Link Ahead with the City of Dublin, Ohio
Link Ahead with the City of Dublin, Ohio
A Doctor’s Path To City Hall. Meet Council Member Dr. Greg Lam
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A city can add miles of trails, a world-class rec center, and recruit global companies, yet still miss the simplest ingredient of public health: belonging. Lindsay and Bruce sit down with Dr. Greg Lam, a cardiologist and new Dublin City Council member.
They talk candidly about why he chose local government after years in statewide health policy and nonprofit leadership, and what he learned by knocking on more than 1,600 doors in Ward 3. Dr. Lam shares why being the first Asian American elected to Council matters to the AAPI community, and why diversity and cultural inclusion are essential to Dublin’s identity as a connected, sustainable, resilient global city of choice.
Then we zoom in on the research: strong social relationships can dramatically improve longevity, while social isolation raises risks for heart disease, stroke, dementia, depression, and anxiety. That brings us back to City Hall, where parks, walkable districts, and intergenerational programming are powerful public health tools. The episode closes with a fun first for Link Ahead as his 16-year-old son Ryan joins to share a teen perspective on Dublin, social media, and what younger residents want leaders to understand.
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Welcome And A Firsts Preview
SPEAKER_03Hello and welcome to Link Ahead, the City of Dublin podcast. We are always enjoying sitting down with city council members to learn more about their diverse backgrounds and expertise while helping share their work and visibility across the community. And today we're excited to welcome a new voice to the conversation. Dr. Greg Lamb, thank you for being on Link Ahead.
SPEAKER_01Well, thank you so much for having me. This is truly an honor, and I'm so excited to be here.
SPEAKER_04We're excited to have you. This is an episode of Firsts. Not only is it your first episode, it's going to be our first episode with a teenager, Bruce, because your son Ryan is going to be joining us here in a little bit. I think our screen, our street cred is going up a little bit with this episode, Bruce. And so it'll be our first father-son episode as well. So we're really excited.
SPEAKER_01Or your street cred is going to go down.
Why He Ran For Council
SPEAKER_04Either way, we're very excited to see that. So you are a cardiologist with Ohio Health and serve as director of cardiovascular services at Berger Hospital. We're going to dive into your uh background here as we go on today. But first, let's start with your service to Dublin. What was that moment when you thought, you know what, I want to run for city council?
SPEAKER_01You know, Lindsay, that's really interesting. I don't know if there was actually one moment. Um so I've had a lot of experience serving on nonprofit boards, uh, working for governmental advisory agencies and funding organizations, um, all because, you know, my all my goal is always to help people and to make our community better. Um, but what I realized is that there's only so much you can do from the non-governmental side. Um, I've spent a lot of years on the Board of the Health Policy Institute of Ohio, and we devised health policy, you know, for state levels. And then when nothing was getting done, we started changing our recommendations to policies for local municipalities. And that's when I realized that if you really want to enact change, real change, you have to be on the policy-making side of things. And so I thought about running for council for a long time, and then just uh this past year we decided just to kind of pull the trigger.
SPEAKER_03Awesome. Dude, what were your expectations when you finally decided to do that? What what were you thinking going into it?
SPEAKER_01Well, I was expecting it's gonna be a lot of work. And was it? It's it was a lot of work, really a lot of fun work there. I mean, um, it's funny, people say that the worst part about campaigning, the most the thing that brings them out the the most amount of angst is knocking on doors.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I loved it. Um, it was a great opportunity to meet people, to find out, you know, their concerns, find out what they love about Dublin. And I thought it was just a great, great time to actually really get a feel for uh for the residents, at least in Ward 3.
SPEAKER_03Wow. Was there any surprise that like this aha moment when you were going door to door that made you realize this is right?
Service Roots And Health Equity
SPEAKER_01Well, you know, one of the things that I was really surprised about was it just was not vitriolic at all. You know, you always worry about when you knock on doors and if people are gonna be mean to you. Um, for the most part, they weren't. That's good. Maybe maybe two occasions, but that's not that's not it. But I knocked on personally over at 1,600 doors. So holy 1600 is not not bad at all. Um, but what I don't know if it really surprised me, but was something that was really nice was just how much people love Dublin. Yeah, they love the services, they actually love what city council was doing. And um, you know, that just made me even more excited to commit myself to the service of Dublin and and our residents.
