WEBVTT - LAPD Sweeps MacArthur Park: Gangs & Open-Air Drug Markets Gone? 0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:04.439 Well, the city council might only give you sixty seconds 0:00:04.440 --> 0:00:05.560 to where your grievance is. 0:00:05.680 --> 0:00:08.039 Oh hi, i'd like to start go to the first 0:00:08.119 --> 0:00:09.160 caller on the phone. 0:00:09.640 --> 0:00:13.560 Well, if you're lucky, now we're giving you a both 0:00:13.960 --> 0:00:18.840 sixty minutes. It's a KABC News Blitz with Randy Wang 0:00:18.960 --> 0:00:21.639 and our long recap of the day's top local stories 0:00:21.720 --> 0:00:25.560 on your drive home. And unlike the city Council, we're 0:00:25.600 --> 0:00:29.639 the perfect vehicle to actually get your voice heard. The 0:00:29.800 --> 0:00:34.519 KABC News Blitz with Randy Wang starts no, No, no No. 0:00:34.880 --> 0:00:38.240 It is the News Blitz with Randy Wang on talk 0:00:38.360 --> 0:00:43.080 radio seven to ninety KABC. This is your daily rundown 0:00:43.159 --> 0:00:45.760 of everything you need to know that's going on in 0:00:45.880 --> 0:00:50.239 Southern California as well as the Bay Area, Sacramento, San Diego, 0:00:50.280 --> 0:00:52.760 and the Central Valley. I curate a list of all 0:00:52.800 --> 0:00:54.920 the stories that I found interesting that you may have 0:00:55.040 --> 0:00:58.600 missed at Randywangradio dot substack dot com. You can put 0:00:58.640 --> 0:01:00.640 in your email and subscribe for free, and then it 0:01:00.720 --> 0:01:03.200 just goes to your mailbox whenever I post it. You know, 0:01:03.240 --> 0:01:07.080 also check out my YouTube channel at randywangradio dot com. 0:01:07.319 --> 0:01:10.880 Send me an email at Randywang Radio at gmail dot 0:01:10.920 --> 0:01:12.840 com and give us a call if you want eight 0:01:12.959 --> 0:01:16.720 hundred two two two five two two two. We start 0:01:17.640 --> 0:01:24.160 in MacArthur Park in Los Angeles with some good news. 0:01:24.600 --> 0:01:27.520 Not that often we get to start with good news. 0:01:28.000 --> 0:01:34.520 But after weeks and weeks and weeks of prolonged sweeps 0:01:35.000 --> 0:01:41.280 in a combination task force of the LAPD and the 0:01:41.360 --> 0:01:45.160 DEA and sometimes the FBI and all different kinds of 0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:52.880 federal agencies, MacArthur Park, known as the drug den of 0:01:53.080 --> 0:01:57.240 the drug den that is Los Angeles, has gotten just 0:01:57.320 --> 0:02:03.640 a little bit cleaner, has gotten just a little bit safer, 0:02:04.760 --> 0:02:09.959 and that is fantastic. It is shocking how a little 0:02:10.120 --> 0:02:15.600 enforcement can completely change the situation that is going on 0:02:15.680 --> 0:02:19.640 in this park. So for a very long time you 0:02:19.680 --> 0:02:22.720 heard complaints from people like Norm Langer of Langer's Deli 0:02:22.840 --> 0:02:26.160 that the situation going on in MacArthur Park was just 0:02:26.240 --> 0:02:29.919 completely unacceptable and he was threatening to leave. He did 0:02:29.960 --> 0:02:33.320 not because Karen bassiating this. He said, we're going to 0:02:33.400 --> 0:02:36.120 do something about it, but they really didn't. And remember, 0:02:36.440 --> 0:02:39.280 while MacArthur Park has been a problem area for a 0:02:39.440 --> 0:02:42.280 very long time, it used to be the not so 0:02:42.440 --> 0:02:44.680 secret secret that that's where you go to get stolen 0:02:44.760 --> 0:02:48.880 social security number. It really exploded into the open air 0:02:49.000 --> 0:02:53.280 drug den when La Metro got so embarrassed by local 0:02:53.320 --> 0:02:58.440 news reporting from CBSLA and other outlets about the open 0:02:58.480 --> 0:03:02.160 air drug market that was the MacArthur Park Metro station, 0:03:03.240 --> 0:03:07.320 and so a few years ago they decided to start 0:03:07.520 --> 0:03:11.200 blasting classical music, which certain members of the city council 0:03:11.280 --> 0:03:16.640 called torture unisses. They started shining very very very bright lights, 0:03:17.000 --> 0:03:19.800 controlling the entrances and exits, and now that is a 0:03:19.919 --> 0:03:24.320 very safe station. But that open air drug market didn't disappear. 