Hosts Dale Adams and Ron Cisneros explore why developers, bankers, and real estate agents are often vilified in local political discourse — particularly in Kendall County, TX. They argue these professions are essential to property rights, housing supply, and a functioning economy. Key points:

Developers respond to market demand; restricting development drives up housing costs and prices out young families

Bankers are the financial infrastructure that enables investment and growth

Real estate agents facilitate property rights by enabling the transfer of ownership

The hosts push back on the "greed" narrative, arguing both buyers and sellers benefit in consensual transactions

They also critique the tendency to blame individuals (developers, etc.) rather than the governmental and social environment that shapes their behavior

Broader themes: fear of change, anti-success sentiment, and "divide and conquer" influence culture

The episode ends with a call to stop blaming the participants in a system the community itself has voted to create.

Timeline

Time Topic

0:00 Intro jingle / show open

0:29 Hosts introduce the topic: why are developers, bankers & agents vilified?

1:16 Personal stories: first home, first loan, first real estate agent

1:42 "We're all developers" — labeling as a political tactic

2:34 Developers, bankers & agents all operate within property rights

3:13 Developer's perspective: national housing crisis, supply vs. demand

3:41 Local perspective: neighborhood identity, traffic, tax concerns

4:29 Restricting development = unaffordability for young people

5:09 City manager's push for commercial over residential development

5:42 Commercial development needs workers — workers need housing

6:29 Developers react to incentives government has created

7:21 Blame the system, not just the doers

8:20 Freedom has consequences; anti-development votes affect everyone

8:38 Facebook rhetoric: "greed" vs. responding to real need

9:24 Developers take real financial risk; it's not speculation

10:33 Lennar in Comfort — market research, not a shot in the dark

11:06 Break / Boerne Bookshop ad

11:55 Back from break — "greed" framing revisited

12:17 Consensual transactions benefit both sides

13:08 Pivot to bankers — the "Monopoly man" stereotype

14:00 Fun tangent: Monopoly man vs. Mr. Peanut monocle debate

14:48 Bankers as "middlemen" — why they seem invisible but are essential

15:29 Banking infrastructure enables all modern innovation

16:51 National scandals (Lehman, JPMorgan) unfairly color local bankers

17:26 Bad apples exist everywhere; don't tarnish entire industries

18:04 Amazon / Barnes & Noble — every business serves a purpose

18:48 Pivot to real estate agents — they serve property owners, not themselves

19:34 Realtors protect property rights by facilitating sales

20:18 Value of having a guide through the home buying/selling process

20:55 Do Americans hate success? National Review article referenced

21:38 Divide-and-conquer mentality; James Avery as example

22:24 People fear change and growth in general

22:42 Hamby's hypothetical: backlash against local success stories

23:29 Influencer culture and "divide and conquer"

24:11 Today's book recommendation: The Federalist Papers

24:47 Closing thoughts: don't blame the inhabitants of the system you voted for

Original Air Date: May 16th at 10:30AM CST as heard on Boerne Radio 103.9FM

Contact:

• ceasefireboerne@gmail.com
• https://www.theboernebookshop.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61561356682575

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hosts Dale Adams and Ron Cisneros explore the question of whether American pride has declined. They discuss the psychological tendency toward pessimism, how social media and political rhetoric amplify negativity, and survey data from Pew Research (2025) showing that freedom remains the top source of pride across party lines. Rather than concluding America is in decline, they argue the real issue is disconnection — from community, from civic life, and from each other. Their solution: get involved locally. They close with a reading of the Declaration of Independence's most famous sentence as a reminder of America's founding ideals.

Timeline

0:00 Intro / theme music & host introductions

0:28 Today's question: Has American pride declined?

