Representative Paul Wickensimer: Serving the Community with a Passion for Public Service | EP 37

1
00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,880
What does it take to dedicate
nearly 4 decades to public

2
00:00:02,880 --> 00:00:05,680
service while driving positive
change for your community?

3
00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:09,400
How do you balance explosive
economic growth while preserving

4
00:00:09,400 --> 00:00:11,280
the unique spirit of the
Carolinas?

5
00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:14,440
And what can business leaders
learn from someone who's managed

6
00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:17,280
both courtrooms and county
budgets, earning South

7
00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:19,600
Carolina's highest civilian
honor along the way?

8
00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:22,760
Today's guest is Paul
Wickensheimer, South Carolina

9
00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:25,720
House Representative for
District 22 and a true public

10
00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:28,000
servant.
With 23 years of Greenville

11
00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:31,200
County Clerk of Court and 15
years on County Council,

12
00:00:31,400 --> 00:00:34,440
including as Chair, Paul's
leadership has changed policy,

13
00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:36,760
infrastructure and fiscal
responsibility across the

14
00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:38,840
Upstate.
Honored with the Order of the

15
00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:42,600
Palmetto in 2021, he now brings
his decades of experience to the

16
00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:45,600
State House, serving on key
committees that impacts business

17
00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:48,560
and community growth.
In this episode, you'll discover

18
00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:51,160
actionable strategies for
navigating rapid growth while

19
00:00:51,160 --> 00:00:54,320
maintaining fiscal discipline,
leadership lessons for managing

20
00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:57,680
multi $1,000,000 budgets without
raising taxes, and how to build

21
00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:00,480
infrastructure that supports
both business and community

22
00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:02,520
needs.
You also gain insider

23
00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:05,680
perspectives on balancing public
safety with economic development

24
00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:08,480
and practical tips for
collaborating across government

25
00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:12,080
levels to achieve real results
here in the Carolinas.

26
00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:20,360
Representative, thank you so
much for joining me.

27
00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:21,440
Thank you.
Good to be with.

28
00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:24,800
You, it's always a great
opportunity to get to speak with

29
00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:28,520
your local elected officials.
So I really appreciate the time.

30
00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:29,360
Thank you.
Yeah.

31
00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:35,240
So I guess you've been in
politics for a long time, but as

32
00:01:35,240 --> 00:01:37,320
of now, just recently, South
Carolina House of

33
00:01:37,320 --> 00:01:39,480
Representatives.
So can you speak a little bit

34
00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:41,880
about that jump and kind of what
it means to you to serve in the

35
00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:44,200
House as of this past year?
Sure.

36
00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:48,160
I of course, as you mentioned, I
was clerk of court for a number

37
00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:51,560
of years and decided to retire a
couple years ago.

38
00:01:51,560 --> 00:01:56,000
And I really thought my public
service career was over with and

39
00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:59,160
then found out Jason Elliott was
in the State House.

40
00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:01,240
He was going to run for the
state Senate.

41
00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:04,520
So that opened up the House seat
and I got thinking about it and

42
00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:06,280
talked to some friends about it,
prayed about it.

43
00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:09,199
And I thought, well, you know,
maybe public service isn't over

44
00:02:09,199 --> 00:02:12,880
with, you know, maybe I'll put
my name out there and just see

45
00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:14,760
if folks want me to represent
them.

46
00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:17,160
So that's really how I got into
this.

47
00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:19,200
And I, I mean, I enjoy public
service.

48
00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:21,760
When I first got started, I
thought, well, I'll do it a term

49
00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:24,160
or two and then I'll, I'll go
home and that'll be it.

50
00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:27,080
But it just kind of gets in your
blood, you know, to work with

51
00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:30,920
people and get to know people
and trying to figure out

52
00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:35,280
solutions to problems.
And, you know, there's just so

53
00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:38,120
many good people in our
community to work with.

54
00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:41,280
And, you know, we do have a
wonderful community and have a

55
00:02:41,280 --> 00:02:43,880
wonderful state, but we can
always make things better.

56
00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:46,560
And I thought, you know, if I
could be the adult in the room,

57
00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:50,560
if I can go in and try to work
with folks, roll up my sleeves,

58
00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:53,680
you know, I'm, I'm willing to do
it if, if people are willing to

59
00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:56,840
elect me.
How does the day-to-day compare

60
00:02:56,840 --> 00:02:59,680
to previously being on county
councils now working in the the

61
00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:03,040
State House?
When I was on County Council, I

62
00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:05,400
had two jobs.
I was with Bellsouth or now

63
00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:08,560
AT&T.
And so I had a full time job

64
00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:11,480
there and then County Council
could be a full time job at

65
00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:14,280
times.
And so that, that keeps you

66
00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:16,560
busy.
So plus you're in the community

67
00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:19,320
all the time.
It's you know, you don't travel

68
00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:21,720
outside the community.
You're, you're there all the

69
00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:23,120
time.
You work in the community, you

70
00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:26,560
serve in the community and
that's pretty much it.

71
00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:30,120
I think the difference in the on
the state level is you travel to

72
00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:34,040
Columbia three days a week, You
start in January and you finish

73
00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:36,800
mid-May.
And so I'm down there Tuesday,

74
00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:38,800
Wednesday and Thursday each
week.

75
00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:41,840
And it's, it's a little
different and, and not, not just

76
00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:46,360
looking at, at, at issues for
our community, but statewide

77
00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:49,240
issues that you deal with when
you're in Columbia too.

78
00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:52,480
And you have a lot of different
folks wanting to meet with you

79
00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:56,160
and talk with you and trying to
look at issues not only in the

80
00:03:56,160 --> 00:03:59,640
Greenville or in Upstate area,
but the low country, the

81
00:03:59,640 --> 00:04:02,160
Midlands and and can be.
Completely different.

82
00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:04,200
I mean, even just the
communities are so different.

83
00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:06,000
Right, right.
So I mean, we're dealing with

84
00:04:06,160 --> 00:04:09,560
education issues, we're dealing
with the liquor liability that

85
00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:14,480
we took up this year.
You know, the the teacher's

86
00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:20,880
salaries, we worked on that.
We had even working on an energy

87
00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:24,920
bill and spent some time on that
this year to help create more

88
00:04:24,920 --> 00:04:28,840
energy for our state.
So it's it's just interesting to

89
00:04:28,840 --> 00:04:32,640
see the difference in the local
issues as compared to statewide

90
00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:34,800
issues.
I'd love to jump into your story

91
00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:37,440
a little bit here about how you
kind of fell into the position

92
00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:41,040
that you're in when you look
back and maybe your early 20s.

93
00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:43,280
When did you have an interest in
in politics then?

94
00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:46,640
I did, you know, even before
that when I was in high school,

95
00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:49,880
I grew up out of state and I
used to go to City Council

96
00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:52,840
meetings when I was in high
school and I'd write a letter to

97
00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:55,000
the editor once in a while or
something like that.

98
00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:56,320
What state was this?
Ohio.

99
00:04:56,320 --> 00:05:00,400
Ohio, Yeah.
And so I I just had an interest

100
00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:04,360
there.
And I had, I guess, a little

101
00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:07,240
background in public service and
the family, too.

102
00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:11,840
My grandfather probably before I
was born, was a water

103
00:05:11,840 --> 00:05:15,160
commissioner and a school board
member and mayor of a small

104
00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:19,000
town, had an aunt that was an
elected common police court

105
00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:22,720
judge, an uncle that was a
prosecuting attorney and then

106
00:05:22,720 --> 00:05:26,360
later became postmaster.
So all all were in public

107
00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:29,920
service.
And I don't know, I just, I just

108
00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:32,320
felt like that would be
something that I like to do

109
00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:34,880
someday.
I mean, I didn't aspire to be

110
00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:37,880
president or anything like that,
but I just thought public

111
00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:43,200
service is an honorable effort
and honorable career.

112
00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:46,280
And I thought, you know, if I
could just get involved.

113
00:05:46,280 --> 00:05:49,600
And I don't claim to be a rocket
scientist or anything like that,

114
00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:53,800
but I thought if I could just
work with people and try to find

115
00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:58,240
a solution to some issues that
go on it, it'd be worth it.

116
00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:00,760
Was it common for other high
schoolers to attend some of the

117
00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:03,160
City Council meetings?
No, I can't say that it was is.