0:03:25.440 --> 0:03:29.160 It went into the park itself, and for a long time, 0:03:30.120 --> 0:03:36.600 MacArthur Park was the City of LA's very own Hamsterdam. 0:03:36.880 --> 0:03:40.320 If you've never heard the term Hamsterdam, you need to 0:03:40.360 --> 0:03:43.640 take this weekend and if you've got HBO or it 0:03:43.760 --> 0:03:47.160 might even be on Netflix too. Watch The Wire, one 0:03:47.160 --> 0:03:50.040 of the greatest television shows ever made, a show that 0:03:50.080 --> 0:03:55.320 they actually study in college for real reasons, and specifically 0:03:55.360 --> 0:04:00.360 the third season where a police chief or a police 0:04:00.640 --> 0:04:06.560 lieutenant is very, very very sick of having his officers 0:04:06.640 --> 0:04:11.240 getting assaulted or shot at or murdered because of all 0:04:11.320 --> 0:04:14.400 the takedowns that they're doing all the small rippin' raids. 0:04:14.440 --> 0:04:17.160 They're trying to go after the drug markets that are 0:04:17.160 --> 0:04:21.600 in Baltimore, and they decide, what if we take a 0:04:21.600 --> 0:04:25.120 certain corner of the city and we just push all 0:04:25.160 --> 0:04:28.640 the drug dealing there, and push all the homeless there, 0:04:29.200 --> 0:04:32.159 and you guys can just do whatever you want, but 0:04:32.360 --> 0:04:35.480 only here. The rest of the city we're going to 0:04:35.560 --> 0:04:38.240 really beef up patrols. But if you do it in Hamsterdam, 0:04:38.720 --> 0:04:43.400 you can do whatever you want. And well, while that 0:04:43.520 --> 0:04:47.119 sounds like an insane idea, once the big wigs got 0:04:47.160 --> 0:04:50.720 a hold of it, they saw noticeable double digits drops 0:04:50.760 --> 0:04:54.839 in crime everywhere but Hamsterdam, and for just a moment 0:04:54.960 --> 0:04:57.400 start to consider, maybe this is what we should do. 0:04:58.520 --> 0:05:00.919 So I always thought of a Arthur Park like that, 0:05:01.080 --> 0:05:02.919 this is where we push all the problem and we 0:05:02.960 --> 0:05:06.000 know we're not going to enforce it. But MacArthur Park 0:05:06.080 --> 0:05:08.920 started getting national attention when there was that big raid 0:05:09.760 --> 0:05:14.520 in MacArthur Park in June related to the immigration raids, 0:05:15.000 --> 0:05:19.200 and Karen Bass runs down there and says, call off 0:05:19.240 --> 0:05:22.680 your goons and starts having all these press conferences about 0:05:22.720 --> 0:05:25.920 what a safe park this is for your kids. Gavin 0:05:26.000 --> 0:05:28.520 Newsom talks about what a great park this is. But 0:05:29.680 --> 0:05:32.160 for the people in the know, we've known how much 0:05:32.200 --> 0:05:35.560 of a disaster this park is for a very long time. 0:05:36.480 --> 0:05:39.880 But a few months ago we started to see instead 0:05:39.880 --> 0:05:43.760 of the opposition that we hear so much about how 0:05:44.240 --> 0:05:48.320 we're so opposed to working with the federal government. And 0:05:48.400 --> 0:05:51.120 I don't care who's in charge of the federal government, 0:05:51.520 --> 0:05:56.680 we should all be on the same page that drug dealing, 0:05:57.200 --> 0:06:03.839 dealing fentanyl unacceptable, doing fentanyl unacceptable, and all the other 0:06:03.920 --> 0:06:06.479 crimes and the gang murders and everything else that goes 0:06:06.520 --> 0:06:10.720 on in that park unacceptable. So a few months ago 0:06:11.160 --> 0:06:13.440 there was a big raid and you saw at the 0:06:13.480 --> 0:06:17.159 press conference Bill is Saley and Jim McDonell, and I 0:06:17.200 --> 0:06:20.840 think mister Hawkman was there as well. Everyone's saying we're 0:06:20.839 --> 0:06:23.240 going to make a concerted effort. In fact, I remember 0:06:23.320 --> 0:06:26.680 Nathan Hackman making a promise he was going to clean 0:06:26.720 --> 0:06:29.600 up MacArthur Park and then go there and have a 0:06:29.640 --> 0:06:33.919 picnic on Labor Day. He ended up having a picnic 0:06:33.960 --> 0:06:36.960 there on Independence Day when there was like a big festival. 