Full Transcript of Vital VOICE ***EXCLUSIVE*** interview with candidate Rep. Rodney Hubbard, (5th District)

2008 Vital VOICE Primary Candidate Interviews
By: Lucas Hudson, Editor
& Colin Murphy, Senior Writer

VITAL VOICE INTERVIEW
REP. RODNEY R. HUBBARD (D-58)
JULY 3, 2008

Colin Murphy, Senior Writer: We have a marriage amendment here in Missouri so nothing’s going to happen on that front for some time, but as a civil right, how do you view marriage equality for gay men and lesbians?

Rep. Rodney R. Hubbard: I’ve been in the House since 2002 and one of the first votes I took was for gay marriage. I wish I had a copy of that piece of legislation, but it was right around the time that Russ Carnahan was running for Congress and he had took the vote, I took the vote and Bob Hilgemann had took the vote and a lot of people ridiculed us for supporting that initiative.

I believe we all have rights, I believe in civil liberties. I believe in Civil Unions and all that—I think you have the right to marry. I know California is more progressive and Missouri’s much more behind than California—so I support it.

But my voting record reflects that. I’m not just talking. You know, I’ll be honest with you—you know there are many African American men—especially who are Muslim in our community—that when I took that vote that wasn’t something that was popular for me. At the end of the day, I think we all have our rights and I don’t think they should be infringed upon.

CM: I’d like to switch to economic development. There’s not a lot that Jefferson City can do about gas prices, but there is something they can do about public transportation. What are your thoughts on public transport; making it more accessible, getting to other areas, getting to those in need?

RH: Representative Neal St. Onge is the chairman of Transportation. I worked very closely with him when we were deciding on whether that off ramp was going to take place [inaudible]. I’ve also worked with different individuals like Claude Brown who’s been behind the scenes trying to expand public transportation and trying to make sure we get that rail system up and running which is a costly expenditure.

I believe in supporting tax credits, you know, to create that synergy and that revitalization that needs to take place. When you look at paying four dollars for a gallon of gas, four dollars for a gallon of milk it’s hard—especially on people who are lower income. I still live in a public housing development right off of 14th and Carr Street. You see a lot of people who really want transportation and one of the things I was on the forefront of was making sure that bus line run right up and down Carr Street which was huge for a lot of my constituents.

So to answer your question, anytime there is an opportunity to put more money into public transportation, I think we need to do it. If you look at how the region is about to grow and how we’re trying to get more people to come outside the city of St. Louis and look at it from a regional position and a bi-state approach—people come from Illinois, Missouri—the city of St. Louis, St. Charles—they come to the city for the jobs. I don’t think we can begin to create that synergy we need if we don’t have more funds put into public transportation, especially now.

Lucas Hudson, Editor: I have a question about city revitalization. As I’m sure you know the population in St. Louis increased for the first time, at least according to the revised 2000 census.—Many of the people that are moving into the city have pretty much been moneyed-white-progressives who, generally speaking, are the backbone of the revitalization and some would say gentrification in the city. What do you think is the best method for revitalizing areas but in the same breath having them be mixed income and ethnically diverse?

RH: I understand exactly what you’re saying. I want to begin by saying that I’m a proud member and I’m a proud resident of the Carr Square neighborhood (the only public housing development in the country that’s still ran, owned and operated by the tenants). I’ve been in that neighborhood—my father’s been in that neighborhood since 1942. My father [inaudible] that development down there and one of the things we’ve done is to make sure fair, affordable housing was provided for lower income people.

I believe that the stakeholders should not be displaced. I believe in public/private partnerships. If you look at the development that takes place right now in that particular neighborhood—whether it was Cochran, whether it was Court Square, whether it was Murphy Blair, whether it was Blumeyer, whether it was Columbus Square—the neighborhood organization that I’m affiliated with was a co-developer in that. I think it’s important that you have diversity. I you look at all the successful models throughout the country you will see that; whether you’re in D.C., whether you’re in Philly or whether you’re in certain parts of New York, it’s important that you have low to moderate incomes taking place because HUD is getting out of the projects business.

