Ep. 46 - Karla Lopez Owens - Candidate for Marion County Clerk
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Episode Summary
Karla López Owens is the deputy prosecuting attorney, community outreach director at the Marion County Prosecutor's Office, and president of the Indiana Latino Democratic Caucus. This week, she joins Michael at Ellenberger Park in Irvington to talk local democracy, her run for Marion County Clerk, and what it looks like to take government services directly to the people.
Links & Resources
- Karla's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/k_lopezow/
- Karla's Website: (https://klo4change.com/)
IndyVotes.org — early voting info
Third Space Indy is supported by:
City Rising: cityrising.org
Proformus: proformus.com/
Music: "Scared Rabbit" by Jennasen
Timestamps
[0:00] — YDSA protest announcement
[0:27] — Spoken word intro
[2:16] — Guest introduction
[3:23] — What is the county clerk?
[5:18] — The 2020 Ellenberger Park caucus
[12:43] — From 2020 to now
[13:45] — Party challenges & voter suppression
[18:40] — Ron Gibson & local accountability
[20:48] — Rank choice voting
[24:08] — Immigrant voting rights, clarified
[25:48] — Top priorities for Indy
[30:12] — Vision for the clerk's office
[33:09] — DSA & people-first politics
[35:29] — "I'm not a politician"
[37:36] — What is a Third Space?
[38:50] — Why Irvington?
[41:06] — A lost Third Space
[42:56] — Biggest hurdle for small businesses?
[45:10] — How & when to vote
[45:59] — Uncle Mark walks by
Episode Transcript
Karla López Owens
Michael Zarick: [00:00:00] Before we start the episode today, the students of the North Central High School YDSA, requested that I share a short advertisement with you. These students are organizing an anti-fascist protest on Sunday, May 3rd
At 3:00 PM.
at Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis. They want to publicly oppose the actions of our government and seek to assert that young people refuse to accept a future shaped by fear.
Thanks for listening.
Speaker: A descent into a final solution. It's not a jump. It's one step
and then another,
and then another
one construct an interior enemy.[00:01:00]
And use that enemy as both focus and diversion.
Unleash and protect the utterance of overt and coded name calling verbal abuse, and use this ad hominem attack. As legitimate charges,
three. Enlist, persuade and create sources of information and distributors of Revelation.
[00:02:00]
Michael Zarick: Hello, my name is Michael Zarick.
This is Third Space Indy. In 1989, a man named Ray Oldenberg wrote a book called The Great Good Place. And in this book he coined the term, the Third Place. This describes a place outside of your work and outside of your home that you can go be with others, build community, and just be, I suppose. Uh, , and so I've made it my job to find people all over Indianapolis who are doing their very best to create these types of spaces.
And today. We're doing something a little new. We are talking to somebody who does not address herself as a politician, but is a politician nonetheless, you're giving me a cringe. Uh, [00:03:00] and I think personally that local politics affects your life more than any other type of politics. So I think it's important to talk about how that affects your community in many ways.
And so today we're talking to Karla Lopez-Owens.
Karla Lopez Owens: Hi.
Michael Zarick: What was that? So Karla is running for county clerk.
Karla Lopez Owens: I am.
Michael Zarick: First question, what is a county clerk, please?
Karla Lopez Owens: Okay, so a county clerk. The Marion County Clerk's Office is one of the more public facing offices that we have in the county.
Mm-hmm. And they do a lot of administrative duties. Um, anytime you have to go pay child support, anytime you have to go get married, anytime you need to get certified court records, you go to the clerk's office. Mm-hmm. Right. Um, and you go to different places. There's, I think as of now we have the location at the City county building, [00:04:00] the one downtown.
Then we have old records off of Madison Street, and then we have the CJC, the Community Justice Campus where, um, you know, newly built and that's another option for people to go and do these transactions. That's on one hand. On the other hand, the Clerk's office also is responsible for overseeing countywide elections as the secretary for the Marion County Election Board.
And in that, I think there's a lot of room for, um, opportunities to get creative. There's a lot of tools that are being left on the table, and I think. With ideas and a vision, we can really take these services that I just described and take them to the people and create this new wave of engagement that is unprecedented.
Um, yeah. And make local government a lot more accessible and representative of the communities that they were elected to serve.
Michael Zarick: Ooh, good answer. Um, I'm gonna, I appreciate you [00:05:00] explaining that. We're gonna hard pivot. Yeah. And then we'll come back. Um, so Amy, your comms director told me that we're, we're at, uh, Ellenberger Park in Irvington.
Amy told me that you have a story, about why we're here, I guess, which I don't really think I know. So, do you have, uh, is that true?
Karla Lopez Owens: Yeah. And, and it's a little complicated. It's a little, it goes in and out. It weaves, you know, through many years. Mm-hmm. And I can do my best to try and summarize it in a few sentences, a few minutes or more.
But. Just a disclaimer, we're gonna go down a rabbit hole. And so I just need people to be patient and try and, um, you know, be patient and have grace as we get through some of those complicated parts. Okay? Okay. So back in 2020, there was a vacancy at the council level, um, here in this area. And so then I was living here.
My then city [00:06:00] county coun counselor, Blake Johnson was the person who sat in the seat, right? Mm-hmm. And so then. Because there was another vacancy at the statewide level, state representative, um, Forestal stepped down. So then Blake Johnson stepped in to the state representative seat leaving a vacancy mm-hmm.
In his council seat, right? Mm-hmm. And so seeing that there was a real opportunity for representation to be part of the City County Council, I threw my hat in the ring. I filed the paperwork to try and fill this vacancy. And because it was a vacancy, it wasn't gonna go to all the voters, so not everybody was gonna be able to vote.
The vote was gonna take place through a caucus. So that's controlled through, uh, the Indiana Democratic Party rules. And so. From there, I was learning alongside everybody else. I came to learn that only 23 people were gonna be able to [00:07:00] vote in this caucus. Right. And those were called the Precinct Committee persons.
So to become a precinct committee person, you can either be elected or you can be appointed. But because nobody knows, nobody knows about precinct committee people. Mm-hmm. Nobody knows that you can run. Nobody knows that you can, uh, that you have this option to participate in this way. Uh, people often don't run for these positions.
So then who gets to appoint them? The party chair gets to appoint them. And then what ends up happening is that you create this situation where the party chair then starts cherry picking folks who they know will do the party's bidding. And so it's stacked. It's a stacked. It's stacked, right? Yeah. So to me.
As I'm going through the motions of this caucus, it felt like a decision had already been made and we were just going through the motions, right? So I did everything that a candidate was supposed to do. I called all the precinct committee people asking for their vote, asking for their [00:08:00] support, and talking to them about why it was important to have someone like me who was representative of the working class communities, uh, of, of immigrant background, and who's who'd been, you know, living here.
Um, for some time how important it was to have someone like me at the city council. And again, I just, in speaking with the Precinct Committee people, it felt like a decision had already been made. Mm-hmm. Because they were telling me that they were gonna vote for my, my opponents, um, Jason Larrison. Mm-hmm.
Who. Ha, who had worked under the Hawks Administration, um, and who was working in a contractual firm. And so there's a story there, which I will put a little pin on that, but people were seeing what was happening. It was me and then Jason Larrison, and then, um, this wonderful woman, Francine Lee. So it was us three bidding for this caucus, right?
Michael Zarick: Mm-hmm.
