Coffee shop talk
Two people, one Fredericksburg-area coffee shop. A Fredericksburg Free Press podcast.
Coffee shop talk
Joy Crump at Anita's Cafe (Flat white, a chef's journey and pivot to public service)
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Joy and Joey discuss the former's decision to run for City Council in Ward 2, and her experience in office for the past two-plus months. Also, food things.
In the culinary world for decades. More recently as a culture in Eaton's cafe with Joy Crump. You're my city counselor, so I'm your constituent. So this is kind of neat. And yeah, thank you so much for taking the time to come on the podcast. I figure we're gonna cover a lot of topics, straddle, you know, a lot of different areas. But you know, you've been on council now for about two months.
SPEAKER_00Correct, yeah.
SPEAKER_03What's it been like?
SPEAKER_00Um I mean, I think in general, just I'm sort of trying to uh get grounded, you know, do a lot of observing, a lot of listening, um, asking a lot of questions, and just sort of waiting to catch my footing. It's been, you know, it's like the midst of a learning curve, which is uh which is a cool place to be because you can just sort of receive, which is nice, you know. I can just sort of like uh witness the conversations, pick up the patterns, and really understand uh how council works and how it works with the city and how it works with the constituents. It's fascinating, yeah.
SPEAKER_03So and I know that that kind of that legwork or that preparation predated January, obviously. You know, I would see you, you know, sometimes at you know in the gallery, in the chambers, at city council meetings, you know, attending various events. What when did that kind of preparation, you know, once you know decided you were gonna run, um when did it start? What did it consist of in terms of just trying to you know go in, you know, hitting the floor running?
SPEAKER_00Got it, yeah. Um I mean I I think I started looking at it like so okay, last year was 2025, just bear with me for a second because I've got like the winter doldrums here, so I'm trying to like make my main my brain sharp. Um so I started, you know, kind of officially campaigning in the beginning of 2025, like getting signatures, etc., but made the decision to run at the end of 2024. So it was a solid year of really like preparing, and I thought of it like I would think of any job that I really wanted where I had to take a deep dive into the company, into the into the culture, um, into the product that they're trying to put out, and that's how I looked at the city of Fredericksburg and Ward 2. Like, what do I need to know about this place so that I can step in and hopefully help joining a team that's already in progress and already functioning? Um so I I think I started that a year ago, really.
SPEAKER_03What made you decide to run? Like, like what was, you know, I know um, you know, some background, your predecessor, John Gerlock, decided he wasn't gonna run, you know, at the end of sort of some contemplation and some deliberations with um his wife Mitzi Brown, who's the co-chair of our board here at the Free Press. Um when did you decide, hey, I might be that person who can serve?
SPEAKER_00I think it was at the end of 2024. Um obviously I found out that John wasn't going to run. And I don't know, sometimes it takes, for me at least, it takes not just me imagining myself doing a thing, but someone else imagining me doing a thing. And there were a couple people that I hold in really high regard that I trust that said, hey, what do you what do you think about doing that? And I think it came at a time when um, you know, I'm um north of my 50s, right? So like I'm I'm in my 50s and you kind of start thinking, okay, I'm doing this thing. I mean how old are you? I'm 57. Okay. Um so I'm doing never ask anybody that, Joey. What's wrong with you? You volunteered. That's true. I'm just I'm kidding, I don't care. It's fine, I'm kidding, I don't care. Um, yeah, 57. Um, but at this point for me, uh I I start looking at the things that I have been doing for the past 15 years, which is as you know, owning um a restaurant and a and an event facility and sort of being an employer and all of the things that go along with small business, and I start thinking like what's next? Like you just look at your life in those little chunks, like what's next for the next several years? What do I want to do? Um and then I'm really big in pushing myself beyond my comfort zones. Sure. I'm really big in it, but like I think it's important as you get older. You value it. Yeah, yeah, and you kind of value the things that you used to not be afraid to do, um, whatever those things are. And I think like young people are not as afraid to be uncomfortable, maybe as older people are. Total generalization, but that's how I feel sometimes. And so doing something that felt like it was um running alongside what I do, which is service, but not exactly what I do, felt attractive to me because I could push myself, and so that was part of the decision-making process.
