WEBVTT - Fact Checking The LA Mayor's Debate 0:00:01.389 --> 0:00:03.009 Something's not right here. 0:00:03.029 --> 0:00:05.809 Crime is up all over the state. 0:00:05.830 --> 0:00:08.490 The homelessness in the city is out of control. 0:00:08.510 --> 0:00:09.950 The economy is sick. 0:00:10.050 --> 0:00:13.700 Taxes are high. Housing is expensive and businesses are leaving. 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:18.939 California needs fixing. And John Phillips is just the man 0:00:18.980 --> 0:00:22.720 to lead the charge. It's the Fix California Hour with 0:00:22.820 --> 0:00:24.540 John Phillips and Randy Wang. 0:00:26.190 --> 0:00:29.470 And we continue at 105 in the afternoon on the 0:00:29.530 --> 0:00:34.229 John Phillips Show. Broadcasting live today from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Mr. 0:00:34.270 --> 0:00:36.290 Randy Wangs in Santa Fe, New Mexico. 0:00:36.770 --> 0:00:40.680 Johnny, we're broadcasting live on the radio on 790 KABC 0:00:40.780 --> 0:00:44.460 in Southern California and 810 KSFO in the Bay Area. 0:00:44.760 --> 0:00:48.440 And we're also broadcasting live on video every single day 0:00:48.500 --> 0:00:52.530 from noon to three. at johnnydontlike.com, where you can react 0:00:52.550 --> 0:00:54.550 to the news of the day along with your fellow 0:00:54.620 --> 0:00:58.180 listeners in the wild chat room. Whether you're going off 0:00:58.280 --> 0:01:01.000 on politicians or trying to make fun of me so 0:01:01.080 --> 0:01:03.680 I get thrown off for a live read, you've got 0:01:03.700 --> 0:01:07.780 to try the chat room at johnnydontlike.com. While you're there, 0:01:07.819 --> 0:01:09.560 hit the like button to help push us out to 0:01:09.600 --> 0:01:12.280 new people, and make sure you're subscribed to the channel. 0:01:12.310 --> 0:01:13.390 We're at nearly 9,200 subscribers. 0:01:16.670 --> 0:01:25.520 800-222-5222 is the telephone number 1-800-222-5222. Earlier this week, there 0:01:25.560 --> 0:01:28.520 was a debate to see who would be the next 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:31.940 mayor of Los Angeles or try to help clarify the 0:01:31.980 --> 0:01:37.170 differences between the candidates, at least. Anithya Raman put out 0:01:37.209 --> 0:01:42.850 her DSA agenda. Karen Bass put out her DSA light agenda. 0:01:43.310 --> 0:01:45.490 and the two of them went at it on the 0:01:45.550 --> 0:01:50.690 set of KNBC Channel 4. Well, now the fact-checkers are 0:01:50.730 --> 0:01:54.300 taking a look at just exactly what everyone had to say, 0:01:54.900 --> 0:01:58.560 and they're trying to determine what is true and what 0:01:58.880 --> 0:01:59.600 is fiction. 0:02:00.700 --> 0:02:04.370 To get an in-depth look at the fallout from the 0:02:04.410 --> 0:02:08.030 debate between the two worst possible candidates for mayor of 0:02:08.090 --> 0:02:11.530 Los Angeles, here is NBC LA. 0:02:14.650 --> 0:02:14.869 All right. 0:02:14.910 --> 0:02:17.890 With Election Day now less than three weeks away, voters 0:02:17.950 --> 0:02:20.410 in L.A. are getting a better picture of the choices 0:02:20.470 --> 0:02:22.639 for mayor. The incumbent mayor. 0:02:22.680 --> 0:02:23.680 Dumb and dumber. 0:02:24.480 --> 0:02:24.679 Yep. 0:02:25.240 --> 0:02:28.679 And the challenger, Nithya Raman, went head-to-head in their final 0:02:28.720 --> 0:02:35.280 debate right here on NBC4. The two clashing over the Palisades, fire, policing, leadership, 0:02:35.620 --> 0:02:38.179 and who is best prepared to lead the city into 0:02:38.220 --> 0:02:39.660 the 2028 Olympics. 0:02:39.780 --> 0:02:41.360 We didn't even have time to get into it yesterday. 0:02:41.400 --> 0:02:43.200 At one point, there was a big ol' spat over 0:02:43.240 --> 0:02:44.579 the Boyle Heights explosion. 