SPEAKER_04Well, no one should be surprised about your decision to serve on city council. You've talked a lot about some of the other things that you've been involved with uh in terms of community service. You've contributed uh to leadership to um the Ohio Commission on Minority Health, the Health Policy Institute of Ohio, and several others across the state. Um it's an extraordinary body of service. Can you share more about that part of your journey and how it connects to both your personal and professional interests?
SPEAKER_01Well, you know, actually when I think about it, uh, you know, this actually really goes back to my parents. Um my parents immigrated to the United States uh about 1975 or so, or they became naturalized in 1975. They were always really committed to their community. You know, growing up, they were leaders of the community association organizing camping trips. You know, my dad, even though he didn't know anything about camping, he volunteered to be our uh Cub Scout leader. And then we were very active in Boy Scouts, you know, all throughout the church and all of that. And so I think that really set a good example for us. And it was all based in their desire just to help people and to make our community better. Um, and I think that's kind of followed me all the way through. Then when I became a physician and, you know, helping our patients, um, you know, you could do a lot to help them medically, but then you realize that there's so much more to providing good care. Um, like a lot of the social determinants of health. Um, you know, when I know that we may talk about that a little later on, but there's so many more aspects to caring for people, just than just just more than just taking care of their individual medical problems. And so that led me to, you know, a bigger realization of health disparities, you know, what we can do on a broader perspective. And that's what led me to a lot of the organizations that I worked with, whether it was the Ohio Asian American Health Coalition or the uh Commission of Memorand Health, um, the work that I did with uh Governor DeWine for the COVID-19 pandemic and also our schools. Um and then again, that kind of brings me full circle to the whole policy side of things. Um I never really thought I was gonna get into politics. Uh in fact, when I was growing up, I always tried to eschew politics. Um but I know that now I realize if you really want to have lasting change, this is what you kind of have to do to make sure that everyone, everyone has a fair shot for health, you know, for opportunities, you know, all of those things.
SPEAKER_03We should also mention that you're the first Asian American elected to serve on Dublin City Council. And fittingly, we are having this conversation just as Asian American and Pan Islander Heritage Month is about to kick off in May. So can you talk about the significance of that milestone, both personally and for our community?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Well, you know, Bruce, I I tend to try to downplay those things. Um, but to be honest with you, it's not lost uh on me the huge significance that this is for the AAPI community, particularly here in Dublin. Um, I've had so many people that have come up to me when I was running and after I got elected that said that this means a lot to them. Um, representation matters. And I think it matters not only for race, but you know, I take a look at Mayor Grooms and I think of all the, you know, young girls out there that look at someone like um, you know, Mayor Amros Grooms and says, you know what, maybe I can do that uh one day as well. Um I think this alludes to a really larger conversation about race and racial identity, you know, one that we don't have to get into now, but maybe I hope we can. Um I think we're really lucky in that Dublin is a real oasis. Um, it's very ethnically diverse, very accepting. Um, but like everywhere else, you know, these issues are simmering. Um it's things that I know that we have to have open, honest discussions about. Um and I think that's one that's one thing that's great about Dublin. One thing that I hope that I can continue as a member of council. Uh, one of the things that I really want to do is to do things to promote promote more diversity, more cultural inclusion. Um there's a whole list of things that I want to do that that uh we can talk about, but that's just uh one thing that's on my list.