0:06:37.040 --> 0:06:39.520 So there was a lot of you know, presence of security, 0:06:39.560 --> 0:06:44.000 what have you. But lovely idea very sweet idea, So 0:06:45.279 --> 0:06:47.600 that was probably just going to be a one off, 0:06:48.600 --> 0:06:51.599 but it wasn't. Two weeks later, they came back. They 0:06:51.640 --> 0:06:56.320 did another sweep unannounced. Sometimes they were sweeping the dealers, 0:06:56.880 --> 0:07:00.000 sometimes they were sweeping the users. A couple weeks later, 0:07:00.120 --> 0:07:03.800 another sweep, a couple weeks later, another sweep, and there 0:07:03.839 --> 0:07:11.520 has been this consistent effort, multi agency, local and federal. 0:07:11.720 --> 0:07:14.880 Don't think the state's involved. I don't know what that's about. 0:07:15.680 --> 0:07:20.360 Going after the very well known criminal element in there, 0:07:20.880 --> 0:07:24.640 and that includes the drug dealers, that includes the drug users. 0:07:25.200 --> 0:07:28.040 And while things still have a long way to go 0:07:28.080 --> 0:07:32.320 for improvement, CBSLA took a camera crew out there and 0:07:32.360 --> 0:07:35.840 they saw something that you don't usually see. People feeling 0:07:35.880 --> 0:07:39.920 a little safer to bring their kids to MacArthur Park. 0:07:40.400 --> 0:07:44.040 People feeling a little safer to walk around and enjoy 0:07:44.120 --> 0:07:50.040 the recreation at MacArthur Park because we have started to 0:07:50.280 --> 0:07:56.000 enforce the law. It's wild, how insane of a concept 0:07:56.000 --> 0:08:01.120 this is. But the parks belong to the peace. And 0:08:01.360 --> 0:08:04.880 I don't care what your story is and that you're homeless, 0:08:05.520 --> 0:08:09.200 you should not be allowed to be doing fentanyl in 0:08:09.280 --> 0:08:13.480 a public park. And if that's the case, the answer 0:08:13.560 --> 0:08:16.320 cannot be well, we're just going to let you do 0:08:16.400 --> 0:08:18.560 it till you overdose and then we're going to revive 0:08:18.640 --> 0:08:21.000 you and then we're going to leave you here. That's 0:08:21.080 --> 0:08:26.000 not working for anybody, you know. I think we need 0:08:26.040 --> 0:08:28.280 to look to other cities to see what they're doing. 0:08:28.880 --> 0:08:32.080 Look what San Jose's been doing, where you are offered treatment, 0:08:32.120 --> 0:08:34.320 you are offered housing. If you refuse it, well, now 0:08:34.360 --> 0:08:36.559 you're impeding on public space. You got to go. You're 0:08:36.559 --> 0:08:39.200 going to jail or get the hell out of this city. 0:08:39.800 --> 0:08:42.920 We've got to do something to break that cycle of addiction. 0:08:43.320 --> 0:08:45.319 But we all have to be on the same page 0:08:45.480 --> 0:08:50.480 that fentinyl use and meth use is unacceptable. And right 0:08:50.520 --> 0:08:53.439 now we're not on the same page because do you 0:08:53.520 --> 0:08:55.920 know what else is going on at the same time, 0:08:56.360 --> 0:09:01.719 you have this big, concerted effort from LAPD finally being 0:09:01.760 --> 0:09:04.080 allowed to do their jobs because it's an election year, 0:09:04.800 --> 0:09:09.680 the federal government, the prosecutor's office. At the same time 0:09:09.720 --> 0:09:15.200 that all of that is going on, Unices Hernandez, the 0:09:15.600 --> 0:09:20.720 La City council woman who represents MacArthur Park, is trying 0:09:20.760 --> 0:09:27.760 to take credit for the cleanup by crediting all of 0:09:27.880 --> 0:09:33.040 her efforts in the park. She says, the moves and 0:09:33.080 --> 0:09:36.079 the raids from the Feds and the cops have nothing 0:09:36.120 --> 0:09:38.800 to do with the improvement of the conditions of the park. 0:09:39.960 --> 0:09:42.720 The improvement