0:02:46.060 --> 0:02:48.750 Our Conan Nolan joins us live in studio tonight with 0:02:48.780 --> 0:02:52.270 a recap as we count down to Tuesday, November 3rd. 0:02:52.510 --> 0:02:52.810 Conan. 0:02:52.910 --> 0:02:53.430 Hey, Colleen. 0:02:53.450 --> 0:02:56.850 Well, you were there. The target audience, the larger-than-usual group 0:02:56.870 --> 0:03:00.190 of voters who are still undecided, many having voted for 0:03:00.250 --> 0:03:03.239 reality show personality Spencer Pratt. 0:03:03.260 --> 0:03:07.420 And neither candidate gave any of those voters any reason 0:03:07.480 --> 0:03:08.960 to vote for either of them. 0:03:09.680 --> 0:03:15.429 I've never seen an election before where the candidates are almost... 0:03:15.430 --> 0:03:19.650 purposely not trying to appeal in any way, shape, or 0:03:19.730 --> 0:03:23.549 form to the largest block of undecided voters who will 0:03:23.590 --> 0:03:26.350 decide the winner of the election. It's beyond my ability 0:03:26.380 --> 0:03:27.120 to comprehend. 0:03:27.940 --> 0:03:31.100 I believe the reason for that is if they appeal 0:03:31.180 --> 0:03:34.760 to that demographic, the base will call them a traitor 0:03:34.880 --> 0:03:37.660 and say, you turned on us and voted the other candidate. 0:03:38.860 --> 0:03:42.420 Back in June, assuming they show up, that's a voting 0:03:42.440 --> 0:03:46.170 block that could decide the election. A cordial greeting, and 0:03:46.230 --> 0:03:48.790 then it was on. The debate starting with a somewhat 0:03:48.830 --> 0:03:52.210 surprising quote cited by the Democratic Socialist. 0:03:52.370 --> 0:03:55.330 Who asked on a debate stage, Ronald Reagan, actually, are 0:03:55.370 --> 0:03:57.790 you better off today than you were four years ago? 0:03:57.960 --> 0:04:01.280 City Councilmember Nithya Raman's campaign is focused on making it 0:04:01.400 --> 0:04:04.660 a referendum on the incumbent mayor. But for Karen Bass, 0:04:04.880 --> 0:04:08.580 it's about choice. From the start, arguing her former ally, 0:04:08.640 --> 0:04:13.110 now political rival, is too inexperienced to run America's largest 0:04:13.190 --> 0:04:13.910 Western city. 0:04:14.370 --> 0:04:17.130 Well, Karen Bass has all the experience in the world, 0:04:17.150 --> 0:04:19.729 has been in government for 30 years, and look what 0:04:19.770 --> 0:04:20.350 it got us. 0:04:21.130 --> 0:04:24.740 Well, I'll tell you, it wasn't an accident that Nithya 0:04:24.800 --> 0:04:28.060 Raman brought up that Ronald Reagan trick from the debate. 0:04:29.100 --> 0:04:31.480 Are you better off now than you were four years ago? 0:04:32.180 --> 0:04:34.880 What are Karen Bass's negatives right now? I think it's 0:04:34.900 --> 0:04:36.080 something north of 60% of L.A. 0:04:36.140 --> 0:04:36.560 Voters. 0:04:37.200 --> 0:04:37.850 It's real bad. 0:04:39.920 --> 0:04:43.640 It is very, very, very high. The majority of people 0:04:43.680 --> 0:04:47.100 in this city are unhappy with her job performance over 0:04:47.140 --> 0:04:48.240 the last four years. 0:04:49.940 --> 0:04:53.909 To go with this candidate is really taking a serious risk. 0:04:53.990 --> 0:04:57.349 The mayor's biggest vulnerability, the historic conflagration that was the 0:04:57.430 --> 0:05:00.190 Palisades fire, which took place while she was on a 0:05:00.270 --> 0:05:02.750 diplomatic mission for then President Joe Biden. 0:05:03.130 --> 0:05:06.670 Well, or a cocktail party. Depends how you look at it. 0:05:07.260 --> 0:05:07.580 Yes. 0:05:08.380 --> 0:05:11.520 That was her gift for not getting the vice presidential 0:05:11.580 --> 0:05:16.020 nomination from Biden in 2020. She got to go to 0:05:16.080 --> 0:05:17.430 a big party in Ghana. 