Karla Lopez Owens: And so we're doing, you know, [00:09:00] Francine and I are like trying to, uh, get people's votes, but they would tell me, but the caucus members would tell me, you know, I would support you, but I already promised the mayor I would vote for Jason Larrison. Um, I would vote for you. But I already promised Jason Larrison, I would vote for him three weeks ago.
And I'm thinking three weeks ago we didn't even have, we didn't even know this was happening three weeks ago. And fast forward to the day before the election. Blog posts resurfaced that Jason Larrison had written. And in these blog posts, he said a lot of misogynistic, homophobic, sexist, racist things. And the blog post that stands out to me the most is the one that he wrote about immigrants.
And in one of his blog posts, he said that immigrants are like weeds. You can either get rid of them by depriving them of sunlight or, or depriving [00:10:00] them of jobs. And for, for me to sit here and be in, in the presence of a man that has said such awful. Um, racist, hateful things about my community and just look at him in the eye or, you know, just like, have conversations with him.
And for him to not even acknowledge our existence. I mean, it was, it was not, it was not good. It was demoralizing. It was humiliating. And people were mad at this. People were mad, how are you gonna, this person is clearly unfit to serve, uh, in this position.
Michael Zarick: Yeah.
Karla Lopez Owens: And media covered it. And we thought to ourselves, you know, shortly after all of this, like city county counselors, a lot of them backed us and wrote a letter to the, the mayor, to Jason Larrison basically saying, uh, you need to step aside and let [00:11:00] this, uh, qualified, younger person come into the, you know.
This role.
Michael Zarick: Mm-hmm.
Karla Lopez Owens: Jason Larrison did not step aside, the mayor did not withdraw his support of Jason Larrison, and in fact, he defended him. Right. He said that Jason Larrison was younger when he wrote these blog posts, you know, he was my age. Mm-hmm. When he wrote these blog posts and, and, yeah, so then the mayor kept backing him.
Then the day of the vote came, it happened here at Ellenberger Park and 23, all 23 Precinct Committee people showed up. Usually it's very a deal process on the down low. Everybody showed up. I mean, we had the media here. We had a bunch of community members here, and the final vote was taken and the vote was 11 to 12.
So I lost my one vote. Mm-hmm. With Jason Larrison casting the deciding vote for himself. Mm-hmm. Because he got to vote for himself. So he was the [00:12:00]
Michael Zarick: wait, he got to vote for himself because he was already there
Karla Lopez Owens: as a precinct committee person.
Michael Zarick: Got it.
Karla Lopez Owens: Yeah.
Michael Zarick: So,
Karla Lopez Owens: okay. So when you, I don't know, you wanna,
Michael Zarick: so this is why we are here.
Karla Lopez Owens: Well, I mean, it's not why we're here, but this is just something that happened that, that,
Michael Zarick: okay,
Karla Lopez Owens: this is something that happened here and I remember being in the, should I keep talking?
Michael Zarick: Yeah.
Karla Lopez Owens: Okay. I remember anytime I would walk by the park right after it happened, I'd be so sad and,
Michael Zarick: mm-hmm.
Karla Lopez Owens: I,
Michael Zarick: and what year was this? I apologize.
Karla Lopez Owens: 2020.
Michael Zarick: 2020.
Karla Lopez Owens: Mm-hmm.
Michael Zarick: So what have you been doing since 2020? Um, or thinking about that has gotten you to the position to be like, I wanna run for county clerk.
Karla Lopez Owens: The same thing I was doing 10 years ago. The same thing I was doing 15 years ago.
Michael Zarick: Mm-hmm.
Karla Lopez Owens: Working with the community, working to make these spaces more accessible, breaking down barriers and making sure that everybody feels welcomed, in these, within these agencies and in these [00:13:00] spaces.
Michael Zarick: Got it.
Karla Lopez Owens: So I can be a lot more specific if you want me to, or I can keep going down that route.
Michael Zarick: Yeah. So I actually want to take your, um, story about what happened here at Ellenberger Park, which I think is in a lot of ways a conversation around like disempowerment of voters.
Karla Lopez Owens: Mm-hmm.
Michael Zarick: And talk about why you think your, you running for county clerk is important because on your website
Karla Lopez Owens: Yes.
Michael Zarick: Um, the, the points you have, for example, you have reverse low, low voter turnout. Mm-hmm. How, like what's, you mentioned strategies towards the very beginning, like what type of strategies or things can you think that the city or the county can employ to get people out to vote?
Karla Lopez Owens: So, I think before we go there, I think we need to address the hypocrisy from the Indiana Democratic Party, the Marion County Democratic Party, because one of their big talking points is, you know, we want more engagement, we wanna grow the, the [00:14:00] big tent, we wanna be inclusive.
And ironically enough, the pre, you know, the, the role of the precinct committee, person , it's a neighborhood captain, right? The role of a neighborhood captain within the Democratic Party is to be that bridge between the communities and these agencies, right? So anytime someone has a question about registering to vote deadlines where you go, the Precinct committee person is there to help you and be supportive in that role, right?
Michael Zarick: Mm-hmm.
Karla Lopez Owens: Okay. That's the main role. Like that's one of the ways you increase voter engagement. Voter turnout. Mm-hmm. Because now you have more information, you're empowering people. So back in February we had an unprecedented number of people file to run for precinct committee person to run for Indiana State delegates an unprecedented number.
Okay. I don't think anyone has ran that. I don't think [00:15:00] that many people have ran for these positions in a long time because the party just does not do, the party does not do a good job at informing the community about these roles.
So what I did, what my colleagues did, what the teammates did in the grassroots movement is we had a very aggressive. Um, aggressive approach in informing people. And so for the last like two years, we were hosting trainings, we were hosting info sessions, we were answering people's questions, um, about the role that the precinct committee, precinct precinct committee person plays within the party.
And we had a, you know, I, I, I am not gonna take credit for, uh, getting all these people to run because it was a team effort. It was a collective effort. And I think people are angry with a state of affairs so that we had, again, an unprecedented number of people who wanna be engaged and said, Hey, sign me up.
How can I help? Right?
Michael Zarick: Mm-hmm.
Karla Lopez Owens: Now, the party, instead of [00:16:00] figuring out a way to welcome them and say, Hey, let's make space for you, they went ahead and challenged 100 of these precinct committee persons and Indiana State Delegate Filings, um, in February. Right? So this was. In partnership with the Indiana Democratic, uh, I'm sorry, with the Marion County Democratic Chair.
So Myla Eldridge and
Myla Eldridge and Kate Sweeney Bell, who's the Marmion County clerk. Right? So she also oversees these proceedings, the challenges, and I'm sitting there at the city county building watching these challenges be heard. And I'm having a bit of a deja vu moment because I think back four years ago, in 2022, where it was, it's the same people just in different roles.
So Kate Sweeney Bell was the county chair, and Myah Eldridge was the county clerk. So they just [00:17:00] take turns. Right. It's like the musical chairs of corruption is how I like to, you know, envision this. Yeah. 'cause it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter who is in these roles, their main, um, their main. Goal is just to maintain that power.
And so, yeah, they say rules are rules, but rules are rules only when they don't benefit them. Because I know I've seen them waive these rules. I've, they have discretion, right? Like I've seen them make exceptions when it benefits them, when it, they can appoint their when they know that they can appoint people who will do the party's bidding. But when they see a fresh crop of new engagement, new voices, new ideas, it's like, Ooh, ooh, we're not comfortable with that. Mm-hmm. Let's challenge all of them. And I mean, why should someone continue being engaged when that's how the party treats them?
