Election Digest with with County Supervisor Melissa Kaprelian

All right, so welcome Melissa Caprillian here. Melissa is currently still the order for the fifth

district.

That's right.

Fingers are up here.

And you're, no, that's all fingers by the way she's talking about. And also you're the

second, there's no, no, no, no, no, nothing yet.

Fourth district.

Yes.

For the county board supervisor.

That's right.

Why do I think it's a second district?

Well, you say that every time, but it's okay, but I don't mind be number two.

So, um, tough election, three, three incumbents out.

Yeah.

Corey Sebastian and also, um, Jeff Cole, Jeff Cole out.

I didn't see this coming.

No, none of us did and you typically don't see it. However, there, you know, whenever you

want incumbents out, smear campaigns happen. And so there was a lot of that.

There's a lot of biting on, uh, negative politics, negative messaging across the nation.

So I think it just then bleeds into our local government or bleeds out of it, whatever

which way it's going.

So how did you feel that morning when you found it or the night you found out that night?

You know, I was not emotionally attached on, uh, I will tell you, when you are working

in a toxic work environment, it's hard to keep showing up.

But, uh, when you're a representative, uh, you, you sacrifice yourself so you keep showing

up because you know it's important because you know something and you understand things

and depthy.

And so you have to go in there and get the work done, um, but I will tell you it's a, it's

a hard job to show up to in this current time, in this current administration.

But I feel satisfied, uh, four years ago, I came back, uh, bright eyed bushy tail and

ready to continue to give back to the city just as from what I had learned from my previous

time there over a decade plus ago.

And then what I learned from the overarching umbrella of the county, I wanted to bring

that back to the city that gained knowledge and, but what I realized when I opened that

door and was sitting on that seat, it was a different type of administration.

And I had a show up differently.

I had a show up and bring balance of governance back, government back and, uh, it took me

two years.

I attempted to do it alone in a, in a sense and I was getting nowhere.

And then we had David Mac come back on the council, Sandy Widener came back on the council

Terry McCarthy came back on the council, all those I served with a duck, a decade plus

ago.

And when they got back, we gained momentum.

And we were able to bring the balance of government back, uh, despite some vetoes, despite

some attacks, uh, but they all were overturned and my job is done.

I feel my job is done.

I've, if you ever hear of burnout caregiver burnout, I feel like I'm a community healer.

And with that, with that caregiving, it's, it's exhausted me.

It's depleted me.

But, um, I've now paved the way to make it easier for the new council to come aboard

and be able to work through the sad thing down is, oh, this is a job that you learn when

you get there.

And your teacher tends to be your environment around you.

And right now the environment is not the healthiest.

So I've, I heard David Mac speak on here the night of the election, the day of the election

the day before and he, he has something that I have as well where we have an experience

that came before this administration.

So we show up differently and, um, you know, and it's true for anybody when you come

in with different set of wisdom and, uh, but it, I'm, I'm okay.

I feel good.

I feel like it's a celebration.

We talked a little bit before we went on the air, what it feels like when you're leaving

something that doesn't feel comfortable, it doesn't fit you.

There's a bit.

But you were born to do this kind of stuff.

I told you, I would last nine seconds in this job.

The first day I'd get in there and start yelling at people and they throw me out nine

seconds.

I would last.

But you, you seem to be born for this kind of stuff.

You're always volunteering for committees and things like that and, um, I get home and

watch Dateline reruns.

Oh my goodness.

Yeah.

No, no, no.

I enjoy giving.

I am a giver by nature.

And, you know, I still serve on the county board, um, and I am part of so many different

committees that my goodness, they occupy my time greatly, but, uh, you know, it's beautiful

done because I have children, I have four children, two grandchildren.

And I had decided.

You have grandchildren?

I have two.

Yes.

Oh my goodness.

I am grandma, um, very proud of it.

I had my, our family time was community time and, uh, the children raised them through

it.

They did so many.

Oh my goodness.

So many cleanup efforts.

They're always in tow and so many community building efforts.

And to see that spirit of giving being passed down to the generations, my son, CJ, we made

history.

Mom and son served on the city council together.

Yeah.

And he did have to leave early.

You talk about giving to the next level.

He decided to donate 70% of his liver and his gall bladder to a stranger.

We still don't know who it is.

And, uh, just the spirit of giving of yourself to, that's literally giving every

soul.

It isn't that true.

But it was during the pandemic and, uh, sadly, uh, the level of after care wasn't there.

And then he moved to Madison.

But he had to be closer to the transplant center and, but he is thriving.

He is just doing phenomenal in Madison.

What a, a great environment for him and a young family.

So he left the council early, but he, ah, man, she was a force to be reckoned with.

Just somebody who grew up in it as a child.

And then he could just hit the ground running.

