting data to the Trump administration. 00:49:43 Speaker 5: Oh, Diego Morales, when he surrendered that information. Okay, thanks for making that connection, yes. 00:49:49 Speaker 13: That is the connection. 00:49:51 Speaker 5: And there's the poll. Yeah, Diego did it. 00:49:56 Speaker 13: And I know that you cannot endorse candidates, but I'm your guest, and everybody knows that I am a Democrat. Died in the war with Democrats. So I am supporting Bobai. Okay. 00:50:12 Speaker 5: Well, you know what, Ms. 00:50:13 Speaker 13: Padilla, can you— I know you can't do that, Tina, but, you know, it's a guess. 00:50:16 Speaker 5: No, he's the only one of the Secretary of State candidates that I've asked that I still haven't been able to get a hold of. So whatever influence you may have to get him here on the show to call in or— Because we've got all the way up to Election Day, you know, Monday and even Tuesday. We would love to have him. 00:50:32 Speaker 13: Well, I contacted the campaign. 00:50:34 Speaker 4: Okay. 00:50:37 Speaker 13: For some information. And guess who responded? It was Bo and Governor... Senator Ebenbach. 00:50:47 Speaker 11: Okay. 00:50:48 Speaker 13: Who responded by email. 00:50:50 Speaker 11: Okay. 00:50:51 Speaker 7: So they say, hey, get a hold of that lady. She's got some pull. 00:50:55 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:50:56 Speaker 13: And I'm going to tell you, in February of this year, I had a text message asking if Bo could visit me at my home, and of course I said yes, because I've known those boys since they came in the world, you know, when Susan and Evan were proud parents of twins. So he came by, and he bought me a dozen long-shield

yellow roses and a boss, no less. 00:51:24 Speaker 7: Wow. 00:51:26 Speaker 13: And I went to hear him at the Marin County Democratic meeting this past week, And he was just excellent, just an excellent young man. And as I said, for the first time in my life, Tina, except for when I lived in Washington, I voted by mail. I called the election board and got me an application and completed it, sent it back, and got my voting sheet. And it's already been mailed. 00:52:00 Speaker 11: So, Ms. 00:52:01 Speaker 5: Cordelia, and good for you. I knew you'd get your vote in there somehow, and I knew you'd get it in. But what do you make of the polls that are all leaning toward heavily favoring Democrats in elections from coast to coast? 00:52:18 Speaker 11: Well, I'm going to call you Tina. 00:52:19 Speaker 13: What do you think of it? always said, baby, wait until the fat lady sings. The fat lady is the election night, so we can see who won and who lost. And I am hoping that we will come through, because if we don't, we're in for even more terrible times than we've been facing with Donald Trump in his second presidency. 00:52:57 Speaker 5: Yeah, James. 00:53:00 Speaker 9: Yeah, Ms. 00:53:01 Speaker 2: Burks, Cordelia Lewis-Burks, thank you for being here. You are a treasure to our community. Every time we hear your voice, you are inspiring. And I don't just say that lightly because you have the history to prove it, okay? But you said you voted already. And I wonder, you don't have to tell me how you voted on this. You told us that you voted for Bobai. But public question one, these amendment changes they want to make. It says that, and we've said this on this show before, that it provides that a person charged with an offense other than murder or treason is not entitled to bail if the proof is evident. or the proof is that imminent, you know, before trial, or the presumption strong, or the state proves by clear and convincing evidence before trial that no release conditions will be reasonably protected and protect the safety of other person, person, or any other person or community. So can you give us some guidance on this amendment to the listeners? 00:54:12 Speaker 13: Well, yes. I voted on both of those issues because they're very important. It's seldom that we have a chance to vote on issues. So what I did, and I'll call him later and ask him to call you, Tina, I called my friend and attorney, Aaron Haight to get guidance on those issues. I also called him on getting guidance on the superior court judges, especially for those that I had not worked with over the years. So it's always good to have an opinion of somebody who is knowledgeable about the issues, and Aaron is certainly knowledgeable about those issues. Are we still on? 00:55:09 Speaker 5: Yes, yes, we're still on. We were just waiting for you to finish your thought. 