What Makes Dublin A Global City
SPEAKER_04Well, you're hitting on our vision statement. You know, Dublin wants to be the most connected, sustainable, resilient global city of choice, and we are diverse. And so um talk a little bit about that idea of being a resilient global city of choice. What makes Dublin a global city, in your opinion, and how can we keep leaning into that mantra?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I, you know, Dublin is a global city, and I think that we need to do a lot to continue to be that. You know, we have a very large multinational corporate footprint. When we think about like Cardinal Health, Wendy's, uh, Hidaka, the international uh work group um uh group. And so, you know, I think that we have a lot of international businesses. Um, I think that's because we've actually built the infrastructure for global competitiveness. You know, I've I've been on this job for three months, and one of the things that I've learned from our really wonderful economic development team is that um we have built the infrastructure so companies look at places like Dublin and say, you know what, we actually want to locate there. Um we have the high-speed fiber, the smart mobility, um, you know, we have the the ability to attract these um international logistic corridors that attract people here. In addition to that, we have an international and economic development strategy. And so um, you know, Dublin has just been this ecosystem for um a launch pad for innovations for startups. And I think that's really attractive to um, you know, international companies to make it a global city of choice. But the other thing that I think is really, really important, something that we've already alluded to, is just the cultural diversity of Dublin. Um and I think that's a real strength. There's lots of ethnic backgrounds that attract a lot of people here. And you know, people can look at this place and say, you know what, we really want to move to Dublin. And of course, you know, intertwined upon that is just a quality of life. You know, we have top-tier schools. That's part of the reason why my wife and I decided to move to Dublin was because of the schools. Um, you know, safety, incredibly safe neighborhood. Um, kudos to the Dublin police, you know, like they are an example. Um, and I talked to a lot of different police departments, and they always point to the Dublin police as, you know, just one of the best departments. Um, we have wonderful parks, greeneries, walkable neighborhoods. We have sustainability and environmental friendliness that's sort of embedded into our culture. And I think all of these things actually make Dublin a global city of choice.
Health And Wellness As City Policy
SPEAKER_04Wow, and you touched on it, but some of this infrastructure that we have for setting up that quality of life. And we have, you know, a world-class recreation center, 150 plus miles of walking paths. And um, how can we as a city and a society kind of keep up our health and um wellness game?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you know, that's actually one of the things that when I first came on council, I was really, really enheartened to see that that was um a goal of the city. And health and wellness is, I mean, it's sort of my wheelhouse. Um I dabble in it here and there. But so I'm a I'm a cardiologist by training, but I do a lot of um preventative cardiology. Um and and so one of the things we focus on is just the health and wellness uh of people. And so, you know, the health and wellness is something that's really, really important to me. That's something that Dublin has made a priority, and it's one of the things that I want to try to really focus on. Um, you know, we do a great job with economic development. We do a great job with planning and zoning. We do a great job with sustainability. I think the next thing that uh we really want to focus on is actually just really building on the health and wellness of our community.
SPEAKER_03So let's bring back your professional experience into this conversation. So your clinic, you've talked about this, that your clinical work, your leadership, your focus, it's all on community wellness. And now you're able to make a difference in this. So, how do these topics intersect with municipal governance?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you know, it's really not obvious at first. I was like looking into this, but um, actually, in so many ways. And so when you think about our built environment, that equates to health outcomes. And so the walkable paths that you're talking about, you know, about the greenery, the environment, that all leads to healthy outcomes. And so we know that if we have a healthy environment, that just leads to better outcomes. Um in addition to that, we know that align aligning economic development with health policy, um, you know, how we support initiatives, how we have public-private partnerships is actually really important to the growth of the community, but also the health and growth of our residents as well. And so I think a lot of these things that we do in city government really ties in really nicely with uh with health and wellness.
Belonging As A Longevity Factor
SPEAKER_04And you know that health and wellness goes beyond, you know, diet and exercise. Um, studies show that perhaps the number one factor to longevity is a sense of belonging and connectedness to their community as a citizen and a doctor. Help us understand this more.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, this is a really fascinating area of medicine and research that's really grown recently. Um, it's interesting because so there's a there's lots of studies out there, but one of the ones that I love uh referencing is a meta-analysis. And a meta-analysis is they actually combine all these other smaller studies and put together. This meta-analysis combined a whole bunch of studies, so it represented over 300,000 um people. And it showed that strong social relationships actually increase your chances of survival by 50%. 50%. That's absolutely amazing. You know, there's great evidence that shows that social isolation can increase your risk of cardiovascular disease, increase your risk of stroke, uh dementia, um, all cause mort mortality. And you know, it's it's somewhat obvious, but there's actually really great data too that shows that social isolation can also cause increases in depression, anxiety. Um you know, from a health perspective, a global health perspective, uh, we actually say that social isolation is sort of akin to smoking and all the detrimental health uh effects from smoking. Conversely, if you increase social engagement, that's been shown to decrease dementia, it's been shown to increase your immune response, decrease depression, decrease anxiety. And so all of these things are really, really important. And so, Bruce, you know, you had to mention one thing, one question you said was, well, how does this relate to municipal municipal government? Right. And I think it has a lot to do with it. So what we found, what we know is that high performing communities where we intentionally engineer um things like parks and recreations or or rec centers, parks, walkable districts, these actually improve health. These actually help the community. If we intentionally do things like intergenerational programming, that actually improves you know um health for our elderly and also for our kids. So, one great example, if you guys want to dodge me for one second, yes, absolutely. My parents recently moved from Hawaii, where they lived for over 60 years, to Dublin. Um, they I I have two brothers and a sister, and so my parents had the choice of moving to Pittsburgh, um, Salt Lake City, or Charlotte, North Carolina. They auditioned all of those places.
