Speaker 1: And we continue at two five in the afternoon on
Speaker 1: the John Phillips Show, mister Randy Weggs in Culver City, John, let.
Speaker 2: Me find you another one of these great calls that
Speaker 2: took place when you were on vacation last week and
Speaker 2: we had Steve Hilton on the show. Spent the rest
Speaker 2: of the hour talking about who are you supporting for governor.
Speaker 2: We had a whole lot of people call in, and
Speaker 2: I saved two of these calls because they're like, you
Speaker 2: know what, Johnny's probably going to hear these when he
Speaker 2: gets back. Here's the other one. Let's go to Lisa
Speaker 2: in Long Beach. Lisa, Hello, Hi.
Speaker 3: Randy, Hi, Steve Hilton all the way, and I'm making
Speaker 3: my first donation today. And because I'm vegan, of course
Speaker 3: it's never porker.
Speaker 2: Oh my, didn't see that one coming. It sounds like
Speaker 2: last week was lively eight hundred two two two five
Speaker 2: two two two. Easy telephone number one eight hundred two
Speaker 2: two five two two two. Just when you think you've
Speaker 2: seen it all, after COVID nineteen, when the teachers' unions
Speaker 2: shut down on campus instruction for over a year, and
Speaker 2: in the case of LAUSD, a lot longer than that.
Speaker 2: Now we're getting the post mortems. Now all of the
Speaker 2: experts are weighing in on our practices during COVID to
Speaker 2: find out what worked and what didn't work. And it
Speaker 2: almost doesn't matter which post mortem you look at, they
Speaker 2: all say the same thing, which is shutting down the
Speaker 2: schools was a really bad idea. It was bad for
Speaker 2: the kids psychologically, it was bad for the kids in
Speaker 2: terms of their education, didn't do much in terms of
Speaker 2: spreading or slowing the spread of the virus, but it's
Speaker 2: what the teachers' unions wanted, so that's what they got.
Speaker 2: During COVID, we were told it didn't matter if the
Speaker 2: kids were on campus or not.
Speaker 1: Learning from home in front of the computer was just
Speaker 1: as good as being on campus, So stop asking so
Speaker 1: many questions. We also now know that enrollment in many
Speaker 1: K through twelve school districts in the state of California,
Speaker 1: including some of the biggest ones like San Francisco, Oakland,
Speaker 1: Los Angeles, it's in free fall. We know that the
Speaker 1: state is broke, we're upside down, we have a budget deficit,
Speaker 1: and we're waiting for the may revise to figure out
Speaker 1: how it is that we're going to pay for it.
Speaker 1: Given all of these things that exist, it's really hard
Speaker 1: to fathom a world where the teachers' unions then go
Speaker 1: to the school district and say give us more money,
Speaker 1: or we're going to go on strike. Yet, Randy in
Speaker 1: San Francisco, at least, that's exactly what they're doing.
Speaker 2: San Francisco's teachers' union has announced that they are authorizing
Speaker 2: a possible strike. In Southern California, UTLA is thinking of
Speaker 2: doing the exact same thing.
Speaker 4: Why we demand higher pay.
Speaker 1: All of this, by the way, is going on at
Speaker 1: the same time that the community college system, cal State,
Speaker 1: and UC are all complaining that they're having to spend
Speaker 1: extra money on remedial math and English classes because the
Speaker 1: K through twelve system isn't doing their job.
Speaker 2: For more on the potential strike in San Francisco Unified,
Speaker 2: here's a report from KPIX in the Bay.
Speaker 5: San Francisco teachers have voted to authorize a strike, with
Speaker 5: nearly ninety eight percent voting in favor of the work stoppage.
Speaker 6: Weather Harry spoke with a parent and a teacher about
Speaker 6: what could happen next.
Speaker 7: An overwhelming number of San Francisco Public school teachers have
Speaker 7: voted in favor of a potential strike, which.
Speaker 2: You know, with how expensive it is to raise a
Speaker 2: kid there, I wonder what the teacher to student ratio
Speaker 2: is right now? Is it like one to one?
Speaker 1: I'll tell you. If you want to talk about a
Speaker 1: group of people who are overplaying their hand, it's these people.
Speaker 1: I just read an article about people, I think it
Speaker 1: was in the Bay Area where they're sending their kids
Speaker 1: to some kind of AI school where the AI school.
Speaker 1: In fact, it was Elon Musk who was tweeting about it.
Speaker 1: The AI school teaches the kids everything that they learn
Speaker 1: in a full day at a public school in two hours.
Speaker 2: Oh I did that? Rap I think I did that
Speaker 2: one of the times you were gone, yeah it. Now,
Speaker 2: this school isn't cheap, but believe you me, this technology
Speaker 2: is only going to get cheaper. But the kids learn
Speaker 2: everything they could possibly need to know from the AI bod.
Speaker 2: These jobs are numbered.
