1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:03,000 Speaker 1: It is the News Blitz with Randy Wang on Talk 2 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:08,760 Speaker 1: Radio seven ninety KABC. Let's get into today's California Report 3 00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:13,880 Speaker 1: at Randywangradio dot substack dot com. And in fact, before 4 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:16,160 Speaker 1: we even get to today's news, I get to give 5 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:19,079 Speaker 1: you the greatest update ever of a story we covered 6 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:22,640 Speaker 1: a few weeks ago. We told you about Julie Watts, 7 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:26,440 Speaker 1: the incredible investigative reporter at CBS Sacramento, and her piece 8 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:30,440 Speaker 1: about the website where you can claim money that the 9 00:00:30,520 --> 00:00:35,120 Speaker 1: state owes you. The website is claim it dot c 10 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:39,720 Speaker 1: dot gov. So we did the story because what Julie 11 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:42,920 Speaker 1: wanted to figure out was if the state owes a 12 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:45,479 Speaker 1: whole bunch of people money, why don't they just automatically 13 00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:48,080 Speaker 1: send you a check. Well, they don't do that, but 14 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:50,640 Speaker 1: they do put all of the money that you are 15 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:53,080 Speaker 1: owed on this website and you can look it up, 16 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:56,720 Speaker 1: look up your name, look up your old addresses, and 17 00:00:56,800 --> 00:00:59,880 Speaker 1: you can file a claim and say, hey, that's my money. 18 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:04,080 Speaker 1: I want that money. So we do the story on 19 00:01:04,120 --> 00:01:06,680 Speaker 1: this show. We do the story on the John Phillips Show, 20 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:09,559 Speaker 1: And while we're doing the story, I'm on the website 21 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:13,000 Speaker 1: checking it out again. That website everyone should look at 22 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:16,319 Speaker 1: it when they have free time is claim it dot 23 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:20,480 Speaker 1: CA dot gov. And I type in my name, which 24 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:23,880 Speaker 1: you know, I have a very very very common name. 25 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:27,000 Speaker 1: So I had to do a little digging, and at 26 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:29,800 Speaker 1: first I didn't think I found anything, but that's because 27 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:32,840 Speaker 1: I was searching for things with my current address. And 28 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:35,240 Speaker 1: this is where a lot of this lost property is. 29 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:38,360 Speaker 1: It's in checks that probably went to you, but you 30 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:43,200 Speaker 1: don't live there anymore. So I looked up my apartment 31 00:01:43,240 --> 00:01:46,640 Speaker 1: in Resita, so if there was anything there, looked up 32 00:01:46,680 --> 00:01:48,960 Speaker 1: the house that I rented in Burbank, see if there 33 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:52,520 Speaker 1: was anything in there. Looked up my dinky little apartment 34 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:55,800 Speaker 1: in Valley Village on Kling Street, see if it was 35 00:01:55,840 --> 00:02:00,520 Speaker 1: anything there. And I happened to find a whole bunch 36 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:02,960 Speaker 1: of stuff from when I lived in Burbank. And it 37 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:06,880 Speaker 1: was like, you know, some kind of insurance premium refund. 38 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:07,280 Speaker 2: I don't know. 39 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:09,680 Speaker 1: I didn't know what half the stuff was. One was 40 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:13,120 Speaker 1: like some you know, like class action lawsuit from Uber 41 00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:15,560 Speaker 1: that I would get a dollar for, but there were 42 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:19,800 Speaker 1: more than a few that had some legitimate things on there. 43 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:23,680 Speaker 1: It was like whoa that that? That's like real right there. 44 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:28,200 Speaker 1: That's a thing like So for instance, there was two 45 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:32,160 Speaker 1: hundred dollars in a Kaiser thing, which must have been 46 00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:36,560 Speaker 1: some kind of insurance premium refund, and there was another 47 00:02:36,560 --> 00:02:39,400 Speaker 1: one for forty five dollars from an insurance thing, and 48 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:42,040 Speaker 1: another one for twenty eight dollars from an insurance thing. 49 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:46,639 Speaker 1: I ended up finding two hundred and ninety seven dollars 50 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:49,760 Speaker 1: and eighteen cents worth of things that were owed to 51 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:52,959 Speaker 1: me that apparently we're going to an address I hadn't 52 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:58,320 Speaker 1: lived in in over ten years. So on March twelfth, 53 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:03,200 Speaker 1: I filed the claim on the website. On March eighteenth, 54 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:07,280 Speaker 1: I got an email from Malia Cohen, the State Controller's office, 55 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:12,200 Speaker 1: saying that your claim has been approved. And I can 56 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:18,560 Speaker 1: proudly say that on Monday, March thirtieth, I got the check. 57 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:23,280 Speaker 1: I am in shock that it worked that quickly, but 58 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:27,080 Speaker 1: the check went to my mailbox today. I will be 59 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:32,440 Speaker 1: depositing it in the bank tomorrow. Three hundred dollars nearly. 60 00:03:32,639 --> 00:03:34,800 Speaker 1: I mean, it's two ninety seven, but let's round up. 61 00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:39,520 Speaker 1: Three hundred dollars owed to me that I didn't even 62 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:43,040 Speaker 1: know was owed to me. I got back, So it 63 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:46,920 Speaker 1: really really really works. I got to thank Julie Watts. 64 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:48,760 Speaker 1: I just sent her an email thanking her. I sent 65 00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:50,560 Speaker 1: her a picture of the check, but I know put 66 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:53,480 Speaker 1: my finger over the name in the address. But I 67 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:57,400 Speaker 1: think that's so cool. It definitely should be something where 68 00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:00,520 Speaker 1: the state automatically figures out a way to send that 69 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:04,800 Speaker 1: to you. But it works. So look it up for yourself. 70 00:04:05,080 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: And if you get success. If you see something that's 71 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:09,600 Speaker 1: owed to you and you file a claim and you 72 00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:12,080 Speaker 1: get a check, let us know about it. So we 73 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:14,880 Speaker 1: spread the word. If you've got money that's owed to you, 74 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:16,960 Speaker 1: we want to make sure that you get that money. 