WEBVTT - Half Of Smoke Shops Sell Illegal Goods? 0:00:01.480 --> 0:00:04.360 Well, the city council might only give you sixty seconds 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:05.520 to where your grievance is. 0:00:05.640 --> 0:00:08.400 Oh hi, I'd like to go to the first caller 0:00:08.520 --> 0:00:09.160 on the phone. 0:00:09.600 --> 0:00:13.560 Well, if you're lucky, now we're giving you a both 0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:18.759 sixty minutes. It's a KABC News Blitz with Randy Wang 0:00:18.920 --> 0:00:21.599 in our long recap of the day's top local stories 0:00:21.680 --> 0:00:25.520 on your drive home. And unlike the city Council, we're 0:00:25.560 --> 0:00:28.040 the perfect vehicle to actually. 0:00:27.600 --> 0:00:29.120 Get your voice heard. 0:00:29.520 --> 0:00:34.360 The KABC News Blitz with Randy Wang starts no, No, No. 0:00:34.640 --> 0:00:37.640 It is the News Blitz with Randy Wang on Talk 0:00:37.760 --> 0:00:42.279 Radio seven ninety KABC. This is your daily rundown of 0:00:42.360 --> 0:00:44.919 everything you need to know that is going on in 0:00:45.360 --> 0:00:50.240 State of California, Southern California, the Bay Area, Sacramento, San Diego, 0:00:50.320 --> 0:00:53.160 in the Central Valley. I compile a list every single 0:00:53.200 --> 0:00:55.360 day of all the stories that I see that I 0:00:55.440 --> 0:00:57.840 find interesting that you may want to check out stuff 0:00:57.880 --> 0:01:01.000 you may have missed at Randy Wang Radio dot substack 0:01:01.080 --> 0:01:04.720 dot com. That's Randy Wang Radio dot substack dot com. 0:01:04.720 --> 0:01:07.360 And make sure to check out our YouTube channel Johnny 0:01:07.400 --> 0:01:09.880 Don't Like dot com for the John Phillips Show on 0:01:09.959 --> 0:01:14.880 demand content and the accountability podcast that's Johnny Don't like 0:01:15.160 --> 0:01:20.959 dot Com. We start with one of my personal crusades. 0:01:22.120 --> 0:01:24.360 You know, there are some things that I'm just kind 0:01:24.400 --> 0:01:26.240 of a nag on, and I don't think I'll be 0:01:26.360 --> 0:01:34.480 changing anytime soon. I really don't like smoke shops. That 0:01:34.640 --> 0:01:42.040 doesn't mean I have this like crusade against tobacco or 0:01:42.080 --> 0:01:45.560 even a problem with people smoking cigarettes. I'm not one 0:01:45.560 --> 0:01:48.480 of those people. I you know, if that's what you 0:01:48.600 --> 0:01:53.559 want to do, fine, enjoy yourself. Not really my thing, 0:01:54.160 --> 0:01:59.720 but it doesn't really bother me. But smoke shops, We're 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:03.360 talking talking about a totally different thing. Because, you know, 0:02:03.560 --> 0:02:08.000 the average person that I know that happens to smoke cigarettes, 0:02:08.560 --> 0:02:12.320 where are they buying their cigarettes? Probably a gas station, 0:02:13.240 --> 0:02:19.040 probably a you know, a seven to eleven, a convenience store. 0:02:19.639 --> 0:02:23.560 And how about people that enjoy cigars, you know, you know, 0:02:23.800 --> 0:02:28.520 they probably go to a fine liquor and cigar store 0:02:28.560 --> 0:02:31.560 like Tarzana Wine and Spirits, great place right there on 0:02:31.680 --> 0:02:39.639 Ventura Boulevard. I happen to believe that smoke shops are 0:02:39.919 --> 0:02:48.160 nothing but hotbeds of barely legal and illegal activity. Smoke 0:02:48.240 --> 0:02:51.280 shops which you would think means a place where people 0:02:51.280 --> 0:02:54.600 are going to buy I don't know, loose tobaccos so 0:02:54.639 --> 0:02:56.480 they can roll their own cigarettes. 0:02:57.200 --> 0:02:59.960 My uncle used to do that at one point. Super gross. 0:03:02.160 --> 0:03:05.360 Oh, maybe people are going to buy water pipes for 0:03:05.720 --> 0:03:08.440 their non tobacco smoking activities. 0:03:08.840 --> 0:03:10.360 Love that term water pipes. 