SPEAKER_03Um, you know, you kind of mentioned your background, and I tried to do my due diligencing and you know, read everything I could find, you know, that you know, interviews you've done, you know, stories about you, etc. Um I was uh enthused to find out that, like me, you have a creative writing degree. Yeah. What did you did you uh fiction, non-fiction, poetry, or mix?
SPEAKER_00What all did you do? So um fiction is what what I gravitated towards, and I love the short story format. I just think it's very um, I don't know, it's just kind of like alluring and sexy to bring somebody in for a short period of time, get them all like wrapped up and very ADHD friendly too.
SPEAKER_03It's accessible. I see a short story and I say I can read this.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I can read this, and then like for some reason, those are the ones, as I as I think back about the pieces of of literature that I've read, those are the ones that that impact me. That like I can remember the titles, I can remember the writers, I can remember how I felt when I read it. So I just love the short story format. Um it was Penn State, right? Penn State, yeah. That's awesome. Go to any lines. All right, where'd you go to school?
SPEAKER_03Right here at the University of Mary, Washington. So I'm currently experiencing Fredericksburg as like a townie. Yeah. After experiencing it, you know, uh 15 years ago as a student. Yeah. Radically different experience.
SPEAKER_00Sure, that's a whole other conversation. That to me is like fascinating because as it so happens, uh UMW is in Ward 2, and I think that's one of the, not that you asked, but that's one of the standout things that I learned during the campaign process is kind of the relationship between the city and the and the university, um, the places where that could be stronger, and looking at that collection of people who are seen as transients as ward members and what they think and what what matters to them for that period of time that they're here. And and should they just be thought of transients, maybe they should be thought of people who are potentially their future is here.
SPEAKER_03Well, and I know that both you and Ann Little valued, you know, I mean, first of all, it's a significant like voting block for ward two, student base, because that's where the addresses on campus are. Yep. But I'll, you know, when I was a student there, I didn't know who my city representatives were. So I mean there's definitely an awareness gap, and I think that you've kind of identified that. Yeah. The fact that, you know, hey, you can not only know who I am, but like let me know what you need.
SPEAKER_00Let me know what you need, which is like fascinating, and it's and they they are just at this point where their voices are very, like they're they're coming together, they're understanding the power of knowing what they want and knowing how to ask for it or demand it. I think it's really it's provocative, and then um it's also what's next. Like, like it or not, it's what's next. That that age bracket, that demographic is is what's gonna be here in Fredericksburg next, and I think it's important that we know what that what matters to them.
SPEAKER_03Um so I know you you grew up in Pennsylvania and then kind of moved all over the place. When did you, what was like the first inkling of like a culinary drive for you, like like wanting to get into cooking, wanting to you know take that seriously?
SPEAKER_00I mean, I think I've I've cooked as far back as I can remember, meaning with my family, like most of us, most most chefs who are in the in the field because of what they love, they're they're mostly in it also because of what they remember and what they felt growing up and the connections that they had to food and family. Like that's usually very um a very kind of like close interlay. Sure. And same thing for me. Cooked uh with my family all my life. My you get you go check it. No, we're good? Okay, uh my family. I'm a little OCD, but it's it's rolling. It's good. Um, same. My family, uh everybody, my brothers and sisters, my parents were were both like avid cooks, and so it just felt very natural. Um, and then uh my in my in my late 30s, my father passed away really suddenly, and he was like uh just the coolest, like most adventurous, um bun loving, like James Bond kind of just cool dude. I mean he was just like the coolest dude, and um and we were we were really close, and so in that moment of loss and wanting to stay connected, I wanted to emulate the things that he did, which is just kind of live with a little bit of abandon and not have everything so planned out. And I find comfort in plans, and this was different, so I decided to um sort of forego the things that I felt comfortable doing, which was working with writers at that time and working in in TV and film production and try something else that I loved, which is culinary. And I and once again, somebody else um having the like being able to envision me doing that and saying, like, hey, you should you should think about cooking because like you know, you're you're a strong cook, that also like helped open that up for me. Who was that person? Beth. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Beth Black, I mean, in the current, you know, yeah. Just like Madonna, you can just call her Beth. Yeah, yeah. For the purpose of our listening basis. Sure, sure. Um well, and I remember um you were giving a talk, um, it was a lecture a couple years ago, and you were talking about being a private chef and sort of like breaking, not not breaking into the industry, but you know, sort of that being, you know, um, you know, a big step in your sort of culinary career. What was that like and what made you decide to, you know, sort of transition from that, you know, after a time?
