1 00:00:00,760 --> 00:00:04,040 Speaker 1: Hey, guys, welcome to another episode of Eating While Broke. 2 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:06,440 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Coleen Witt, and today we have a 3 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:09,959 Speaker 1: very special guest. Our first time ever in the history 4 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:13,720 Speaker 1: of Eating Wild Broke, we have an actual elected official 5 00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:17,439 Speaker 1: in House, Congressman Tony cardon Us is with us, and 6 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:21,840 Speaker 1: I'm like nervous, I'm excited. First time ever have I 7 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:24,720 Speaker 1: ever had the privilege of sitting down with an elected 8 00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:29,960 Speaker 1: in an intimate settling, let alone eating a broke dish classic? 9 00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:33,479 Speaker 1: So are you a little nervous about getting into the 10 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 1: scene or at all? 11 00:00:35,159 --> 00:00:38,280 Speaker 2: Just as long as the peanut butter doesn't get stuck 12 00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:39,879 Speaker 2: in my mouth so I can't talk anymore. But other 13 00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:48,840 Speaker 2: than that, we're good. 14 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:07,120 Speaker 1: Just a little backstory for all our listeners. I did 15 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:10,520 Speaker 1: have like Welch's jelly, like a cute little jar of 16 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:13,880 Speaker 1: peanut butter. I had some really nice bread because I 17 00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:16,440 Speaker 1: didn't want to take them all the way back to 18 00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:21,840 Speaker 1: total brokeness. And I loved that your staff, Gabriella came 19 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:24,880 Speaker 1: in and she was like, Tony was very adamant about 20 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:28,840 Speaker 1: these particular ingredients. So go ahead, introduce the dish and 21 00:01:28,959 --> 00:01:30,720 Speaker 1: tell us a little bit of why it was so 22 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:33,920 Speaker 1: important to you to actually have the real eating while 23 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:35,080 Speaker 1: broke dish. 24 00:01:35,319 --> 00:01:39,080 Speaker 2: Thank you Coleen. First of all, love this show, glad 25 00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:42,119 Speaker 2: to be here. The reason why I wanted my staff 26 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:44,800 Speaker 2: to get a big tub of peanut butter, the biggest 27 00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:46,759 Speaker 2: one they could get, is because I'm the youngest of eleven. 28 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:50,720 Speaker 2: My parents came from Mexico and we always ate Mexican 29 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:52,720 Speaker 2: food every single day, and my mom was a homemaker. 30 00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:55,840 Speaker 2: But when mom was in in the kitchen cooking and 31 00:01:55,880 --> 00:01:57,400 Speaker 2: we were hungrier, wold have you? We had to go 32 00:01:57,400 --> 00:01:59,680 Speaker 2: to the fridge. He was left over what have you? 33 00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:02,400 Speaker 2: But this right here is what we turned to. Like 34 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:06,280 Speaker 2: after school, we're hungry, can't wait till dinner? Is some 35 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:10,760 Speaker 2: cheap bread, the most non nutritious bread on the planet, 36 00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:14,880 Speaker 2: white bread. There was a place called Weber's in San Fernando, 37 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:18,160 Speaker 2: and being with eleven kids my parents, it was like 38 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:21,000 Speaker 2: on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, they would sell the day old 39 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:24,400 Speaker 2: bread for ten cents a loaf, and they had bunches 40 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:27,240 Speaker 2: of it. So, for example, my mom would go with 41 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:30,240 Speaker 2: a buck a dollar and buy like ten loaves of bread. 42 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:33,919 Speaker 2: But that only lasts about a week. Yes, you got it. 43 00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:36,839 Speaker 2: So we would buy Weber's Bread back then. I don't 44 00:02:36,840 --> 00:02:39,400 Speaker 2: even know if they're still, you know, in business, but 45 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:45,280 Speaker 2: Wonder was the second choice, and then Skippy was. Luckily 46 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:47,480 Speaker 2: for us we got to have a name brand peanut butter. 47 00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:49,840 Speaker 2: I don't know why, because most everything in the house 48 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:53,280 Speaker 2: was the cheapest we could find. That's what my cereal, 49 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:57,639 Speaker 2: all invitation cereals. When the government was given the powdered 50 00:02:57,680 --> 00:03:01,200 Speaker 2: milk and the government cheese, you never thought you would 51 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:03,960 Speaker 2: get tired of real cheese, but yeah, we got tired 52 00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:05,720 Speaker 2: of it because they used to give it in big 53 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:08,959 Speaker 2: old blocks. But anyway, so here we are. But this 54 00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:12,280 Speaker 2: is the one that is my favorite. This is something 55 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:15,799 Speaker 2: that my daughter made and it's a marmalade, a lemon marmalade. 56 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:18,680 Speaker 2: And my daughter cooks, and my mother's no longer with us. 57 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:21,160 Speaker 2: She was a homemaker. She cooked from scratch every day, 58 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:24,400 Speaker 2: and she actually would make a lot of things from scratch. 59 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:26,960 Speaker 2: She would in frascat you say it in Spanish. She 60 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:30,320 Speaker 2: would jar things, pickle this, and pickle that, and jar this. 61 00:03:30,639 --> 00:03:32,480 Speaker 2: So she actually used to make some jelly once in 62 00:03:32,520 --> 00:03:35,560 Speaker 2: a while. If we had all the ingredients, she'd get inspired. 63 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:38,120 Speaker 2: I'm gonna make some jelly strawberry. What have you? So? 64 00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:40,680 Speaker 1: Were any of your peanut butter and jelly sandwiches just 65 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:41,720 Speaker 1: peanut butter and bread? 66 00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:43,480 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, Oh yeah, yeah, I was. 67 00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:47,360 Speaker 1: I was nervous when Gabriella brought the big peanut butter 68 00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:50,000 Speaker 1: and the wonderbread. I was like, oh my gosh, we're 69 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:53,000 Speaker 1: not gonna have jelly today. And then I was happy 70 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:56,600 Speaker 1: to see the jar of marmalade. I've never had this soul, 71 00:03:57,240 --> 00:03:59,720 Speaker 1: not the peanut butter. I've never had the marmalade. So 72 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:04,000 Speaker 1: let's go ahead and start doing peanut butter and jelly, 73 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:05,480 Speaker 1: the og classic. 74 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:07,320 Speaker 2: All right, let's start with some bread. 75 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:11,440 Speaker 1: So I'm just curious, out of those eleven eleven of 76 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:13,640 Speaker 1: you guys, how many of you guys were boys? 77 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:17,080 Speaker 2: It was almost even, even as you can get. It 78 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:21,800 Speaker 2: was six girls, five boys. I'm the youngest. All the 79 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:23,720 Speaker 2: girls got all the brains and looks in the family, 80 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:27,320 Speaker 2: and us boys we had to kind of like deal 81 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:31,320 Speaker 2: with what we got. But no, I say that because 82 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:33,640 Speaker 2: I love my sisters. I love my brothers. But my 83 00:04:33,720 --> 00:04:36,520 Speaker 2: sister used to help me with my math homework. I 84 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:40,120 Speaker 2: became an engineer, but back in those days, my sisters 85 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:43,159 Speaker 2: were born in the forties and fifties, so by the 86 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:44,960 Speaker 2: time they were graduating from high school, it was the 87 00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:48,919 Speaker 2: sixties and society and even my parents went along with it, 88 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:51,120 Speaker 2: were convincing them that they should just get married and 89 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:53,640 Speaker 2: get a husband who'll take care of you. My sisters 90 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:56,240 Speaker 2: could have all gone and got PhDs and things of 91 00:04:56,279 --> 00:04:58,960 Speaker 2: that nature. So it really pains me to know that 92 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:02,200 Speaker 2: the person who helped me with my math helped me 93 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:04,919 Speaker 2: when I was struggling and I became an engineer, she 94 00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:07,960 Speaker 2: didn't become an engineer and things like that. So so. 95 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:13,080 Speaker 1: Your sisters essentially ended up well they. 96 00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:16,320 Speaker 2: No, look, they have a wonderful life. They have beautiful children, 97 00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:20,000 Speaker 2: you know them and their husbands would go to work 98 00:05:20,040 --> 00:05:23,480 Speaker 2: and they everybody's was able to own a home on 99 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:27,480 Speaker 2: first generation. My generation is first generation college on both 100 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:29,600 Speaker 2: sides of my family. My mother and father are from 101 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:32,920 Speaker 2: Demastiane Halley School, Mexico, which is this little dirt town. 102 00:05:33,279 --> 00:05:35,200 Speaker 2: When they were little boys and girls, there were no 103 00:05:35,839 --> 00:05:38,400 Speaker 2: formal schools like we have here in the United States. 104 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:43,039 Speaker 2: So when they got married, my father being twenty my 105 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:46,800 Speaker 2: mother being eighteen, they looked around and said, well, nothing's changed. 106 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:49,280 Speaker 2: If we want the next generation to have opportunities, we 107 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:51,320 Speaker 2: got to get out of here. So they came to 108 00:05:51,360 --> 00:05:55,400 Speaker 2: California and then stayed here. You know, had us eleven 109 00:05:55,480 --> 00:05:58,480 Speaker 2: kids until they passed away. So this is what we 110 00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:02,080 Speaker 2: made for ourselves. My mom made a stack of homide 111 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:04,920 Speaker 2: tortillas every single day, a big pot of beans every 112 00:06:04,960 --> 00:06:08,039 Speaker 2: single day, made some fresh rice and something else. That 113 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:11,920 Speaker 2: was the traditional food in our household. It was a 114 00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:15,599 Speaker 2: third dish. And then rice and beans and tortillas. That 115 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:16,719 Speaker 2: was a staple every day. 116 00:06:16,839 --> 00:06:21,080 Speaker 1: Wow. And then was it like meat was the luxury. 117 00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:22,680 Speaker 2: Of yes, exactly, that was the third dish. It was 118 00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:27,720 Speaker 2: either some chicken or some oh need it some kind? Yeah. Well, 119 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:31,560 Speaker 2: the thing is, let me clarify. We never lacked for 120 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:35,640 Speaker 2: what we needed in our home. Our mother and father, 121 00:06:36,279 --> 00:06:38,800 Speaker 2: my mom stayed at home. That was the deal. They 122 00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:41,800 Speaker 2: got married, high tailed it over here to California, and 123 00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:44,960 Speaker 2: my mother and father made a deal that my mom 124 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:47,760 Speaker 2: wouldn't work outside the home. She would stay home and 125 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:50,040 Speaker 2: be a homemaker, and my dad would work work, work, 126 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:52,720 Speaker 2: and my dad, his average week was a six day 127 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:57,039 Speaker 2: work week. And so my mom was an amazing cook, 128 00:06:57,080 --> 00:07:01,160 Speaker 2: thank god. But she made large quantities of everything every day. 129 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:04,360 Speaker 2: But what we're eating here is what we used to 130 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:05,679 Speaker 2: make for ourselves as kids. 131 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:09,360 Speaker 1: Eleven kids, though, is like I don't even think even 132 00:07:09,400 --> 00:07:12,800 Speaker 1: if she sort of even like, even if we were 133 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:14,800 Speaker 1: in today's times, if she wanted to go to work, 134 00:07:14,840 --> 00:07:18,360 Speaker 1: eleven kids, is you need one parent to stay right? 135 00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:20,560 Speaker 2: Oh my god? Today a big family is you know, 136 00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:23,280 Speaker 2: three four kids? Yeah, and that's more than a handful. 137 00:07:23,760 --> 00:07:28,520 Speaker 2: And you know, I constantly speak respectfully of my parents 138 00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:31,200 Speaker 2: because I remember growing up there were some people that 139 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:33,280 Speaker 2: when we're in the supermarket, you know, there's three or 140 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:36,160 Speaker 2: four trailing my mom and we're sitting at the checking stand, 141 00:07:36,160 --> 00:07:39,080 Speaker 2: and I could understand English. My mom and dad understood 142 00:07:39,160 --> 00:07:42,040 Speaker 2: very very little English, and I could hear the words 143 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:46,000 Speaker 2: of disrespect that they spoke of my mom, like, you know, 144 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:48,560 Speaker 2: talking in English to the other checker, like, oh, can 145 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:50,440 Speaker 2: you believe how many kids it would have? You, you know, 146 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:52,760 Speaker 2: they probably can't even afford them, and stuff like that. 147 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:56,640 Speaker 2: But that's not true. We never lacked for food. My 148 00:07:57,520 --> 00:08:00,520 Speaker 2: parents bought a home in nineteen fifty five and raised 149 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:02,560 Speaker 2: the so all in that home until they passed away. 150 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:07,160 Speaker 2: So yeah, I'm very very protective of the image that 151 00:08:07,240 --> 00:08:09,800 Speaker 2: people have Immigrants come to this country and they have 152 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:11,840 Speaker 2: a bunch of kids, and those kids are a bunch 153 00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:14,280 Speaker 2: of good for nothings or a bunch of troublemakers. Nah uh. 154 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:18,360 Speaker 2: Not one of us eleven kids growing up in Pacoima, 155 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:22,200 Speaker 2: not the you know, it's a low income community, a 156 00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:24,800 Speaker 2: lot of beautiful families. They're not one of us ever 157 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:27,040 Speaker 2: ended up in a gang. Not one of us ever 158 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:29,800 Speaker 2: ended up, you know, in the backseat of a police car. 159 00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:32,920 Speaker 2: So you know, to my parents, you know, and. 160 00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:35,800 Speaker 1: One of you guys ended up, Yeah, changing a lot 161 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:36,640 Speaker 1: for the community. 