Lisa Gill Gardner, Former President of the 9th District Democratic Women's Network

The North GA Blue: Getting into Good Trouble podcast covers democratic politics in North GA, the 9th Congressional District, and across the state of Georgia. The podcast comprises a Q&A/Interview format with various democratic politicos including county chairs, democratic operatives, politicians, and more. It is our mission to deliver crucial information to our listeners in a timely manner as we fight for community values and principles in the 3rd most Conservative district in the state. Our website is: https://www.fcdpga.com/podcasts

Our guests will highlight democratic activities and actions to work toward a Blue Georgia. The 9th Congressional District spans 20 counties across the region and covers a good deal of northern GA including Blue Ridge, Morganton, Fannin, Union, Banks, Athens/Clarke, Dawson, Elbert, Forsyth, Franklin, Gilmer, Habersham, Hall, Hart, Jackson, Lumpkin, Madison, Pickens, Rabun, Stephens, Towns, and White counties. 

Our democratic party podcast also disseminates information and interviews powerful Democrats across the state of GA who are working to overthrow the suppression tactics of the GOP and ensure democracy and our values, grassroots efforts, and goals remain intact. 

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Meral Clarke: 0:17

Hello, you're listening to the North Georgia Blue Podcast produced and distributed by the Fannin County Democratic Party. I'm your host Meral Clarke. And we're getting into some good trouble today with our guest, Lisa Gill Gardner, chair of the ninth district democratic Women's Network. Welcome to the show. Lisa, we're happy to have you with us today.

Lisa Gill Gardner: 0:40

Thank you.

Meral Clarke: 0:41

Lisa has been involved with the ninth district democratic Women's Network for the last three years, serving as Secretary vice chair. And now in 2021, she serves as the chair, she grew up on a farm in Illinois spent her early career as a journalist in Michigan and is now a marketing professional in northeast Georgia. Lisa has lived in the ninth district for the past 20 years, cares deeply about progressive issues and wants everyone to be able to vote as do we all. So let's start off with an easy one. What's it like being a Democrat in one of the most conservative congressional districts in the country, and not only one of the most conservative but the third most conservative district in the country?

Lisa Gill Gardner: 1:25

What's the middle, it's lonely, it's just alone. You know, sometimes it's difficult. I've been here 20 years, I've obviously moved from Illinois and Michigan. But you know, it's sometimes really difficult to even participate. Because of the way progressive thinkers are so easily dismissed in these counties, these 20 counties of the ninth district, it's difficult to get your voice heard, when there are so many people around you speaking in negatives, I've seen things online and in person, the mask issue, for instance, you know, it takes hold of people in ways that you can't even describe how upsetting it is that people not only will will not wear masks when they're asked to, but actually physically go and try to take other people's masks off or belittle them for wearing them. And it was really difficult for the first few years when I was here because of where I've moved from. And it has been lonely, but I've met pockets of people. And it's almost like a secret code. In a way I want to tell you this one story, I met a progressive friend, she was on one of the boards of one of the charities in Forsyth County, and we were surrounded by all these very conservative people. And there were lots of conservative discussions during board meetings. And we found ourselves alone together serving dinner at bingo for a charity was used bingo for a fundraiser. And I think it was me and I said something just just a little aside just a little bit of a progressive jab in the conversation. And my friend, my my newfound friend, her eyes got really big. And she got this weird little look on her face. She looked at me and she said, Are you a democrat? And I didn't know what to say, because I wasn't really sure. And I said, Well, I'm kind of to the left of the Democrats. She cracked up and she cracked up and she said, Oh my god, I'm so happy to meet you. And we have been friends since then. Because it was just that little secret little signal. And another story which was in the neighborhood I live in, there were so many Trump signs. And she had this this is a new person, she, she I was walking the dogs and I'm walking past all these Trump signs and all this negative energy because you know, that's that's negative energy to me. And I come across this one sign and it says, by dawn, and it had the little hair thing. And I thought about it, I came home and I was so happy. And I left her note because I hadn't met her before and I left her note on her side telling her that it was the bright spot in my walk and we ended up talking and becoming friends. So even when you're out number eight to two or whatever the number is, you still find people and that's it's actually one of the reasons why I love this Women's Network that we're working in it just helps you find people that think like you talk like you have your values and just make the world a little bit better.