If you want to have a successful model it has to be diverse. You can’t have rich people living in one end of the town and poor people living at the other end of the town because then you won’t be able to create that tax base. Because rich people—like your empty nesters—they have money. They can come down and buy a loft. But what about Miss Jones who has three kids and is trying to make it and who can’t afford to purchase a home at this stage of the game. One of the things I’m working on in a revitalization of the downtown area is making sure we have lease to own situations created and we’re working with the state to make that happen. Where you can come in—even in the development that I live in—you can come in, you can pay those rents for about 15-20 years but a percentage of what you are paying towards your rent goes towards your down payment, goes towards the buy down of the note.

So, we’ve got to have it. It’s going to take more strong leaders to step up and say look, I want to revitalize my community but at the same time I want to make sure that those who have lived down their for all of their life, who have been stakeholders in the community are not pushed aside. I think my record reflects that.

CM: I’ll touch on healthcare—under Gov. Blunt, thousands of people have lost their health insurance; people have been drummed off the Medicaid rolls. It’s the top one or two issues of almost anyone you ask. What are a couple of ideas you have to address the need for healthcare and a return to healthcare here in Missouri?

RH: I think it has to be an agenda item. You know one of the things I’ve been doing; we’ve been fortunate enough to tour over thirty-something senior facilities here in the city of St. Louis and address these issues. I think to make sure that those issues are brought to the forefront and people really work together—not just the people in the community—but those that are going to be representatives in the House or those who are going to be working in the Senate or even the Governor’s office and the Lt. Governor’s office.

So I’ve had a lot of conversations with Sam Page, who is a Democrat and candidate for Lt. Governor; and Jay Nixon, a Democrat, who I feel is going to be the next Governor in regards to this issues. Because I was one of the first people who stood up against those cuts that took place with Medicaid. I was one of the first individuals who supported the initiative to restore those cuts when my opponent did not, but that’s another story.

So I think it’s about looking at all the cases and trying to find out different health care assistances to support different individuals needs but at the same time comes down to getting that money in. If we don’t make sure that we can pump more money into GR (General Revenue)—bring more jobs to the city—I mean we’ve got Chrysler whose leaving, AB is talking about leaving, the Rams are wanting to leave—I strongly believe that St. Louis is the biggest economic engine in the state. In order for the state to do well, St. Louis has to do well. So I want to support all initiatives but at the same time I want to work with those three individuals because the biggest role for Lt. Governor is to make sure that he is the representative for all seniors in the state.

We’ve got to restore the programs. I want to see the meals on wheels [restored]—that was one of the first programs to get cut and I know some funds were restored back to the meals on wheels program—but start identifying key, critical programs that we cannot live without while at the same time do more stuff on the preventative side. I just firmly believe that this is the home of the free and land of the brave and anybody whose over 65-years old should eventually have quality health care but how do we get there and where does the money come from is the big question. I think by making sure that we create those jobs and create that strong tax base to pump more money into GR and try to find other areas where we can cut some fat off of and make sure we protect our seniors who have been on the front lines as our tax base for all of these years. This should be a non negotiable item in regards to our seniors.

CM: Reproductive freedoms and sex education have been slowly chipped away at here in the state of Missouri. What are your thoughts on what is achievable? Obviously you want to put up a dam and stop the backslide of these rights, but we’ve got a situation here in St. Louis where we’re number one in Gonorrhea, number one in Chlamydia; these issues really need to be addressed. What are your thoughts on this?

RH: I think it’s an epidemic that’s taking place, especially in the African-American community—some of our people who are not as educated as the other communities. We have a lot of homophobic stuff that takes place. I think prevention is the key. I think wherever we can find these kids, wherever we can reach them—in the public schools system, outside the public school system, or on the street corner. We have to reach these kids in St. Louis [and tell them] wrap it up; protect yourself, because this is the reality. And a lot of youngsters just don’t know enough. I mean we think that because we’re educated, we’re older, we’re wiser but when we were kids we made mistakes also. So I think it’s an epidemic and I think we need to address it.

Some may disagree but I think we need to address it in the church, we need to address it in the schools, community centers; wherever we can find those kids we feel who are falling through the cracks. Family reunions—you name it.

LH: I want to move on to education—introducing your bill—which would introduce tax credits, which some would call vouchers (which is not exactly accurate)—but why do you feel that tax credits are part of the solution to educate children in the city other than public schools?