162 00:08:36,720 --> 00:08:41,200 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, well apparently yes, I say this one once 163 00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:44,080 Speaker 2: in a while. I speak truthfully about if you asked 164 00:08:44,080 --> 00:08:46,920 Speaker 2: my brothers and sisters when they were you know, when 165 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:49,960 Speaker 2: I was like eight, ten years old, and you asked 166 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:51,480 Speaker 2: them right down on a piece of paper, where do 167 00:08:51,480 --> 00:08:55,040 Speaker 2: you think Tony's gonna end up? They probably would have 168 00:08:55,080 --> 00:08:58,599 Speaker 2: said some not mean things, but accurate things like I 169 00:08:58,679 --> 00:09:01,280 Speaker 2: don't know, he's a big trouble maker. You know he's 170 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:04,000 Speaker 2: had I had the hottest temper of all my brothers 171 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:05,959 Speaker 2: and sisters. I was the one you could light me 172 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:08,160 Speaker 2: as like a match. I was the one that would 173 00:09:08,200 --> 00:09:10,200 Speaker 2: bawl my fist up before I would think about what 174 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:13,680 Speaker 2: I'm gonna say. So God is good because they gave 175 00:09:13,679 --> 00:09:16,800 Speaker 2: me ten older brothers and sisters to help keep me 176 00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:18,640 Speaker 2: in line, and I needed every single one of them. 177 00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:20,679 Speaker 2: They gave me two parents who were as strict as 178 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:24,280 Speaker 2: can be. So had I not had the upbringing that 179 00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:27,280 Speaker 2: I was given and afforded by two amazing parents who 180 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:30,280 Speaker 2: were strict, ten brothers and sisters were like, Oh, you 181 00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:32,000 Speaker 2: can't do that. I can't let you do that. 182 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:35,720 Speaker 1: Who knows everybody was checking? Oh yeah, I just to 183 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:39,240 Speaker 1: go back to the checkout line. I remember growing up 184 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:42,640 Speaker 1: poor and like our parents had food stamps, and I 185 00:09:42,679 --> 00:09:46,200 Speaker 1: remember feeling shame like as a kid, like, oh my God, 186 00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:48,280 Speaker 1: just like, let me duck out the back door. I 187 00:09:48,280 --> 00:09:50,640 Speaker 1: don't even want to be affiliated with my poor parents, 188 00:09:50,679 --> 00:09:52,920 Speaker 1: Like I don't want kids to know how poor we are. 189 00:09:53,440 --> 00:09:57,360 Speaker 1: When people were talking about your parents and you understood it, 190 00:09:58,120 --> 00:10:00,560 Speaker 1: I'm just genuinely curious, did you do you feel a 191 00:10:00,640 --> 00:10:03,360 Speaker 1: level of shame or did you are you mature enough 192 00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:05,360 Speaker 1: to understand like you don't know what you're talking about. 193 00:10:05,600 --> 00:10:09,160 Speaker 2: I felt hurt that the market that we went to, 194 00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:12,880 Speaker 2: all the time that my parents paid for everything that 195 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:14,720 Speaker 2: they But I felt as a little boy, I felt 196 00:10:14,760 --> 00:10:18,080 Speaker 2: confused and hurt. Why are they saying that about my mom? Right? 197 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:22,440 Speaker 2: And and hurt because I'm like, my parents are good people, 198 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:25,800 Speaker 2: right and and I thought the checkers were good people too. 199 00:10:26,160 --> 00:10:28,520 Speaker 2: I didn't hate them, they just confused the hell out 200 00:10:28,559 --> 00:10:32,160 Speaker 2: of me. And but there's examples all over the place 201 00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:35,480 Speaker 2: about how I was treated, being that I'm from Pacoima, 202 00:10:35,520 --> 00:10:39,040 Speaker 2: by teachers, counselors, some police officers, et cetera. And I'm 203 00:10:39,040 --> 00:10:41,800 Speaker 2: not saying all teachers, all counselors, all police officers, but 204 00:10:41,880 --> 00:10:45,360 Speaker 2: there's bad apples in every bunch, and the idea the 205 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:48,240 Speaker 2: people that are supposed to be there for the children 206 00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:51,760 Speaker 2: of a community would speak ill of them or tell them, Oh, 207 00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:54,320 Speaker 2: you're not going to amount to anything. Just wait, I'm 208 00:10:54,320 --> 00:10:56,840 Speaker 2: gonna catch you doing something wrong. I'm gonna put you 209 00:10:56,880 --> 00:10:59,480 Speaker 2: in jail. I'm like, I was never that kid anyway, 210 00:10:59,679 --> 00:11:01,959 Speaker 2: but the fact that I was in that neighborhood, they 211 00:11:02,040 --> 00:11:05,040 Speaker 2: just labeled us all the same. So and that's one 212 00:11:05,040 --> 00:11:07,800 Speaker 2: of the reasons why I decided to run for office. 213 00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:10,480 Speaker 2: I never thought I would run for office ever. Growing up. 214 00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:13,080 Speaker 2: I'm an engineer. I to my engineering degree. 215 00:11:13,559 --> 00:11:14,240 Speaker 1: You liked math? 216 00:11:15,400 --> 00:11:16,280 Speaker 2: Well, I like math? 217 00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:17,120 Speaker 1: Who likes math? 218 00:11:18,600 --> 00:11:20,400 Speaker 2: I liked it enough to see like I could be 219 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:23,199 Speaker 2: good at this, right, So I pursued an engineering injur Gee. 220 00:11:23,280 --> 00:11:25,600 Speaker 2: I got it. I was working for Hewlett Packard for 221 00:11:25,640 --> 00:11:27,880 Speaker 2: a bit and then I decided, I'm not feeling it. 222 00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:30,160 Speaker 1: Now when you were at the time when you got 223 00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:32,360 Speaker 1: an engineering degree, were there a lot of people that 224 00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:33,080 Speaker 1: look like you? 225 00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:36,720 Speaker 2: Oh, no way, especially Latina women or women of color. 226 00:11:37,040 --> 00:11:40,160 Speaker 2: I went to UC Santa Barbara on the campus as 227 00:11:40,160 --> 00:11:42,040 Speaker 2: a whold. I think back then there was about fifteen 228 00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:44,600 Speaker 2: thousand students walking around the campus. On any given day, 229 00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:48,040 Speaker 2: you could probably count only a few hundred black students 230 00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:51,120 Speaker 2: and a few hundred Latino students. This is California, Yeah right, 231 00:11:51,160 --> 00:11:53,400 Speaker 2: there was a lot of black and brown people in California. 232 00:11:53,400 --> 00:11:56,559 Speaker 2: But nope, it was a very good school and they 233 00:11:56,559 --> 00:11:58,680 Speaker 2: didn't let that many of us in. But those of 234 00:11:58,760 --> 00:12:00,079 Speaker 2: us who got in we did fine. 235 00:12:00,400 --> 00:12:03,960 Speaker 1: Now, even in those environments, did you feel like you 236 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:06,760 Speaker 1: didn't belong? Did you feel a little imposter syndrome. 237 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:11,600 Speaker 2: Or imposter syndrome? Trust me, imposter syndrome unfortunately will never 238 00:12:11,679 --> 00:12:15,640 Speaker 2: leave any one of us. One. I still get it sometimes, 239 00:12:15,800 --> 00:12:18,680 Speaker 2: but now I snap out of it, like in a heartbeat. 240 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:21,080 Speaker 2: I snap out of it, like, oh hell no, no, no, no, 241 00:12:21,120 --> 00:12:24,040 Speaker 2: I be long here. I earned being here. For example, 242 00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:27,040 Speaker 2: when I went to UC Santa Barbara. You know you're 243 00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:29,439 Speaker 2: a freshman, you're getting there. There's a brad ad and bushytail. 244 00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:31,280 Speaker 2: You go around meeting people say hey, how you doing. 245 00:12:31,320 --> 00:12:33,480 Speaker 2: I'm Tony, I'm Gloria or whatever, and you say, what 246 00:12:33,480 --> 00:12:35,640 Speaker 2: are you studying? While I'm studying English? And then as 247 00:12:35,720 --> 00:12:39,000 Speaker 2: soon as I would say I'm studying engineering, they would 248 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:43,120 Speaker 2: say two things. One they will man, that's hard. And 249 00:12:43,160 --> 00:12:46,760 Speaker 2: then they would say, oh, you got in under affirmative action. 250 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:52,160 Speaker 2: Now hold on a second, affirmative action is necessary in 251 00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:56,319 Speaker 2: a society that denies good people equal opportunities. 252 00:12:57,280 --> 00:12:59,680 Speaker 1: Well, I've never heard someone say it's so eloquently like that. 253 00:13:00,320 --> 00:13:02,720 Speaker 2: Well, the thing is what bothered me was that I 254 00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:04,760 Speaker 2: got in on regular admissions. And yeah, some of my 255 00:13:04,880 --> 00:13:07,800 Speaker 2: buddies who did graduate got in on an affirmative action, 256 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:10,319 Speaker 2: who otherwise wouldn't have been able to get that degree, 257 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:14,520 Speaker 2: that beautiful, amazing university. But I got in under regular admissions. 258 00:13:14,559 --> 00:13:20,080 Speaker 2: So how dare somebody assume that I am substandard, like 259 00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:23,440 Speaker 2: that I needed to get in because I was under 260 00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:26,079 Speaker 2: the bar. No, I earned my place and I got 261 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:30,120 Speaker 2: my degree, and that that carries with me my entire life. 262 00:13:30,120 --> 00:13:33,960 Speaker 2: But imposter syndrome, oh hell yeah, oh yeah. I talked 263 00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:36,000 Speaker 2: to students all the time, I talk to interns all 264 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:37,679 Speaker 2: the time, and I tell them, like, you know what, 265 00:13:37,920 --> 00:13:40,760 Speaker 2: I was a very very insecure little boy. How many 266 00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:43,640 Speaker 2: of you are willing to admit that you have some insecurities. 267 00:13:43,800 --> 00:13:45,480 Speaker 2: Some raise their hand, and I'm proud of them for 268 00:13:45,520 --> 00:13:48,000 Speaker 2: doing that, because everybody has in securities. President of the 269 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:49,640 Speaker 2: United States has insecurities, right. 270 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:51,720 Speaker 1: Wow, it's crazy because you never think that. But yeah, 271 00:13:51,880 --> 00:13:54,120 Speaker 1: I mean, I mean yeah, because we're human beings, right 272 00:13:54,200 --> 00:13:55,600 Speaker 1: exactly exactly. 273 00:13:55,679 --> 00:13:58,319 Speaker 2: So I let them know and I and I raised 274 00:13:58,320 --> 00:13:59,840 Speaker 2: my hand too, and they're looking at me, like, why 275 00:13:59,880 --> 00:14:01,640 Speaker 2: is raising it? I said, I'm raising my hand because 276 00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:05,800 Speaker 2: I have insecurities too, I said, I how about imposture syndrome? 277 00:14:06,240 --> 00:14:08,080 Speaker 2: And then some of them will raise their hand and 278 00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:10,200 Speaker 2: some won't, And I say, and I raise my hand too, 279 00:14:10,520 --> 00:14:13,079 Speaker 2: and I say, but I have this much imposter syndrome. 280 00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:18,000 Speaker 2: But when I was young, like you, I had this much. 281 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:20,520 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's me my whole life. Every day, I got 282 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:21,040 Speaker 1: a lot of it. 283 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:26,240 Speaker 2: I got extra Yeah. But but the thing is, what 284 00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:28,640 Speaker 2: what I'm trying to get at is one of the 285 00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:31,200 Speaker 2: reasons why people develop imposture syndrome is you have a 286 00:14:31,240 --> 00:14:33,880 Speaker 2: cop who sees you on the street and pulls you over, 287 00:14:33,920 --> 00:14:36,320 Speaker 2: and you're you're getting max I didn't doing things. I 288 00:14:36,320 --> 00:14:38,760 Speaker 2: didn't do anything wrong. The ruin in your day. They're 289 00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:40,720 Speaker 2: putting your face down on the ground or up against 290 00:14:40,760 --> 00:14:43,760 Speaker 2: the wall in front of all your neighborhood. So their 291 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:45,720 Speaker 2: parents could be like, Oh, that's so and So's kid 292 00:14:46,040 --> 00:14:48,400 Speaker 2: must have done something wrong. You know what I'm saying. 293 00:14:48,640 --> 00:14:54,240 Speaker 2: So that's that's that's bad. That that never leaves someone's heart, 294 00:14:54,520 --> 00:14:57,120 Speaker 2: It never leaves their mind being treated like that by 295 00:14:57,160 --> 00:14:59,400 Speaker 2: people that are You're supposed to have mutual respect for 296 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:03,720 Speaker 2: teachers who told me, I, you know you're too dumb 297 00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:08,480 Speaker 2: using a word like dumb to a child. Yes, yes, again. 298 00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:12,160 Speaker 2: Let me say most of my teachers were amazing, and 299 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:14,840 Speaker 2: some of them were like phenomenal. Thank God for them. 300 00:15:14,880 --> 00:15:18,040 Speaker 2: Without those two three teachers who really invested me, I 301 00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:20,000 Speaker 2: wouldn't be where I'm at. I wouldn't be successful at 302 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:22,800 Speaker 2: almost anything that I tried to do. But because of them, 303 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:25,720 Speaker 2: they helped me, they loved me. So the thing is, 304 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:30,800 Speaker 2: when I see that happening, I go back to what's 305 00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:34,920 Speaker 2: my first nature as a person. I get pissed. 