0:05:18.330 --> 0:05:21.469 I am so profoundly sorry that I was not in 0:05:21.670 --> 0:05:23.650 my city when my city needed me. 0:05:24.150 --> 0:05:26.700 She didn't even tell the fire chief where she was. 0:05:28.760 --> 0:05:31.040 The day that goes by that I don't think of 0:05:31.080 --> 0:05:34.780 the lives lost, the families that lost their home, are 0:05:34.800 --> 0:05:37.839 the families where the home is still standing, but they're 0:05:37.860 --> 0:05:38.849 not able to be in it. 0:05:39.480 --> 0:05:42.820 A thousand firefighters were sent home from their shift, leaving 0:05:42.920 --> 0:05:47.440 fire trucks unused. In fire stations, when the fires were raging, 0:05:47.520 --> 0:05:50.940 and this mayor didn't even tell the fire chief that 0:05:50.980 --> 0:05:53.960 she was leaving the country. If there is another emergency, 0:05:54.040 --> 0:05:56.339 you will not have to ask, if I am mayor, 0:05:56.660 --> 0:05:58.930 where our mayor is. I will be on the front lines. 0:05:59.320 --> 0:06:01.190 Rahma was put on the defensive when it came to 0:06:01.230 --> 0:06:04.110 that Instagram post where it appeared she called the Los 0:06:04.190 --> 0:06:08.470 Angeles mayor and police chief Jim McDonald fascist liars. She 0:06:08.529 --> 0:06:10.130 says the influencer. 0:06:09.690 --> 0:06:13.010 Improperly edited the post and that she was referring to 0:06:13.050 --> 0:06:14.030 President Donald Trump. 0:06:15.570 --> 0:06:16.450 That this city. 0:06:16.510 --> 0:06:18.719 Nobody's buying that. Why don't you just lean into it? 0:06:19.630 --> 0:06:20.930 As if that's okay, too. 0:06:21.550 --> 0:06:24.409 Like, she doesn't know the difference between people she disagrees 0:06:24.490 --> 0:06:26.110 with and Mussolini. 0:06:27.190 --> 0:06:29.380 He is fascist, or that this mayor is fascist, or 0:06:29.450 --> 0:06:31.600 that our police chief is fascist. That's not what I 0:06:31.620 --> 0:06:33.580 said at all. ICE is fascist, and I do stand 0:06:33.600 --> 0:06:33.779 by that. 0:06:33.839 --> 0:06:34.980 You know, it made me wonder. 0:06:35.000 --> 0:06:35.880 You're an idiot, then. 0:06:38.040 --> 0:06:41.900 Understood what the word fascism meant, but it also just 0:06:41.980 --> 0:06:44.260 showed that you're not ready for prime time. 0:06:44.650 --> 0:06:46.830 Karen Bass, nobody gets that reference. 0:06:49.230 --> 0:06:51.950 Rahman says she wants to replace the police chief, whom 0:06:51.990 --> 0:06:55.210 she's accused of protecting ICE agents and not the community. 0:06:55.620 --> 0:06:57.719 But she would not say if that would happen before 0:06:57.760 --> 0:07:01.680 the 2028 Summer Olympic Games. Will you replace the chief 0:07:01.740 --> 0:07:03.120 before 2028? 0:07:03.120 --> 0:07:05.800 It will depend on these other factors. It is not 0:07:05.820 --> 0:07:09.229 a unilateral decision by the mayor. It takes agreement with 0:07:09.250 --> 0:07:09.970 the police commission. 0:07:10.010 --> 0:07:12.310 It was a unilateral decision by Bass to fire the 0:07:12.350 --> 0:07:12.930 fire chief. 0:07:13.870 --> 0:07:16.050 Hey, Shaggy said she could do it because she's a 0:07:16.090 --> 0:07:16.670 girl boss. 0:07:19.010 --> 0:07:19.610 She was. 0:07:19.770 --> 0:07:20.350 Absolutely. 0:07:20.470 --> 0:07:21.070 Absolutely. 0:07:21.450 --> 0:07:23.050 Even agreement with the council. 0:07:23.510 --> 0:07:27.910 We are 640 days away from the largest sporting event 0:07:28.190 --> 0:07:30.310 to ever take place. And if you think that. 0:07:30.410 --> 0:07:31.920 You know what I just have to say, and it 0:07:31.980 --> 0:07:36.060 has bothered me for the last four years. As someone 0:07:36.080 --> 0:07:38.860 who is born and raised in the city of Los Angeles, 0:07:39.260 --> 0:07:44.420 that has to deal with the ineffectual, ineffective, and feckless 0:07:44.480 --> 0:07:47.520 government that we have that either doesn't care about the 0:07:47.600 --> 0:07:51.980 real problems or is actively making them worse. I don't 0:07:52.100 --> 0:07:55.900 care about the freaking Olympics. Maybe you should try to 0:07:56.000 --> 0:07:59.770 improve our lives, not just when there's a sporting event. 