118
00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:05,560
It is it common at all today to
see some of that?

119
00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:08,800
Sometimes, I mean, when when I
was on County Council,

120
00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:11,440
occasionally I would see some
younger folks come, but

121
00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:15,480
generally they would come with a
class or they were required to,

122
00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:20,000
to attend or whatever for maybe
a government class there or

123
00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:21,680
civic class that they were
taking.

124
00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:26,160
So, but you didn't see too many
people that that were involved.

125
00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:28,840
Once in a while you'd see
somebody that had an interest in

126
00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:32,760
public service that would attend
County Council meetings, but it

127
00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:36,480
was not not a regular thing.
That doesn't shock me, I will

128
00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:38,840
say, because there's just a
million other things the high

129
00:06:38,840 --> 00:06:42,000
schoolers have on their minds.
So I guess whenever you finished

130
00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:44,720
high school, when you went on so
college, did you study law or

131
00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:46,360
what did what did you go to
school for?

132
00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:49,000
Business, business
administration, right?

133
00:06:49,280 --> 00:06:52,840
I kind of got started and then I
stopped for a while and went

134
00:06:52,840 --> 00:06:55,160
back.
I got a business degree from

135
00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:57,720
Southern Wesleyan University
over in Central.

136
00:06:57,920 --> 00:06:59,800
So you came from Ohio to to
Swoo?

137
00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:05,480
Yeah, well, I, I through a
course of events through it took

138
00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:08,960
me a while to get there, but
I'll just give you a little

139
00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:11,760
personal background.
When I was a senior in high

140
00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:13,320
school, my mother died rather
suddenly.

141
00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:15,600
I lived with my mother.
My had two older brothers and

142
00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:17,720
they were both married now the
house.

143
00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:21,200
And so I had a cousin that was
in Greenville and he kind of

144
00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:23,720
lured me down here.
I'd really never visited

145
00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:26,760
Greenville at all.
And so he just made it sound so

146
00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:30,360
good and sounds so wonderful.
That's how I ended up coming to

147
00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:32,960
Greenville.
So through the course of events,

148
00:07:32,960 --> 00:07:39,160
I, I went to work for a local
department store in the mall.

149
00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:44,280
We had a security person there
that their husband worked for

150
00:07:44,280 --> 00:07:48,200
Bellsouth AT&T now.
And they said, why don't you

151
00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:51,360
consider that, you know, you can
have a good career there and you

152
00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:53,880
don't want to be in retail all
your life and so forth.

153
00:07:53,880 --> 00:07:58,800
So I thought about it and found
an entry level job in the the

154
00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:01,800
communications business and kind
of worked my way up into

155
00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:07,280
management and so forth and had
experience in customer service

156
00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:11,240
and marketing and community
relations, sales planning and

157
00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:13,440
training and I just stayed.
With Bell.

158
00:08:13,480 --> 00:08:14,880
South, I did.
Yeah, I did.

159
00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:19,440
So I had, I had a full career
there and then in 2000 I took an

160
00:08:19,440 --> 00:08:24,000
early retirement from there and
I was also 15 years on, 15 1/2

161
00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:26,080
years on County Council while I
was there.

162
00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:29,880
So I left both of those in 2000,
became the clerk of court for

163
00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:30,640
the county.
So.

164
00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:34,320
So whenever you were 18, I know
18 for me was tough.

165
00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:36,440
That's really a formative year.
You're not really sure what

166
00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:40,080
direction to go.
Who is kind of helping you with

167
00:08:40,080 --> 00:08:42,520
that direction whenever your
mother passed?

168
00:08:43,799 --> 00:08:47,680
I worked for a gas station when
I was in high school and there

169
00:08:47,680 --> 00:08:53,360
was the owner of the gas station
was a family friend and he was

170
00:08:53,360 --> 00:08:57,640
kind of a father figure to me,
took me under his wing and I

171
00:08:57,640 --> 00:09:01,800
learned a lot from him.
Customer service learned a lot

172
00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:09,200
from him about being a business
person and hard work and he he

173
00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:10,600
was a big influence on it.
That's.

174
00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:13,280
So fortunate that you had that
because I can imagine that just

175
00:09:13,280 --> 00:09:16,680
being so destructive, you know,
not really having a sense of

176
00:09:16,680 --> 00:09:19,680
what what to do with that age.
So it's good that you ended up

177
00:09:19,680 --> 00:09:21,280
here in Greenville because
you've obviously made a huge

178
00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:21,880
impact.
Here.

179
00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:24,680
Yeah, well, he had, he had a
couple daughters and I was kind

180
00:09:24,680 --> 00:09:29,120
of the son that he didn't have.
So it was a blessing for me to

181
00:09:29,400 --> 00:09:31,480
to be under his wing and learned
a lot.

182
00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:32,960
How long did you stay in touch
with him?

183
00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:36,320
I I stayed in touch with him
until he passed.

184
00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:37,040
I was.
In.

185
00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:40,040
Fact.
He became pretty seriously ill

186
00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:43,920
at the end and I went up for
about a week and spent time with

187
00:09:43,920 --> 00:09:46,960
him and his family and was there
when he passed.

188
00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:48,720
That's incredible.
Wow.

189
00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:52,560
It's so important for I'm a huge
advocate for young kids having

190
00:09:52,560 --> 00:09:54,360
mentors.
I had so many people pour into

191
00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:57,480
me at that age that just helped
me get to where I am and without

192
00:09:57,480 --> 00:09:59,560
them, I mean, who knows where
I'd be.

193
00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:01,280
So it's very incredible that you
had that.

194
00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:03,360
So thank you for sharing that.
Sure.

195
00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:07,000
But as as clerk of court, let's
jump back into your career a

196
00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:09,120
little bit.
What are some of the, I guess

197
00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:11,360
what's the typical day look like
in that position and what are

198
00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:14,000
some of the responsibilities?
The clerk of court in

199
00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:18,720
Greenville, each each of the 46
counties have a clerk of court.

200
00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:21,600
Some of the smaller counties in
the state, the clerk of court

201
00:10:21,600 --> 00:10:24,000
wears 2 hats.
They're the register of deeds as

202
00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:27,400
well as the clerk of court.
Larger counties like Greenville,

203
00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:30,520
of course, that's separate.
The register of deeds is a

204
00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:33,680
separate elected position and so
forth.

205
00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:37,120
But to answer your question,
what does a clerk of court do?

206
00:10:37,480 --> 00:10:40,120
They're responsible for managing
the court system.

207
00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:44,240
The behind the scenes work at
Circuit Court downtown.

208
00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:46,200
We have civil and criminal down
there.

209
00:10:46,200 --> 00:10:49,440
There's about 50 employees that
are part of the clerk of courts

210
00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:53,520
office.
So at Circuit Court, we did the

211
00:10:53,520 --> 00:10:56,520
docket.
We, you know, helped manage the

212
00:10:56,520 --> 00:10:59,680
cases, you know, with the help
of the judges to make sure cases

213
00:10:59,680 --> 00:11:03,680
were scheduled to be tried.
We had the courtroom clerks, the

214
00:11:03,680 --> 00:11:07,520
bailiffs, we collected any
monies that were paid through

215
00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:08,160
the court.
So you.

216
00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:09,800
Were doing this while you were
still in Bellsouth?

217
00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:10,560
No.
Oh.

218
00:11:10,760 --> 00:11:13,480
OK, gotcha.
No, I, I, I left there, took the

219
00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:17,800
retirement and that was a full
time, yeah, a full time job

220
00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:19,800
there.
So there were, as I say, about

221
00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:22,240
50 employees there.
You file papers, image

222
00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:25,400
documents, you know, you're kind
of the keeper of the record as

223
00:11:25,400 --> 00:11:28,520
far as that goes.
So that's Circuit Court, family

224
00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:32,960
Court on Halton Rd.
We moved to Halton Rd. before I

225
00:11:32,960 --> 00:11:35,600
left.
There's about 35 employees

226
00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:39,160
there, so 8 courtrooms in each
location.

227
00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:43,800
Again, docket managing the
money, taking care of what goes

228
00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:45,480
on.
So, So what do you do?