It's again, humiliating, it's [00:18:00] demoralizing. Young people were the ones filing a lot of young people were filing for, um, for these roles. And I would get calls from. People who knew that I had been helping folks and, and they're scared, you know, they're saying, I, I, did I do something wrong? I feel like I'm getting sued.
Uh, you know, what do you say to them? What that is? Just like, not how you deal with people wanting to be engaged with the party. And so that's why we have historic, low voter turnout.
Michael Zarick: Mm-hmm.
Karla Lopez Owens: That's why we have low engagement, because these systems alienate folks.
Michael Zarick: Mm-hmm.
Karla Lopez Owens: And that's just one example. Yeah. And I hope, I, I, you know, I hope that I explained that in a way that,
Michael Zarick: can I tie this into recent events?
Karla Lopez Owens: Yeah.
Michael Zarick: So in Martindale-Brightwood mm-hmm. There is a large conversation slash fight slash political battle slash whatever else you want to call it, about data centers happening.
Karla Lopez Owens: Yeah.
Michael Zarick: Um, and our local city county counselor, Ron Gibson, who I guess you'd call him, [00:19:00] the guy who was elected into that position, went against the will of people.
His house was shot up. I won't make a comment on that. but when you look at somebody who was elected by the people and is just totally ignoring what they want, why should people care?
Karla Lopez Owens: I think that's even more the reason to care. Mm-hmm. Like run against them, you know, find a way to replace people who don't represent the people's values.
And again, this is something that I think the party doesn't want you to know, but in, did you know that in order, like say for example, you wanna run as a precinct captain, you wanna run as a Indiana state delegate. Mm-hmm. You wanna run to challenge one of these problematic incumbents. Did you know that you had to have voted in the primary as a Democrat for
Michael Zarick: the past two times?
Right. [00:20:00] Or is this?
Karla Lopez Owens: Yes.
Michael Zarick: Okay.
Karla Lopez Owens: But it depends. Okay. If you wanna run for,
Michael Zarick: I only know so much,
Karla Lopez Owens: but you're on the right track. Yeah. Yes. If you wanna run for a precinct committee person, an Indiana State delegate, you have to avoid it in the last primary as a Democrat to be able to show up on the ballot. Mm-hmm.
On the democratic ticket, right? Mm-hmm. If you wanna run against a city council person, if you wanna run against a state representative, a congressman, you have to avoid it twice. So in the last two primaries, you have to have pulled a democratic ballot, if that makes sense. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Michael Zarick: Yeah.
Karla Lopez Owens: But, and that's pretty disempowering.
That why you're like, at least to preserve your right to, to run against one of these, um, problematic people.
Michael Zarick: I think that's a good answer. Um, I asked a couple people some to gimme some questions. One person asked me, what are your views on rank choice voting?
Karla Lopez Owens: I like it. I think that we,
Michael Zarick: oh, real quick, for those who don't know what ring choice voting is, um, rank choice voting is effectively where you have.
where you have, uh, a list of candidates and when you go to the ballot, [00:21:00] you're not voting for just one candidate, you literally rank them. So you go down the list, you go, 1, 2, 3, I wanna vote for Karla first. I wanna vote for Michael second. Um, and then you count up all the votes, and if Karla doesn't get past a certain threshold, she gets wiped from the ballot basically.
And all of my votes for Karla doesn't get thrown out. I then go down the, down the rank basically. Um, so then my votes for Michael, uh, then get added on to him. And then when you get past that threshold, uh, when they reach like 51% or whatever the amount is, uh, that's when you would elect. So basically it empowers you to be able to select, uh, can, to literally rank them in a way that, um, you know, you go, oh, I prefer this person the most, but this person's second.
But I'm not like throwing away the rest of my vote to nothing. That's what rank choice voting is. So.
Karla Lopez Owens: Yeah.
Michael Zarick: Uh, what, is there any like scenario where the county clerk could empower people through that type of format? Like [00:22:00] what is the extent of the power of the county clerk to be able to empower people in that way?
Karla Lopez Owens: Uh, in which way? In rank voting?
Michael Zarick: Well, yeah, or just like through, maybe not rink choice voting necessarily, but, um, policy that affects the process of voting, if that makes sense.
Karla Lopez Owens: Yes. I think the, the party and local offices could do a better job at differentiating what each role does. I think they keep it vague for, um, for a very specific reason, because they wanna, I don't know, operate in secrecy and.
Again, when you pull back the curtain, you, you'll see that it's like a lot of people just like jumping back and forth within these roles. Right. but the political branch of local engagement is through the Marion County Democratic [00:23:00] Party, and then the, uh, government branch is through the Marion County Clerk's office.
Mm-hmm. Right. So it gets confusing because they just like take turns and it goes back and forth. Yeah. But each one has different roles. Gotcha. Because the political branch and then like the government branch Gotchu. Which is apolitical.
Michael Zarick: Mm-hmm.
Karla Lopez Owens: And so, um, that I think that would require like a referendum.
Yeah. And I don't know that that's an option for us here as the laws are currently written because Indiana is, you know, we we're just very regressive. We're regressive in a lot of the things that we're living through right now, especially what's happening at the Indiana State House. And I don't know that that would be,
Michael Zarick: yeah.
Karla Lopez Owens: Something that we could feel like
Michael Zarick: in the likely future, uh, the state. We love the state house here. They're so great. Yeah. This question popped up to me. So we are living in a time where, for immigrants especially, it's dangerous to go out outside. Um, for people who are legal [00:24:00] residents, lawful residents who can, who do have the ability to vote, how do we preserve their safety when going to the polls?
Karla Lopez Owens: So, quick clarification point. Okay.
Michael Zarick: Please.
Karla Lopez Owens: I think language is important.
Michael Zarick: No, definitely. Especially in this case
Karla Lopez Owens: and mm-hmm. And using the right terminology is often, uh, the, the difference between. Knowing what your rights are and like, uh, making sure that you're not doing something that is going to, um, prejudice you.
Right. So, 'cause I, I do a lot of voting voter education, voter empowerment, and I get this question quite a bit.
Michael Zarick: Mm-hmm.
Karla Lopez Owens: Only United States citizens are able to register to vote. Right.
Michael Zarick: Which is different than a lawful resident.
Karla Lopez Owens: Correct.
Michael Zarick: Thank you.
Karla Lopez Owens: Yes. Okay. So a legal permanent resident is someone who would otherwise be eligible to file to become a US citizen.
But until the person goes through the, uh, naturalization ceremony and [00:25:00] they get their naturalization certificate, they are not eligible to register to vote. And assuming that they otherwise meet the qualifications, they're, um, 18 on or before election day, they have lived in the precinct where they're gonna be voting in for at least 30 days.
Mm-hmm. They're not currently incarcerated after having been convicted of a crime. Mm-hmm. And they're a US citizen and a resident of Indiana, then they can register to vote. Mm-hmm. But that's important because it gets confusing with the residency component because there is that residency. You have to have lived in the district where you're voting for at least 30 days.
Michael Zarick: You've explained basically everything I had written down.
Karla Lopez Owens: Oh
Michael Zarick: yeah, yeah. Uh, total aside, uh, this is more city focused rather than county clerk focused.
Karla Lopez Owens: Yeah.
Michael Zarick: What do you see as the top three priorities for the city of Indianapolis?
