Listen Up with Host Al Neely
Hi, I'm Al Neely. I've spent most of my life asking, " Why do people behave a certain way? Why don't people understand that most everyone wants basically the same thing? Most everyone wants their fundamental need for peace of mind, nourishment, shelter and safety."
What I have learned is that because of an unwillingness to open one's mind to see that some of the people you come in contact with may have those same desires as you do. We prejudge, isolate ourselves, and can be hesitant to interact, and sometimes we can be belligerent towards one another. This is caused by learned behavior that may have repeated itself for generations in our families.
What I hope to do with this podcast is to introduce as many people with as many various cultures, backgrounds, and practices as possible. The thought is that I can help to bring different perspectives by discussing various views from my guests that are willing to talk about their personal experiences.
Hopefully we all will learn something new. We may even learn that most of us share the same desire for our fundamental needs. We may just simply try to obtain it differently.
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Listen Up with Host Al Neely
From Classroom to Legislature: Justin Burns' Vision for Virginia's Future
A third-grade teacher with a passion for change is stepping into the political arena. Justin Burns, Virginia Beach native and special education inclusion teacher, shares his journey and vision as a candidate for Virginia State Delegate representing District 100—a diverse area encompassing Northwestern Virginia Beach and the Eastern Shore counties of Accomac and Northampton.
Burns speaks candidly about what drove him to run: deep concern for children's futures, particularly regarding education funding, healthcare access, and economic opportunity. His firsthand classroom experience informs his urgent warning about potential federal education cuts that would devastate special education programs and widen the gap between affluent and low-income communities. "It would be a revert back to really the Jim Crow era...maybe not so much in as of race, but socioeconomically," Burns explains, highlighting how his district's Eastern Shore communities—where median household income falls $36,000 below the state average—would suffer most.
The conversation delves into the affordable housing crisis gripping the Eastern Shore, where both workforce and family housing options are scarce. Burns advocates for developer incentives to build more accessible housing, understanding the ripple effects on employment, transportation, and community stability. Environmental challenges also feature prominently in his platform, with the district's coastal geography making rising sea levels and sustainable development urgent priorities for residents bordering both the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean.
As a young candidate in a Republican-leaning district, Burns brings an organizer's mindset to a challenging political landscape. Rather than shying away from difficult conversations, he's meeting voters where they are—even Republican farmers concerned about vanishing agricultural grants. His approach focuses on finding common ground around shared priorities: family success, quality education, environmental protection, and economic stability. "At the end of the day, we all want the same things," Burns reflects, demonstrating the bridge-building approach he believes can overcome political polarization.
Visit BurnsForVirginia.com to learn more about his campaign, volunteer opportunities, and where Justin will be meeting with voters throughout District 100. Your engagement matters in shaping Virginia's future!
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I'd like to welcome everyone to Listen Up Podcast. Today we have Justin Burns, who's running for Virginia State Delegate. Justin is a Virginia Beach native. He's a school teacher, he teaches third grade and, um, he comes from a family with a very strong military background that area kind of and you know we have a lot of strong military backgrounds here in this area and um, he, the mother, was a single mother. So say hello to everyone, justin.
Speaker 2:Hi everyone. It's good to be with you, al, and thanks for inviting me.
Speaker 1:Oh, thank you. Okay, we want to jump in. You're pretty young, you know so. If someone saw you, they would not even think you're 25, but they would think you're probably not 25 years of age. You just have a youthful look to you. What made you want to run for state delegate?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so that's a great question. I am deeply concerned about our children's future. As an educator, I'm teaching the next generation and I'm also the older brother of two school-age. Really, when I look at all that is happening politically and in Washington and even here at the state level, I'm concerned about what we're doing to proactively solve some of the issues that are just so important, so important, right, how we're tackling health care, how we're tackling the economy. Are we doing enough to make sure that we're providing economic opportunities for all of our kids to stay in the communities that raise them and contribute and really expand the tax base, which helps the economy locally and across the state as well?
Speaker 2:So it's those issues education, making sure that we're prioritizing our children's education as a fundamental right and not as a privilege, making sure that we're providing solutions toward our environment. We're providing solutions toward our environment, making sure that clean air and drinking water isn't just a talking point but a reality, and there's a lot of things that are happening, and so we really do got to be proactive in providing solutions to those issues. But I'm running because those issues concern me and I don't feel like our current representative is doing enough to provide those types of solutions. Who's the current representative.
Speaker 2:Rob Bloxham Jr.
Speaker 1:Okay, I'm going to come back to that. I want to talk about the district that you'll be representing.
