And now the 490 with Gretchen de Bakker might kill them.

And Kevin Mullin, one.

Welcome to the 419, powered by CTE and presented by Recaro Wealth Management.

I'm Kevin mullen, Gretchen de Bakker.

Kill him.

It's mayor Monday of May.

We are going to be spending the day south of Toledo, straight south on I-75 in Michigan.

That's right.

You're so good at this.

No.

We're heading to Bowling Green.

Bowling green?

I'm going to be joined by mayor Mike Osborne from Bowling Green, Ohio.

This is a big get for us.

We've been hunting for this mayor for a while.

I hate hiding from us.

I had to pull out, call out the big guns.

All right.

To get to him.

And so our good friend, BJ Fisher.

Yeah.

Once he got involved.

Everything's a done deal.

Was much smoother.

Yeah.

Much smoother.

It's amazing what happens when the phone call comes from someone who is intelligent and respected.

And it.

Same for anyone other than me.

Yeah.

Well, yeah.

Let's.

Tucker.

I'm not, I'm not.

I'm not opposed to stuff.

Yeah.

So, speaking of which, we also, buy stocks to get, our other guests on as well.

Mark Ohashi from Miami valley.

Wood County.

Wood county, habitat for humanity.

Formerly with Miami Valley.

Habitat for humanity.

But he's executive director now.

In Wood County.

So we'll get an update from him.

I think he's talked with almost every mayor on the program about housing challenges.

And so I'm really interested in Mark's perspective on that.

Across northwest Ohio and obviously the work they're doing in Wood County.

Excited to highlight that as well.

We talk about it every week.

This is a kind of sneaky favorite.

And as I talk to people in the community, they talk about how much they love Mayor Monday and getting a chance to see, different parts of northwest Ohio through the eyes of somebody who loves it and I. And there is nobody who loves the community more than their mayor is from.

An important neighbor of our community.

And it's exciting to see what's going on out there.

It'll be great.

Looking forward to it.

I had something in that.

It's just gone.

Just like.

She's going to say who's struggling.

There?

It was there.

It was there.

And then it's the.

Start of a new league.

Yeah.

It is.

Yeah.

Now, should we talk about the fact that we have so few shows left of this season?

It is.

We're nearing the final countdown of season one of The Man.

Yes.

Yeah.

We've got.

No, this is so.

We have, we will have just one mayor Monday left in season one, and then we'll take a break for the summer.

And then, you know, hopefully, God willing, to the creek don't rise.

You'll see us back here.

That's it.

Gretchen, put money on the barrel head.

That way.

Because that money is cash.

Cash on the barrel.

You don't even know your own faces anymore.

I don't, that's how old.

Good.

I don't know the creek don't rise.

One that was just the mayor's favorite old.

Yes.

Okay.

God willing.

And the creek don't rise.

You don't know that one.

That's a great one.

Okay.

Yeah.

That's good.

So you two are both.

I just want to be clear on the record.

You two are both saying that you don't know cash on the barrel head, but, you know, God willing, in the creek, and you think that there's a difference between those two things?

Yeah, one of them is yours, and it's terrible.

Yeah.

That's the difference.

Got it.

Yes.

Just checking.

All right, so we're going to take a break.

When we come back, we will be joined by the mayor of Bowling Green, Ohio, mayor Mike Spiker.

Nice.

Let's take a break.

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Welcome back to the 419 powered by GT.

It's mayor Monday.

We're spending the day in Bowling Green.

We're joined now by the mayor of Bowling Green, Ohio, Mike Ross.

Baker.

Mayor, thanks for being here.

Good morning.

Thank you.

I'm really happy to be here.

How long have you been in office?

I've been the mayor of Bowling Green since January of 2020.

What an easy time to be mayor.

It was great.

Yeah, we had two really good months and then change.

Things change quite a bit.

And the world was on fire.

Things change.

Do you take any personal responsibility to the world shutting down?

Zero.

Okay.

Absolutely.

Zero.

Yeah.

What's that up to?

Up the chain.

That's fair.

We had, we had the CEO of on, I don't know, a week or week and a half ago, a couple of weeks ago, with announcement, obviously a partnership between GTE and Bgsu.

Talk to me about kind of your thoughts on on WGU and what this new partnership is going to mean for the bowling Green community.

Well, initially devastated by, the by the impact, of reduction in funding on WGU, that was a term that has been a tremendous the positive organization on campus and Bowling Green State University, but very grateful at this point for the, the emerging partnership between BGU and CTE.

There is so much value in public, at your public broadcasting that I think the most important thing at the end of the day is that, those services are continued to be provided to our local communities.

And I think that really you could argue at the end of the day, the partnership is going to expand the footprint and the impact of w of BGU.

And that's a good thing.

So I think that there is great value in that partnership.

Is there generally.

Is.

Mayor, can you tell us just some general data about BG before we talk more about you, how many people live there?

What's the government structure?

The geographic boundaries.

Sure.

Bowling green has a population in the last census of about 34,000.

Although I will say we think that that was maybe a little undercounted because that happened in Covid.

And Bowling Green State University was not in session at that time, but about 34,000, about half of those that number is permanent residents and the other half are university students.

In terms of our local government, we have a mayor, manager form of government where the mayor, appoints a municipal administrator who is responsible for running the day to day business of the city.