0:08:01.730 --> 0:08:04.830 You're going to find a police chief. You would send 0:08:04.870 --> 0:08:06.770 the department in disarray. 0:08:08.190 --> 0:08:10.800 So for Nithya Raman, it may have been a difficult spot. 0:08:10.920 --> 0:08:13.680 If she's saying that she would replace the police chief 0:08:13.920 --> 0:08:16.080 after the Olympics, well, that could enrage many of her 0:08:16.120 --> 0:08:19.540 progressive supporters. But saying that she would replace him before 0:08:19.560 --> 0:08:22.310 the Olympics could hurt her at winning some of those 0:08:22.450 --> 0:08:25.410 undecided voters. And those undecided voters, a lot of Pratt 0:08:25.430 --> 0:08:28.310 voters out there, again, could decide the election if they 0:08:28.330 --> 0:08:28.830 decide to vote. 0:08:29.390 --> 0:08:31.590 Or if they decide to do what Daniel Gus is 0:08:31.630 --> 0:08:34.880 doing and overvote, vote for both of them because F 0:08:34.980 --> 0:08:36.119 both of these candidates. 0:08:36.700 --> 0:08:40.160 You know, I took the position early on that if 0:08:40.260 --> 0:08:43.620 I lived in Los Angeles, I could not vote for either. 0:08:43.520 --> 0:08:43.920 One of them. 0:08:44.800 --> 0:08:49.300 And I thought, okay, as the campaign unfolds, maybe one 0:08:49.340 --> 0:08:52.699 of them will break away as being slightly better than 0:08:52.760 --> 0:08:55.980 the other. And there will be a choice that will 0:08:56.000 --> 0:09:00.179 become obvious, or one of the options will be the 0:09:00.340 --> 0:09:03.840 obvious candidate that's closer to me than the other. The 0:09:03.940 --> 0:09:08.260 longer this campaign goes on, The more convinced I am, 0:09:08.420 --> 0:09:10.760 I could not support either one of these two ladies. 0:09:11.679 --> 0:09:12.600 Definitely a lot of them. 0:09:12.640 --> 0:09:15.500 Conan, thank you. Some of the candidates' statements during the 0:09:15.540 --> 0:09:19.370 debate last night require a little more context. That includes 0:09:19.390 --> 0:09:22.250 some of the comments made by both Mayor Bass and 0:09:22.309 --> 0:09:26.750 Councilmember Rahman about their work in reducing homelessness in L.A. 0:09:26.770 --> 0:09:31.790 You mean because they're both full of crap? Like the 0:09:31.830 --> 0:09:32.950 streets of Los Angeles. 0:09:33.640 --> 0:09:34.420 Huge topic. 0:09:34.500 --> 0:09:38.020 NBC4' s Robert Cavazza continues our team coverage to help us 0:09:38.360 --> 0:09:40.420 fact check some of those claims. Robert. 0:09:42.460 --> 0:09:45.040 Kathy and Colleen, for point of reference, we are standing 0:09:45.080 --> 0:09:47.780 in what we call the spin courtyard. We're just steps 0:09:47.880 --> 0:09:50.830 away from where the debate took place last night on 0:09:50.870 --> 0:09:54.230 our universal lot. And it was here after the debate 0:09:54.270 --> 0:09:58.270 where the campaigns and their surrogates gathered with us. Now, today, 0:09:58.390 --> 0:10:00.670 as you said, we've done some fact checking and we 0:10:00.820 --> 0:10:06.460 focused specifically on that major issue of homelessness. Let's start 0:10:06.720 --> 0:10:07.900 with Mayor Karen Bass. 0:10:09.840 --> 0:10:13.420 This crisis was your number one priority when you were 0:10:13.500 --> 0:10:14.260 in your campaign. 0:10:14.280 --> 0:10:14.600 That's right. 0:10:14.620 --> 0:10:15.520 What went wrong? 0:10:15.800 --> 0:10:17.060 You have 60 seconds. 0:10:17.280 --> 0:10:19.900 The winner of that debate was the Telemundo anchor. She 0:10:19.940 --> 0:10:20.460 was great. 0:10:21.179 --> 0:10:24.280 Oh, she came to kick ass and chew gum and 0:10:24.320 --> 0:10:25.400 she was all out of gum. 0:10:26.220 --> 0:10:29.130 Sure. What went wrong was a cut in the budget. 