Speaker 2:Talk about what district would you be representing in Virginia? Northwestern Virginia Beach area? So that is north of the Shore Drive, Northampton Boulevard, Chicks Beach area and it stops short of the Baker area, Baker Road area of Virginia Beach Right. It also includes the Acomac and Northampton counties of the Eastern Shore the Eastern Shore Okay. So it's a pretty expansive district and I've been traveling all across and meeting voters where they are.
Speaker 1:But yeah, okay, um, so if I was to for people that don't understand since it's a state level, a delegate would be more like your state representative if it was a federal government. Right, absolutely Okay, that's so you're representing a specific area, and then you, uh, you have your state senators as well. Okay, gotcha, I just wanted to make sure. So, if I'm correct, the Virginia General Assembly is made up of 140 legislators Yep, and 40 of them are senators and 100 of them are delegates. Right, yes, Okay, all right, and the area that you'll be representing is called what? What district is it?
Speaker 2:yes, district 100 okay so it's the 100th district. Um, it is, uh, a district that has only had three office holders, um, robert bloxham Sr, who was the first officeholder, and Republican Senator Linwood Lewis, who, when he first ran, he ran for delegate and won that district, moved over to the state senate. There was a special election in 2014 and, uh, our current representative, rob loxham, ran for that district and he's been the delegate since 2014. Gotcha gotcha.
Speaker 1:Um. So what would you say? The demographic makeup of the area that you're running in? What is it like?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I would say the district makeup, the Eastern Shore, has about slightly lower vote share than Virginia Beach, and so we know that the majority demographic um is white, um. The second would be african-american. Do you know what those? Percentages are yeah, I'm unsure of those exact percentages, okay, but uh, I know that we also, being on the eastern Shore the district encompasses the Eastern Shore we also have a Hispanic population that isn't too high percentage-wise, but there is a community. Are they legal?
Speaker 1:There's a lot of workers over there. I'm over there quite often. Be quite honest with you. So when you said um, um Bloxham, I know exactly who you were talking about. He owns their family, owns farmland and things over there. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:You have Purdue farms over there, um, as well as Tyson Um, so, yeah, there's a lot of different industries and and workers that, um, really's a lot of different industries and workers that really do a lot of the heavy lifting and the tough work.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Do you see? I'm not sure. Would you say what the makeup of are?
Speaker 2:legal or illegal, I'm not too sure, right.
Speaker 1:But I do know there's a lot of them over there, so I'd imagine if they're starting to get deported, it's going to affect that area as far as production.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and one of the concerns that I've heard from over on the Eastern Shore is that, with those workers really doing the jobs that many won't do, they're afraid of losing good workers and then not being able to have, you know, those jobs filled. Work would just be halted in some industries, and so I've even heard of reports of ICE being on the Eastern Shore, which is concerning, especially when we've heard that they're going into our schools and just places of worship and job sites.
Speaker 1:Do you think it's happening over there as well right now?
Speaker 2:I can't say if it's for sure happening over there, but I know it's a concern of lots of residents that live over there and so we really have to take those concerns seriously and speak up and make sure that those things aren't happening. Sure that those things aren't happening. We can't have, you know, ice come into places of worship or down the hallways of our schools, you know, yanking children out of classrooms. That's just, in my opinion, immoral. So, hearing those concerns, we just really got to stand firm against it and make sure our representatives, including Rob Bloxham, understand really the consequences and the parameters that we must set.
Speaker 1:Gotcha, when is the election actually? Is that November?
Speaker 2:Yes, so there's two elections as of right now. There is the primary election, which is June 17th, and then there is the general election, which is November 4th of this year. We're still running this race hard, as if I do, and we're going to make sure that we're doing the work, meeting the people where they are and learning the issues and just moving forward.
Speaker 1:Gotcha, I see Um. So you've been, you've been campaigning for how long now?
Speaker 2:We've been campaigning since last July, okay, yeah.
Speaker 1:So what are some of the main um issues or concerns that you've been uh hearing when you talk to people?
Speaker 2:on the Eastern shore. We've heard a lot about how, about housing. Housing is definitely um a top issue on the Eastern Shore and we're looking at the housing stock and there's not many affordable housing options, housing options. There's also not many workforce affordable workforce housing options either, and exactly what is a workforce housing?