SPEAKER_00Um, yeah, that was being a private chef is a is a grind. I mean, like it kind of it it takes over your your kitchen at home usually and your car and your weekends, and it's a lot. Um I loved it, but it it's a lot. But also um I'm I'm a practical kind of kind of person, and so wanting to uh do something that felt like it was sustainable, um, that could uh meet what my financial needs, that also was super, super important for me. So I started thinking about how this could transition into like a brick and mortar. Um and and so I just went about the logistical steps, like trying to get the experience in the categories that I felt were important so that I could do it on my own.
SPEAKER_03And um you were cla you're classically trained too, right?
SPEAKER_00I mean again that's the practical side of me. I was like, I gotta go to culinary school, so I did that.
SPEAKER_03Who would you describe as your as some of your influences, or or where? Or where or what would you describe as some of your key influences from like a culinary standpoint?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so um I obviously like the southern slant to food. Um, right? But and I and I love seasonality. I as a driver it makes sense uh for so many practical reasons, like what's in season is always the most plentiful, it's the most delicious, it's right next to you, and it's the cheapest. That's just the way it goes, and so that's how I grew up, and now that's called farm to table, and so fine. But like that's that that makes sense to me. Um but also um I like the southern, I like southern cooking, and I don't see it as just sort of the southern part of the United States or even the southeast part of the United States, which is often kind of what's how southern cooking is defined. Yeah, I think of it as the southern part of, to me, it I connect with the southern part of most regions, whether it's Italy or Mexico or or France or or or uh Greece, like that Mediterranean, like all of that stuff connects to me because they have there's a there's a commonality there, which is resourcefulness, um full utilization, cooking over live fire, um uh uh respect for the entire animal, making something out of nothing, you know, like those sort of scarcity too. Yeah, yeah, like that that sort of like necessity to to not waste anything, to find a full use from you know snout to tail or or root to leaf, every everything in between. That to me is really um I love that. I love that. So that's a very southern drive, and it doesn't have to be um you know macaroni and cheese and fried chicken. It's just about really embracing that that practical need behind cooking.
SPEAKER_03So it's so funny that you said that, and I love I love that you're able to sort of visualize that commonality between like the various southern regions, because you know, um my family comes from part of my family comes from Sicily in a area called Bergia, Bergia, which is like a fishing village, and like you know, one of the signature dishes, and I I've reverse engineered it pretty well. Okay. Maybe I'll have you over one time around New Year's. Sure, when we make it spinchone.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_03So spinchone is a type of Sicilian pizza.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_03Um it's made entirely with semolina.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_03The whole flour, all the flower is semolina, so it's very soft and yellow and spongy. Um it is not, it it goes directly on an oven deck. Uh so you you know you kind of shape it on like on like you know just your bench or your parchment paper or whatever. Okay. Um doesn't go in a pan.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_03Um and then it's just on a stone? Um, yeah. Okay. So so I actually have a I have a quarter inch steel in my oven, which I use to replicate deck ovens for my pizza. Oh, cool. Um so I would just put it directly on that. Every once in a while, you know, you put it on parchment paper for a second, then yank the parchment paper if you're doing free form. If you're not launching it with a peel. Um I digress. No, I love it. But the toppings on spinchone, they're poor man's toppings. Okay. Um, it's sardines. Okay. Um, it's breadcrumbs, it is like like onions that are pickled in water. Yeah. With like with like no vinegar. Oh. Or just like a little bit of like lemon.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_03Um basically stewed onions. Um and it it it just makes the most. I don't know. I I'm very grateful whenever I make that because it is just such a I don't know. It it utilizes everything. Yeah. It utilizes everything and it makes use of things. So that like when you when you brought that up, I was like, yes.
SPEAKER_00I love that, I love that. And like pizza is that's my love language right there, man. I love pizza in any and every form. Love it.
SPEAKER_03Well, we'll have subsequent conversations that aren't necessarily on a podcast. Got it, sure.
SPEAKER_01Sure.