Karla Lopez Owens: Um, what do I see the top three priorities for the [00:26:00] city of Indianapolis? Mm-hmm. So I think my upbringing shapes a lot of my outlook
Michael Zarick: mm-hmm.
Karla Lopez Owens: In what the city should be doing. And I am driven by what I think the needs are of the community. I grew up in poverty. I grew up in Mexico. Um, and then, you know, we came here to the United States of America.
My mom worked at a Turkey factory for a minute, and then.
Thereafter, she started working as a cleaner. So whether she was in housekeeping or in janitorial services, she cleaned for most of her, um, employment here in, in the us. And so because she always had like third shift, third shifts and like the hours were all sorts of odd, we had to get really creative with how we secured the resources that we needed.
Michael Zarick: Mm-hmm.
Karla Lopez Owens: So I remember like we would, [00:27:00] you know, have to take the, the, I don't know if this is still a service that IndyGo offers, but you could call IndyGo and arrange for a small bus to pick you up at certain times. I
Michael Zarick: think they do, yeah. Yeah.
Karla Lopez Owens: If you met certain qualifications. So, you know, we would use that service.
We would also take the bus downtown when we could to go to the city county building to secure court documents that we needed. And so I think accessibility is one of the main things that I wanna drive. Forward.
Michael Zarick: Mm-hmm.
Karla Lopez Owens: Um, I get this question quite a bit, you know, even though it's not within the immediate purview of the clerk's office, what my stance on public transportation is.
Mm-hmm. And I'm like, let's expand it. Why?
Michael Zarick: Well, I mean, how else do you get people into the polls to vote then? To give them the ability to travel to it,
Karla Lopez Owens: right? Yeah. And, and IndyGo at one point did have free bus tickets for folks to use the day of the, uh, you know, the elections. But I don't think [00:28:00] they're doing that anymore.
So maybe I can call someone at IndyGo and see if we can bring that back. So accessibility is one of the things. Um, I think that that was a question, right?
Michael Zarick: Yeah. Like what are the three priorities? So accessibility.
Karla Lopez Owens: Mm-hmm. Accessibility. I think breaking down the barriers is also something I need to clear my throat.
Michael Zarick: That's okay. Are the allergies getting you
Karla Lopez Owens: allergies? And I've been talking so much.
Michael Zarick: That's okay.
Karla Lopez Owens: Okay. Hold on.
Michael Zarick: My strap is dying in my water bottle. Okay. That's really sad. You
Karla Lopez Owens: strap ring.
Michael Zarick: Do you see this?
Karla Lopez Owens: You're such a sustainable person.
Michael Zarick: I try to be.
Karla Lopez Owens: Okay.
Michael Zarick: Sustainable person is a very kind compliment that could be taken in so many ways.
Karla Lopez Owens: Oh yeah.
Michael Zarick: I feel like,
Karla Lopez Owens: well you rode your bike here. You, you know.
Michael Zarick: Yeah. I feel like me as a, I feel like my, um. My personal, uh, intake of nourishment is bad for my personal sustainability.
Karla Lopez Owens: I see. I see.
Michael Zarick: But I did ride my bike here and I did, I do carry a water bottle nearly everywhere. [00:29:00]
Karla Lopez Owens: Yeah. It sounds like you employ methods that are sustainable, so congrats.
Okay, so accessibility also as a first generation Latina mm-hmm. Who had to overcome a lot of barriers to go to higher education. Get my, uh, college degree, get my law degree. I have an understanding of what it's like to break down these barriers and just ultimately demand equal access to these agencies and to democracy so that all of us have a fair shot at participating.
So I think breaking down those barriers is another thing to the point of accessibility, but. In a way that's more intentional, in a way that's more curated and in a way that it, that is like really meeting the, the, the needs of the people and meeting them where they're at. So one of the things I wanna do as the next Marion County clerk is to take these services, is [00:30:00] any local government services and take them to where the people are at.
And I've seen what immediate progress can look like as the director of community outreach with the Marion County Prosecutor's Office.
Michael Zarick: Yeah.
Karla Lopez Owens: We support co-ordinate plan, a lot of community led events. Right. And in 2025, our office supported, collaborated with and assisted 107, roughly 178 events. So I know it can be done.
Right. And that's just through the, uh, the Marion County Prosecutor's Office. Mm-hmm. as the president of the Indiana Latino Democratic Caucus, our team in 2025 attended, supported, or co-ordinated around 78 events. So that's like over 300, and I know it can be done. Wait, is that over 300? It's roughly 300.
We'll take it. Wait a minute. So, um, if I'm elected, I pledge [00:31:00] to support co-ordinate collaborate partnership and, and have over 200 events throughout the city so that we're taking the services to where the people are at. Mm-hmm. And just breaking those barriers down,
I think it, it, it ties right in because a lot of people. Listen, in my court docket that I oversee, I feel more like a social worker than a prosecutor because of all the needs that people come to court with. And it's never been more evident to me that A, we need more social workers.
You know? So, uh, God bless the social workers because you're doing the good work.
Michael Zarick: Yeah.
Karla Lopez Owens: Um, but people have so many more needs beyond filing their paperwork. Right. And I see how hard it is for them to access some of these systems. So we take for granted. Yeah. You and I, we have a credit card, you know, we can make [00:32:00] payments online.
We, we have, um, a bank account so money can just be withdrawn and paid to, to these agencies. A lot of people don't have that.
Michael Zarick: Yeah.
Karla Lopez Owens: Right. So how do we break, you know, that's just an example.
Michael Zarick: Well, actually I went to go, speaking of voting, I went to go register to get my driver's license. Mm-hmm. Um, was that last week?
When was that? Must have been last week. and there was a woman who sat down next to me who did not speak a lick of English, uh, who was there for her driver's test.
Karla Lopez Owens: Mm.
Michael Zarick: And, uh, her attempting to communicate with the worker there was like a little painful. Oh, yikes. Uh, 'cause like that person did not speak a lick of Spanish.
Mm-hmm. And so she was like. Repeating her words over and over again, and then like laid down a form and like pointed at some Spanish on the form. And I was like, this is, this is painful. I feel like there could be like one Spanish speaker in this office probably. Uh, that would be really helpful.
Karla Lopez Owens: Yeah. Yeah.
Michael Zarick: So when you talk about like accessibility of, uh, government services, that's [00:33:00] definitely something that I personally noticed. Oh
Karla Lopez Owens: yeah. Language accessibility is a big thing and if I, yeah, of course. I mean, of course I would figure out ways to get creative and employ that.
Michael Zarick: Yeah. you're a member of the DSA, do you talk about that?
Karla Lopez Owens: I am a member of the DSA.
Michael Zarick: Yeah.
Karla Lopez Owens: Yeah.
Michael Zarick: and you've been a member for a while?
Karla Lopez Owens: I think I paid my dues to the national one, and most recently I paid my dues to the local one.
Michael Zarick: Got you. Cool.
Karla Lopez Owens: Yeah.
Michael Zarick: what about the DSA, like, uh, do you like to tie into your sort of personal policy goals?
Karla Lopez Owens: I really gravitate to this people first approach that I see echoed and that I see talked about within DSA.
Um, more than anything now, more than ever, I think it's just so important to build lines of communication, strengthen those lines of communication. And so as the president of the Indiana Latino Democratic Caucus, you know, I, I was in that role for two years and then [00:34:00] prior to that I worked as the network, but I, 'cause it's a volunteer led organization, I was the, chair of voter education for roughly five years.