Meral Clarke: 4:39

And that's important than solidarity and numbers and knowing that you're not the only one makes such a difference for so many I know it has for me as well. You know getting involved with you know, Fannin County democrats and ninth district democrats so how do you navigate that? How do you how do you deal with the far right republicans and all their apparent bitterness and hatred and anger, how do you? How do you

Lisa Gill Gardner: 5:06

know that I kind of stay as far away from it as I can. And you can't live in this district without having, you know, some of my best friends are Republicans, my husband is a Republican, I get to the point where I rely on my democratic friends for happiness and positivity in my life, right? Of course, you know, there are other people who are happy and are positive. But when you're trying to make the world a better place, you're trying to make sure that people don't starve. Make sure that there aren't people who are hungry, make sure that people have health care. Everybody deserves to have health care, and finding like minded people who want to do that and having those conversations and actually doing some physical work to make it happen. It makes a world of difference. And you know, you don't talk politics as much as you can and you live your life and and do the things that make sense to you.

Meral Clarke: 6:03

Right? That's that's kind of how I end with your husband. I bet that makes for some interesting Pillow Talk Allah, George Conway, Georgia and Kellyanne Conway, I'm guessing

Lisa Gill Gardner: 6:13

we have joked about Carville and mary matalin, right? There are many famous couples who do that. And we could we can do that at Well, we have plenty of things that we have in common. We don't have to have the exact same right beliefs. And he does fall on the correct side. arguments as well.

Meral Clarke: 6:33

So that not the same side right.

Lisa Gill Gardner: 6:37

easily do follow the same side of things. So

Meral Clarke: 6:41

good, fair enough. So tell me more about the ninth district democratic Women's Network. How and why did you first get involved?

Lisa Gill Gardner: 6:51

Well, you know, I think it was because I was lonely. And and I was looking for some people who I could talk to about politics, and who wanted to make changes. And of course, when Trump came on the scene, I think that that was the impetus to get me off of square one and to get me more involved because I really felt like the way he treated women, the way he behaved, the criminal behavior. really shouldn't shouldn't be allowed. So I found this ninth district, democratic Women's Network, which we do have a little websites, I'm going to plug it here, please do it is G a nine D, D. WN, or Georgia ninth district, democratic Women's Network? It's really hard to remember. Ga na, vi D Ws.

Meral Clarke: 7:45

That is that's a mouthful. Yeah. But you can find

Lisa Gill Gardner: 7:48

us if you Google, nice district democratic women, you'll find it and right. So I found this group, they were planning some events. I do event planning for a living part of what I do. And I volunteered and that was about three or four years ago, and it was supposed to be a one event kind of thing. And here I am three years later talking to you on a podcast. So

Meral Clarke: 8:11

That's right. That's right. So it's really paid off. Yeah.

Lisa Gill Gardner: 8:16

It wasn't intended, but but it's been a nice journey. And I've met so many wonderful women and men in the ninth district who are trying so hard to reduce poverty, make sure that people are fed, make sure that people have health care. All of those things that are democratic principles, make sure that we have a living wage, those things are those things are important, and we have to talk about them out loud in our community, despite

Meral Clarke: 8:42

everything. What are your thoughts on the ouster of Liz Cheney, by the National GOP and the GOP? House Republicans who, wow, that's just a whole different wheelhouse of people?