RH: I want to first begin by saying that I’m one of the biggest supporters of public education but I’m also one of the biggest supporters in regards to education reform. Growing up as a kid in the public housing development the only form of school choice that I had was my parents putting me in a desegregation program. This is when crack cocaine hit. A lot of individuals, who were much brighter than me, had a lot more opportunities than I did, did not have the opportunity to escape. And I think what you’re seeing inside our public school system is a war zone taking place. We’ve looked at the statistics; you know 70-percent of those who attend public high schools almost drop out.

The system has been on a downslide for the last 30-40 years. I didn’t start it, you didn’t start it, we didn’t start it but at the end of the day somebody has to stand up and speak the truth against this. I think that either we educate them now or incarcerate them later. But those [inaudible] or those who are incarcerated have no high school or no GED; somewhere down the line their experience with education failed. We provided over 12 thousand dollars a year to educate these kids—I just firmly believe that anytime we show up as Democrats we talk about choice in regards to our reproductive rights, we talk about choice in regards to gay marriage, which I support. If we want options we have to have options for all even with education.

I think we should put a variety of that on the table whether you want to go to public school, whether you want to go to a charter school, whether you want to go to a religious school…I think that’s your right as a human being and I just firmly believe you reach people where you can find them. Everybody’s not going to be successful at a private school; everybody’s not going to be successful at a public school. But I believe that there’s over 52 tax credit programs operating right now in the state of Missouri. We’re giving millions and millions of dollars in tax credits to developers and I think some of them are deserving of it to revitalize Missouri and create that strong tax base. So I don’t understand what’s so wrong with individual or corporations putting money into a fund to give a scholarship to a kid. And to return to the tax credits [inaudible] everyone knows that according to the Constitution of the great state of Missouri, vouchers are illegal.

I believe that we should make sure we provide our kids with every educational option that’s possible to them. Everybody doesn’t want to go to college. Some of our kids want to off into the trades—I’ve been working with the trade unions, the laborers, the carpenters to make sure we provide our kids with those opportunities. I think it’s important. I had a program [inaudible] for Missouri which would engage the kids and the parents inside the classroom to create that relationship that’s been lost between the parent and the teacher—to make sure that they have this strong dialog. Quite frankly the kids see their teachers more than they see their parents sometimes.

I think that public education needs to be protected. I’ve been on the forefront of making sure the foundation was fully funded, but at the same time I just believe in choice and I believe in options and I know it made a difference in my life. Because had I stayed in the situation I was in I will tell you that I would not be here talking to you as a state Representative nor a candidate who is about to run for state Senate and I just believe that a lot of kids who grew up in my neighborhood, had they had that structure, had they had those options I think thy would be much, much better off.

If you look at myself, if you look Rep. Talibdin El-Amin or Rep. Sherman Parker we all came from the same neighborhood background and we were all participants in that deseg program which made the difference in our life. So I just believe if it helped me it can help some other kid. But I’m not saying it’s a silver bullet.

LH: Obviously you also support vocational education training?

RH: No doubt about it.

LH: Also, a bill that you introduced potentially restricting drivers’ licenses for kids who didn’t meet certain education standards—what was your true intent when you introduced that bill?

RH: When I introduced that bill there was a lot of negotiation that took place. That bill passed out of the House with 103 votes and would have passed out of the Senate but we ran out of time. The Chairman—Sen. Mayer was trying to help me push that bill along but we just ran out of time. My intention, to answer your question, was to provide some type of incentive for our kids who feel like they shouldn’t go to school. And I just firmly believe, and it’s a fact, that driving in state of Missouri is not a right, it’s a privilege and if you want to drive and you want to get your license then you need to be in school. Because if you aren’t in school, what are you doing? I’ll tell you what they’re doing; they’re hanging out on the corners or they’re involved in other mischief that’s taking place throughout the city. And I think we need to begin to encourage our kids and I want to introduce that program to kids starting like in the fifth grade. So when these kids begin to get to the level wherever they can drive we need to start in grade five to let them know that they have to go through this process and educate them … and I think those are some of the things that are lost. Some kids get excited when they make A’s, some kids get excited when they make the basketball team and I had a young cousin of mine who I told about this bill. He’s very disappointed in me but I began to see him somewhat buckle down and start to say well—they call me his Uncle but I’m his cousin—my Uncle’s got a bill; I’ve got to get my grades together. So I saw the effect it took on his life so I believe it would encourage kids and give them incentive to want to do right and I think we need more of that. It also teaches them responsibility at a young age. When you look at people driving on the road and drinking and driving and not being responsible…this (bill) at a young age teaches them about responsibility and they have to earn that drivers license instead of somebody just giving it to them.