0:10:29.470 --> 0:10:35.550 Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope. Give us more money. We're 0:10:35.570 --> 0:10:36.190 done with that. 0:10:37.750 --> 0:10:39.449 A cut in the budget on the state. But let 0:10:39.490 --> 0:10:42.410 me just say that for the first time, we have 0:10:42.450 --> 0:10:45.870 had a reduction in street homelessness. This has not happened before. 0:10:46.230 --> 0:10:48.250 As I mentioned, we've had 11%. 0:10:48.250 --> 0:10:50.929 You know, our buddy Jeff Vaughn, who does the news 0:10:51.030 --> 0:10:52.980 updates on the top of the bottom of the hour 0:10:53.100 --> 0:10:56.620 on KABC, he put out a great graphic on X 0:10:57.140 --> 0:11:00.980 showing that if you look at her entire tenure, just 0:11:01.040 --> 0:11:03.660 based on the numbers that were reported by the Los 0:11:03.760 --> 0:11:09.000 Angeles Homeless Services Authority, From 2022 to 2023, the number 0:11:09.040 --> 0:11:13.420 went up by about 15%. Then it went down about 5%. 0:11:13.420 --> 0:11:15.620 Then it went down about 5%. And then it went 0:11:15.740 --> 0:11:19.630 up again another 8%. So overall, from when she started 0:11:19.690 --> 0:11:24.089 in 2023 to when she's now asking for a re-election 0:11:24.150 --> 0:11:27.189 based on their own numbers, they are not down. 0:11:27.950 --> 0:11:32.360 Well, and I always tell people these two facts because 0:11:32.500 --> 0:11:34.790 it's all you need to know. when you're talking about 0:11:34.809 --> 0:11:39.110 the homeless problem in California. One out of four homeless 0:11:39.150 --> 0:11:43.240 people in the entire nation lives in California. And when 0:11:43.250 --> 0:11:47.760 you're specifically talking about the quote-unquote unhoused population, and I'm 0:11:47.800 --> 0:11:51.420 not being politically correct with that terminology, I'm talking about 0:11:51.480 --> 0:11:55.140 people who live on the sidewalks, in the encampments, in 0:11:55.160 --> 0:11:59.500 the parks, in the transportation corridors. We're not talking about 0:11:59.540 --> 0:12:04.439 people who are couch surfing. We have a 50% of 0:12:04.480 --> 0:12:09.790 the nations unhoused. This is a problem that we created, 0:12:10.670 --> 0:12:13.770 that we are willing to put up with, that other 0:12:13.830 --> 0:12:16.610 states have already figured out a solution to. 0:12:18.950 --> 0:12:21.170 And another thing to think about, and somebody in the 0:12:21.240 --> 0:12:23.720 chat pointing this out, and it's always worth pointing out, 0:12:24.160 --> 0:12:28.500 Karen Bass herself will admit that based on our inaction, 0:12:29.000 --> 0:12:33.250 five people on the streets die every single day. which 0:12:33.370 --> 0:12:38.230 is about 1,800 a year. So how much of the 0:12:38.309 --> 0:12:41.030 number going down was all the people that OD'd? 0:12:42.700 --> 0:12:46.940 Reduction overall, it did kick up last year. In eight 0:12:47.000 --> 0:12:51.730 council districts, homelessness went down, including yours. The main reason 0:12:51.790 --> 0:12:55.410 homelessness went down is because our efforts with Insight Safe. 0:12:58.110 --> 0:13:02.569 Mayor Bass claims that since 2023, L.A. has reduced homelessness 0:13:02.650 --> 0:13:07.070 by 11 percent. Now, however, according to the Los Angeles 0:13:07.090 --> 0:13:12.370 Homeless Services Authority, that decrease is only 2.3 percent. 0:13:18.500 --> 0:13:21.250 What do they say? Lies, damn lies and statistics. 0:13:22.500 --> 0:13:26.060 So the decrease that Karen Bass claims we have is 0:13:26.120 --> 0:13:30.400 a rounding error. in a very inaccurate system to begin with. 0:13:31.500 --> 0:13:34.590 But keep in mind here, critics have long questioned Lassa's 0:13:34.750 --> 0:13:40.110 homeless count, and Bass's claims do require further clarification. Now, 0:13:40.290 --> 0:13:43.980 here is candidate Nithya Raman on homelessness. She began by 0:13:44.059 --> 0:13:46.480 talking about the Inside Safe program. 