0:03:12.000 --> 0:03:16.600 These places are everywhere in southern California. In the San 0:03:16.680 --> 0:03:21.960 Fernando Valley where I reluctantly still live, there is a 0:03:22.080 --> 0:03:26.720 smoke shop, dare I say, in almost every single strip mall. 0:03:27.440 --> 0:03:29.440 And smoking's way down. 0:03:29.960 --> 0:03:35.640 So how exactly are these businesses surviving in this climate? Oh, 0:03:35.720 --> 0:03:38.760 I'll tell you how, because they're selling a whole lot 0:03:38.800 --> 0:03:40.360 of things they're not supposed to. 0:03:42.240 --> 0:03:45.480 For one, we know a lot of these smoke shops. 0:03:45.920 --> 0:03:49.320 These are the places that are also operating as illegal 0:03:49.440 --> 0:03:53.000 pot stores. They're selling the stuff that they're not licensed 0:03:53.040 --> 0:03:55.440 to sell, and because they're doing it without a license, 0:03:55.640 --> 0:03:57.480 they're able to sell it a lot cheaper than the 0:03:57.480 --> 0:04:02.000 people doing it the right way. And apparently, according to 0:04:02.040 --> 0:04:06.920 our own primaried city attorney, it is so difficult to 0:04:07.160 --> 0:04:11.440 shut these things down even when they are operating illegally. 0:04:12.600 --> 0:04:14.280 I don't see how that makes any sense. 0:04:15.400 --> 0:04:18.000 We in fact, in the city of Los Angeles passed 0:04:18.440 --> 0:04:21.359 a ballot measure to allow the City of LA to 0:04:21.400 --> 0:04:24.680 send a tax bill to illegally operating pot stores. But 0:04:25.240 --> 0:04:30.200 the smoke shops do so much more than just offer pot. 0:04:31.360 --> 0:04:34.039 They offer a whole bunch of other things, including we 0:04:34.120 --> 0:04:38.080 did an entire story on the Accountability podcast about how 0:04:38.120 --> 0:04:40.480 a lot of these smoke shops they make a lot 0:04:40.520 --> 0:04:45.200 of money selling nitrous oxide. And if you're wondering what's 0:04:45.240 --> 0:04:49.800 that's for, it's for whippets. And they even have creatively 0:04:49.880 --> 0:04:54.240 designed packaging for canisters to attract young people to get 0:04:54.279 --> 0:04:59.000 this brand of whippets. How is that something that's legal. 0:04:59.240 --> 0:05:02.680 It's starting to have ordinances. But it is the wildest thing. 0:05:02.720 --> 0:05:04.600 You go to a rock concert now and you see 0:05:04.640 --> 0:05:08.680 people with these gigantic, transparent balloons selling them to you 0:05:08.800 --> 0:05:10.560 for five dollars so you can do a hit of 0:05:10.680 --> 0:05:12.760 nos before you go see a concert. 0:05:14.240 --> 0:05:16.640 But it's not just nitrous oxide. 0:05:17.000 --> 0:05:19.800 It's not just the pot that they're supposed to not 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:23.800 be selling that they're selling. Oh no, no, no, they're 0:05:24.120 --> 0:05:29.719 so much more. And in fact, in Sacramento, researchers found 0:05:30.120 --> 0:05:34.480 that over half of the smoke shops that they surveyed 0:05:35.440 --> 0:05:41.000 sold banned substances that they're not supposed to sell. Because 0:05:41.040 --> 0:05:43.600 this is what the smoke shop is. It's kind of 0:05:43.640 --> 0:05:46.520 like what the you know, the roadside gas station in 0:05:46.560 --> 0:05:49.880 Middle America is like all of these products that are 0:05:49.920 --> 0:05:53.200 not evaluated by the FDA that are sold as health 0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:55.960 food products. Where you want to talk about the off 0:05:56.040 --> 0:05:59.520 brand penis pills, the stuff that's supposed to improve your 0:05:59.800 --> 0:06:04.880 form rments, whatsoever, stuff that's unlicensed. Pain believers create them, 0:06:05.000 --> 0:06:08.279 all of this insanity. Remember when the whole thing was 0:06:08.279 --> 0:06:11.560 the pot stores were selling synthetic pot K two and 0:06:11.680 --> 0:06:19.239 spice bath salts. Seriously, there is so much crap going 0:06:19.279 --> 0:06:22.320 on that it shouldn't be legitimate at all. And in 0:06:22.360 --> 0:06:26.720 a state that loves to regulate and ban