And so I'm always thinking, okay, who can we collaborate with? Who can we partner with so that we strengthen the, our efforts and we, we as many people as possible and. I mean, you know, again, through this people first approach, I think that's one of the, you know, the ways that I've seen us collaborate and like come together and I've been, I'm appreciative of any time where there's someone who has a space, who has a table who's tabling an event.
'cause tabling events is really expensive. And so anytime someone's able to share their table and resources, we, we, we just welcome that. You know, we not, we do that not just with DSA, but with the Marion County Young Dems, with, um, the Labor Caucus. Like they've been very generous and [00:35:00] very giving and what resources they have, you know, giving them to, to us.
You know, as a community that is currently being under attack, I mean, we welcome all collaborations. We welcome all. We welcome. All partnerships because we need the help. We need so much help.
Michael Zarick: Mm-hmm.
Karla Lopez Owens: Yeah.
Michael Zarick: Okay. is there anything else you wanna talk about? Actually, you mentioned, uh, to me before we started recording and you cringe when I said it in the intro. Why don't you like being called a politician?
Karla López Owens: I mean, it's not that I don't like being called a politician. I just, I think politicians are slimy. I think politicians are corrupt.
I mean, I know why people have such disdain for politicians and yeah. categorically speaking, I may be considered a politician, but I'm also very critical of the politicians. I'm very critical of these systems. And it's not because I'm a hateful person, it's, it's [00:36:00] because I care very deeply and I wanna improve these spaces.
I wanna improve. Um. I wanna make sure that we have people who are held to account and I wanna make sure that we have people who are listening to the will of the people. And right now we don't have that. So yeah, I agree with, I also have a disdain, deep disdain for politicians. I don't trust them. Um, I think that once they get into power, it's like it gets to their head and yeah.
Michael Zarick: Cool.
Karla Lopez Owens: Yeah.
Michael Zarick: Uh, is there anything else you wanna talk about before I'm gonna ask you more like personal questions?
Karla Lopez Owens: No.
Michael Zarick: Okay, cool. Uh, go
Karla Lopez Owens: ahead and vote if you have papers freaking go out
and
Michael Zarick: vote. Yeah, we'll get there. We'll, we'll say it at the end too. Gotcha,
Karla Lopez Owens: gotcha, gotcha.
Michael Zarick: Yeah. May 5th. May 5th. May 5th.
Karla Lopez Owens: Cinco de Mayo, Cinco de Mayo. You got this, you got this.
Michael Zarick: I keep saying May 4th. I don't know why. Oh, may the fourth be with you. Like Star Wars.
Karla Lopez Owens: Yeah. No, I, not that [00:37:00] one.
Michael Zarick: Hey, let's move on to what I call the canned questions.
Karla Lopez Owens: Mm-hmm.
Michael Zarick: Third Space Indy. It's sponsored by City Rising.
City Rising is a social impact studio. Most recently, they implemented an eviction data dashboard that looks to highlight and reduce the impact of the 30000 evictions, mostly affecting black and Latino women. Indianapolis faces every year. So if you wanna learn more, you can go to cityrising.org.
Quick note, that should have been 30,000 evictions, not 3000.
Michael Zarick: City Rising is sponsored. A question, which is what is a Third Space to you?
Karla Lopez Owens: I think any space that is free. Mm-hmm. I would consider that like a Third Space I mentioned earlier that I grew up with, uh, in a low income working class home. And our options for entertainment were very limited. So when we came to the US, 'cause I grew up in Mexico, right?
And we spent so much time outside. [00:38:00] So much time at parks, at the market, I mean. I love Mexico. Ugh. Love Mexico so much.
Michael Zarick: I wanna go to Mexico City so bad.
Karla Lopez Owens: You're gonna have a fantastic time when you go there.
So Mexico City, you're gonna have a fantastic time when you visit, but a Third Space to me is anywhere that is free, where we can congregate. There's a lot of spaces like that in Mexico, and when we came to the United States of America, we just gravitated towards those open spaces, places where my sister and I could play and run around.
Mm-hmm. And, um, yeah, we've just spent a lot of time in, in those types of spaces. Like the public library is another one. I have very fond memories of just being outside when I was younger.
Michael Zarick: when I mentioned that you live in Irvington, you like lit up a little bit. What do you love about Irvington?
Karla Lopez Owens: The people?
Oh my gosh. I love, there's so many things I love about Irvington, but I'm gonna say my neighbors, ugh. [00:39:00] My neighbors, Mr. Goldie. I love you
Michael Zarick: Mr. Goldie. Is that what you said?
Karla Lopez Owens: Yeah. He lives in front of me. Autumn. I mean, everyone's just, they're the best, but the people. The community that I, I just, I feel like it was a very, it was not hard for me to feel like I was at home here.
Michael Zarick: Mm-hmm.
Karla Lopez Owens: And to give you an example, there's a group of protestors that gather outside of the Irvington public Library every Monday
from five to 6:00 PM
Michael Zarick: Yeah. Do they always protest the same thing or a variety?
Karla Lopez Owens: I mean, I think overall it's like they're just protesting.
We are protesting the current state of affairs. Got it. But a lot of times they have, um, you know, no secret police, uh, banners. They have. Uh, stances against Ice and like the treatment of, of people here in the country by the secret police
Michael Zarick: mm-hmm.
Karla Lopez Owens: That Trump has created.
Michael Zarick: Yeah.
Karla Lopez Owens: And so for me to, when I'm driving home and I'm like, oh, hey, you know, there's Julie, [00:40:00] there's, there's, uh, the team, there's Shelly.
For me to know that this is where I live, it's a great privilege. It's a really, I can't believe that this is where I live. You know, these are my neighbors.
Michael Zarick: There's a group in Broad Ripple, uh oh. It's like they have a name for themselves, but they, there's a bridge that crosses Kessler, um, in Broad Ripple on the Monon.
Karla Lopez Owens: Mm-hmm.
Michael Zarick: Uh, and they are out there. I don't know what day they're out there, but, uh, every week also, they're also out there like protesting on the bridge. They put up signs on the bridge, so the cars
see, and they get honks. And I love that they, uh, catch people on the, on the trail walking and stuff and just talk to '
Karla Lopez Owens: em. Thank you. You know? Thank you. Thank you for, to all the protestors who are collectively standing in dissent of all of this. I. Deep admiration and, and a great appreciation for, for everything, for setting up for us. And yeah. Thank you.
Michael Zarick: follow up question to the question from City Rising. Uh, what is a Third Space or place that [00:41:00] has existed for you previously that no longer does?
Karla Lopez Owens: I think the public library that was at the city hall because when I was little, that's where my stepdad would take us to. And again, to me, you know, coming from poverty in Mexico to coming to the US and seeing just like how easy it was for us to go to the library and like. Get books, check them out. And they didn't charge us anything.
I was like, what? In the movies? I mean, I was just like shook as a little kid who went from nothing to then suddenly having all these resources available all around her. And again, I have very fond memories of being at City Hall and, 'cause I know that's where the public library was at one point. Um, and just like the, the grand architecture, I'd never seen anything like that in my life.
[00:42:00] I felt like I was in Paris, I was in Greece. I was just, I was not in it, like took me to another world. Yeah. And to see what it's become, it's just, it's such a shame. And because of poor leadership and, and greed and the exploitation of resources, now it's just sitting there abandoned como si nada as if it was never anything like como si nada.
Michael Zarick: Every episode I ask a question from the previous guest and it's really funny that he asked this question 'cause I was like, I might talk to a politician next week.