229
00:11:45,480 --> 00:11:47,880
I mean, how, how do you do that?
I mean, you're, you're managing

230
00:11:47,880 --> 00:11:50,600
85 people.
You're, you're interviewing

231
00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:53,960
people, you know, you're
handling, you know, discipline

232
00:11:53,960 --> 00:11:57,400
that maybe you might have and
trying to develop employees.

233
00:11:57,400 --> 00:12:00,120
You're dealing with the judges,
the number of judges that we

234
00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:02,480
have in Greenville.
Is that a learning curve coming

235
00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:05,560
from Bellsouth and jumping into?
That it was, but, but I think

236
00:12:05,560 --> 00:12:09,360
the things that helped is I was
involved in technology with the

237
00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:12,120
Bellsouth job and so that helped
a great deal.

238
00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:15,720
When I first came in, we didn't
have any backup as far as our

239
00:12:15,720 --> 00:12:17,240
documents.
It was all paper.

240
00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:19,680
There was not any imaging that
was done.

241
00:12:19,680 --> 00:12:23,000
So I started that right away.
I just had this fear, if, you

242
00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:26,960
know, we have a windstorm or a
tornado or a flood or whatever,

243
00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:29,200
all of our records would be
destroyed.

244
00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:31,320
And, and what are you going to
do when you have these people's

245
00:12:31,320 --> 00:12:34,720
lives, not only at Circuit
Court, but at family court?

246
00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:37,600
You know, you're talking about
child support, you're talking

247
00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:41,000
about alimony, you know,
custody, all kinds of things

248
00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:43,600
that the, the records would be
would be gone.

249
00:12:43,600 --> 00:12:47,600
So right away I started imaging.
I didn't personally, but our

250
00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:52,120
office started imaging documents
and had everything backed up.

251
00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:55,440
It's incredibly important.
Yeah, and family court too.

252
00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:58,720
When you're imaging documents.
It's not only what you did

253
00:12:58,720 --> 00:13:04,200
today, but when you have files
there for families, you need to

254
00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:08,720
go back 18 years so you can make
sure that if it's a custody

255
00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:12,240
issue or child support issue
that you have the records there.

256
00:13:12,240 --> 00:13:16,080
So we went back 18 years on the
family court issue.

257
00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:19,360
So everything now is is all all
backed up.

258
00:13:19,680 --> 00:13:22,920
We were able to plug in
technology there.

259
00:13:22,920 --> 00:13:28,400
We implemented with the help of
the state electronic filing and,

260
00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:31,840
and civil court.
So now all the cases that are

261
00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:34,800
filed in civil court are done
electronically like you would a

262
00:13:34,800 --> 00:13:39,040
tax return to the IRS.
You know, you populate the

263
00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:44,560
forms, send it, collect, we
collect the money remotely that

264
00:13:44,560 --> 00:13:48,680
way and it goes through our case
management system and is handled

265
00:13:48,680 --> 00:13:50,960
automatically.
So I mean, we did that.

266
00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:56,240
We, we took the, even the, the
juror system, you know, there's

267
00:13:56,240 --> 00:14:00,160
a lot of jurors that would come
in maybe 80 to 100 jurors and

268
00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:01,920
some weeks would come into the
court.

269
00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:06,760
We put barcodes on the name tag
so when somebody came in, we

270
00:14:06,760 --> 00:14:09,760
could scan them into the
computer system and that would

271
00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:13,000
help us to keep track of
attendance, help us to keep

272
00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:16,600
track of the pay, and then helps
us to.

273
00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:19,000
Yeah.
So we we did a lot of things

274
00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:22,080
when it came to technology.
And what remind me, was this an

275
00:14:22,080 --> 00:14:25,920
elected position, the clerk?
So we're what was the timeline

276
00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:28,480
for County Council versus clerk
of Court?

277
00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:32,200
Was it the same time that you
were appointed or did you serve

278
00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:34,320
clerk of court and then get
elected to County Council?

279
00:14:35,520 --> 00:14:41,400
That's an interesting story.
It was it was the year 2000 and

280
00:14:41,960 --> 00:14:46,200
I just decided to take an early
retirement from Bellsouth job.

281
00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:48,880
And so I was trying to figure
out what's next what am I going

282
00:14:48,880 --> 00:14:51,320
to do?
It was time to run for re

283
00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:56,160
election for County Council and
then the person ended up

284
00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:59,000
resigning as as the clerk of
court.

285
00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:03,840
So I filed to run, but there was
a little bit of a break there.

286
00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:09,520
And so I when the person
resigned to when I took over or

287
00:15:09,520 --> 00:15:12,200
when I would take over after the
election, there was a six month

288
00:15:12,200 --> 00:15:14,640
break.
So the governor appointed me to

289
00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:17,560
fill out the last six months of
the previous clerk of courts

290
00:15:17,560 --> 00:15:20,360
term.
So I stepped in a little bit

291
00:15:20,360 --> 00:15:22,000
early and kind of got started
there.

292
00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:26,840
So and it caught down to it.
Do I run for County Council or

293
00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:30,880
do I run for clerk of court?
And I just decided that the

294
00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:34,200
clerk of court place was where I
was supposed to be and I was

295
00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:36,120
fortunate enough to get elected.
Nice.

296
00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:38,880
And then at how long was it
later until you ran for county?

297
00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:42,280
So you did the clerk of court
position.

298
00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:44,640
How much longer was it until you
decided to do the County

299
00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:46,920
Council?
I was County Council first.

300
00:15:47,040 --> 00:15:48,120
Oh, first, OK.
Right.

301
00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:51,560
So I did the County Council
first for 15 1/2 years.

302
00:15:51,920 --> 00:15:54,160
I resigned that when I became
clerical.

303
00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:55,960
OK, so you can't do them both
simultaneously.

304
00:15:55,960 --> 00:15:59,200
Right, you can only hold one
elective office at a time.

305
00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:02,240
I've been curious about that
because I've seen where maybe we

306
00:16:02,240 --> 00:16:04,600
have someone that's like in the
House of Representatives,

307
00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:07,000
there's obviously a lot of
upcoming elections and maybe

308
00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:09,080
they're deciding, hey, do I want
to run for senator?

309
00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:11,360
Do I want to run for governor?
Because you get some ideas.

310
00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:13,040
They might be running for both,
but you can't do that.

311
00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:15,080
Right.
With dual office holding, you

312
00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:17,480
can only you decide, OK, you're
going to do this or are you

313
00:16:17,480 --> 00:16:19,760
going to do this?
I guess there's probably

314
00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:22,600
something a lot of people don't
realize when someone switches

315
00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:25,440
their position that there are
that they're on.

316
00:16:25,440 --> 00:16:28,120
So like if you when you switch
from County Council to state

317
00:16:28,120 --> 00:16:31,080
representative, you are risking
losing your position when you do

318
00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:32,960
that.
So like someone that might be

319
00:16:33,320 --> 00:16:36,000
currently in the House and wants
to run for Senate, then run for

320
00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:39,040
Senate and lose, they don't have
a position anymore, correct?

321
00:16:39,240 --> 00:16:41,600
With the House of
Representatives in South

322
00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:43,520
Carolina, it's a it's a two year
term.

323
00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:45,960
With the state Senate, it's a
four year term.

324
00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:49,960
So if you're in the State House
of Representatives and you run

325
00:16:49,960 --> 00:16:53,240
for something else, you know
it's only a two year term.

326
00:16:53,240 --> 00:16:55,680
So you do have to give up that
seat if you're going to run for

327
00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:57,960
something else.
Now, if you're in the state

328
00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:01,000
Senate and let's say you want
wanted to run for a

329
00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:04,760
constitutional office like
attorney general or state

330
00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:07,920
treasurer or something like
that, you know it, it could be

331
00:17:07,920 --> 00:17:12,680
that your state Senate term has
two years left and maybe you

332
00:17:12,680 --> 00:17:14,480
might be able to do that.
And the same with County

333
00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:17,119
Council.
If you ran, if you're on County

334
00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:20,440
Council and you wanted to run as
a state representative, if you

335
00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:22,920
did that in the middle of your
four year term, you could do

336
00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:24,240
that without giving up.
Got you.

337
00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:25,920
That makes sense.
So you can still have maybe 2

338
00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:28,280
years left.
That's how seats open up.