of the conditions of the park you can 0:09:43.000 --> 0:09:49.479 trace back to my street ambassadors and my street medicine 0:09:49.520 --> 0:09:54.960 teams and all of these other NGOs and nonprofits that 0:09:55.120 --> 0:10:00.800 she has given city money to to make mone by 0:10:01.080 --> 0:10:05.160 hanging out in the park. And she claims that these 0:10:05.200 --> 0:10:09.600 are the organizations that are the real reason why the 0:10:09.720 --> 0:10:14.320 drug problem is starting to go down there. And I 0:10:14.360 --> 0:10:17.760 think we can all safely say that that is a 0:10:17.800 --> 0:10:24.000 bunch of bull. You know what. I remember that press conference. 0:10:24.080 --> 0:10:26.559 It didn't get nearly as much attention as it should 0:10:26.600 --> 0:10:30.600 have because it happened at the end of December twenty 0:10:30.679 --> 0:10:36.600 twenty four, and by January twenty twenty five, the fire started. 0:10:36.600 --> 0:10:40.480 In fact, I remember this very well. My first show 0:10:40.600 --> 0:10:45.600 back from Christmas vacation in twenty twenty five, I played 0:10:45.679 --> 0:10:50.600 that press conference of Unisses Hernandez talking about the hundreds 0:10:50.600 --> 0:10:53.360 of thousands of dollars she was giving to all these 0:10:53.440 --> 0:10:57.360 different nonprofits to help out the situation in the park, 0:10:57.400 --> 0:11:01.720 and it was wild. She just kept listing ngo after NGO, 0:11:01.840 --> 0:11:09.200 organization after organization getting government money to help the humanitarian crisis, 0:11:09.760 --> 0:11:14.400 and in exchange for a future endorsement, Karen Bass was 0:11:14.400 --> 0:11:19.720 funding Unisses' little adventure. Well, we covered that on January sixth, 0:11:20.040 --> 0:11:23.000 and then January seventh, the fire started, so that story 0:11:23.080 --> 0:11:26.320 just kind of went to the back burner. But over 0:11:26.360 --> 0:11:29.000 the last year and a half we have had some 0:11:29.200 --> 0:11:35.240 very interesting developments with Unisses, Hernandez and the NGOs that 0:11:35.360 --> 0:11:38.480 she claims are the ones that really solving the problem 0:11:38.559 --> 0:11:43.440 in MacArthur Park. For one, one of those organizations is 0:11:43.520 --> 0:11:47.880 Homeless Healthcare Los Angeles, an organization that just got a 0:11:47.880 --> 0:11:50.920 big shout out from the Secretary of Housing and Urban 0:11:51.000 --> 0:11:55.480 Development for the federal government, Scott Turner, because this is 0:11:55.520 --> 0:11:58.440 the organization that gets paid in places like skid Row 0:11:59.160 --> 0:12:04.000 and In and MacArthur Park to pass out drug paraphernalia. 0:12:04.440 --> 0:12:08.679 They literally drive around in little golf carts and are 0:12:08.760 --> 0:12:14.000 passing out pipes and needles and foil and spoons and 0:12:14.040 --> 0:12:17.640 straws and as much weird experimenting as I did in 0:12:17.679 --> 0:12:19.840 my twenties. I don't know what the foil and the 0:12:19.880 --> 0:12:23.560 spoon is for. We pass out all that stuff. We 0:12:23.640 --> 0:12:26.440 literally make it easier for people to do the drugs. 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:31.840 We have needle distribution services out there, not needle exchange services, 0:12:32.240 --> 0:12:36.960 needle distribution services. And one of the things that was 0:12:37.040 --> 0:12:41.160 discovered during all of these raids that have been happening 0:12:41.280 --> 0:12:46.560 from the FBI, from Bill is Saley, from Nathan Hockman 0:12:46.640 --> 0:12:50.960 and the LAPD is quite a few times some of 0:12:51.000 --> 0:12:54.520 the people that were getting arrested worked for some of 0:12:54.559 --> 0:12:59.600 these NGOs, some of these nonprofits, some of the cogs 0:12:59.640 --> 0:13:05.840 and the homeless industrial complex in Los Angeles, including one 0:13:05.920 --> 0:13:08.280 guy who and don't quote me on this, I believe 0:13:08.320 --> 0:13:12.920 he worked for Healing Urban Barrios as an ambassador, and 0:13:12.960 --> 0:13:15.520 he was arrested for having even though he was supposed 0:13:15.520 --> 0:13:19.560 to be an ex gang member, having known gang member 0:13:19.679 --> 0:13:22.760 ties and may have been an active gang member, which 0:13:22.760 --> 0:13:25.800 shouldn't be too surprising. Let's not forget that the city 0:13:25.840 --> 0:13:29.920 of Los Angeles was paying a nonprofit for over a decade. 