LH: Next I want to talk about some tax credit increases. You recently sponsored a bill with Rep. David Pearce (R-121) that seeks to extend the cap on TIFs’ (Tax Increment Financing) in St. Louis. Number one, what kind of businesses do you expect to attract in St. Louis and to the district? Do you have any ideas or plans of what you wanted to see there?

RH: I don’t want to put too much out here at this time because we’ve been having a lot of conversations with a lot of major corporations around the country. But I will say by raising that capital (and Rep. Pearce does a great job on that committee)—we’re trying to attract more businesses into our community and if we want to begin to revitalize the city of St. Louis we cannot begin to do that if we don’t have corporations who come in who want to take a financial risk. Look at our education program; we cannot continue to provide the resources for our educational system if we don’t have somebody to pay for it. If you look at the essential services our city needs—and our city’s always running a deficit—we can no longer afford to pave the streets, having somebody pick up the trash if we don’t have these businesses move into our region. That’s one of the things that me and Rep. Pearce are working on. I think it’s strong. I think it’s needed. Because we have a big job ahead of us and I want to thank him for having the courage because this is something that was not popular because at some stage of the game it looks like you’re giving way too many TIF’s to these corporations. But when you look at the return that you get back for every dollar that you give out in tax credits you can’t compare it to anything. It’s a boost. It’s a shot in the arm to help spur our economic engine which is so important and vital to the resurgence of the city of St. Louis.

LH: This next question might take a second to get out, but what I want to ask you about is—in reading things people say on Blogs or even in newspaper articles about what it is that you’re doing on the North Side—who is contributing to your campaign—I’m sure you’ve heard a thousand times that basically, because of large campaign donations from Rex Sinquefield and Paul McKee, you’re their puppet and so and so forth. But what I want to ask you—between supporting tort reform and workers comp reform and supporting TIF increases and tax credits (which some call vouchers), do you think these positions, which are typically Republican positions, give people ammunition to say that you’ve sold out? In your own words, how do you defend yourself against that type of charge?

RH: I’m my own man—I’m nobody’s boy but I’m everybody’s man. I got into politics because I wanted to make a difference. Any vote I’ve ever taken, any position I’ve ever taken is to be reflective of my constituents. Being a leader is taking your constituents to a place they’ve never been. And a lot of time when you’re doing things people don’t really see what you’re doing. In regards to the Bloggers or people that engage in the process I think my community knows me very well.

If you look at my track record and you look at some of the negative things that have been said about me in some of these particular mediums you will see that it hasn’t affected my popularity and it most definitely hasn’t affected my well being in my community or my stature and standing in my community. I think what you have is a small minority who want to throw rocks but at the end of the day if I was to come out and say what I thought about them or expose some of the back deals that they’re doing with some of these various people who they attack me for having a relationship with—well, I’m up front with my dealings with these individuals.

And I believe that in this process, you have to deal with Republicans, you have to deal with Democrats. When I got elected I ran as a Democrat but when I’m up there making decisions every day I’m up there making decisions on behalf of the people of the great state of Missouri. I’m not making decisions on behalf of Democrats, I’m not making decisions on behalf of Republicans; blacks, whites, gays, non-gays—whatever category that you can imagine individuals are put in. We’re all a part of the human family. We all believe in uplifting humanity and that’s been my position in regards to tort reform when I addressed that issue. It’s an access issue.

You have the biggest employer in the state of Missouri, which is BJC, who wanted to leave the region. So we had to find a way to stop the bleeding and convince those physicians not to leave. I mean when their getting taxed all this money from these insurance companies they can no longer afford to provide the essential services that it takes to exist.