339
00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:32,200
We had Andre Bauer on the
podcast a couple weeks ago and

340
00:17:32,200 --> 00:17:35,000
he was telling us about how he,
when he was first in the, the

341
00:17:35,040 --> 00:17:36,560
South Carolina House of
Representatives, there was a

342
00:17:36,560 --> 00:17:38,440
Senate seat open up.
So he just went ahead and did

343
00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:40,360
that and and that's how he kind
of like propelled his career

344
00:17:40,440 --> 00:17:42,760
career a little bit.
So I can see where, yeah,

345
00:17:42,760 --> 00:17:44,760
there's the time could be
extremely important.

346
00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:47,800
So did you have that overlap,
that luxury of knowing you had a

347
00:17:47,800 --> 00:17:52,320
fall back?
It was with the County Council

348
00:17:52,320 --> 00:17:55,220
position.
It was either run for re

349
00:17:55,220 --> 00:17:58,160
election for County Council
after being there 15 1/2 years,

350
00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:02,640
almost 16 years or do I want to
run for the clerk of court job

351
00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:06,480
so I had to decide.
So whenever you did run for

352
00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:09,200
South Carolina house, you were
running against Stan, and I'm

353
00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:11,480
going to mispronounce his name.
Juvelakis.

354
00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:14,640
Juvelakis, thank you.
Greek name, I'm sure, but he'd

355
00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:17,520
been, he was a popular name.
He'd been on the different

356
00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:19,200
boards and whatnot.
Yeah, he'd been on County

357
00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:23,560
Council for four years.
So was there, I guess what, what

358
00:18:23,560 --> 00:18:26,840
was your confidence level going
into that of, of hey, I have a

359
00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:29,000
shot at this knowing that you
have a pretty big opponent?

360
00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:33,240
I, you know, I didn't know, I
didn't know how it was going to

361
00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:35,080
work out.
I mean, I've been on County

362
00:18:35,080 --> 00:18:36,880
Council and I've been clerk of
court.

363
00:18:36,880 --> 00:18:39,760
So felt like there was some name
recognition there.

364
00:18:40,120 --> 00:18:44,360
And the, the seat that that he
had on County Council was the

365
00:18:44,360 --> 00:18:46,920
same seat that I occupied when I
was there.

366
00:18:48,320 --> 00:18:50,640
And so he knew, he knows a lot
of people.

367
00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:53,720
I knew some people.
And you know, you just offer

368
00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:59,440
yourself and throw yourself out
there and let folks know what

369
00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:01,040
you believe in and what you'll
do.

370
00:19:01,040 --> 00:19:05,400
And folks in the community know
you and know your opponent.

371
00:19:05,400 --> 00:19:09,520
And you just say, well, I'll
leave it up to them to decide.

372
00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:12,440
What's been the biggest surprise
your freshman year in the State

373
00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:17,080
House?
How busy it is, You know, I'm,

374
00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:20,120
I'm used to multitasking and
that doesn't bother me.

375
00:19:20,120 --> 00:19:24,880
But you know, one day you could
be working on the energy bill,

376
00:19:24,880 --> 00:19:32,240
the next week you're working on.
A big stuff this year.

377
00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:34,720
The tax bill was obviously a big
thing too that was being

378
00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:36,320
discussed.
Every week I imagine something

379
00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:37,240
different.
Right.

380
00:19:37,360 --> 00:19:39,320
Yeah, it was, it was a busy
time.

381
00:19:39,320 --> 00:19:43,080
And so I would go down to
Columbia early on Tuesdays.

382
00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:45,320
I would try to get down there
about 8:00 or 8:30.

383
00:19:45,680 --> 00:19:48,080
The house wouldn't go into
session till about noon.

384
00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:51,280
But I'd be in the office and
look at the mail and make some

385
00:19:51,280 --> 00:19:55,160
calls, read some emails and try
to get things organized a little

386
00:19:55,160 --> 00:19:56,720
bit from when the session
started.

387
00:19:56,720 --> 00:20:00,080
But the rest of the week, you
know, you're, you're meeting in

388
00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:02,400
session on Tuesday, Wednesday
and Thursday.

389
00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:06,440
You have committee meetings that
are meeting sometimes, you know,

390
00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:10,080
during the morning or afternoon,
you have constituents that are

391
00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:15,520
coming by your telephone calls,
emails at the end of the day,

392
00:20:15,520 --> 00:20:18,840
you know, there's two or three
receptions that you're invited

393
00:20:18,840 --> 00:20:22,720
to attend if you'd like to.
So I, I mean I, I pretty much

394
00:20:22,720 --> 00:20:26,440
stayed busy.
From about 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM on

395
00:20:26,440 --> 00:20:29,880
Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
On Thursdays, I would start

396
00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:33,480
about 8:00 AM and I'd finish up,
you know, maybe the middle of

397
00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:34,760
the afternoon or something like
that.

398
00:20:34,760 --> 00:20:37,880
I'd be heading for home.
So, and, and you're just all the

399
00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:40,520
time you're going.
And even at night when I'd

400
00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:45,200
finish up about 8:00, I, I
stayed in a, you know, hotel

401
00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:48,400
there on Tuesday and Wednesday
night rather than drive back and

402
00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:52,720
forth and I would be reading
things or going through things

403
00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:55,960
or preparing or reading emails
or whatever.

404
00:20:55,960 --> 00:20:59,720
So it's it's really active and a
lot of lot of things that are

405
00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:03,560
going on and a lot of lot of
things for you to prepare for.

406
00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:06,040
What was that first day like
when you had your seat in the

407
00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:07,880
State House?
The first time you walked in?

408
00:21:07,880 --> 00:21:09,680
It might not been the first time
you walked in, but the first

409
00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:11,800
time you walked in as a
representative.

410
00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:15,760
It's an awesome feeling when you
walk in and you say, you know,

411
00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:20,120
here's a dumb kid that you grew
up in Ohio, came to South

412
00:21:20,120 --> 00:21:23,000
Carolina as a teenager, you
know, and you walk in and, you

413
00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:26,640
know, the big ceiling and, and
the mammoth room and all the

414
00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:30,760
history and the portraits there.
And you think, you know, I'm one

415
00:21:31,080 --> 00:21:35,920
of 124 people that the folks
have elected me to be, you know,

416
00:21:35,920 --> 00:21:39,680
their state representative.
And it's just kind of an awesome

417
00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:43,280
feeling.
I'll tell a story about myself

418
00:21:44,040 --> 00:21:48,320
when I first went to Columbia.
There's a parking garage that's

419
00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:50,720
underneath the Capitol and it's
mammoth.

420
00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:55,960
There's just cars, you know,
employees and legislators and

421
00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:57,720
the General Assembly and
everything.

422
00:21:57,720 --> 00:22:02,880
Just it's just huge and all
these levels and all these areas

423
00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:04,600
there.
And I walked in, I got lost the

424
00:22:04,600 --> 00:22:07,440
first day.
I called the Sergeant of Arms

425
00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:10,560
office and I said, I am lost.
And they said, well, where are

426
00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:12,120
you?
And I told them, gave them some

427
00:22:12,120 --> 00:22:14,960
landmarks and they said, OK, we
can see you're on the camera.

428
00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:17,760
We'll be right there.
So that was the only day I ever

429
00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:20,000
got lost.
But you know, when you're

430
00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:22,760
walking around, the first day,
you said, oh, there's a lot to

431
00:22:22,760 --> 00:22:26,760
learn and, you know, is this
going to work and can I do this?

432
00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:30,000
And, you know, you just start
building relationships and all.

433
00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:33,120
And it's, it's funny, there was
one of my colleagues one day

434
00:22:33,120 --> 00:22:38,960
that I was talking to and he
said, do you do you enjoy

435
00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:41,120
talking to people?
And I said, yeah, why?

436
00:22:41,120 --> 00:22:44,120
And he said, well, so and so and
I were talking about you the

437
00:22:44,120 --> 00:22:47,080
other day and it's, oh, really?
I said, what was that about?

438
00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:51,040
They said we noticed that, you
know, when there's a break or

439
00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:54,560
you know, when we have a pause
in the house that you're walking

440
00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:57,120
around and you're talking to
people or sitting down and

441
00:22:57,120 --> 00:22:59,560
introducing yourself to people
and getting to know people.

442
00:22:59,920 --> 00:23:02,440
He says, do you like that?
I said, I love it.