SPEAKER_02They auditioned this. I pictured this wheel at the at the household, and they have to like spin it and see what comes up.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, but they chose Dublin. And they chose Dublin because Dublin is just a great, a great city. And to be honest with you, they probably chose Dublin because of my wife. My wife is just awesome, and so they knew that. But they chose Dublin. But now that they're here, you know, they can spend time with my son, Ryan, who's, you know, just turned 16. Um, and there's all of these things that they can do together. So this intergenerational programming is so great for their health. It's great for my son's health, it's great for our family's health. Um, and so those are really important things. And other things that cities can do um to help with this overall health and wellness is things like civic engagement. Dublin does a great job with encouraging community boards, community volunteer opportunities, and in doing so, this actually really improves the health of the community as well.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely. And you've talked about this, you know, patient care has taught you a lot about the human condition and relationships. Uh, does that help with council meetings?
SPEAKER_05What? Yes, absolutely.
Council Workload And Wellness Plans
SPEAKER_01You know, so I I teach a lot of medical students and cardiology fellows. And what I always tell them is that there's chaos in medicine. You know, you're rounding, you're in the ICU, things are going crazy, they're going every which way, up, down, sideways. And I always tell them that uh it's really easy to actually forget about you know the most important thing. And it's really easy to actually get distracted by all these other things like healthcare insurances or people yelling at you or you know, all of these things. But if you always keep the patient in mind and you actually um re remind yourself that you're here to serve the patient to do what's best, that'll always guide you. You'll always make the right decision. It's very similar in on the council. You know, um, we're faced with a plethora of very difficult decisions. Um and it's easy to get distracted with all these other factors. But if you always remember that you're here to serve the people, that you're here to do the best that you can, you know, for the residents and for the community, then I think that's going to be your guiding principle.
SPEAKER_04Wow, that was an amazing parallel you just drew right there. And so let's stick with the city council piece. I know you were talking before we started recording today. I think the last council packet was 1,600 pages long or something along those lines.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, over a thousand pages.
SPEAKER_04And that's on top of all of the other studies and plans that we have, I think, properly inundated you with since you started here. So everything from our strategic framework to the Envision Dublin Community Plan and then all of the studies and plans that we have. Um tell us what you're excited about.
SPEAKER_01So I'm really excited about um the Dublin Wellness Alliance.
SPEAKER_05Yes.
SPEAKER_01Um, in fact, I actually asked to serve on uh that committee. Uh, I think Dublin has a really great opportunity to um do some really innovative things uh for the community. And there's lots of things that we can do to really fulfill all of the health needs um for our community.
SPEAKER_03Uh how do you plan to or want to meet and talk to more residents?
SPEAKER_01Well, you know, um this is the really fun part of the job. I think it's the fun part of the job. Just last night I met with the um residents of Bristol Commons. Um, and what was scheduled to be an hour-long conversation turned out to be an hour and a half. Oh boy. And we talked about all different topics, a variety of things. One thing that I'm always amazed about is how much I learn from talking to our residents. Um, the residents in Dublin are so intelligent, um, they're so insightful, they have great ideas on how to address some of our community problems. And they'll bring up issues that I haven't even thought about.
SPEAKER_04Yes, and we have to point out you have, I think, the coolest uh email address in all of the city. Our our producer Scott points out it's glam, glam at dublin.oh.us. So that that people will remember that one.
SPEAKER_01Which is really ironic because as my wife would be the first person to tell you I am the least glamorous uh person.