75 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:21,800 Speaker 1: Claim it dot CA, dot gov. Well, it wasn't the 76 00:04:21,839 --> 00:04:25,000 Speaker 1: only correspondence I got with money that might be owed 77 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:29,200 Speaker 1: to me. And I don't know how much I should 78 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:32,680 Speaker 1: get into this, But I don't know how much you 79 00:04:32,760 --> 00:04:35,440 Speaker 1: know about my pre radio history. You know, this is 80 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:39,200 Speaker 1: my twentieth year in broadcast radio and I've done it 81 00:04:39,240 --> 00:04:42,080 Speaker 1: all in Los Angeles. I've worked at KABC for the 82 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:44,760 Speaker 1: last thirteen years. It was at KFI for a couple 83 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:48,360 Speaker 1: of years, and I was at KLSX before that. Before 84 00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:53,000 Speaker 1: I got into radio. Let's just say I wasn't sure 85 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:57,080 Speaker 1: what I was doing with my life and I and 86 00:04:57,120 --> 00:05:01,480 Speaker 1: I don't remember whose idea it was, but my parents 87 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:05,000 Speaker 1: told me I had to go to college. Community college 88 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:07,640 Speaker 1: just really wasn't cutting it for me. I wasn't sure 89 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:10,799 Speaker 1: what I was going to do. And let's just say 90 00:05:10,839 --> 00:05:13,440 Speaker 1: that for some reason, I thought it would be a 91 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:16,880 Speaker 1: good idea to go to one of those technical schools 92 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:21,040 Speaker 1: that you see advertised on the TV, you know, like 93 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:23,600 Speaker 1: the ones that air in every commercial break when you're 94 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:26,479 Speaker 1: watching the Mary Povid Show, because you don't have anything 95 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:30,760 Speaker 1: to do with your time. And I went to one 96 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:37,560 Speaker 1: of those schools. The education was obviously subpar and incredibly expensive, 97 00:05:38,200 --> 00:05:41,520 Speaker 1: and I was so embarrassed when I graduated from that program. 98 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:44,200 Speaker 1: I never ever ever told any of the jobs that 99 00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:46,359 Speaker 1: I applied for since then that I even had a 100 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:53,120 Speaker 1: college degree. Well, a few years later, that college was 101 00:05:53,279 --> 00:05:57,000 Speaker 1: broken up by the Department of Education for you know, 102 00:05:57,480 --> 00:06:02,520 Speaker 1: scamming people and known better. But I owe and by 103 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:05,719 Speaker 1: the way, I still owe like one thousand dollars on 104 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:10,080 Speaker 1: this student loan that I took out in two thousand 105 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:13,880 Speaker 1: and four, two thousand and five, I probably I don't 106 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:16,320 Speaker 1: remember how much my parents paid, but I paid at 107 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:22,240 Speaker 1: least ten twelve fifteen thousand dollars for a garbage, fake degree. 108 00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:27,240 Speaker 1: Since twenty twenty one, I've been getting emails that because 109 00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:31,280 Speaker 1: this was, you know, a school that wasn't really accredited 110 00:06:31,320 --> 00:06:35,200 Speaker 1: even though they said they were accredited, that technically they're 111 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:38,880 Speaker 1: in a long, year's long fight with the Department of 112 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:43,480 Speaker 1: Education to you know, since those loans are backed by 113 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:46,839 Speaker 1: the federal government, have the federal government pay you back 114 00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:50,800 Speaker 1: for those lumps. Well, I got an email today that 115 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:57,080 Speaker 1: apparently this is still moving so slowly, but it's still moving. 116 00:06:57,640 --> 00:07:02,560 Speaker 1: I submitted a borrower defense to repayment discharge application in 117 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:06,119 Speaker 1: June of twenty twenty two, and apparently they are still 118 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:08,680 Speaker 1: working on it, and either one of two things is 119 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:12,840 Speaker 1: going to happen. They will discharge the one thousand dollars 120 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:14,760 Speaker 1: that I have left on a student loan, which since 121 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:17,280 Speaker 1: twenty twenty two they said, don't pay it because it's 122 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:24,000 Speaker 1: probably going to get discharged, or they will refund any 123 00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:30,800 Speaker 1: payments made for the student loans, including relevant federal student 124 00:07:30,840 --> 00:07:34,400 Speaker 1: loan debt that you previously paid off. So if that 125 00:07:34,520 --> 00:07:37,320 Speaker 1: ever happens, and I don't know if it will, these 126 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:41,680 Speaker 1: things move as slow as molasses. But can you imagine 127 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:44,960 Speaker 1: that where just one day I get a check in 128 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:48,119 Speaker 1: the mail for like ten thousand dollars that I spent 129 00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:50,760 Speaker 1: over years and years and years, and that student loan 130 00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:55,200 Speaker 1: was not cheap. So I'll keep you posted, but it 131 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:59,080 Speaker 1: was interesting that I got correspondence. According to the letter 132 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:02,240 Speaker 1: that I got, they sent me a notice because it 133 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:06,800 Speaker 1: has not been adjudicated by January of twenty twenty six, 134 00:08:07,400 --> 00:08:11,520 Speaker 1: but because they're still in this ongoing litigation, apparently if 135 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:14,440 Speaker 1: they can't figure this out within a year, they might 136 00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:18,360 Speaker 1: just send me a check. So if that happens, hooray 137 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:22,840 Speaker 1: for me. All Right, I've been stalling for a reason. 138 00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:29,400 Speaker 1: The top story on today's California Report is it is upsetting. 139 00:08:31,080 --> 00:08:34,560 Speaker 1: Matthew Seedorf, the star reporter at Fox eleven, for a 140 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:38,880 Speaker 1: week now, has been covering this absolute tragedy in South 141 00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:42,800 Speaker 1: Los Angeles. Everyone has seen the images now of the 142 00:08:42,840 --> 00:08:46,160 Speaker 1: woman that was living in the sewer well. Over the weekend, 143 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:49,880 Speaker 1: Matthew Sedorf posted an update, and this is where this 144 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:54,080 Speaker 1: story goes from shocking and outrage to just straight up heartbreaking. 145 00:08:55,800 --> 00:09:01,200 Speaker 1: The woman's been identified, apparently her name is Jamila Robinson 146 00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:05,360 Speaker 1: and her family saw the news reports and said, oh 147 00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:10,040 Speaker 1: that's my sister, Oh that's my daughter, And what do 148 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:14,920 Speaker 1: you know, it's the same old, horrific story. This was 149 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:18,680 Speaker 1: a young woman apparently wanted to be a singer, got 150 00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:22,160 Speaker 1: in with the wrong crowd, got addicted to drugs. Her 151 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:26,040 Speaker 1: family has tried everything they could to help her. They 152 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:28,360 Speaker 1: have tried everything they could to get her into some 153 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:30,800 Speaker 1: kind of help, get her into some kind of rehab. 