Speaker 2:Workforce housing would be housing that is close to and in proximity to where employees, employers would be located, so that they're not traveling across cities or really just from out of town trying to make it into work, because we know that when employers are threatened, it's usually because the employees have a good work culture where they're able to be productive and feel comfortable in doing the job that they've been employed to do. So we've heard a lot about workforce, affordable workforce housing and affordable housing, and so, um, what I'm looking at also is the, the housing stock amongst single family homes. Um, we do need to invest more and, uh, create incentive, incentives for developers to build those single family or even multi-family units as well. On the student short issue, I would say would be education. As we know and as we've heard, education is looked at. Education is right now on the chopping block, and so the Department of Education is, and it has been reported that they're looking to eliminate that department. So how would that affect.
Speaker 1:So how would that affect, I'm assuming, by you being a teacher and you're in it on a day-to-day basis? How is that going to affect Virginia?
Speaker 2:It'll affect Virginia greatly. Speak up a little block are the arts, um, and that includes, you know, music, uh, um, okay, uh, visual art, um, but it also includes special education, okay, and the Individuals with Disabilities Act really covers, you know, and makes sure that children with disabilities are able to have a free, equitable education. When we're hearing about education cuts, those are really the programs that come to mind that will be impacted and, as a SPED inclusion teacher, I couldn't imagine how. What do you do as a special education inclusion teacher?
Speaker 1:Is that what you do? Yeah?
Speaker 2:Okay, yeah, I just couldn't imagine how my students could thrive and just go for the opportunities that should be, you know, limitless to them without having the resources and individualized support that we're providing now and individualized support that we're providing now. So it's a huge concern, and education is definitely another top issue.
Speaker 1:So how do you really think it's going to turn out Do?
Speaker 2:you think it's going to be done away with? I think, from what I've read and seen, they're trying to justify and smooth over that there's no direct correlation between the Department of Education being cut and then the funding. You know still, you know, there they're saying that there is a way to eliminate the department that oversees a lot of these programs and including funding, and send the funding back to the states, which we know if and when that happens, virginia's funding formula is severely antiquated, severely antiquated, and we know that those funds aren't going to come down equitably to localities to be able to fund our schools, and so really it would be a revert back to, really, the Jim Crow era, when we look at education, maybe not so much in as of race, but socioeconomically, those who are, you know, more affluent are going to receive an education that's greater than those who live in lower income areas, and so that's the main concern that I have.
Speaker 1:So when I really, when you really think about it, it's going to affect the Eastern Shore more as Virginia Beach, isn't it? Absolutely, wow, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Okay, and when we look at the income, you know the median household income on the Eastern Shore is about $36,000 less than the state average, which is about $90,000. About 90,000. So having an equitable education where it doesn't matter where you live or your parents' income or where you came from, that really does matter and it helps lift uplifts children and families and moves them from the station of life that they're in.
Speaker 1:Gotcha, I see when you were talking about the housing, you have a plan for addressing the housing issue, I do.
Speaker 2:I believe that we should be looking at and investing in more affordable housing options, whether that's incentivizing developers and working with developers and trying to, I guess, collaborate on how we can do that for families but also for working people, and how we are, you know, looking at again building the affordable workforce housing, especially in Virginia Beach and on the Eastern Shore. If you live in Portsmouth and work in Virginia Beach and you have that traffic nightmare, you shouldn't have to, especially if you love your job. You shouldn't have to feel like you can't make it to work because of there not being an affordable housing option in the place that you.
Speaker 1:You know the town that you work and the place that you you know, found that you work. Yeah, virginia is one of the few states that left that has a abortion is legal, sure, for how many, you know weeks or whatever it is, but, um, do you hear about, uh, women's concerns about that, or have you heard I?
Speaker 2:have um, I was actually on a call yesterday with akimak democrats. They voice their concern about women's reproductive rights and luckily there has been efforts to codify those rights in the state constitution, which gives a guarantee and doesn't allow Republicans to obstruct or try to take away that right from women to choose how they see fit to handle their health care reproductive health care care, reproductive health care and I think we really must be clear on what we say and how we're looking to approach the issue. I believe that fundamentally, the government should not be involved in such a deeply personal and family-based discussion. It really should be left up to that individual, their family and their faith. And so I know, if elected, I will do all that I can to stand with those who have to make that tough decision. And we know that, as it's been said, women aren't going out and getting abortions as if it's just happening, one of those things that people have tried to frame, as you know, as a popular thing amongst women. Like that's not the case at all.
Speaker 2:It is deeply personal and really traumatizing, invasive procedure that even you know, many women still deal with postpartum afterwards and the effects of mental health, and we really do have to be cognizant of how we're talking about it and also how we're approaching the issue, I think with sensitivity, right.