Speaker 1: That's the way technology always is. Go back to when
Speaker 1: VCRs first came out. They were like two three thousand
Speaker 1: dollars per VCR, and at the end they were practically
Speaker 1: giving them away, and then the technology just became out
Speaker 1: of date and antiquated, and people moved on to DVDs
Speaker 1: and streaming and other things in public education. If you
Speaker 1: want to find an industry that is right to be
Speaker 1: taken over by AI, it's that one. And if they
Speaker 1: keep behaving this way right at the same time that
Speaker 1: AI is beginning to explode, they're going to be They're
Speaker 1: gonna have a huge target on their backs.
Speaker 7: An overwhelming number of San Francisco public school teachers have
Speaker 7: voted in favor of a potential strike, which could result
Speaker 7: in kids losing time in the classroom.
Speaker 8: For children and the families that they are going to
Speaker 8: be the biggest victims of this strike if it happens.
Speaker 7: Marii Rahimi has a kindredgard.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but these are the same people that kept the
Speaker 2: schools closed for in San Francisco a year and a half,
Speaker 2: in LA two years, keeping it closed for another few weeks,
Speaker 2: that's fine.
Speaker 1: You know. And I'll tell you this, you talk about
Speaker 1: the AI. I took four years of Spanish in high school.
Speaker 1: I can't get by when I go to Latin America.
Speaker 1: I really don't even come close to speaking anything. I
Speaker 1: can't pronounce the words correctly. It was useless. But you
Speaker 1: talk to these people who use Rosetta Stone or some
Speaker 1: of these different techniques to learn a foreign language, and
Speaker 1: they understand that foreign language in no time.
Speaker 2: I'm already learning, so I can go back to Spain. Y'all,
Speaker 2: quiero vermout poor favor.
Speaker 7: Mari Rahimi has a kindergartener in the San Francisco Unified
Speaker 7: School District. Now he's trying to prepare for the unknown.
Speaker 8: It obviously comes with a lot of uncertainty and anxiety
Speaker 8: about this.
Speaker 2: It's a really interesting world. The people that can afford
Speaker 2: to live and raise a family in San Francisco but
Speaker 2: are still too cheap for private school.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that is a strange, strange type of person.
Speaker 8: It obviously comes with a lot of uncertainty and anxiety
Speaker 8: about disruption to the school year.
Speaker 7: He says, if a strike happens, parents will have to
Speaker 7: come up with child care plans, and he worries about
Speaker 7: the disruption to the kids learning.
Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, where was he during COVID, especially.
Speaker 7: If it's a long strike. Although he does believe the
Speaker 7: teachers need a fair contract, the kids love.
Speaker 2: Wait, are we getting siren in the middle of this
Speaker 2: rap about schools? Why not we get sirens in every
Speaker 2: other rap we do on this show.
Speaker 7: Although he does believe the teachers need a fair contract.
Speaker 8: The kids love that.
Speaker 2: What I don't understand is you look at this most
Speaker 2: recent budget where revenues were higher than expected, so the
Speaker 2: budget goes up because of a prop ninety eight. Automatically,
Speaker 2: if more money comes in, more money goes to the schools.
Speaker 2: Where is that money going?
Speaker 1: You know what this is? This is the same mentality
Speaker 1: that the politicians, the Democratic majority in Sacramento has. They
Speaker 1: believe they're never going to lose an election. And if
Speaker 1: you believe that your bulletproof and you're never going to
Speaker 1: lose an election, then you can behave however it is
Speaker 1: you want to behave. You can drive drunk, you can
Speaker 1: do favors for your friends, you can show up, you
Speaker 1: cannot show up, whatever, it doesn't matter. You're not going
Speaker 1: to lose. And the teachers' unions are of the belief
Speaker 1: that it doesn't matter how they behave, those jobs are
Speaker 1: going to exist in perpetuity. No one ever has to
Speaker 1: worry about losing their job. So just go for the gold,
Speaker 1: go balls to the wall, ask for the moon, and
Speaker 1: then if they don't give it to you, demand the
Speaker 1: solar system, and it works until it doesn't. And if
Speaker 1: you overplay your hand to cards right when technology is
Speaker 1: going to render you useless, you're really doing a disservice
Speaker 1: to your membership because the membership is just paying attention
Speaker 1: to what the union leadership is saying, and the union
Speaker 1: leadership is saying, yes, vote to authorize a strike. Well,
Speaker 1: they're leading them off cliff and I don't even think
Speaker 1: the membership is aware of it.
Speaker 8: The kids love them, They are fantastic teachers. So it
Speaker 8: is that it does come to this and we're at
Speaker 8: this place and are at an impasse.
Speaker 7: More than five thousand teachers voted to authorize a strike.
Speaker 7: Nearly ninety eight percent voted in favor of it, including
Speaker 7: Roosevelt Middle School pe teacher Vanessa Hutchinson Zachi, we are
Speaker 7: really hoping not to strike.
Speaker 2: The we're helping the threat of it will be enough
Speaker 2: so they'll give us everything we want and more. And
Speaker 2: usually that's the case. That's what happened. If you wonder
Speaker 2: where this drop is from, it's when the LAUSD Union
Speaker 2: UTLA went on a solidarity strike with the SEIU to
Speaker 2: get them a raise. And then Cicely, who was asking
Speaker 2: for a twenty percent raise, ended up getting a twenty
Speaker 2: two percent raise. Way to bring them to their knees,
Speaker 2: their ace, my colleagues.