SPEAKER_04Well, you're gonna get a lot of glamorous resident requests, I think, um, after we just put that out there. So um we should also mention that you were elected to represent Ward 3, but since you've been elected, have you had residents reach out from all over the city?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, absolutely. Um, because a lot of the issues that we deal with has to do with the whole entire city. Um, so for instance, the noise ordinance that we just passed. Um, my parents live in Bridge Park, and uh noise is a big issue over there. They sure they tell me that all the time. Um my parents are a good example. They're not my they're not in my ward, but I give them a lot of time.
SPEAKER_03You're like, I'd like to help you, mom and dad, but sorry. You're not uh you're ward one.
SPEAKER_01Right. Um but also everything going on with the um the West Indian Nation District, you know, with the Metro Center Metro Center revitalization. Um so we I hear from people all the time because people are concerned about what's gonna uh happen to their community, and they want to make sure that we continue to build Dublin that's true to the values that drew us all here, which is you know, open green spaces, um, we really respect our environment, our trees, you know, the walkability, um, all that stuff. We want to make sure that we're not just driven just by development, um, but we do it in a way that actually serves everyone and it preserves what makes Dublin Dublin.
SPEAKER_03Are you sure you've only been on this job for three months? Because you're coming out like you're you know everything that's going on. Like you had a crash course in uh city government.
SPEAKER_01It was a lot, it was a lot. But you know, again, so huge kudos to the staff because um council member Johnson and I, we started new and they did such a great job with the onboarding and bringing us up to speed, a lot of studying on our own. Sure. And so, but you know, that's something that um at least as a physician, that's what you do. You just read and you're always researching. I always tell my medical students and my uh my fellows that I train, every night you should be reading. You always should be learning every single day. Um, and if you're not if you're not doing that, you kind of fall behind. And the last thing you want to do is fall behind on you know things like you know, your your um care for patients, but also your care for our community.
SPEAKER_04I think he's not an average person when it comes to getting up to speed and studying. And I think that tees up your next question pretty perfectly, Bruce.
SPEAKER_03So your educational path is is interesting too. No, there are no surprise questions here. Um so you have medical degrees and a business administration degree. First of all, I don't know when you had time to do all this, but what lessons can you bring to governance as a doctor and as a business executive?
SPEAKER_01So a lot of the things that um, you know, we do in business, uh, I'm sorry, in medicine applies to business, but interestingly, it also applies to municipal government um as well, too. And it was funny because, you know, when I first started my profession, I said the last thing I want to do is go into business, the last thing I want to do is go into politics. I was trying to eschew never say never. Polics. But but um what you learn is that you know, at least within medicine, um, we talked about how it starts with the patient, but it kind of grows from there. And then you realize that there's all these other factors that play a role into what you want to do. And if we the the way that it happened with a business degree with Ohio Health was that I did a lot of work in um expanding our care to communities, um, particularly smaller you know, neighborhoods, rural communities. But in order to do that, you have to have a really good business understanding of how that works. And so I was already doing a lot of the business work in Ohio. I said, like, hey, you know, we'll support you through a business degree. So they did. And uh and so that's how I got my MBA. Um when I was at Duke University, I mentioned that I was doing a lot of research um and a lot of basic science, translational science, and how that translated to clinical care. Um and they offered a master's in health science degree, which just really kind of tied in nicely, dovetailed nicely with all the work that I was doing. So they said, Hey, you know, if you want, we'll support you through this master's of health science degree. Um and so I said, sure. And that's just knock that out in your spare time. Yeah, it was a lot of work. And um this is something that I'm not I'm not proud of admitting, but it took me about 15 years to finish my master's in health science because you kind of get caught up with work, with family. Um, and it was just the last uh um, you know, the thesis that I had to do. And so that was just the last stumbling block, and I completed it during COVID.
Why The Lambs Chose Dublin
SPEAKER_04Oh, wow. Well, congratulations. I got my one master's during COVID as well, too. And then I said, no more, never again. All right. Last question before we bring in your son, Ryan, we want to talk a little bit about earlier. You mentioned your wife, uh, and and she's awesome. What brought you guys to Dublin originally?