154 00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:36,000 Speaker 1: But it's California, and she can say no. And even 155 00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:38,360 Speaker 1: after being forced out of the storm drain, when she's 156 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:42,600 Speaker 1: offered help, she's still saying no. And you can see 157 00:09:42,640 --> 00:09:45,960 Speaker 1: just how devastated the mother and the sister are. And 158 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:49,360 Speaker 1: apparently this woman is a mother of three, so I'm 159 00:09:49,400 --> 00:09:52,160 Speaker 1: guessing one of the relatives is taking care of the children. 160 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:57,760 Speaker 1: But it is just with all the things, you know, 161 00:09:57,800 --> 00:10:00,600 Speaker 1: this is where you know a lot of politics is 162 00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:03,040 Speaker 1: all discussed in the macro and that these are the 163 00:10:03,040 --> 00:10:05,640 Speaker 1: policies that we want to see change. Here's what I 164 00:10:05,640 --> 00:10:08,480 Speaker 1: want to see because it is a great case study 165 00:10:08,520 --> 00:10:10,640 Speaker 1: and something that everyone I think is on the same 166 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:15,120 Speaker 1: page with. I would hope, even with our pathetic leaders, 167 00:10:15,520 --> 00:10:17,800 Speaker 1: you would think that everyone should be on the same 168 00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:21,840 Speaker 1: page that this woman obviously cannot make decisions for herself. 169 00:10:22,440 --> 00:10:25,120 Speaker 1: She needs to be taken care of, and we can't 170 00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:28,079 Speaker 1: wait for her to say yes, because that doesn't make 171 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:33,680 Speaker 1: any sense. So with everything that Gavin has said about 172 00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:37,199 Speaker 1: his reforms to the Mental Health Services Act through prop One, 173 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:39,880 Speaker 1: his reforms to the thing he's called care Court, which 174 00:10:39,880 --> 00:10:43,360 Speaker 1: is now online in Los Angeles County, the reforms to 175 00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:47,520 Speaker 1: the conservatorship laws the Lantermann Petris Act. Again, I hate 176 00:10:47,520 --> 00:10:51,040 Speaker 1: to point this out in his example, but we were 177 00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:55,000 Speaker 1: able to put Britney Spears under conservatorship. Why can't we 178 00:10:55,120 --> 00:10:58,880 Speaker 1: do it for this woman with care Court. So look, 179 00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:00,959 Speaker 1: this is what I want to see, use a gavinism 180 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:04,000 Speaker 1: a proof point. Karen Bass, you say you care about 181 00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:06,880 Speaker 1: getting the homeless off the street, including the mentally addicted, 182 00:11:06,960 --> 00:11:10,800 Speaker 1: including the mentally ill. Gavin Newsom, you say that care 183 00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:14,360 Speaker 1: Court's a game changer. Get out there right now, get 184 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:17,679 Speaker 1: all your top people. Let's try to just turn this 185 00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:23,920 Speaker 1: one woman's story around. Because if that doesn't happen, I'm 186 00:11:23,960 --> 00:11:27,559 Speaker 1: having a real hard time buying any of the nonsense 187 00:11:27,679 --> 00:11:30,920 Speaker 1: that all these programs are working. They're just not being 188 00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:34,240 Speaker 1: implemented at scale. Show me that you can save this 189 00:11:34,280 --> 00:11:39,040 Speaker 1: one person from going back into the sewers, because she 190 00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:43,439 Speaker 1: obviously can't make these decisions for herself. So we really 191 00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:47,520 Speaker 1: really really need to just stop. I mean, and if 192 00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:50,520 Speaker 1: there are problems, let's be open and honest with them. 193 00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:52,320 Speaker 1: As much as Gavin loves to say that, you know 194 00:11:52,360 --> 00:11:55,000 Speaker 1: he's got an entrepreneurial mindset and he likes to iterate, 195 00:11:55,440 --> 00:11:59,400 Speaker 1: he gets incredibly defensive when his programs aren't working the 196 00:11:59,440 --> 00:12:02,960 Speaker 1: way as in and if it's the county that's holding 197 00:12:02,960 --> 00:12:05,600 Speaker 1: them up, call them out. He did do that recently 198 00:12:05,640 --> 00:12:07,400 Speaker 1: when it comes to LA County when it comes to 199 00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:10,520 Speaker 1: building housing, specifically the city of La and rejecting SB 200 00:12:10,600 --> 00:12:14,880 Speaker 1: seventy nine. But I want to know every single reason 201 00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:18,320 Speaker 1: that we can't help this woman. It should be documented, 202 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:20,280 Speaker 1: and this should be the case study because people are 203 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:24,719 Speaker 1: paying attention and I cannot. Now that we know her 204 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:28,280 Speaker 1: name and we know her family, we know her story, 205 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:32,360 Speaker 1: just letting this one go is not enough. Can we 206 00:12:32,400 --> 00:12:35,480 Speaker 1: all just work together for once and try to stop 207 00:12:35,559 --> 00:12:39,840 Speaker 1: this one person from continuing this obvious life of torture 208 00:12:39,880 --> 00:12:44,360 Speaker 1: and misery. Now, in an update to a story we 209 00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:47,920 Speaker 1: told you the other day over the weekend. The election 210 00:12:48,400 --> 00:12:53,560 Speaker 1: fraud investigation brought forth by Riverside County Sheriff and gubernatorial 211 00:12:53,679 --> 00:12:58,440 Speaker 1: candidate Chad Bianco, has been shut down and delayed by 212 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:02,640 Speaker 1: lawsuits and court files. Chad Bianco says this is all 213 00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:05,880 Speaker 1: just politics that they want to shut this down. But 214 00:13:06,679 --> 00:13:09,600 Speaker 1: and again, I just can I can only be honest 215 00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:12,880 Speaker 1: with you. I can see what I see here. I'm 216 00:13:12,880 --> 00:13:16,480 Speaker 1: going to call balls, I'm going to call strikes. What 217 00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:22,680 Speaker 1: Bianco's doing is overtly political. What he is doing may 218 00:13:22,800 --> 00:13:26,680 Speaker 1: he may claim it's in the his capacity as the sheriff, 219 00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:30,000 Speaker 1: but this is him trying to appeal to a certain 220 00:13:30,080 --> 00:13:33,160 Speaker 1: base as we get closer and closer to the primary. 