Otherwise, it takes anyone else, like three years to get themselves acquainted to what

the heck is going on when you're serving in those seats.

So.

Now, did you speak to, um, yeah, obviously he spoke to Jeff Cohen, you guys are pretty close.

How about Cory Sebastian?

How do they feel about not serving them?

Yeah.

I, I could, I, we spoke just briefly at the council meeting we had to show up for last Tuesday.

And, you know, she's really sad.

You know, she hasn't served as long as, yeah, she's very upset, very, very sad.

I know she talked about just ways to calm herself down by putting some cold compresses or

spoons on her eyes, because her puffy wounds, yeah, refrigerate your spoons and put them

on your eyes for puffiness.

She was giving me some beauty advice.

And so I mean, it was hard for her.

And she, you know, she had a different purpose, compared to mine or even Jeff Coase, you

know, Jeff Coase, he's such a, he's just so emotionally connected to this community.

And he just, he just comes very raw and vulnerable.

And so it was a very emotional hit for him.

Plus, he has, I think down a couple decades on the council, unlike me, I had served four

years prior in four years.

So eight years total.

And this would have been my third turn back on the council.

But again, my purpose was different.

I had a show up different.

So yeah.

Well, I want to pick your brain in just a second.

Okay.

There's a lot to pick there.

And I'm going to go through it.

Plus, you have an event coming up with Jeff Coase.

We're going to talk about that coming up in a moment too.

All they're in Cadyboard supervisor, Melissa Capprillian here with us.

And we were talking about the election and three incumbents out, out, out, which was really

strange when I heard that.

And you and Jeff Coase have like a little thing put together here.

And this is going to be the red onion.

What is that?

Yeah.

So after our outgoing council, which is Monday, April 14th, we will celebrate our years

of service and celebrate the friendships that we gained along the way.

And so after that outgoing council meeting, and we will head over to the red onion and

just celebrate each other together, celebrate the community that has supported us and that

we have been able to support them.

And so that is our final kind of hurrah and goodbye.

And yeah.

So.

When I got fired from the station once, and the previous owner, not the current owner,

the previous owner, they did, I, my wife met me here at the station and it was like

I'd off the year at 12 noon.

And I said, let's go celebrate went to Buffalo Wild Wings.

They've never been there before.

And I said, let's go celebrate some hot wings.

That's what I did.

I loved it.

It is freeing.

There's something about closure, right?

At the end of the book, sometimes it's hard when you're still feeling like you're writing

chapters, but you know, for me, this book has closed.

I don't think it has.

You say that.

I think you're, I think you're feeling that now because if you would have asked me if

I would ever walk through this building again, after nine years of, you know, the previous

one, I would have said, no, I'm never coming back.

Here I am.

I'm sitting there.

The same chair was sitting in, you know, back in 25, 30 years ago.

You know, it's interesting about that Don.

I know what you're, you're talking about.

And you know, I remember when you went off the air and it was so sad.

So I was, I celebrated when you came back on I, you are just such a treat, a true asset

to the community.

And.

And I asked to the, oh, I said, okay.

But you know, so we celebrate you and that's what I'm feeling.

There's so many people say, I'm so sorry, Melissa, I'm like, please don't say, I'm sorry.

You don't know how you feel tomorrow.

I feel you may, you may, you may look at the city in a few years from now and say, oh,

I can't let this happen.

And I'm going to go in there again and you never know.

You never know.

However, I'm older now, right?

I'm older.

I'm wiser and, you know, I'm still out on the county.

So, and I'm still in many boards that are, works with the city and intertwined in the

city's outcome.

And but the people around me, it just seems so sad.

I remember that night when those numbers came in, which by the way, I, I won at the polls.

I mean, we're seeing a trend here, done.

This is something to kind of follow where the polls numbers are one way, in central

count.

Those are the absentee and early voting is a different way.

So I won at the polls and some past dollars, even a mayoral candidate.

They won't win at the polls, but they're not winning at the central count or absentee

or early voting.

Years ago, I used to call that the 60 minutes thing because if you have, if 60 minutes

was opposite, Uncle Barry Hound cartoons and you asked the person, what do you watch

Sunday nights?

Uncle Barry Hound or 60 minute?

Well, I watch 60 minutes and they don't, but they'll say that because they just don't

you know, they want to feel smarter or they don't want people knowing their opinion

or what they're going to do.

I have people constantly text me, will you vote for me?

It's not a business who I'm voting for because if I say the other person, you can bombard

me with more stuff.

Yes.

I can't tell you how many block phone numbers I have on my phone.

Isn't that the truth?

Yeah.

And you know, just, and if you want me to vote for you and a lot of people knocking

on the door and I will tell you, if you knock on my door, I will answer the door

and speak to you and I've always done that.