0:13:30.280 --> 0:13:32.640 So this was a Karen Bass thing, a Garcetti thing, 0:13:32.679 --> 0:13:37.319 and an Antonio Viragosa thing for a nonprofit that was 0:13:37.320 --> 0:13:40.760 supposed to steer kids away from the gang life. And 0:13:40.840 --> 0:13:44.520 it turns out that this youth football program was actually 0:13:44.600 --> 0:13:48.120 a front for a real life criminal gang. There was 0:13:48.160 --> 0:13:51.240 somebody who was supposed to be one of these needle 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:55.800 exchangers working for one of the nonprofits I believe it 0:13:55.960 --> 0:14:01.600 was for path AKA people assisting the homeless, and this 0:14:01.800 --> 0:14:05.719 person who was doing needle exchange in MacArthur Park was 0:14:05.840 --> 0:14:11.320 arrested for you guessed it, selling drugs in MacArthur Park. 0:14:12.280 --> 0:14:16.840 So unsses Hernandez can say all that she wants that 0:14:16.960 --> 0:14:20.080 what's really starting to push MacArthur Park in the right 0:14:20.160 --> 0:14:24.720 direction is all of her efforts and her programs. It 0:14:24.840 --> 0:14:29.080 seems like to me it's the enforcement that is changing 0:14:29.160 --> 0:14:31.760 the game in MacArthur Park. There's still a lot of 0:14:31.800 --> 0:14:35.400 work to do, but of anything, all the programs that 0:14:35.480 --> 0:14:39.960 Unisses put in there only exacerbated the problem because we 0:14:40.080 --> 0:14:44.120 still have people in elected office with the ideology that 0:14:44.640 --> 0:14:48.320 we need to meet people where they are, including when 0:14:48.320 --> 0:14:52.160 they are folded over on fentanyl, and offer them more 0:14:52.280 --> 0:14:56.520 drugs and make doing drugs easier so they'll trust us. 0:14:56.600 --> 0:14:59.040 And when they decide, even though they're not in their 0:14:59.120 --> 0:15:02.280 right mind and they've lost their mind to get clean, 0:15:02.920 --> 0:15:07.600 they'll do it with us. It is an insane ideology. 0:15:08.440 --> 0:15:14.040 But you know what, ultimately, the residents of Council District one, 0:15:14.120 --> 0:15:18.560 Highland Park, MacArthur Park, what have you. They have had 0:15:18.640 --> 0:15:23.000 four years of unices Hernandez and they outright voted her 0:15:23.160 --> 0:15:27.040 in the primary to stick around. So they must like 0:15:27.160 --> 0:15:32.160 what they're getting. It's the News Blitz with Randy Wang 0:15:32.600 --> 0:15:38.880 on Talk Radio seven ninety KABC. Last night, I was 0:15:39.160 --> 0:15:41.920 lucky enough to be invited by our friends at the 0:15:41.960 --> 0:15:46.800 Pantagious Theater in Broadway and Hollywood for opening night of 0:15:47.080 --> 0:15:51.040 Disney's Beauty and the Beast. It is playing now through 0:15:51.120 --> 0:15:56.120 September sixth, and you've got to go. This is a 0:15:56.520 --> 0:15:59.400 I've seen Beauty in the Beast on stage many times. 0:16:00.040 --> 0:16:02.640 This is one of the better productions I've ever seen 0:16:02.680 --> 0:16:06.920 of it. The costumes are solid, the performances are great, 0:16:07.280 --> 0:16:10.640 the choreography is very creative and a little different than 0:16:10.680 --> 0:16:12.600 I have seen in the past. And of course it 0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:16.080 is the tale as old as time. You know, I 0:16:16.120 --> 0:16:20.440 have a very special connection to specifically Beauty and the 0:16:20.440 --> 0:16:25.760 Beast on stage at the Pantagious Theater, because when I 0:16:25.880 --> 0:16:28.560 was going through a very strange time in my life 0:16:29.200 --> 0:16:31.560 twenty twelve, If you know my history, you know it 0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:34.560 was a weird year and I felt kind of lost. 0:16:34.920 --> 0:16:37.840 I would just got done with my weird party scene 0:16:37.880 --> 0:16:41.160 and go into raves and stuff, and you know, I was. 0:16:41.280 --> 0:16:44.160 I was trying to live a different kind of life. 0:16:44.640 --> 0:16:46.800 And a friend of mine invited me to go with 0:16:46.840 --> 0:16:50.400 her to see Beauty and the Beast at the Pantagious Theater. 