221 00:13:33,720 --> 00:13:36,680 Speaker 1: And I don't really understand the base you're going after here, 222 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:40,480 Speaker 1: because the people that truly believe that all of our 223 00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:44,240 Speaker 1: elections are flaudulent, including Prop fifty, which won by a 224 00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:48,560 Speaker 1: landslide in every single county, those people are not going 225 00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:53,440 Speaker 1: to vote in June. And I just I don't understand it. 226 00:13:54,080 --> 00:14:00,360 Speaker 1: But I really, really, really think that Bianco could should 227 00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:03,520 Speaker 1: do better, like you don't need to win this way. 228 00:14:03,559 --> 00:14:06,040 Speaker 1: And here's the most irritating part of the story that 229 00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:10,480 Speaker 1: was on here is that CBSLA has been covering this, 230 00:14:10,600 --> 00:14:12,800 Speaker 1: you know, it's made a lot of news, and they 231 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:15,440 Speaker 1: wanted to have Bianco on for an interview so he 232 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:18,800 Speaker 1: could explain where he's coming from. What is this citizens group, 233 00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:22,480 Speaker 1: what's the discrepancy they found that the registrar says they 234 00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:24,360 Speaker 1: don't really know what they're talking about because they don't 235 00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:28,360 Speaker 1: actually have the data. Regardless, and he declined he didn't 236 00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:31,760 Speaker 1: do that interview. Maybe he was busy, but what did 237 00:14:31,760 --> 00:14:37,160 Speaker 1: he do this weekend? He goes on Lyndell TV the 238 00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:41,760 Speaker 1: I don't the YouTube rumble channel for the my Pillow guy. 239 00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:46,240 Speaker 1: And this is where I have lost a lot of 240 00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:50,160 Speaker 1: credibility when it comes to Bianco. Might be great on 241 00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:55,520 Speaker 1: law enforcement, great as a sheriff, but this incredibly political ploy. 242 00:14:56,240 --> 00:14:59,120 Speaker 1: I'm not buying it, and I find it to be 243 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:03,320 Speaker 1: kind of pathetic. You are totally welcome to disagree with me. 244 00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:08,800 Speaker 1: But I look at this and I see a desperate 245 00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:14,560 Speaker 1: attention grab something to rile up a base that doesn't 246 00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:18,720 Speaker 1: vote anyway because they don't trust the elections. So there 247 00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:21,440 Speaker 1: you go. Do we have fraud in our system? Yes, 248 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:23,880 Speaker 1: when it comes to this ballot collection stuff and what 249 00:15:23,920 --> 00:15:28,440 Speaker 1: we're discovering that JJ discovered up in San Francisco. Yeah, 250 00:15:28,520 --> 00:15:32,080 Speaker 1: there's some real interesting stuff going on with signing people's 251 00:15:32,080 --> 00:15:34,960 Speaker 1: fake signatures when it comes to getting stuff on the ballot. 252 00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:40,360 Speaker 1: But you're telling me that you add fifty thousand illegal 253 00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:43,480 Speaker 1: votes in Riverside County and everyone's just keeping that a secret. 254 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:48,400 Speaker 1: That's just that's not possible. This government is too incompetent 255 00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:52,800 Speaker 1: to be that crooked. So you do what you want 256 00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:55,320 Speaker 1: with that. I can only be honest about how I 257 00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:59,520 Speaker 1: feel about it now. I have been talking for a 258 00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:04,640 Speaker 1: very long long time about the homelessness crisis in my backyard. 259 00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:07,320 Speaker 1: This pulvvit a basin where they want to have Olympic 260 00:16:07,320 --> 00:16:10,400 Speaker 1: events in a couple of years. Well, because of all 261 00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:13,440 Speaker 1: the bad press and the fires, they finally started doing 262 00:16:13,440 --> 00:16:15,520 Speaker 1: what they can to clear out the PULVT a basin. 263 00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:18,720 Speaker 1: But what happens, Well, all the people that were living 264 00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:22,040 Speaker 1: in the basin, they have moved their RVs to Burbank 265 00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:25,440 Speaker 1: Boulevard near the four or five freeway, which I don't 266 00:16:25,520 --> 00:16:28,800 Speaker 1: understand because I thought the whole point of closing the 267 00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:31,680 Speaker 1: Metro parking ride lot at Victory in Balboa was to 268 00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:34,120 Speaker 1: put all the RVs there, So why are there any 269 00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:38,360 Speaker 1: RVs on Burbank Boulevard. It just goes to show you 270 00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:41,640 Speaker 1: the system is still a mess and the people in 271 00:16:41,760 --> 00:16:46,080 Speaker 1: charge either really can't do anything or they just don't 272 00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:50,360 Speaker 1: care enough, because Karen Bass's homeless initiatives have been a 273 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:53,800 Speaker 1: complete failure in every member of the city council as well. 274 00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:56,440 Speaker 1: By the way, this is Nitia's district. It's right on 275 00:16:56,440 --> 00:16:59,240 Speaker 1: the line of Ammelda A Nithia, So Nythia, even with 276 00:16:59,360 --> 00:17:02,400 Speaker 1: her still going a surge in the polls today, she 277 00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:07,720 Speaker 1: has also been a complete disaster on homelessness. Now we 278 00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:12,760 Speaker 1: are just a few weeks away from the possible LAUSD strike, 279 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:18,440 Speaker 1: and once again another bad headline for LAUSD, as Hawkman's 280 00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:22,679 Speaker 1: office put forth charges of a former LAUSD employee accused 281 00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:27,400 Speaker 1: of laundering twenty two million dollars in some crooked tech contract. 282 00:17:28,040 --> 00:17:30,000 Speaker 1: And the more and more and more you have stories 283 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:33,560 Speaker 1: like this what happened with Carvallo, who's still on administrative leave, 284 00:17:34,080 --> 00:17:40,040 Speaker 1: the more it seems like that even though the teachers' 285 00:17:40,119 --> 00:17:43,640 Speaker 1: union wants deals that the district cannot afford. Well, no, 286 00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:47,919 Speaker 1: it is true, because we're seeing it right here this district. 287 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:52,800 Speaker 1: The largest district in the West Coast, largest district in 288 00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:57,360 Speaker 1: California's second largest district in the nation, is wasting all 289 00:17:57,520 --> 00:18:01,120 Speaker 1: kinds of money that's not going towards infant structure, that's 290 00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:04,480 Speaker 1: not going towards students, and it's not going towards the teachers. 291 00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:08,680 Speaker 1: So of anything, all these stories definitely have increased Cecily 292 00:18:08,800 --> 00:18:12,399 Speaker 1: mayerk Cruz's cards that she can play hold the line. 293 00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:17,920 Speaker 1: And finally, there's a story out of San Gabriel, which 294 00:18:18,119 --> 00:18:20,000 Speaker 1: the one thing you probably know about the city of 295 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:24,440 Speaker 1: San Gabriel is it's known for its authentic Chinese food. Well, 296 00:18:24,520 --> 00:18:29,560 Speaker 1: apparently there is an authentic Taiwanese restaurant in San Gabriel 297 00:18:30,119 --> 00:18:34,639 Speaker 1: and they have been asked by the locals there, immigrants 298 00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:39,600 Speaker 1: from Taiwan, to serve their favorite dish, something that translates 299 00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:45,040 Speaker 1: to stinky tofu, And apparently they love the stinky tofu. 300 00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:48,359 Speaker 1: But you know who doesn't love the stinky tofu? A 301 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:51,720 Speaker 1: neighbor who complained about the stench, so the city shut 302 00:18:51,800 --> 00:18:54,280 Speaker 1: them down. Then they said, okay, how about