443
00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:04,520
I said that's the best part of
the job.

444
00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:07,600
He says I'm an introvert.
He says I can't do that.

445
00:23:07,600 --> 00:23:09,640
But he says I I think that's
great.

446
00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:11,560
And he says people, people
notice that.

447
00:23:11,560 --> 00:23:13,320
But but you know, you think
about it.

448
00:23:13,320 --> 00:23:15,440
If you're going to get something
done, you have to have a

449
00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:18,800
relationships.
And I've been blessed to get to

450
00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:23,280
know this year some of the folks
in the House and in the Senate

451
00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:27,400
and be with them in different
settings and, you know, to sit

452
00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:31,800
down and talk with them and
understand their story and just

453
00:23:31,800 --> 00:23:34,040
build relationships that you can
call upon them.

454
00:23:34,040 --> 00:23:36,920
And I've gotten to know you, you
know, most of the committee

455
00:23:36,920 --> 00:23:39,680
chairs in the House.
And sometimes the bill will come

456
00:23:39,680 --> 00:23:41,760
up and I'll have questions about
it.

457
00:23:41,760 --> 00:23:44,360
Will how does this work or why
is this here?

458
00:23:44,360 --> 00:23:47,240
Or will this take this be taken
care of in this bill?

459
00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:50,400
And, you know, they'll sit down
and answer those questions and

460
00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:56,000
really good people and they know
their job just inside and out.

461
00:23:56,400 --> 00:24:00,080
And it's great to have that
those resources or other folks

462
00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:02,640
in the House that are leaders
that you can sit down with and,

463
00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:04,960
you know, just say, well, I have
a concern about this.

464
00:24:04,960 --> 00:24:07,680
How, how, how's this work?
Or what do I do about this?

465
00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:13,000
Or how can I work on this?
Or if I want to be a cosigner on

466
00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:16,640
a bill, or if I want to
introduce a bill, or who do I

467
00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:19,240
talk to to make that happen?
It's all.

468
00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:21,440
The right questions to have when
you're a freshman.

469
00:24:22,360 --> 00:24:26,200
And so, I mean, I've just tried
to build some relationships this

470
00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:30,120
year and get to know people and
know who to call upon when

471
00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:33,160
things come up.
So let's go into the State

472
00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:36,840
House, into a typical session.
When session starts, what can

473
00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:39,120
you expect?
What does it typically look

474
00:24:39,120 --> 00:24:41,840
like?
Coming out of the gate, it's

475
00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:44,360
generally there's a lot of
introductions.

476
00:24:44,360 --> 00:24:47,000
There's people sitting up in the
gallery and they'll have folks

477
00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:48,840
that are there that.
You have assigned seats.

478
00:24:49,120 --> 00:24:51,040
We do, we do have assigned
seats.

479
00:24:51,040 --> 00:24:57,360
When we first came in the first
one of the first days that we

480
00:24:57,360 --> 00:25:01,920
were there, we, we were called
by delegation.

481
00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:05,400
So they just kind of drew the
county names out of a hat,

482
00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:10,680
excuse me, so to speak.
And so they said, OK, the

483
00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:15,640
Kershaw County delegation or the
Spartanburg delegation or the

484
00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:20,120
Greenville County delegation.
So when Greenville was called,

485
00:25:21,360 --> 00:25:26,520
most of us sit together and so.
Republican and Democrat.

486
00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:31,480
Yes, some of the folks in the
Freedom Caucus sit separately

487
00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:34,960
together and but most of the
Greenville County delegation

488
00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:38,880
sits together.
And so I ended up in front.

489
00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:41,960
I'm in the front row.
So I told people, I said it's

490
00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:43,640
kind of hard to sleep when
you're sitting up here in the

491
00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:49,200
front just teasing.
But but we're we're together and

492
00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:52,000
it's kind of nice because if
some kind of Greenville issue

493
00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:55,040
comes up, you know, you can
confer with your colleagues and

494
00:25:55,040 --> 00:25:58,240
talk about it and be there as
far as that goes.

495
00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:00,600
So.
Is there a lot of polarization

496
00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:03,400
like we see through the media at
a national scale, very

497
00:26:03,400 --> 00:26:06,680
polarized, very divided.
Is it to that same extent and

498
00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:09,680
the state?
There, there can be an issue

499
00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:11,800
that comes up.
It's it's kind of rare.

500
00:26:11,800 --> 00:26:15,960
I, I saw a few issues that that
that came up during the course

501
00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:19,960
of the session this year that it
was kind of polarizing and it

502
00:26:19,960 --> 00:26:24,040
was, it was definitely partisan.
But overall things are not

503
00:26:24,040 --> 00:26:28,840
overall it's, it's pretty much
there's, you know, you reach a

504
00:26:28,840 --> 00:26:32,680
consensus, you have certain
people that'll vote against most

505
00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:36,280
anything that happens.
But it's, it's not, I don't

506
00:26:36,280 --> 00:26:41,120
think it's like it is, you know,
in, in Washington, you know, I

507
00:26:41,120 --> 00:26:43,040
have.
Not a lot of blood or hate.

508
00:26:43,240 --> 00:26:46,400
No, there's a couple Democrats
from Greenville that sit across

509
00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:47,840
the hall.
We get along fine.

510
00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:52,200
They're cordial and I'm cordial
and we're friends and so forth.

511
00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:55,560
It's great.
It's, it's, it's, it's, it's

512
00:26:55,560 --> 00:26:57,840
pretty collegial group really.
Good.

513
00:26:58,200 --> 00:27:01,920
When you're making the first,
the first time you made a vote

514
00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:04,400
in the State House, is that
nerve racking?

515
00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:06,040
What is that?
Walk me through the first time

516
00:27:06,040 --> 00:27:09,680
that you had to do that.
Well, we have at our desk and

517
00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:13,640
our desks are really small.
You can imagine if there's 124

518
00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:15,520
people sitting in there, it's
not a big deal.

519
00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:18,600
But there's two desks that are
side to side.

520
00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:21,080
We have a little button on our
desk.

521
00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:24,680
We have a, a small computer.
It's, it's like a desktop in

522
00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:27,160
front of us.
And so there's a couple of

523
00:27:27,160 --> 00:27:30,160
drawers there that you can put
paper clips or cough drops in or

524
00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:31,880
whatever you want as far as that
goes.

525
00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:36,200
But there's buttons there.
So there's a yay, there's a nay.

526
00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:40,400
And then if you need help with
information systems, there's an

527
00:27:40,400 --> 00:27:42,760
IS button there.
And if you need a page, there's

528
00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:44,880
a page button.
So you have 4 buttons that you

529
00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:48,080
can push.
So and then there's a board up

530
00:27:48,080 --> 00:27:52,520
on the wall on each side.
So when you vote, if you vote

531
00:27:52,520 --> 00:27:56,120
yes, it it appears your name's
on the board.

532
00:27:56,120 --> 00:27:57,520
Your name shows up so everyone
can see how.

533
00:27:57,680 --> 00:27:59,640
You heard it.
And and so it's it's green.

534
00:27:59,640 --> 00:28:03,240
If you're a no, it's red.
And so you have the button there

535
00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:06,000
and you can change your mind.
So I mean, if you start to vote

536
00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:07,800
yes and you say, oh, I meant to
vote no.

537
00:28:07,800 --> 00:28:11,040
Imagine most people, if you make
mistakes, yeah, you'd imagine.

538
00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:12,600
Hopefully most people have done
their homework and they know

539
00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:13,880
what decision they're going to
make.

540
00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:18,640
But there's kind of an alarm
bell that goes off out and come

541
00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:24,080
in the there's kind of a library
type thing that's behind us.

542
00:28:24,080 --> 00:28:25,480
And so there's kind of an alarm
bell.

543
00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:29,000
So if somebody's out there in a
meeting with somebody or talking

544
00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:31,080
on the phone or whatever, you
don't talk on the phone while

545
00:28:31,080 --> 00:28:32,640
you're on the House floor when
the house is.