0:52 Defining American pride (freedom, military, the American dream)

1:16 "Defeatism" as the germ of the topic; pessimism in society

2:16 Human psychology is wired for pessimism; media/algorithms push negativity

3:41 AI confirms the decline; America's cultural contributions to humanity

5:29 Taco Bell joke & America spreading innovation globally

5:54 Pew Research 2025: Freedom is #1 source of American pride

7:11 Party breakdown: Dems 4x more likely to say something negative; Dale admits his bias

8:53 What each party is proud of: Economy vs. People vs. Diversity

10:46 Break / Boerne Bookshop ad

11:44 Back from break: nostalgia & the myth of WWII-era unity

13:00 Nostalgia is tricky; Hill Country floods as a local unifying event

14:10 America has always had division; unity doesn't mean agreement

14:53 Local community as the solution; September 11th unity example

15:37 Tocqueville's observations on American civic industriousness

16:15 Civic pride is what's missing; challenge to listeners to engage locally

17:26 Rotary, Lions Club, Masons, Shriners — civic organizations and service

19:05 Ron's personal story: Rotary eye bank in Mexico; seeing your fingers for the first time

20:42 Disconnection as a root cause of declining pride

21:20 Civic org membership is down; look to yourself, not just government

22:13 Book recommendations: optimism as a practice (Cicero, Peale, Prager, Peanuts)

23:04 Mother Teresa quote: "If you can't feed 100, feed one"

24:03 Reading of the Declaration of Independence's founding sentence

24:58 Why that sentence shook the world; Dale's greatest source of American pride

25:19 Upcoming candidate forum at Patrick Heath Public Library (May 13th)

25:26 Outro / find the podcast at boerneradio.com

Original Air Date: May 9th at 10:30AM CST as heard on Boerne Radio 103.9FM

Contact:

• ceasefireboerne@gmail.com
• https://www.theboernebookshop.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61561356682575

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hosts Dale Adams and Ron Cisneros interview Ricky Gleason, a candidate for Kendall County Judge. The conversation covers the major issues facing the county, including traffic, water, growth, property taxes, and city-county collaboration.

0:00 – Intro / Show opening

0:33 – Welcome & guest introduction: Ricky Gleason, candidate for Kendall County Judge

0:49 – **Traffic**: Addressing congestion at Herff Road & State Highway 46; need for better planning coordination

1:47 – **Road Safety**: Fatalities on Westbound 46 near Pipe Creek; calling on TxDOT and the state for fixes

2:57 – **Water**: Future water needs, the 89th legislative session, groundwater studies, and infrastructure funding

4:30 – **"Glory Issues" debate**: Is water a political tool used to oppose growth rather than a problem people want to solve?

5:10 – The water/development catch-22; county vs. municipality authority over water utilities

6:50 – **City-County Collaboration**: What it means, common goals, and Ricky's approach to bridging the city/county divide

8:38 – Why city-county collaboration has historically failed and what Ricky would do differently

10:15 – Who counts as a "stakeholder"? City residents, county taxpayers, and shared governance questions

12:39 – **Voting dates**: Early voting May 18–22; Election Day May 26

13:01 – *Ad break: Bernie Bookshop*

13:43 – **Property Taxes**: No magic switch — efficiencies, fiscal discipline, and modernizing county government

15:09 – Limited housing supply driving up appraisals; should the county relent on restricting growth?

15:52 – **Growth**: "Growth should pay for growth"; Ricky's realist position — not pro or anti, but strategic

17:15 – Commercial vs. residential development; state legislature trending toward sales tax replacing property tax

18:34 – State taking city powers: annexation changes pushing development into unincorporated county areas

19:22 – **County authority over development**: Legislation to give counties more quasi-zoning powers, tied to water protection

21:37 – **Responding to "developer" accusations**: Ricky clarifies his minimal $5K investment in a friend's 22-acre project

23:45 – Lighthearted closing: Al Pastor vs. Manu (fajitas) debate from Chef Mark Sierra

24:10 – Book recommendation: *Judge Roy Bean: Law West of the Pecos* (available at the Bernie Bookshop)

24:27 – Final words, upcoming debate events (May 13 roundtable, 6pm), and show close

Original Air Date: April 25th at 10:30AM CST as heard on Boerne Radio 103.9FM

Contact:

• ceasefireboerne@gmail.com
• https://www.theboernebookshop.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61561356682575

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.