00:55:13 Speaker 1: Ms. 00:55:13 Speaker 5: Cordelia, if the election does swing heavily for the Democrats, one of the biggest criticisms of Democrats is they do not know how to fight, that the Democrats are too nice and follow protocol and statesmanship and things of that nature. If in fact... The election will swing heavily or even favor, not necessarily heavily, but even favor Democrats. What are your thoughts on how Democrats are going to fight this current administration and how you know what what we could possibly expect? I mean, are you are you convinced or are you confident that they won't fall back into the Mr. Nice routine that a lot of people are accusing them of? 00:56:01 Speaker 13: Well, I'm going to tell you, Ken Martin, who is chair of the National Democratic Committee, called me the other day thanking me for the contribution that I sent in. 00:56:12 Speaker 5: Ken Martin, the Democratic D.C. 00:56:16 Speaker 11: Chair. 00:56:16 Speaker 13: Yeah, chair of the Democratic National Committee. 00:56:19 Speaker 5: Democratic National Committee chair, yeah. 00:56:22 Speaker 13: And he's from Minnesota. And I said to Ken... We cannot be Mr. and Mrs. Nice Guy this year. Our voters are expecting us to fight back and fight heavily, and he assured me that we would nationally, and I am hoping we will in the state of Indiana, because now you see that we are being monitored for the first time by the Justice Department under Donald Trump, coming to polling places. And thanks for having Kate Sweeney-Bell on this week to provide this information. 00:57:03 Speaker 5: Yeah, she was on twice, actually. 00:57:05 Speaker 13: Yeah. Let me tell you what that entails. The monitors are not allowed in the polling place. They must stand outside the chute, which extends 50... interest beyond where the polling place officials claim is the interest of the polling place. They will be sending in six teams to each county. That's each six teams to Indianapolis County and six to Lake County. You know why they picked Lake and Marion? Because Diego probably gave them the inside information. These are heavily Democratic and African-American counties. 00:57:58 Speaker 5: Of course. 00:58:01 Speaker 13: They can approach the voters as the voters leave, but they cannot go in. And upon approaching a voter, they're expected to identify themselves as with the Department of Justice. They cannot ask to see their official, the voter can ask to see their official identification. So it's going to be an interesting day in Marion and Lake County. They are sending 1,000 of their folks out around the country, and of that number, only 24 are coming to Indiana. And those 24 are focused only, as I said, on Lake and Marion County. 00:58:55 Speaker 5: Well, this was on the Instagram page of Congressman Carson, Andre. And he basically said the same thing. His numbers were a little different than yours, but that's okay. uh in any way he says new the marion county clerk's office has confirmed 12 federal election monitors will be in marion county on election day these individuals are permitted to stand outside

polling locations not inside They are not permitted to hassle voters and you are not obligated to speak with them. If you see anyone interfering with the election process during early voting or on Election Day, you can call 317-327-VOTE. And then we also have another number that Common Cause Indiana has given us, and that is 866-OUR-VOTE, 866-OUR-VOTE. 00:59:49 Speaker 6: Our vote. 00:59:50 Speaker 5: So basically, you're not obligated to talk to them at all. We understand, I think there was another source, I can't remember exactly where it was, but that they will not have guns, will not be wearing anything identifiable, identifying them as such. I think somebody asked, will they have on face masks and things like that? And no, that is believed to not be the case. So If 12 are here, I don't know how many are going to be in Lake County because that wasn't on Andre's post. So you're saying there'll be 12 in Lake County as well? 01:00:25 Speaker 14: Yes. 01:00:25 Speaker 5: So that'll be a total of 24. 01:00:26 Speaker 9: Okay. 01:00:26 Speaker 5: Okay. 01:00:27 Speaker 13: Numbers are— But remember now, I don't recall the number of polling places in Lake County. 01:00:34 Speaker 14: Okay. 01:00:35 Speaker 13: But in Marion County, there are over 180 polling locations. And it was six teams that they must spend time in cars traveling to different locations. So we will see. They will be dressed in plain clothes. They will be unarmed, we hope. And do not have arrest powers, because that's one of the things the Trump administration wants our voters to act afraid, to be afraid and not come to the polling places to vote. But this is a historical moment, so get out there and use your power. The power is your vote. So let's get out there and be on our best behavior as we always are. 01:01:25 Speaker 5: Use your power and don't throw away your inheritance. I keep saying that because that is truly, I mean, you talk about those who came before us leaving us something. They sure did. They left us the right to vote, and we shouldn't squander that at all. We shouldn't. James, you have another question for Ms. Cordelia, and then I have a comment from the chat line. Go ahead, James. 