Uh, the previous guest is Dominic Senibaldi, the owner of Cat Head Press. It's a t-shirt, uh, press, and also, uh, Love Handle which restaurant? Um, he asks what is, sorry. It's just really funny that I was talking to you, uh, at, out of all people, uh, what is the largest hurdle to start a small business in 2026?
Karla Lopez Owens: I mean,
I [00:43:00] would say maybe.
Lack of knowing where to start specifically. I feel like I've been going to the public library quite a bit with my answers, but right away, like the first thing that came to mind, 'cause I get these questions all the time. As the director of community outreach with the Marion County Prosecutor's Office.
Yeah. You're serving everybody. Mm-hmm. And if you cannot help them, you figure out who can help them. So I'm thinking, if somebody came and asked me this question, what would be the first thing I, I would say, and I think I would say, you know, the public library actually has like a hub of resources. There's a man who's very well versed, very, has a like, um, a really great understanding of all the paperwork that someone needs.
And mind, mind you, this is for smaller businesses, right? It's not for big businesses. So while they may not have the budget to. Help you connect, like connect you with an attorney, they can get you off on the right. On the right start. Yeah. So they have books that you can follow. As a matter of fact, I have a book that I checked out from that this, [00:44:00] um, kind man recommended to me because, you know, um, Latinas are actually one of the fastest growing demographics of small businesses in the US.
Michael Zarick: Oh really?
Karla Lopez Owens: Yeah. Hmm. Yeah. You know, we, we we're innovative and we are creative and we wanna, we see the future and the future is over there with Latina business owners and small business owners as a whole.
Michael Zarick: Uhhuh.
Karla Lopez Owens: But I think, yeah, the lack of information might be the, the biggest hurdle and the lack of support.
But that's why I wanna figure out, okay, where are the resources? Let's grab them and take them to the people.
Michael Zarick: Yeah. I also think like starting a business is, I think about this a lot in the context of the podcast.
Like starting a business doesn't look. Like you think it does. A lot of times I think it starts like on accident in a lot of cases.
Karla Lopez Owens: Or by necessity.
Michael Zarick: Or by necessity. also, I know you're maybe not friends, but, uh, you know, like 16 50, 1656 Club and Paloma.
Karla Lopez Owens: Oh,
Michael Zarick: yes. Uh, I know you [00:45:00] hang out there a good amount for, I don't know.
I saw your sign there and I asked her if she knew you and she's like, yeah, I love Karla.
Karla Lopez Owens: Oh, Paloma's fantastic. Love you Paloma. Great job. We're so, we're inspired by people like her.
Michael Zarick: Yeah. I dunno what else to ask. What, so you mentioned that your story, uh, maybe, is that Uncle Mark? No way.
Karla Lopez Owens: That
Michael Zarick: was awesome. That's funny that I got to experience that.
I'm gonna keep this part in at least Yes. Where I I have to explain what just happened. So, so my wife's uncle lives in Irvington and he just walked by at Ellenberger Park, so I waved him down. Sorry, I had to talk about you. Go, go. Yeah. It's so funny. Um, and. Uh, I just walked over to say hello real quick 'cause I, I was like, oh, I have to say hello because I haven't seen him in a while.
Let go. Um, and you immediately got, I sure did. Door, uh, what do you call [00:46:00] these? Door hangs?
Karla Lopez Owens: Yeah, door hanger,
Michael Zarick: door hangers outta your bag and ran up to him. You didn't care who it was, you just like, I'm talking to this guy.
Karla Lopez Owens: That's right.
Michael Zarick: You don't know anything about it. He believes he's kind of a, you know, he's like a Irvington liberal guy.
Um, he and his wife are,
Karla Lopez Owens: but for the most part everyone's against what's happening right now. So I knew that there was gonna be that
Michael Zarick: Yeah.
Karla Lopez Owens: Level of seeing eye to eye
Michael Zarick: and just, he was like, you were like, oh, are you gonna vote? And he's like, no, I don't really vote in the primaries. Is that like your, your, your all star person is like, I don't really, you know, I vote generally, but I don't vote in the primaries.
Karla Lopez Owens: Uh, yes. Yes.
Michael Zarick: So you like. We talked, uh, Uncle Mark down, um, and by down, I mean up to going to,
Karla Lopez Owens: and he's gonna go vote and he's gonna tell his wife about it too.
Michael Zarick: And that's what we've been told.
Karla Lopez Owens: Love you Uncle Mark. Thank you for exercising your constitutional right. So funny. We're all best friends in democracy now.
I hope.
Michael Zarick: I just wanna say, I, I always joke about, uh, bringing up my wife in every podcast [00:47:00] episode and we didn't talk about her once this time, but now we have to. And she's gonna love this. It's so funny.
Karla Lopez Owens: You have a good family, solid people.
Michael Zarick: Um,
I don't really know what else to talk about. That was like a really funny cap.
Karla Lopez Owens: I feel like that's a great way to end. You know? I feel like what a great way to wrap up. I think that it just exemplifies, you know, I will take every opportunity to engage with people and hear them out.
Michael Zarick: I feel like you had a really easy time there.
Have you had harder times than gotten through?
Karla Lopez Owens: Um, not really. No. No, no. I think people are fired up. People are angry. And now is the time. Now is the time.
Michael Zarick: Yeah. And I think, so go ahead. And I also wanna highlight that for you specifically. Um, we're at a moment where your future job, ideally
Karla Lopez Owens: mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Michael Zarick: Inshallah.
Karla Lopez Owens: Um, Inshallah Yeah.
Michael Zarick: Will help us next year when basically the entire municipal city [00:48:00] government is up for election.
Karla Lopez Owens: Yeah.
Michael Zarick: Um, and if you feel any frustration with the current city government, you, the listener, and us sitting here, um, then empowering somebody who you trust to improve voter turnout, improve, um, the accessibility of your life to all, nearly all, uh, government, what's the word?
Activities,
yeah.
Um, services. That's the word I wanted. Uh. Looking, having a little bit of foresight and having someone like Karla in place to be able to implement those over the course of the next year prior to the ideally flipping of the municipal government, could be really, I powerful.
Karla Lopez Owens: Yeah. I think
Michael Zarick: Does that goes good words.
Sorry. I'm like hiccuping.
Karla Lopez Owens: Yeah. Those are fantastic words. Yeah. Yeah. I wanna take the, the services that the [00:49:00] government has and take them to the community, whether it's through the administrative side of the office and having, you know, helping people with their certified court records, making a payment, child support payment, maybe making a payment on a judgment.
That's the administrative side, and then through the Marion County election board, making sure that people know that this board exists, what the role of the board is, and empower people to come and show up and learn and be part of these conversations. There's like three people that show up to these public hearings and yeah, they're public, but what's, what's the, what does that matter if nobody shows up, nobody knows about them.
So I wanna make sure that people know that this agency is there, what the role is, and beyond that, just like what the role of government, what the role of government is, and hopefully in that, get more people that will do the will of the people and be, have this be a more representative space. And through that engagement creates this [00:50:00] unprecedented wave of civic engagement that truly meets the moment and moves us forward into the future.
Michael Zarick: Cool. One last question.
Karla Lopez Owens: Sure.
Michael Zarick: What question would you like to ask? The next Third Space Indy guest.
Karla Lopez Owens: Um,
Michael Zarick: and it doesn't have to be like Third Space focused or like government focused if you don't want it to be,
Karla Lopez Owens: what, how are you using your privilege and your access to help others?