Speaker 1:Wow, so you just go part of the way up the East Coast, the Eastern Shore yeah, it's. It's a big issue on the shore, um, about rising coastal waters and environmental um concerns. Um, you know they're, they're putting additional I did have some water in the back of my house. They're widening it and making a larger watershed and something that's going to be going on for five years. So it's a big concern. Have you heard? People are concerned about those things.
Speaker 2:I have Recurrent sea level, recurrent flooding, and sea level rise is definitely an issue, especially with a district that is so coastal. The Virginia Beach side of the district has, you know, it really borders the Chesapeake Bay, so does the eastern shore, the western side of the shore, you know, bordering the Chesapeake Bay and the eastern side of the shore? Um, you know, bordering the chesapeake bay and the eastern side of the shore, the atlantic ocean. So, yeah, this is a real coastal district and people are concerned about what we're doing, uh, in terms of being proactive and how we're building housing. Are we building housing on wetlands and and marshes and, if so, are we doing this sustainably so that they're not devastated from the weather-related impacts that will come Right right?
Speaker 1:When we were talking about your district. I would say the majority of your district is probably Republican is it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so Acomac County has a very high Republican leaning, and so this district is actually lean Republican. According to the Virginia Public Access Project, kamala Harris lost the district by five points last election cycle, so we've seen this district. Why do you think that was?
Speaker 1:I like to ask people. I have my opinion, but you tell me why you think it was.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I simply. I think voters didn't turn out and I but why Well, I, for a few reasons I think, I think you know what I've seen.
Speaker 1:I'll let you jump back in. So this is what I've seen and this is what I've heard. What I've seen is that a third, basically a third of the people are just completely apathetic about politics. Just a little bit more than a third voted for Donald Trump and just slightly under a third voted for Harris. Okay, so I mean, and that's I'm not sure how Virginia did, but I'm talking about over the natural average Virginia tends to. It's not red and it's not blue. It's usually back and forth. So I think they call Virginia a purple state. Yeah, okay, because depending upon who's usually in office, there's a flip flop, doesn't that seem to be the case with the leadership in the state?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that typically happens. Right, the control of power in Washington, usually, like you said, flip-flops in Virginia. It seems to be.
Speaker 1:Yeah Right. So I'm not sure how that's going to turn out, but one of the things I know is that people that are ardent Trump followers you know Trump followers. You know. I'm not saying they're more difficult to talk to or reach, but they're very difficult to reach from what I've noticed. So tell me, how do you plan to reach that?
Speaker 2:voter that voter block. What's your plan for that? Yeah, I think what we have to do is talk the issues and really level set with voters about their realities and all that they're facing Justin we're not talking about.
Speaker 1:a lot of people are not dealing with reality there. Yeah Well, I think voters are concerned about their bottom line if that's right, I'm thinking they're going to start to find out real soon.
Speaker 2:If they haven't started to notice, I think that's going to be an issue real soon, but go ahead of voters who voted for my opponent, who say the vote for me, because they know that I'm not just listening, but I'm also looking to provide solutions of how, at the state level, we can make sure that the prices, uh, and just affordabilityability doesn't fundamentally impact a whole lot of things. As it relates to the tariffs that are happening in Washington, the extension of the Trump tax cuts that's being discussed, and the budget that has been negotiated and voted on. I think all of those things will require, again, someone who, at the state level, can do all that they can to protect people's bottom line, and whether that's you know people's bottom line, and whether that's you know affordability and pricing education, housing, health care um, that's what really matters to voters. So I think, again, talking about the issues, um, and really level setting with them, you know we're not going to always agree on everything, but we have to base all of our discussion with fact Right, who ran on pricing affordability, you know, greater pricing, affordability for all people, lowering the prices of eggs, those sorts of things he ran on, and you know he's always famous for saying America first, but we've seen time and again his policies are putting America last, and so those people who did vote for him and you know, fell for the promises that are now empty.
Speaker 2:Like you said, they will soon find out when it hits them the tariffs and with the tax cuts for the uber wealthy, they're going to start feeling those effects.
Speaker 1:Hopefully you'll get enough of those that do so I.
Speaker 2:I and I add a lot of them are already feeling the effects. You know, just with the general work, 140 000, you know, virginians work for the federal government and about 10 percent of who have already been laid off. Yeah, well, yeah, about 100, well, 10 percent, about, I'd say, eight to ten percent of those federal employees. They live here here in Virginia's second district, which includes the Eastern Shore and Virginia Beach, and many of them have already been laid off, including veterans at the VA, and so they're feeling the effects, they're seeing what's happening and they're having remorse, spuriousorse, over a man that they voted for, that promised them that he was going to bring down inflation and bring prices down and just make everyday living more affordable, all in the name of reining in government size and scope of government and trying to make it more efficient. But it's just not working out and it's affecting real people and lives and livelihoods of families.