In regards to Paul McKee and Rex Sinquefield, those are two individuals who I’ve had the opportunity to meet and get some support from based on my position of being pro choice, based on my position of being pro development. Those two individuals have contributed to my campaign and people have a tendency to make false, slanderous statements about me and I will tell them I’ve received X-amount of dollars from both of them. But the vast majority of my campaign contributions and my support have come from small donors and I have a diverse group of support out there. I’ve raised almost $350,000 and I didn’t see a check for $300,000 from Rex Sinquefield. I mean the man has done well and stuck his neck out to provide educational options and create a scholarship fund for all kids so he is of his own free will. He’s not a politician. He’s a developer—development has to take place, we cannot resist it—but at the same time, Lucas we have to make sure we address those issues in regards to making sure that individuals in our community are not displaced. And I think when that bill (The Distressed Areas Land Assemblage Tax Credit Act (DALATCA) was brought up I was the only member on the Economic Development Committee or the only member of the City Delegation who’s actively done something—who sat down and worked with people like the Michael Allen’s of the world or the Sean Thomas’ of the world in north St. Louis. I was able to get an amendment on that bill stating that we must have local control, we must have input from local Aldermen before anything can get done.

So I think a lot of my opponents; they spew hate and talk about the process and talk about me in spite of trying to effect the process. It shows their ineffectiveness. It shows at the end of the day here’s a young fella who’s from a public housing development, who’s a member of a minority party who has been effective in Jefferson City; who hasn’t sold the people out and still lives in this very community. And I think that’s what they are missing. My life and my death are for the creator. I’ve been out here trying to make sure that I bring the resources back to my community because at the end of the day I’m a product of that community, I’m proud and I want to see it revitalized.

If you’re in this business you have to have thick skin. People talk about you but they only talk about the people who are making something happen—who’ve done something. Like my opponent you never hear her name in the paper. Why? She ain’t doin' nothing. She’s not effective. She’s not influencing the process. But one thing I’ve demonstrated up in Jefferson City—and I know I’m getting off course here—is I’ve always had an open door policy. Even in regards—not particularly to this paper—but in regards to the organizations—I went to PROMO—didn’t get their endorsement. Asked for their endorsement back when I first ran—still didn’t get the endorsement but I never changed my position on supporting the issues.

LH: Obviously you can’t disclose any conversations you had with Paul McKee but did he give you any guarantees that he’s not block busting or did he give you any indication of what he might want to do?

RH: I don’t know him well enough to have a discussion with him like that. What I will tell you is when the bill (Distressed Areas Land Assemblage Tax Credit Act (DALATCA) was filed we looked at a vast group of developers who probably had the capacity to get something done. Unfortunately his name (Paul McKee) became a lighting rod in the legislature. But one of the things that I wanted to do whether it was Paul McKee, whether it was John Steffen, whether it was Mike Roberts, whether it was Bob Clark over at Clayco—whoever the developer was I wanted to make sure even if it was a developer from out of state I wanted to make sure that anytime any decision took place that there was some local control involved in regard to the local elected officials. I also had some other amendments that I was trying to get on that didn’t pass in regards to lowering the [inaudible]. I had another amendment that got on and some of the language was switched in the bill that there could not be only one developer to do the development. And also I had an amendment that I could not get on that would state than anytime a development took place neighborhood organizations and the developer had to be involved. The reason I wanted that to get on so much was because I’m a member of the Cross Square Tennant Management Corporation and when we were dealing with McCormick and Barron (sp?) which is now McCormick, Barron and Salazar (sp?) we made sure that no developer could come in and displace the neighborhood organization. And I think my record reflects that. And when see some of the revitalization that’s going to take place in the city you will see more partnerships as opposed to big developers coming in.

I believe we have to continue to protect those neighborhood organizations because they are the true heroes and just like I had a conversation with Sean Thomas of Old North St. Louis—I told Sean—look whether it’s myself or whether it’s a local alderwoman named April Ford-Griffin—I’m a part of a neighborhood organization. I’ve seen politicians come and go. You know I have only eight years I could have served in the House and eight years in the Senate and after that I’m no longer in office. So the will of the people should be met and I think that’s what’s important and I think you will also begin to see all those individuals that talked bad about me—especially in some of our black media—if you start reading the paper you begin to see them switch a little bit and start talking about the true issue and that’s revitalizing the city of St. Louis. And you will begin to see a lot of those naysayers' who stood up and attacked me in regards to Rex Sinquefield and Paul McKee—at the end of the day when lights do down they’re all trying to create a relationship to get over there and try to figure out what’s going on.