Lisa Gill Gardner: 8:57

Well, you know, women in the Republican Party just don't really mix very well anyway, right? There are a few people who have managed to make their way and they have some xserve women, but to be a leader in the Republican Party, being a woman, it's really hard. And she said the Emperor had no clothes. And despite the fact that the guy who kicked her out and work to make that happen, also said the same thing. He just didn't repeat

Meral Clarke: 9:26

it. You're referring to Kevin McCarthy? Yeah. Kevin

Lisa Gill Gardner: 9:29

McCarthy, you know, he said the same thing. He just didn't repeat it. But she stuck to her guns. She really said this lie that he's told is a lie. And we all have to accept that and the republican men just couldn't accept that. And so like drought and you know, that's a republican party issue. I think it's a it's a reflection of the Republican Party, that you can't tell the truth. I mean, there were what 40 different lawsuits that Trump's campaign put out related to the election, and I think he might have One one that was really consequential. So, you know, you could fact check me on that I the numbers might not be exactly

Meral Clarke: 10:11

what Yes, it is.

Lisa Gill Gardner: 10:12

It's awfully darn close. So nothing was overturned. There were you know, there are men in the republican party who have said, Look, this is what the election was Biden won. Trump did not, you know, let's move forward. But they took out somebody at the house level, you know, it just shows how the Republican Party treats way. It's the

Meral Clarke: 10:31

way they've always treated women. I've always thought that being a woman, much like being black or gay and being a republican is somewhat antithetical. So it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. But moving on and circling back to the Women's Network. What does your group bring to northeast Georgia that other organizations can't or don't bring to the area, the ninth

Lisa Gill Gardner: 10:53

district democratic Women's Network brings a sense of cohesiveness to the area, the ninth district is very large, and there is a ninth district democratic organization right to Chris runs. And she is the nominal she used to be the chair of the women's organization, but it just brings this cohesive camaraderie among women that we can't get otherwise I've met people in Fannin County, I've met people in Pickens County, I've met people all over. And it is just I don't even know how to describe it. It's just just a really good way to find a lot of people that you can work together and share your thoughts and build a community.

Meral Clarke: 11:38

Yes, it is most definitely a community. And we so appreciate all the all the work you do. So what's your focus this year.

Lisa Gill Gardner: 11:47

So the focus this year, we wanted to focus on things that really are valuable and, and help move the needle. And last year, with the leadership of Susan demora and other people we were able to actually deliver. Now this is not just our organization, but in the in the ninth district, we were able to deliver 20,000 New Democratic voters to the polls, wow. For the election, we felt 20,000 Democratic voters that hadn't voted before in our election that hadn't voted democratic election. That's that's it was huge, it was a huge difference. And we want to be able to continue to build relationships with the people we know and the new people that we've uncovered in this work that we've done. So we're going to be fighting for voting rights, we're gonna be fighting to make sure that despite this horrible voting bill that the Georgia legislature passed that we can get people registered to vote, make sure they stay on the rolls, make sure they know how to register, how to check whether they still registered, and how to vote in the next elections that are coming up in 2022. I know that's 18 months away. I know it's a long time. But we want to make sure that we keep those relationships strong, and that we can first of all, give those people a reason to vote, but also bring them to the voting box, because that's going to make a huge difference when it comes to the governor's race and the state all the state officers,

Meral Clarke: 13:23

which we're looking at the midterms Now, next year, in 2022. Do you believe we're going to have to work harder to get people to the polls since Georgia sb 202. passed and you know they've tampered with absentee voting, they've tampered with the ballot boxes in so much more, especially in minority communities. Call it for what it is and how are you fighting that making that a sort of a get around for people to vote.