0:13:47.870 --> 0:13:50.689 There has been no adaptation. There has been no changes 0:13:50.730 --> 0:13:53.510 to the program to make it more cost-effective, where it 0:13:53.570 --> 0:13:58.420 costs $ 80, 000 to $ 100, 000 per person per year. In my district, 0:13:58.460 --> 0:14:01.179 we had very different results, where we saw a nearly 0:14:01.179 --> 0:14:04.520 50 percent reduction in homelessness just in the last year, 0:14:04.620 --> 0:14:07.239 even as it rose citywide. And I'm very, very proud 0:14:07.260 --> 0:14:07.880 of those results. 0:14:10.050 --> 0:14:15.010 Council Member Rahman citing a nearly 50% decline in homelessness 0:14:15.370 --> 0:14:19.200 in CD4 last night. CD4 is her council district that 0:14:19.260 --> 0:14:22.880 stretches from Silver Lake all the way to Reseda. Lhasa's 0:14:23.080 --> 0:14:27.990 annual count shows the decline is just about there at 49%. 0:14:27.990 --> 0:14:31.870 But again, keep in mind, Lhasa's count has come under fire. 0:14:32.390 --> 0:14:37.110 And comparisons between council districts should be put in perspective. So, 0:14:37.190 --> 0:14:43.060 for example, Rahman's CD4 fell to roughly 90 unsheltered people 0:14:43.120 --> 0:14:47.760 this year, while CD1, which includes MacArthur Park, has roughly 0:14:47.760 --> 0:14:57.320 900 unsheltered people. What you witnessed last night, live on 0:14:57.360 --> 0:15:02.160 NBC4 and Telemundo 52, the only televised debate between these 0:15:02.220 --> 0:15:05.080 two candidates since the primary, and it appears it will 0:15:05.120 --> 0:15:08.420 be the only one you see before the general election, 0:15:08.610 --> 0:15:10.470 now less than three weeks away. 0:15:10.770 --> 0:15:13.050 And at least that's something that you can look forward to, 0:15:13.150 --> 0:15:15.150 is that you don't have to hear from these two again. 0:15:16.270 --> 0:15:20.530 Well, and you also have everyone's lived experience. I don't 0:15:20.610 --> 0:15:23.390 live in the city of L.A. I'm there all the time, though. 0:15:23.980 --> 0:15:26.440 And every time I go, it feels like the homeless 0:15:26.480 --> 0:15:30.740 problem is getting worse. You see more encampments. You see 0:15:30.840 --> 0:15:36.240 larger encampments. You see trash everywhere. You see graffiti everywhere. 0:15:36.940 --> 0:15:39.380 If the number of people living on the streets was 0:15:39.600 --> 0:15:43.900 actually going down in any kind of measurable way, you 0:15:43.950 --> 0:15:48.270 would notice it with your eyes, your ears, and your nose. 0:15:49.370 --> 0:15:52.090 And every time I go there, I shake my head 0:15:52.110 --> 0:15:56.310 and say, they still haven't been able to fix this. 0:15:58.410 --> 0:16:01.550 I do live in the city of Los Angeles, unfortunately, 0:16:01.710 --> 0:16:03.700 although this week I'm in Santa Fe and I really 0:16:03.740 --> 0:16:07.380 don't want to go home. I drive on the freeways 0:16:07.500 --> 0:16:10.660 in the city of Los Angeles, and specifically, I get 0:16:10.740 --> 0:16:14.680 off the freeway at the 10 at Robertson as you 0:16:14.780 --> 0:16:18.780 cross over from LA City to Culver. And for the 0:16:18.820 --> 0:16:22.730 past two months, there has been something so emblematic of 0:16:22.790 --> 0:16:25.330 a city that wants to do something and that a 0:16:25.390 --> 0:16:28.550 city that refuses to do something. Because right at the 0:16:28.610 --> 0:16:32.460 corner of Venice and Robertson is a Del Taco. And 0:16:32.480 --> 0:16:38.060 technically Culver City starts at the driveway past the Del Taco. 0:16:38.560 --> 0:16:41.700 Right before that driveway, right before the city line for 0:16:41.740 --> 0:16:46.230 Culver City is an encampment that is growing and growing 0:16:46.420 --> 0:16:50.020 and growing. On the other side of the sidewalk You 0:16:50.060 --> 0:16:54.280 don't see anything. It is completely