The community gathered this week for an open hearing on business development, public safety, government structure, and everyday quality-of-life improvements across the state. Dozens of citizens and business owners attended, each delivering concerns ranging from structural policy adjustments to the day-to-day issues affecting residents. The council responded throughout the evening, offering clarifications, updates, and next steps, and thanked participants for every suggestion brought to the floor.

Samantha and Terrance of The Spurious Star opened the discussion with proposals aimed at strengthening the business landscape: expanding demolition-event opportunities at the racetrack, elevating grand-opening support for new businesses, and even exploring limited deputizing for business owners. The council thanked them and agreed the ideas were worth pursuing. Offhand comments from attendees also highlighted ongoing economic frustrations, including the belief that motorcycle prices are far too high.

Astrid followed with a request for greater flexibility within the dealership system, particularly the ability to order specific vehicles for customers. The council marked the idea as a solid step toward consumer accessibility, while several in the room again pointed toward broader affordability concerns across the vehicle market.

Rounding out the discussion, Kat Miller emphasized difficulties in restaurant progression, arguing that employees should gain skills more quickly from real kitchen work than from cooking in apartments. The council agreed and supported a review of the system to encourage growth within the industry.

The community members repeatedly voiced their concerns over clearer, more accessible laws as they have been uncertain about what is and is not classified as a ‘crime’. The council, primarily Lone Dark, confirmed that the upcoming penal code update should provide more clarity. Somewhere during the discussion, one of the concerned citizens made note that motorcycle prices were far too high.

Concerns surrounding Castle Law were raised next, specifically its limitations on private security companies. One citizen, a Benjamin O’driscall, argued that security personnel should be legally permitted to defend clients and property beyond themselves (which Castle Law currently does not allow). The council agreed this was a reasonable direction to consider, and thanked Benjamin for his suggestion.

Many citizens had brought up questions about broader governmental structure, with the topic of selecting a governor or multiple regional mayors anytime soon. The council clarified that a governor will eventually be elected by a moral vote from the people, but there is currently no ETA on when such changes or elections may happen. Regardless, the council thanked them for their inquiries.

One citizen brought up the lack of clarity on vehicle strikes, and asked if there were any plans to make those records publicly available so citizens knew how many strikes their vehicles had left before being taken. The council explained that the DOJ keeps strict internal records and that public visibility is unlikely, though additional lawyers and procedural streamlining may help speed up cases.

One of the last comments made on the topic was that internal processes needed to be handled by more than a single individual (Lone Dark), as that is too thin a bottleneck for such processes to follow. The council agreed, emphasizing that improving those systems is a priority moving forward. A final comment was made to emphasize that motorcycle prices are, in fact, too high.

Many suggestions regarding the state’s correction system came to light, with many citizens emphasizing a strong desire for a more structured, supportive approach to rehabilitation. Harley Striker proposed expanding community service options for those facing criminal charges, and emphasized the need for more staffing at the Department of Corrections. As she put it “Jail gets lonely sometimes”. The council thanked her for the ideas and clarified that the only thing stopping her suggestion from coming to light is staffing, which they hope to work on in the near future.

On the topic of prison education, Winston Holiday suggested allowing experienced chefs and mechanics to volunteer their time inside of the jail so that criminals could learn useful skills that may help them re-integrate into society in a better way. He also suggested a system for renting books, where you may receive credits from the library for finishing previously rented skill-books so you can continue to increase your skillset. The council acknowledge the suggestions as positive contributions to improving long-term rehabilitation and expanding the availability of skilled individuals, with some adjustment.

Once more, Terrance and Samantha of The Spurious Star stepped up to the mic to work with the DOJ and DOC to provide spiritual guidance and mentorship to incarcerated individuals, or to offer a therapy for those trying to work off past crimes. In response, the council welcomed the idea and expressed willingness to collaborate on building a system that could support their ideas.

Finally, an idea was brought up to re-integrate violent felons into society by getting them to do community service work, like picking up trash or mowing lawns. Additionally, some businesses expressed that they could hire on violent felons for a probationary period, to allow them to work off their charge and potentially have it expunged after a time. The council confirmed that such opportunities could arise, reinforcing that rehabilitation is an important and achievable goal in the community.

Concerns about available housing and commercial space surfaced repeatedly throughout the hearing. Harley Striker emphasized the need for more residential and business properties in Sandy and especially Paleto. Other citizens echoed these concerns in saying that there is no reason they shouldn’t be able to buy property up in Sandy Shores. The council acknowledged the issue and thanked her, agreeing that additional property development is something that could better the average citizen experience.

Wyatt Moore voiced similar frustrations, explaining that inflation and limited real estate have made housing and other property acquisition feel increasingly unattainable for the average citizen.