Lisa Gill Gardner: 13:48

So to be honest, the laws that they passed don't impact the northeast Georgia area as severely as it does in very populated areas. When you look at the lines of voting polls, they're always in urban areas, they're always in Atlanta. I've never had to wait more than 30 minutes in law, right? So I don't have to worry about a law that says, hey, you can't give water to somebody or food to somebody who's standing in line. I don't have to worry that the drop boxes this year, they had dropped boxes outside outside the courthouse. Yes, it was wonderful. It was phenomenal. I actually did drive through voting. I got my absentee ballot I voted at home. I drove to the courthouse in Gainesville, or the county office in Gainesville for you stuck my arm out of my car, threw it in the box and drove on so convenient. And they did that in Atlanta too. But now the law says you cannot leave a box outside, right? We have to have an inside. So now I have to park and go in. That's okay for me. Because, frankly, I can use the steps. I can park my car for free at the same location. I can take a five minute walk into the office, find the thing in Atlanta, you have to pay to park, you don't know if you could park anywhere near the office, all of those things, it makes a huge difference in urban areas where most of the Democratic voters tend to be. So what we're going to look out for and this is just me talking off the top of my head is we're going to look out for Are you going to get purged? Because people are going to get purged off the list? If they don't watch it? Are you making sure that your name is exactly the same? On your voter registration? As on your license? Right? All things? Did you check to make sure that your absentee ballot got accepted? before you decide that you can't go into vote? All of those things? Do you know how to ask for an absentee ballot? Do you know how to get to your new polling place, which I'll guarantee you there's going to be new polling place. Sure. So those things are all very important, the thing people are most concerned about with that voting law relates to the piece where the state can come in, and actually take over a local election board if they don't think that the election has been run properly, or

Meral Clarke: 16:13

that is the most disturbing, at least one of the most disturbing aspects of this repressive and suppressive law.

Lisa Gill Gardner: 16:19

Yeah, yeah, a lot of people are focusing on the water thing, the water thing is almost irrelevant. It's a red herring. Yes, it's a red herring, nobody, nobody really cares, you can bring your own water, you can get water inside all those things. But to have the state able to come in and overthrow a local election is absolutely it is disturbing. And they're not going to come over and take over the Fannin County election board when the Fannin County election has gone red, they're not the plan is to take over the blue districts and the short,

Meral Clarke: 16:53

it's obvious. You're not, they're not even trying to hide it any longer. So

Lisa Gill Gardner: 17:00

now they're trying to hide it. So we're gonna focus on voting rights, one of the things that we really want to talk about and we've got, by the time this airs, I'm going to talk about it in the past, we're having an event where the executive director of the Georgia wind list is coming. And she's going to be talking about women running for office, and how you can run for local offices, what you can do, how you can learn. And if you're not interested in running yourself, how you can get involved on the support side. So you can be a campaign manager, you can be a communicator, you can do all of these other support kind of things, but to actually get more women involved, because we really believe that when women are on local boards on local offices have local offices, these things make the world better, because women will be looking at things like health care, they will be looking at things like are your children getting enough food? Are people getting enough food? Are we healthy? Do we have broadband in the right place, so my kids can go to school? All of these things, women just have a different? Well, not always, but women can have a different perspective. And when it's 90% men on the boards, we want more women to be represented because we feel that that is going to be a better mix a better diversity of represent. Yes,

Meral Clarke: 18:23

I completely agree. As a as an avowed feminist and activist, I so appreciate hearing this from you. Thank you.

Lisa Gill Gardner: 18:30

So this is this is why we're really going to be meeting with people and trying to get more women running for office in 2022. We're going to be working early on that. So if anybody is listening to this podcast and says, You know, I could be a candidate for school board, or maybe I could go on city council or maybe you know, I don't want to run but I'm a good communicator, and I would certainly help sassy ga wind list and it's wi n they help women in Georgia, a lot like nationally, you can go to Emily's list, and they do training. And there's a lot of support mechanisms. So I think between Emily's list and the Georgia wind group, we actually have a lot of resources to help women move the needle towards the things that will make lives in northeast

Meral Clarke: 19:21

right and all over the state, as a matter of fact, not just here, but at the state level.

Lisa Gill Gardner: 19:27

Exactly. And there is a Georgia democratic women's Federation that also addresses these issues

Meral Clarke: 19:33

on. Good. I'm happy to hear that. And speaking of women's issues and issues that are important to women, what are what are your thoughts on the Supreme Court recently taking up another case that could potentially weaken Roe v. Wade? I mean, it's precedent. It's settled law. But republicans will not stop until they've at least tried to dismantle as much of it as they can. What are your thoughts on that?