Speaker 1:Right, that I said, I see, and what I thought, I think I wish there was more than a two party system, but the Democrats I'm not asking you to analyze everything, I don't know if you've thought about it, but the apathy is, it's just, that's just too many people that don't want to go out and vote and have a stake in their future, and the message coming from the Democrats I don't think has been effective. Okay, so, um, I'm not asking you to solve the problem for your entire party, but I'm asking you what you think can be done different. So we're reaching out to people not we, but so we're reaching out to people, not we, but so you're reaching out to people that are, you know, that don't want to vote or feel left out yeah, so I I'm a former organizer and I'm running this race with an organizer's mindset, heart and spirit.
Speaker 2:And that means meeting voters where they are, even if it's a Republican area, discussing the issues with them. Discussing the issues with them, not being afraid to have the tough conversations that will require facts, and being able to combat the lies and mistruths or mis, with making sure that everyone feels included in the discussion, because, at the end of the day, we all want the same things. We want our families to be successful. We want to be able to take care of them with a good job. We want our kids to be educated. We want to live in an area where the environment, you know, isn't something where we're constantly obsessing over because, you know, the threat of not so safe drinking water or the air being polluted. These are all things make a lot of what we disagree on and what divides us less of an issue, and so I'm I'm looking at running this race, meeting voters where they are. I've had many conversations with Republicans. You might have to go over.
Speaker 1:Ackermack and get on a couple tractors and ride around while they're harvesting. Get on the combines and ride around with them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've met two organic farmers in Northampton County. They're concerned about just about a lot to purchase a greenhouse. But there's a certain type of greenhouse that they're trying to purchase and receive a grant in order to purchase it, and now it's gone away. Right With the federal funding freeze, that program is gone. Yeah, so they're not providing those grants and that's really going to impact farmers and that's really going to impact farmers who you know, organic or non-organic, across the entire shore and it's sad. You can see and truly understand how what other people are doing are affecting everyday people that are depending on our leaders and those people I mean our leaders, elected leaders to get it right and to vote and lead in the best interest of the people. And it's it's not happening.
Speaker 1:So, gotcha, yeah, Interesting you. Uh, you've, uh, how long have you been wanting to run for public office? How?
Speaker 2:long have you been wanting to run for public office? So I've ran twice before. I ran for school board In 2018 and 2020. And I ran for school board back then because I wanted to make sure that we were again educating all of our kids. Even as a student, I wanted to make sure we were educating all of our kids, advocate for greater public school funding, teacher pay raises, reforming special ed programs and really the outcomes of students who are receiving special education services.
Speaker 2:There were a lot of issues that I wanted to address at Miami Beach when I ran, but I initially didn't have any thought about running for office until my boss, senator Frank Wagner, brought it up to me. I was his legislative assistant and he brought it up to me and he said you know what you should run for office? At the time, I was really kind of like engrossed with state politics and helping him craft bills on issues concerning education, energy, transportation, the environment, and he saw my passion, not just for the details and the policy, but for the people no-transcript. And so, yeah, I didn't have any dreams of running for office. I just did so based on the sense of urgency that I felt to speak up about what I care about and all that you know my peers and I had seen and been going through, as you know. I just can't stand or sit on the sidelines and watch all of what's happening happen, especially at the expense of our children's future, gotcha.
Speaker 2:I see, I see, okay Well any final thoughts or words, anything you want to tell everybody there. They can find out more about me with reading my bio, my campaign platform, ways to volunteer, donating their district. There's a page on our website that says find my district, so it will redirect you to a site where you can type in your address and see what district you're in. It also gives you vote tips and information about the candidates, their fundraising, who's been giving them money. All of that is important when you're looking at a candidate, and especially someone who aligns with your values and your interests. So I would encourage everyone to go to my website BurnsForVirginiacom and really stay active, stay engaged and stay focused on all that is happening, and I'll be out around the district and Virginia Beach so I'm sure everyone will get a chance to meet with me, and I'm looking forward to meeting everyone and to having those conversations and listening.
Speaker 1:Good, okay. Well, there you have it, folks, thanks. Thanks for coming in and talking with us, and I want to thank everyone for following us on. Listen up and we'll see you next time. And listen up for anyone watching this channel. I ask that you please like and subscribe for upcoming videos.