Speaker 9: The community. We don't want to strike. We want to
Speaker 9: stay in our classrooms with our students.
Speaker 10: She says.
Speaker 7: The United Educator is asking for what they believe is
Speaker 7: needed to help stabilize their schools, a nine percent salary
Speaker 7: increase over two years and health. Under state law, they
Speaker 7: cannot strike until the completion of an independent fact finding process.
Speaker 9: The fact finding report is due by the latest February.
Speaker 2: Fourth, so that's coming up.
Speaker 1: Think about this for a second. As I mentioned before,
Speaker 1: enrollment is declining. Can you imagine any other scenario where
Speaker 1: there are fewer customers, a lot fewer customers, and you
Speaker 1: just go in there and demand more because you can.
Speaker 9: So when that, you know, after that a strike could
Speaker 9: be called potentially, So we are in school on Monday
Speaker 9: with joy in our hearts.
Speaker 2: I don't know about that.
Speaker 1: Boy. She really sounds like she's filled with joy, doesn't she.
Speaker 7: SFUSD Superintendent doctor Maria Sue sent out a notice to parents.
Speaker 11: What is she?
Speaker 2: A doctor of.
Speaker 1: Probably education?
Speaker 7: Kim and I are working hard to reach a fair agreement.
Speaker 7: That is centered on what is best for the students,
Speaker 7: while also preparing responsibly in the event of any disruption.
Speaker 7: I recognize that the uncertainty is stressful. Will provide as
Speaker 7: much notice as possible in the event of a strike,
Speaker 7: But for Raheemis, a strike can be avoided.
Speaker 8: I would really hope adults to, you know, step up,
Speaker 8: figure out how they can be adults together.
Speaker 2: And you know the kids, Oh, they don't do that.
Speaker 2: Usually it's these contract negotiations where things get real ugly,
Speaker 2: real fast.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, they have the picketing going on outside the schools.
Speaker 2: And I want you to be all the way, and
Speaker 2: someone always brings the war drums. Oh yes, kids aren't there.
Speaker 8: They can't have a say in this. You're doing it
Speaker 8: for them. You're all public servants, both on the administration
Speaker 8: and the strict side, and the teachers. We love y'all,
Speaker 8: just like sit together and figure it out.
Speaker 5: Earlier tonight I spoke with doctor John Logan, who is
Speaker 5: the Chair of Labor and Employment Studies at San Francisco
Speaker 5: State University. He added some perspective on the significance of
Speaker 5: the union potentially striking for the first time in nearly
Speaker 5: fifty years.
Speaker 10: They think that there's a lack of transparency around.
Speaker 2: The Wait, this guy's a scott What are you alleging
Speaker 2: he's Scottish? That's all okay, you're not questioning his sobriety,
Speaker 2: are you? No, not a not one bit. I'm just
Speaker 2: getting thanks to Love Island, I'm getting really good at
Speaker 2: picking out UK dialects.
Speaker 10: Do they think that there's a lack of transparency around
Speaker 10: the budget of the school district? Now, the school district
Speaker 10: does have a deficit, it does have declining enrollments, as
Speaker 10: you say.
Speaker 2: So where's the money coming from? That's a very good question.
Speaker 10: But at the same time, it has a very significant
Speaker 10: reserves what it calls its rainy day fund, that can
Speaker 10: be pussed in emergency situations.
Speaker 2: And this is usually the fight that you hear at
Speaker 2: every single teacher strike, whether it's o USD, it's UTLA
Speaker 2: at San Francisco, it's usually, yes, the school's broke, but
Speaker 2: they have all this emergency money and we need it now.
Speaker 1: Okay, but emergency money is supposed to go for emergencies.
Speaker 1: Let's just say there's a weather event that destroys the
Speaker 1: property of the school. You need new playgrounds, you need
Speaker 1: new gyms, you need new whatever. That's what the emergency
Speaker 1: money is for. If you use the emergency money to
Speaker 1: give out raises to your existing employees, that's not an emergency.
Speaker 1: That's luxury.
Speaker 2: Well to the union, everything's in emergency.
Speaker 10: And the Union is saying clearly, this is an emergency situation.
Speaker 10: We have an enormous problem with teacher recruitment and retention
Speaker 10: in San Francisco. You need to use this new one
Speaker 10: hundred and eleven million dollars that you have in reserves
Speaker 10: in terms of a rainy day fund. It needs to
Speaker 10: be used now to preserve the quality of education and
Speaker 10: to make sure that you're able to hold on to
Speaker 10: the teachers that you have in the district.
Speaker 2: Otherwise, the teachers are going to take their talents to
Speaker 2: a town that's less expensive.
Speaker 1: Okay, and then what happens if there's an earthquake that
Speaker 1: destroys the property and you no longer have a fund
Speaker 1: to pay to replace it.
Speaker 2: Eh, Gavin obail us out.
Speaker 5: We'll stay up to date with any new developments in
Speaker 5: this ongoing situation here on air as well as on ours.