And most of the time the people knocking on my door, we're pushing people, I was going

to vote for anyway, but if you, if you're going to roam the neighborhood and walk out

there all day long, I'll give you a bottle of water and I'll talk to you on my porch.

And I did.

I spoke to every single person on my porch.

Well, that makes me happy to hear because it is very difficult going and knocking on

doors and today's culture.

There's all the ring cameras and everybody has this barrier of connection.

And this is what I feel is kind of lost, not kind of, it's lost is, or it's, we're losing

the sense of connecting with each other's humanity.

I think about all my years of service and all my years of giving and during this, this

smear campaign that was happening, there, there became this attack.

There are people online, some seniors that I was in their home, my children are there,

we connected and they're online saying naughty things, STFU, I can't say that in the radio,

but I'll leave it at that, attacking my young children out when we're out doing the

doors and.

Melissa Caprilyan eats dogs for dinner, Melissa Caprilyan hates children, Melissa Caprilyan

hates your grandmother.

I mean, that's, that's it.

That's exactly.

That's exactly.

But these are attack, can't you hear everywhere in America?

Everywhere, yeah.

I mean, if you, and they always show, and I saw the fire there, your picture is not that

bad.

It's just in black and white.

But some of the pictures you see of people, the point that they look like they're deranged

in the picture.

And this is what they do.

They, people do this all the time, whether it's the president, shook campaign or what,

they lie, lie, lie, and that's how they, because people are easily persuaded.

They are, he's in their scare tactics, tend to work.

So, you know, I think about all the gardening and weed out efforts I've done and we're

seen.

And, you know, I look at that's kind of what's happening in our, in our local government.

It's like this invasive plant that in a sense is taking over and smothering out just kind

of the beauty.

Melissa Caprilyan will put crab grass on your lawn if elected.

That sounds about right.

That sounds about right.

Yeah.

I'm hoping though.

Chill.

Egg your house.

That's, hey, I've done that as a child.

Not now you wouldn't.

No.

I'm not $12 a dozen for the price of eggs right now.

Heck no.

And it's hard to get off, you know, eggs as a kid.

We made the mistake of having a egg war between my neighbors and we would thus children

and we open the door.

We're throwing eggs in the house.

Oh my goodness, Don.

We have to do a massive cleanup and do that in my neighborhood.

So, let me ask you about the tariffs and everything.

How's that affecting the county?

Because it affects everybody because you got to buy stuff and now these threatening

with a hundred percent tariff on China, that's got to affect everybody.

So you guys dealing with this on the county level right now, it's all through discussion

though, right?

So nothing is hitting us yet, right?

I will.

It, right.

And it's so to be prepared, right, is one thing.

But in a sense, there's almost like, let's keep functioning.

Government still has to function every single day.

And you know, when we're faced with something, we're going to have to address it.

But right now, we're still able to function as normal.

We don't want to have this sense of panic fall over our county.

Let's just keep functioning and realize that your government is still there and we haven't

seen anything yet.

Nothing has hit us.

The one thing that I see that we are-

Well, it has to be up before a 1K, true.

And you see that tumble and I know people have told me that last thousands of dollars

are ready for a 1K.

Yes.

I have heard that exact same thing.

And during, it's going to be interesting during our budget time.

That's when we're going to start hearing about it even more.

I know it starts now for our leadership and at about the six month mark in.

So around June, July, finance committees will start getting pulled in, department heads

will start getting pulled in.

But by October, we're going to start hearing it a lot more.

And so-

But there are some federal grants that some big projects that we had that are tied

up into, hopefully, to get the fund to make them successful.

We're going to be evaluating those because we might not be receiving that money.

And one of the things to really pay attention to is that linking king projects.

A lot of federal dollars, they're trying to go after for some grants.

And I'm a little nervous about that one.

Melissa Caprillian wants the price of eggs to go up to $15 a dozen if that's what you

want.

Vote Melissa Caprillian.

Did they hire you?

This sounds awfully familiar.

The phone calls people received.

Melissa Caprillian is going to flatten the tires on your car, but it's amazing how our characters

can change overnight through somebody else's mouth and mouth.

But I will tell you, there's a lot of good things happening out at the county.

We have a new youth and governance group that is coming in.

So a lot of young people that were vying to get involved and were selected.

We had 12 individuals that were selected.

And this is about a decade of our program, our youth and governance program.

That'll be tonight at the county board.

We'll swear them in.

And then the outgoing youth and governance group will do their youth and governance project

presented to the county board.

And we will see them off with their certificate and welcome the new ones in.

I love when you're in here, make me laugh.

You in the motrin.

We're great comedians.

We dropped them off this morning.

Oh my goodness.

Thank you for coming in.

Oh, I love it, Don.

I love being here.

You're always welcome.

I'm going to get my calendar here.

We'll put you in here all the time.

I love having you here.