306 00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:37,400 Speaker 1: Yeah, I was gonna say, where's that temper at? 307 00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:40,760 Speaker 2: Oh well the temper I turned it into something positive. See, 308 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:44,800 Speaker 2: I'm a congressman now, I was, I was a council member, 309 00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:48,320 Speaker 2: I was a California state legislator. I've been doing this 310 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:51,600 Speaker 2: for twenty eight years. So what gets to me is 311 00:15:51,960 --> 00:15:55,520 Speaker 2: when I see injustice. That's the thing that really pisses 312 00:15:55,560 --> 00:15:57,680 Speaker 2: me off. And the thing that I've been doing the 313 00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:00,240 Speaker 2: most since I've been elected for twenty eight years is 314 00:16:00,360 --> 00:16:04,640 Speaker 2: juvenile justice, criminal sentencing reform, things of that nature for 315 00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:06,320 Speaker 2: the last twenty years. And when I started doing it 316 00:16:06,400 --> 00:16:09,280 Speaker 2: in the nineteen nineties, oh man, I got criticized by 317 00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:13,040 Speaker 2: liberal Democrats. Wow, would be like, oh, that's a great idea, Tony, 318 00:16:13,080 --> 00:16:14,800 Speaker 2: but I can't help you with that. And I'm thinking 319 00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:19,120 Speaker 2: to myself, how can you not help You're a progressive, right, Yeah? No. 320 00:16:19,160 --> 00:16:20,920 Speaker 2: But the thing the reason why I did it is 321 00:16:20,960 --> 00:16:24,000 Speaker 2: because I saw in the next and the next generation 322 00:16:24,280 --> 00:16:26,240 Speaker 2: that if we didn't change things, they were going to 323 00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:30,200 Speaker 2: be treated just like me. Wow, and not of sheer stubbornness. 324 00:16:30,760 --> 00:16:34,840 Speaker 2: Did I move past that ridiculousness and still moved forward? 325 00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:37,240 Speaker 1: Yeah? Did anyone say, can you table it for the 326 00:16:37,280 --> 00:16:37,880 Speaker 1: next time? 327 00:16:38,880 --> 00:16:42,040 Speaker 2: God, Yes, there's always manyana, there's oh no, not right 328 00:16:42,080 --> 00:16:43,160 Speaker 2: now now, it's not the time. 329 00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:45,840 Speaker 1: And then how did you respond to that? Was there 330 00:16:45,880 --> 00:16:47,480 Speaker 1: ever a moment where you were like, fine, I guess 331 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:48,360 Speaker 1: I'll push it back. 332 00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:52,240 Speaker 2: No, no, again, I'm more stubborn than smart. I'm more 333 00:16:52,240 --> 00:16:55,320 Speaker 2: stubborn than anything else. Anytime somebody would tell me something 334 00:16:55,360 --> 00:16:57,960 Speaker 2: like that, I would be like, no, but I'm here 335 00:16:58,040 --> 00:16:59,920 Speaker 2: right now. I'm gonna do it with it without your help. 336 00:17:01,520 --> 00:17:04,359 Speaker 2: But I would bring people along because I would do 337 00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:07,560 Speaker 2: the work. Like I said, I'm an engineer. What engineers 338 00:17:07,600 --> 00:17:11,679 Speaker 2: are taught to do is that there's a problem, there 339 00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:15,560 Speaker 2: are solutions. Your job is to find a good one, 340 00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:18,320 Speaker 2: not the solution. Because there's solutions to everything, right in 341 00:17:18,359 --> 00:17:20,520 Speaker 2: a bunch of them, find a real good one and 342 00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:24,880 Speaker 2: make fix the problem. And so it's really weird. People 343 00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:26,520 Speaker 2: asked me, I was just talking to a couple of 344 00:17:26,520 --> 00:17:31,239 Speaker 2: interns just yesterday in my DC office to Latina as 345 00:17:31,280 --> 00:17:34,320 Speaker 2: one after Latina and another Latina. They had requested to 346 00:17:34,359 --> 00:17:35,800 Speaker 2: sit down with me. So I made some time and 347 00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:40,080 Speaker 2: I'm talking to them, and I'm trying to let them 348 00:17:40,119 --> 00:17:44,840 Speaker 2: know that whatever happened to them, whatever injustices came their way, 349 00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:50,240 Speaker 2: that doesn't define them. They can be whatever they want 350 00:17:50,280 --> 00:17:52,560 Speaker 2: to be. And the thing is, we have a very 351 00:17:52,600 --> 00:17:57,320 Speaker 2: flawed country, and the bottom line is this, but it's 352 00:17:57,320 --> 00:18:01,320 Speaker 2: an amazing place where somebody like me can go from 353 00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:04,480 Speaker 2: a mother and father who came and throughout their life 354 00:18:04,480 --> 00:18:07,199 Speaker 2: never learned much English, but made it here in the 355 00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:11,520 Speaker 2: United States, provided for their children and their youngest. They 356 00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:14,360 Speaker 2: raised eleven of us. You know, most of us went 357 00:18:14,359 --> 00:18:16,200 Speaker 2: off to college and got all kinds of degrees and stuff, 358 00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:18,400 Speaker 2: but they're youngest got to be a United States Congressman. 359 00:18:18,560 --> 00:18:21,159 Speaker 2: I literally it's a coincidence that we're doing this today. 360 00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:25,000 Speaker 2: I was literally at the White House yesterday in the 361 00:18:25,040 --> 00:18:30,959 Speaker 2: Oval Office. Wow, when President Biden was signing something that 362 00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:34,400 Speaker 2: a few Congressional members from the House of Representatis where 363 00:18:34,400 --> 00:18:37,720 Speaker 2: I'm a member. But the first Latino United States Center 364 00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:42,159 Speaker 2: to represent California is Alex Badilla. He's the one that 365 00:18:42,200 --> 00:18:44,800 Speaker 2: made it happen. He's an engineer like me. 366 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:47,240 Speaker 1: But that wasn't your and that wasn't your first visit 367 00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:48,240 Speaker 1: to the White House, obviously. 368 00:18:48,359 --> 00:18:49,760 Speaker 2: No, I've been to the White House many times. 369 00:18:49,880 --> 00:18:54,080 Speaker 1: Did your parents ever get to witness any any of it? 370 00:18:54,119 --> 00:18:55,159 Speaker 1: I'm just any of it. 371 00:18:55,280 --> 00:18:59,320 Speaker 2: Yeah. My mother was. My father passed away in nineteen 372 00:18:59,359 --> 00:19:02,240 Speaker 2: ninety three. I got elected in nineteen ninety six, and 373 00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:04,879 Speaker 2: my mother was still alive, and so she got to 374 00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:08,560 Speaker 2: see me sworn in. And literally the room in Sacramento 375 00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:11,000 Speaker 2: when I became a state assemblyman and you all stand 376 00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:12,800 Speaker 2: up and get sworn in, and there's a balcony. My 377 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:14,959 Speaker 2: mother was on the balcony. I could see her up 378 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:18,920 Speaker 2: there looking down at me and us, and she got 379 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:21,560 Speaker 2: to see it, and I could see it in her eyes. Again, 380 00:19:21,640 --> 00:19:23,880 Speaker 2: she didn't speak much English. It would have you none 381 00:19:23,920 --> 00:19:26,280 Speaker 2: of us had ever gotten involved in politics. I was 382 00:19:26,280 --> 00:19:28,800 Speaker 2: the first one, first person of color in the entire 383 00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:31,360 Speaker 2: San Fernando Valley history to go to Sacramento and get 384 00:19:31,359 --> 00:19:35,199 Speaker 2: elected like that. And I could see it in her 385 00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:37,639 Speaker 2: eyes when she's looking down at us, looking down at me, 386 00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:43,600 Speaker 2: she's wow, this is big, right. She didn't know exactly 387 00:19:43,640 --> 00:19:48,040 Speaker 2: what it was, but this is big, and so the 388 00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:52,320 Speaker 2: thing is it's again imposter syndrome was part of me 389 00:19:52,960 --> 00:19:55,960 Speaker 2: that day. Right here, I am going like, whoa, Well, 390 00:19:56,000 --> 00:20:00,960 Speaker 2: it's literally gold leaved room. Yeah, and they're getting sworn 391 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:08,320 Speaker 2: in and and but it's gotten littler and littler and littler, 392 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:13,720 Speaker 2: but it's still there. 393 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:25,040 Speaker 1: So take me back. So you're eating peebee and jays 394 00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:29,560 Speaker 1: at home with your siblings, and your siblings and your 395 00:20:29,560 --> 00:20:32,000 Speaker 1: family obviously recognize you have Oh I'll make a own 396 00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:38,880 Speaker 1: mess of this. No one judged me place. Your siblings 397 00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:40,520 Speaker 1: have caught on that you have a little bit of 398 00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:43,720 Speaker 1: a temper, but they're taming it. What's going on, Like, 399 00:20:43,800 --> 00:20:47,119 Speaker 1: when do you start getting inching closer to becoming an 400 00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:48,040 Speaker 1: elected official? 401 00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:50,800 Speaker 2: Oh? That didn't happen until way, way later in life. 402 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:53,879 Speaker 2: I went off to college, was working at it for 403 00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:57,240 Speaker 2: a company in Santa Barbara, wasn't feeling it. Came back 404 00:20:57,240 --> 00:20:59,480 Speaker 2: home to live at home with my parents and. 405 00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:00,840 Speaker 1: Were getting paid well. 406 00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:02,879 Speaker 2: At that I was getting paid well. I had a 407 00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:05,520 Speaker 2: company car, I had an expense account. I had what 408 00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:07,879 Speaker 2: you call flex hours. That means if I wanted to 409 00:21:07,880 --> 00:21:09,760 Speaker 2: sit on the beach and get my work done. They 410 00:21:09,760 --> 00:21:10,679 Speaker 2: didn't bother me about that. 411 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:13,440 Speaker 1: And this was before COVID, so you were definitely living 412 00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:14,320 Speaker 1: a good life way back in. 413 00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:17,000 Speaker 2: This is the nineteen eighties, So I'm living a good life. 414 00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:19,080 Speaker 2: It's about as a cush job as I could get. 415 00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:21,760 Speaker 2: When you graduated back in the eighties, you wanted to 416 00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:24,760 Speaker 2: work for one or two companies, one of two IBM 417 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:27,320 Speaker 2: or Heallip Packard. And I got to work for Healet Packard. 418 00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:27,840 Speaker 1: Wow. 419 00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:30,240 Speaker 2: So I was like I was, I was cush job, 420 00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:32,080 Speaker 2: one of the best jobs. 421 00:21:31,760 --> 00:21:33,520 Speaker 1: For an engineer, and you give it up. 422 00:21:33,680 --> 00:21:35,399 Speaker 2: I gave it up because I wasn't feeling it. I 423 00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:39,480 Speaker 2: literally sat there one day at my desk, totally comfortable 424 00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:42,640 Speaker 2: getting my work done, and I thought, I can grow 425 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:45,760 Speaker 2: old here. I'm going to be doing the same thing 426 00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:50,640 Speaker 2: for the next thirty forty years. No, and I can't 427 00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:52,400 Speaker 2: tell you what what else went through my mind other 428 00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:54,520 Speaker 2: than I got up out of my chair. I talked 429 00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:56,399 Speaker 2: to my manager Bob, and I said, I'm giving my 430 00:21:56,440 --> 00:22:00,439 Speaker 2: two weeks notice and he said, Tony, is everything okay? 431 00:22:00,480 --> 00:22:04,400 Speaker 2: Is there anything I can do? And I said, it's perfect, 432 00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:06,480 Speaker 2: that's the problem. And he looked at me like I 433 00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:09,840 Speaker 2: was nuts. He's like, I said, that's the problem about. 434 00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:11,800 Speaker 1: And then when you go home to tell your parents, 435 00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:13,960 Speaker 1: I'm just curious what their immediate reaction. 436 00:22:14,040 --> 00:22:17,200 Speaker 2: Well, my mom's immediate reaction was, Mimi, ho's home, right, nothing, 437 00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:17,880 Speaker 2: my mom. 438 00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:21,360 Speaker 1: Let's cook. Yeah, when you're the baby, right. 439 00:22:22,119 --> 00:22:24,000 Speaker 2: Whenever you walk into the house, mom always says, you 440 00:22:24,040 --> 00:22:25,560 Speaker 2: look hungry. I don't know how they can tell you 441 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:28,399 Speaker 2: look hungry anyway, So my mom, I give her a 442 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:30,560 Speaker 2: big hug. I got my duffel bag and all that 443 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:33,840 Speaker 2: stuff in the car, and she goes me, oh, you're 444 00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:36,040 Speaker 2: you're you're here, you know? I said, yeah, yeah, you know. 445 00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:38,440 Speaker 2: I'm not working in Santa Barbara anymore. And the first 446 00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:41,399 Speaker 2: thing she says is in Spanish. She says, oh, so 447 00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:43,679 Speaker 2: you got a job in La And I said, no, 448 00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:45,199 Speaker 2: I don't have a job. And then she looks at 449 00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:48,600 Speaker 2: me like or Mexican we always want work, one, two, 450 00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:50,120 Speaker 2: three jobs. What do you mean you don't have a job, 451 00:22:50,119 --> 00:22:51,720 Speaker 2: I said, Mom, I got money in the bank. I'm fine. 452 00:22:51,800 --> 00:22:54,200 Speaker 2: I'm going to figure something out. I said, but I don't. 453 00:22:54,359 --> 00:22:56,560 Speaker 2: I don't think I'm going to be doing engineering anymore. 454 00:22:56,640 --> 00:22:59,760 Speaker 2: And again she's looking at me like, you got a degree, 455 00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:03,880 Speaker 2: Edison Keneto, You're you're an engineer, like, and I'm like, mom, 456 00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:07,760 Speaker 2: everything's fine, and because then she's looking like something happened right. No, 457 00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:09,840 Speaker 2: everything's fine, mom. I'm going to find a job that 458 00:23:09,920 --> 00:23:15,560 Speaker 2: I like. So she's like okay, but oh, my dad, 459 00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:18,480 Speaker 2: my dad just looked at me like, boll you better 460 00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:20,360 Speaker 2: get busy other otherwise I'm gonna put you to work 461 00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:25,239 Speaker 2: with My father. With my father, he he didn't like. 462 00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:28,280 Speaker 2: He didn't like his kids be lying around like we 463 00:23:28,280 --> 00:23:31,399 Speaker 2: we not that we had video games back then to 464 00:23:31,440 --> 00:23:34,200 Speaker 2: speak of. But no, we couldn't sit around and play 465 00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:35,920 Speaker 2: video games all day. Oh heck no, It's like we 466 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:38,199 Speaker 2: got work to do. Go outside. When I grew up, 467 00:23:38,240 --> 00:23:41,840 Speaker 2: my father started off as a farm worker in the 468 00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:45,480 Speaker 2: Central Valley and then they had I think four kids 469 00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:48,960 Speaker 2: there and then they moved to LA and then were 470 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:51,000 Speaker 2: in some other part of LA. They moved to Pacoma 471 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:53,160 Speaker 2: when they bought the house in nineteen fifty five. Wow, 472 00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:56,240 Speaker 2: And I was born in sixty three. So my father 473 00:23:56,320 --> 00:23:58,879 Speaker 2: when he came to LA became a union construction worker. 