Speaker 2: There you go. So the strike authorization has happened. The
Speaker 2: report that has to be done statutorially gets filed later
Speaker 2: on in the week, and at that point they can
Speaker 2: either see who blinks first, or there's gonna be no
Speaker 2: educating going on in San Francisco till they get their raise.
Speaker 2: And it's not if they get their raise, it's when
Speaker 2: they get their raise. We know how this game works.
Speaker 1: I think part of the strategy here is that no
Speaker 1: one involved, and I mean no one, from the union
Speaker 1: to the teachers, to the administrators to the school board,
Speaker 1: none of them worry about going bankrupt because if they're
Speaker 1: insolvent due to generous employee contracts, I think the belief
Speaker 1: is that Sacramento will bail them out because don't forget
Speaker 1: beat Antonio via Rigosa for governor back in twenty eighteen,
Speaker 1: because the teachers' unions all got behind Newsom because via
Speaker 1: Regosa had the charter school people. Newsom owes them. Newsom
Speaker 1: they believe will give them whatever they want.
Speaker 2: Well, Newsom let them keep the schools closed longer than
Speaker 2: any other state in the Union.
Speaker 1: That's right, and they feel like they have the same
Speaker 1: relationship with the state legislature.
Speaker 11: Two.
Speaker 1: So if you can't go bankrupt because you know that
Speaker 1: you're gonna get bailed out by Sacramento. You're bowling with bumpers.
Speaker 1: You don't have to worry about failing. And that's where
Speaker 1: they are. So San Francisco, you may be seeing a
Speaker 1: teacher strike headed your way very very soon. Eight hundred
Speaker 1: two two two five two two two is the telephone
Speaker 1: number one eight hundred two two two five two two two.
Speaker 1: If you'd like to email the show, you can do
Speaker 1: so at Johnny don't like show at gmail dot com.
Speaker 1: That's Johnny Don't Like Show at gmail dot com. And Randy.
Speaker 1: We're going to Long Beach on Friday.
Speaker 2: On Friday, we're heading back to Longbeach to Gladstone's in
Speaker 2: Long Beach, and you're invited come enjoy the great food,
Speaker 2: good vibes, and a fun afternoon by the water this
Speaker 2: Friday from noon to three. John Sagmeister will take care
Speaker 2: of you. We're gonna be there with special guests like
Speaker 2: Susan Shelley from the Howard Jarvis Taxpay Association. She'll tell
Speaker 2: you more about your taxpayer rights protecting Prop thirteen. As
Speaker 2: the courts have made it easier to raise your taxes.
Speaker 2: We need you to come by and sign the petition
Speaker 2: to save Prop thirteen. You can bring them with you
Speaker 2: and drop them off in person. Susan needs all these
Speaker 2: signatures by February seventeenth, so if you haven't done so,
Speaker 2: go to save Prop thirteen dot com. That Saveprop thirteen
Speaker 2: dot com. Come hang out with us, grab a bite
Speaker 2: and be part of the broadcast The John Phillips Show
Speaker 2: live at Gladstone's in Long Beach Friday from noon to three.
Speaker 1: Let's go to Harold and Lakewood. Harold, Hello, Hi John.
Speaker 12: A question and a comment. What this is a capitalistic
Speaker 12: society we live in? Correct?
Speaker 1: It is?
Speaker 12: Competition is Competition is key to what we do? So
Speaker 12: why do we have no competition with public schools? They
Speaker 12: get to do whatever they want. Why don't we get
Speaker 12: school choice? Let's see what they would do if if
Speaker 12: there was school choice. I think the competition are the
Speaker 12: quality of the education would go up quite a bit
Speaker 12: if we didn't have these people doing things that they
Speaker 12: shouldn't be doing and getting money for what the they're
Speaker 12: not really doing. So well comment for.
Speaker 1: A crowd of people obsessed with equity, as the teachers'
Speaker 1: unions are. What's interesting is there is competition, but right
Speaker 1: now only rich people have access to the private schools
Speaker 1: and the elite educations that are available. If you are
Speaker 1: poor or your lower middle class and your parents don't
Speaker 1: have the financial wiggle room that people who are doing
Speaker 1: better than you have, then you're stuck in the crony
Speaker 1: public school and you end up with an awful education,
Speaker 1: whereas people from more affluent backgrounds end up with a
Speaker 1: much better education. This is one of these things that
Speaker 1: I think AI is going to be great on. I
Speaker 1: think AI will make it so that people in the
Speaker 1: poorest communities in the country have access to a high
Speaker 1: quality education. The problem for educators is it won't involve them,
Speaker 1: It'll involve the technology, and we'll be able to do
Speaker 1: it much cheaper than how we're doing it right now.
Speaker 1: Here with an update on the fires, mister.
Speaker 2: Randy Wang, So, one of the things that the City
Speaker 2: of Los Angeles promise when it comes to the recovery
Speaker 2: in the Palisades fire was a report that was commissioned
Speaker 2: by the City of Los Angeles that would specifically lay
Speaker 2: out how we're going to rebuild when it comes to infrastructure,
Speaker 2: whether that's utilities, roads, fire evacuation routes. There's a lot
Speaker 2: of residents that are waiting on that report until they
Speaker 2: want to rebuild because they want to know what the
Speaker 2: standards are going to be for all of these infrastructure problems.