And the city has about 325 employees that work hard every day, providing services to our residents.

So, yeah, I mean, geographically, we are, of course, located about 25 miles south of Bowling Green on I-75, in the in the Great Black Swamp.

Yeah.

Woods does, of course, have, you know, an impact on, you know, the atmosphere and that of the environment, the, the we that we all live in.

But, you know, in my view, it's a tremendous community.

It's, Bowling Green State University certainly provides a good deal.

A great deal, I should say, vibrancy and, energy to the community.

Our, our local residents are engaged with our local government, with our with our local businesses and the university, and there's just a very, a lot of very positive things happening in our city today.

Are you full time, part time by charter?

The mayor of Bowling Green is a part time position.

That's correct.

I will say that I work a little bit more than than them part time.

Yeah, I love how you do this whole time, but yeah, yeah, yeah.

But by charter, it's a part time position by reality.

It's time and and.

Yeah.

And honestly that brings in my view, that brings benefit.

Because what that does is it creates a professional government, our governance, our, you know, our, our, our organization is comprised of highly trained, highly educated individuals with specialized experience in their fields.

So there really is no political influence, when it comes to hiring and firing of city employees, they, of course, have civil service protections, but there is a significant focus on maintaining a professional government that that exists solely to provide services to our residents.

I went to I went to college in Miami.

And it's a I think had a similar structure that it's a community that, in the three months that school is out of session, it's a, it's a really small town.

And then this influx of, you know, 18 to 21 year old show up and the population doubles or triples.

I to believe that also, you know, while that brings some energy and some vibrancy, from a government sample that has to bring some challenges that, you know, the average age when you're thinking about who your who you're serving, you know, during the three months of the summer, probably jumps by 30 or 40 years and then during the school year drops back down to the mid 20s, right?

Yeah, there's certainly some truth to that.

But in my experience and I grew up in Bowling Green, I've never lived anywhere else.

But, you know, in my experience, I experienced what you just described, that when school after graduation, the town emptied out and it was an entirely different place.

It's a little different than that today.

It seems to me as though, students are attending school year round.

I know that the university has worked very hard to attract, activities to the campus year round for, for instance, I know that in the summertime there are almost continuously every week a campus of some sort being conducted at the university.

So the parents are bringing their kids for soccer camp or basketball camp or volleyball camp, and we're grateful for that, quite honestly, because that continues to stimulate the economy.

People are still, visiting our downtown, visiting restaurants, and bringing that vitality and that energy to the city.

So it's a little different.

I attended multiple soccer camps or a bowling green, was a nationally ranked soccer program.

And in my youth and in the camp was well run.

Didn't know Bowling Green very well.

Although we were not very far away.

I grew up in the sort of the heart of the city of Toledo.

But it's a magnificent, place.

The downtown is, not only functional.

We'll talk about commerce really shortly, but it's charming.

I that out of curiosity, and I know this is a probably a either a layup question or a difficult question to ask.

But, Mr.

Mayor, when you think about a Bowling Green resident, who or the people you serve, what is the image that that that conjures?

I think it conjures what what I see when I, when I think of or when I see our residents, I see people that are connected to each other.

I see people that that look out for their neighbors.

I see people that are committed to supporting local business and supporting our local institutions.

For instance, we recently went on the ballot to last November and asked our citizens to approve a self-imposed increase in their in their income tax in order to support the construction of two new fire stations in our community.

Because we needed it, because our community is growing and we're committed to providing those those safety services to our community, the residents overwhelmingly approved it.

So they support the institutions.

They support the schools where right now they're constructing a brand new $72 million high school that will soon open in Bowling Green.

So the residents in Bowling Green are committed to each other.

They're committed to the community.

And I think you feel that I think that everybody is connected.

It's a caring community, and I'm really proud of that.

What are the reasons you can, do you say are the reasons that Bowling Green is growing?

I think that's part of it is the fact that there's a little bit of a small town feel where, you know, your neighbors.

We have older, established neighborhoods where, the, you know, where the houses are close and people are still connected to each other.

I think that our historic downtown, provides a center, and during the summer, it seems almost as though we're continuously closing Main Street in order to, conduct the festival.

We have Firefly festivals and rally on.

BG is coming up.

Yeah.

Rally in BG, which is a partnership with Bowling Green State University.

Is coming up in August and Black Swan Festival, and the community is so connected and so responsive to these festivals that whenever we close that street and welcome people in to the heart of downtown, they turn out.

And to me, that is a sign of the community pride, pride and community and the the connect that how connected we are.

And I think that that's that resonates with people when they're looking to where they're going to live today.

When you come off 75 and start driving into into Bowling Green, the university has an imposing presence.

They've certainly invested a lot in the buildings all along.

The street there, not not least of which the athletic complex and the, Greek housing and other things.

It's a beautiful it's a beautiful campus, but certainly an imposing presence, in the city.

Not in a negative way.

What do you do?

What do you do on a regular basis to foster the relationship with the university and make sure that the city and the university are our in lockstep.

And Doctor Rogers knows that you're in charge, right.

Well, I don't know that it's fair to say that I'm in charge.

I'm one piece of that, or I'm one part of the team.

I'm one player on the team.

That's how I see myself.