we just 303 00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:56,480 Speaker 1: serve the stinky tofu once a week and they said, no, 304 00:18:57,560 --> 00:18:59,800 Speaker 1: you need to spend one hundred thousand dollars on an 305 00:18:59,840 --> 00:19:03,280 Speaker 1: air filter system, so nobody can smell your stinky tofu, 306 00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:05,760 Speaker 1: and they're not even sure if that would one hundred 307 00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:09,560 Speaker 1: percent work. So right now the answer is no stinky 308 00:19:09,720 --> 00:19:14,399 Speaker 1: tofu for anybody, even though there are other Taiwanese restaurants 309 00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:17,879 Speaker 1: that are serving stinky tofu. The moral of the story 310 00:19:18,119 --> 00:19:22,560 Speaker 1: is I've never had stinky tofu, and I'm curious. I 311 00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:25,399 Speaker 1: ate a Durian and that's the stinkiest fruit in the world, 312 00:19:25,720 --> 00:19:28,480 Speaker 1: so I want to try some stinky tofu. There's a 313 00:19:28,560 --> 00:19:31,280 Speaker 1: lot more in it, but that's today's news. That's Today's 314 00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:35,800 Speaker 1: California Report at Randywangradio dot substack dot com. It's the 315 00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:39,000 Speaker 1: News Blitz with Randy Wang on KABC. It's the News 316 00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:43,639 Speaker 1: Blitz with Randy Wang on KABC. You know, you might 317 00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:46,080 Speaker 1: not get a chance to be in the car every 318 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:49,840 Speaker 1: single day at five o'clock. Maybe you get a meeting, 319 00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:53,040 Speaker 1: maybe you get a phone call, maybe you want to 320 00:19:53,080 --> 00:19:56,439 Speaker 1: figure out what you missed. Well, I post every single 321 00:19:56,560 --> 00:19:59,280 Speaker 1: news blitz that we do, which includes the interviews that 322 00:19:59,359 --> 00:20:02,080 Speaker 1: we do and California Report and all the fun stuff 323 00:20:02,119 --> 00:20:04,880 Speaker 1: that we do as a podcast, and I would love 324 00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:08,240 Speaker 1: it If you subscribe, you could search for the KABC 325 00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:11,480 Speaker 1: News Blitz wherever you get your podcasts. That could be 326 00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:17,240 Speaker 1: the Apple podcast app. iHeart Spotify, search for the News Blitz, 327 00:20:17,520 --> 00:20:20,680 Speaker 1: hit subscribe you get download all the episodes. I will 328 00:20:20,760 --> 00:20:25,479 Speaker 1: warn you the picture is incredibly outdated, but I did 329 00:20:25,520 --> 00:20:28,399 Speaker 1: a new photo shoot last weekend and we're gonna have 330 00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:31,600 Speaker 1: that picture updated very very very soon. But if you 331 00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:33,639 Speaker 1: want a preview, you can see the photo shoot that 332 00:20:33,680 --> 00:20:36,960 Speaker 1: I posted on my social media's at Randy Wang Radio. 333 00:20:37,440 --> 00:20:40,040 Speaker 1: I lost a little wait, it's pretty cool. When we 334 00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:43,320 Speaker 1: come back, we're gonna talk to a former board member 335 00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:46,639 Speaker 1: of Bay Area Rapid Transit and she's gonna tell us 336 00:20:46,720 --> 00:20:50,680 Speaker 1: why she does not think BART needs a bailout. It's 337 00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:54,040 Speaker 1: the News Blitz with Randy Wang on KABC. It is 338 00:20:54,200 --> 00:20:57,160 Speaker 1: the News Blitz with Randy Wang on Talk Radio seven 339 00:20:57,320 --> 00:21:01,399 Speaker 1: ninety KABC. Make sure to subscribe to the California Report 340 00:21:01,560 --> 00:21:06,879 Speaker 1: at Randywangradio dot substack dot com. Our next guest is 341 00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:12,080 Speaker 1: a former board director of the Bay Area Rapid Transit System, 342 00:21:12,200 --> 00:21:16,120 Speaker 1: you know it as BART. There is a potential sales 343 00:21:16,280 --> 00:21:20,080 Speaker 1: tax increase in all of the Bay Area counties and 344 00:21:20,160 --> 00:21:24,600 Speaker 1: then a bigger tax increase for San Francisco, to FUNDBART, 345 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:29,520 Speaker 1: to fund Caltrain, to fund VTA, to fund MUNI, because apparently, 346 00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:33,840 Speaker 1: according to Scott Wiener, all of these transit services are 347 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:37,159 Speaker 1: about to go off the fiscal cliff and enter something 348 00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:40,600 Speaker 1: that's called a doom loop. Our next guest, Deborah Allen, 349 00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:44,680 Speaker 1: does not support another bailout of BART, and she's here 350 00:21:44,760 --> 00:21:46,879 Speaker 1: to talk to us about it. Deborah Allen, Welcome to 351 00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:47,680 Speaker 1: the Newsplitz. 352 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:50,320 Speaker 2: Well, thanks Randy, thanks for having me. 353 00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:54,359 Speaker 1: So give us an overview why you don't think it 354 00:21:54,480 --> 00:21:58,520 Speaker 1: makes sense for voters to be increasing their sales taxes 355 00:21:58,600 --> 00:22:02,520 Speaker 1: once again so BART doesn't go off to what Scott 356 00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:05,320 Speaker 1: Wiener says is the fiscal cliff in twenty twenty seven. 357 00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:11,440 Speaker 2: Well, look, so I've served on the BARK Board of 358 00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:16,160 Speaker 2: directors from December of twenty sixteen to December twenty twenty four, 359 00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:20,440 Speaker 2: and I had a front row seat to everything that 360 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:26,840 Speaker 2: happened post pandemic, which you know, last week was the 361 00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:32,200 Speaker 2: sixth year anniversary of when the state essentially shut down 362 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:37,560 Speaker 2: and BART did not stop running trains, though they immediately 363 00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:43,359 Speaker 2: went to about a six percent of the previous month's ridership. 364 00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:46,520 Speaker 2: So for all intense purposes. It was a ghost town. 365 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:51,600 Speaker 2: The you know, why don't I support more money going 366 00:22:51,720 --> 00:22:56,560 Speaker 2: to BART. For six years I watched, actually I begged 367 00:22:56,600 --> 00:22:59,920 Speaker 2: and pleted with them as a board director to cut 368 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:04,560 Speaker 2: the budget. One other colleague joined me on a nine 369 00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:08,800 Speaker 2: member board, and we tried various different ways to get 370 00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:13,320 Speaker 2: them to cut spending, even just at one at two 371 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:18,919 Speaker 2: budget meetings in a row, made motions to do one year, 372 00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:20,920 Speaker 2: it was ten percent across the board. I believe that 373 00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:24,879 Speaker 2: was like in twenty twenty two, when we were, you know, 374 00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:28,600 Speaker 2: really at the bottom of the whole pandemic thing. We 375 00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:32,200 Speaker 2: just said, hey, you know, let's just cut ten percent 376 00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:35,280 Speaker 2: out of this operating budget and it's up to you staff, 377 00:23:35,359 --> 00:23:38,560 Speaker 2: you can figure out how to do it. The board 378 00:23:38,680 --> 00:23:42,359 Speaker 2: went ballistic. How dare you? How dare you do this? 379 00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:47,680 Speaker 2: We can't cut spending. So I watched for too many 380 00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:53,480 Speaker 2: years them increasing