Speaker 2: And that report has been in bureaucratic delayed hell for
Speaker 2: months and months and months and is still not out
Speaker 2: a year later. Seems on brand for more. Here's Fox
Speaker 2: eleven in Los Angeles and Matthew Seedorf.
Speaker 13: Only on Fox eleven tonight. A critical rebuilding report for
Speaker 13: Pacific Palisades, promised months ago, is still not public. Some
Speaker 13: residents now raising alarm, saying it's now stuck in the
Speaker 13: city Attorney's office. Fox Love is Matthew Sedorf lim in
Speaker 13: Pacific Palisa to night with this exclusive report for US.
Speaker 14: Matt well susan.
Speaker 15: This report is crucial for the rebuild and now some
Speaker 15: are wondering what's taking so long.
Speaker 2: Well, it's the city of La.
Speaker 1: If the City of La were to come out and
Speaker 1: say this is us working to the best of our
Speaker 1: abilities and they're this far behind, they'd be telling you
Speaker 1: the truth.
Speaker 2: This is the same city where Karen Bass last year
Speaker 2: promised to waive permitting fees for the Palisades rebuilds, and
Speaker 2: that still hasn't made it through the city council. And
Speaker 2: this is the exact same City of LA that delayed
Speaker 2: the LAFD After Action report so it could be doctored
Speaker 2: to make sure the city didn't look too bad.
Speaker 1: Business as usual.
Speaker 15: A highly anticipated rebuilding roadmap for fire devastated Pacific Palisades
Speaker 15: now considered weeks overdue.
Speaker 16: Report was due back in mid November to the Mayor's office,
Speaker 16: and now I don't know where it is.
Speaker 15: In June, Mayor Bass announced the city at high.
Speaker 2: Isn't this supposed to be like Priority one issues?
Speaker 1: She doesn't care and her belief is the Palisades only
Speaker 1: represents less than one percent of the total population of
Speaker 1: Los Angeles and Altadena's and unincorporated county of LA, so
Speaker 1: they don't get a vote in the mayor's race, so
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter how much she abuses these people.
Speaker 15: In June, Mayor Bass announced the city had hired ae COM,
Speaker 15: tasked with designing new infrastructure, stronger fire protection, and updated
Speaker 15: evacuation routes.
Speaker 1: There's been a lot of work done, but.
Speaker 15: After months of public meetings like this, there's still no
Speaker 15: public report.
Speaker 16: We're talking probably close to twenty million dollars in consultant
Speaker 16: fees that's been paid this report.
Speaker 1: Oh that's what this is about. Oh, yes, everyone's making
Speaker 1: a mint off of it.
Speaker 2: How many consulting groups were hired in the wake of
Speaker 2: all this disaster? No one knew what exactly they were doing,
Speaker 2: but they all got a whole lot of money. And
Speaker 2: then what do we find out The LAFD, through their foundation,
Speaker 2: hires a crisis management firm to deal with all the
Speaker 2: bad pr they were getting.
Speaker 1: How greedy are these people? If you're a consultant, can't
Speaker 1: you just rob Tom Steyer blind? Why do you have
Speaker 1: to continue to victimize these people too?
Speaker 16: We're talking quite close to twenty million dollars in consultant
Speaker 16: fees that's been paid.
Speaker 17: This report is crucial, critical, But more than anything, what's
Speaker 17: critical is that we rebuild infrastructure properly.
Speaker 15: Restlands say they were told last week by city officials.
Speaker 15: The documents are now sitting in the city attorney's office.
Speaker 17: What's the document doing with the city's attorney's office? I
Speaker 17: can only question what could possibly require that much investigation?
Speaker 16: With ACoM also a consultant for LAP you know, where
Speaker 16: can we trust anybody in this process?
Speaker 2: You can't trust anybody if the reason these reports are
Speaker 2: taking so long, it's because they're trying to craft a
Speaker 2: work of fiction.
Speaker 1: She is worried about re election and that's it.
Speaker 17: The scariest part for me is, right before this report
Speaker 17: was due, the leadership of a COM quit.
Speaker 2: The improved ae comm's contract.
Speaker 15: November, Councilwoman Tracy Park said the report would be released
Speaker 15: in about thirty.
Speaker 2: Days and it was not.
Speaker 1: Nope, not even close.
Speaker 15: It's now February, more than a year since the fire,
Speaker 15: and still no report or plans for city infrastructure.
Speaker 16: Six months too late. These you know this information should
Speaker 16: have been out there way earlier.
Speaker 15: Fox eleven has repeatedly reached out to the Mayor's office,
Speaker 15: city attorney, and ae COM with questions about the delay
Speaker 15: so far only.
Speaker 2: Counts and who exactly is ae COM friends with? And
Speaker 2: how did they get this twenty million dollar contract to
Speaker 2: consult on a report that nobody has seen.