everything, it's 0:06:26.760 --> 0:06:30.919 so bizarre to me that we allow the smoke shops 0:06:31.240 --> 0:06:34.919 that plague our neighborhoods and attract criminal activity, and a 0:06:34.960 --> 0:06:38.080 lot of them are fronts for straight up criminal organizations 0:06:38.560 --> 0:06:42.960 are allowed to thrive. And I have a theory on this. 0:06:45.440 --> 0:06:50.080 I have a long standing theory why we look the 0:06:50.200 --> 0:06:54.279 other way when it comes to the smoke shops and 0:06:54.320 --> 0:06:57.280 the strip malls selling a bunch of stuff they're not 0:06:57.360 --> 0:07:00.919 supposed to. Why we look the other way on the 0:07:01.680 --> 0:07:07.640 illicit massage parlor in the strip mall that is definitely 0:07:07.680 --> 0:07:11.840 not selling anything that someone would consider a legitimate massage. 0:07:13.520 --> 0:07:17.520 If a massage parlor has black bars on the windows, 0:07:18.160 --> 0:07:21.320 there's not a lot of real spa treatments going on there. 0:07:21.760 --> 0:07:26.120 If they have flashing neon signs, chances are they're not legit. 0:07:26.680 --> 0:07:30.280 If their hours are open until eleven o'clock at night, 0:07:30.360 --> 0:07:34.040 you know exactly what is going on out there. If 0:07:34.040 --> 0:07:36.880 this was a podcast, I could say in more detail 0:07:37.000 --> 0:07:40.160 what we call these places, but since I'm on the radio, 0:07:40.280 --> 0:07:41.000 I'll just call. 0:07:40.920 --> 0:07:41.800 It an R and T. 0:07:47.280 --> 0:07:50.120 We know what these places are, and they're all over 0:07:50.160 --> 0:07:51.680 the place. You know, if you drive through the San 0:07:51.760 --> 0:07:55.840 Fernando Valley, it repeats itself over and over and over again. 0:07:56.240 --> 0:08:00.240 Just count how many McDonald's there are Unventura Boulevard. Also 0:08:00.640 --> 0:08:03.160 count how many smoke shops are in little strip malls. 0:08:03.560 --> 0:08:06.000 And you look at these strip malls that we have 0:08:06.360 --> 0:08:10.680 way too many of, and almost every single one that 0:08:10.720 --> 0:08:13.840 I drive past has either a smoke shop, a massage 0:08:13.840 --> 0:08:17.360 parlor or both. And in fact, the closest strip mall 0:08:17.400 --> 0:08:22.120 to my house has a I don't consider the seven 0:08:22.160 --> 0:08:24.960 eleven part of the smoke shop, but right next to 0:08:25.000 --> 0:08:28.800 the seven eleven is a four unit strip mall. Two 0:08:28.880 --> 0:08:32.760 of the units have been for lease and abandoned for 0:08:32.800 --> 0:08:35.200 a long time. The two units that are still in 0:08:35.240 --> 0:08:39.319 there smoke shop and massage parlor. And this is why 0:08:39.840 --> 0:08:43.400 I believe we look the other way on this, Why 0:08:44.040 --> 0:08:47.120 even though we know there is obvious human trafficking going 0:08:47.160 --> 0:08:50.679 on at these places every single day, obvious dens of 0:08:50.800 --> 0:08:54.800 prostitution at the massage parlors. We know there are obvious 0:08:54.840 --> 0:08:59.440 hotbeds of criminal activity, sometimes connected to gangs and organized 0:08:59.440 --> 0:09:01.360 crime going on at these smoke shops. 0:09:02.400 --> 0:09:04.880 The reason we don't bust them. 0:09:06.240 --> 0:09:11.160 Is because if we did that, if we cracked down 0:09:11.240 --> 0:09:14.440 on the smoke shop, if we crack down on the 0:09:14.480 --> 0:09:20.560 massage parlor, if we shut down those businesses, is it 0:09:20.760 --> 0:09:25.079 possible that there are to be such a massive impact 0:09:25.559 --> 0:09:30.480 to the commercial real estate bubble that we are currently 0:09:30.559 --> 0:09:36.800 facing right now that if you don't have the smoke 0:09:36.880 --> 0:09:41.000 shop paying the rent, and you don't have the obviously 0:09:41.080 --> 0:09:45.120 illicit massage parlor paying the rent, that you're going to 0:09:45.200 --> 0:09:49.320 see a whole bunch of these strip malls all of 0:09:49.360 --> 0:09:53.440 a sudden have no shops. There's four least signs in 0:09:53.480 --> 0:09:56.920 every single one of them. Now you see a completely 0:09:56.960 --> 0:09:59.959 full strip mall, you must be in a very good neighborhood. 