SPEAKER_03Um I'm curious, are there any skills that you know from your time and service, from your time, you know, as a chef, uh, that are that are just directly translatable to you know serving as a as a city counselor?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Um so well skills, uh hopefully, um, but just like uh attributes more are like um so I also in addition to being um you know 57-year-old, I'm also a woman and I'm also a black woman, right? Right. And categorically, that sometimes puts me um on the outside of things that are on on the outside of decisions that affect me, right? That's kind of the best way to put it. Sure. Uh and so I oftentimes find myself having to like wave my arms to be seen or heard, or I traditionally have, um, and then uh really working hard to be taken seriously. Uh those are those are things that are almost like as as natural or like as part of who I am as as anything else because I'm so used to it, but it's when I watch that affect other classes or categories of people, um, whether it be young people at the university who are going like, hey, we're over here, what you know, what do we need? That's kind of important, or maybe single parents, or maybe people who live below a certain income level, or um maybe people who are are are educated differently or less than other people, maybe people who are unhoused. Um when when I watch that and I see the things that they need and I recognize them as the exact same things that I need, they're the same, right? They're the same, they're just at different levels, maybe. Uh, then it makes me frustrated on their behalf that their considerations aren't taken into account when decisions are made. So I see that because the demographic of my um of my workforce is that, right? Like I kind of thought that that was another, it's almost like a mini ward for me. It's like there's all kinds of people that work with me. Like I said, single parents, um people below certain income levels, uh people that are that are educated a certain way, people that you know. So you really see that cross second? 100%, 100%, and I and I watch how like they are not seen. Um, and that makes me it's devastating, it's sad, it makes me angry, and it makes me want to get to work for them. Um so those are the things that I think uh that I that I have in my business and that I've learned through through having uh a base of employees that work with me. I've learned those things, and those are the things that drive my seat on city council. That is what I'm committed to is making sure that their needs are are heard and that opportunities that affect them they have a voice in. Um it's kind of as simple as that.
SPEAKER_03So, how do you translate that into policy? How do you translate that into you know making policies that help those people?
SPEAKER_00I have I have an understanding of their needs in my head and my heart, and I take that to the table when I raise my hand or don't to vote for this or that. And I also um look at opportunities that may not consider what is needed there. And like maybe if I could just like reach out my arm just a little bit more and bring them in to the fold, that to me would be a victory too. But it's mostly just like understanding, like knowing what they need based on not just guessing, but conversations with them and living with them and working with them every single day. Knowing what they need and taking that knowledge to the table and having it matter when I vote. That's what I think is um that's how it will translate. No, no doubt.
SPEAKER_03No doubt. Um first of all, thank you for that. I think it's a really good segue. So, you know, I've been sort of I've been covering city council for a little more than two years now since the free press launched, and it it was a new world for me as a journalist. Um, it exclusively been a features writer, long-form sports writer prior to that. So city government, very foreign to me. Yeah. But you know, you cover a body, you get to know not only the people that are on it, but the dynamics, um, the relationship with the public, etc., the projects, you know, the things that they take up. Um I'll say, and uh, you know, this is in the time that you know is predating you because it's just been two months. So a couple of I guess sort of sentiments, um, and I'm not saying that I agree with them or that I don't agree with them. So one sentiment, and you talked about bringing people into the fold, right? Um a sentiment that is out there is that um in the past, um, with the with the council that that predated yours the most immediately, um, that the public process is in some way a formality. It that the decisions have are going to be are going to be made one way, and I don't want to say going through the motions because that's reductive and I don't think necessarily fair, but that public input isn't necessarily made actionable and that public input isn't reflected in the final policy. Do you do you think that people who feel that way have any leg to stand on? And how do you think city council can be better with incorporating public input?
SPEAKER_00Excuse me, that's sorry, it's a great question. Um whether I think that they have a leg to stand on or I don't, I think is irrelevant. I think what's more important is the sentiment is out there, right? Uh and so what I what I my personality is such that if I hear a thing that I don't agree with, I immediately try and counter it with like evidence that disputes it. Like, well, no, actually, there's this, this, and this, and this, and you can um access information by getting on the website, by attending the meetings, by watching, you know, and I and I sort of, but that's that's like I've quickly learned during the campaign process as I was knocking on doors and talking to people, that that's not not it's not like it's a waste of time, but at the end of the day, it doesn't get you any further down the line. The point is, is that if people feel that way and there's a collective and and and they feel disconnected from the process, how do we address that? And I think that's I think that's where we are. Like, do I feel disconnected from the process? No. Do I feel like the information is right there for me to access whenever I want it? Yes. Um, but can I always attend the meetings? No. Do I feel like looking things up online and finding out the information? Maybe not. Can I read through all the you know 167 pages of the traffic report? Ugh, I doubt it. Like, so I I I think we do have to accept that um for all the things that are that that council is doing right or that city, the city and City government is doing right, but some of it is lost in translation, right? So how can we do that? I don't know. But I think that's a great thing to address. But maybe it's having um occasionally having council meetings on a Saturday instead of on a on a on a Tuesday night. I don't know.