Michael Zarick: Great question. Who?
Oh, okay.
Karla Lopez Owens: Yeah.
Michael Zarick: I, this, the person I'm talking to later today will like that question. Karla, let's round it out. Tell the people when and where to vote if they choose to, which they should if you are registered, which you, we missed the registering deadline. So if you're not registered to vote, you're SOL
Karla Lopez Owens: stop.
They're not so l they can still register. You just won't be able to vote in the primary. Okay. But you're still voting in the general election. Got you. In November.
Michael Zarick: That's good info.
Karla Lopez Owens: Yeah.
Michael Zarick: I didn't even think about it that way.
Karla Lopez Owens: [00:51:00] Yeah. So between now okay. It's, it gets a little tricky. Okay. And I have more information, please, um, visit my Instagram.
That's how I engage with people quite a bit. But we also have a website. Um, I have an email that I do respond to emails. So between now and April 24th, you can vote at the city county building 200 East Washington Street.
From 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM and then the hours get a little different. 'cause then the weekend, uh, hours will become effective. Also at the city county building, I don't have those, um, in front of me. But then after that, like it just starts expanding a lot more because we're gonna get closer to May 5th and the primary is May 5th.
So you can find that particular information at Indy Votes. They have a website and all of that is like very detailed. So go there. You can come to our social media channels and get the information there as well.
Michael Zarick: Cool.
Karla Lopez Owens: Yeah.
Michael Zarick: Karla Lopez-Owens.
Karla Lopez Owens: [00:52:00] That's right.
Michael Zarick: Thanks for coming on. What's your Instagram handle?
Karla Lopez Owens: K_ Lopez. L-O-P-E-Z-O-W.
Michael Zarick: Cool.
Thanks for joining me today for Thank you for
Karla Lopez Owens: the conversation.
Michael Zarick: Absolutely. Um, thanks for listening to this episode of Third Space Indy. Shout out to Uncle Mark. For walking by and for voting, uh, in the primary. Uh, that was so funny. You can find me by going to at Third Space Indy on Instagram or by going to Third Space Indy dot com where you can find show notes and the blog.
Thanks to City Rising for sponsoring the podcast and thanks to our new sponsor, Proformus. Pro Performance is an urban planning and design firm that helps neighbors and communities shape the places they already love based in Indianapolis.
They're here to make your place happen one block at a time. And as always, thank you to the local artist Jennasen for allowing me to use your song Scared Rabbit, as the intro music.
Thanks for watching or listening. See you later. Goodbye. Bye.
Karla Lopez Owens: Thank you
Karla Lopez Owens: Is that your
Michael Zarick: uncle?
That's, it's [00:53:00] my, uh, brother-in-law. It's my aunt's. It's my, my wife's uncle. Cousin. How you doing? I'm What's going man? Oh, I knew you lived in, uh, Irvington, but I didn't know you lived like close up to here. This is Karla, uh, she's gonna advertise to you. I
Karla Lopez Owens: sure am. Hi. Okay.
Uncle Mark: Hi.
Karla Lopez Owens: Hi, I'm Karla Lopez-Owens, okay. I live around the corner.
Uncle Mark: Okay.
Karla Lopez Owens: I'm a deputy prosecuting attorney,
Uncle Mark: Uhhuh,
Karla Lopez Owens: and I'm running for office.
Uncle Mark: Okay, cool.
Karla Lopez Owens: Yeah. Alright. Do you vote in the primaries?
Uncle Mark: Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. It just depends. Ooh,
Michael Zarick: caught.
Uncle Mark: Don't. No, no, no.
Karla Lopez Owens: I'm not going to. I'm not going to. Okay. But I was just telling him that. Did you know that if at one point or another you wanted to run for precinct committee persons, they delegate or even run against a problem?
I didn't know this was gonna
Michael Zarick: happen.
Karla Lopez Owens: A problematic incumbent. You have to have voted on the, like, in the primary. Otherwise you don't, you cannot vote or you cannot run. As a Democrat,
Uncle Mark: I don't plan on running.
Karla Lopez Owens: I gotcha. I gotcha. I hear you. I hear you. I just, [00:54:00]
Uncle Mark: unless it's, unless I really feel strongly about something, I vote in the election every year.
Karla Lopez Owens: Yeah.
Uncle Mark: Not, not in, I don't usually do the primaries though. Yeah.
I,
I, I used to, but it's like, then after a while it's like, nah, I just didn't see the,
Karla Lopez Owens: what's the point? Right.
Uncle Mark: Yeah. Well, that was, in my opinion,
Karla Lopez Owens: but I, I mean,
Uncle Mark: but anyway, so you,
Karla Lopez Owens: it's echoed
Uncle Mark: Okay. It's
Karla Lopez Owens: echoed with everybody.
Uncle Mark: So, so you're running for
Karla Lopez Owens: Marion County
Uncle Mark: clerk.
Okay. So you're running in the primary?
Karla Lopez Owens: I am. And I have a, a challenge, I'm challenging someone.
Uncle Mark: Oh, okay. Okay. I get it. Okay. Well, in that case, maybe I will,
Karla Lopez Owens: that's my boss. He's okay. Backing me forward, Ryan. He is.
Uncle Mark: Oh yeah.
Karla Lopez Owens: He's already elected.
Uncle Mark: Yeah, right. Yeah. Yeah. I see him on TV left. Yeah. Yeah.
Karla Lopez Owens: So he's definitely, you know, I think with, um, he's backing, I feel like it gives me credibility.
I'm, I'm not just, you know, some random person, but I wanna reverse the historic low voter turnout. And I, you know, to your point, I know, I know it's gonna be so hard, but listen though to your. To your point, people feel like they have no [00:55:00] choices when they go to the polls and I'm giving them, you know, um,
Uncle Mark: no, no.
I,
Karla Lopez Owens: a choice.
Uncle Mark: I, I understand. Yeah. Yeah.
Karla Lopez Owens: And the county clerk also oversees countywide elections, so there's a lot of things that we could be doing.
Uncle Mark: Yeah.
Karla Lopez Owens: Uh, in that role.
Uncle Mark: Okay.
Karla Lopez Owens: That's my pitch to you.
Michael Zarick: You have your phone with you?
Uncle Mark: Yeah.
Michael Zarick: Can we take a selfie?
Karla Lopez Owens: I hope you consider Oh,
Michael Zarick: with you and me. She doesn't have to be in it.
Karla Lopez Owens: I'll take it. I'll take
Michael Zarick: it. Oh, yeah. Yeah. We just have to
Uncle Mark: then, then you can send it to Anna.
Michael Zarick: Well, we gotta send it to Anna.
Uncle Mark: Say who? Look who I ran.
Michael Zarick: Oh. So did you know I do a podcast? Did you know that? Have we talked? When is the last time I saw you? Oh,
Uncle Mark: uh, it was probably camping last year. I think it was.
Maybe.
Michael Zarick: I do a local podcast, uh, about local people. Oh, okay. And I asked Karla to come on.
Uncle Mark: Oh, okay.
Michael Zarick: Yeah.
Karla Lopez Owens: You know, the lighting's not bad here.
Michael Zarick: It's 'cause the overcast came.
Uncle Mark: Yeah.
Karla Lopez Owens: Look, will you look at that and tell me if you, if that's okay.
Uncle Mark: Oh, that's an excellent
Michael Zarick: picture. That's a great picture.