But, our, you know, the results that you mentioned on this Worcester Street, those improvements, that's intentional.

That's the result of a very intentional planning process.

Actually, there was a combined, planning process that took place when I was a member of City council.

That, that, very intentionally looked at that corridor.

It was identified as the first thing that people see when they pull off of I-75.

Not only are they recognizing the presence of Bowling Green State University, but we also recognize an opportunity to use that as a welcoming core corridor to funnel people into our downtown.

I don't know if you've been in our downtown recently, but it's wonderful.

It's a terrific it's a source of pride.

That's the envy of many other communities.

And so the work, the improvements that you've seen on East Worcester Street are intentional.

And it's it's a it's a part of a collaborative, the result of a collaborative process that continues to this day.

In fact, we just announced yesterday, a new partnership with Bowling Green State University, where we will be constructing a new Bowling Green law enforcement education and training center on city owned property on the north side of town.

It's a direct collaboration in partnership with the City and Bowling Green State University.

And frankly, our staffs meet on a regular basis to discuss opportunities for collaboration, whether it's around sidewalk improvements, roadway improvements or infrastructure or event planning type thing.

I think what we're connected.

To, at the risk of outing, sort of a dream scenario, I'm curious, if not encumbered by dollars or practicality even.

And he had a magic wand.

What would be something that you would want to change and improve or potentially remove immediately?

Bowling green is there a dream of yours that's in a drawer somewhere?

I would want to.

I would probably want to break down any barriers that exist.

For, Collaboration and communication.

You know, I think that the, the environment that we're living in today, and I don't think that Bowling Green necessarily is at all, you know, divided community.

I don't I think that and I stand by my previous comments about how we're connected, but just, I think generally, there is today a feeling of disconnect.

And I think that I would given an opportunity, I would continue to break down barriers for communication because really, the things that divide us, I think, is a lack of understanding.

And I think that if we're willing to sit down and communicate honestly and openly with each other that, things, problems that might seem big and to to big to challenge are too big to overcome, become less so when we're honest and communicating with each other openly.

And that's what I would like.

That's well said.

And just to make sure that I'm tracking those are you mean neighbor to neighbor or agency to agency or the whole boat.

All of those things?

Yes, sir.

Absolutely.

Have you ever, as the mayor, decided to launch an investigation into why police what they put in those breadsticks that make them?

I was going to ask.

So addictive.

I was against the same question because for a couple of years, there was a police in Toledo.

Yes.

Cleveland.

And I wanted.

To.

I supported personally the same.

I think I may have, I think between you and I, maybe we kept them open for as long as they were there.

I don't even know why it tastes so much better in Bowling Green.

Well, I'm not at liberty to say.

I will tell you that when I was a government secret.

Well, it's just.

Yeah, it's a trade secret.

I mean, it's highly guarded.

I will tell you, when I was.

A red guard on.

I worked as a delivery person for poly.

Oh, yeah.

And there, when campus police first opened, this is many years ago.

I worked in that facility, and I used to go in on Saturday morning and help them mix the sauce.

The secret sauce is always the sauce trade secret.

I cannot.

There today.

I think if if you're hiring, in any role in Bowling Green, you should take the employee to poly eyes.

Let them order first.

And if they get anything other than stuffed breadsticks, they're out.

That's what I said.

And then also, you have to.

You have to move.

I'm kidding.

I don't even.

Know what you're saying.

What's going.

To go there.

Today?

I'm going to be.

I'm going to take you.

You've not had.

No, sir.

We're going to go right back.

Yeah.

No, I look, we need to.

Technically, mayor, you should have brought him with you.

I should have I apologize, not technically.

I mean, literally.

Can you go now?

No.

So.

But I think that's, you know, you talk about, collaboration.

Obviously, we joke about, you know, poly eyes and Toledo pops and BG.

There is a natural competition.

I've, you know, I'm the PA announcer for Toledo Athletics.

And so anytime I hear bowling Green, my natural response has to be like, but the reality is, those institutions compete, in football, in basketball for a couple hours, a couple days a year.

And I know those institutions partner in more ways than they compete.

Talk to me about, from a government standpoint, the partnership between Bowling Green and Toledo.

If I'm being honest, I don't have any really any connections with the government of Toledo.

I've met the mayor of Toledo, on a couple of different occasions.

I watch from a distance.

And I think that there are some really great things happening in Toledo.

I will say that I recognize that, regionally, it's it's critical that that Toledo is successful.

Yeah.

And I think in many ways they are they are there, a lot of really good things happening in Toledo, but honestly, there is not a lot of collaboration, taking place.

And maybe that's something that I need to put on a list, to improve.

Maybe there are opportunities that are missing.

I am connected, regionally through or Lake Erie West.

I've been involved in that for many, many years.

So.

And our staff is involved in that.

So there is collaboration taking place.

But I can't say that there is any direct collaboration government to government.

But the prompt, the thought maybe that I need to be looking at.

But who is your best friend?

Mayor.

Who's my best friend?

Yeah, your mayor, your mayor.

That's your best.

That's the mayor, friend.

And why is it Tim Beedrill?

I know Tim Pedro.

My best, my best friend.

Mayor.

It used to be Tom McCann.

Was who was the mayor?

Perrysburg.

Tom and I were.