546
00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:35,240
Obsessed should be.
Asked you not to do that and you

547
00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:38,640
wear you wear like a coat and a
gentleman wear a coat and tie so

548
00:28:38,640 --> 00:28:43,480
they you know there's etiquette
there that you follow but you

549
00:28:43,480 --> 00:28:47,880
know the bell rings you know you
go vote you have a little card

550
00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:50,480
that you can put in your desk
there and that gives you the

551
00:28:50,480 --> 00:28:54,480
vote So if you're in the back
and you want to vote from one of

552
00:28:54,480 --> 00:28:58,080
the back desk you can do that in
the back of the room, but you

553
00:28:58,080 --> 00:29:01,240
have to that card needs to be in
and then you vote yes or no and

554
00:29:01,240 --> 00:29:04,280
then it's up on the board and
there's just a certain amount of

555
00:29:04,280 --> 00:29:06,840
time there you only have a few
minutes to vote too.

556
00:29:06,840 --> 00:29:12,720
So if you don't vote in time,
you know, you kind of miss out,

557
00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:16,120
but you can go up to the front
and just say, you know, I

558
00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:19,560
stepped out of the room for a
moment or something and and you

559
00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:21,720
know, you're able to catch your
absent.

560
00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:24,240
Way if you're absent, can you
absent to you vote no?

561
00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:26,000
Yeah, that's no.
I like that.

562
00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:27,720
You shouldn't be able to.
I can't make it.

563
00:29:27,720 --> 00:29:29,200
You shouldn't.
Have AI, didn't miss a day.

564
00:29:29,320 --> 00:29:32,240
So I was there.
I was there every day that we

565
00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:34,520
were in session from January
through May, I'm sure.

566
00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:37,160
That's probably uncommon for a
single for someone not to miss a

567
00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:40,120
session.
I think people really, I think

568
00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:42,360
the attendance level is pretty
high, really.

569
00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:44,720
Yeah.
I think folks, it's it's kind of

570
00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:46,880
rare for people sometimes.
I know on.

571
00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:48,280
A natural scale.
People have used that in

572
00:29:48,280 --> 00:29:50,040
political campaigns, so and so
it's never there.

573
00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:52,280
Don't vote for that.
And that's happened on local

574
00:29:52,280 --> 00:29:55,760
races too.
So, but I think overall the

575
00:29:55,760 --> 00:29:58,640
attendance is pretty good unless
somebody's sick or they really

576
00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:03,480
have a family issue that's going
on or something, People, people

577
00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:06,000
are generally there.
It's it's kind of rare for

578
00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:08,840
people to be gone unless they
have a business conflict or

579
00:30:08,840 --> 00:30:10,360
something.
Well, I know through your

580
00:30:10,360 --> 00:30:13,960
campaign you've emphasized
infrastructure, education and

581
00:30:13,960 --> 00:30:16,240
public safety.
So what are some of the other or

582
00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:19,480
just some of the big topics that
you really want to push or make

583
00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:23,040
an impact on during your tenure?
Yeah, I, I think we dealt with

584
00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:26,080
some of those this year with the
increase in the teacher salaries

585
00:30:26,080 --> 00:30:28,960
that we put some extra money in
for roads and bridges and

586
00:30:28,960 --> 00:30:34,800
infrastructure.
I'd like to see us do a little

587
00:30:34,800 --> 00:30:38,600
more with the judicial election
process.

588
00:30:39,080 --> 00:30:42,160
I've done a little bit of
research in that and I've gone

589
00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:46,360
through the process once to, you
know, when we elect the judges,

590
00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:47,920
that's, that's a pretty big
deal.

591
00:30:47,920 --> 00:30:52,000
And I, and I, some people maybe
don't appreciate it like I do,

592
00:30:52,000 --> 00:30:55,000
because being in the clerk of
court business for all those

593
00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:57,920
years, you know, you want the
best judge you can get.

594
00:30:57,920 --> 00:31:03,600
You want somebody that's that's
going to be open and and helpful

595
00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:06,360
and a good listener.
Don't want to slacker?

596
00:31:06,440 --> 00:31:09,120
That no, no, you don't.
And you want somebody that's

597
00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:12,400
going to be the best you can be.
And I think overall we have

598
00:31:12,800 --> 00:31:15,840
great judges in South Carolina
that I saw over the years.

599
00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:19,680
But that's an awesome
responsibility, you know, to to

600
00:31:19,680 --> 00:31:21,480
do that.
We generally just do that once a

601
00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:23,920
year.
We'll elect judges, but family

602
00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:27,720
court judges, Circuit Court,
state Court of Appeals, state

603
00:31:27,720 --> 00:31:30,760
Supreme Court, administrative
law judges, those are all

604
00:31:30,760 --> 00:31:34,000
elected by the General Assembly.
We have a a joint session

605
00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:38,440
between the two to general.
Assembly, That is the Senate and

606
00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:40,240
the House.
General Assembly, yes, the

607
00:31:40,240 --> 00:31:43,400
Senate and the House.
And so we'll get together and

608
00:31:43,400 --> 00:31:48,760
the Senate comes over to the
House and they'll, they'll vote

609
00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:51,640
along with us to elect the
judges.

610
00:31:51,640 --> 00:31:55,520
But I'd like to see the process
changed a little bit.

611
00:31:55,520 --> 00:31:59,960
I think there's a way to make it
a little more open and maybe a

612
00:31:59,960 --> 00:32:03,560
little more disclosures if
people might would have a

613
00:32:03,560 --> 00:32:10,280
conflict and so forth.
I just like to see us refine

614
00:32:10,280 --> 00:32:13,080
that process a little bit.
So I'm kind of kind of working

615
00:32:13,080 --> 00:32:16,040
on that, yeah.
How does the campaign differ

616
00:32:16,040 --> 00:32:18,720
between County Council and State
House?

617
00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:25,440
I think you have a lot more
people that are interested in

618
00:32:25,440 --> 00:32:29,720
you because of your statewide
type representation.

619
00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:33,560
When you're running for County
Council, those that are

620
00:32:33,560 --> 00:32:36,120
interested in your race are
going to be more local people.

621
00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:39,280
You have business leaders, you
know, folks in your community,

622
00:32:39,800 --> 00:32:43,840
folks that you know that live
there when you're running on a

623
00:32:44,960 --> 00:32:48,040
for a State House seat.
You have to say in the laws

624
00:32:48,160 --> 00:32:49,840
across.
The state, right, you're going

625
00:32:49,840 --> 00:32:53,480
to have more people that are
watching you, more people that

626
00:32:53,480 --> 00:32:57,960
have an interest in and you
know, it could be individuals

627
00:32:57,960 --> 00:33:01,320
from other parts of the state,
it could be companies that that

628
00:33:01,320 --> 00:33:03,640
want to invest in your campaign
and so forth.

629
00:33:04,080 --> 00:33:05,680
Got you.
Would you say that I know

630
00:33:05,680 --> 00:33:07,600
political?
Anytime you're in political

631
00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:09,800
position, it can get dirty.
Everyone says you need thick

632
00:33:09,800 --> 00:33:12,080
skin to be a politician.
Is it?

633
00:33:12,160 --> 00:33:14,560
Do you need thicker skin to run
at the state level?

634
00:33:16,400 --> 00:33:19,600
It can get pretty personal.
When we went through the budget

635
00:33:19,600 --> 00:33:22,880
process, I was a little
surprised that it got as

636
00:33:22,880 --> 00:33:27,480
personal as it did.
And I've told people that if you

637
00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:29,960
want to trace your family tree,
you run for public office.

638
00:33:31,800 --> 00:33:33,360
So.
They'll find it, yeah.

639
00:33:34,360 --> 00:33:38,320
So they'll, they'll dig things
up or jab you about something or

640
00:33:38,320 --> 00:33:41,480
maybe you've had a vote in the
past or whatever, you know that

641
00:33:41,480 --> 00:33:43,720
that could come back 20.
Years ago as they come back.

642
00:33:44,120 --> 00:33:46,640
And that was it.
When I ran there, there were

643
00:33:46,720 --> 00:33:51,680
things that were 25 years before
that, you know, a vote that came

644
00:33:51,680 --> 00:33:54,640
up or something like that, but.
Why'd you be this way?

645
00:33:54,840 --> 00:34:00,000
Yeah, 25, I don't know what.
People, people do their research

646
00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:03,200
and yeah, they're looking for
ways to to trip you up.

647
00:34:03,240 --> 00:34:05,040
And you know, some people are
like that.