01:01:47 Speaker 2: Well, I just I wanted to ask, I mean, 12 monitors for over 180, yeah, in Marion County for over 180, they're going to be stretched pretty thin, isn't it? That doesn't seem to be, I mean, the fact that they're coming here is notable, but I don't see how they're going to have any kind of impact at all. 01:02:09 Speaker 6: Your thoughts? 01:02:11 Speaker 13: Well, James, I think they will be surveilling the counties where we have the most African-American voters. Now, you know how Donald Trump feels about black folks. 01:02:25 Speaker 5: Yeah, but what James is saying. 01:02:29 Speaker 13: And I'm sure Diego has given them information of where they can best use their— I won't say their power, but where they can best be stationed. 01:02:40 Speaker 5: Well, I think what James was saying, Ms. Cordelia, was that in Marion County alone, you're sending 12 people to monitor over 180 vote centers, and I've got every one of them listed here, and guess what? It's eight pages of vote centers. So where they think they're going to be most effective and who they think they can go boo to and somebody's going to run, I don't know, but they're not going to be able to to stretch very far with 180 vote centers in Marion County on Election Day. 01:03:11 Speaker 13: Well, you know, with the letter that they sent to Kate, they're just trying to put fear in our voters. 01:03:22 Speaker 2: They've already, you know, tried to accomplish what they're trying to accomplish. I didn't say they accomplished it, but they've already accomplished what they've tried, what they're trying to accomplish, which is to try to put fear into the community about going to vote. 01:03:35 Speaker 1: Yeah. 01:03:36 Speaker 13: That's for sure. And let me say this. I was surprised to see how the voting turnout is going on in the southern states. Isn't that great? Donald Trump is traveling everywhere trying to keep his power. So let us show our power by getting out and voting. 01:03:59 Speaker 5: Ms. Cordelia, in the chat line, one of the listeners writes, can the DOJ monitors bother you after you leave the polling place? 01:04:11 Speaker 13: They cannot. They cannot monitor you. They cannot ask you any questions, and you don't have to answer if they do. 01:04:22 Speaker 5: So they basically can't do a. 01:04:24 Speaker 11: All they want to do is to be seen. 01:04:28 Speaker 13: Donald Trump wants them to be seen so that the voters will not go into the polling place. So let's fool him. Shame on him. I let everybody know on Facebook that I had voted early. I had voted by mail. And then I said a word that I'm not going to say on the radio show. 01:04:59 Speaker 5: Let them know oh well yeah that's him you know okay 317-480-1310 317-480-1310 is the number to the show miss cordelia lewis burks is our guest miss cordelia as you know is a veteran democratic organizer strategist uh community activist civic leader you name it, and Ms. Cordelia wears that title. And she is here today. 01:05:26 Speaker 11: Ms. 01:05:27 Speaker 5: Cordelia, you said, I want to come on and I want to encourage, right before the election, encourage everyone to get out and vote. And, you know, Ms. Cordelia, with the numbers that we're seeing and the lines and this seemingly onslaught of enthusiasm, what do you think is driving that. Because just saying get out and vote, register to vote or whatever, a lot of times when people say that, it doesn't motivate folks to do it. You've been around for a while. What do you think the motivator is this time? 01:05:59 Speaker 13: I think the motivator is Donald Trump and the war he started that he didn't have to start. And the price at the service stations when you pull up to get gas, people cannot afford to pay their bills now because their paychecks