We're close.

And it's so I have.

That's a good question.

He kind of caught me.

I'm going to have to make an the best friend.

Yeah.

We're talking with Mike, the mayor of Bowling Green here on a mayor Monday on the 419 team.

We can take a break.

When we come back, we'll talk about the future of bowling Green, some of the ideas left on his current term, and maybe the next three or 4 or 5 terms.

Kind of what he's what he's thinking.

We'll take a break.

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Welcome back to the 419 powered by GT.

It's Mayor Monday and we're spending it in Bowling Green, Ohio with the mayor of Bowling Green, Mike Spiker.

Mr.

Mayor, you're not a terribly unique story, but it's always surprising you didn't leave immediately into public service in your current role.

You've actually been a glutton for punishment for a significant amount of time.

I want to talk a little bit about your lineage.

Your first role serving the community.

That you've made your home your entire life was.

What?

Board of education.

Okay.

School board.

I was coaching, little league baseball at Carter Park in Bowling Green.

Yeah.

And one was a. Better baseball player between your two sons.

They were equal.

They were both.

They were both.

They were both real politicians.

Very, very good.

Baseball players.

Sons and sons, of course.

I'm proud of both of them equally.

I love them both equally.

Yeah.

No favorites.

Yeah, sure.

So, yeah, I was coaching Little League baseball at Carter at Carter Park.

And one evening I was approached by two gentlemen.

One happened to be the leader of the Republican Party in the city of Bowling Green.

One was the leader of the Democratic Party in Bowling Green.

He was like.

The beginning of a joke.

They're very it's not very close friends.

And they approached me when I was coaching their children.

They were on the same team and they approached me one evening and said, have you ever thought of running for the Board of Education?

I was like, why would I ever think of doing that?

I was professionally, I was a plumber, I was a union plumber.

Pipefitter local 50, in Toledo, you.

Know.

5050.

That's that's that was my career.

So why would I ever think that I qualified to run for any elected office?

But they talked me into it.

I ran, and for some reason, the people of Bowling Green elected me to this position.

And so I saw that initially as an opportunity to serve the community.

I grew up in Bowling Green.

I was born there, raised there.

I've never lived anywhere else.

I graduated from Bowling Green High School, so in an opportunity to give back to that organization or the community presented itself, I was talked into the opportunity and I really enjoyed it, quite honestly.

I love the idea of a potentially a times gone by where the head of a party could be friends with the head of the other party.

I think you mentioned it, in our previous segment about breaking down barriers and communication.

You can have polarized views, and be friends and have a conversation.

So that's not lost on me.

But you moved from this when you were assaulted by these two on a baseball field and forced into service.

Yeah.

It didn't end there.

I. Well, how did you get the bug and continue to sort of give back in this way?

I mean, you were.

You're already coaching after hours, right?

And that's for your family.

Presumably, you were coaching your boys.

How did you continue to care about everyone else's boys and families?

Well, well, first of all, an example of public service was set in my household that my my parents, were active in our community when I grew up.

They were active in our church.

I talk about Little League baseball in Bowling Green.

My dad was one of the founding fathers of Little League baseball in Bowling Green many, many years ago.

And he coached the same team for like 37 years and was a league officer and all that sort of thing.

So I grew up, in and, and my mother was involved in it also.

She ran the concession stand, and I remember her every day in the summer, making in our kitchen at our home, sloppy joes and shredded chicken sandwiches and other food that was then sold in the concession stand.

And profits went to the organization.

I grew up in that, in that environment of public service.

So that was the example that was set for me.

So I had a sloppy Joe in the last 30 years, I have.

Yes.

Yes, for sure.

Absolutely.

My mind was on like, Sloppy Joe.

My mom used to make banana bread religiously.

I think it was therapeutic for her.

And I once I've got a house, I've never had banana bread ever again.

Yeah, but the service continued.

Well, that's.

What it was.

And honestly, I have often I've joked that I kind of feel like the Forrest Gump of of elected officials.

I just find myself in positions where opportunities present themselves.

One day when I was done with the school board, I thought I was done with public service.

I was mowing my lawn and the current third Ward representative on city council at that time, who I was familiar with, pulled in my driveway and explained to me that she had, filed the papers to, run for reelection.

But she changed her mind.

She was spending too much time on city business and not enough time attending her children's sporting events or school events or whatever.

And she asked me if I would spend or if I would take her place on the ballot.

This was late in the election cycle, maybe in September.

So I agreed to after talking with my wife, I agreed to try it.

And interestingly, my was that conversation.

Like, if you don't mind, prying now into your personal affairs, but you sat around the kitchen table, you talked about the commitment to time.

What what was the discussion like in your home about?

Well, my wife has always been terribly supportive of these, you know, service, positions that I. Get you out of the house.

So she gets me out of the house, gives me time to.

Shop and do the things that she likes.

But no, she's always been tremendously supportive.

So it was a very short conversation.

And interestingly, that first election for third Ward Council representative in Bowling Green, my opponent was my seventh grade science teacher, Roger mozzarella, who was also who is also the Hall of Fame, lacrosse coach, not lacrosse rugby coach at Bowling Green State University.

Okay, so I won that election and I served on city council for ten years.

And honestly, it's to me, it's always been just a matter of public service.