The council agreed, recognizing the pressure on property availability, and assuring that more properties in the future is the plan. Mr. Moore also pointed out the number of abandoned lots scattered across the state. The council confirmed that Lone Dark has plans involving these locations, with the hinting of a possible property auction in the near future. Similarly, some discussion in regards to state-owned recreational businesses such as bowling alleys or similar legal leisure venues happened. This received positive feedback, with the council noting that amenities like the golf course already serve as a step in that direction.

Some requests for new or expanded civic infrastructure also surfaced, including a proposal for a northern civil hub or town hall to make license acquisition and similar legal processes more available to those who prefer to spend the majority of their time up north. While no formal commitments were made, the council accepted the ideas as consideration for future development, and Kip Thorne notified that the Grapeseed Ranger Station has a legal individual who can perform such services, should you be in the area and in need. Also, it should be noted, that a citizen approached the mic to inform the council that motorcycle prices were far too high.

Questions around safety and mobility arose repeatedly throughout the hearing, with citizens raising concerns about both policing practices and the accessibility of basic transportation. One topic was the safety of pit maneuvers, with a couple twin attendees arguing they should only be performed in safe, non-populated locations. The council assured that strict guidelines are already in place and that, when necessary, officers will terminate a chase entirely to avoid unnecessary risk.

Vehicle accessibility was a consistent pain point, especially regarding rentals and the limited customization options available to drivers. Such points brought up were to employ more rental locations and improve the quality of rentals. On a similar topic, Winston Holiday voiced his desire for expanded modification options such as wheel spacing, suspension adjustments, and cosmetic choices. The council acknowledged each point as a good idea and expressed interest in exploring improvements where feasible.

Stepping up to the mic once more, Samantha Credulous requested an app-based system to help residents locate their parked vehicles. Similarly, the talk of valets being able to transfer your parked vehicles from one lot to the other was met with general acceptance as a good step forward by the citizens in attendance and the council presiding.

Some business owners, namely Sal Romano in this case, voiced his grievances about obtaining job-specific vehicles like tow trucks, elaborating that Harmony Repairs had been spending somewhere around $30,000 a month just on renting tow trucks. The council thanked him for his input, and agreed that expanding access, particularly for work-related vehicles, is a goal they want to pursue, and one that many on the council empathized with.

Lastly, on this topic, discussions on open carry laws and traffic enforcement (such as the desire to treat ‘failure to stop’ as a secondary offense) were briefly touched on. Lone Dark emphasized that changes to open carry would be happening with the coming update of the penal code, and that changing traffic laws in the suggested way is something the DOJ could discuss internally and are willing to consider.

One concerned citizen brought up an issue that I, personally, have heard for many months: why are restaurant and fast food workers making more than those working in the hospital? The council acknowledged that pay adjustments are something that they have been discussing and will hopefully have some news on soon.

In a similar vein, one resident inquired about better medical recovery equipment, such as crutches or functional wheelchairs. The SAMS representative on the council assured that they have been doing everything they can to get a new shipment of wheelchairs as the previous one they received was solely comprised of defective wheelchairs, but repairs and replacements are being arranged.

Layce Martel, owner of Mexica Customs, raised concerns about identity theft during the hearing. She elaborated that someone else in the city has her exact name, and that she had been getting charged for this other citizen’s medical bills. She emphasized the need for further security in SAMS systems, such as photo identity on the medical record, to prevent such instances from occurring again. The SAMS representative on the council assured that, while they can’t add photos to a citizen’s medical record, they have since put a note on her profile, and refunded the fraudulent charges. They also expressed an interest in discovering what more can be done to prevent future instances.

As this event was simmering down, the council emphasized its commitment to open communication, reminding attendees that while the community was voicing many concerns, council members had grievances of their own and intended to address issues collaboratively. Our CEO Jett Black stepped up to the microphone to give voice to the people at home who were not able to attend the event themselves. One viewer had brought up the point of a lack of clarity in what is still a law with the most recent governmental changes, to which Lone Dark reiterated that the upcoming penal code changes should bring more clarity. Another viewer suggested that two dealerships in particular had run out of stock and had remained out of stock for two weeks, which the council promised to check on and correct.

Finally, Jett Black did what we always do at JBTV and offered a helping hand to both the citizens at large and the governmental body. He offered that the JBTV News Building could become a hub for community feedback, where people could regularly be surveyed or leave their questions to be forwarded to the relevant government officials, as well as the Better Business Council. Lone Dark suggested interest in working with us in this endeavor, so we will hopefully have more on that very soon! Also, our CEO amplified the people’s voices from the crowd, reminding once more, and for the final time, that motorcycle prices are far too high.

Near the end, one citizens walked up to the mic to announce that they did not like how the council had previously spoken about the south side, pulled a snowball out of their jacket, and lobbed it at the council. The snowball spectacularly missed and the culprit fled the scene. The event ended with Kip Thorne, along with the rest of the council, thanking everyone for attending, wishing everyone the best, and hoping that everyone would walk away from this event with hope and the feeling of being heard.