clean. It still has 0:16:54.320 --> 0:16:57.460 a lot of traffic, but it does not have the 0:16:57.580 --> 0:17:01.700 trash that is accumulating and getting bigger every day. That's 0:17:01.740 --> 0:17:04.310 what you get in the city of Los Angeles. When 0:17:04.510 --> 0:17:07.090 I drive on to get on the 405 freeway at 0:17:07.109 --> 0:17:11.590 Havenhurst in Encino, there are tents under the freeway, and 0:17:11.630 --> 0:17:13.649 that's supposed to be the good part of town. 0:17:14.010 --> 0:17:17.470 Well, and then go back to Bass's argument. the number 0:17:17.490 --> 0:17:20.470 of people living on the streets is up year to year, 0:17:21.060 --> 0:17:24.180 but she's trying to take a victory lap because it's 0:17:24.280 --> 0:17:27.520 down in some council districts, but way up in other 0:17:27.580 --> 0:17:29.620 districts as if that makes a difference. 0:17:30.640 --> 0:17:33.710 Well, something else that's worth pointing out is these numbers 0:17:33.770 --> 0:17:37.430 get adjusted all the time. And a few years ago, 0:17:37.890 --> 0:17:42.189 back when LA city councilman meth Bonin hadn't decided to 0:17:42.290 --> 0:17:45.190 not run for reelection in He was touting that in 0:17:45.270 --> 0:17:48.350 his district, which includes the West Side and Venice, saw 0:17:48.450 --> 0:17:51.770 a 30% reduction while the rest of the city saw 0:17:51.869 --> 0:17:55.350 a massive increase, and that showed that his policy of 0:17:55.410 --> 0:17:57.840 refusing to clear encampments was the right one. 0:17:58.230 --> 0:17:59.200 Well, it was funny. 0:17:59.260 --> 0:18:02.420 A few months after he decided not to run for re-election, 0:18:02.920 --> 0:18:06.320 was there a correction, a revision on the numbers showing 0:18:06.359 --> 0:18:09.659 that no, no, no, no, no, it went up in 0:18:09.880 --> 0:18:13.070 his district. It did not go down in that district 0:18:13.090 --> 0:18:15.490 until they got somebody that wanted to enforce the law 0:18:15.590 --> 0:18:19.149 in Tracy Park. And even then, it's only a little 0:18:19.190 --> 0:18:20.310 better than it used to be. 0:18:26.430 --> 0:18:31.500 All right. When we return, or later on in the hour, 0:18:31.560 --> 0:18:34.380 I guess I should say, if you'd like to email 0:18:34.440 --> 0:18:37.780 the show, you can do so at johnnydontlikeshow at gmail.com. 0:18:38.600 --> 0:18:43.440 That's johnnydontlikeshow at gmail.com. And if you want to watch 0:18:43.560 --> 0:18:46.580 us perform the show live, participate in the chat, and 0:18:46.640 --> 0:18:50.920 smash that like button, Randy, that's easy to do at johnnydontlike.com. 0:18:51.300 --> 0:18:54.520 We're already at over 285 likes on today's show, so 0:18:54.540 --> 0:18:57.440 if you haven't seen us live, you've never tried it before, 0:18:57.900 --> 0:19:00.899 open up your phone. Go to johnnydontlike.com. That'll take you 0:19:00.920 --> 0:19:03.800 to the YouTube channel. Say hi in the chat room, 0:19:03.840 --> 0:19:07.080 hit the like button, make sure you're subscribed to the channel. Johnny, 0:19:07.119 --> 0:19:14.950 we are nearly at 9,200 subscribers on our way to 10,000. 0:19:14.950 --> 0:19:18.070 And after the show, you should also check out the 0:19:18.109 --> 0:19:20.510 newest edition of the Accountability Podcast. 0:19:20.810 --> 0:19:23.210 We'll have a little preview of it next hour, but 0:19:23.300 --> 0:19:25.600 this is part two of our voter guide with John 0:19:25.660 --> 0:19:31.840 Fleischman from SoDoesItMatter.com. covering the statewide races, including insurance commissioner, 0:19:31.920 --> 0:19:36.780 including the governor, and talking about the Bay Area transit tax. 0:19:36.840 --> 0:19:39.600 So we go through all of it, and we want 0:19:39.640 --> 0:19:41.540 to make sure you check it out after we sign 0:19:41.609 --> 0:19:45.409 off at 3 at johnnydontlike.com. Leave a comment. Tell us 0:19:45.450 --> 0:19:48.270 what you think about those races, and comment on everyone 0:19:48.310 --> 0:19:49.490 else's comments as well. 0:19:51.090 --> 0:19:53.230 If you want to watch us perform the show live 0:19:53.280 --> 0:19:56.689 go to johnnydontlike.com and click that like button how are 0:19:56.710 --> 0:19:58.360 we doing on the likes right now randy. 