have gone down. He's trying to get rid of Social Security and Medicare. These are the motivating factors. You know, it's one thing that I've always said, and one of the things that I tried to do with Operation Big Vote, when I asked people and our phone bankers asked people to get out and vote, we told them why they should. You know, and that's what we need to do. But Donald Trump has done it for us this time. So we need to get out and show him our power. Our power is our vote. And if you don't use it, I don't know what to say about you. And one of the things that is going to happen, in my opinion, and it's unfortunate, when he tried to get the state of Indiana to redistrict the congressional seat— Indiana did not. Senator Bray, who is a Republican and was in charge of the Indiana Senate, did not redistrict. He didn't put it up for redistricting in the state of Indiana. Therefore, even he... Well, he didn't lose his seat. He decided not to run again. But these senators who did get in, they were trying to delete most of Andre Carson's district, the 7th Congressional District. And they will have him drawn all the way to Ohio and Illinois if they can. So we must get out in numbers to show that we appreciate having a congressperson like Andre Carson because he has done great things in the Congress for the people of Indiana. And we must show our appreciation to Andre. 01:08:14 Speaker 5: Yeah, I think we have told and people have been told, but until they're shown, until somebody shows them, and I think Trump showed why you should vote because people are feeling it. You know, it's a lot different than hearing it and feeling it. You can hear it all you want, but when it starts to affect your ability to, you know, I'm not going to fill up this time because I don't need that much gas. I'll use, I'll just, you know, get what I need and get the rest later. You know, little decisions like that that we're hearing, people share with us like, well, do I really need this? Or do I buy the generic or the name brand? Or maybe I'll, you know, it's you know constantly bargaining with yourself constantly trying to make your balance sheet and your little calculator in the grocery store or wherever uh figure you know to figure out in your favor that that gets exhausting that gets exhausting. 01:09:07 Speaker 13: Indeed you know I look at my own grocery bills and I buy very little because my granddaughter doesn't cook or eat she lives here but but um I look at what I purchase, and I have the ability to purchase, you know. I've been blessed to have worked for a union and have a good pension. That's great. Yeah. And he's trying to get rid of those, including Social Security. So, you know, let's get out and show that we have the power to retain all of the benefits that Lyndon Johnson. 01:09:47 Speaker 11: and. 01:09:48 Speaker 13: Other Democratic presidents have provided for us and what our mothers and fathers and grandparents worked hard for. I'm hoping the young people

don't take this lightly. 01:10:03 Speaker 10: Oh, well. 01:10:06 Speaker 5: We just had a dynamic young man here right before you came, and that is his hope, too, that people his age and younger or even older Don't take it lightly. And he held himself up as an example and paying three hundred dollars a week for daycare. He said, that's that's just unacceptable. But what I have to do. But yeah. So, yeah, we're keeping that in mind as well. 317-480-1310, 317-480-1310. 01:10:32 Speaker 1: Ms. 01:10:33 Speaker 5: Cordelia Lewis-Burks is our guest. We're talking elections and we're talking get out there and vote because this is the last weekend of early voting. And then election day, of course, if you're an election day voter, by all means, make your plans and make sure that you're there. There will be 182, at least 182 vote centers in place in Indianapolis and Marion County throughout the day. Right now there are eight, well, nine, counting the city-county building, nine early vote centers that you can utilize over this weekend. So let's go back to the phone lines, Ms. Cordelia. Brother Man, you have a comment or a question for Ms. Cordelia? 01:11:12 Speaker 7: Yes, Ms. Tina, Jane, Eric, and Ms. Cordelia, you're doing a great job helping the people in this city to get out and vote. Thank you, Brother Man. And I'm a retired UAW worker. 01:11:30 Speaker 13: All right. 01:11:33 Speaker 5: She's a union person, brother man. She's a union person. Okay. 01:11:39 Speaker 7: Local 550. They connect with local 933. 01:11:44 Speaker 13: That's the Chrysler local. 01:11:47 Speaker 7: Yeah, that's me. 01:11:48 Speaker 13: Yeah, he was our president. 01:11:51 Speaker 7: Yes, he was. And his son was president before he left. Sure was. Both of them, father and son. So good work. And to the people that don't vote, you need to go out and vote because things will change in your life if you do. And we know what we got in the White House. We got a racist, hateful, And I ain't going to say no more. I want to keep laughing at you. 01:12:26 Speaker 1: Okay. 01:12:27 Speaker 11: All right. 01:12:28 Speaker 5: Appreciate it, Brother Matt. Appreciate you. 317-480-1310. 317-480-1310. Eric, Brother Matt edited so you didn't have to. 01:12:37 Speaker 12: I'm so glad about that. 01:12:38 Speaker 5: Wasn't that nice? 01:12:39 Speaker 1: That was very nice. 01:12:40 Speaker 5: Thank you, Brother Matt. 01:12:40 Speaker 11: And Ms. 01:12:40 Speaker 5: Cordelia self-edited so you don't have to. 01:12:42 Speaker 7: She did. 01:12:43 Speaker 9: So that's two. 01:12:43 Speaker 5: That's two in a row. 01:12:44 Speaker 12: A little less pressure. 