SPEAKER_01So um she got her PhD at uh the Ohio State University. And when she was a graduate student, um, we were dating at the time, and I came and I spent a year and a half at the Heart and Lung Institute at uh OSU, and we just absolutely loved Columbus. Uh and we thought that when we got done with our training, we wanted to come back here. Um, and so after um I graduated from medical school, um I went down to North Carolina. I was at Duke University for seven years doing my internship, residency, and fellowship. She graduated uh from Ohio State and did her postdoc at UNC Chapel Hill uh in North Carolina.
SPEAKER_03Whoa. Let's talk about rivals right there.
SPEAKER_01I know, and that would be cool except that she's totally uninterested in sports. I've tried. I've tried. Um and so, but after we were done, we were looking at places that we wanted to raise our family. And uh Columbus was top on our list, and within Columbus, we looked at all the different uh neighborhoods um and we said Dublin, Dublin is the place. Um again, because of just the great neighborhoods, um the top-tier schools, the ethnic diversity. And so we've been here going on 17 years now, and we've been um so happy and so fortunate to call Dublin home and to raise our sons uh here in Dublin.
Ryan Joins Teen Life In Dublin
SPEAKER_04And now, through the magic of editing, he is here at the table with us. Ryan, thanks so much for being here.
SPEAKER_00Hello, and thank you for having me on.
SPEAKER_04Yes, tell us a little bit about yourself. What where are you in school, things like that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so I'm a sophomore at Dublin Drum High School. I just turned 16, so I just got my license.
SPEAKER_01Which we're very nervous about, by the way, but he is an excellent safe driver. It's been over a week now.
SPEAKER_04Congratulations.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, as far as interest and hobbies go, I'm on the volleyball team. I've been playing since sixth grade, so it's been quite a while. And uh now that I can drive, I'm always out with my friends or I'm at the gym. So yeah.
SPEAKER_04Right. Well, Bruce saw me light up because uh, you know, we have a volleyball team here in Dublin for the corporate charity cup that the Chamber of Commerce does each year. And so I think as a son of a council member, he he's eligible.
SPEAKER_03I think he is eligible. Lindsay is the coach of this team in practice. It starts tomorrow. So I don't know how that affects it.
SPEAKER_04We do practice. We have to take on the likes of Ohio Health, Cardinal Health, uh, you know. And so they, I mean, they're recruiting, they're playing all year round. So, what's your position? What do you like to do?
SPEAKER_00I'm an outside. Uh yeah, it depends on what team I'm on, but I'm either outside or libero. So perfect.
SPEAKER_04So you can just play all the positions on our team.
SPEAKER_03So all right, Ryan. We've we've talked to your dad. So now give us the scoop. What is your dad like at home?
SPEAKER_01Uh oh, this I'm a little nervous about this question.
SPEAKER_03Don't worry.
SPEAKER_04We want the truth.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I would I guess I would describe my dad. If I had to choose one word, it'd be just genuine. He's a genuine person. So I would say he treats me like he treats everybody else, whether that be at work or just like in society or just like anywhere, really. Um he just is kind of upfront and straightforward. Um, you know, he's he can be strict, but for the most of the time, he's kind of like uh easygoing. But you know, he gets on me for all the right things, whether that be like doing schoolwork or doing chores around the house. Um, but he gives me a good amount of independence, uh, so like self-room to grow and everything, and it teaches me a lot of lessons.
SPEAKER_04Oh, that's nice. And you can tell that about him being genuine, it comes, it comes through. And, you know, also that just sounds like he's a good parent. So good job. Um, what do you love about Dublin?
Reaching Young People In Government
SPEAKER_00That's a hard question because there's a lot of things to love about Dublin. Um, I guess I should start with the community because the community is awesome. The people here are so nice, very diverse community, and um, through them you get a lot of different experiences and you meet a lot of uh fascinating and very different people. Um, as for Dublin itself, uh, we have a lot of parks which I love. I'll spend my time at Amberley. Like uh I used to bike with my friends all the time. We used to go down to the Soyota River. Um, so there's a lot of things to do here, like the pools as well. It's amazing.
SPEAKER_03We like to wrap every episode up with a rapid fire question, and Ryan is gonna join us. This is the first time ever. So uh we're gonna throw a couple questions your way, Dr. Lamb. So I hope you're ready.
SPEAKER_00All right, yeah. So, Dad, you have four college degrees, and that's some pretty, pretty big shoes for me to fill. So, do I have to match or do I have to uh beat that number?