0:10:01.520 --> 0:10:05.320 So is it possible that we're looking the other way 0:10:05.760 --> 0:10:08.240 because these are the only businesses that are going to 0:10:08.320 --> 0:10:12.000 pay the rent Because it's very hard to start a 0:10:12.040 --> 0:10:16.160 small business. It's very expensive to start a small business. 0:10:16.480 --> 0:10:22.080 Commercial real estate is very expensive to lease, and you 0:10:22.200 --> 0:10:28.480 have so many people that own these commercial properties that 0:10:28.520 --> 0:10:32.280 are not getting what Maybe they're barely getting enough to 0:10:32.320 --> 0:10:35.920 pay their loans, maybe they're getting less, maybe they're losing 0:10:36.000 --> 0:10:38.400 money on them. And if we were to shut down 0:10:38.520 --> 0:10:42.959 all of the obvious illegal businesses that are all throughout 0:10:43.000 --> 0:10:47.240 these smoke shops, you might start seeing all kinds of foreclosures, 0:10:47.240 --> 0:10:48.240 in bankruptcies and. 0:10:48.200 --> 0:10:48.760 What have you. 0:10:49.480 --> 0:10:52.160 And you know, we're kind of like this house of cards, 0:10:52.280 --> 0:10:56.600 keeping the commercial real estate economy afloat by allowing all 0:10:56.600 --> 0:10:57.840 of this criminal activity. 0:10:58.920 --> 0:11:01.640 Now, in my mind, what would we do about this? 0:11:01.840 --> 0:11:03.680 And I know this is one of those things that's 0:11:03.679 --> 0:11:06.839 a lot harder in practice, but I still think it's 0:11:06.880 --> 0:11:10.079 worth thinking about. You know you're even hearing in her 0:11:10.160 --> 0:11:13.000 desperate plea to get re elected, Karen Bass talking about 0:11:13.040 --> 0:11:17.000 adaptive reuse. When it comes to all of the downtown 0:11:17.080 --> 0:11:20.200 buildings that are empty because the office space isn't coming back, 0:11:21.679 --> 0:11:23.400 I think that that is a lot of work and 0:11:23.400 --> 0:11:26.200 that can be very difficult. When it comes to the 0:11:26.320 --> 0:11:29.520 land that you know, these strip malls are on, it 0:11:29.559 --> 0:11:31.920 seems like that would be way easier to rezone and 0:11:31.960 --> 0:11:39.000 way quicker knock them down. When you have a strip 0:11:39.080 --> 0:11:43.400 mall that has nothing of value in it, Let's make 0:11:43.440 --> 0:11:46.840 it really easy for whoever owns that land to build 0:11:47.120 --> 0:11:49.760 some I'm not even going to say affordable housing because 0:11:49.800 --> 0:11:53.080 that's a loaded term, just housing. Let them build an 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:54.200 apartment building there. 0:11:54.559 --> 0:11:55.240 Make it as. 0:11:55.120 --> 0:11:58.520 Easy as possible, in fact, incentivize it because we have 0:11:58.559 --> 0:12:01.200 a quote housing crime, right, and we need to build 0:12:01.280 --> 0:12:05.000 more housing and there's no legitimate business being done at 0:12:05.000 --> 0:12:09.120 the strip mall, and strip malls are super ugly and 0:12:09.200 --> 0:12:12.560 kind of a blight on neighborhoods at this point. You 0:12:12.600 --> 0:12:14.960 know the ones I'm talking about, if you live in 0:12:15.000 --> 0:12:21.600 the valley. Maybe we make it easier. Maybe we make 0:12:21.679 --> 0:12:25.200 it so we can start really making some changes and 0:12:25.240 --> 0:12:26.960 maybe you do the thing that you know is so 0:12:27.080 --> 0:12:30.559 trendy now where you know you have maybe it's a 0:12:30.600 --> 0:12:32.880 three or four story building because this is La in 0:12:32.920 --> 0:12:36.640 the Valley. We're not going to get crazy here, and 0:12:36.679 --> 0:12:39.840 you have a market on the first floor. I mean, 0:12:39.880 --> 0:12:42.120 they've actually got one of these now in Sherman Oaks. 0:12:42.160 --> 0:12:45.160 It's crazy. It is not cheap, but