0:16:50.520 --> 0:16:53.440 I had never been to a musical as an adult, 0:16:53.920 --> 0:16:56.600 didn't think that was my thing. And of course I 0:16:56.720 --> 0:16:58.840 knew the show. It was one of my favorite Disney 0:16:58.840 --> 0:17:01.760 movies growing up as a kid. I have distinct memories 0:17:01.840 --> 0:17:04.879 of that big clamshell VHS case that it used to 0:17:04.880 --> 0:17:07.880 come in and watching it on repeat over and over 0:17:07.960 --> 0:17:11.040 and over again, because that's what little kids do. But 0:17:11.600 --> 0:17:15.199 seeing it on stage, seeing the music saying, you know, 0:17:15.280 --> 0:17:17.639 listening to all of the songs that are only on 0:17:17.680 --> 0:17:20.240 the stage production that for some reason they didn't put 0:17:20.240 --> 0:17:22.960 in the movie remake even though they're fantastic, like if 0:17:23.000 --> 0:17:26.760 I can't Love Her. It was a and I use 0:17:26.880 --> 0:17:29.480 this term a lot back then, but it was a 0:17:29.520 --> 0:17:33.359 life changing experience because it exposed me to the natural 0:17:33.480 --> 0:17:36.240 high and the magic and the majesty of live theater 0:17:36.359 --> 0:17:39.200 and watching singing and dancing and all of this incredible 0:17:39.200 --> 0:17:42.120 stuff going on with the story that I knew very well, 0:17:42.160 --> 0:17:44.880 and it was very powerful, And I think that might 0:17:44.920 --> 0:17:46.919 be some of the reasons why, even though I have 0:17:47.000 --> 0:17:49.760 seen this story so many times and it's not necessarily 0:17:49.800 --> 0:17:53.560 a sad story, I kept like crying throughout the thing, 0:17:54.160 --> 0:17:58.159 like not a lot, but maybe just because it's so beautiful. 0:17:58.600 --> 0:18:01.239 But it was a really great time. I had a 0:18:01.320 --> 0:18:03.640 lot of fun seeing it last night with my wife, 0:18:04.040 --> 0:18:06.920 and we love the Pantagious Theater. I always love to 0:18:06.920 --> 0:18:09.640 give a little tip. If you get there early enough, 0:18:09.640 --> 0:18:13.399 there's a parking lot on Argyle and it's right behind 0:18:13.440 --> 0:18:16.080 the theater. It costs you a little more, but you'll 0:18:16.080 --> 0:18:19.880 get in and out right away. Not only that, make 0:18:19.920 --> 0:18:23.119 sure you get a cocktail at the bar, which now 0:18:23.480 --> 0:18:25.880 they give you sippy cups. You could take your drinks 0:18:25.880 --> 0:18:28.119 into the theater. They didn't used to let you do that. 0:18:28.680 --> 0:18:31.320 And the thing you gotta do is order your drinks 0:18:31.840 --> 0:18:34.520 and then pre order your drinks for intermission, so when 0:18:34.600 --> 0:18:37.199 intermission happens, you can run to the bathroom and then 0:18:37.240 --> 0:18:38.960 go over to the bar and you've already got your 0:18:38.960 --> 0:18:42.000 second round. Ready to go. But I had a blast. 0:18:42.200 --> 0:18:45.280 It was a great show and it's playing through September six. 0:18:45.359 --> 0:18:48.600 So bring your wife, bring your kids, bring the whole family. 0:18:49.080 --> 0:18:53.000 Broadwayanhollywood dot Com go see Beauty and the Beast. This 0:18:53.080 --> 0:18:56.080 is a wonderful production here for the next few weeks. 