SPEAKER_01Not at all. Uh, your mom and I have always told you and Ben, our our other son, that uh everyone has their own path. Um, and you should do whatever you want to do as long as you're always um uh helping people and trying to make the community better. And so whatever you want to do is absolutely fine as long as you continue to help people and make the make our community better.
SPEAKER_04Right. Okay, but seriously, we're talking Duke and Yale here. Dr. Lamb, which degree was the toughest and why?
SPEAKER_01I think by far, Duke. So I did my uh internship, uh medical residency and cardiology fellowship at Duke, and that was before the 80-hour work week. And so that was, you know, back when I was working 110 hours a week on some rotations. And so by far that was the hardest. Uh yeah, it was a lot of fun. But you know, you actually learn, you actually learn a lot uh in both in both situations. But yeah, by far, by far, Duke.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so you're on the city council now. So what exactly do you do on city council?
SPEAKER_01He reads a lot. So the the city council is really interesting. So I would say broadly, we try to um uh envision a good, healthy city for our residents for decades to come.
SPEAKER_00So, how do you think you can reach young people as a member of uh city council?
SPEAKER_01I should throw this question back to you.
SPEAKER_05Let's do that.
SPEAKER_01Well, I'll tell you though, Ryan, one of the things that really enheartened me was um during the campaign, a lot of your friends took an interest. And they took an interest in um local government and city politics for the first time. Um and it was so um uh uh endearing that you know, for the swearing-in ceremony, uh you and all of your friends showed up for that. Um I you had a bunch of your friends show up for that. And um I I think part of it is sort of as we talked about, just sort of the example. Um but I don't know, maybe that's a question better for you, you know.
SPEAKER_00I guess if I were to answer that question, you'd I guess you kind of have to dive into their realm a bit. So I think, you know, all of my generation were obviously on social media. Uh so that would be a great way to reach that. I know you did that with your campaign.
SPEAKER_01So here's a question, and I'm gonna turn this rapid fire thing. Absolutely, dude. I'm gonna we're gonna rapid fire questions to you, right? So, what issues are important to um the younger generation?
SPEAKER_00Uh I think a lot of my generation, a lot of people at school, I don't know if it's just because we don't talk about it at school, but they're not that involved uh with issues in the government. I know uh there is the issue of ice and everything, and people are voicing their uh like opinions on that through protests and rallies, and I think that is very important. But I think like some more upcoming issues is like the affordability of housing and that people might not really be aware of. Uh, but that is something that they could probably keep in the back of their minds.
Rapid Fire Family Food Parks Travel
SPEAKER_04Well, and I'm hoping now we have an ambassador here for the city, Ryan. You're making this, you're making this look cool, and we have to put a plug in for Citizen You Jump Start. It's a program we do in the summer for um, you know, high school students. So I'm hoping maybe you and some of your friends can come out and participate this year. That'd be a lot of fun. Uh speaking of fun, this is a question for both of you. What do the lambs do for fun?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'll take this. Yeah. Oh, we do a lot of things for fun. I think my family is really good in the sense that they make an effort to try and like hang out with us, hang out with each and every one of us. Um, so we'll be going to like parks all the time. We go out to dinners uh pretty frequently just to spend a bunch of quality time. Um, you know, my dad makes an effort, and my mom too. He comes to every single one of my volleyball games. So he'll work his schedule around my volleyball games no matter how busy he is. And that's I'm really appreciative for that, even if I don't show it. Um but like also I mentioned this earlier, but my dad comes to the gym with me. Uh, my brother was involved with that too. He got uh into fitness a lot during COVID. Uh so that kind of instilled upon both of us as well, even though you know he was already into fitness, but you know, he spends a lot of time with us just doing what we love. Like when I got first got into volleyball, he would help practice with me in the driveway. So just like small stuff like that too.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I would say we do a lot of family, family stuff. And now that my parents are here, uh, we spend a lot of time with my parents as well, my in-laws as well, too. And so um I think a lot of family stuff, you know, just going out to the parks, like Ryan said, going out to movies, restaurants, you know, that kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_03All right, for both of you, I'll start with Ryan. Favorite restaurant to go to?