Lisa Gill Gardner: 19:58

It's pretty dangerous. I mean, we already know that, you know, a TV game show host has put three very conservative people on a Supreme Court. And people waited to bring this case until they knew that they had a majority on the Supreme Court. Right? What's unique about this is that all of the courts below the Supreme Court, the district courts, all of them ruled against the actions where Roe v Wade would have occurred. But the Supreme Court took it anyway,

Meral Clarke: 20:29

which was surprising,

Lisa Gill Gardner: 20:30

with a surprising albeit not shocking, and so I'm very concerned, I don't know what actions we can take as as women right now. So I'm gonna have to do a lot of research on that, to move in the right direction related to this, it's really difficult situation, women need to have the right to make their own health care decisions, to control their own bodies, and it doesn't matter. It's your body, it's it's your body, and you should be able to choose how you live that life. And watching this come up to the Supreme Court again, when it's been settled law since almost before I was born. Yes, you know, it's so disturbing. And all I can do is say, I hope that the powers that be are going to be able to put up a good bite that the Supreme Court, and that there will be justice in settled law, and then it will continue to be settled.

Meral Clarke: 21:30

It's a never ending battle.

Lisa Gill Gardner: 21:32

It is and being dragged backwards. And, you know, look, I've known women who have had abortions, I've known women who have had children and given up them up for adoption. I've known women who have adopted children who are not wanted, I've known all of these women, and every single one of them have have made the right decision, because they made the right decision for them, whether they have have had an abortion, whether they have kept the child, whether they gave the child up for adoption, whether they adopted a child, all of these people, they made the right decision because they were allowed to make right. And that is the power of controlling your own body and controlling yourself and making your own decisions for your future. So I don't want to see that taken away from from women, I think that that would be that would be just

Meral Clarke: 22:23

terrible it would be. And so speaking of progressive causes, how are you providing a voice? And the education? Because it seems to me that you're you're very involved in in educating potential voters as well. So how are you giving a voice to all this besides the podcast, of course,

Lisa Gill Gardner: 22:39

you know, just having this whole network of women, we have a Facebook page, we have a Facebook group, and there's about 400 women in the Facebook group. And people will post different stories, they'll post news articles, they'll post memes, they'll post research, they'll post position statements, and you really get a good mix of understanding the progressive causes the progressive talking points, if you will. And once you learn these things, you can kind of be a little stronger when you're talking to your republican neighbors. So when your neighbor says, Well, you get more diseases breathing through a mask, you can say, oh, did you look at the CDC page, it says that breathing through a mask, the only germs you get are the germs that are already in your body. So it's okay, this other thing is not exactly right. And so when you share that, you get a little more confident and being able to talk to people when they come up with things that just aren't true or that they heard on conservative talk radio, and it was never fact checked. And you know, you can do that. And I think that that's really a good thing. Because I have picked up things I share a lot on there probably too much. Yeah.

Meral Clarke: 23:51

Not at all.

Lisa Gill Gardner: 23:53

So I think are interesting or new. It's like, oh, somebody else needs to read this too. And then you can talk about it, and you do get a voice. And that voice is amplified when somebody else says, I saw this, and I'm going to talk about it. And I can talk about it competently. And I don't have to worry about being squished like a bug by 20,000 people.

Meral Clarke: 24:14

There you go. That is so true. And so you said earlier that you wanted more democratic and progressive women to run for office and I wholeheartedly agree with you. So what are you doing to gear up for 2022? And midterms?

Lisa Gill Gardner: 24:29

Well, I tell you, it really is about the Georgia whip group and bringing them in and introducing them to the people of the ninth district, the women of the ninth district so that they know that there's a resource and then we'll be working as much as we can outreach into the counties and we'll be working with June Chris on the democratic organization for the ninth district and really trying to fill those slots as they come up. Because in the last election, we tried very hard to not have Have a an office where you were forced to either leave it blank or vote for a Republican, we want everybody to be able to if they want to vote for a Democratic candidate for every single office that's up for election,

Meral Clarke: 25:16

yes, all politics are local, right? So we need to fill those local offices, how's that going with recruiting female candidates to run,

Lisa Gill Gardner: 25:24

it's really just starting, so I really can't tell you okay, but last year, we've had so many women who stood up and said, You know what, I'm gonna do it, I'm going to run, you can put my name on the ballot and Kayla hollyfield. June ran, Susan dimauro, ran for office.