474 00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:01,679 Speaker 2: That was the good times because it was benefits and 475 00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:05,280 Speaker 2: good pay. But when I was growing up, being the youngest, 476 00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:07,080 Speaker 2: I used to go to work with my dad when 477 00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:09,000 Speaker 2: he went from being a construction worker to being a 478 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:11,600 Speaker 2: self and played gardener, hit his little route. You know 479 00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:14,320 Speaker 2: what I'm saying. He would go from one house to another, 480 00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:16,560 Speaker 2: doing the yard, picking up his little checks at the 481 00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:18,760 Speaker 2: end of the month, and feeding the family. So I 482 00:24:18,840 --> 00:24:21,359 Speaker 2: knew my father is a gardener. So there was always 483 00:24:21,359 --> 00:24:25,760 Speaker 2: something to do. But cut down somebody's tree. Oh yeah, 484 00:24:25,880 --> 00:24:28,320 Speaker 2: Oh no, it was work. I hated it. I hated 485 00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:32,199 Speaker 2: that work. But as I got older, I appreciated the 486 00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:35,840 Speaker 2: work ethic. I appreciated the mindset of don't just sit around, 487 00:24:36,560 --> 00:24:39,760 Speaker 2: get something done. And so as a congressman, that serves 488 00:24:39,800 --> 00:24:40,400 Speaker 2: me very well. 489 00:24:40,920 --> 00:24:44,960 Speaker 1: Okay, so life was grooming you to the position that 490 00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:47,800 Speaker 1: you got. So you're in the house. How long were 491 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:48,480 Speaker 1: you down for? 492 00:24:49,119 --> 00:24:51,199 Speaker 2: I got to tell the story this way because I 493 00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:54,280 Speaker 2: think everything happens for a reason. My brother doesn't play golf. 494 00:24:54,720 --> 00:24:57,160 Speaker 2: His friend, Michael Green doesn't play golf. And one day, 495 00:24:57,960 --> 00:25:01,120 Speaker 2: shortly after I got here, my brother says, hey, let's 496 00:25:01,119 --> 00:25:04,040 Speaker 2: go play golf with Michael Green. Like I picked up 497 00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:05,840 Speaker 2: a club once in a while, I never I didn't 498 00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:09,080 Speaker 2: play golf, like you know, let's go. So we went 499 00:25:09,119 --> 00:25:11,520 Speaker 2: to some local golf course and we're playing golf three 500 00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:14,600 Speaker 2: people who never play golf, and Michael Green strikes up 501 00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:16,760 Speaker 2: a conversation with Michael Green went to high school with 502 00:25:16,800 --> 00:25:19,480 Speaker 2: my brother. My brother's five years older than me. He says, 503 00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:21,879 Speaker 2: what are you doing? You know I'm back home. Told 504 00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:24,320 Speaker 2: him what I just told you, and he goes, what 505 00:25:24,359 --> 00:25:26,159 Speaker 2: are you gonna do? I said, I'm not I'm not 506 00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:28,120 Speaker 2: sure yet. I'll figure something out. He goes, well, i'm 507 00:25:28,119 --> 00:25:30,119 Speaker 2: selling life insurance with a company. You should try that. 508 00:25:30,160 --> 00:25:32,080 Speaker 2: I think you'd be good at it. And I'm like, 509 00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:36,280 Speaker 2: my sales okay, I'll try it. So went over there 510 00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:39,080 Speaker 2: with him. He introduced me to one of the managers 511 00:25:39,119 --> 00:25:41,840 Speaker 2: and she goes, yeah, you're hired. Let's do this. So 512 00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:44,320 Speaker 2: I sold life insurance for about a year. But I 513 00:25:44,359 --> 00:25:46,160 Speaker 2: did so well that I bought a house. 514 00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:51,480 Speaker 1: In our Yeah. Yeah, you wouldn't even think like an 515 00:25:51,480 --> 00:25:54,000 Speaker 1: engineer would be I hate to sound like that, but 516 00:25:54,040 --> 00:25:56,600 Speaker 1: you wouldn't think an engineer would be really good. 517 00:25:57,000 --> 00:25:59,359 Speaker 2: I'm not insulted. I'm not insulted because a lot of 518 00:25:59,359 --> 00:26:01,640 Speaker 2: engineers they say, you got IQ but you ain't got 519 00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:04,800 Speaker 2: EQ right, But I get it. And that's one of 520 00:26:04,800 --> 00:26:07,000 Speaker 2: the honestly, that's one of the reasons why I left engineering, 521 00:26:07,040 --> 00:26:10,639 Speaker 2: because we're talking about nerds who are no longer fifteen 522 00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:13,440 Speaker 2: years old. They're twenty five, thirty five, forty fifty years old, 523 00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:16,040 Speaker 2: and they're telling nerd jokes and everybody's laughing. I'm like, 524 00:26:16,520 --> 00:26:19,320 Speaker 2: this ain't me right, And so that was one of 525 00:26:19,359 --> 00:26:21,760 Speaker 2: the reasons why I left engineering. It's just a little 526 00:26:21,760 --> 00:26:23,600 Speaker 2: bit too rigid, you know, not well. 527 00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:25,879 Speaker 1: And then you grow up with a large family, so 528 00:26:25,920 --> 00:26:29,199 Speaker 1: your EQ is probably it would almost have to be 529 00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:32,240 Speaker 1: higher because you have all these different personality the streets. 530 00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:35,320 Speaker 2: You know, I grew up on the schools I went to. 531 00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:38,600 Speaker 2: You know, it was a very very minority community, very 532 00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:41,119 Speaker 2: blue collar. You had to have street sense if you 533 00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:44,600 Speaker 2: were going to make it through Pacoima. And so yeah, 534 00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:47,360 Speaker 2: you know, luckily I got some EQ along the way. 535 00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:52,600 Speaker 2: And so I'm selling life insurance and I make enough 536 00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:54,280 Speaker 2: money to buy a house. I'm buying a house, and 537 00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:57,399 Speaker 2: I'm watching the two realtors and again, everything happens for 538 00:26:57,440 --> 00:27:01,280 Speaker 2: a reason. When does somebody buy a house where the 539 00:27:01,359 --> 00:27:03,760 Speaker 2: listing agent she's never sold a home before and this 540 00:27:03,840 --> 00:27:07,560 Speaker 2: is her first one. And the buyer's agent, my agent, 541 00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:10,480 Speaker 2: had never sold the home before, and he was doing 542 00:27:10,520 --> 00:27:12,920 Speaker 2: my job and they were fumbling and bumbling their way through, 543 00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:14,879 Speaker 2: and I was like, these people don't even know what 544 00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:17,639 Speaker 2: they're doing. But the deal got closed, so I thought 545 00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:20,960 Speaker 2: it can't be too hard and its sales. So I 546 00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:23,560 Speaker 2: got my real estate license. Oh wow, fell in love 547 00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:24,760 Speaker 2: with it. 548 00:27:24,960 --> 00:27:27,040 Speaker 1: I would have never seen that plot twist coming. 549 00:27:27,119 --> 00:27:28,879 Speaker 2: No, I just fell in love with it. Said, oh, 550 00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:31,840 Speaker 2: this is easy, I can do this. And then I 551 00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:35,480 Speaker 2: started working for another company, really good company to work for, 552 00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:38,879 Speaker 2: and then ended up in the top three salespeople there, 553 00:27:39,119 --> 00:27:41,960 Speaker 2: so I was good at it. And then so again, 554 00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:45,919 Speaker 2: bought another house, etc. Met my wife, Norma, you know, 555 00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:48,480 Speaker 2: got married a few years later. So that was my track. 556 00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:49,840 Speaker 2: I thought I was going to be a real estate 557 00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:51,280 Speaker 2: broker for the rest of my life. 558 00:27:51,400 --> 00:27:52,960 Speaker 1: And how old are you at the time we're going 559 00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:54,040 Speaker 1: to are we going to take a bite? 560 00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:58,959 Speaker 2: Yeah, listen your show, so you tell me I can eat? 561 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:03,520 Speaker 1: Then all these this is lemon marmalae. It's good, it's 562 00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:04,159 Speaker 1: very lemony. 563 00:28:04,600 --> 00:28:05,000 Speaker 2: Mm hmm. 564 00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:06,760 Speaker 1: That's that's real official. 565 00:28:07,359 --> 00:28:09,680 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I told you if you like lemon. 566 00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:14,119 Speaker 1: And I slathered that, so okay, now I get the 567 00:28:14,119 --> 00:28:15,639 Speaker 1: difference between lemon and orange. 568 00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:17,320 Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. I told you it's lemon. 569 00:28:17,560 --> 00:28:19,320 Speaker 1: He warned me. You were like, hey, just so you know, 570 00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:23,600 Speaker 1: it's lemon. Okay, this is official. 571 00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:25,400 Speaker 2: If you like lemon meringue, it's for you. 572 00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:27,800 Speaker 1: I like lemon meringue, but I don't think I could 573 00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:29,520 Speaker 1: quite prepare myself for that lemon. 574 00:28:29,840 --> 00:28:30,280 Speaker 2: Exactly. 575 00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:33,600 Speaker 1: It's really good though. Shout outs to your daughter. 576 00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:37,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you, she's a she's a pastry chef. And 577 00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:41,360 Speaker 2: and oh is she Yeah, my wife Norma, she's she 578 00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:47,280 Speaker 2: right brain, left brain stuff. My three youngest are very 579 00:28:47,320 --> 00:28:50,200 Speaker 2: are artists, incredibly talented artists. They get that from my wife, 580 00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:55,360 Speaker 2: Norma and our oldest Vanessa. She started her own business, 581 00:28:55,920 --> 00:28:59,160 Speaker 2: very very organized and stuff like that. So we have 582 00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:01,840 Speaker 2: one that's very organized, very business oriented, and the other 583 00:29:01,880 --> 00:29:04,160 Speaker 2: three they just want to create, create, create, And this 584 00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:08,200 Speaker 2: is been. This is Alina's uh, this is her outlet, 585 00:29:08,240 --> 00:29:10,760 Speaker 2: this is this is her art. She loves to be 586 00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:11,320 Speaker 2: in the kitchen. 587 00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:14,560 Speaker 1: Well, she's good at it. I'm going to finish this 588 00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:17,080 Speaker 1: whole sandwich. It's really good. I think just the first bite. 589 00:29:18,840 --> 00:29:21,280 Speaker 1: You know, if you're eating grape jelly all your life, 590 00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:24,920 Speaker 1: first fight, will you? But I could honestly see me 591 00:29:24,960 --> 00:29:31,480 Speaker 1: eating all marmalade. Mamar. That's really good. Really all right? Sorry, 592 00:29:31,480 --> 00:29:32,720 Speaker 1: go on, huge story. 593 00:29:32,840 --> 00:29:35,760 Speaker 2: So we were talking about, you know, uh, the transition 594 00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:38,640 Speaker 2: going from engineering, how did I end up in politics? 595 00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:40,440 Speaker 2: So I thought I was gonna be a real estate 596 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:42,880 Speaker 2: broker all my life, ended up leaving that company, starting 597 00:29:42,880 --> 00:29:44,800 Speaker 2: my own company with a couple of buddies of mine. 598 00:29:45,120 --> 00:29:48,400 Speaker 2: And we're now now off to the races, making more money. 599 00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:50,880 Speaker 2: You're selling real estate, selling real estate right here in 600 00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:53,239 Speaker 2: the northest valley in the hood where we all grew up. 601 00:29:53,880 --> 00:29:56,320 Speaker 2: And so things were good, and then all of a sudden, 602 00:29:56,320 --> 00:29:58,600 Speaker 2: the Chicano activists who had met me. I was on 603 00:29:58,640 --> 00:30:01,360 Speaker 2: a not for profit board with his wife, Leticia, and 604 00:30:01,440 --> 00:30:03,280 Speaker 2: James say hey to He calls me one day, hey Tony, 605 00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:06,320 Speaker 2: let's talk. Yeah. Sure, sat down with him, and then 606 00:30:06,320 --> 00:30:09,080 Speaker 2: he says, you need to run for the State Assembly. 607 00:30:09,640 --> 00:30:12,080 Speaker 2: The first words out of my mouth were people like 608 00:30:12,120 --> 00:30:14,120 Speaker 2: me don't run for office. What I meant is people 609 00:30:14,160 --> 00:30:17,640 Speaker 2: like me, like like I didn't have those role models 610 00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:20,360 Speaker 2: coming up. It was all white people represented us in 611 00:30:20,400 --> 00:30:24,640 Speaker 2: Congress and at the highest levels, to the city council everything. 