01:12:45 Speaker 5: A little less pressure. Let's go back to the phone lines. Pierre, you have a question for Ms. Cordelia? 01:12:49 Speaker 7: Yeah. 01:12:51 Speaker 9: Yeah, yeah. I can give it to Ms. 01:12:54 Speaker 10: Burks. 01:12:56 Speaker 9: I was going to ask you about it, Tina. You know, I've been reading the paper, and I didn't know, because I haven't been able to listen to the radio, if y'all talked any more about what's going on out there in Pike with your board and all of that. This vehicle controversy thing, I mean, come, is it really that deep? I mean, you know, public officials, and then when you look at the pay raises, I mean, I'm generally a supporter of the Pike trustee out there, but, you know, the pay raises and the little money– that she gave out or whatever, and then they take her car away. So what happens if an apartment complex burns down in the middle of the night and she's got to get up and go over there or whatever? What's she supposed to do, drive her vehicle back to the office and then get in the official vehicle and then run over there and then take it back? I mean, you know... that's just really, uh, petty. And I just wanted to get, uh, you know, these elected officials who do this kind of relief work and stuff like that. Um, you know, I don't have a problem with them using, um, the car. And I think the law needs to be changed because these people, um, they go into the growth. They can't even shop in the grocery store without somebody asking them for something or, you know, uh, It's really, when you're a public official in those type of jobs, not just elected representative, but those public officials in those jobs, I mean, you work 24-7. So what do y'all think about this vehicle thing? 01:15:02 Speaker 2: Ms. 01:15:02 Speaker 9: Burke, she knows a lot of people. She's seen the way public officials work. What do you think about it? 01:15:11 Speaker 13: Well, let me first say this. I know the trustee out in Pike Township. As a matter of fact, when she was looking for a job under our former Democratic superintendent of education, I helped her get a position with the Department of Education. When you run for these offices, you should know the rules, and to serve does not mean that everything you want, you can get. I don't know what the rules are for any township, but let me tell you about my trustee. She drives her own car. Donna Freeman drives her personal car. And I can appreciate her. As a matter of fact, I was at... Elder Rush's program last night at the Bates Center up here at 34 in Illinois. I did not go up to attend because I had been raking and bagging leaves all afternoon. I went up to take Elder Rush's contribution, and Reverend Bates drug me on in that room, and there sat LaDonna Freeman. And when she was allowed to speak... She said, my record speaks for itself. All I'm going to do is ask you to give me your vote this election. And I can appreciate her. She and my daughter were great friends, and they had been friends forever. But LaDonna knows the rules. She drives her personal car. Now, you know, when I worked for the union, I drove my personal car, not here in Indianapolis when I worked, but if I went out of Marion County, I gave, I had mileage, like 60 cents a mile or something like that. But, you know, these elected officials, they need to

get in to serve the people, not serve themselves. And that's all I have to say on that issue. 01:17:25 Speaker 5: Thank you, Pierre. 01:17:25 Speaker 14: Okay. 01:17:30 Speaker 11: All right. 01:17:31 Speaker 9: Well, that's a good opinion. 01:17:34 Speaker 13: You know, there's a lot of people, especially young people, who come to my house and they want to talk about running for office. And the first thing I ask is, why do you want to run? And if they don't tell me I want to serve the people within the area that I want to run in, then I let them know that they don't need to run. because it's all about service. It's not about you. And I noticed that a lot of... You know, one of the things I said to my senator, Grant Taylor, I tried to get in touch with him one night about the issue and got an email or text or something telling me to contact the staff the next day. Hell, I didn't elect the staff. I elected him. So anyway. 01:18:25 Speaker 13: I can now get in touch with Senator Greg Taylor, and I appreciate that. 01:18:29 Speaker 5: Okay. 01:18:30 Speaker 11: All right. 01:18:31 Speaker 5: Well, thank you, Pierre. Appreciate it. Let's go back to the phone lines, 317-480-1310, 317-480-1310. Lynn, you have a question? Well, actually, it was just a comment about the Warren Township voting facility. 