Meral Clarke: 25:42

d. Bailey, Dixie Carter, here in Santa Ana Dixie Carter.

Lisa Gill Gardner: 25:45

So so many women are doing that already. And we're just going to make sure that we reach out and make sure that if there's somebody that we can help, if they need help, if they need to have some support, they want to ask questions, they can come to us, they can come to the ga windlass. And we'll get them set up because it's ga nine, dd wn.org. And we will work with you to see where you want to run and fix you up with all the rules and regulations. There aren't that many. But there are some and you have to know the deadline. So we're going to work with everybody and see that if you want to run for office will support that

Meral Clarke: 26:23

that's wonderful. I actually have a democratic friend who happens to be male, and he said he's not going to be happy until women are winning the World. I have to say that I completely agree. I think that's a wonderful sentiment. It's nice to hear men say that though. And certainly that would never happen in the Republican Party. But it seems to happen more often with us. So it's it's nice to hear you also spoke about health care, and how it affects women and families. And certainly services such as Planned Parenthood, they don't only do abortions, they don't only perform abortions, they do so much more, and especially when it comes to health care for in perhaps those who cannot afford it. So let's talk a little more about that. What are some of the proposals that are being considered that would help if they were implemented at this point?

Lisa Gill Gardner: 27:10

Well, especially in rural areas, one of the biggest things is the expansion of Medicaid and Medicare and making sure that the people are able to get the health care they need at an affordable price. People shouldn't have to die or go broke, because they can't afford health care. And in rural areas, like Georgia's ninth district, there are hospitals that are in danger of closing, because they don't have enough money because people can't afford to come. And if we expanded Medicaid and Medicare, then the hospitals would have a better chance of serving the community because they would have that source of income and people would come in for treatment before it got to be fatal or too late. So the ninth District of Georgia is really it's needed to have that expansion. And I am so hugely relieved that Joe Biden is President right now that we don't have to worry about people literally going in and filing lawsuits to try to take away our health care. It's such a relief to look at what Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are doing related to health care that they reopened the Obamacare health care marketplace so that if you don't have insurance today, you can go back in and get it now. Right,

Meral Clarke: 28:40

I think until August, right? Yeah,

Lisa Gill Gardner: 28:41

I think it's till August, we'd have to fact check that right. But yeah, and that is something that in a pandemic, and thank goodness, we are coming out of it. But having that available to everyone is really going to be paramount to us being able to come out of this pandemic strong, strengthen the economy, when the economy has strengthened. People will get good paying jobs, they will be able to afford to feed their families, they will be able to do a lot of things that they can't do today. So I think that healthcare safety net, and making sure that the rural hospitals get the funding they need to stay open is critical. Yes,

Meral Clarke: 29:22

absolutely. It's a serious problem. In South Georgia. I have friends in South Georgia, and they've told me that I believe at least a couple of their hospitals, their rural hospitals have closed and now there's nothing, there's nowhere to go. People would have to travel. So of course you need a car and you need to be able to pay for insurance and so on so forth. People have to travel to health care now. So that is a serious issue. And certainly, Governor Kemp is not going to expand Medicaid. So we need a federal law, I believe Tell me your thoughts that would supersede the state laws.