SPEAKER_03Well that's a good point because you you have what I refer to, you know, very colloquially as like frequent flyers. Like the same people who are engaged, who make public comment at council meetings, the same people who are engaged positively, for or against you know certain projects or issues, whatever. Um and I think that those people's perspectives are certainly important. Um but I think that like you said, bringing more people into the fold, the people who are not engaged at the moment, their aspirations and lives and whatever matter just as much. So I think that you know, however you do it.
SPEAKER_00However you do it, you have to try and you have to try and maybe do it just a little bit differently. It could be it could be um I don't know, uh inviting, for example, a student to attend city council meetings for uh three months, you know, for a semester at a time. Like then maybe that that way they're engaged. That's done in other counties, student representatives. Right, exactly. So so there's there's myriad ways that we can try and tackle it. Um but just like um you know, we always say if somebody comes in and has uh an unpleasant experience at the restaurant, whatever that might be, an overcooked burger, or they forgot their drinks, um, most of the time people don't say anything, right? Most of the time.
SPEAKER_03I'm a millennial, I say it is great, thank you so much.
SPEAKER_00Sure, right, exactly. Um and and you just sort of like deal with it, and then in your head you're like, uh, I may not want to go there when I'm really in the mood for a burger, because you know, so whatever. So so you become, so as the as the restaurateur, you become really grateful for the act of feedback, no matter what it is. Uh and and I think there's value in it. So, and and you you know, you know that each one of those pieces of feedback might represent 10 pieces that you never got. So just the just because it's the the frequent flyers or because it's a small faction doesn't mean that more people don't feel that way. And that's what I learned when I was knocking on doors. Um it wasn't just it wasn't just those people, it was other people too, and so therefore it I think it lends it some validity and it deserves uh a little attention.
SPEAKER_03For sure. Um and I like that point about you know people being sometimes reticent to offer feedback. Um so you know, even if you know, even if people aren't necessarily cheery in you know how they bring something up, it's it's it's still valuable. Um I want to kind of transition a little bit to some of the projects that have been before council. Um so most recently um there have been um residential developments. Yeah. So there are a few in sort of the corridor in my backyard and that you represent in ward two. Yeah. Um you have the hospital, the old Mary Washington Hospital reuse project on Fall Hill. Yep. You have the Medical Arts building across the street from it, and you have Mary's Landing. Um residential developments have been an issue that I don't necessarily want to describe them as polarizing, but they have, you know, sort of stirred the public interest in the sense that people are worried about impacts from those residential developments. Um what is your view on how we can make it so more people can live in Fredericksburg while preserving the quality of life, while ensuring that infrastructure and traffic remain, you know, okay?
SPEAKER_00Wouldn't I be the genius if I knew that? I mean, I think that um you take it one project at a time. Um uh so Well, what do you look at with a project?
SPEAKER_03You know, I I heard you on the dais, you know, you were talking about that one over by Carl's the other day. Yeah. And specific impacts with it. So when you look at, let's just take one project, what are you concerned with when it's a residential developer?
SPEAKER_00So because there's a couple things. Um, because Fredericksburg has so little undeveloped uh parcels, right? I understand and I agree with the fact that they're they're all precious, right? So we have to take great care when we are deciding to uh reduce that even more. Um so what I am attracted to, and one of the reasons why I was attracted to council and why I think that council's decisions are incredibly careful and well thought of and um sound, uh is is adaptive reuse. Okay, so Fredericksburg uh treasures its history, and uh history comes in all different forms and it comes in all different uh different times, right? So it's not just like a uh historical district downtown colonial, but it's also some of the stuff that we talk about in Ward II, uh like the old Mary Washington Hospital project. So I love the idea of looking at something like uh with fresh eyes and figuring out how to how to make it relevant again, how to make it more useful again.