spending. Fiscal year twenty five over fiscal 381 00:23:53,560 --> 00:24:00,280 Speaker 2: year twenty nineteen, spending increased thirty six percent. Yet year 382 00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:03,639 Speaker 2: twenty five, even now today, they are carrying less than 383 00:24:03,840 --> 00:24:06,680 Speaker 2: fifty percent of the ridership that it carried in fiscally 384 00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:11,280 Speaker 2: or nineteen, So fifty percent of the writers thirty six 385 00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:17,520 Speaker 2: percent more spending to carry those writers. I don't think 386 00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:20,359 Speaker 2: that the BART management is competent. I don't think that 387 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:23,080 Speaker 2: they've done their job, and I don't and they could have, 388 00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:26,679 Speaker 2: and I don't think that the taxpayers should give them 389 00:24:26,720 --> 00:24:27,520 Speaker 2: more money right now. 390 00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:31,040 Speaker 1: Well, and one thing that we saw with a lot 391 00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:35,000 Speaker 1: of public agencies, whether this be transit district, school districts, 392 00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:38,600 Speaker 1: what have you, there were so many federal bailouts during 393 00:24:38,680 --> 00:24:40,920 Speaker 1: COVID of all of this one time money, but a 394 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:44,440 Speaker 1: ridiculous amount of one time money that a lot of agencies, 395 00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:47,760 Speaker 1: I would imagine BART included, decided to commit to ongoing 396 00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:50,240 Speaker 1: expenses thinking that what there was going to be more 397 00:24:50,320 --> 00:24:53,120 Speaker 1: federal money just around the corner, and there wasn't really 398 00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:55,040 Speaker 1: a plan for that. So you're right, all of these 399 00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:58,560 Speaker 1: budgets massively increased as service was cratering. 400 00:25:00,320 --> 00:25:04,800 Speaker 2: Yes, BART received one point six billion dollars alone just 401 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:10,840 Speaker 2: them from the federal three COVID bailout acts, and then 402 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:14,600 Speaker 2: another three hundred and fifty million dollars out of the 403 00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:19,840 Speaker 2: state of California in additional COVID bailout on the federal side. 404 00:25:19,920 --> 00:25:23,919 Speaker 2: I just call that, like taxcarers across America saying Okay, 405 00:25:24,359 --> 00:25:28,080 Speaker 2: we'll help funde your terrible spending practices. Here you go. 406 00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:30,960 Speaker 2: But that money has run. 407 00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:35,360 Speaker 1: Out, and that is why you have people like Scott 408 00:25:35,480 --> 00:25:38,879 Speaker 1: Wiener going back years now holding a funeral for Bart 409 00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:42,200 Speaker 1: in San Francisco and saying that, well, if we have 410 00:25:42,359 --> 00:25:44,800 Speaker 1: to cut service, then that's going to go to lower riders, 411 00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:46,159 Speaker 1: and then we just have to cut more, and then 412 00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:48,760 Speaker 1: we have to cut more, and then Transit's not going 413 00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:51,480 Speaker 1: to exist anymore, and there's going to be so much 414 00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:55,440 Speaker 1: traffic on the freeways and the usual doom scenario that 415 00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:56,200 Speaker 1: we're told. 416 00:25:56,840 --> 00:26:00,240 Speaker 2: Yeah, transit armageddon, that's my name for it. That's that's 417 00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:03,680 Speaker 2: the story. But here's the thing. It doesn't have to 418 00:26:03,760 --> 00:26:07,240 Speaker 2: be that way. You know, as I said, they could 419 00:26:07,240 --> 00:26:10,200 Speaker 2: have started cutting spending a long time ago, they did not. 420 00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:14,160 Speaker 2: They continue to increase it. But even now today they 421 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:19,080 Speaker 2: could right now start on a plan to cut back 422 00:26:19,119 --> 00:26:21,679 Speaker 2: their spending. But what are they doing. No, they're going 423 00:26:21,760 --> 00:26:24,800 Speaker 2: to wait till November and see whether the measure passes 424 00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:27,639 Speaker 2: before they really make their cuts. 425 00:26:29,359 --> 00:26:31,760 Speaker 1: Now, in your opinion, as you are a longtime member 426 00:26:31,840 --> 00:26:35,680 Speaker 1: of that board, where specifically are they overspending? Is it 427 00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:39,080 Speaker 1: labor costs, is it too much expansion. 428 00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:45,040 Speaker 2: It's a variety of things. But look, so oftentimes when 429 00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:49,399 Speaker 2: we talk about spending and budgets and deficits, BART is 430 00:26:49,480 --> 00:26:54,320 Speaker 2: only talking about their operating deficits. So what the public 431 00:26:54,359 --> 00:26:56,960 Speaker 2: should try to understand is there are two components to 432 00:26:57,240 --> 00:27:00,920 Speaker 2: a mass transit system. There's a huge infra structure cost, 433 00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:04,359 Speaker 2: which we call a capital cost, and then there is 434 00:27:04,840 --> 00:27:07,800 Speaker 2: what is the cost to actually operate the system on 435 00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:11,479 Speaker 2: an annual basis. So everything that Bart's talking about, they 436 00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:15,120 Speaker 2: are actually in the middle of a fiscal year where 437 00:27:15,160 --> 00:27:19,679 Speaker 2: they project it will be three I'm sorry, the fiscal 438 00:27:19,760 --> 00:27:22,920 Speaker 2: year twenty seven. Next year they project will be a 439 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:27,879 Speaker 2: three hundred and seventy six million dollars operating deficit. They 440 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:31,280 Speaker 2: can't pay three hundred and seventy six million dollars of payroll. 441 00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:35,320 Speaker 2: They don't have the money for it unless they take 442 00:27:35,359 --> 00:27:39,119 Speaker 2: it from their reserves, or they borrow money, or they 443 00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:42,520 Speaker 2: get more tax money. And it's directly related to not 444 00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:46,920 Speaker 2: cutting the spending. But BART has a seventy five percent 445 00:27:48,400 --> 00:27:53,240 Speaker 2: component of their budget is labor. So what I have 446 00:27:53,359 --> 00:27:57,480 Speaker 2: said all along for six years, you can't get out 447 00:27:57,520 --> 00:28:00,960 Speaker 2: of this mess if you don't do something about labor. 448 00:28:01,440 --> 00:28:06,840 Speaker 2: So you've got the labor cost issue, the negotiating of contracts, 449 00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:12,560 Speaker 2: You've got layers of excess management on the administrative side. 450 00:28:13,680 --> 00:28:18,440 Speaker 2: You have union contracts that have not been renegotiated in thirteen. 451 00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:22,359 Speaker 2: Twenty thirteen was the last time. So thirteen years they 452 00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:27,040 Speaker 2: have continued to extend, extend, extend on labor contracts. There 453 00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:33,240 Speaker 2: are really inefficient rules buried in those labor contracts. If 454 00:28:33,280 --> 00:28:37,720 Speaker 2: you didn't even touch the wages in those contracts, you 455 00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:40,960 Speaker 2: could certainly dial back costs in the benefits. You could 456 00:28:41,080 --> 00:28:45,080 Speaker 2: certainly dial back cough in the inefficient work rules that 457 00:28:45,320 --> 00:28:49,440 Speaker 2: create massive amounts hundreds of millions of dollars of overtime. 