Lisa Gill Gardner: 29:56

I would like to see that because it was optional. When Obamacare was Past right now have a democratic house, a democratic senate and a democratic president and seeing that where if we just say, let's go ahead and expand so that everybody, no matter what state you're in, has the same benefits, has the same opportunity to not go broke, right? If you can't get health care, that should never happen. Every single person should have the health care, they need

Meral Clarke: 30:29

Absolutely. affordable price. Absolutely. So you know, health care, and voter suppression is certainly on top of our agenda at this point with everything that Republicans are doing to try to chip away at all of our rights. And I am hoping much as you are that we will have those federal laws in place soon, we have the Senate, but barely, and we lost seats in the House. So these are all items that we have to look out for 2022 in the midterm elections. And I'm just hoping that everyone comes back out and realizes the importance of midterms, especially the governor's office, I have to put in a plug for Stacey Abrams, absolutely sincerely hope she runs, I truly

Lisa Gill Gardner: 31:12

do a huge expectation for her to run. And I think that if she didn't, I don't know what the democratic party would do in this state. I think that she really has made a difference with her fair fight organization, which we love. Yes. And it's expanded nationwide. So to have her come back and run for governor, and actually, when would be phenomenal, or Georgia, I hope that she does, again, it would be another woman that we could look up to and be inspired by. Not that she hasn't already. Yes, but we all need inspiration, because it's that positive energy that keeps us going from day to day. And that voice of that knowing that there's other people like us, and we know, I mean, we know where we are. We know we're in northeast Georgia, we know we're in the third most conservative congressional district in the nation, right. And there's not a lot of chance that we are going to win a congressional seat or win a lot of offices, but we can't be silent. And we have to continue to talk. And we have to continue to spread some of the inspirational messages. If you go back to our conversation at the beginning, when you talked about when I first started getting involved, I wasn't involved at all, I didn't want to be involved in politics. But I went to an event that was up in northeast Georgia and then brought in the people running for governor and for lieutenant governor and Secretary of State and I listened to all those people. And the messages were so inspirational and so positive about the kind of world we can we can live in, when people get the health care they need and have insurance that is proper, and affordable, and be able to do all of those things make make a living wage, right? We're so inspirational. And it was so different than listening to the news. It was going, going to these events, and actually hearing people talk about them in inspirational ways. It just changes you and it makes you happier. And it makes you want to have this all the time. So yes, yes, really, I would encourage people, as we go into next year, if you're sick of the news, and you're sick of the negativity to take an evening, and to go to one of these events, and listen to what the candidates are talking about, and the type of world that we can live in, if we continue to be engaged in our community. And we are confident enough to speak up when other people don't want us to.

Meral Clarke: 33:56

Exactly, exactly and and that is important. And thank you for all the work that you're doing. And you've been so informative. I hope you'll join us again on the podcast anytime. Definitely.

Lisa Gill Gardner: 34:08

Thank you. Thank you for inviting Yes, You're

Meral Clarke: 34:10

so welcome. And thank you for participating. And before we go, I have one more question. Tell us a fun fact about yourself something that most people don't know about you and our listeners would be interested in hearing about.

Lisa Gill Gardner: 34:24

Fun fact. Non political fun. Sure. I have a little daysailer sailboat that I take out every once in a while on Lake Lanier. Last year. We went out and it was too windy. And we ran into ground and put a hole in it. And I had to call my husband to come rescue us. And when he did, he was so mad, but at the same time he took it as a challenge and we have this great big hole in the bottom of this little 2025 year old sailboat. So between The two of us we learned how to work with fiberglass, and we patched it up, and it is back in the water or it can be back. Hey, tested

Meral Clarke: 35:08

teamwork. So teamwork with your republican husband. Yes, exactly. So

Lisa Gill Gardner: 35:14

that is my little fun fact that maybe you guys didn't know

Meral Clarke: 35:18

we did not. And that's great. Thank you so much. Well, Lisa, thank you for joining us today and sharing more about your group. I'm Meral Clarke and on behalf of our team, I'd like to thank everyone for listening to this episode of the North Georgia Blue Podcast. We hope you'll listen in next time when our special guest will be Sarah Todd, Vice Chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia. To learn more about the Fannin County democrats and the work we're doing Please visit us online at Fannin County, Georgia democrats calm and consider sharing the North Georgia Blue Podcast with your friends and family. Join us again as we get into some more good trouble