01:18:50 Speaker 14: I voted there Monday afternoon. I went about till 3, 3.30, and the line was really short. I was almost right up to the door when I got there. And when I got in there, actually, the people in there working said that that was the slowest time of the day. And it was around 3, 3.30. And then yesterday, I just happened to be driving past there around the same time, around 3 o'clock. And, again, the line was really short. I saw just maybe a handful of people at the door. So I think, you know, it's been like really busy in the morning, and it's probably going to be really busy in the evening. But around 3 or so is about the best time to go, you know, and you won't have a long line. 01:19:38 Speaker 1: Okay. 01:19:39 Speaker 5: Well, thank you very much. Appreciate it. That was a nice update. You're welcome. Have a blessed day. Thank you. 317-480-1310. 317-480-1310 is the number to call. 01:19:50 Speaker 1: Ms. 01:19:50 Speaker 5: Cordelia Lewis-Burks is our guest. 01:19:52 Speaker 11: Ms. 01:19:53 Speaker 5: Cordelia, of course, veteran Democratic organizer, political strategist, community voting activist. 01:19:59 Speaker 11: Ms. 01:19:59 Speaker 5: Cordelia. 01:20:00 Speaker 14: Ms. 01:20:01 Speaker 5: Cordelia, Mr. Russell has a question or comment for you. Go ahead, Mr. 01:20:05 Speaker 6: Russell. Hello, ladies. Just wanted to say, you know, these U.S. Justice Department so-called monitors, I think they're coming not only for intimidating people, but I think the Trump administration is trying to line up a way that when he sees that his people are being defeated, he's going to try to come up with the Justice Department monitors to say, well, this happened and this happened, so this is not going to be legitimate. He's just trying to get evidence, so-called evidence, after the election to try to feather his net, so to speak. I think that's what they're really trying to do. They're trying to come up with criticisms of the process and this and that. So I think that's the big thing. The other thing I think that in terms of people coming out to vote, On their ballot, it might save them some time because there's a list of judges that should be retained on the ballot. About 17 or so, and they ask you, should this judge be retained, yes or no? Most people don't know who these people are. So if they go to their smartphones and YouTube or whatever, they can find information on on the judges that are up for, uh, uh, being retained. And that might save them some time when they go to the, uh, voting, uh, uh, booth. Also, uh, Teresa Sutton called me last night and she said that, um, in terms of taking a break from, from the election process, that they're having a play tonight at seven o'clock in Hallville. I think it's nine 59, uh, North Holmes, H-O-L-M-E-S Avenue, called The Bridge Church. Have you heard about that, Tina? 01:22:10 Speaker 5: I have not. I have not. 01:22:12 Speaker 6: But it's a play called In Between. In Between. And it's going to be dealing with, you said, earth angels and hell's angels and heaven's angels. So it should be interesting, but they're also going to have food and refreshments and. 01:22:33 Speaker 6: If people want to take a break, you know, you might check it out at 7 o'clock tonight. 01:22:41 Speaker 4: Okay. 01:22:42 Speaker 1: Okay. 01:22:43 Speaker 5: Have you heard of it, James, or Ms. Cordelia? 01:22:45 Speaker 13: No, I had not. 01:22:46 Speaker 2: I hadn't either. 01:22:50 Speaker 6: You know, since that bridge went out on 16th Street, Harville seems to be really popping. They had. 01:23:00 Speaker 6: Moeville Sanders dedication to the park out there a week or so ago. And then they're having this play. And then, you know, coming up, they're going to have the Moeville Sanders Thanksgiving dinner. So they're doing a lot of Moeville. 01:23:17 Speaker 13: All right. 01:23:18 Speaker 5: That's a great thing. 01:23:19 Speaker 13: Reminder and information. Tina, I'd like to say something to the listeners of Community Connections, your show. I... I was at Lowe's shopping one day, and I needed some assistance. And they sent a young man to help me find the product that I wanted. And I said, young man, I want to thank you. My name is Ms. Cordelia, and I want you to know that I appreciate the service that you provide me. And there was a lady there, and she said, are you Miss Cordelia on Tina's show? And I said, yes, ma'am, I am. She said, I always listen to Tina, but I enjoy you, and I thank her as well. Then last week, I'm going to say this. When I got out of college, I went to– I graduated from– West Virginia State College, now West Virginia State University.