Speaker 1: It seems like we've seen this movie before.
Speaker 15: So far, only Councilwoman Park has responded with the statement
Speaker 15: saying Palisades's residents deserve answers. I've pressed every city department
Speaker 15: and out side partner to treat this with the urgency
Speaker 15: it demands.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but Tracy, you're a small voice in there, and
Speaker 2: they don't pay attention to you.
Speaker 1: Nope, and they can outvote her anytime they want to.
Speaker 2: Why would she couldn't? Even even with everyone wanting to
Speaker 2: support the residents of the Palisades, even Tracy Park doing
Speaker 2: everything she want to do, the city still is slow
Speaker 2: walking and dragging their feet when it comes to waving
Speaker 2: permit fees for rebuilds.
Speaker 1: Disgraceful.
Speaker 17: Why would the head of a com quit? Something's missing here?
Speaker 17: Why is it stuck in the attorney's office? Something's missing here?
Speaker 15: Gino has showing you live what the whites look like
Speaker 15: on this block and other blocks. It is dark, and
Speaker 15: this plan includes things about power lines, water and roads,
Speaker 15: and without some residents feel like the rebuild truly can't
Speaker 15: begin here.
Speaker 2: Yeah, shouldn't we have started with this? And shouldn't we
Speaker 2: have had this? How long does it take to craft
Speaker 2: a report of Okay, here's everything that was bad with
Speaker 2: her infrastrction structure. Here's how we can make it less bad.
Speaker 1: I'm telling you if your home burned down on that
Speaker 1: fire cut bait, because this is going to be a
Speaker 1: never ending nightmare In.
Speaker 15: Pacific polists important a long time. Matthew Seed or Fox eleven.
Speaker 13: News, Matthew, do the residents have a plan on what
Speaker 13: to do and how to force it out of the
Speaker 13: City Attorney's office?
Speaker 15: Yeah, no, they're demanding these questions too. They don't really
Speaker 15: have a specific plan. They keep pestering them and asking
Speaker 15: when it's going to be available, but right now they're
Speaker 15: really not getting that answer.
Speaker 13: Sounds like something for the attorneys. Matthew Sedorf, thank you
Speaker 13: so much.
Speaker 2: So there you go once again. Shang Tao is the
Speaker 2: soothsayer that we all knew that she was when she.
Speaker 18: Said the bureaucracy is real.
Speaker 1: Meanwhile, well, Karen Bass's administration is continuing to victimize the
Speaker 1: fire victims. She is preparing to give the state of
Speaker 1: the City address.
Speaker 2: And she's doing it real early, maybe because this is
Speaker 2: filing week for who's going to run for MAYORBCLA.
Speaker 19: And tomorrow LA Mayor Karen Bass will give her state
Speaker 19: of the City address, and there's much to discuss, from
Speaker 19: immigration operations to protest to wildfire recovery and the upcoming
Speaker 19: sporting events, the major ones that LA is hosting.
Speaker 1: You mean the World Cup and how about the Olympics.
Speaker 11: It will be her last State of the City before
Speaker 11: the mayor's race this year.
Speaker 14: A NBC for is Tracy Leung joining us live now
Speaker 14: from downtown LA with what we can expect from the
Speaker 14: mayor's speech. Tracy, Yeah, Jonathan and Kathy.
Speaker 18: Mayor Karen Bass will take the stage tomorrow, an event
Speaker 18: that always also carries extra political weight. And this is
Speaker 18: coming three months earlier than her usual State of the
Speaker 18: City address.
Speaker 2: And oh, by the way, was that State of the
Speaker 2: City address last May when she promised you would waive
Speaker 2: the permit fees for the Palisades residents?
Speaker 1: She should give this speech from Ghana also on.
Speaker 18: The same day that candidates can begin filing for the
Speaker 18: twenty twenty six mayoral race.
Speaker 10: LA.
Speaker 4: Let's go win.
Speaker 2: Oh boy, there she is, mother Goose.
Speaker 4: Let's win on the world stage.
Speaker 2: She dropped the d whirl.
Speaker 4: Let's win on the world stage. Yes, but let's especially
Speaker 4: when here at home.
Speaker 18: During her twenty twenty five State of the City address,
Speaker 18: Mayor Karen Bass struck an aspirational tone, leaning into a
Speaker 18: global vision for Los Angeles and a message of unity
Speaker 18: as a city prepares to host major international events.
Speaker 4: This is about pride, It's about choosing to believe in
Speaker 4: our city again and proving it.
Speaker 18: With action now with the FIFA World.
Speaker 1: If it's about pride, would she allow the city to
Speaker 1: deteriorate to the condition that it's in now, where there's
Speaker 1: graffiti everywhere, there's trash everywhere, there's homeless people everywhere, there's
Speaker 1: abandoned buildings everywhere. If we had pride, would we live
Speaker 1: that way.
Speaker 5: Now?
Speaker 18: With the FIFA World Cup only months away? Mayor Bass
Speaker 18: is positioning herself as a leader to carry the city forward.