648
00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:08,600
You know, they're, they're
looking for their next political

649
00:34:08,600 --> 00:34:10,639
job.
You know, they're looking for

650
00:34:10,639 --> 00:34:13,520
somebody to stumble, somebody
not to run for re election,

651
00:34:13,520 --> 00:34:17,880
somebody to move on because
people kind of have their eyes

652
00:34:17,880 --> 00:34:20,080
on on the on the position that
you hold.

653
00:34:20,199 --> 00:34:23,440
I'm sure as the re election term
comes back up, I'm sure that

654
00:34:23,440 --> 00:34:26,520
heats up a little bit too
towards the end of the 10 years

655
00:34:26,520 --> 00:34:27,880
for everyone versus the
beginning.

656
00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:31,600
Yeah, I, I just, I try to do the
best I can.

657
00:34:31,600 --> 00:34:35,320
I try to do my homework.
I try to work with people and,

658
00:34:35,400 --> 00:34:38,320
you know, try to be honest in
the votes that I take.

659
00:34:38,840 --> 00:34:42,040
And I'm just trying to do the
right thing at this point in my

660
00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:44,000
life.
I mean, I'm not running for

661
00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:46,320
president or governor or
anything like that.

662
00:34:46,320 --> 00:34:49,400
I, I don't have high political
aspirations.

663
00:34:49,800 --> 00:34:53,480
I just, I'm really in this to do
what I can.

664
00:34:53,480 --> 00:34:55,560
I want to add value.
I want to make a difference

665
00:34:55,560 --> 00:34:57,440
where I can.
I want to work with people and

666
00:34:57,440 --> 00:35:00,680
try to find some solutions
that'll make our state better.

667
00:35:00,680 --> 00:35:04,040
And I mean, that's not a cliche.
That's that's really what my

668
00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:05,720
heart's desire.
Is that's awesome you don't have

669
00:35:05,720 --> 00:35:09,640
that personal like attachments
or like a self motivated

670
00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:12,640
ambition or something agenda
especially so you could say that

671
00:35:12,640 --> 00:35:13,280
many people.
Have.

672
00:35:13,960 --> 00:35:16,920
And I feel really fortunate
where I am in life too.

673
00:35:16,920 --> 00:35:19,960
You know, some of my colleagues,
you know, maybe they might have

674
00:35:19,960 --> 00:35:25,080
a young family, maybe they have
a job that they have to go back

675
00:35:25,080 --> 00:35:28,800
to when they finish their work
at the house, or they've started

676
00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:32,840
a job or started a company that
they're trying to build or

677
00:35:32,840 --> 00:35:34,960
whatever.
And that's tough, you know, to,

678
00:35:35,480 --> 00:35:38,960
to balance all those things, to
balance your constituents and

679
00:35:38,960 --> 00:35:42,120
balance your work, you know, in
the State House plus your

680
00:35:42,440 --> 00:35:45,800
family, plus, you know, your job
and all.

681
00:35:46,080 --> 00:35:50,400
So where I am in life, you know,
children are grown and I have

682
00:35:51,240 --> 00:35:58,040
just just, this is my job right
now to, to do the best I can.

683
00:35:58,040 --> 00:36:01,320
So it's not like on Mondays or
Fridays I have to come back to

684
00:36:01,320 --> 00:36:05,080
Greenville and go do something
else at this stage of.

685
00:36:05,080 --> 00:36:08,600
Life attention to.
It I can just do that and try to

686
00:36:08,600 --> 00:36:10,640
give it give it my best
attention.

687
00:36:10,640 --> 00:36:13,400
So when you reflect on your
career, what are some of the big

688
00:36:13,440 --> 00:36:16,120
obstacles that come to mind that
you had to overcome?

689
00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:19,520
That balance was tough,
especially when I was on County

690
00:36:19,520 --> 00:36:22,120
Council.
You know, I mentioned earlier it

691
00:36:22,120 --> 00:36:26,000
could be full time on County
Council at times and then full

692
00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:29,760
time with your career.
And you know, you can't cut your

693
00:36:29,760 --> 00:36:33,120
career short because they're the
ones that, that employ you full

694
00:36:33,120 --> 00:36:37,560
time and you have to do the job
and, and you, you want to do a

695
00:36:37,560 --> 00:36:39,840
good job for them, but you want
to do a good job for your

696
00:36:39,840 --> 00:36:42,360
constituents.
So that was, that was tough.

697
00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:45,320
You know, when I was in the
clerk of court position, that

698
00:36:45,320 --> 00:36:48,560
was a full time position, that
was the only job that I had.

699
00:36:49,080 --> 00:36:51,920
And so I could focus on that.
And that was a little different.

700
00:36:51,920 --> 00:36:56,040
But that that was a big, big
thing that I've noticed in

701
00:36:56,040 --> 00:37:01,760
political life is, is try to do
2 things at the same time.

702
00:37:02,200 --> 00:37:04,120
It can get kind of sticky
sometimes.

703
00:37:04,880 --> 00:37:08,240
So the area you represent, it's
ever around, is it what?

704
00:37:08,240 --> 00:37:09,800
What is the area that you
represent here?

705
00:37:09,920 --> 00:37:13,960
Yeah, District 22, it starts
down on North Main Street, you

706
00:37:13,960 --> 00:37:16,560
know, over around Earl St. in
the North Main area.

707
00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:21,880
So it goes E North St.
Wade Hampton Blvd.

708
00:37:21,880 --> 00:37:25,400
Pelham Road goes Pelham Road all
the way to Hwy. 14.

709
00:37:25,400 --> 00:37:28,840
So there's, there's about 42,000
people that live in the

710
00:37:28,840 --> 00:37:31,360
district.
So it's, it's a pretty, pretty

711
00:37:31,480 --> 00:37:33,880
wide area.
Some some parts of the city of

712
00:37:33,880 --> 00:37:36,640
Greenville, some parts outside
the city of.

713
00:37:36,640 --> 00:37:40,040
Greenville, 42,000 People that
you were representing in the

714
00:37:40,040 --> 00:37:43,760
state, how do you stay informed
on some of the needs of the

715
00:37:43,760 --> 00:37:46,400
people here in the local
community in your area?

716
00:37:46,400 --> 00:37:49,760
Right.
I, I try to circulate, I, I try

717
00:37:49,760 --> 00:37:53,320
to talk to people.
I mean, I, I stay in touch with

718
00:37:53,440 --> 00:37:57,120
folks that are on City Council
or County Council.

719
00:37:57,120 --> 00:38:01,040
I mean, I'm, I met with the
county Councilman yesterday and

720
00:38:01,960 --> 00:38:08,360
he and I kind of work together
on a community issue that one of

721
00:38:08,360 --> 00:38:12,800
our constituents had.
So, you know, talking to the

722
00:38:12,800 --> 00:38:14,960
folks that are on the school
board or in school

723
00:38:14,960 --> 00:38:18,600
administration, those that are
in the fire districts, I

724
00:38:18,600 --> 00:38:21,480
communicate with them special
purpose districts.

725
00:38:21,800 --> 00:38:25,600
There's a, there's a lot of
moving parts to, to kind of stay

726
00:38:25,600 --> 00:38:28,280
informed.
And I, I try to go to as many

727
00:38:28,280 --> 00:38:31,840
things as I can to, in the
community to, you know, whether

728
00:38:31,840 --> 00:38:35,960
it's recently I toured Patewood
Hospital, part of Prisma.

729
00:38:36,640 --> 00:38:38,640
I was there for the
groundbreaking for the new

730
00:38:38,640 --> 00:38:42,240
behavioral hospital that Prisma
did recently.

731
00:38:43,080 --> 00:38:46,360
You know, I, I try to tour
different facilities or be at

732
00:38:46,360 --> 00:38:49,560
groundbreakings or attend
meetings.

733
00:38:50,640 --> 00:38:54,000
And you're obviously people have
are well connected here having

734
00:38:54,000 --> 00:38:56,520
served for so many years in the
Greenville area.

735
00:38:56,560 --> 00:38:59,640
I've, I've made some friends in
different areas over the years

736
00:38:59,640 --> 00:39:01,640
and, and I think that's helpful
too.