SPEAKER_00Um, I'm biased. I worked at Tide Ginger. Okay. It's a great restaurant. If you haven't tried it, you should really go. They have a very wide selection of stuff. Um, but all the restaurants in uh North Market down at Bridge Park are really awesome too. So those are those are my favorite, I would say.
SPEAKER_01Well, I love to eat. And so if you can ask that question, you have to break it down by a separate podcast.
SPEAKER_03We'll break down all the all the restaurants.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03All right, you're uh Friday night, you're gonna go to dinner. Where are you going?
SPEAKER_01Uh I think a lot of it depends on what we're interested in. So, you know, my wife and I always say, like, well, what if you like eating? And if we're if it's like sushi, we'll do sushi.com. Yeah. Um, my older son Ben, uh, he actually turned me on to this restaurant. It's uh fruj abul alabed. Um, sort of like a Middle Eastern place, which is fantastic. Um, sesame seed is one of our favorite ones. We like pita int as well, too. Yeah, um, pizzas, Ryan, what would you say for pizzas?
SPEAKER_00Uh pizzas, I would probably have to go um with George's.
SPEAKER_01I thought you would have said harvest. Oh, harvest is a good one.
SPEAKER_00We don't get that very often, but it is very good.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, all right. What other uh parks, Ryan? What's your go-to park?
SPEAKER_00Um, let's see. My go-to park would probably be Amberley Park, um, just because that's so close to home. When I used to bike with my friends, I would just go there all the time. That's where we would meet. Um, we also got down to the Soyota River all the time. Uh so like down by uh like Soyota Park too, we used to sled there all the time. But you know, my friends and I just explore, so we'll just go down to the dam or to the river and we'll just like walk along and you know have fun.
SPEAKER_03Awesome. Dr. Liam?
SPEAKER_01Uh I'd have to say Indian Run Falls. That's good.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that's it. That is the gem of all gems.
SPEAKER_01It's a beautiful place, and we used to take the boys there when they were really little. And so it just it just brings back all these like great memories of us exploring that together when you guys were young.
SPEAKER_04All right. Again, for both of you, do you have a favorite family vacation experience or memory to share?
SPEAKER_00Um, my favorite family vacation is uh going to Hawaii. Yeah. Um we go there, we go back pretty often because my dad was uh raised there. Um but what I like about that so much is that it's just like uh we get to visit family, um, but I kind of like just like the relaxed kind of vacations where we don't really have too much of a set schedule and we can just like explore the island on our own. Um so memories like those are my favorite.
SPEAKER_01Well, keep in mind that their idea of a relaxed vacation is like cliff diving. It's like cliff diving, it's gonna be waterfall repelling, it's like all of these crazy things. And that's their you know, like boogie boarding and surfing and body surfing, that's their idea of a relaxed vacation. But yeah, it's been nice. I grew up in Hawaii, and so and we still have family there. And when my parents lived there, we'd go back to visit them, you know, until they moved to Dublin in October. And so we would do all of the off-the-beaten path things, so the non-touristy things, stuff that I did when I was growing up. And so, and it's just really nice, just because they get to see family, but they can also we can also tie them back to things that I did when I was a kid.
SPEAKER_00That's awesome. Okay, dad, last question. What do Ben and I, what perks do we get here?
SPEAKER_01I don't know, actually. There are no perks. I don't know. He's like, I don't know yet. Well, um, so so now that you're almost as big as I am, like I got uh I think I got a polo and I got a quarter tip and you can wear two.
SPEAKER_04Perfect.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'm already taking some of his clothes with those clothes.
SPEAKER_04Well, in next parade, you can bring him along to help pass out the candy. Uh I don't know if that's a perk or not, but you uh you really killed it at the St. Patrick's Day Parade, handed out the candy.
Final Thanks And Next Time
SPEAKER_01I was dizzy when Albert Dobbs broke back. It was like it was a lot of fun, but it was uh it was a lot. Yeah, yeah. But you're right, I think you know, getting some younger legs in there would be a great idea.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, uh, thank you both for being here. Uh it's been a ton of fun to have both of you.
SPEAKER_01Thank you so much for having us. It's been an honor. A huge honor. It's been a lot of fun.
SPEAKER_03Awesome. And to our listeners, thank you as well for taking the time to connect with your city. Tune in next time as we continue to explore the many personalities and experiences that make Dublin a thriving place to live, work, and grow.