You look at the SDCC—Senate Democratic Campaign Committee who received large donations from Rex Sinquefield you didn’t hear anything about it. When you look at McKee and see some of the donations he’s given to Republicans and Democrats you hear nothing about it. I’m not taking this personally but everybody’s wanting to know what Rodney’s doing and why is Rodney doing this? Maybe it’s because they see I have a certain amount of relationships or maybe it’s because I’m the only person from the city who’s trying to reach out and do something. It was never about one individual. My position on school choice was strong, was solid, was firm back in 2002 before Rex Sinquefield even moved back into the state and a lot of people don’t talk about that. I’m just saying go back, check the voting record and see what my position was on school choice, see what my position was on economic redevelopment before these two guys even came to the scene.

LH: Lastly, what do you think are the main differences between you and your opponent in this race in regards to the issues?

RH: Let me say this. I think my opponent, Miss Jones; I think she’s a nice lady. I think my record reflects that I’m effective. I’m the only (legislative) chairman in the city of St. Louis and being the chairman means I can pass legislation in regards to the local control issue. Had it not been for me having a chairmanship that bill would never have gotten a hearing. In regards to the poverty bill, had I not been a chairman and had the working relationship to go across the aisle that wouldn’t be a reality. In regards to the 2-million dollars for the first public [inaudible] program for ex offenders—when that situation was going on I was the only one in the city delegation who could go across the aisle and go to the Board chair and ask them to put that money in it for the second year.

So in regards to passing legislation I’ve passed several meaningful bills. When I first got to Jefferson City I introduced a vaccination program for first responders who were deployed for bio terrorism for disaster areas to get vaccinations for Hepatitis A, B., influenza and any air born pathogens that a first responder might come in contact with.

I’ve passed legislation and meaningful legislation and have also helped a lot of my colleagues pass legislation. My opponent, she’s passed no legislation. She most definitely did not bring any resources back to her community. She could not affect any appointments that took place. Not to toot my own horn but when a lot of these appointments are made I’ll get calls from the governors office and they’ll say well Rodney, we’re looking for some good Democrats do you know anyone we should put on these boards? And I think non-biased-ly who those individuals should be and sit down with individuals that I trust in the community like Antonio French and others.

My opponent hasn’t done that. Like I said, I think she’s a nice lady but at the end of the day you want someone who can go to Jefferson City and make something happen—who can make a difference. And I firmly believe that if I was not effective, if I was not inclusive I would not be running for office. I would not be taking the sacrifice of being away from my very beautiful, supportive family. I would not be making the sacrifice to be away from my home five months out of the year. I just believe this is my calling. You need someone who’s going to go up there and stand up for the core principles and core values of all people. You need someone who can come in could bring North St. Louis together; South St. Louis together and get rid of this polarization that’s plaguing our city.

My opponent cannot do that. She can’t go in north St. Louis and go inside the hood, then go into the Central West End, then go down deep South and work with people, then go back up to Jefferson City and as a minority, work with the other side of the aisle and give resources back to the community.

I could sit and talk to you all for the next half an hour to forty-five minutes telling you about different bills I’ve passed, different money I’ve put in programs whether it was [inaudible] who provide after school programs for over 80-public schools here in our city; or I could tell you how I fought hard to get a pay raise for a lot of these deputy sheriffs; or I could sit up and tell you how I worked hard with the treasurer of the city of St. Louis to make sure we tweaked some of the language to help the office run more efficiently; or I could sit up here and tell you how I worked hard to get a lot of tax credits for a lot of different development that’s going on that you see right now. But I’m not here to toot my own horn. I just want to say that at the end of the day we have to continue to bring about the positive change—that new vision that I was talking about in 2002.

If anyone would have told me that as a young boy growing up in a public housing development that I would have the opportunity to speak to you today in regards to these issues which I feel are so vital to our advancement here in the city of St. Louis—I wouldn’t be wasting my time and I most definitely wouldn’t be wasting you all’s.

So I want to thank you all for giving me an audience today because at the end of the day I do feel that there have been a lot of attacks on my character and people really don’t know me—know who I am—know what I stand for. Before me and Antonio hooked up I didn’t have a venue on how to get out my message because I’m not a PR person. But I will tell you this…continue to read those newspapers and you will continue to see different people’s positions change but my position has never changed on issues that I believe in. I’m standing firm on that. I don’t waffle on any issue and I don’t take a walk and I’ve taken some hard line decisions but hey, that’s what it’s all about—making a difference.

LH: Thanks, Rodney