612 00:30:24,680 --> 00:30:25,960 Speaker 1: And how old were you at the time. 613 00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:28,640 Speaker 2: I was in my early thirties. My wife, Norman and 614 00:30:28,720 --> 00:30:34,240 Speaker 2: I she was pregnant with Andres, our third child, and 615 00:30:36,040 --> 00:30:38,560 Speaker 2: later on we had Alena. We have four, We raised 616 00:30:38,560 --> 00:30:42,960 Speaker 2: four children. And so I was like, dude, no, not me, 617 00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:45,760 Speaker 2: I'm not a politician. And then so he kept bugging 618 00:30:45,800 --> 00:30:48,720 Speaker 2: me for about six months, and then one day he 619 00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:54,320 Speaker 2: told me, he goes you don't give a fuck about 620 00:30:54,360 --> 00:30:58,480 Speaker 2: your community, and he lit me up. I got pissed 621 00:30:59,040 --> 00:31:00,840 Speaker 2: and I lit him up up and I told him, 622 00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:04,400 Speaker 2: you know what, you that's bullshit, I said, I care. 623 00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:07,719 Speaker 2: I put a I opened up a business two blocks 624 00:31:07,760 --> 00:31:09,720 Speaker 2: away from my high school on purpose so I can 625 00:31:09,800 --> 00:31:12,080 Speaker 2: hire kids from my high school to teach them how 626 00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:13,960 Speaker 2: to work in a in a you know, in an 627 00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:15,640 Speaker 2: environment where we have to get dressed up and be 628 00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:18,480 Speaker 2: professional like that. And then I said, you know, every 629 00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:21,200 Speaker 2: time any one of my old schools or some nearby 630 00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:23,560 Speaker 2: not for profit wants a little bit help, I help. 631 00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:25,080 Speaker 2: I find a way to help. And I was just 632 00:31:25,160 --> 00:31:25,840 Speaker 2: ratling off. 633 00:31:25,760 --> 00:31:27,720 Speaker 1: Things and you were, and that he knew you from 634 00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:29,760 Speaker 1: sitting on a board too, yes, which I think is 635 00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:32,920 Speaker 1: also interesting because why why what board were you sitting 636 00:31:32,920 --> 00:31:33,720 Speaker 1: on and what it was. 637 00:31:34,040 --> 00:31:36,120 Speaker 2: It was called Escuela de la Hinte and it was 638 00:31:36,160 --> 00:31:38,520 Speaker 2: a little not for profit board. It was a preschool 639 00:31:38,520 --> 00:31:42,000 Speaker 2: in Paquoima, and you know it was struggling. You know, 640 00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:44,920 Speaker 2: like in the hood they do beautiful work, but they 641 00:31:44,920 --> 00:31:47,560 Speaker 2: don't have the contacts to get the big money. So 642 00:31:47,720 --> 00:31:49,320 Speaker 2: you know, they were struggling. And I was on the 643 00:31:49,320 --> 00:31:51,600 Speaker 2: board and we were all doing our part to make 644 00:31:51,600 --> 00:31:54,480 Speaker 2: sure that they kept going. And uh so I just 645 00:31:54,560 --> 00:31:56,520 Speaker 2: let him up and I just started rattling off all 646 00:31:56,560 --> 00:31:59,880 Speaker 2: the things I do from my neighborhood. And then when 647 00:31:59,880 --> 00:32:03,240 Speaker 2: I was done, he goes, that's why you need to run. 648 00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:08,920 Speaker 2: I'm like, damn. He got exactly, exactly exactly shut he 649 00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:12,440 Speaker 2: put James, He pushed my bad out, he pushed baths 650 00:32:12,880 --> 00:32:15,440 Speaker 2: and uh and that's how I got involved in politics. 651 00:32:15,480 --> 00:32:17,400 Speaker 2: I you know, after six months of him bugging me, 652 00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:19,280 Speaker 2: I went home to my wife, Norma, she grew up 653 00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:21,640 Speaker 2: in Pacoma two and I told her, hey, James said, 654 00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:24,560 Speaker 2: we've never had somebody from the neighborhood represent us, blah blah, blah, 655 00:32:24,600 --> 00:32:26,560 Speaker 2: and then she goes, yeah, if you want to go ahead, 656 00:32:27,120 --> 00:32:29,680 Speaker 2: and we didn't know any better and then I literally 657 00:32:29,680 --> 00:32:31,400 Speaker 2: told my wife if I get elected, I'm going to 658 00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:32,560 Speaker 2: do it for two years. 659 00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:38,920 Speaker 1: Twenty eight years later. So how much of being a politician, 660 00:32:39,280 --> 00:32:41,960 Speaker 1: Like how much impact did it have on your family? 661 00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:45,240 Speaker 1: Like what were the pros and the cons in that move? Well, 662 00:32:45,560 --> 00:32:47,720 Speaker 1: and especially for Norma too, well the. 663 00:32:47,720 --> 00:32:53,400 Speaker 2: Pro yeah, well Norma became basically a single mom with 664 00:32:53,440 --> 00:32:56,560 Speaker 2: that decision. Because my job, my first job as an 665 00:32:56,560 --> 00:32:58,840 Speaker 2: elected official, I used to fly back and forth to Sacramento, 666 00:32:59,200 --> 00:33:02,600 Speaker 2: leave Monday morning, come back Thursday afternoon. And then when 667 00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:04,600 Speaker 2: you're still when you're in the district, you got district 668 00:33:04,600 --> 00:33:05,960 Speaker 2: events to go. Do they want you to go to 669 00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:08,200 Speaker 2: this dinner or go to this ribbon cutting and all 670 00:33:08,200 --> 00:33:11,280 Speaker 2: that stuff. So it's really like a seventy hour week job. 671 00:33:11,600 --> 00:33:14,880 Speaker 1: But before we back up one step, when you're running 672 00:33:14,960 --> 00:33:17,840 Speaker 1: for that position, is it hard? Like what is that? 673 00:33:17,920 --> 00:33:18,000 Speaker 2: Like? 674 00:33:18,520 --> 00:33:20,560 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's hard, Like you still have to have a 675 00:33:20,640 --> 00:33:23,120 Speaker 1: day job and do this at night. Like can you 676 00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:24,080 Speaker 1: explain that I. 677 00:33:24,040 --> 00:33:26,760 Speaker 2: Had my real estate company which afforded me the flexibility 678 00:33:26,800 --> 00:33:29,720 Speaker 2: to go do this interview or what have you or go. 679 00:33:30,680 --> 00:33:33,760 Speaker 2: You know, just I didn't work for somebody else and 680 00:33:33,840 --> 00:33:36,440 Speaker 2: work for myself. So it gave me that flexibility. And 681 00:33:37,080 --> 00:33:39,960 Speaker 2: hats off to Al Sabedra, my business partner at the time. 682 00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:42,160 Speaker 2: He said, Tony, you go do this. I'll take care 683 00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:44,560 Speaker 2: of the business. And I'm like, no, that's not cool, dude. 684 00:33:44,680 --> 00:33:47,080 Speaker 2: You know, I can't be getting the income when you're 685 00:33:47,120 --> 00:33:48,800 Speaker 2: doing all the work. He looked at me. He says, 686 00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:51,200 Speaker 2: he's from the neighborhood too, he says, Tony, he says, 687 00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:52,920 Speaker 2: we need to get you elected. He said, don't worry 688 00:33:52,960 --> 00:33:55,160 Speaker 2: about this. I got this, and he did. And so 689 00:33:55,200 --> 00:33:57,640 Speaker 2: the business kept going and I spend more and more 690 00:33:57,640 --> 00:34:01,920 Speaker 2: time doing the campaign full time. But this is the thing, 691 00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:05,400 Speaker 2: the reason why we were able to finally break that barrier, 692 00:34:05,440 --> 00:34:07,360 Speaker 2: which was my purpose to be the first person of 693 00:34:07,400 --> 00:34:10,320 Speaker 2: color in the entire San Fernando history, to San Fernando 694 00:34:10,400 --> 00:34:13,200 Speaker 2: Valley history, to go to high office in this case 695 00:34:13,239 --> 00:34:17,719 Speaker 2: the State Assembly, was because we needed somebody who looked 696 00:34:17,719 --> 00:34:20,280 Speaker 2: like the people we represent. It was eighty percent minority. 697 00:34:20,600 --> 00:34:23,960 Speaker 2: It was seventy percent Latino, about eight ten percent African American, 698 00:34:24,840 --> 00:34:29,640 Speaker 2: you know, another three percent Asian, mostly Filipinos, etc. But 699 00:34:29,680 --> 00:34:30,960 Speaker 2: we'd never had a person of color. 700 00:34:31,080 --> 00:34:31,400 Speaker 1: Yeah. 701 00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:35,000 Speaker 2: So, and I grew up there, and so I hired 702 00:34:35,040 --> 00:34:38,080 Speaker 2: somebody who grew up there as well. He grew up 703 00:34:38,080 --> 00:34:39,680 Speaker 2: two blocks away from me. He was ten years younger 704 00:34:39,719 --> 00:34:41,959 Speaker 2: than me, went to MIT to get his engineering degree, 705 00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:43,960 Speaker 2: graduated from San Fernando High School like I did, ten 706 00:34:44,040 --> 00:34:47,560 Speaker 2: years after me. But we serendipitously met right around the 707 00:34:47,560 --> 00:34:49,600 Speaker 2: time that James was bugging me about running for office, 708 00:34:50,120 --> 00:34:54,799 Speaker 2: and then when I decided to run, I had told Dlex, Hey, 709 00:34:54,800 --> 00:34:56,440 Speaker 2: remember I told you if I run for office, will 710 00:34:56,440 --> 00:34:58,719 Speaker 2: you run my campaign? He said yeah, and I said, well, 711 00:34:58,760 --> 00:35:00,239 Speaker 2: I'm going to run, will you run my camp? Pain? 712 00:35:00,480 --> 00:35:03,400 Speaker 2: His exact words were, this is typical Alex Bidia because 713 00:35:03,400 --> 00:35:05,480 Speaker 2: I said I would, didn't I and Boom so well 714 00:35:05,520 --> 00:35:06,720 Speaker 2: after the races. 715 00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:08,120 Speaker 1: I love how everybody talks to each other. 716 00:35:08,239 --> 00:35:10,120 Speaker 2: Yeah, we we. 717 00:35:10,239 --> 00:35:13,480 Speaker 1: You were like real minorities, like I love it. I 718 00:35:13,520 --> 00:35:14,920 Speaker 1: love it, says a real people are. 719 00:35:15,200 --> 00:35:17,839 Speaker 2: And the thing is sometimes we went into a media 720 00:35:17,840 --> 00:35:20,479 Speaker 2: and people couldn't hold back the laughter. They're like, Okay, 721 00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:22,640 Speaker 2: wait a minute, You've never run for in your life. 722 00:35:22,640 --> 00:35:25,080 Speaker 2: I'm like, yeah, and you've never run a campaign? In 723 00:35:25,080 --> 00:35:27,439 Speaker 2: your life. This is Alex Badia and he's like, yeah, 724 00:35:27,760 --> 00:35:30,120 Speaker 2: and we're going to win. And they're like they would 725 00:35:30,160 --> 00:35:32,200 Speaker 2: laugh in our face, not to be punks. They just 726 00:35:32,239 --> 00:35:34,840 Speaker 2: couldn't hold it back. They're like this, this is ridiculous. Yeah, 727 00:35:34,880 --> 00:35:38,040 Speaker 2: but we won. It was several people on the ballot. 728 00:35:38,200 --> 00:35:40,000 Speaker 2: It was a it can ended up being a three 729 00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:44,600 Speaker 2: person race. Alex ran a campaign where I won, and 730 00:35:45,239 --> 00:35:47,960 Speaker 2: the second and third place person their combined vote was 731 00:35:48,000 --> 00:35:49,399 Speaker 2: still less than what we got. 732 00:35:49,760 --> 00:35:50,040 Speaker 1: Wow. 733 00:35:50,040 --> 00:35:52,120 Speaker 2: And the Alla Times had wrote an article a few 734 00:35:52,120 --> 00:35:54,440 Speaker 2: weeks before the election was over that I was going 735 00:35:54,480 --> 00:35:57,080 Speaker 2: to come in third place, but our secret weapon was this. 736 00:35:57,960 --> 00:36:00,640 Speaker 2: I was the only candidate who spoke Spanish, and I 737 00:36:00,719 --> 00:36:03,200 Speaker 2: was the only candidate from the neighborhood. And I was 738 00:36:03,239 --> 00:36:05,879 Speaker 2: the only candidate who had four hundred volunteers and half 739 00:36:05,920 --> 00:36:09,160 Speaker 2: of them couldn't speak English, but they were from the neighborhood. Wow. 740 00:36:09,239 --> 00:36:09,719 Speaker 2: So we won. 741 00:36:10,520 --> 00:36:13,279 Speaker 1: Wow. And what was your takeaway that day? Can you 742 00:36:13,360 --> 00:36:14,680 Speaker 1: take me back to that moment? 743 00:36:15,760 --> 00:36:21,960 Speaker 2: Oh? Oh, that moment was I remember standing there next 744 00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:25,680 Speaker 2: to Norma when this guy named Leo Brionis did the 745 00:36:25,680 --> 00:36:27,719 Speaker 2: the other part of my campaign. He would print the 746 00:36:27,760 --> 00:36:31,399 Speaker 2: mail right and he came up to me. They were 747 00:36:31,400 --> 00:36:35,719 Speaker 2: looking at the computers, and he goes, you're trending, you're 748 00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:38,279 Speaker 2: gonna win, and he grabbed He was a full back 749 00:36:38,320 --> 00:36:41,000 Speaker 2: in college, like a big football player, and he grabbed 750 00:36:41,040 --> 00:36:43,080 Speaker 2: me and he gave me a hug. Literally, he's like 751 00:36:43,160 --> 00:36:45,319 Speaker 2: six foot two or something. He gave me a hug, 752 00:36:45,360 --> 00:36:47,480 Speaker 2: and then my feet came up off the ground and 753 00:36:47,520 --> 00:36:50,279 Speaker 2: he was squeezing me so hard. I got leo. I 754 00:36:50,320 --> 00:36:53,799 Speaker 2: can't breathe. So he finally let me set me down. 755 00:36:53,960 --> 00:36:56,000 Speaker 2: And then that's when it set in. And I'm looking 756 00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:57,880 Speaker 2: at Alex and I'm looking at James and everybody, and 757 00:36:57,920 --> 00:37:00,239 Speaker 2: they're all going like it's it. It's over. I mean, 758 00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:03,240 Speaker 2: it was an official, official whatever. It was like, it's done. 759 00:37:03,360 --> 00:37:06,000 Speaker 2: And then I remember Norma sitting standing next to me 760 00:37:06,040 --> 00:37:11,319 Speaker 2: and she gave me a hug. It was surreal. It 761 00:37:11,400 --> 00:37:18,840 Speaker 2: was kind of like unbelievable, but it was beautiful because 762 00:37:19,080 --> 00:37:21,840 Speaker 2: we put our heart and soul into it. We spoke 763 00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:26,879 Speaker 2: to voters who everybody stopped talking to them. We went 764 00:37:26,920 --> 00:37:29,200 Speaker 2: to people's house they were talking. 765 00:37:29,040 --> 00:37:30,799 Speaker 1: To them at all. Because I think about it, they 766 00:37:30,800 --> 00:37:32,520 Speaker 1: weren't even speaking Spanish exactly. 767 00:37:32,560 --> 00:37:35,000 Speaker 2: Well, even if they showed up speaking English. They never 768 00:37:35,000 --> 00:37:37,239 Speaker 2: even knocked on their door, They never even sent them 769 00:37:37,239 --> 00:37:40,480 Speaker 2: a piece of mail. We literally went and talked to 770 00:37:40,640 --> 00:37:44,400 Speaker 2: every single human being who was registered to vote in 771 00:37:44,440 --> 00:37:47,279 Speaker 2: that district. We made an attempt and or we talked 772 00:37:47,320 --> 00:37:51,160 Speaker 2: to them, We sent them information, We told them we 773 00:37:51,160 --> 00:37:56,320 Speaker 2: we do care about what your needs are, right, and 774 00:37:56,320 --> 00:37:58,880 Speaker 2: and so we won, and we raised one hundred and 775 00:37:58,880 --> 00:38:01,719 Speaker 2: fifty thousand dollars. Jim Valerie. The other two candidates they 776 00:38:01,840 --> 00:38:04,160 Speaker 2: raised and spent three hundred and fifty thousand each. So 777 00:38:04,239 --> 00:38:07,239 Speaker 2: between seven hundred thousand dollars and our one hundred and 778 00:38:07,280 --> 00:38:11,200 Speaker 2: fifty thousand dollars, we bested their combined vote. 779 00:38:11,800 --> 00:38:14,720 Speaker 1: How did you not in those moments get intimidated saying, 780 00:38:14,880 --> 00:38:18,040 Speaker 1: like to yourself, like do you really think we could 781 00:38:18,080 --> 00:38:18,319 Speaker 1: do this? 782 00:38:18,480 --> 00:38:18,560 Speaker 2: Like? 783 00:38:18,840 --> 00:38:20,759 Speaker 1: Were there ever moments where you were like, I mean 784 00:38:20,800 --> 00:38:23,040 Speaker 1: I'm going up against yeah, I mean you're talking about 785 00:38:23,160 --> 00:38:26,240 Speaker 1: double trip way more budget. 786 00:38:26,520 --> 00:38:30,439 Speaker 2: I I My purpose was once I once I talked 787 00:38:30,440 --> 00:38:32,919 Speaker 2: to Norma and she said, yeah, go ahead. I knew 788 00:38:32,920 --> 00:38:37,080 Speaker 2: that from what my father and mother had taught us. 789 00:38:38,719 --> 00:38:40,560 Speaker 2: If you say you're gonna do something, you do it. 790 00:38:41,120 --> 00:38:42,920 Speaker 2: If you're gonna if you're gonna do something, you give 791 00:38:42,960 --> 00:38:47,239 Speaker 2: it your best, and also, don't you ever quit. So 792 00:38:47,280 --> 00:38:49,799 Speaker 2: as soon as I called James and said I'm in 793 00:38:51,080 --> 00:38:53,200 Speaker 2: what do I do next? I knew that I was 794 00:38:53,239 --> 00:38:55,200 Speaker 2: going to put my heart and soul into it, everything 795 00:38:55,280 --> 00:38:57,840 Speaker 2: I had into it. Alex Badia was the same way. 796 00:38:58,000 --> 00:38:59,799 Speaker 2: He grew up the same way like me. His parents 797 00:38:59,840 --> 00:39:02,759 Speaker 2: are grants Famaico, just like mine, and so we just 798 00:39:02,800 --> 00:39:05,279 Speaker 2: put our heart and soul into the work. But the 799 00:39:05,360 --> 00:39:10,399 Speaker 2: thing is that moment, my sister Nanni was my for 800 00:39:10,440 --> 00:39:13,800 Speaker 2: free because we couldn't afford to pay somebody to collect 801 00:39:13,800 --> 00:39:15,920 Speaker 2: the checks and stuff like that. For free. She was 802 00:39:15,960 --> 00:39:19,719 Speaker 2: my treasurer. But Victor said, Vantez was a certified public 803 00:39:19,760 --> 00:39:22,160 Speaker 2: accountant for my business because I owned a business at 804 00:39:22,160 --> 00:39:24,440 Speaker 2: the time, and I had told Victor one day I'm 805 00:39:24,440 --> 00:39:26,160 Speaker 2: going to run prophet. Say hey, have you ever done 806 00:39:26,160 --> 00:39:28,239 Speaker 2: the books for a campaign? He goes, yeah, I did 807 00:39:28,239 --> 00:39:30,560 Speaker 2: one once. And I go, well, how much he charged? 