0:18:56.320 --> 0:19:01.159 All right, this is a very i would say, a 0:19:01.280 --> 0:19:06.040 very California story. But there are instances of this all 0:19:06.160 --> 0:19:12.119 across government, local government, state government, and even our current 0:19:12.200 --> 0:19:16.320 federal government. But for the most part, let's talk about 0:19:16.640 --> 0:19:23.480 something insane in local government. How exactly did a fence 0:19:24.240 --> 0:19:31.560 to protect a public library in Long Beach cost seven 0:19:32.520 --> 0:19:41.560 hundred thousand dollars? How is that possible for a fence? 0:19:43.040 --> 0:19:46.919 Why is it things that you kind of assume what 0:19:47.000 --> 0:19:50.960 they would cost. When you get through the government bidding process, 0:19:51.040 --> 0:19:53.679 whether there is a bid or a no bid, we 0:19:53.800 --> 0:19:58.440 get to insane numbers for things that should be so simple. 0:19:59.280 --> 0:20:02.800 A chain li fence to keep out the homeless from 0:20:02.840 --> 0:20:08.600 a library costs seven hundred grand. How is that possible? 0:20:09.440 --> 0:20:12.360 Let's find out. Here's NBCLA. 0:20:12.400 --> 0:20:13.080 It is one of the. 0:20:13.000 --> 0:20:16.280 Most controversial projects in Long Beach, A fence around the 0:20:16.280 --> 0:20:19.159 Billy Jean King Maine Library. According to the city, the 0:20:19.200 --> 0:20:21.960 fence was needed to keep the area safe and clear 0:20:22.040 --> 0:20:27.160 of homeless encampments. It costs taxpayers almost eight hundred thousand dollars. 0:20:27.040 --> 0:20:31.720 For a fence, because you know, we can't just arrest 0:20:31.800 --> 0:20:34.280 the homeless that are doing things they're not supposed to 0:20:34.480 --> 0:20:37.720 outside the library or in the library. We need to 0:20:37.760 --> 0:20:45.240 build a massive fence that costs nearly eight hundred thousand dollars. 0:20:45.480 --> 0:20:49.280 A public record is obtained by NBC four investigates show 0:20:49.440 --> 0:20:53.520 the documented cost to build the fence was significantly less. 0:20:53.880 --> 0:20:58.400 In NBC four's McCallum medinos following the money, the city. 0:20:58.200 --> 0:21:00.720 At Longbe says it's spent nearly seven hundred and ninety 0:21:00.720 --> 0:21:02.720 thousand dollars on this fence behind me. 0:21:02.840 --> 0:21:05.840 But these records, well, I'm seeing the fence on the 0:21:05.920 --> 0:21:08.280 video here from NBC four, and you can check out 0:21:08.320 --> 0:21:11.119 this video at Randy Wangradio dot substack dot com or 0:21:11.119 --> 0:21:15.320 go to nbcla's YouTube page. It doesn't look that fancy, 0:21:15.359 --> 0:21:17.560 you know what. It kind of looks like it kind 0:21:17.560 --> 0:21:21.600 of looks like the same material that my dog's crate 0:21:21.880 --> 0:21:25.240 is made of. You know, it looks like it's just 0:21:25.359 --> 0:21:28.359 metal bars and there's probably some doors. You know, what 0:21:28.359 --> 0:21:30.760 they should have done is they should have just called 0:21:30.760 --> 0:21:33.040 the people that make those crates and have them make 0:21:33.080 --> 0:21:34.160 a really big one. 0:21:34.840 --> 0:21:39.240 It's obtained by NBC four investigator show building the fence, labor, construction, 0:21:39.320 --> 0:21:42.119 and materials actually costs half that price. 0:21:42.240 --> 0:21:45.480 So where did even four hundred thousand dollars seems a 0:21:45.480 --> 0:21:47.800 lot for a fence. 0:21:48.200 --> 0:21:50.920 Hundreds of thousands of dollars go? Well, that is a 0:21:51.040 --> 0:21:53.480 question a lot of neighbors are asking, as they plead 0:21:53.480 --> 0:21:56.160 with the city now to keep library services open. 0:21:56.560 --> 0:21:58.800 By the way, this is in downtown Long Beach, which 0:21:58.840 --> 0:22:01.240 is just one of the most beautifull parts of the county. 0:22:01.320 --> 0:22:02.960 We've been lucky enough to do a lot of events 0:22:02.960 --> 0:22:05.120 there with our friends at Gladstone's, and we're doing another 0:22:05.160 --> 0:22:11.359 one in October. Um that fence is hella ugly and 0:22:11.400 --> 0:22:11.880 I'm just. 0:22:11.880 --> 0:22:15.480 Asking you please don't cut our hours and don't cut 0:22:15.480 --> 0:22:16.200 our home please. 