Speaker 2: You mean the same lad that let the palisades burn down,
Speaker 2: and let the ten freeway burn down, and let homeless
Speaker 2: people start? How many fires every single day? Yeah, she's
Speaker 2: doing great.
Speaker 12: Well.
Speaker 2: She had a party to go to that was really important.
Speaker 18: Mayor Bass is positioning herself as a leader to carry
Speaker 18: the city forward by holding the State of the City
Speaker 18: address on the very day challengers are looking to enter
Speaker 18: the race for mayor.
Speaker 20: The most important one is that the city is going
Speaker 20: in the right direction under her leadership.
Speaker 2: Says, who how drunk is this guy? Or does he
Speaker 2: say that's what she needs to say in the speech.
Speaker 2: I don't know anybody that says this city is moving
Speaker 2: in the right direction, and that is saying something we
Speaker 2: really didn't think it could get any worse than this guy.
Speaker 14: I receive things on both ends.
Speaker 1: Let me rephrase that and say this way. You'd have
Speaker 1: to be drug to believe that.
Speaker 20: And she deserves to still be mayor, and this is
Speaker 20: one of the great positives for someone like mayor of
Speaker 20: Los Angeles. It is an election year. She is running
Speaker 20: for reelection.
Speaker 18: Loyola Marymount University political professor Fernando Gara says Bess is
Speaker 18: in campaign mode and during her speech will most likely
Speaker 18: highlight how sporting events are an opportunity to bring the
Speaker 18: city together.
Speaker 2: That's your big message.
Speaker 1: Wait, I thought from her point of view, burning the
Speaker 1: way Mos was the opportunity to bring the city together.
Speaker 18: The mayoral election is June twod, just days before the
Speaker 18: World Cup kicks off.
Speaker 20: She's got to make people feel good in terms of
Speaker 20: some very directed action on homelessness, the rebuilding of the which.
Speaker 2: We have not had.
Speaker 1: No she spent a fortune, but we still have a
Speaker 1: ton of people living on the streets.
Speaker 20: It's the rebuilding of the palisades.
Speaker 2: What rebuild that's not happening. Public safety, blick safety.
Speaker 1: We buy shampoo that's locked up behind bulletproof class.
Speaker 20: The major issues that cities are responsible for. That is
Speaker 20: the job of the mayor.
Speaker 2: She is the mayor.
Speaker 20: Yes it's an advantage, and yes it's coverage, and yes
Speaker 20: she gets to control the agenda on this presentation, but
Speaker 20: it's her job.
Speaker 18: Mayor Bass will hold her State of the City addressed
Speaker 18: tomorrow at three pm.
Speaker 2: You can watch Oh great, I get to drive home
Speaker 2: listening to that.
Speaker 1: Have fun.
Speaker 18: You can watch the live stream on our website NBCLA
Speaker 18: dot com or on our YouTube channel NBCLA reporting live
Speaker 18: in downtown La tayce Ling on pat.
Speaker 2: You There you go. Karen Bess's State of the City
Speaker 2: is about fifteen minutes away.
Speaker 1: You think she'll talk about the World Cup.
Speaker 2: I think that's the only thing that she'll talk about
Speaker 2: because it's the only thing that she thinks to make
Speaker 2: her look good, even though it really has nothing to
Speaker 2: do with her. And ultimately, we're going to have people
Speaker 2: from one hundred country trees come visit this place and
Speaker 2: be like, what the hell, La.
Speaker 1: Eight hundred two two two five two two two is
Speaker 1: a telephone number? What eight hundred two two two five
Speaker 1: two two two. Let's go to Martha in Rancho Cucamonga. Martha, welcome, Oh.
Speaker 21: Good afternoon. Well today's groundhouse date February second, two two
Speaker 21: no to zero two six. I'm sorry, I apologize that it's.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 21: And the groundhog says, if he sees the shadow, then
Speaker 21: there's more six months of winter. Do you do that's true?
Speaker 1: Well, I know that it is something that we pay
Speaker 1: attention to every single year. I don't necessarily know if
Speaker 1: the groundhog determines the weather.
Speaker 21: Though, Okay, it was born in Pennsylvania, and yes, I
Speaker 21: was just wanting at Elver John with Bill Jelpia. Freedom
Speaker 21: is listening to.
Speaker 12: The ground.
Speaker 1: Thank you for the call.
Speaker 2: That was her, wasn't it.
Speaker 1: I think so different name, different city. Every time she calls.
Speaker 2: I feel like one of the times before she's called
Speaker 2: herself as Martha. But this is the what was it
Speaker 2: three four years ago now when she called it and
Speaker 2: started talking about Madonna.
Speaker 1: I do have to say I enjoy the calls.
Speaker 2: It's always fun.
Speaker 1: Keep calling Martha. We'll put you on all right. We
Speaker 1: know that times are tough right now in the city
Speaker 1: of Oakland to be a business owner, but Randy, there's
Speaker 1: at least one business in Oakland. It's still operational, and
Speaker 1: in fact it's operating illegally after a police raid. It
Speaker 1: is a smoke shop that does not have a permit,
Speaker 1: that's been selling all kinds of things that you shouldn't
Speaker 1: be selling, like what I happen to think happens at
Speaker 1: most smoke shops. And the same day they got busted,
Speaker 1: they were still open for business. Oh, Oakland, you always
Speaker 1: have to Oakland for more.