458 00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:53,280 Speaker 2: And it's all in the work rules in these contracts, 459 00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:54,640 Speaker 2: and some of them are pretty crazy. 460 00:28:57,080 --> 00:28:59,600 Speaker 1: We're speaking with Deborah Allen. She is a former board 461 00:28:59,640 --> 00:29:03,000 Speaker 1: director of BART. You can get her online at Deborah 462 00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:07,240 Speaker 1: Underscore Allen One. Now, there's a few things that people 463 00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:10,480 Speaker 1: like to think about when you're talking about you know, why, 464 00:29:10,560 --> 00:29:13,120 Speaker 1: you know, people using public transit in a place like 465 00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:16,280 Speaker 1: the Bay Area, is it convenient, is it safe? Is 466 00:29:16,320 --> 00:29:18,840 Speaker 1: it reliable? Well, in the Bay Area, unlike the city 467 00:29:18,920 --> 00:29:22,760 Speaker 1: and County of La Bart is pretty darn convenient. There 468 00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:24,480 Speaker 1: are a lot of stations that are close to a 469 00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:26,680 Speaker 1: lot of places that can bring you into those big 470 00:29:26,800 --> 00:29:30,000 Speaker 1: city centers. Is it safe? I will say BART has 471 00:29:30,040 --> 00:29:32,400 Speaker 1: been really turning the corner on that. Putting in those 472 00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:35,760 Speaker 1: faregates at every single station made a big difference. There's 473 00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:38,320 Speaker 1: noticeable presence where they didn't used to be, where there 474 00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:41,040 Speaker 1: was this kind of anything goes attitude for a few years. 475 00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:44,320 Speaker 1: But when it comes to reliability, which might be the 476 00:29:44,400 --> 00:29:47,840 Speaker 1: biggest part of that, it seems that while BART is 477 00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:50,800 Speaker 1: asking for more money to be funded, there have been 478 00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:54,160 Speaker 1: so many high profile incidents just in the last year 479 00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:57,800 Speaker 1: of BART having outages. Whether it's because they were upgrading 480 00:29:57,880 --> 00:30:00,280 Speaker 1: technology and something didn't work, or the I had to 481 00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:03,760 Speaker 1: shut down the trans bay too because they stopped paying 482 00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:07,000 Speaker 1: for dusting and the dust was starting smoke fires. 483 00:30:09,920 --> 00:30:15,360 Speaker 2: Yeah, so there have been a lot of technical difficulties 484 00:30:15,720 --> 00:30:19,560 Speaker 2: at BART. They replaced the entire fleet beginning in twenty 485 00:30:19,640 --> 00:30:22,840 Speaker 2: eighteen through I believe twenty twenty four. If they received 486 00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:26,720 Speaker 2: the last of the first round of trains. That fleet 487 00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:31,880 Speaker 2: had serious problems. It was a custom fleet, so you 488 00:30:31,960 --> 00:30:34,160 Speaker 2: know you want to talk about the waste. Really, the 489 00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:38,000 Speaker 2: waste goes all the way back to really poor decision 490 00:30:38,160 --> 00:30:42,560 Speaker 2: making at the top when it comes to how they 491 00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:47,600 Speaker 2: spend money. And for example, the new fleet, it's a 492 00:30:47,720 --> 00:30:53,960 Speaker 2: completely custom train that is built for BART. What do 493 00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:59,160 Speaker 2: other systems do? They take train manufacturers who manufacture kind 494 00:30:59,200 --> 00:31:01,360 Speaker 2: of a standard train and then customize it a little 495 00:31:01,360 --> 00:31:04,280 Speaker 2: bit to themselves. But BART was originally built as a 496 00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:10,000 Speaker 2: custom system on a not a standard gage rail, and 497 00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:13,640 Speaker 2: so you have all these costs to BART that make 498 00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:18,440 Speaker 2: it way past what the average transit system should be 499 00:31:18,600 --> 00:31:22,360 Speaker 2: or what BART should be with respect to the faygates. 500 00:31:22,400 --> 00:31:24,640 Speaker 2: You're right, that was a huge improvement and I am 501 00:31:24,680 --> 00:31:26,960 Speaker 2: proud to be the one who started pushing that in 502 00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:29,800 Speaker 2: twenty seventeen when I walked in the door in my 503 00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:34,680 Speaker 2: first round of meetings at BART. This is an elected 504 00:31:34,760 --> 00:31:38,120 Speaker 2: position on the board of directors, and so you have 505 00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:42,600 Speaker 2: to run a political campaign to get the seat, and 506 00:31:43,120 --> 00:31:45,640 Speaker 2: so I spent six months out there at BART stations, 507 00:31:46,040 --> 00:31:50,560 Speaker 2: probably just talking to writers. I was not a transit activist. 508 00:31:50,680 --> 00:31:53,560 Speaker 2: I was a CPA, a CFO, a finance person my 509 00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:57,200 Speaker 2: whole career. I went to BART to figure out what 510 00:31:57,320 --> 00:31:59,160 Speaker 2: the heck was going on there? And why do we 511 00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:02,400 Speaker 2: have such I did we have such terrible service in 512 00:32:02,480 --> 00:32:05,920 Speaker 2: twenty sixteen, and yet we were paying so much money 513 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:10,960 Speaker 2: for it. And boy did I get a real education 514 00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:15,160 Speaker 2: over those years. When I talked to writers, it wasn't hard. 515 00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:17,800 Speaker 2: All bar had to do is listen to their own customers. 516 00:32:18,360 --> 00:32:23,240 Speaker 2: The writers said, the trouble that we encounter on these trains, 517 00:32:23,840 --> 00:32:31,280 Speaker 2: the filthiness, the crime, the troublemakers, you name it, all 518 00:32:31,400 --> 00:32:34,840 Speaker 2: of it comes through the farragates. In one spot, there's 519 00:32:34,880 --> 00:32:37,200 Speaker 2: only one spot they come through, and in one spot 520 00:32:37,280 --> 00:32:40,280 Speaker 2: that they leave, it's the same spot and they just 521 00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:44,440 Speaker 2: walk right through. So when I got there, I was 522 00:32:44,520 --> 00:32:47,080 Speaker 2: elected on this issue, and when I got there, I 523 00:32:47,160 --> 00:32:50,520 Speaker 2: started pushing for the replacement of those farrogates. Now, it 524 00:32:50,800 --> 00:32:55,000 Speaker 2: actually took my whole eight years to terms there, plus 525 00:32:55,120 --> 00:32:59,800 Speaker 2: another year to complete it, but I think it's probably 526 00:32:59,840 --> 00:33:04,640 Speaker 2: the biggest improvement that Bart ever made, next to you know, 527 00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:11,120 Speaker 2: replacing the trains. And I think that the faregate issue 528 00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:15,000 Speaker 2: actually the fair evasion issue and the criminality in the system, 529 00:33:15,840 --> 00:33:20,520 Speaker 2: but a huge impact unreliability because many times you can 530 00:33:20,600 --> 00:33:23,320 Speaker 2: say those trains are shut down because of fires, on 531 00:33:23,400 --> 00:33:26,440 Speaker 2: the track, which is true. They still have those problems 532 00:33:26,480 --> 00:33:29,600 Speaker 2: and they're still working through those, but the trains are 533 00:33:29,680 --> 00:33:32,840 Speaker 2: also often delayed because of police activity. 