808 00:39:30,560 --> 00:39:32,239 Speaker 2: And he goes, well, normally I charge, you know, like 809 00:39:32,320 --> 00:39:33,920 Speaker 2: one hundred and fifty bucks an hour or something like that. 810 00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:36,919 Speaker 2: I'm like, I can't afford you, because I don't worry 811 00:39:36,920 --> 00:39:38,360 Speaker 2: about it. I'll charge you a few hundred bucks a 812 00:39:38,400 --> 00:39:41,520 Speaker 2: month and I'll do this for you. So luckily, you know, 813 00:39:41,600 --> 00:39:44,399 Speaker 2: he did it at a cut rate. But Nanni would 814 00:39:44,440 --> 00:39:48,560 Speaker 2: pick up the checks, and she picked up the checks 815 00:39:48,560 --> 00:39:52,160 Speaker 2: one day and she ended up talking to Victor and 816 00:39:52,239 --> 00:39:55,640 Speaker 2: she stumbled on a story that Victor told her and 817 00:39:55,680 --> 00:39:59,920 Speaker 2: then she calls me crying. But right before she called me, 818 00:40:01,760 --> 00:40:04,239 Speaker 2: I believe everything happens for a reason. You never leave 819 00:40:04,280 --> 00:40:06,560 Speaker 2: the candidate by themselves. You pick them up at their 820 00:40:06,600 --> 00:40:08,719 Speaker 2: house or you meet them at the campaign and then 821 00:40:08,760 --> 00:40:12,600 Speaker 2: you're in the car with somebody the whole time. Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, No. 822 00:40:13,160 --> 00:40:16,120 Speaker 2: You don't want the candidates to be ambushed by somebody, 823 00:40:16,360 --> 00:40:17,880 Speaker 2: you know, you don't want them to be, you know, 824 00:40:19,040 --> 00:40:21,000 Speaker 2: end up by themselves or somebody's like, oh I don't 825 00:40:21,040 --> 00:40:23,080 Speaker 2: like you. Whatever. You always just got to make sure 826 00:40:23,120 --> 00:40:27,600 Speaker 2: that they're you know, they're they're protected. But for some reason, 827 00:40:27,640 --> 00:40:30,560 Speaker 2: that day, I ended up by myself and I walked 828 00:40:30,560 --> 00:40:35,160 Speaker 2: into the campaign and I looked around. There's nobody there. 829 00:40:36,360 --> 00:40:39,160 Speaker 2: It was very late at night. And then I look 830 00:40:39,200 --> 00:40:41,760 Speaker 2: over on Alex Badia's desk. He was my campaign manager, 831 00:40:42,200 --> 00:40:44,359 Speaker 2: and there's the La Times article that he told me 832 00:40:44,480 --> 00:40:47,360 Speaker 2: not to read because the La Times wrote an article 833 00:40:47,400 --> 00:40:49,080 Speaker 2: saying that I was going to come in third place, 834 00:40:49,360 --> 00:40:50,600 Speaker 2: that I didn't stand a chance. 835 00:40:50,880 --> 00:40:52,200 Speaker 1: And Alex told you not to read it. 836 00:40:52,239 --> 00:40:53,960 Speaker 2: He told me, don't read it. There's an article. He 837 00:40:53,960 --> 00:40:55,600 Speaker 2: didn't tell me about it. He said, there was an 838 00:40:55,680 --> 00:40:57,839 Speaker 2: article came out in Ala Times. Don't worry about it. 839 00:40:57,840 --> 00:41:00,200 Speaker 2: It's dumb. We're going to win, you know, just nor 840 00:41:00,719 --> 00:41:04,279 Speaker 2: Let's keep moving forward. But if Alex would have been 841 00:41:04,320 --> 00:41:06,520 Speaker 2: with me, he would have said, he would have grabbed 842 00:41:06,520 --> 00:41:08,520 Speaker 2: the newspaper, said you ain't reading this. You know what 843 00:41:08,560 --> 00:41:10,799 Speaker 2: I'm saying. But I was by myself. So I go 844 00:41:10,880 --> 00:41:13,560 Speaker 2: over to his desk and I read the article and 845 00:41:13,600 --> 00:41:17,719 Speaker 2: it's front page and another page and another page, big old, 846 00:41:17,800 --> 00:41:20,560 Speaker 2: long article talking about all the logical reasons why I 847 00:41:20,600 --> 00:41:23,279 Speaker 2: don't stand a chance. Jim or Valley are gonna win. 848 00:41:23,440 --> 00:41:27,440 Speaker 2: Tony Gottanasis doesn't stand a chance. And then all of 849 00:41:27,480 --> 00:41:29,840 Speaker 2: a sudden, I started feeling like, what the hell was 850 00:41:29,880 --> 00:41:33,560 Speaker 2: I thinking? Because it had never been done before. So 851 00:41:34,200 --> 00:41:37,960 Speaker 2: the phone rings and I answered my sister Nanny, and 852 00:41:38,000 --> 00:41:40,640 Speaker 2: she's crying. She goes, Tony, I got to tell you something. 853 00:41:40,640 --> 00:41:42,520 Speaker 2: I gotta tell you something, said and I was already. 854 00:41:42,880 --> 00:41:44,960 Speaker 2: I just read the article and I said, now, you 855 00:41:45,000 --> 00:41:46,719 Speaker 2: don't worry about it, tell me tomorrow. She goes, no, 856 00:41:46,760 --> 00:41:49,239 Speaker 2: I got to tell you right now. So she comes 857 00:41:49,280 --> 00:41:55,000 Speaker 2: over to the office and she's crying and she says, Victor, 858 00:41:55,160 --> 00:41:59,960 Speaker 2: my accountant, Victor just told me a story about our dad. 859 00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:03,200 Speaker 2: I'm like what, And I'm thinking to myself, why is 860 00:42:03,200 --> 00:42:05,399 Speaker 2: she crying? What's this all about? And then she goes, 861 00:42:05,560 --> 00:42:09,040 Speaker 2: Victor told me that he just was telling his dad 862 00:42:09,080 --> 00:42:12,439 Speaker 2: that he was doing the campaign stuff for a guy 863 00:42:12,520 --> 00:42:16,760 Speaker 2: named Tony God than Us, and that, by the way, 864 00:42:16,800 --> 00:42:18,960 Speaker 2: he knows my family because he went to school with 865 00:42:18,960 --> 00:42:23,080 Speaker 2: my brother Jose and he he had gone to my 866 00:42:23,080 --> 00:42:25,479 Speaker 2: father's funeral in nineteen ninety three. This is nineteen ninety 867 00:42:25,520 --> 00:42:29,640 Speaker 2: six now, and that for some weird reason, he told 868 00:42:29,719 --> 00:42:31,480 Speaker 2: his father that I'm the son of a man named 869 00:42:31,640 --> 00:42:35,160 Speaker 2: Dreskadanas and he had gone to my dad's funeral Underscota 870 00:42:35,239 --> 00:42:37,239 Speaker 2: Nas a few years earlier. And his dad looked at 871 00:42:37,280 --> 00:42:41,799 Speaker 2: him and said, son, if that was the under Scottadanas, 872 00:42:41,800 --> 00:42:44,840 Speaker 2: I knew I would have liked to go to his funeral. 873 00:42:44,920 --> 00:42:47,439 Speaker 2: He said, why, Dad, He says, before you were born, 874 00:42:47,520 --> 00:42:49,360 Speaker 2: I was working in the fields in Central Valley in 875 00:42:49,400 --> 00:42:52,520 Speaker 2: California and Stockton, and my job was to burn down 876 00:42:52,560 --> 00:42:55,160 Speaker 2: the field. I had a torch and I had a 877 00:42:55,200 --> 00:42:58,080 Speaker 2: water pump connected to the levee, and I would burn 878 00:42:58,120 --> 00:43:00,160 Speaker 2: it and control it, burn it and control it. And 879 00:43:00,200 --> 00:43:02,719 Speaker 2: then the levee stopped pushing out water and the fire 880 00:43:02,760 --> 00:43:05,560 Speaker 2: got out of control, and I was sitting there screaming 881 00:43:05,560 --> 00:43:08,520 Speaker 2: for help and Spanish, so go so goro right, help, 882 00:43:08,960 --> 00:43:11,360 Speaker 2: And he was screaming for help. And then he said 883 00:43:11,480 --> 00:43:15,239 Speaker 2: to his son that he lay down and he was 884 00:43:15,239 --> 00:43:16,920 Speaker 2: saying his last prayer because he thought it was going 885 00:43:17,000 --> 00:43:21,839 Speaker 2: to die. And a man driving a tractor came through 886 00:43:21,840 --> 00:43:27,560 Speaker 2: the fire, grabbed him and pulled him out. Wow. And 887 00:43:27,600 --> 00:43:33,040 Speaker 2: I started crying because as a little boy, my dad someday, 888 00:43:33,200 --> 00:43:37,200 Speaker 2: for some reason only God knows why, he told me 889 00:43:37,239 --> 00:43:40,480 Speaker 2: a story about how he became the tractor driver on 890 00:43:40,520 --> 00:43:46,520 Speaker 2: a ranch in Stockton, way before I was born. And 891 00:43:46,960 --> 00:43:50,440 Speaker 2: he said that there was a guy who didn't speak Spanish, 892 00:43:50,440 --> 00:43:52,560 Speaker 2: only spoke English. He gathered all the workers in the 893 00:43:52,560 --> 00:43:55,800 Speaker 2: field and he pointed to the tractor and he said, 894 00:43:56,280 --> 00:43:58,200 Speaker 2: whatever he said, he's pointing the tractor. He's pointing in 895 00:43:58,239 --> 00:44:00,440 Speaker 2: the field and nobody could understand what he's saying. And 896 00:44:00,480 --> 00:44:03,279 Speaker 2: my dad said he looked around and he's like, I 897 00:44:03,280 --> 00:44:05,400 Speaker 2: think this guy wants somebody to drive that tractor and 898 00:44:06,239 --> 00:44:09,080 Speaker 2: plow that field. And then so my dad looked around. 899 00:44:09,120 --> 00:44:11,440 Speaker 2: He raised his hand and the man says, you come here, everybody, 900 00:44:11,520 --> 00:44:13,839 Speaker 2: get back to work. My dad didn't understand him. It's 901 00:44:13,920 --> 00:44:16,680 Speaker 2: just just got there from Mexico, right, And so my 902 00:44:16,760 --> 00:44:18,920 Speaker 2: dad goes over to him. And then my dad's listening 903 00:44:18,920 --> 00:44:21,040 Speaker 2: to him, and the guy's gesturing, and my Dad's like, okay, 904 00:44:21,040 --> 00:44:22,799 Speaker 2: he wants me to till this field. My dad had 905 00:44:22,800 --> 00:44:24,719 Speaker 2: never driven in a tractor in his life. Remember this 906 00:44:24,800 --> 00:44:27,000 Speaker 2: is like nineteen forty eight, nineteen forty nine, you know 907 00:44:27,080 --> 00:44:29,960 Speaker 2: what I'm saying. This is like cars weren't a big 908 00:44:29,960 --> 00:44:33,480 Speaker 2: thing and tractors were kind of new. Yeah, And so 909 00:44:33,560 --> 00:44:35,600 Speaker 2: my dad looks at him and he's I remember my 910 00:44:35,680 --> 00:44:38,120 Speaker 2: dad telling me. I waited for the man to get 911 00:44:38,160 --> 00:44:40,759 Speaker 2: out of sight, and then I started figuring out how 912 00:44:40,800 --> 00:44:43,520 Speaker 2: to drive the tractor. And then once I figured it out, 913 00:44:43,680 --> 00:44:46,239 Speaker 2: they had me driving the tractor. So I knew that 914 00:44:46,400 --> 00:44:49,040 Speaker 2: was my dad who saved him. Yeah, But my father 915 00:44:49,160 --> 00:44:51,200 Speaker 2: never told any one of his children that story. 916 00:44:51,800 --> 00:44:52,240 Speaker 1: Wow. 917 00:44:53,160 --> 00:44:56,279 Speaker 2: So the next day I go to my mom. She's 918 00:44:56,320 --> 00:44:58,600 Speaker 2: still alive. I go to my mom's house and she 919 00:44:58,640 --> 00:45:00,520 Speaker 2: was sewing like she always does. She used to make 920 00:45:00,560 --> 00:45:05,600 Speaker 2: beautiful wedding dresses and stuff and working from home. And 921 00:45:05,640 --> 00:45:09,560 Speaker 2: then I said, I gave her a kiss, and I said, Mom, 922 00:45:10,200 --> 00:45:13,640 Speaker 2: did my dad save somebody's life when driving a tractor 923 00:45:14,160 --> 00:45:18,120 Speaker 2: back in the day without blinking? And I she keeps 924 00:45:18,160 --> 00:45:21,200 Speaker 2: so and she goes yeah. And then finally I stopped 925 00:45:21,200 --> 00:45:25,040 Speaker 2: her and I go, Mom, wait a minute, how come 926 00:45:25,080 --> 00:45:28,600 Speaker 2: he never told us? And She's like, because he was 927 00:45:28,640 --> 00:45:31,839 Speaker 2: just doing what he was supposed to do. From that 928 00:45:31,960 --> 00:45:36,600 Speaker 2: day forward, I had a new commitment in my campaign. 929 00:45:37,719 --> 00:45:41,520 Speaker 2: For the first time, I said to myself, this is 930 00:45:41,719 --> 00:45:45,759 Speaker 2: my neighborhood, this is my country, and I have a 931 00:45:45,880 --> 00:45:57,360 Speaker 2: right to run, and I'm in a run. 932 00:45:59,719 --> 00:46:01,960 Speaker 1: I was gonna add one of the questions I wanted 933 00:46:02,000 --> 00:46:03,920 Speaker 1: to ask you, but I think you kind of answered 934 00:46:03,920 --> 00:46:06,960 Speaker 1: it here, was after the election, did you feel like, 935 00:46:07,080 --> 00:46:11,000 Speaker 1: oh my gosh, what have I gotten myself? Insert? Because everyone, 936 00:46:11,120 --> 00:46:15,040 Speaker 1: even with the firm commitment in hand, you still sees. 937 00:46:14,800 --> 00:46:18,440 Speaker 2: Because I didn't study government growing up. I was an engineer. 938 00:46:18,480 --> 00:46:20,560 Speaker 2: I was all about numbers and stuff like that, and 939 00:46:20,600 --> 00:46:22,480 Speaker 2: calculations and all that, and I'm like, I'm going to 940 00:46:22,520 --> 00:46:24,120 Speaker 2: go up there and make laws. I knew that that's 941 00:46:24,160 --> 00:46:26,480 Speaker 2: what they did, but I never aspired to do it. 942 00:46:26,520 --> 00:46:27,440 Speaker 2: I never studied it. 943 00:46:27,960 --> 00:46:31,680 Speaker 1: Wow, So now that you are in this position, what's 944 00:46:31,719 --> 00:46:35,200 Speaker 1: coming at you? What did you not foresee coming at you? 945 00:46:36,000 --> 00:46:39,960 Speaker 2: Well, what I didn't foresee is that I would get 946 00:46:40,040 --> 00:46:43,200 Speaker 2: some mentors, and thank god I did. I ended up 947 00:46:43,280 --> 00:46:47,080 Speaker 2: serendipitously rooming with the first day that I got there. 948 00:46:48,239 --> 00:46:51,720 Speaker 2: On swearing in day, we pick our speaker, and Cruz 949 00:46:51,719 --> 00:46:54,400 Speaker 2: Bustamante became the first Latino speaker in over one hundred 950 00:46:54,400 --> 00:46:57,759 Speaker 2: and some years in the legislature in California. And a 951 00:46:57,800 --> 00:46:59,600 Speaker 2: good friend of his and somebody who supported me for 952 00:46:59,719 --> 00:47:03,280 Speaker 2: running for office, was a guy named State Senator Richard Bolonko. 953 00:47:04,080 --> 00:47:06,000 Speaker 2: And I didn't have a place to say. He said, oh, 954 00:47:06,120 --> 00:47:08,320 Speaker 2: you can sleep on our couch, right, So I slept 955 00:47:08,320 --> 00:47:10,600 Speaker 2: on their couch for a few weeks, and then every 956 00:47:10,680 --> 00:47:13,800 Speaker 2: night they would come home and they would say, you know, 957 00:47:13,880 --> 00:47:15,760 Speaker 2: they would talk to each other because they're both seasoned 958 00:47:15,840 --> 00:47:18,640 Speaker 2: veterans and politics and stuff, and they would ask me questions. 959 00:47:18,640 --> 00:47:20,160 Speaker 2: It would kind of make fun of me, really but 960 00:47:20,280 --> 00:47:22,640 Speaker 2: teach me at the same time. Right, they say, hey, Tony, 961 00:47:22,719 --> 00:47:24,440 Speaker 2: you know what happened in committee? They I said, oh, 962 00:47:24,800 --> 00:47:26,880 Speaker 2: I don't know. We voted on this. Why do you 963 00:47:26,920 --> 00:47:28,480 Speaker 2: think the vote went down the way it did? And 964 00:47:28,480 --> 00:47:31,239 Speaker 2: then they go, I'm like, I don't know what you're 965 00:47:31,239 --> 00:47:34,520 Speaker 2: asking you? What are you getting at? So they taught 966 00:47:34,520 --> 00:47:37,520 Speaker 2: me every night, every night, every night, something that a 967 00:47:37,600 --> 00:47:41,160 Speaker 2: craft that I wasn't I wasn't aware of, I wasn't 968 00:47:41,160 --> 00:47:43,960 Speaker 2: prepared that well for. But they brought me up to 969 00:47:43,960 --> 00:47:48,839 Speaker 2: speed very quickly. They you know, taught me the through 970 00:47:48,920 --> 00:47:51,120 Speaker 2: like the School of hard Knocks, just like how to 971 00:47:51,160 --> 00:47:53,640 Speaker 2: read between the lines. And again there goes that EQ right, 972 00:47:53,719 --> 00:47:56,520 Speaker 2: read between the lines, Read between the lines, Listen to 973 00:47:56,560 --> 00:47:58,520 Speaker 2: what that person said when that person said this, that's 974 00:47:58,520 --> 00:48:01,000 Speaker 2: why they said that They're district is like this. So 975 00:48:01,040 --> 00:48:04,640 Speaker 2: this their district has that kind of industry in it. 976 00:48:04,680 --> 00:48:07,160 Speaker 2: That's why they're you know, that's why they're they're questioning 977 00:48:07,400 --> 00:48:10,359 Speaker 2: like that. So they brought me up to speed. So 978 00:48:10,920 --> 00:48:13,600 Speaker 2: that was that was the best most surprising thing about it. 979 00:48:13,640 --> 00:48:17,880 Speaker 2: I had two amazing mentors who also believed in something 980 00:48:17,920 --> 00:48:21,239 Speaker 2: that I immediately gravitated to I wanted to elect as 981 00:48:21,239 --> 00:48:26,080 Speaker 2: many Latinos as humanly possible to the legislature, to any office. 982 00:48:26,200 --> 00:48:28,160 Speaker 2: Is if I found a good Latinoo was running for 983 00:48:28,200 --> 00:48:30,319 Speaker 2: office or Latina, I was like, how can I help you? 984 00:48:30,680 --> 00:48:32,680 Speaker 2: And I've been doing that ever since for the last 985 00:48:32,680 --> 00:48:33,080 Speaker 2: twenty and. 986 00:48:33,120 --> 00:48:35,840 Speaker 1: Now there's like, we just had an event with you 987 00:48:35,920 --> 00:48:37,680 Speaker 1: and there was so many Latino. 988 00:48:38,800 --> 00:48:41,240 Speaker 2: Yeah. I was the first from San Fernando High School. 989 00:48:41,520 --> 00:48:43,680 Speaker 2: Now we have We've had at least like seven go 990 00:48:43,719 --> 00:48:47,080 Speaker 2: to the La City Council, to the state legislature. I 991 00:48:47,120 --> 00:48:49,799 Speaker 2: became the first Latino to go to Washington and be 992 00:48:50,000 --> 00:48:53,040 Speaker 2: a Congress member of Congress, and then Alex followed me 993 00:48:53,160 --> 00:48:56,800 Speaker 2: later on and he's now the first United States Senator 994 00:48:56,880 --> 00:49:02,280 Speaker 2: Latino to represent California and Congress. So I realized immediately 995 00:49:03,840 --> 00:49:05,640 Speaker 2: that once I got elected, my purpose was to be 996 00:49:05,719 --> 00:49:09,000 Speaker 2: the first. And I realized I said, no, no, my job 997 00:49:09,080 --> 00:49:10,560 Speaker 2: is to make sure I'm not the last. 998 00:49:10,840 --> 00:49:16,960 Speaker 1: Yeah. Now, just I'm gonna play just curious from an 999 00:49:16,960 --> 00:49:20,759 Speaker 1: ignorant standpoint, imagine that I really don't. I don't. My 1000 00:49:21,160 --> 00:49:25,600 Speaker 1: dad's definitely plays a lot in the political circuit. But 1001 00:49:25,840 --> 00:49:28,600 Speaker 1: I tried to stay away, and from an ignorant standpoint, 1002 00:49:28,680 --> 00:49:31,960 Speaker 1: it's more like I'm down here. Can they really hear me? 1003 00:49:32,040 --> 00:49:36,120 Speaker 1: What advice would you give to someone that's more so 1004 00:49:36,400 --> 00:49:39,480 Speaker 1: like myself that's like, you know, like do I really 1005 00:49:39,520 --> 00:49:41,920 Speaker 1: have to vote? Cause, like I mean, I got all 1006 00:49:41,960 --> 00:49:43,200 Speaker 1: these problems down here. 1007 00:49:43,920 --> 00:49:47,959 Speaker 2: Well, you just stumbled on the reason why I told 1008 00:49:47,960 --> 00:49:49,560 Speaker 2: my wife I'll only do it for a couple of years, 1009 00:49:49,560 --> 00:49:51,160 Speaker 2: and now I've been doing it for twenty eight years. 