I mean, I, I love the Bowling Green community.

As I mentioned before, I, I've never lived anywhere else.

I've never really been inclined to move and live anywhere else.

How did the mayorship happen?

Was it a vacancy?

Was where did you run against someone?

No.

Again, just, you know, it just kind of happened.

The, the I was approaching a point where I was going to retire from my job because I could.

The union has a provision where when your age and your years of service total a certain number 90, you're able to retire with full benefits.

And there was some discussion about adjusting that number.

And I didn't necessarily want to get caught in a position where I was required.

So I retired because I could and I was relatively young.

I was 57 or 58 years old.

And it just so happened I was on city council.

I was the president of council at the time, and my predecessor, Mayor Edwards, Dick Edwards, decided that he was not going to run again.

And I kind of sat around and waited for somebody to step up and throw their hat in the ring, and nobody ever did so.

And I figured, what the heck somebody is going to do.

So I threw my hat in the ring, I ran unopposed, and there I was.

I found myself in the mayor's office.

We're talking with Mike Spiker, the mayor of bowling Green.

You know, when you you think about, I mean, all of those years of service, you don't run for mayor because you want to be in charge.

You don't run for mayor because you want to be mayor, right?

You run for mayor because there's something you see in the community that you want to change.

You want to maintain.

What was that for you when you when you finally said, yep, I'm running for mayor.

What was that first campaign?

What was that first, you know, campaign promise?

It was, being open to positive change and and taking advantage of opportunities to allow the community to continue to progress.

And that's really what it is.

I had no agenda.

I had no specific item that I, that I pointed to and said, if I'm elected, I will do this.

I have always been, That the tagline, mayor Mike no ideas, no ideas.

I have no.

Clue what I'm going to do.

Just trust me.

I'll figure it out.

You go figure that.

Figure it out together.

That's that's a good tagline.

No one else wanted to do this.

That's.

You know what I did?

What I did was I said that honestly, I sat down and I created an, an inventory of what?

I thought, it was reasonable for residents to expect from their local government.

And once I created that list, then I decided that it my priority was going to be to make certain that the government was, was focusing itself on providing those services in the best way possible within our means.

So those things to me are public safety, police and fire protection.

Municipal utilities were very proud of our municipal, the municipal utility, operations, public works and our parks and all of these things that contribute to the quality of life in the community.

I will will stand up our services, the delivery of our services, and the quality and dependability, against any municipality in this area.

I'm so proud of the work that our employees do.

And again, it's because I think that they're professionals and they're allowed to function in a professional environment.

I see my role is making certain that we're the we're focusing on that core mission and that we're doing everything that we do to provide them all the tools and resources that they need to do the job to achieve that standard.

What's next for Bowling Green?

What's next for Bowling Green?

We're going to we're going to take advantage of of opportunities for our growth.

And we're seeing that.

We're seeing, new housing starts for the first time in more than a decade.

We have one subdivision that is that is, currently, filling up in its first plant and getting ready to sell plant two.

We have, like at least one other subdivision that is currently being planned.

We have housing, the other housing starts and then different types.

Some senior housing is taking place.

Our economic development, efforts are bearing fruit.

We see businesses choosing to invest in Bowling Green.

We see existing businesses choosing to expand or reinvest in Bowling Green.

So the business climate is strong.

And a part of that is because of our municipal utilities.

That private investment in housing is such a good indicator of the economy and the future of Bowling Green.

What what so many of the major mayors that we've talked to have talked about housing and the need for affordable housing and their existing housing stock.

What what do you say about what as it currently exists, what's its status?

I think that is tremendously difficult everywhere.

Yeah.

And it's the, the, the three factors that I feel contribute most to the development of housing is are those fixed costs, land, labor and materials.

And of course, the the price pressures on all of those have been upward over the course of the last several years.

So that's creating challenges everywhere.

So what we've done in Bowling Green is we've created a number of incentives that we're extending to builders and those looking to build in Bowling Green, where we're deferring some of the fees associated with building new housing and Bowling Green.

So it's, utility tap fees and plan fees and that sort of thing.

So you just try to create incentives, and take advantage of opportunity.

Mayor, thank you so much.

We're going to put you on the hot seat.

I don't know if I gave you a heads up on this one or not.

So buckle up.

It's now time for Gretchen's wacky quiz.

All right.

I am going to ask for rapid fire questions.

Okay.

Gretchen's going to ask you to describe Bowling Green in one word.

Okay?

And then you and Matt are going to list the nine best things in Bowling Green.

Okay.

All right.

Question number one.

If you were made a world leader, what policy would you introduce?

What policy would I introduce?

I would introduce a policy that, puts severe limits on campaign finance.

Almost eliminates or that probably follow the European model where there is a set amount of money that is extended to political candidates, that allows them to conduct the campaign and that's it.

There is no private contribution.

And I would also liberty or eliminate lobbyists, to Congress.

Agreed.

Smart.

What's the weirdest thing you've ever eaten?

Olives.

All right.

I hate them.

Yeah, it's a hot take.

If you were the captain of a pirate ship, what would be the name of your ship?

The olive.

The, Well, it's not very original.

Probably the rum runner, because that, you know, we would be rum infused.

We would have rum drinks with pineapple and coconut and all those things in it, so we'd be rum runners, I love it.