And I went to Chicago to live with my two aunts and my grandfather, because I knew I couldn't live with my dad, who was a church of God in Christ pastor. But it was hard on me. I was walking through 5th Avenue one day, and this lady stopped me. And she said, do you mind if I speak with you? And I thought, oh, my God, I hope this woman don't think I've stolen anything. But she wanted to ask me if I would be a model for Saks. And I said, well, I need to talk to my aunt about that. And she gave me her phone number. So I ended up being a model for Saks Fifth Avenue. But one of the things that Ms. Parker taught me is she said, I see your nails are manicured. And I said, yes, ma'am. She said, always have your nails manicured at least twice a month. So I'm sitting in the nail spa out here on Michigan Road, and this lady said, I heard you talking to the manicurist, and you sound like Miss Cordelia. I said, yes, ma'am, that's my name. She said, I listen to you on Tina's show. So, Tina, thanks to your audience for listening to you. And I certainly appreciate their interest. 01:25:48 Speaker 5: Well, thank you, Ms. Cordillo. James, any other questions or thoughts for Ms. 01:25:53 Speaker 1: Cordillo? 01:25:53 Speaker 5: I know you want basically to encourage everyone to vote and, you know, make these last few days, you know, let's finish strong. But go ahead, James. 01:26:04 Speaker 2: Oh, were you talking to me? 01:26:05 Speaker 5: No, I was, yeah. Let's see if there was anything. 01:26:08 Speaker 2: It's kind of a question for Ms. Cordelia, yeah. Yeah, me too. You know, we thank Ms. Cordelia for her decades and decades and decades of service. And the fact that she supports Vobai, you know, we thank her for sharing that with us. But she, in the past, has, you know, talked about the down ballot races, not just those at the top. And I'd like for her to tell us how important those down ballot races are. This is not a general presidential election, but it's a midterm election. So the Congress and some state government like Secretary of State, Treasurer and those kinds of officers are on the ballot along with some of the referendums we talked about, but why is it important for the down-ballot races for the voters? That's my question for her. 01:27:09 Speaker 13: You know, the down-ballot races are most important as far as I'm concerned. Who do I want to be my trustee? Who do I want to be my congressman? You know, Greg Porter... I remember when Greg came to me years ago and said he wanted to run. I said, well, file. Well, I don't have this. And I said, file. So Greg filed, and he's been reelected ever since. And he has the highest vote totals in the area. I'll just put it that way. Because Greg keeps up and keeps his voters informed. And one way he has that picnic every September, and it's a mighty event. But, you know, who do you want to... have to go to if you have a parent or a relative or a friend that died and they had no insurance for burial. That's one of

the things that the trustee will help you do. You know, if you don't have enough money to pay all of your rent, go and talk to the trustee. That's a down ballot position, and it's on the ballot this year, you know. We have been blessed to have several Indiana state representatives and state senators. So those are the down-ballot races. Let's vote for them, and let's vote in numbers. That's what we need to do. And if you are at the polls and you have problems or you want to report some suspicious activity, call us. And I know Tina has this number. 01:28:59 Speaker 5: 866-OUR-VOTE or the other 317-327-8683. And there's also 317-327-VOTE. 01:29:04 Speaker 13: So let's just get out. We have a lovely weekend coming up. Let's get out and utilize this. And then we can go to all of our activities that we want to share with our families. 