737
00:39:01,640 --> 00:39:04,120
You know, whether it's the
business community or the

738
00:39:04,120 --> 00:39:08,640
government community or citizens
around the, the, you know, the

739
00:39:08,640 --> 00:39:11,200
community as well.
I, I've been able to, you know,

740
00:39:11,200 --> 00:39:14,280
build some relationships and,
you know, try to figure out who

741
00:39:14,280 --> 00:39:19,040
I can call to help to, to solve
issues that come up or get input

742
00:39:19,040 --> 00:39:22,280
from people because you, you
can't decide things in a vacuum.

743
00:39:22,280 --> 00:39:25,760
You know, if you have something
you're voting on, it's helpful

744
00:39:25,760 --> 00:39:28,400
if you can communicate with
somebody that's impacted by this

745
00:39:28,400 --> 00:39:31,080
and say, Hey, what, what's,
what's the impact here?

746
00:39:31,080 --> 00:39:33,640
You know what, what's, what's
this going to mean to you?

747
00:39:33,640 --> 00:39:36,200
If, if if this law is passed.
Help understand all the

748
00:39:36,200 --> 00:39:38,440
different perspectives and
people you represent, right?

749
00:39:38,480 --> 00:39:39,440
That's great.
Right.

750
00:39:39,440 --> 00:39:43,200
So I, I, I try to stay out there
and, and stay connected to

751
00:39:43,200 --> 00:39:47,040
people and organizations and
other elected officials in the

752
00:39:47,040 --> 00:39:48,880
county.
I think that that makes me a

753
00:39:48,880 --> 00:39:53,120
better state representative.
If someone in their mid 20s, mid

754
00:39:53,120 --> 00:39:57,000
30s maybe comes to you and
shares one day, they want to run

755
00:39:57,000 --> 00:39:59,680
for State House and they want to
follow your footsteps, what

756
00:39:59,680 --> 00:40:01,280
advice would you give to this
person?

757
00:40:02,120 --> 00:40:07,400
I would say if you could maybe
get involved in a border

758
00:40:07,400 --> 00:40:10,760
Commission in the county, that
would be helpful to you just to

759
00:40:10,760 --> 00:40:15,000
see a little bit about what
maybe goes on in government

760
00:40:15,000 --> 00:40:17,520
circles.
There's all kinds of boards or

761
00:40:17,520 --> 00:40:22,360
commissions that is appointed by
the City Council or County

762
00:40:22,360 --> 00:40:25,600
Council or even on the state
legislative delegation.

763
00:40:26,000 --> 00:40:27,880
That's one thing.
Another thing would be get

764
00:40:27,880 --> 00:40:30,160
involved in some political
campaigns.

765
00:40:30,600 --> 00:40:33,960
If you're thinking about
running, go out and volunteer,

766
00:40:33,960 --> 00:40:36,560
you know, put up some signs so.
Volunteer for Representative

767
00:40:36,560 --> 00:40:39,920
Wickensheimer's campaign.
That's right, knock on doors or

768
00:40:39,920 --> 00:40:42,000
something like that.
I think I think that helps you

769
00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:45,520
to get an appreciation for what
a campaign is like.

770
00:40:45,520 --> 00:40:48,240
And, and if you build a
relationship with somebody that

771
00:40:48,400 --> 00:40:50,760
this elected office, that
person's going to remember you

772
00:40:50,760 --> 00:40:54,400
and they're going to be grateful
for your involvement and, and

773
00:40:54,400 --> 00:40:58,760
your volunteerism.
And, and you know, you, if

774
00:40:58,760 --> 00:41:02,080
that's somebody you can call on
as a friend and say, you know,

775
00:41:02,080 --> 00:41:05,000
I'm thinking about running for
this or, or will you talk to me

776
00:41:05,000 --> 00:41:06,920
about this or what's your take
on this?

777
00:41:07,400 --> 00:41:10,760
And, and I think that those
relationships that that helps

778
00:41:10,760 --> 00:41:15,600
you, you know, Greenville is a,
is a big small town and you

779
00:41:15,600 --> 00:41:20,040
don't want to burn bridges.
You want to have as many

780
00:41:20,040 --> 00:41:24,160
relationships as you can with
people and roll up your sleeves

781
00:41:24,160 --> 00:41:26,280
and work with people.
And if you treat people like you

782
00:41:26,280 --> 00:41:29,160
want to be treated, you can go.
For it, that is awesome advice.

783
00:41:29,320 --> 00:41:33,440
To take it a step further, let's
go back to 18 year old Paul

784
00:41:33,440 --> 00:41:35,760
Wickensheimer.
If you can give advice to him,

785
00:41:35,920 --> 00:41:38,920
knowing the perspective that
you've had walking to the State

786
00:41:38,920 --> 00:41:41,000
House as an elective
representative in the career

787
00:41:41,000 --> 00:41:43,840
that you've had, what would you
tell yourself as an 18 year old?

788
00:41:45,360 --> 00:41:50,840
I would say, you know, soak it
all up, do as much as you can,

789
00:41:50,840 --> 00:41:55,680
learn as much as you can, and be
kind to people.

790
00:41:57,080 --> 00:42:01,160
Be there for the right reasons.
I think sometimes I've worked

791
00:42:01,160 --> 00:42:03,920
with elected folks over the
years and they really didn't

792
00:42:03,920 --> 00:42:06,000
want to be there.
They didn't like what they were

793
00:42:06,000 --> 00:42:08,800
doing.
They were not happy in what they

794
00:42:08,800 --> 00:42:11,440
were doing.
And if and if your heart is not

795
00:42:11,440 --> 00:42:16,160
there and if your heart's not in
it, you're going to be miserable

796
00:42:16,160 --> 00:42:18,680
and, and the people that
represent you are not going to

797
00:42:18,680 --> 00:42:20,720
get the best.
That's awesome.

798
00:42:21,400 --> 00:42:24,480
We'll ended up here in a in a
final, final thoughts.

799
00:42:24,960 --> 00:42:29,960
But for me, I personally really
appreciate your story because

800
00:42:29,960 --> 00:42:32,600
you share the story of how an 18
year old not quite knowing the

801
00:42:32,600 --> 00:42:36,480
direction to take oneself ends
up in the statehouse.

802
00:42:36,560 --> 00:42:39,240
I know it's a long journey, but
it just shows like, hey, you

803
00:42:39,240 --> 00:42:41,880
can't accomplish a lot if you
have the right people

804
00:42:41,880 --> 00:42:43,840
surrounding you and if you have
the right mindset.

805
00:42:44,120 --> 00:42:46,040
So I might have answered this
question for you, but what's the

806
00:42:46,040 --> 00:42:48,040
one thing you hope people take
out of your story?

807
00:42:51,320 --> 00:42:57,520
That I care and that I'm not in
it to advance my 'cause I'm in

808
00:42:57,520 --> 00:43:02,200
it to help people.
And I really love people.

809
00:43:02,240 --> 00:43:05,000
You know, people say, well, what
do you collect or what's your

810
00:43:05,000 --> 00:43:08,080
hobbies or whatever?
Well, my hobby is people.

811
00:43:08,720 --> 00:43:12,680
Whether it's helping somebody,
you know, veteran, go to a

812
00:43:12,680 --> 00:43:17,840
doctor's appointment or helping
somebody get groceries or

813
00:43:18,240 --> 00:43:22,360
helping a neighbor of mine this
week get their car washed or

814
00:43:22,360 --> 00:43:26,200
fill their car up with gas.
You know, I just enjoy people.

815
00:43:26,240 --> 00:43:31,480
And I think if you love people
and if you want to help people

816
00:43:32,280 --> 00:43:34,920
get involved, you don't have to
run for State House, you don't

817
00:43:34,920 --> 00:43:37,280
have to run for County Council,
you don't have to run for City

818
00:43:37,280 --> 00:43:40,040
Council.
But there's plenty of ways that

819
00:43:40,040 --> 00:43:43,600
we can go out and serve the
people in the community make a

820
00:43:43,600 --> 00:43:47,360
difference.
And that's what I would want

821
00:43:47,360 --> 00:43:50,920
people to think about me.
That, that he cares and that

822
00:43:50,920 --> 00:43:52,680
he's there for the right
reasons.

823
00:43:52,680 --> 00:43:55,680
And, you know, he has a heart
for people.

824
00:43:56,520 --> 00:44:00,320
Thank you for my pleasure.
Thanks.