And what's your favorite winter activity?

Sitting by a warm fire, reading a book.

What's the one word you would use to describe the city of Bowling Green?

Vibrant.

Okay.

Yeah.

Love it.

All right.

You're stuck with me for nine.

Okay.

Favorite things.

Okay.

Fire when ready.

All right, well, I know I should probably start by doing the the politician thing and talking about our historic downtown and municipal parks, but but I'm not doing it.

Okay.

All right.

That's that.

He's doing I'm not doing that.

All right, so here we go.

You don't have a great park system, by the way.

We do.

And I can speak authoritatively right on that.

All right.

Here we go.

Stuffed breadsticks from from campus.

Polygon.

You guys.

You guys are Sears, watching the Bowling Green holiday parade?

Yes.

No.

Getting a twice blended mocha frappuccino, extra whipped skim milk double mocha latte from Biggby or any of the other five coffee shops in downtown Bowling Green.

What does your husband drink?

Black coffee with an ice cube.

Going to a concert at the.

Clay's out.

I don't know if you heard about that.

There's a promoter.

Yes.

Presenting concert.

And they have one.

That, like the stupid breadsticks, A31 half year old breadsticks.

To change your life.

Yeah.

Zip lining down Main Street with President Rogers during rally.

BG just happens every year.

It's awesome.

Enjoying a massive euro from South Side six.

All right.

Watching the Falcons ground the rockets of the Deutsche.

That's just really.

Rude.

Loading up on candy from Ben's general store.

Yes.

Freddy and Frieda Falcon.

Yeah.

They're good.

Jamming out with the black Swamp.

Fest on Mac.

That's not list.

That's a beer.

That was a good.

List, slugger.

Thank you so much.

Such a pleasure to meet you.

And to and to to hear about Bowling Green.

What's the next big people?

We've asked this, and we've kind of skipped it.

Let's fly through.

Somebody's going to spend a day in Bowling Green.

What should they do?

Come downtown, pick, have a lunch at one of our, great restaurants or campus parties.

Have the breadsticks.

We got to get you down, and we got to do that.

Yeah.

Do some shopping there.

Unique, boutiques in downtown Bowling Green.

And then we're going to go over to Winter Garden Park, and we're going to walk through one of the trails, and then we're going to go over to Simpson Garden Park, and we're going to walk through, the house to garden over there.

And then we're going to go to the city park, put our swimming suits on, and float down the lazy river, and then we'll go back downtown and we'll have a, classic cocktail at Sam.

That the the that's like the pool in Bowling Green is phenomenal.

My kids love it.

It's it's like a phenomenal, like, parenting life hack staycation.

To head there.

It's awesome.

It's great.

Yeah.

Thank you so much.

Thank you so much.

We're gonna take a break when we come back.

Mark Ohashi from Habitat of Wood County will join us.

We'll be right back on the 419.

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Welcome back to the 419, powered by its mayor.

Monday.

We're spending the day in Bowling Green.

We're joined now by, the executive director of habitat for Humanity of Wood County, Mark Ohashi.

Mark, thank you so much for being here.

Thank you.

Thanks for having me.

What is the.

I mean, I can't imagine people aren't familiar with habitat for humanity, but talk to me about what habitat does in your county.

Absolutely.

So our mission is to help individuals and families secure, decent and affordable housing.

And we do that through our Affordable Homeownership program as well as our home repair program, helping homeowners who would otherwise not be able to afford, a health and safety related, repair.

What an ideal world.

Many of our guess jobs would not exist, right?

Meaning that there wouldn't be a necessity for this sort of support.

At the risk of putting you on the spot, Mark.

Everyone has heard of habitat for humanity.

Thank you.

Providing some context to what it is.

But, and if you don't know, we can cut it immediately.

But, how long is habitat for humanity been in existence, period.

So it was established in 1976, okay.

As, formal official nonprofit.

501 C3 here.

We're founded by a gentleman named Millard Fuller and his wife, Linda Fuller, out in Americus, Georgia.

Okay.

It's both wonderful and and sad.

It's like every time I watch The West Wing again, it's still relevant, which is, a bit of a downer.

I would argue that habitat for humanity has potentially never been more important than it is right now.

There's a lot of things that layer on to that truth statement.

Have you found more passion in your mission?

Because it does seem to be such a need in indiscriminate you you're in every mayor we've had on which is now we can't count on two hands has talked about housing.

People are talking about housing.

And although the housing crisis differs from the, you know, the sort of ocean states, if you will, than the ones that we live in.

Why is housing such an issue and why is it been an issue for almost 50 years that we require this level of support?

Right.

That's it.

Thanks, Mark.

All right.

I find it interesting because, the passion for housing that that brought me into it, started, you know, back in 2008 when I started with with habitat, I was actually through an internship.

Okay.

And the passion for it was, very much alive, and the issue of housing was very much alive.

Oh, we know that housing was a major issue, in 2008.

Sure.

But for me, become became very aware, and very ignited by, the need for housing.

When I saw people and their housing situation and I'm talking about the case study level by the one person, the two people, the the three families that are that and more that I had the opportunity to do home visits with, to go in to see what their housing situation was.

So, I mean, it was always it has always been an issue.

Now more so, it has become a a very hot issue and we are seeing funding support to go behind that now.