you could live 0:12:45.200 --> 0:12:48.280 on top of a Trader Joe's, which is an interesting 0:12:48.320 --> 0:12:52.200 way to live. But you know, I was walking around Toronto, 0:12:52.320 --> 0:12:57.120 and Toronto is a major metropolitan city, but there are 0:12:57.400 --> 0:13:00.199 and there is all kinds of housing. Like there is 0:13:00.240 --> 0:13:03.600 a massive mall near where I was staying called the Well, 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:05.960 and on top of the Well is a whole bunch 0:13:06.000 --> 0:13:10.400 of apartments that's kind of cool. There was this really 0:13:10.480 --> 0:13:13.480 really really trendy bar that had like the biggest happy 0:13:13.480 --> 0:13:16.800 hour in downtown Toronto and it's the first floor of 0:13:16.840 --> 0:13:18.200 a big apartment building. 0:13:19.480 --> 0:13:22.560 Like, I don't have a problem with more of that stuff. 0:13:22.600 --> 0:13:25.719 I don't think LA in our infrastructure can handle you know, 0:13:25.960 --> 0:13:29.360 ten twelve story buildings in places like the San Fernando Valley, 0:13:29.400 --> 0:13:32.120 but more of that kind of reuse where you have 0:13:32.280 --> 0:13:34.439 something that's kind of fun that maybe the people who 0:13:34.480 --> 0:13:35.800 live in the building would use. 0:13:36.000 --> 0:13:39.240 But what do we have instead? 0:13:39.840 --> 0:13:44.319 We have vacant retail spaces and the only people paying 0:13:44.360 --> 0:13:50.160 the rent are pretty obviously criminal organizations. Maybe I'm biased, 0:13:50.760 --> 0:13:51.880 Maybe I'm just. 0:13:51.800 --> 0:13:52.760 A little cranky. 0:13:53.920 --> 0:13:57.120 Maybe I'm so sick of driving past this strip mall 0:13:57.160 --> 0:14:01.760 I see every single day. But I don't think anything 0:14:01.840 --> 0:14:04.840 legitimate happens at smoke shops. I don't think anything legitimate 0:14:04.880 --> 0:14:08.439 happens at massage parlors. Nobody's going in there because they 0:14:08.480 --> 0:14:14.320 have back pain. That's just not happening. I could go 0:14:14.400 --> 0:14:17.560 into further detail on how I know exactly what goes 0:14:17.559 --> 0:14:21.320 on in those places, but this is a family show, 0:14:22.280 --> 0:14:24.320 and I already told all those stories on my old 0:14:24.360 --> 0:14:27.360 podcast and scrubbed that stuff from the internet, and I'm 0:14:27.360 --> 0:14:31.080 not going to do it again. It's the News Blitz 0:14:31.560 --> 0:14:36.880 with Randy Wang on Talk Radio seven ninety KABC. 0:14:38.800 --> 0:14:39.840 It's the News. 0:14:39.560 --> 0:14:45.760 Blitz with Randy Wang on Talk Radio seven ninety KABC. Hey, 0:14:45.880 --> 0:14:47.760 after I sign off here at six If you haven't 0:14:47.840 --> 0:14:50.680 checked out the latest episode of The Accountability Podcast, it 0:14:50.800 --> 0:14:52.840 dropped today at three pm, and it's John and I 0:14:52.920 --> 0:14:57.400 and Seneca Scott talking about Bob Bonta panicking because of 0:14:57.520 --> 0:15:00.960 Sheng Tao's upcoming corruption trial. Do not miss it, Johnny, 0:15:01.040 --> 0:15:04.600 don't like dot Com. Let's go to David Whittier. 0:15:04.720 --> 0:15:09.800 Dave, Hello, Yes, sir, okay, I've got a different take 0:15:09.880 --> 0:15:14.840 for you on this. Arresting these illegal businesses, the massage prothers, etc. 0:15:15.280 --> 0:15:18.560 Across the board in California. Do it. And here's why. 0:15:19.320 --> 0:15:22.000 Because all that property is going to be available, and 0:15:22.040 --> 0:15:27.400 we know in the real estate market, availability brings down prices, Okay, 0:15:27.560 --> 0:15:29.120 and that's what it's going to do. It's going to 0:15:29.200 --> 0:15:31.560 be bring down the price of leasing and it's going 0:15:31.640 --> 0:15:35.520 to spur on in California. 