1010 00:49:52,040 --> 00:49:54,000 Speaker 2: One of my main motivations and the reason why I 1011 00:49:54,080 --> 00:49:56,520 Speaker 2: kept running for office and helping other people run for office, 1012 00:49:57,400 --> 00:49:58,839 Speaker 2: is to make sure that there are more and more 1013 00:49:58,880 --> 00:50:02,000 Speaker 2: people who look like people who don't think that government 1014 00:50:02,480 --> 00:50:05,399 Speaker 2: is there for you, Like have you ever thought, well, 1015 00:50:05,440 --> 00:50:07,440 Speaker 2: I'll just call my congressman, or I'll call my. 1016 00:50:07,440 --> 00:50:10,840 Speaker 1: Mayor never have I ever? But lately they've been releasing 1017 00:50:10,840 --> 00:50:13,399 Speaker 1: a lot more like movies on like Netflix. I think 1018 00:50:13,400 --> 00:50:15,759 Speaker 1: I just saw one with like Shirley. It was called 1019 00:50:15,800 --> 00:50:20,959 Speaker 1: Shirley about this African American lady. But I think since 1020 00:50:21,000 --> 00:50:23,480 Speaker 1: Barack has been in office and some of those things 1021 00:50:23,480 --> 00:50:26,520 Speaker 1: which at the time when Barack Obama was running, I 1022 00:50:26,520 --> 00:50:29,120 Speaker 1: don't want to admit whether I voted or not. But 1023 00:50:29,280 --> 00:50:31,960 Speaker 1: again it goes back to ignorance. You know. 1024 00:50:32,000 --> 00:50:34,239 Speaker 2: Well, the thing is, I was an occasional voter most 1025 00:50:34,280 --> 00:50:36,560 Speaker 2: of my life until James told me you got to 1026 00:50:36,640 --> 00:50:38,160 Speaker 2: run for office. And when I said I'm gonna run 1027 00:50:38,200 --> 00:50:40,720 Speaker 2: for office, I vote every single time now, and I 1028 00:50:40,800 --> 00:50:42,800 Speaker 2: and I bugged my children to vote every single time. 1029 00:50:43,040 --> 00:50:44,719 Speaker 2: Every time I talk to my brothers and sisters, say 1030 00:50:44,880 --> 00:50:46,360 Speaker 2: whether you like the candidates or not, you got to 1031 00:50:46,400 --> 00:50:48,279 Speaker 2: you gotta vote. You gotta vote, you gotta make your 1032 00:50:48,360 --> 00:50:51,280 Speaker 2: voice count. But the main reason why I kept running 1033 00:50:51,280 --> 00:50:57,759 Speaker 2: for office is because I think of my parents Limited English. 1034 00:50:58,160 --> 00:51:01,560 Speaker 2: They paid taxes for decades, and they really, in their 1035 00:51:01,560 --> 00:51:05,840 Speaker 2: heart didn't believe that government was here for them, that 1036 00:51:05,960 --> 00:51:08,879 Speaker 2: an actual elected official would actually pick up the phone 1037 00:51:08,880 --> 00:51:12,000 Speaker 2: and say how can I help you? Because the country 1038 00:51:12,000 --> 00:51:16,120 Speaker 2: they came from, you either wealthy and or connected, and 1039 00:51:16,160 --> 00:51:18,720 Speaker 2: the government worked for you, but not for the regular people. 1040 00:51:19,239 --> 00:51:23,040 Speaker 2: And I detest that. I detest that, and that's one 1041 00:51:23,040 --> 00:51:25,080 Speaker 2: of the reasons why I kept running for office and 1042 00:51:25,200 --> 00:51:28,240 Speaker 2: making sure that I help other good people get elected 1043 00:51:28,239 --> 00:51:30,440 Speaker 2: to office. I've helped people become mayor of Los Angeles. 1044 00:51:30,480 --> 00:51:33,319 Speaker 2: I help people in their gubernatorial campaigns. I've helped people 1045 00:51:33,320 --> 00:51:36,360 Speaker 2: in the United States Senate campaigns all around the country. 1046 00:51:36,520 --> 00:51:38,600 Speaker 2: I made it my mission when I got to Washington 1047 00:51:38,840 --> 00:51:41,640 Speaker 2: to grow the Hispanic Caucus and the Black Caucus, and 1048 00:51:41,680 --> 00:51:45,400 Speaker 2: the LGBTQ Caucus, and the Asian Caucus and the Women's Caucus. 1049 00:51:45,520 --> 00:51:47,279 Speaker 2: And I'm very proud to say now that I'm leaving 1050 00:51:47,320 --> 00:51:50,680 Speaker 2: Congress after me being their twelve years, we have more LGBTQ, 1051 00:51:50,960 --> 00:51:57,240 Speaker 2: more women, more black, more brown, more Asians. It looks 1052 00:51:57,400 --> 00:52:00,640 Speaker 2: more like America than it ever has before. And I 1053 00:52:00,680 --> 00:52:04,239 Speaker 2: put my heart and soul in inspiring my colleagues and 1054 00:52:04,280 --> 00:52:08,280 Speaker 2: the Hispanic Caucus colleagues to say, we are not there yet. 1055 00:52:08,400 --> 00:52:11,120 Speaker 2: We have more to do, We need to grow, We 1056 00:52:11,160 --> 00:52:13,960 Speaker 2: need to keep coming the country to find good people 1057 00:52:14,000 --> 00:52:16,799 Speaker 2: of color, good people who have backgrounds where they've been 1058 00:52:16,800 --> 00:52:20,839 Speaker 2: disrespected and they can represent people and understand them when 1059 00:52:20,840 --> 00:52:23,719 Speaker 2: they're being disrespected by their government or by their community 1060 00:52:24,120 --> 00:52:27,040 Speaker 2: or by the system. And that's been a real big 1061 00:52:27,080 --> 00:52:29,879 Speaker 2: part of why I kept running for office, to make 1062 00:52:29,920 --> 00:52:33,239 Speaker 2: sure that when people call an elected officials office, there's 1063 00:52:33,239 --> 00:52:36,320 Speaker 2: a greater chance that that person's going to say Estabian 1064 00:52:36,400 --> 00:52:41,600 Speaker 2: Senora Nusupra Kupe in Spanish or in Korean or whatever language, 1065 00:52:41,960 --> 00:52:43,680 Speaker 2: assuring them that we're here for you. 1066 00:52:44,320 --> 00:52:49,040 Speaker 1: Why is it that you are leaving, Well, you're not running. 1067 00:52:48,800 --> 00:52:56,200 Speaker 2: Up for real. Yes, because when somebody runs for office 1068 00:52:56,480 --> 00:53:01,640 Speaker 2: and they have a partner and or a family, there's 1069 00:53:01,680 --> 00:53:05,799 Speaker 2: always that wonder how much longer, how much longer from 1070 00:53:05,800 --> 00:53:08,000 Speaker 2: the family, from your loved ones, because they're the ones 1071 00:53:08,040 --> 00:53:13,360 Speaker 2: who suffer through this awkward, weird life where you're not 1072 00:53:13,600 --> 00:53:19,200 Speaker 2: there that much. You're missing birthdays, you're missing anniversaries, you're 1073 00:53:19,239 --> 00:53:22,680 Speaker 2: missing special days. You're even missing funerals for some of 1074 00:53:22,719 --> 00:53:25,000 Speaker 2: your closest not your children, your wife, right, but like 1075 00:53:25,040 --> 00:53:28,399 Speaker 2: my cousin's funeral or my thes funeral. I miss some 1076 00:53:28,440 --> 00:53:30,960 Speaker 2: of those things because I was stuck in Sacramento, or 1077 00:53:30,960 --> 00:53:36,080 Speaker 2: I was stuck in Washington, And you have to decide 1078 00:53:36,160 --> 00:53:39,279 Speaker 2: do I leave and not represent the people on these 1079 00:53:39,360 --> 00:53:44,160 Speaker 2: votes because nobody can vote for you. You're there, you vote, 1080 00:53:44,320 --> 00:53:47,520 Speaker 2: you represent. If you're not there, your representation is zero. 1081 00:53:47,640 --> 00:53:51,879 Speaker 2: You didn't participate that day. So they suffer quite a bit. 1082 00:53:52,000 --> 00:53:56,000 Speaker 2: And in my case, my wife and children have been 1083 00:53:56,040 --> 00:54:00,640 Speaker 2: incredibly respectful of my choosing to be in this crazy 1084 00:54:00,680 --> 00:54:04,560 Speaker 2: career of being an elected official and They never asked 1085 00:54:04,560 --> 00:54:08,120 Speaker 2: me to leave. They never told me I want you 1086 00:54:08,160 --> 00:54:09,960 Speaker 2: to quit now, this is too much for it was. 1087 00:54:10,160 --> 00:54:12,480 Speaker 1: There was never like a moment where you had like 1088 00:54:12,520 --> 00:54:14,239 Speaker 1: an off day where you're like, man, is. 1089 00:54:14,120 --> 00:54:16,400 Speaker 2: This Oh No. There are days where I was like 1090 00:54:17,160 --> 00:54:19,959 Speaker 2: I fought for this job and I've got a day 1091 00:54:20,000 --> 00:54:23,400 Speaker 2: like this, But I usually snap out of it as 1092 00:54:23,480 --> 00:54:25,279 Speaker 2: quickly as I can, knowing that there's more work to 1093 00:54:25,320 --> 00:54:28,240 Speaker 2: be done. And that's just the moment that doesn't define 1094 00:54:28,440 --> 00:54:31,840 Speaker 2: the career. And so when I turned sixty last. 1095 00:54:31,719 --> 00:54:33,279 Speaker 1: Year, Oh you are good. 1096 00:54:33,840 --> 00:54:36,680 Speaker 2: Thank you. When I turned sixty last year, that was 1097 00:54:36,680 --> 00:54:39,919 Speaker 2: a that was a defining moment for me in my heart. 1098 00:54:40,640 --> 00:54:46,520 Speaker 2: And I told my wife, I think this might be 1099 00:54:46,560 --> 00:54:49,959 Speaker 2: my last term. I think, And she marks my words 1100 00:54:49,960 --> 00:54:52,239 Speaker 2: because if I would have said it is, she would 1101 00:54:52,239 --> 00:54:52,959 Speaker 2: have said, okay, right. 1102 00:54:53,360 --> 00:54:55,760 Speaker 1: Held accountable. Right, there was the last. 1103 00:54:55,600 --> 00:54:58,359 Speaker 2: Day I think it might be. And she even though 1104 00:54:58,360 --> 00:55:00,800 Speaker 2: we'd had those conversations how much long, how much longer, 1105 00:55:01,920 --> 00:55:03,799 Speaker 2: she still looked at me like are you for real? 1106 00:55:04,400 --> 00:55:05,279 Speaker 2: Like really? And I go. 1107 00:55:05,480 --> 00:55:07,000 Speaker 1: She carried a lot of weight too, because she's a 1108 00:55:07,000 --> 00:55:09,400 Speaker 1: single mom. Yeah, I just became a single mom. I 1109 00:55:09,400 --> 00:55:11,919 Speaker 1: have one. She had four yeah. 1110 00:55:12,120 --> 00:55:15,680 Speaker 2: And God blessed my children because sometimes my children will 1111 00:55:15,719 --> 00:55:19,000 Speaker 2: confide in me and on occasion and say, you know, 1112 00:55:19,080 --> 00:55:20,880 Speaker 2: I didn't think you were there for me, And that 1113 00:55:21,000 --> 00:55:25,920 Speaker 2: hurts that, that hurts hearing that. But I love the 1114 00:55:25,920 --> 00:55:28,520 Speaker 2: fact that they're brave enough to say it, because and 1115 00:55:28,560 --> 00:55:30,120 Speaker 2: then I have an opportunity to say, well, I'm not 1116 00:55:30,160 --> 00:55:32,920 Speaker 2: going to let that happen again. And so when I 1117 00:55:32,960 --> 00:55:37,319 Speaker 2: turned sixty, I thought, well, you know, I've been there 1118 00:55:37,360 --> 00:55:41,480 Speaker 2: for it's going on eleven years, and two years becomes 1119 00:55:41,480 --> 00:55:42,880 Speaker 2: two more and two more and two more. Could I 1120 00:55:42,920 --> 00:55:46,319 Speaker 2: could look back and say, shoot, now twenty right? And 1121 00:55:46,360 --> 00:55:47,680 Speaker 2: I thought, you know what, I got to get back 1122 00:55:47,719 --> 00:55:50,360 Speaker 2: to taking care of my family because I been giving 1123 00:55:50,360 --> 00:55:52,239 Speaker 2: my heart and soul to taking care of the community. 1124 00:55:52,680 --> 00:55:56,799 Speaker 2: No regrets. I love it. I'm blessed, honored to do that. 1125 00:55:56,719 --> 00:56:00,720 Speaker 1: In your community really loves you, like really loves you. Yeah, 1126 00:56:00,920 --> 00:56:03,759 Speaker 1: you can feel it. Yeah, yeah, if if I just 1127 00:56:03,920 --> 00:56:07,399 Speaker 1: was a fly on the wall, man, it is very 1128 00:56:07,480 --> 00:56:09,200 Speaker 1: evident that there's a lot of love there. 1129 00:56:09,360 --> 00:56:09,640 Speaker 2: Yeah. 1130 00:56:09,680 --> 00:56:12,160 Speaker 1: And my dad he saw you and he was like, 1131 00:56:12,239 --> 00:56:15,000 Speaker 1: do you know, no one ever does this in politics, 1132 00:56:15,000 --> 00:56:17,279 Speaker 1: no one ever, No one ever does this, Like at 1133 00:56:17,280 --> 00:56:19,840 Speaker 1: the top of your game, like look at look at 1134 00:56:19,880 --> 00:56:22,279 Speaker 1: everything he's done, Like no one ever does this. Do 1135 00:56:22,280 --> 00:56:25,200 Speaker 1: you know how how crazy this is? Like no one's 1136 00:56:25,200 --> 00:56:27,040 Speaker 1: ever done it. My dad was just so impressed, Like 1137 00:56:27,360 --> 00:56:30,320 Speaker 1: this never happens. This never happens, That's all he kept saying. 1138 00:56:30,800 --> 00:56:34,040 Speaker 2: Yeah, I've been blessed that at every office I've held 1139 00:56:34,040 --> 00:56:36,600 Speaker 2: for the last twenty eight years, even among my colleagues. 1140 00:56:37,840 --> 00:56:40,000 Speaker 2: And I'm not bragging, I just say it truthfully. My 1141 00:56:40,080 --> 00:56:42,120 Speaker 2: colleagues have come to me and said, you need to 1142 00:56:42,200 --> 00:56:45,439 Speaker 2: run for leadership within us, like we want, we want 1143 00:56:45,440 --> 00:56:47,239 Speaker 2: you to run so we can elect you to the 1144 00:56:47,320 --> 00:56:50,560 Speaker 2: leadership position, even within our own caucus, within our own 1145 00:56:50,680 --> 00:56:56,120 Speaker 2: you know, elected officials, because you've got something, we need 1146 00:56:56,120 --> 00:56:57,759 Speaker 2: you to step it up and take it to the 1147 00:56:57,840 --> 00:57:00,239 Speaker 2: next level for the group, for all of us. And 1148 00:57:00,280 --> 00:57:05,080 Speaker 2: so I've been very blessed with that. And there's another thing, 1149 00:57:05,239 --> 00:57:10,040 Speaker 2: talk about imposter syndrome. I was elected three times to 1150 00:57:10,080 --> 00:57:13,640 Speaker 2: the state Assembly, elected three times to the Ali City Council. 1151 00:57:13,800 --> 00:57:16,520 Speaker 2: I get to Washington after sixteen years of that, I'm 1152 00:57:16,560 --> 00:57:20,160 Speaker 2: in my first term and I'm sitting in my office 1153 00:57:20,200 --> 00:57:24,600 Speaker 2: and for the first time in my life, and I 1154 00:57:24,600 --> 00:57:26,520 Speaker 2: said to myself in my mind, and then I forced 1155 00:57:26,560 --> 00:57:30,520 Speaker 2: myself to say it out loud. I am a leader. 1156 00:57:33,160 --> 00:57:35,960 Speaker 2: It breaks my heart to admit that. Because there I am, 1157 00:57:36,000 --> 00:57:37,840 Speaker 2: the community believed me to be a leader, and they 1158 00:57:37,840 --> 00:57:41,480 Speaker 2: elected me over and over and over again amongst my colleagues, 1159 00:57:41,480 --> 00:57:44,720 Speaker 2: amongst elected leaders. They pushed me and elected me to 1160 00:57:44,800 --> 00:57:47,880 Speaker 2: different leadership positions. Everywhere I went. I was a leader 1161 00:57:48,080 --> 00:57:51,160 Speaker 2: and a leader among leaders. But I never ever internalized 1162 00:57:51,200 --> 00:57:53,880 Speaker 2: in my heart and said to myself that I'm a leader. 1163 00:57:54,880 --> 00:57:56,320 Speaker 2: And the reason why I share that with you is 1164 00:57:56,320 --> 00:57:59,480 Speaker 2: because I want young people when they see this, or 1165 00:57:59,480 --> 00:58:02,720 Speaker 2: even people who are older and still haven't reckoned with 1166 00:58:02,760 --> 00:58:06,760 Speaker 2: their demons and the garbage that they're fed. You're not 1167 00:58:06,840 --> 00:58:09,520 Speaker 2: good enough because of where you grew up, or because 1168 00:58:09,560 --> 00:58:12,560 Speaker 2: you have an accent, or because your parents don't speak English, 1169 00:58:12,920 --> 00:58:16,240 Speaker 2: or the neighborhood or what have you. I want people 1170 00:58:16,240 --> 00:58:20,200 Speaker 2: to understand that that garbage stays with you. As much 1171 00:58:20,240 --> 00:58:22,200 Speaker 2: as you try to clean it out, clean it out, 1172 00:58:22,400 --> 00:58:27,480 Speaker 2: it stays with you somehow, somewhat syndrome monster. That's exactly 1173 00:58:27,640 --> 00:58:30,680 Speaker 2: what Imposter's syndrome is about. So much so that the 1174 00:58:30,760 --> 00:58:33,760 Speaker 2: community had elected me over and over and over without 1175 00:58:33,880 --> 00:58:37,400 Speaker 2: question that I am quote, I can you can actually 1176 00:58:37,440 --> 00:58:39,240 Speaker 2: say that I'm a leader? Am I the best leader? No, 1177 00:58:39,320 --> 00:58:41,840 Speaker 2: that's not the point. Am I a leader or not? Yes, 1178 00:58:42,320 --> 00:58:45,800 Speaker 2: But for the first time in my life, I said 1179 00:58:45,800 --> 00:58:48,680 Speaker 2: to myself, I am a leader. And then when I 1180 00:58:48,680 --> 00:58:52,240 Speaker 2: said it to myself and it echoed in my mind, 1181 00:58:52,400 --> 00:58:54,480 Speaker 2: I actually I was sitting in my office by myself 1182 00:58:54,520 --> 00:58:57,680 Speaker 2: in Washington to see that beautiful, beautiful place, and I 1183 00:58:57,720 --> 00:59:00,400 Speaker 2: said to myself, I am a leader. I am a leader. 1184 00:59:01,160 --> 00:59:04,040 Speaker 2: And I broke down crying because I knew that I 1185 00:59:04,080 --> 00:59:08,120 Speaker 2: was releasing garbage up paid there was pushed out to 1186 00:59:08,160 --> 00:59:13,720 Speaker 2: be was that was just people, whether they were well 1187 00:59:13,800 --> 00:59:17,360 Speaker 2: meaning or just ignorant or mean, you shouldn't do that. 1188 00:59:17,560 --> 00:59:19,640 Speaker 1: It was like it was like an invisible weight that 1189 00:59:19,720 --> 00:59:20,920 Speaker 1: was constantly with resolutely. 