But it is always been an issue.

Yeah.

Because even for that one family back in 2008, 2006, whatever you want that is living in inadequate housing because they can't afford to get out of it, they don't have the means to, for whatever reason, it's not acceptable to be living in some of the housing that I saw.

Here in the United States.

Yeah.

To Matt's point, I mean, every mayor we've had on has talked about housing, but this the solution to that can be a myriad of things for habitat.

The goal is homeownership.

Why does that matter?

Yeah, I think that homeownership, one of the big things that we see is it brings stability to a family.

They're not, having to leave a rental or because of the continuing increasing costs of, of, rent, you know, at the mercy of a landlord that may or may not, be doing the health and safety related repairs that are needed.

So there is autonomy there, through homeownership, it's it's a way to bring stability, I think, to the family.

And it's it's the next step for families that are ready and prepared to take that next step.

And what are what are some of the reasons that people that are in a home can't maintain it?

I mean, obviously, you think most people can understand, you know, a tree falls on your roof and you don't have insurance.

It's incredibly expensive.

Your basement floods.

You know, it'd be incredibly expensive to fix that.

But is the is the reason for the deterioration of a property and an individual's inability to do that.

Financial, physical.

What what are some of those reasons?

Yeah, I would think that it would be, when housing costs, we see that 1 in 8 families are paying more than 50% of their household income on housing, just, you know, utilities and rent.

So where how do you divide up the remaining right dollars.

And so, yeah, home and home, not home improvement in the home maintenance.

Yeah.

Costs.

Right.

To constitute a certain portion of that budget along with food, transportation and all the others.

So when you're dumping, your, your household income just for the four walls, then I think that it leaves, less, for the basic maintenance.

And why should the rest of the community, including the neighbors around that person in that house, care about what happens to that house?

I think it's just it's about being being a community.

Right?

It's about, helping one another.

And that's what we see is that the community does respond when they have the opportunity, when they are aware of the opportunity, when they're aware of the need, they do respond because we see it every day as we see volunteers coming out onto the build site, when we see volunteers coming out and helping and sitting on, the committees that we have.

So people do want to help.

And when they have that opportunity to blend their availability and their skill set, to a cause, they're, they're jumping out and they're doing it.

I've had the privilege a couple different times at participating in in builds with Miami Valley, habitat for humanity.

If folks have not participated in in that process, talk to me about about what the process of building a home is, the role that volunteers play and what that experience is like for them.

So, it's amazing to see, volunteers coming out, from all walks of life, different skill sets and backgrounds and coming out and being united in this one task that today we are going to put up walls, and there's a lot of energy that goes behind that and real commitment to doing doing it right.

And so, the process is just typically with when we're doing a build, we're working with corporate groups or these and size groups of about ten volunteers, 10 to 12 volunteers that come out for a build day.

We don't want to oversaturate the build site and create unsafe situations, but so a manageable group size.

And then they're given the task.

They sign up, they waiver up and then and then they, they, they come out and build and, you know, we provide a lunch for them and, we have a set schedule of what we want to accomplish on any given day.

And then we also have what we call core crew that are our retired team of volunteers that, are available.

They're more familiar with the building process.

And so they help our construction manager, navigate the volunteers for the day.

Mark, this is, probably at this point, just, calling, back us up into the process, even into the internship that led to the position you're in today.

Where are you from?

How did you get what is the background that made you, particularly, inclined to fall in this line or this vocation?

Yeah.

So actually, I grew up in Montreal, Canada.

And, one of the in my father was a doctor.

Okay.

And one of the things that, you know, I realized it was a really privilege.

That your father annoyed by providing health care for an entire country.

I'm just kidding.

That's not the show that this show.

Yep.

Yep, yep.

You're fantastic.

Yeah.

So Montreal, Canada grew up, and.

Yeah, it was a really privileged life.

And I got to play every sport that I wanted to play.

There was never a lack of funds to buy hockey equipment for, to skiing.

And music lessons.

All of this, those things cost.

Sure.

And, and I just, you know, I think later on, realize how privileged I was to have that opportunity.

And I found that, just with my skill set, had an opportunity to help others.

What's the skill set the referencing to?

If you had that hit around, what exactly was it?

Yeah.

It's not it's not a it's I don't have any, any real skills.

Sure.

So but.

I do know I can relate.

But the but I do, I think appreciate what other people bring to the table.

And I think that's what I see.

So when I see someone, I learn about them.

Yeah.

And, see where their skills.

I see where their passions are.

And I think I'm just able to connect them to, a need that we may have as an organization and how that can lend to furthering the mission to be able to help others.

It's about connecting people who have, a desire to help.

Yeah.

And but they may not know in what area can my skill set be used.

And amazingly, I find that with habitat, we make use of so many different skill sets.

Now with the restore, there's a whole retail side to the mission that is a whole other skill set.

It's not about hammering anymore, it's about the sales side of things, all to further the mission of affordable housing.

And we're talking with Mark Ohashi with habitat for Humanity of Wood County.

The restore is fantastic.

I mean, I, it's been a place where I've been able to go purchase things.

It's also a place where I can, you know, comfortably donate, items that that I don't I don't need anymore, but still have some life in them.

When you when you think about.