0:22:16.320 --> 0:22:18.679 Wan Beach neighbor Emerly Quest says the library is a 0:22:18.720 --> 0:22:20.520 critical safe space for her and others. 0:22:20.600 --> 0:22:22.000 We're not asking for a lot. 0:22:22.119 --> 0:22:25.080 A city leader's debate where to cut spending, NBC four 0:22:25.080 --> 0:22:27.760 investigates took a closer look at one of the city's 0:22:27.760 --> 0:22:32.119 biggest recent library expenses, the downtown Billy Jing King Library fence. 0:22:32.240 --> 0:22:34.480 The city says it was installed to create a safer 0:22:34.520 --> 0:22:37.560 space for events on an outdoor terrace often crowded with 0:22:37.600 --> 0:22:38.800 homeless encampments. 0:22:39.920 --> 0:22:43.359 Come on, Rex, what are you doing here? Instead of 0:22:43.400 --> 0:22:46.040 clearing the encampments, We've got to build a giant fence 0:22:46.080 --> 0:22:50.120 to keep the encampments out. And the fence cost over 0:22:50.240 --> 0:22:51.720 half a million dollars. 0:22:52.000 --> 0:22:55.560 Prize take to taxpayers seven hundred and ninety thousand dollars. 0:22:55.640 --> 0:22:57.879 When the fence opened up back in May, one question 0:22:58.040 --> 0:22:59.120 immediately stood out. 0:22:59.160 --> 0:23:01.800 We asked it, this is a metal fence that I 0:23:01.920 --> 0:23:04.760 swear I'm gonna say it again. It looks like a 0:23:04.800 --> 0:23:05.440 dog crate. 0:23:06.080 --> 0:23:07.920 You manage your tom MODI. There could have been a 0:23:08.000 --> 0:23:08.840 cheaper way to do this. 0:23:08.960 --> 0:23:09.520 I don't think so. 0:23:09.680 --> 0:23:10.240 This is no. 0:23:10.359 --> 0:23:12.200 This is the This is we You know, we pay 0:23:12.240 --> 0:23:14.040 a lot of attention to that we do this as 0:23:14.320 --> 0:23:15.560 cost effectively as possible. 0:23:16.920 --> 0:23:19.440 I don't know about that. I don't know if it's 0:23:19.760 --> 0:23:23.360 and sometimes it's just sheer incompetence or we don't care 0:23:23.440 --> 0:23:27.480 because it's not our money, it's your money, or who 0:23:27.520 --> 0:23:31.320 got the contract, who got the bid, Who got all 0:23:31.359 --> 0:23:34.199 of this money to do a very simple job. It 0:23:34.200 --> 0:23:36.560 doesn't even look like that heavy of a material for 0:23:36.640 --> 0:23:40.520 a fence. It's just metal bars. Did I mention it's 0:23:40.520 --> 0:23:41.200 hella ugly. 0:23:41.440 --> 0:23:43.320 Rox Richardson defended the price too. 0:23:43.400 --> 0:23:45.520 These are not normal fences you can put up in 0:23:45.560 --> 0:23:47.439 your house. They have to be able to open up 0:23:47.520 --> 0:23:48.640 if there's an emergency or. 0:23:48.920 --> 0:23:51.200 You mean, so the fence has to have a door 0:23:51.920 --> 0:23:55.600 like once again, my dog crate. 0:23:57.560 --> 0:23:57.879 Fire. 0:23:58.119 --> 0:23:59.840 This is not your typical face. 0:24:00.040 --> 0:24:03.439 This guy is uniquely terrible. There's a lot of terrible 0:24:03.440 --> 0:24:06.200 mayors in Los Angeles County, Karen Bass being the worst 0:24:06.280 --> 0:24:09.960 of them, but Rex Richardson is pretty damn awful. 0:24:10.200 --> 0:24:11.800 We have to make sure that everything is safe and 0:24:11.840 --> 0:24:14.760 design well, so that's all I have to say on that. 0:24:14.960 --> 0:24:16.760 So we followed the money the record. 0:24:16.840 --> 0:24:19.760 They must hate McCallum Medina because he's like the beat 0:24:19.800 --> 0:24:22.840 reporter for Long Beach. He does so much stuff in 0:24:22.880 --> 0:24:25.600 Long Beach and most other places. They don't have the 0:24:26.240 --> 0:24:28.639 staffing to cover all these other cities that are not 0:24:28.760 --> 0:24:31.879 Los Angeles, but Long Beach is a big city. 0:24:32.080 --> 0:24:35.159 The NBC four investigates obtained through a public records request, 0:24:35.359 --> 0:24:37.879 show quality fence out of paramount was hired. 0:24:38.160 --> 0:24:40.800 What a name quality fence company? 0:24:40.880 --> 0:24:44.239