0:15:37.520 --> 0:15:40.000 Well, I like that idea because you know, I have 0:15:40.120 --> 0:15:42.760 seen some of the prices to lease. Even space is 0:15:42.800 --> 0:15:44.800 in the dumpiest of a strip ball. It's like, how 0:15:44.800 --> 0:15:47.560 does anybody get into that? You're right, maybe there'll be 0:15:47.760 --> 0:15:50.720 a little more competition and they'll have to lower the 0:15:50.720 --> 0:15:53.640 price and make it more competitive if we take out 0:15:53.680 --> 0:15:56.480 all of these places they know they're getting guaranteed income 0:15:56.520 --> 0:15:59.120 from from the obvious criminal organizations. 0:16:00.600 --> 0:16:05.440 Randy had already happened in La County. Deportations ice reporting 0:16:05.720 --> 0:16:09.040 has caused has caused you can google that. I think 0:16:09.160 --> 0:16:11.520 as you have mentioned, that caused rent prices to go 0:16:11.680 --> 0:16:14.240 down in Los Angeles County. 0:16:15.800 --> 0:16:17.920 Well, there you go, Dave, Thanks so much for the call. 0:16:18.000 --> 0:16:20.400 Appreciate it. Let's go to Tom in La Tom. 0:16:20.440 --> 0:16:26.240 Hello, Yeah, Hi, I think your theory about why they're 0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:30.600 not arresting the massage parlers is way too imaginative and 0:16:30.680 --> 0:16:33.840 gives the politicians way too much credit for intelligence and 0:16:33.880 --> 0:16:38.040 thoughtfulness they The bottom line is the politicians, for the 0:16:38.080 --> 0:16:41.280 most part, are narcissists. They really don't care about anything 0:16:41.400 --> 0:16:43.880 except themselves and what's going to get them re elected. 0:16:44.120 --> 0:16:48.680 They don't give a crap about anybody else, and and 0:16:48.800 --> 0:16:52.400 the law enforcement officers themselves. As a prosecutor for eleven years, 0:16:52.400 --> 0:16:55.600 I dealt with this stuff every day, the prosecutor or 0:16:55.720 --> 0:16:59.240 the law enforcement officers. You have a small minority who 0:16:59.280 --> 0:17:01.480 are really dedicated and really want to enforce the law 0:17:01.520 --> 0:17:04.879 and go after bad guys. They are constantly being put 0:17:04.960 --> 0:17:09.320 down and put to the side and told to be quiet, 0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:13.399 don't rock the boat. The people in charge are lazy. 0:17:13.440 --> 0:17:16.920 They're trying to keep control of their job situation because 0:17:16.920 --> 0:17:19.159 they're all making over one hundred thousand dollars with the 0:17:19.200 --> 0:17:22.000 overtime plus the retirement benefits, So they don't want to 0:17:22.040 --> 0:17:26.040 do anything that's going to jeopardize their job. And so 0:17:26.160 --> 0:17:28.520 it really doesn't have anything to do with them trying 0:17:28.520 --> 0:17:34.120 to support the real estate market. The pol Fishes, they 0:17:34.160 --> 0:17:37.919 just aren't that knowledgeable and thoughtful about business and they 0:17:37.960 --> 0:17:42.600 really don't care and in terms of lowering the having 0:17:42.640 --> 0:17:46.040 competition and lowering the rates, if those businesses were put 0:17:46.040 --> 0:17:48.680 out of business and the office spaces were left open. 0:17:49.000 --> 0:17:50.879 I was in Las Vegas during the two thousand and 0:17:50.880 --> 0:17:55.120 eight two thousand and nine real estate crash, and there 0:17:55.119 --> 0:17:59.119 were like strip malls all over the place that were vacant, 0:17:59.200 --> 0:18:01.800 totally vacant, or to be like one store. All the 0:18:01.800 --> 0:18:05.560 anchor stores were gone at the time. I tried to 0:18:05.600 --> 0:18:07.720 get some. I thought I'd get some cheap office space, 0:18:07.760 --> 0:18:11.280 so I called these different property managers that were handling 0:18:11.280 --> 0:18:16.320 the centers. The problem is these real estate centers, they're owned, 0:18:16.440 --> 0:18:20.440 they're owned by these big companies that really don't care 0:18:20.640 --> 0:18:23.480 if they sit empty because they take real estate losses 0:18:23.480 --> 0:18:26.960 on the income tax returns. So until you get rid 0:18:27.000 --> 0:18:31.119 of that loss on the income tax return, these big 0:18:31.240 --> 0:18:34.880 conglomerates that own the shopping centers. They don't really care 0:18:35.080 --> 0:18:38.399 if their thing is empty. And I mean, if you 0:18:38.440 --> 0:18:40.800 have a mom and pop owner, they're going to be hurting. 