SPEAKER_03Well you went through that with with foodie in the bank building to some extent.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and so we can do it in terms of architecture, and I do it in terms of um, you do it, I mean we just talked about it like kind of in the same vein of like full utilization. There's this thing that we have where we've already um taken over the green space, we've already erected a building, we've already paved the concrete, and now its usefulness has has sort of waned. Can we look at that as a fresh thing and try and reuse it? I think we should, and I think we should look at it with like even more um possibilities and openness. So when we talk about residential development and it also happens to be adaptive reuse, that to me is very exciting and I think it's very responsible. I like it. I like it in general. Um there was something I was gonna say, and I can't remember. Oh, I was gonna say um it occurred to me one time during um during a meet and greet that I had, and I was looking at the demographic and they were um Ward II demographic and they were older, uh a bit older than me, which is old, just kidding. Uh, and they also have been in Fredericksburg for decades, right? And and they they love Fredericksburg. And so what I realized as they were talking to me passionately about the things that they wanted and they didn't, and things that were they were afraid of and that they were excited about and and etc. concerns that they had, is that I think that when you love something so thoroughly, like those people love Fredericksburg, it is really hard to imagine it changing in big significant ways and still loving it. Right? Like you just think maybe I'm not gonna, maybe I'm not gonna love it as much. But I think may maybe you will. So I think that's maybe the the disconnect is like going on that journey of faith where it's going to change into something else and you may still love it just as much. I don't know, but you might.
SPEAKER_02So I I think that's a really good point.
SPEAKER_03Um it's interesting. I feel like my wife and I sort of won a lottery ticket being able to purchase a home in downtown Fredericksburg. I mean, we purchased a small home. Right. We're over by the canal, by corals, yeah. Right over there.
SPEAKER_00Why is that a lottery ticket?
SPEAKER_03Because now our house is worth half a million dollars.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Who can, you know, like like we we exhausted all of our savings to buy it when it was 300.
SPEAKER_00Sure, sure.
SPEAKER_03You know, eight years ago.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um it it so I guess I'm talking about affordability in that sense. Yeah. It feels like a lottery ticket because what we were able to do as you know, dual income 20 somethings doesn't necessarily seem quite as attainable anymore. And a lot of that has to do with the real estate market generally, a lot of it has to do with property values in the city, um, availability, stock. So you know, I look at a project like the hospital, um, the hospital adaptive reuse, and I look at the various price points that are being put forth by the developer. Um, and I'm I'm okay saying that I think that's a good thing. I'm okay saying that I think that it is a good thing that teachers and um first responders and and other people have a chance that doesn't necessarily feel like they have to get lucky in terms of in terms of living in the city. Because living in the city is great. Um it's a lottery ticket from you know what it feels like to be able to walk to Kenmore.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03To be able to play up by the monument rock with you know the kiddos, and to be able to walk to the donut shop or be able to walk downtown to the farmer's market. Um it is a lottery ticket, and I know a lot of you know, if we can get you know more people in on that jackpot, yes, that's a good thing, right? That's just how you do it. Um I'll transition to uh which is to say that I think people in my demographic, uh, you know, 30 somethings, are generally pretty gung-ho on you know getting more people to be able to live in Fredericksburg. Right. Significantly uh more tepid or lukewarm on data centers. Um the technology overlay district, which was approved last year in 2025, about a year ago, I think it was February, um, that it was approved, and then you know, subsequently, you know, a day later, um an agreement signed with Stack, which is going to put um correct me if I'm wrong, I think it's somewhere in the realm of seven to ten data centers in that area over in Celebrate Virginia South. Um there's a water services agreement that's gonna come before council soon. What can you tell me about that and the research that you guys have done to ensure that that water services agreement is hashed out in a way that's beneficial beneficial to the city?