Uncle Mark: Well, he is the one
Michael Zarick: who, no, it looks
Uncle Mark: good.
Okay. Thank you. I thank you. You want me to
Michael Zarick: see, I just see my hair sticking out, but don't worry about it.
Uncle Mark: Oh my God. Not bad.
Karla Lopez Owens: Not the hair sticking out.
Uncle Mark: I'll be damned. [00:56:00]
Michael Zarick: Yeah, that's so funny. Funny coincidence.
Uncle Mark: It is, it is. So you,
Michael Zarick: you gotta vote for Karla. Okay. Alright. Or if you don't do it, tell your wife too.
'cause I know she will.
Uncle Mark: Oh, she, well, I don't know if Joyce is No, no, she will. She
Karla Lopez Owens: please. Okay. That's how we're gonna gonna get over. I understand. You know, we don't have the political machine money from Joe Hogsett. We're literally so poor. Like, so it's gonna be word of mouth that's gonna really get as the votes that we need.
Um, yeah. People powered campaign.
Uncle Mark: Okay. I just might,
Karla Lopez Owens: Please. I'm like, what else?
Uncle Mark: Well, you, you're, I'm thinking about it. I'll tell you that before I wasn't even thinking about it.
Michael Zarick: That's how, that's how it happens, I suppose.
Uncle Mark: Yeah. It's
Michael Zarick: just a little conversation,
Uncle Mark: you know, I'm just, I'll, I'll, I mean, it's not that far away from me.
When's the election going?
Michael Zarick: Gimme, gimme a thumb up or thumb down on Joe Hogsett hit. You're like, no, Joe Hog's hit.
Uncle Mark: I'm a this Joe Hawg.
Michael Zarick: Okay.
Karla Lopez Owens: Yeah. I'm like this,
Michael Zarick: I'm, we're anti Joe Hogs out here.
Uncle Mark: I am. Well, I'm more like this Joe Hog set. Okay. I, I used to, [00:57:00] I've always been this way about Joe Hogsett, but lately with all this stuff, I'm not, I'm not particularly pleased with, with the mayor and, um,
Karla Lopez Owens: and Thomas Cook, you know.
Yeah. He was, he was here during that caucus. Oh, okay. I ran for a special caucus in 2020 and I lost my one vote and it happened here. That's where the vote took place.
Uncle Mark: Okay.
Karla Lopez Owens: Yeah.
Michael Zarick: Um,
Karla Lopez Owens: and Thomas Cook was part of that posse.
Michael Zarick: When you think about like, um, people who are holding onto power, like with everything in their body, I think Karla represents the opposite of that in a lot of ways.
Karla Lopez Owens: Thank you. That's so nice.
Michael Zarick: Thank
Karla Lopez Owens: you for vouching for me. Okay.
Michael Zarick: Uh,
Uncle Mark: you, you, you convinced me. I'll go vote
Karla Lopez Owens: May 5th.
Michael Zarick: Even if you don't vote for anyone else, just show, just roll up.
Karla Lopez Owens: Yeah, I'm running against Kate Sweeney Bell. Look her up and just, you know, see what her track record is.
Uncle Mark: Okay.
Karla Lopez Owens: None. She hides in her office all day.
I don't
Uncle Mark: Well, no, I, I hear you. I hear you. No, that's good. No, I, and I'm, I'm really for, you know, [00:58:00]
Karla Lopez Owens: new voices.
Uncle Mark: Good, good people in there, you know, and people who are gonna listen and stuff like that. And Mayor Joe has, he screwed a bunch of things up and
Karla Lopez Owens: Yeah.
Uncle Mark: All this, uh, sexual harassment scandal.
Karla Lopez Owens: Yeah,
Uncle Mark: that's a crock of shit too, but that's just,
Michael Zarick: yeah.
Karla Lopez Owens: And the money, the contract, you know, actually, oh
Uncle Mark: yeah. He's doing a lot
Karla Lopez Owens: of Jason Larrison. Jason Larrison, the guy who was elected over me. He was also, um, under investigation because he was working at a. Architectural firm that saw oversaw, uh, contractual work within the office after he was elected. So never.
Isn't
Uncle Mark: that amazing?
Karla Lopez Owens: Nevermind. Like the, um, how
Uncle Mark: do these things, it's just a coincidence.
Karla Lopez Owens: It's a coinquidink .
Michael Zarick: Um, yeah. So I, I've seen Karla like around basically everywhere. Uh,
Karla Lopez Owens: yeah, because I am, I'm not scared of facing the
Michael Zarick: public, uh, actually grinding hard. So I was like, uh, so I wanted to use my platform to highlight her a little bit.
Karla Lopez Owens: Okay. Well, good
Uncle Mark: for
Michael Zarick: you. All
Uncle Mark: right.
Karla Lopez Owens: Thank you. Thank you. Yay. [00:59:00]
Michael Zarick: Take it, take it from take, take it from family.
Uncle Mark: I'll, I'll put it on my calendar. election Day. What? Me?
Karla Lopez Owens: Me? But you can start voting early at the city county. Yeah. Whenever
Michael Zarick: you're around, don't, don't stress about it. Just like roll up
Karla Lopez Owens: from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM You can go to the city county building and vote.
Just
Uncle Mark: sit down and pay my property taxes last week so I could have voted then. Oh, well, that's okay.
Karla Lopez Owens: Well, voting early. Voter started this week.
Uncle Mark: Can you v do early voting any place other than city county building?
Karla Lopez Owens: Not Oh yeah. Not until, uh, not until the weekend before.
Uncle Mark: Okay.
Michael Zarick: That's a good question actually.
Karla Lopez Owens: Yeah. Not until the weekend before, but right now, I mean, you have basically the whole month to go vote.
No.
Uncle Mark: Okay. I mean, if I make it downtown on occasion, so
Karla Lopez Owens: thank you.
Uncle Mark: Okay. Alright. No,
Karla Lopez Owens: I'm so happy. I love the civic engagement.
You
Uncle Mark: got one.
Karla Lopez Owens: No, because it's our constitutional rights. You know, like what, what a privilege it is to be able to exercise something that the president is trying to take away from us.
Uncle Mark: Yeah.
Karla Lopez Owens: Nationalize. The, the elections. I mean, take over them. Like, fuck is that? What the fuck is that?
Michael Zarick: This is the first time I've heard you curse today. Oh my God. [01:00:00] Is talking about voting
Uncle Mark: encouraging you.
Karla Lopez Owens: Sorry.
Michael Zarick: Oh, listen, I know who you hang around with. Exactly.
Uncle Mark: I'll let Joyce know.
Michael Zarick: Um, will you text that photo to Anna?
Uncle Mark: Oh yeah, I will. I'll do that right now.
Michael Zarick: I'll do it. I, uh, but we gotta wrap up, but it was good to see you.
Uncle Mark: Okay. Yeah. It's such a
Karla Lopez Owens: nice day outside. Okay. Thank you for
Michael Zarick: take. Good to see you. Good. I'm glad you walked by. It was so funny.
I'll hold him to account. I'll, uh, I
Karla Lopez Owens: believe him.
Michael Zarick: I'll text, uh oh. I get my wife to text him or his, his wife. Uh, we were recording that entire time, I think, which is really funny.
Karla Lopez Owens: Hi. Sorry.
Michael Zarick: Because we have microphones on. If we wanted to keep it on you could. Yay. Um, but, uh,
Karla Lopez Owens: that
Michael Zarick: was awesome. That's funny that I got to experience that.
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