I mean, Matt had talked about, you know, this idea that, you know, many of our nonprofit guests have roles that that in an ideal world, don't exist.

You wave a magic wand.

What would need to change for habitat to not need to exist?

A housing solution for every housing need.

So not everybody's necessarily going to be a homeowner.

There are some people that renting is the right decision for them, and but it ought to be affordable for them.

And so I think that, the magic wand is just shelter is is a is a basic need.

It's where we start our day, where we end our day, when there is an issue at home with just the structure it wears on it.

It does.

I mean, yeah.

We all know where that one leak was, you know, in our house or, you know, and it.

Was my dad.

No, sir.

No, it's it's stressful episode, but.

Yeah, it is.

And and, and it wears on you.

And then you got to figure out how am I going to get this done.

How where am I going to get the money to do it?

And so that's, that's, that's shelter.

And so when that's not solved, then that bleeds into, oh area every areas of our life.

We've been doing this a long time now.

And I'm sure that there are many, many answers to this question.

But there have to be some feel good moments that stand out.

Yeah.

Even on the career of positive moments, can you share one of them with us?

That is wind in Your sails, because work is work.

So even when you're giving to others, it can occasionally suck.

I'm sure.

But what's the story that puts wind in your sails or keeps you going?

One of them was was, there was a gentleman.

And, you know, we're really known for our home building, homeownership program, but we started this home repair program, back in 2015.

And it was just we were just kind of puttering along and trying to do a repair here and there.

But in 2020, there was a gentleman that applied, and living in his house, he couldn't get help from anywhere else.

He was just sort of in that income bracket where there wasn't assistance available.

He had no running water.

Oh my God.

In Wood County in 2020.

And, we went and looked at his project and, I saw gallon jugs of water all lined up his hallway by two.

And he had them on like wood and two layers high, two.

Levels.

Two levels.

Right.

And, and he used that to bathe and use that for drinking water.

We actually literally go fetch water at his neighbors and then bring them back to his place.

Went into his bathroom is toilets tilted the soil?

So stack is is cracked.

You can imagine what happens when it's all pipes cracked.

And underneath this is crawlspace, and his shower is filled with black mold.

It was just horrendous.

And I was like, wow, this is Wood County in 2020, right?

And so, it was it was it was a project that we took on.

We first established reestablished Water Connection.

And I just had know an amazing team about finding the people that are able to have that skill set to be able to do the task.

And we did, and that we had an amazing team of people that came around.

And, put their time into this project.

We totally gutted that bathroom, cleaned out everything that was in that crawlspace from the toilet.

God bless the, team that did that.

And, we put in a whole new bathroom, new drywall, painted new flooring, a walk in shower, a toilet that sat properly on the floor and flushed and, and.

His whole life.

And he didn't have to use a metric system like your dad did.

And he said that he didn't.

He said he wanted to bring his TV into his bathroom.

Yes.

We wanted to.

Just stand there.

Stay there.

Yeah, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

That's smart.

Thank you so much.

If people want more information on how they can volunteer or maybe they've got their interest in becoming a homeowner, or they've got, a need for some help, in their home.

How do they contact you?

Yeah, all the information is there on our website.

Website at W c habitat.org.

They can apply for a homeownership program, apply for a repair, and just, get involved through volunteering.

Awesome.

Mark Ohashi with wood County Habitat for humanity, thank you so much for having me.

Appreciate it.

Yeah, I will take a break when we come back.

We'll wrap up this May or Monday edition of the 419 every day when you laugh with us, you learned with us a neighbor.

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I had never met, Mike before.

Had a conversation with him on the phone, but he.

Was nice guy.

Fantastic.

Yes, I get the good fortune of spending, holidays with him.

And he is, exactly like that.

And it's downtime.

Which I appreciate that.

I did not really know the extent of your connection to him until after I've put the better part of the last six months in trying to get to him.

So thanks for telling me that you spent holidays with it.

Well, it just goes to.

Just Flag Day.

You guys could have, like, you know, across the barbecue together or the normal relationship.

It would take what.

He would know if he read the spreadsheet, he would know you were trying.

Why would the man read our spreadsheet?

You know, I'm a good idea.

I got a better chance of the mayor reading our spreadsheet.

He probably does.

Than I do.

He's read, he said, but he's read the same amount of times as I have.

Yeah, that's.

That's true.

Yeah.

He was.

He is a great guy.

Yeah.

On and off the mic.

So I can attest to that.

Obviously, I know his son.

And.

It definitely comes through.

And BG is just gangbusters that that booster coming in all the way through downtown exactly as he describes.

It's just it's so many changes.

The only thing I don't want to bring up the subject, but having those little robots delivering food around.

I didn't know whose job I wanted to bring it up.

To me to.

I thought, that's what we're doing, the job.

You should have asked him.

Yeah.

And the.

Only downside?

Great.

Not bringing us anything.

What are they called?

Robots.

Yeah, that's what.

If, And then, of course, Marco Ohashi from habitat was fantastic.

You missed any part of the show you can catch at 7 a.m.

on YouTube, 3 p.m.

on FM, 91 or 6 p.m.

on connect channel 30.4.

Before we cut, again, what is the name of this godforsaken jollibee's?

It's the 419 powered by CTE, presented by Retro Wealth Management.

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