Speaker 2: Here's KTVU Fox two.
Speaker 11: Twenty four hour smoke shop in Oakland is continuing to operate.
Speaker 1: Really twenty four hours for that well, sometimes you need
Speaker 1: your fixed late at night.
Speaker 11: Twenty four hour smoke shop in Oakland is continuing to
Speaker 11: operate even after it was raided by police. KTVUS crime
Speaker 11: reporter Henry Lee's joining us now a lot from our
Speaker 11: newsroom after talking with concerned neighbors near that business.
Speaker 14: Henry Well Alex residents tell me there's stun that despite
Speaker 14: this Oakland police raid, the smoke shop is still open
Speaker 14: all day, every day, right around the corner from a
Speaker 14: middle school.
Speaker 2: Great neighborhood.
Speaker 14: This twenty four hour smoke shop that opened a month
Speaker 14: ago in the heart of Oakland's Diamond district is un licensed,
Speaker 14: accorded to police and city officials.
Speaker 2: But it's still operating.
Speaker 1: And appears so that they have no intention of shutting down.
Speaker 2: Well, and this is the thing, this is the same
Speaker 2: thing that's going on in La where apparently it's impossible
Speaker 2: to shut down illegally operating pot stores, so the city
Speaker 2: wants to figure out how to tax them.
Speaker 14: And less than two weeks ago, Oakland police converge on
Speaker 14: the shop at MacArthur and Maple, arrested a suspect and
Speaker 14: sees this illegal AR fifteen as well as marijuana, mushrooms, ecstasy,
Speaker 14: and flavored tobacco products.
Speaker 2: Oh my goodness, and an AR fifteen.
Speaker 14: But that didn't seem a phase store officials, because just hours.
Speaker 2: Now, I know when you do ecstasy, you want to
Speaker 2: hug everything. Don't hug the gun.
Speaker 1: No, no, no.
Speaker 14: But that didn't seem a phase store officials, because just
Speaker 14: hours after the police raid.
Speaker 6: There were guy is out front high fiving and reopening
Speaker 6: and walking back in and it's been open ever since.
Speaker 2: And again, this establishment does not have a business license,
Speaker 2: they do not have a permit. They're pretty much squatting.
Speaker 2: You think they'd buy ad time on this show. Hey,
Speaker 2: give us an email, We'll connect you with the right people.
Speaker 14: This woman, who lives in the area, did not want
Speaker 14: to be identified. She says the shop has no business
Speaker 14: being in the neighborhood. Brett Hart Middle School is just
Speaker 14: around the corner.
Speaker 1: Wait why wait wait wait wait wait wait wait. They
Speaker 1: named the middle school in this neighborhood after the excellence
Speaker 1: of execution Brett the hitman.
Speaker 2: Herd might be a different Brett Hart. But I'm going
Speaker 2: to have to check.
Speaker 14: Brett Hart Middle School is just around the corner.
Speaker 6: There's just a lack of understanding. Is how this could
Speaker 6: still be open? A legal activity should not be allowed
Speaker 6: to continue seemingly unabated.
Speaker 14: I spoke to a store clerk who did not want
Speaker 14: to go on camera and profess no knowledge of the
Speaker 14: police rate the smoke shop with.
Speaker 2: What I didn't know we got busted. I thought the
Speaker 2: mushrooms were still in the back.
Speaker 1: How high do you have to be? Did not know
Speaker 1: that the cops raided your shop?
Speaker 14: Giants. Sign and Arrow was once home to high Hat
Speaker 14: cleaners until it closed during the COVID outbreak. A man
Speaker 14: who answered the phone on a four lease sign that
Speaker 14: once hung on the building told me. The suspect arrested
Speaker 14: was a handyman who had the rifle for protection.
Speaker 1: Okay, I can understand why you'd need to be armed
Speaker 1: up if you're working in that neighborhood.
Speaker 14: Police declined to release more details.
Speaker 17: There's also been connections between this shop and side shows
Speaker 17: that have been.
Speaker 14: Going on the smoke shops.
Speaker 2: Janani Ramachandran, why can't you shut this down?
Speaker 14: The smoke shop sits in council Member Johnni Ramachandran's district,
Speaker 14: and when.
Speaker 17: You're selling things illegally under the guise of whatever you're
Speaker 17: trying to be, you are impacting our most vulnerable community members,
Speaker 17: which are Oakland youth.
Speaker 14: We spotted Rina Moyle working as a nanny.
Speaker 19: I was really surprised to hear that they opened over there.
Speaker 6: Now, I'm kind of really worried that you stated what
Speaker 6: they found.
Speaker 18: Very concerned. I just walked in, you know, asked them,
Speaker 18: you know about some uh, you know, black personal stuff
Speaker 18: like black and miles and everything.
Speaker 14: Darren Cesser says he's a regular customer and that the
Speaker 14: store fills a demand.
Speaker 1: I'm sure they do in more ways than one.