534 00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:39,440 Speaker 1: Deborah Allen, former director of BART, last question before you go. 535 00:33:39,840 --> 00:33:42,800 Speaker 1: As we're looking at this ballot measure in November for 536 00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:45,800 Speaker 1: the five Bay area counties, what would you say to 537 00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:47,360 Speaker 1: voters that aren't sure about this? 538 00:33:50,400 --> 00:33:54,600 Speaker 2: I would say that they need to look deep at 539 00:33:54,960 --> 00:33:59,600 Speaker 2: the material they're given and at bart's history, and I think, honestly, 540 00:33:59,640 --> 00:34:02,200 Speaker 2: it's going to be really close. If the measure passes, 541 00:34:02,280 --> 00:34:04,560 Speaker 2: it'll pass by just a little bit, and if it 542 00:34:04,640 --> 00:34:07,880 Speaker 2: doesn't pass, it'll be by a little bit. I think 543 00:34:07,920 --> 00:34:12,360 Speaker 2: that the voters need to understand the incompetence that is 544 00:34:12,480 --> 00:34:15,799 Speaker 2: running the system right now, and if you reward them 545 00:34:16,480 --> 00:34:21,000 Speaker 2: with more money to continue their incompetence and not change anything, 546 00:34:22,000 --> 00:34:24,359 Speaker 2: they're just going to spend that money too. And guess 547 00:34:24,400 --> 00:34:28,440 Speaker 2: what the fiscal year twenty seven budget, even if they 548 00:34:28,520 --> 00:34:33,680 Speaker 2: pass the tax measure, they're still projecting more deficits. So 549 00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:38,040 Speaker 2: this has kind of become a never ending song here 550 00:34:38,280 --> 00:34:41,000 Speaker 2: at BART. I call it the more money Please chant, 551 00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:45,200 Speaker 2: And at some point I think that the voters and 552 00:34:45,280 --> 00:34:48,959 Speaker 2: particularly the taxpayers. In this case, it's a sales tax 553 00:34:49,080 --> 00:34:52,480 Speaker 2: measure just to pay payroll. I think that the voters 554 00:34:52,560 --> 00:34:56,200 Speaker 2: have to stand up to this one and say, yeah, Bart, 555 00:34:56,280 --> 00:35:00,000 Speaker 2: you you haven't shown us that you've done the response 556 00:35:00,040 --> 00:35:02,680 Speaker 2: mutiple things, and until you do, we're not going to 557 00:35:02,719 --> 00:35:05,279 Speaker 2: reward you with continuing to get more money. 558 00:35:08,040 --> 00:35:10,520 Speaker 1: Deborah Allen, you can get her on social media on 559 00:35:10,920 --> 00:35:14,840 Speaker 1: x at Deborah Underscore Allan one. That's deb O r 560 00:35:14,920 --> 00:35:18,239 Speaker 1: A Underscore A L L E and one. Deborah Allen, 561 00:35:18,360 --> 00:35:21,040 Speaker 1: thank you so much for joining us today and giving 562 00:35:21,120 --> 00:35:21,960 Speaker 1: us your insights. 563 00:35:22,800 --> 00:35:23,840 Speaker 2: Sure, thanks for having me. 564 00:35:24,840 --> 00:35:28,160 Speaker 1: It's the News Blitz with Randy Wang on KABC. It's 565 00:35:28,200 --> 00:35:31,719 Speaker 1: the News Blitz with Randy Wang on KABC. Let's check 566 00:35:31,760 --> 00:35:35,120 Speaker 1: out those box office numbers. In first place once again, 567 00:35:35,239 --> 00:35:38,880 Speaker 1: Project Hail Mary bringing in another fifty four million, putting 568 00:35:38,920 --> 00:35:42,440 Speaker 1: their total at one hundred and sixty four million. Hoppers 569 00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:44,920 Speaker 1: in second place with twelve million. That one's up at 570 00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:47,799 Speaker 1: one hundred and thirty eight million total. They Will Kill 571 00:35:47,840 --> 00:35:52,040 Speaker 1: You in third place at five million dollars. Doomradar The 572 00:35:52,120 --> 00:35:54,440 Speaker 1: Revenge I totally got that name wrong, as in with 573 00:35:54,560 --> 00:35:57,520 Speaker 1: four million dollars at fourth place. Reminders of him at 574 00:35:57,560 --> 00:36:00,719 Speaker 1: fifth Place, Ready or not? Two here I and six. 575 00:36:01,160 --> 00:36:04,600 Speaker 1: In seventh it's scream, seven, in eight, it's Goat, and 576 00:36:04,760 --> 00:36:08,640 Speaker 1: nine it's Undertone, and ten it's Forbidden Fruits. And of course, 577 00:36:08,800 --> 00:36:11,759 Speaker 1: we are just days away from what may be the 578 00:36:12,040 --> 00:36:15,840 Speaker 1: largest box office event of the year so far, because 579 00:36:15,880 --> 00:36:19,040 Speaker 1: the Mario sequels coming out, and I'm sure all of 580 00:36:19,160 --> 00:36:22,960 Speaker 1: your kids are freaking out about it, the Super Mario 581 00:36:23,200 --> 00:36:28,520 Speaker 1: Galaxy movie. I'm a lifelong Mario fan. I very much 582 00:36:28,680 --> 00:36:31,560 Speaker 1: enjoyed the first film, and it seems like the second 583 00:36:31,600 --> 00:36:34,800 Speaker 1: film is gonna have a lot more Nintendo Easter eggs 584 00:36:34,880 --> 00:36:38,759 Speaker 1: for people just like me, So very excited about all that. 585 00:36:39,239 --> 00:36:42,960 Speaker 1: It's the News Blitz with Randy Wang on KABC. It's 586 00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:47,200 Speaker 1: the News Blitz with Randy Wang on KABC. All Right, 587 00:36:47,320 --> 00:36:50,120 Speaker 1: what was the best thing that I ate this weekend? 588 00:36:50,840 --> 00:36:53,920 Speaker 1: Was it a deep dish lou mal Natti's pizza with 589 00:36:54,200 --> 00:36:59,400 Speaker 1: a CPK inspired salad? I mean, yeah, yeah, that was 590 00:36:59,560 --> 00:37:05,080 Speaker 1: pretty good. Was it sam and pesto over chickpea pasta? 591 00:37:05,800 --> 00:37:10,000 Speaker 1: Maybe that was pretty great as well. Was it breakfast 592 00:37:10,120 --> 00:37:13,320 Speaker 1: tacos at Home State when they had all day happy 593 00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:19,120 Speaker 1: hour because of Dodgers opening weekend. That was pretty fantastic. No, 594 00:37:19,880 --> 00:37:23,840 Speaker 1: I'm gonna say the best thing that I had this 595 00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:27,120 Speaker 1: weekend was when my wife and I went back to 596 00:37:27,600 --> 00:37:33,400 Speaker 1: Daisy in Sherman Oaks. Daisy is this really cool margarita 597 00:37:33,480 --> 00:37:38,440 Speaker 1: bar and they have brunched on the weekends, so it 598 00:37:38,600 --> 00:37:43,400 Speaker 1: turns into Daisy Michelada bar. The first thing that I 599 00:37:43,560 --> 00:37:48,680 Speaker 1: had was their Bloody Maria margarita, and holy cow, it 600 00:37:48,880 --> 00:37:52,680 Speaker 1: was this perfect mix of spicy but briny because of 601 00:37:52,680 --> 00:37:55,240 Speaker 1: the olives. And they do something there. They don't salt 602 00:37:55,320 --> 00:37:58,400 Speaker 1: any of their margaritas because they make sure that you 603 00:37:58,480 --> 00:38:00,920 Speaker 1: don't need a salt rim because they're the perfect amount 604 00:38:00,920 --> 00:38:04,040 Speaker 1: of saline solution or some kind of salt in the drink. 605 00:38:04,160 --> 00:38:08,640 Speaker 1: It's really great. We got their Caso Fundito, which might 606 00:38:08,719 --> 00:38:11,680 Speaker 1: be my favorite caso fundito in the state of California. 607 00:38:12,280 --> 00:38:14,600 Speaker 1: There's one that I really like in New Mexico, and 608 00:38:14,719 --> 00:38:17,200 Speaker 1: there's plenty of great queso all in Texas, but their 609 00:38:17,280 --> 00:38:21,799 Speaker 1: Caso Fundito that we get with corn tortillas is spectacular. 610 00:38:22,480 --> 00:38:25,040 Speaker 1: And then we tried some of their tostadas. We got 611 00:38:25,080 --> 00:38:29,200 Speaker 1: the Tostada de Altune, their tuna tostada over smashed avocado 612 00:38:29,600 --> 00:38:33,480 Speaker 1: in credible and there's like almost this kind of furricaca 613 00:38:33,760 --> 00:38:36,839 Speaker 1: seasoning on the top. It's great. And then we tried 614 00:38:36,960 --> 00:38:40,279 Speaker 1: their crab toastata. That one was really great, but the 615 00:38:40,360 --> 00:38:44,880 Speaker 1: tuna toastada was just the best. Every time we go there, 616 00:38:44,920 --> 00:38:47,480 Speaker 1: we're having a great time. My wife likes the skinny margaritas. 617 00:38:47,760 --> 00:38:50,319 Speaker 1: And then I tried there meetch Lota two point zero, 618 00:38:51,080 --> 00:38:54,480 Speaker 1: which actually they can and it's super carbonated and it's 619 00:38:54,520 --> 00:38:58,000 Speaker 1: got this umami flavoring to it and it is It's 620 00:38:58,160 --> 00:39:01,640 Speaker 1: pretty darn fabulous. And you know what made that meal 621 00:39:01,760 --> 00:39:05,880 Speaker 1: even more special, one hundred dollars of it was free 622 00:39:06,719 --> 00:39:10,520 Speaker 1: because Daisy is on Rezi and if you have an 623 00:39:10,520 --> 00:39:14,600 Speaker 1: American Express Platinum card four times a year, once a quarter, 624 00:39:14,960 --> 00:39:17,759 Speaker 1: you get one hundred dollars credit at any restaurant that's 625 00:39:17,800 --> 00:39:19,719 Speaker 1: on Rezie. You don't even have to book a reservation, 626 00:39:20,239 --> 00:39:22,759 Speaker 1: you just eat there and one hundred dollars comes off. 627 00:39:22,880 --> 00:39:25,440 Speaker 1: So we get one hundred dollars off that bill, and 628 00:39:25,520 --> 00:39:27,400 Speaker 1: our bill was like only one hundred and fifty, so 629 00:39:28,239 --> 00:39:31,000 Speaker 1: I was eating pretty great. It's the News Blitz with 630 00:39:31,200 --> 00:39:33,279 Speaker 1: Randy Wang on KABC