SPEAKER_00I think the thing to say at this point is that the terms of the agreement have not been solidified, and so the conversation is ongoing. So uh some of the things are controllables and some of them are not. Um meaning some of the like in general with utilities, some of those things are decided at the state level, and so Fredericksburg just falls in line with that. Um some of those things are impacted by data centers that are already built in, you know, counties that are like, for example, north of us, Stafford, um, you know, up the Rappahannock, that that will impact us regardless, right? So some of those things, that's what I mean by some are controllables and some are not. But then there's there's some things uh in some terms in those agreements that are still up for for negotiation. And I think it's really important that people who want to have a voice in that have a voice in that. And that people are not just like, well, that's it, you know, it's gonna be data center, nobody's gonna listen to us anymore, nobody cares that we don't want it. No, no, we we we care, but it's coming, so I think we should take some of those opposing voices, and those are the voices that we should help us help guide us to make um really stringent terms that will reflect what Fredericksburg wants.
SPEAKER_03Now, how closely are you guys you know keeping tabs on some of the stuff in the General Assembly right now? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. The sales tax exemption could potentially be repealed. Um there are other um kind of second-order effects with data centers, such as you know, rate classes for electric customers that can change. Um how much do you think that could affect? I'm not sure necessarily the terms of any agreement for for the city, um, but you know, kind of how things move forward as they actually start to build these data centers.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean I think that we have, I think the the gosh, I don't want to I don't want to say something that's not factually perfectly correct, but in serving um uh in serving council, we also are required to, we're asked to serve on other um boards and commissions, right, um, as council representatives. And one of the boards and commissions that I'm on is the GWRC, George Washington Regional Commission. Um and so through that, uh, and I'm and again I'm at the very beginning of my learning curve, so give me a little grace, but through that I am learning how uh the neighboring, like Fredericksburg, along with some of the neighboring counties, acts as a collective uh in the General Assembly in order to uh get information, um make um uh uh pleas or arguments in one direction or another that will more positively affect outcomes locally. Well the city has a lobbyist. That was something that shocked me a couple years ago when I was like, And it's a budget, it's a line item is a budget, advocates and it's and it's important, it's it's potentially very important. So um so to answer your question, yeah, I think that we are closely tied to what's happening in in the GA and how we can have a voice in that and how that will reverb uh back to back to us. Um yeah, I think we I think we're helping to steer that conversation as best we can.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Well, Joy, this has been you know just a really, really good conversation. Thank you. Likewise. As satiating as the pimento cheese toast. Right on. Thank you so much. Kind of my main save.
SPEAKER_00Thank you for doing this. It's really cool that you uh make space and time for people to sit down and talk.
SPEAKER_03Well, I wanted to. Um, I've I've wanted to talk to you in particular for a while. You know, I didn't want to do it during the campaign because that wouldn't be fair unless I also, you know, did in little, and then I'd have to devote two months to two ward two candidates, would be a little too ward two centric.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um but you know, the corner of Stewart Street in Fall Hill Lab, you know, where people park by that doctor's office. I think that maybe the parking, I'm just joking. Um the cars do jut out, it's hard to see. It's a present. Um but no, thank you so much for coming onto the show. Um, it's a pleasure. Look forward to seeing what you guys have uh cooking in council.
SPEAKER_00Thank you. Can I can I can I make one comment? And you can you can use it or not use it. Um I think I'm mostly talking to you, but if you used it, that would be great too. And that is this. Um I thought that I knew what it was gonna feel like to kind of step, I thought I had done the preparation, I'm a huge preparer, um, and I thought I had done appropriate preparation to sort of like step into this wheel that's already turning and know what that is gonna feel like and feel like I know what my my place is gonna be and my voice. Um I just like I was saying, it's kind of like interviewing for a job and being like really prepared and taking a deep dive into the company. I did not really understand the company of the city of Fredericksburg and how that works and all the different departments and how they like interconnect, um, and then how council sort of you know presides over a lot of those things. I didn't really understand the interconnectivity of it. I'm like so blown away by the quality of people, the um the thoroughless thoroughness with which they do their jobs, and the way that this huge machine is moving along. I think it is amazing. And I'm like, immediately when I got the job, I was like, I'm freaking proud to work for this company. This is awesome. Fredericksburg is awesome, and the people behind it pushing things in in one direction or another, they're amazing. Like across the board. It's really cool. It's really cool. We should be proud.
SPEAKER_03Well, you know, I am uh I am proud to uh you know have had you on the podcast and uh Coffee Shop Talk is a monthly Freddie Free Press podcast. Uh once again, I'm your host, Joey Lamonica. Um you can find it on Spotify and Heart Radio and on our website.