0:18:40.960 --> 0:18:42.840 But for the most part, most of these things are 0:18:42.880 --> 0:18:47.040 owned by you know, real estate investment trusts and LLCs 0:18:47.160 --> 0:18:50.320 that have lots of money and the people and when 0:18:50.359 --> 0:18:54.360 they're privately owned is publicly being publicly traded. The privately 0:18:54.400 --> 0:18:57.880 owned companies, those people they have so much money they 0:18:58.000 --> 0:19:02.359 don't care if a property does and you know, return 0:19:02.400 --> 0:19:06.160 any rent because they have sufficient funds in the bank. 0:19:06.520 --> 0:19:08.680 You know, the downturn is not going to hurt them. 0:19:09.040 --> 0:19:13.440 And for reasons that I personally don't understand, manage real estate. 0:19:13.520 --> 0:19:17.200 Property manager after property manager told me that they would 0:19:17.240 --> 0:19:21.240 not go down on their stated you know, per square 0:19:21.240 --> 0:19:22.080 foot rental rate. 0:19:22.240 --> 0:19:24.240 We see it every single day. Tom, We're running up 0:19:24.240 --> 0:19:26.080 against a break. But you make a heck of a 0:19:26.119 --> 0:19:29.719 lot of sense. The real estate companies don't care because 0:19:29.760 --> 0:19:32.560 they make money just on the loss. That makes sense. 0:19:32.840 --> 0:19:37.400 It's the news Blitz with Randy Wang on KABC. Chuck 0:19:37.400 --> 0:19:40.840 writes in at Randy Wang Radio at gmail dot com. 0:19:41.200 --> 0:19:42.280 Help me understand this. 0:19:42.359 --> 0:19:44.399 Where do you come up with the belief that strip 0:19:44.440 --> 0:19:46.720 mall should never have empty spots. Where do you and 0:19:46.760 --> 0:19:48.920 the guy you interviewed, the guy that called in come 0:19:49.000 --> 0:19:51.080 up with this belief that in your perfect world, every 0:19:51.080 --> 0:19:52.520 strip mall should be full and white. 0:19:52.520 --> 0:19:53.359 Does it math to you? 0:19:53.480 --> 0:19:56.040 Well, I think it's just a sign of the economy 0:19:56.160 --> 0:19:59.280 that so many vacancies are in so many strip malls. 0:19:59.720 --> 0:20:02.520 And if the only places that are able to take 0:20:02.560 --> 0:20:07.000 out leases are places that are obvious dens for criminal activity, 0:20:07.680 --> 0:20:08.640 that's just kind of. 0:20:08.520 --> 0:20:12.600 Interesting to me. I don't understand. I'm not angry. 0:20:12.640 --> 0:20:14.840 I just don't understand why you believe that strip mall 0:20:14.920 --> 0:20:17.719 should never have vacancies, and more so, why does it 0:20:17.760 --> 0:20:21.719 bother you. I'm not mad, So please explain, because it's confusing. 0:20:21.840 --> 0:20:23.960 Where do you get this if I don't know who 0:20:23.960 --> 0:20:26.480 told you, maybe the Bible or someplace told you that 0:20:26.800 --> 0:20:29.560 throughout your life that strip malls will all be pleasantly full. 0:20:31.200 --> 0:20:33.720 It's not like there's one or two vacancies. Just drive 0:20:33.800 --> 0:20:36.879 up and down Van Owen Boulevard in the San Fernando Valley. 0:20:37.320 --> 0:20:43.320 There are so many vacant storefronts all over the place, 0:20:43.400 --> 0:20:46.760 including a place that's zoned to be a pod store 0:20:47.280 --> 0:20:49.320 on Woodley and Victory. 0:20:49.960 --> 0:20:51.320 Excuse me, did I say Van Owen? 0:20:51.320 --> 0:20:55.000 I'm at Victory on Woodley and Victory that has been 0:20:55.040 --> 0:20:58.399 sitting vacant forever. There's a place zoned to be a 0:20:58.480 --> 0:21:01.760 restaurant right next to it, always vacant. Anyone that moves 0:21:01.800 --> 0:21:05.000 in there goes out of business. The only thing that 0:21:05.040 --> 0:21:07.960 makes any money in there is a Leo's Taco truck 0:21:08.000 --> 0:21:11.560 goes to the parking lot. My point of all of 0:21:11.600 --> 0:21:16.399 this is, if the commercial real estate is not working out, 0:21:16.520 --> 0:21:20.119 if we have these strip malls that nobody's starting businesses 0:21:20.160 --> 0:21:22.960 in and the only ones that are our criminal dens, 0:21:23.920 --> 0:21:26.399 and why don't we, you know, make it as easy 0:21:26.440 --> 0:21:30.120 as possible as policy makers for zoning. 