01:29:29 Speaker 5: Indeed. Well, Ms. Cordelia, we've got one final caller that I'm going to connect you with, but I did want to get this in before we have to sign off completely. And that is, Eric, we would all like to wish all the best and much continued success to Dionne Levingston. Dionne's last day here. 01:29:46 Speaker 6: Oh, my. 01:29:47 Speaker 5: Yeah, Dionne's leaving. His last day of co-president of Urban One's audio division is today, even though his contract expires tomorrow. As you know, Dion always made time to stop in and share his thoughts here on the show, including elections and politics, which was one of his favorite topics. Many of them eliciting huge responses from folks listening. He was also good at getting things going and then taking off for a meeting. 01:30:11 Speaker 8: He certainly would. 01:30:13 Speaker 5: I called him the fire starter. He's not able to be with us right now, but at any rate, he has been quite the leader here during my past seven years and has been at the forefront of unbelievable accomplishments during his 37 years in radio. So, again, just want to wish him well in his next chapter. 01:30:32 Speaker 1: Yes. 01:30:32 Speaker 5: We're going to miss you, Dion. 01:30:34 Speaker 8: That's the truth. 01:30:34 Speaker 5: But the door is always open for a conversation whenever you have time to stop by. And as always, Dion, we thank you, thank you, thank you for all you've done. So I wanted to get that in. Thank you so much. 01:30:46 Speaker 14: But, Ms. 01:30:47 Speaker 5: Cordelia, I have one final caller. And who better to close it out than Dr. Tommy Brown, our colleague, on Praise AM 1310 and 95.1 FM. Dr. Brown, how are you? 01:30:58 Speaker 11: I'm doing fine. I'm doing fine because I'm listening to the fine Cordelia Lewis. 01:31:03 Speaker 1: Yes, honey. 01:31:03 Speaker 5: Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. 01:31:05 Speaker 11: That's my... My sister, we go so way back, it scares us both. 01:31:10 Speaker 13: Even when he was in college. 01:31:12 Speaker 5: Oh, wow, wow. Back in the college days, huh? 01:31:17 Speaker 4: Yes. 01:31:18 Speaker 11: Hang, keep on doing your thing. And thanks, Tina, for letting me know about Dion. I will roll partners. 01:31:27 Speaker 5: Okay. Yeah, Dion, he's one of a kind. He was just absolutely one of a kind. And, again, I'm sorry. He was here the other day, and I know he would have liked to have been here today, but, you know, just business keeps you going. But, yeah, we appreciate Dion. We really do. 01:31:46 Speaker 11: I am so happy for Delia's voice. Now, you think she's tough now, let her get in a debate with you, and you may want to run and hide. 01:31:59 Speaker 5: I wouldn't dare. 01:32:00 Speaker 13: I was on the debate team at Kimball High School in Kimball, West Virginia. 01:32:07 Speaker 5: Indeed, indeed. But, yeah, Dr. Brown, thank you for all you do. Do you have Ms. Cordelia on tomorrow? 01:32:15 Speaker 11: Hey, I heard her. I'm going to try to see what I can do. I've got Samuel Jackson, and when Cordelia was talking about people who want to run for office, she hit it. If you're not going to serve, don't even try it. 01:32:27 Speaker 1: That's for sure. 01:32:28 Speaker 5: Okay. 01:32:28 Speaker 11: I mean, and she said it nicely, but I bet that she. 01:32:33 Speaker 5: Somebody else is going to be self-editing here. I can hear it. 01:32:35 Speaker 13: I can feel it. 01:32:36 Speaker 5: I can feel it. 01:32:37 Speaker 3: Indeed. 01:32:38 Speaker 5: Thank you, Dr. 01:32:39 Speaker 11: Brown. 01:32:40 Speaker 5: Thank you, Ms. Cordelia. Thank you, James. Thank you, Eric. Everyone, take this last weekend to early vote. Thank you, Tina. Take this last weekend to early vote. Thank you all so much. And we'll be back on Monday. Yeah, Monday. Yeah, Monday. 01:32:54 Speaker 7: Monday. 01:32:55 Speaker 5: Yeah. Julia Vaughn. 01:32:57 Speaker 7: Yeah, Monday. 01:32:57 Speaker 13: That's right. 01:32:58 Speaker 8: She's here on Monday. I had to think about that. 01:33:00 Speaker 5: Yeah, I had to think about it, too. Willie Moore Jr. on the radio is up next. As always, thank you all so much for listening. Please continue to be safe, be well, and to stay informed. For everyone here at Community Connection, I'm Tina Cosby. Have a great weekend. 01:33:14 Speaker 11: Vote, vote, vote.