0:19:58.500 --> 0:20:01.119 Well last i checked it was at 285 and then 0:20:01.140 --> 0:20:02.800 we took a commercial break and now it's at 312 0:20:02.800 --> 0:20:07.429 look at that we love that Every single time we 0:20:07.450 --> 0:20:09.490 get someone to hit the like button, it just encourages 0:20:09.540 --> 0:20:12.619 YouTube to recommend us to new people. New people are 0:20:12.680 --> 0:20:15.780 finding the show and discovering the channel every single day. 0:20:15.880 --> 0:20:18.960 So from the bottom of our hearts, thank you so 0:20:19.060 --> 0:20:21.359 much because we don't have a marketing department. 0:20:22.720 --> 0:20:24.320 And at the end of the month, we're going to 0:20:24.340 --> 0:20:25.860 be live in the Bay Area. 0:20:25.880 --> 0:20:31.100 I am so excited for this. On Friday, October 30th, 0:20:31.940 --> 0:20:35.740 We're doing our first live broadcast in the Bay Area. 0:20:36.090 --> 0:20:39.030 We're going to be at Johnny Foley's in Union Square 0:20:39.210 --> 0:20:44.229 in San Francisco. Easily accessible by BART and Muni. You 0:20:44.270 --> 0:20:46.449 can take a ferry into town and then take the 0:20:46.510 --> 0:20:49.210 train there. You can take a Waymo, which covers most 0:20:49.250 --> 0:20:51.420 of the Bay now. We want to see you there 0:20:51.500 --> 0:20:54.680 from noon to three. Have a drink, maybe have some lunch. 0:20:55.020 --> 0:20:58.020 And we'll be there with our friend Susan Shelley from 0:20:58.080 --> 0:21:02.910 the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association. talking about Proposition 43, which, 0:21:02.950 --> 0:21:06.100 by the way, if you go to yeson43. com, they will 0:21:06.210 --> 0:21:09.760 mail you a free yard sign. We need everybody listening 0:21:09.820 --> 0:21:12.179 to spread the word about Prop 43 so we can 0:21:12.220 --> 0:21:15.119 get it over the finish line. A yes on 43 0:21:15.119 --> 0:21:19.419 means it's harder to raise your taxes. It's as simple 0:21:19.500 --> 0:21:21.980 as that, and a message we can all get behind. 0:21:22.240 --> 0:21:25.859 We'll be spreading that message to the Bay Area. Friday, 0:21:26.000 --> 0:21:30.459 October 30th at Johnny Foley's in Union Square in San 0:21:30.570 --> 0:21:35.850 Francisco on Friday, October 30th. Get to San Francisco and 0:21:35.910 --> 0:21:37.890 hang out with us. It's going to be a blast. 0:21:38.730 --> 0:21:41.710 And on election day, we're going to be doing two shows. 0:21:42.510 --> 0:21:45.149 We're here for the regular show on Tuesday, November 3rd 0:21:45.190 --> 0:21:47.870 from noon to three. But at seven o'clock, we come 0:21:47.910 --> 0:21:51.869 back live and statewide for an election results special. The 0:21:51.910 --> 0:21:57.530 polls closed at eight o'clock in California. We'll be on KABC, KSFO, 0:21:57.730 --> 0:22:01.929 and the big KMJ in Fresno from 7 to 9 p.m. 0:22:01.990 --> 0:22:05.440 going over those election results and some of the nationwide races. 0:22:05.880 --> 0:22:09.320 And we'll be doing it on YouTube at johnnydontlike.com from 0:22:09.320 --> 0:22:12.460 7 till at least 10 p.m. So we'll have a 0:22:12.500 --> 0:22:16.379 whole exclusive hour just for the video. So watch us 0:22:16.540 --> 0:22:19.840 count the votes, local races, statewide, and some of the 0:22:19.900 --> 0:22:24.200 national ones as well. for the 2026 midterms on Tuesday, 0:22:24.270 --> 0:22:29.389 November 3rd at 7 p.m. Pacific at johnnydontlike.com. I had 0:22:29.430 --> 0:22:31.430