0:21:29.880 --> 0:21:33.000 Changes to turn those into all of the buildings that 0:21:33.040 --> 0:21:33.480 we need. 0:21:33.560 --> 0:21:37.160 Instead of taking an old two story apartment building, tearing 0:21:37.240 --> 0:21:40.200 it down and making a seven story apartment building, why 0:21:40.200 --> 0:21:42.399 don't we start with all of this space that we 0:21:42.480 --> 0:21:44.200 have that nobody's really using. 0:21:45.440 --> 0:21:46.359 Just something to think about. 0:21:46.400 --> 0:21:48.479 There's a lot of you know, for as much as 0:21:48.520 --> 0:21:52.320 we talk about how we're in a housing crisis, there's 0:21:52.359 --> 0:21:55.240 so much land out there. And sure you have Steve 0:21:55.280 --> 0:21:57.920 Hilton talking about you know that there's so much empty space, 0:21:57.920 --> 0:22:00.560 why don't we start new cities, new county. You know, 0:22:00.960 --> 0:22:03.800 there's also lots of empty space just sitting around where 0:22:03.800 --> 0:22:08.040 we are right now. There's tons and tons and tons 0:22:08.040 --> 0:22:11.040 of land that can be developed or redeveloped. If you 0:22:11.040 --> 0:22:13.040 want to talk about all the land that the schools own, 0:22:13.080 --> 0:22:19.960 what have you. Now, let's focus back here on the 0:22:20.280 --> 0:22:26.680 original point, which is the story that I saw from 0:22:27.000 --> 0:22:34.960 CBS Sacramento about the smoke shops and how a study 0:22:35.040 --> 0:22:40.639 found that a good majority of the products sold there 0:22:41.320 --> 0:22:46.160 are not supposed to be sold. For more on this, 0:22:47.040 --> 0:22:50.760 we go to CBS in Sacramento. 0:22:50.480 --> 0:22:54.160 High Crimes in Sacramento. College researchers just went undercover looking 0:22:54.160 --> 0:22:57.479 for dangerous drugs in local smoke shops. They say more 0:22:57.520 --> 0:23:00.960 than half of the stores they surveyed were selling contraband 0:23:01.160 --> 0:23:03.280 over the counter. Thanks for staying with us here at 0:23:03.320 --> 0:23:06.040 ten thirty Las Moortacov. We have all been inside a 0:23:06.080 --> 0:23:08.560 convenience store, right and seeing the different products on the 0:23:08.600 --> 0:23:11.720 shlves behind the counter, But how many are legal? Well, 0:23:11.720 --> 0:23:14.919 two med school students decided to find out. Walk with 0:23:14.960 --> 0:23:17.320 me over to Ashley Williams she's here getting answers on 0:23:17.520 --> 0:23:20.000 what prohibited products they found. 0:23:20.119 --> 0:23:23.199 Actually, yeah, so Tony. These college students are studying to 0:23:23.200 --> 0:23:26.040 become medical doctors one day, and they're getting an early 0:23:26.080 --> 0:23:31.080 start trying to protect public health. New research showing banned 0:23:31.160 --> 0:23:33.840 substances are being sold in Sancramento stores. 0:23:34.000 --> 0:23:36.879 It's like the wild West, essentially, there's no regulation. It 0:23:36.960 --> 0:23:40.040 was and again this is the most overregulated state except 0:23:40.040 --> 0:23:43.400 for certain industries where it's not at all. 0:23:43.640 --> 0:23:45.359 And do you remember the story. We did it a 0:23:45.359 --> 0:23:46.000 few weeks ago. 0:23:46.040 --> 0:23:49.920 It's funny, I remember exactly where I am sometimes when 0:23:49.960 --> 0:23:53.000 I hear something for the first time, and I believe 0:23:53.040 --> 0:23:55.639 I was because this was just a few weeks ago. Yeah, 0:23:55.880 --> 0:23:59.320 I was walking around the streets of Toronto, because when 0:23:59.359 --> 0:24:03.159