1190 00:59:21,520 --> 00:59:23,840 Speaker 2: And the thing is all we can do, or the 1191 00:59:23,880 --> 00:59:25,520 Speaker 2: best thing that we can do is just try to 1192 00:59:25,880 --> 00:59:28,160 Speaker 2: clean that out as much as we can. But those 1193 00:59:28,240 --> 00:59:31,320 Speaker 2: residi there's always some residuals there. It's like if you 1194 00:59:31,360 --> 00:59:33,560 Speaker 2: get a piece of charcoal and it drops on this 1195 00:59:33,560 --> 00:59:35,720 Speaker 2: this white cloth, no matter how much you clean it, 1196 00:59:36,080 --> 00:59:38,120 Speaker 2: you're gonna still see a little bit of that. So 1197 00:59:38,240 --> 00:59:41,600 Speaker 2: but the thing is, But that's fine. But people people 1198 00:59:41,640 --> 00:59:46,440 Speaker 2: need to realize that they need to love themselves, respect themselves, 1199 00:59:47,200 --> 00:59:49,479 Speaker 2: and realize that there are a lot of ugly people 1200 00:59:49,560 --> 00:59:51,600 Speaker 2: out there who don't love you, who don't respect you. 1201 00:59:51,920 --> 00:59:54,400 Speaker 2: I mentioned earlier that there were some good teachers. Missus 1202 00:59:54,440 --> 00:59:58,440 Speaker 2: Telefair she loved me. She was just a first year teacher, 1203 00:59:59,520 --> 01:00:01,440 Speaker 2: and I could tell that she cared about me. She goes, 1204 01:00:01,440 --> 01:00:03,480 Speaker 2: you know what, Tony, you're good in math. We need 1205 01:00:03,520 --> 01:00:05,439 Speaker 2: to test you as gifted. You know, on the rich 1206 01:00:05,480 --> 01:00:08,560 Speaker 2: side of town, every kid gets tested for gifted. But 1207 01:00:08,640 --> 01:00:10,400 Speaker 2: on the poor side of town, people don't know this. 1208 01:00:11,080 --> 01:00:11,360 Speaker 1: Wow. 1209 01:00:11,360 --> 01:00:13,760 Speaker 2: The only way a child gets tested for gifted is 1210 01:00:13,800 --> 01:00:16,680 Speaker 2: that somebody has to ask that that child be tested, 1211 01:00:17,200 --> 01:00:19,240 Speaker 2: whether to see if they're gifted or not to take 1212 01:00:19,280 --> 01:00:22,080 Speaker 2: the gifted aptitude test. And at my set of town, 1213 01:00:22,120 --> 01:00:24,959 Speaker 2: my parents would have never done that, right, so she did. 1214 01:00:25,280 --> 01:00:28,400 Speaker 2: And then the fact that I tested that I was 1215 01:00:28,400 --> 01:00:32,120 Speaker 2: gifted in math gave me that extra confidence at least 1216 01:00:32,120 --> 01:00:35,040 Speaker 2: in math, I'm good at this. You get what I'm saying. 1217 01:00:35,040 --> 01:00:37,400 Speaker 1: And then look how much it played a role absolutely 1218 01:00:37,480 --> 01:00:41,160 Speaker 1: when you go into when you go from not knowing 1219 01:00:41,400 --> 01:00:43,720 Speaker 1: the difference between the poor and the rich or the 1220 01:00:44,240 --> 01:00:46,800 Speaker 1: minorities and the whites, Like when you find out the 1221 01:00:47,520 --> 01:00:52,320 Speaker 1: difference in how these two lifestyles are handled, like you know, 1222 01:00:52,360 --> 01:00:55,320 Speaker 1: finding out that every rich kid gets tested for gifted 1223 01:00:55,320 --> 01:00:56,800 Speaker 1: and in the minorities. 1224 01:00:56,320 --> 01:00:59,680 Speaker 2: It's once and other happens. Since, how does. 1225 01:00:59,520 --> 01:01:04,040 Speaker 1: That make you feel? And what about that did you 1226 01:01:04,400 --> 01:01:07,440 Speaker 1: personally like end up like changing? Because I know you 1227 01:01:07,480 --> 01:01:10,160 Speaker 1: did a lot of great things when it came to youth, 1228 01:01:10,800 --> 01:01:15,240 Speaker 1: those youth, but like, oh, there's how much time do 1229 01:01:15,280 --> 01:01:17,120 Speaker 1: we have just a snapshot? 1230 01:01:17,200 --> 01:01:20,280 Speaker 2: Yeah, when I got the Sacramento immeditatey, I started to 1231 01:01:20,320 --> 01:01:22,560 Speaker 2: say we need to clean up our act and making 1232 01:01:22,560 --> 01:01:25,040 Speaker 2: sure that kids in the poor neighborhoods don't get the 1233 01:01:25,080 --> 01:01:28,440 Speaker 2: hand me down books and they can actually get books 1234 01:01:28,480 --> 01:01:32,120 Speaker 2: that are that are of the day. And so I changed. 1235 01:01:32,160 --> 01:01:34,960 Speaker 2: I was the first legislator to change the lottery in 1236 01:01:35,000 --> 01:01:37,720 Speaker 2: California to require that some of that money go to 1237 01:01:37,760 --> 01:01:40,440 Speaker 2: books and classroom materials because I know, when there's not 1238 01:01:40,600 --> 01:01:45,760 Speaker 2: enough money, the poor communities, the poor schools, they don't 1239 01:01:45,760 --> 01:01:46,320 Speaker 2: get anything. 1240 01:01:46,560 --> 01:01:48,600 Speaker 1: And how much did that break your heart to see that? Like, 1241 01:01:48,840 --> 01:01:50,880 Speaker 1: because you got to think, like all of our kids 1242 01:01:50,880 --> 01:01:54,760 Speaker 1: they come with these blank canvases. It shouldn't be the 1243 01:01:54,840 --> 01:01:58,640 Speaker 1: impact of your parents' economic either downfall on the way 1244 01:01:58,680 --> 01:02:00,919 Speaker 1: they get treated or the the color of their skin. 1245 01:02:01,480 --> 01:02:03,600 Speaker 1: I mean, I feel like now we're like everyone's kind 1246 01:02:03,600 --> 01:02:04,400 Speaker 1: of a blending pool. 1247 01:02:04,440 --> 01:02:07,760 Speaker 2: But obviously yeah, but but you know, racism still exists, 1248 01:02:08,200 --> 01:02:12,480 Speaker 2: Classism still exists. Assumptions about people what neighborhood they grew 1249 01:02:12,560 --> 01:02:17,560 Speaker 2: up still exists. And those are the things that I 1250 01:02:17,600 --> 01:02:19,520 Speaker 2: try to make sure that I make a difference on 1251 01:02:19,760 --> 01:02:21,960 Speaker 2: to make sure that we have more equity, that it's 1252 01:02:22,000 --> 01:02:24,920 Speaker 2: more fair when it comes to healthcare, It's one of 1253 01:02:24,960 --> 01:02:27,160 Speaker 2: the things I do the most in Washington making sure 1254 01:02:27,160 --> 01:02:30,720 Speaker 2: that we have There's a new term called disparities of health. 1255 01:02:31,000 --> 01:02:35,280 Speaker 2: That's code for, hey, if you're poor, white, black, or brown, 1256 01:02:35,400 --> 01:02:37,320 Speaker 2: you're probably not going to get treated the same way 1257 01:02:37,320 --> 01:02:40,360 Speaker 2: by the doctors or the hospitals. Then if you're rich 1258 01:02:40,800 --> 01:02:43,640 Speaker 2: and you're or you're wealthy, you're going to get treated better. 1259 01:02:44,000 --> 01:02:47,360 Speaker 2: And that the outcomes are could be death for somebody. Right, 1260 01:02:47,440 --> 01:02:50,560 Speaker 2: somebody comes in, Oh, my stomach's killing me. They don't 1261 01:02:50,560 --> 01:02:53,360 Speaker 2: do a cat scan, they don't do an X ray, 1262 01:02:53,560 --> 01:02:55,400 Speaker 2: and they just send them home with a couple of pills. 1263 01:02:55,400 --> 01:02:57,200 Speaker 2: And the next day they're dead. But they wouldn't do 1264 01:02:57,200 --> 01:02:59,439 Speaker 2: that to a rich person because they're afraid to get sued. Yeah, 1265 01:02:59,440 --> 01:03:00,840 Speaker 2: you know what I'm saying. And so these are the 1266 01:03:00,920 --> 01:03:03,280 Speaker 2: kinds of things that I've actually advanced policy to make 1267 01:03:03,280 --> 01:03:07,200 Speaker 2: sure that we put into law that people can't do that, 1268 01:03:07,320 --> 01:03:09,720 Speaker 2: and also put more money into the programs that poor 1269 01:03:09,760 --> 01:03:11,920 Speaker 2: people need to make sure that there is truly more 1270 01:03:11,960 --> 01:03:15,080 Speaker 2: access where they can actually have better machines on their 1271 01:03:15,120 --> 01:03:17,400 Speaker 2: side of town, etc. So these are some of the 1272 01:03:17,440 --> 01:03:19,800 Speaker 2: things that I've been doing. The thing that I've done 1273 01:03:19,800 --> 01:03:21,800 Speaker 2: the most though, is on juvenile justice. 1274 01:03:22,160 --> 01:03:23,880 Speaker 1: That was about to be my next but let's talk 1275 01:03:23,880 --> 01:03:24,280 Speaker 1: about that. 1276 01:03:24,760 --> 01:03:28,800 Speaker 2: Well. When I got to Sacramento after getting elected, I 1277 01:03:28,880 --> 01:03:31,120 Speaker 2: was sitting there again by myself in my office one 1278 01:03:31,200 --> 01:03:33,120 Speaker 2: day early on my first year. I was there and 1279 01:03:33,160 --> 01:03:35,720 Speaker 2: I said, okay, hot shot, you said if you would 1280 01:03:35,800 --> 01:03:38,720 Speaker 2: like me, brown guy like me. The first one things 1281 01:03:38,720 --> 01:03:40,080 Speaker 2: are I'm going to be different. I'm not going to 1282 01:03:40,080 --> 01:03:43,120 Speaker 2: be like all the rest. And then I thought to myself, Okay, 1283 01:03:43,160 --> 01:03:46,360 Speaker 2: what's that look like. Yeah, speaking Spanish, that's one of them, right, 1284 01:03:47,280 --> 01:03:49,520 Speaker 2: And then I started thinking about all my buddies that 1285 01:03:49,520 --> 01:03:51,600 Speaker 2: I grew up in my little neighborhood, and I was 1286 01:03:51,640 --> 01:03:53,680 Speaker 2: the only one to graduate and go off to college 1287 01:03:53,720 --> 01:03:56,040 Speaker 2: out of all my little buddies. I wasn't the smartest, 1288 01:03:56,160 --> 01:03:58,640 Speaker 2: I wasn't the best looking, I wasn't the most talented. 1289 01:03:59,520 --> 01:04:01,760 Speaker 2: But I was lucky because in my case, I had 1290 01:04:01,760 --> 01:04:05,000 Speaker 2: a two parent household. In my case, my parents are strict. 1291 01:04:05,800 --> 01:04:07,520 Speaker 2: In my case, had an older brothers and sisters who 1292 01:04:07,520 --> 01:04:10,560 Speaker 2: already went to college. So I followed a path, right. 1293 01:04:10,600 --> 01:04:13,080 Speaker 2: The path was easier for me, but my friends, I 1294 01:04:13,120 --> 01:04:16,840 Speaker 2: started thinking about, well, why is so and so. Why 1295 01:04:16,880 --> 01:04:18,720 Speaker 2: does he always work out with me in his backyard 1296 01:04:18,920 --> 01:04:21,320 Speaker 2: but we never go inside his house? And I started 1297 01:04:21,320 --> 01:04:23,320 Speaker 2: thinking about and realizing that image. Oh my god, his 1298 01:04:23,400 --> 01:04:26,800 Speaker 2: dad's an alcoholic and he's mean, so he would stay 1299 01:04:26,840 --> 01:04:29,160 Speaker 2: away from his dad, you know what I'm saying. And 1300 01:04:29,200 --> 01:04:30,920 Speaker 2: then you know, he didn't go off to college. He's 1301 01:04:30,960 --> 01:04:34,640 Speaker 2: smarter than me. And then my other friend down the 1302 01:04:34,640 --> 01:04:36,760 Speaker 2: street from him, he didn't go out to college. He 1303 01:04:37,200 --> 01:04:41,120 Speaker 2: didn't have any role models. And then I started thinking about, Damn, 1304 01:04:42,160 --> 01:04:45,920 Speaker 2: that's the majority of the people in my community. So 1305 01:04:46,080 --> 01:04:48,720 Speaker 2: what's what is one of the things that I can 1306 01:04:48,760 --> 01:04:53,800 Speaker 2: do as a state legislator that can actually help break 1307 01:04:53,840 --> 01:04:57,080 Speaker 2: that cycle. And I realized, you know what juvenile justice 1308 01:04:57,240 --> 01:05:01,360 Speaker 2: because the neighborhoods like mine down near every kid walking 1309 01:05:01,440 --> 01:05:05,280 Speaker 2: the streets the cops, not every cop, most of the 1310 01:05:05,360 --> 01:05:07,880 Speaker 2: cops thinking, oh, there goes another another kid from the hood, 1311 01:05:08,280 --> 01:05:10,600 Speaker 2: probably up to no good, and little by little, they 1312 01:05:10,800 --> 01:05:12,080 Speaker 2: just get sucked into the system. 1313 01:05:12,280 --> 01:05:14,560 Speaker 1: Yeah, and they even regard to get Yeah, especially when 1314 01:05:14,600 --> 01:05:15,600 Speaker 1: they start really young. 1315 01:05:15,960 --> 01:05:16,560 Speaker 2: Yes, exactly. 1316 01:05:16,640 --> 01:05:19,160 Speaker 1: Like I had friends that went to school when they 1317 01:05:19,160 --> 01:05:22,560 Speaker 1: were real young, not school, prison when they were young, 1318 01:05:23,000 --> 01:05:25,919 Speaker 1: say fourteen fifteen, and they ended up spending their whole 1319 01:05:25,960 --> 01:05:27,840 Speaker 1: lives in prison. They would get out and they kind 1320 01:05:27,840 --> 01:05:31,160 Speaker 1: of go right back to the cycle. Yeah, it just 1321 01:05:31,160 --> 01:05:33,240 Speaker 1: became that was their new norm. 1322 01:05:33,280 --> 01:05:34,920 Speaker 2: It's basically the pipeline to prison. 1323 01:05:35,120 --> 01:05:35,440 Speaker 1: Yeah. 1324 01:05:35,520 --> 01:05:37,560 Speaker 2: You know, but we should have a school pipeline. We 1325 01:05:37,600 --> 01:05:40,080 Speaker 2: should have an education pipeline. So that's what I started 1326 01:05:40,080 --> 01:05:42,760 Speaker 2: working on in nineteen ninety six. It was not popular 1327 01:05:42,800 --> 01:05:45,440 Speaker 2: to do that, but I pushed through that and I 1328 01:05:45,480 --> 01:05:48,720 Speaker 2: got the most comprehensive funding bill in the history of 1329 01:05:48,760 --> 01:05:52,240 Speaker 2: the United States done in California for the state of California, 1330 01:05:52,360 --> 01:05:54,720 Speaker 2: one hundred and twenty one million dollars, the most we 1331 01:05:54,760 --> 01:05:57,040 Speaker 2: had ever done before was ten or fifteen million dollars 1332 01:05:57,120 --> 01:05:59,640 Speaker 2: a year. Gosh, this is a state of at that time, 1333 01:05:59,680 --> 01:06:02,880 Speaker 2: like eight million people, lots of young people. And then 1334 01:06:02,960 --> 01:06:04,439 Speaker 2: I got it up one hundred and twenty one million 1335 01:06:04,480 --> 01:06:07,400 Speaker 2: dollars in one move, in one bill. It didn't take 1336 01:06:07,440 --> 01:06:09,800 Speaker 2: me one two, three four years. I got it done. 1337 01:06:10,160 --> 01:06:13,800 Speaker 2: I wrote it with good people, and I put it 1338 01:06:13,800 --> 01:06:16,200 Speaker 2: in the right place, and I pushed it through Governor 1339 01:06:16,240 --> 01:06:18,400 Speaker 2: Gray Davis actually vetoed it the first time. I got 1340 01:06:18,400 --> 01:06:19,080 Speaker 2: it to his desk. 1341 01:06:19,480 --> 01:06:19,840 Speaker 1: Wow. 1342 01:06:20,000 --> 01:06:23,560 Speaker 2: And then I went ahead and through the help of 1343 01:06:23,640 --> 01:06:26,400 Speaker 2: Johnny Burton, we went ahead and let the governor know 1344 01:06:26,480 --> 01:06:30,560 Speaker 2: that you know, he's gonna get sued if he doesn't 1345 01:06:30,560 --> 01:06:32,240 Speaker 2: figure out how to sign that bill. The next time 1346 01:06:32,240 --> 01:06:33,880 Speaker 2: we send it to him, and we did and he 1347 01:06:33,920 --> 01:06:34,360 Speaker 2: signed it. 1348 01:06:35,200 --> 01:06:37,080 Speaker 1: You're like, I'm going to get it done. Yeah, I'm 1349 01:06:37,080 --> 01:06:37,840 Speaker 1: going to get it done. 1350 01:06:37,960 --> 01:06:39,840 Speaker 2: No, because the thing is, it didn't matter that he 1351 01:06:39,880 --> 01:06:42,400 Speaker 2: was a democratic governor. It didn't matter that that you 1352 01:06:42,400 --> 01:06:45,280 Speaker 2: know what he wanted. I knew what needed to be done. 1353 01:06:45,600 --> 01:06:47,760 Speaker 2: It wasn't even about what I wanted. I knew what 1354 01:06:47,880 --> 01:06:49,840 Speaker 2: needed to be done, and it had never been done 1355 01:06:49,840 --> 01:06:53,040 Speaker 2: before in California and California was supposedly a progressive state. 1356 01:06:53,280 --> 01:06:55,680 Speaker 1: Yeah, but that's a huge feat that was like, that's 1357 01:06:55,680 --> 01:06:59,880 Speaker 1: a huge, huge accomplishment. So now I guess it's not 1358 01:07:00,160 --> 01:07:03,320 Speaker 1: to close out. Is there anything you would like to 1359 01:07:03,360 --> 01:07:13,400 Speaker 1: tell our listeners that that they wouldn't otherwise know about you? 1360 01:07:13,560 --> 01:07:18,400 Speaker 1: Or politics? Or politics? I feel like your secret to success. 1361 01:07:18,440 --> 01:07:21,280 Speaker 1: I feel like a part of the golden nugget that 1362 01:07:21,320 --> 01:07:24,160 Speaker 1: I'm taking away from you is somehow you've mastered a 1363 01:07:24,240 --> 01:07:29,080 Speaker 1: way to come bat imposter syndrome. I definitely feel like you. 1364 01:07:29,960 --> 01:07:32,960 Speaker 1: I at that there was a pivotal moment where you 1365 01:07:33,320 --> 01:07:36,840 Speaker 1: identified your purpose and you stuck to that, and I 1366 01:07:37,000 --> 01:07:41,600 Speaker 1: like that your aggression side, I feel like it's a relatable, 1367 01:07:41,960 --> 01:07:44,440 Speaker 1: but I liked how you were able to channel it 1368 01:07:45,240 --> 01:07:46,360 Speaker 1: to do great things. You know. 1369 01:07:46,720 --> 01:07:48,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, when I was a little boys to ballop my 1370 01:07:48,520 --> 01:07:51,360 Speaker 2: fist when I got mad. Now as an adult, now, 1371 01:07:51,400 --> 01:07:53,920 Speaker 2: as an elected official, I don't balloup my fist. I 1372 01:07:54,000 --> 01:07:55,840 Speaker 2: go back to my office and I might cuss her 1373 01:07:56,200 --> 01:07:58,040 Speaker 2: or what have you, because it pisses me off that 1374 01:07:58,040 --> 01:08:00,600 Speaker 2: that person doesn't get it. But I immediately get together 1375 01:08:00,640 --> 01:08:02,280 Speaker 2: with my team and say, we're going to solve this problem. 1376 01:08:02,280 --> 01:08:04,120 Speaker 2: We're going to get it done, and then I turn 1377 01:08:04,200 --> 01:08:07,680 Speaker 2: that energy into positive energy and making sure that we're 1378 01:08:08,000 --> 01:08:11,240 Speaker 2: constantly thinking about how can we positively change this because 1379 01:08:11,280 --> 01:08:13,840 Speaker 2: getting mad in gonna do it. Just being mad isn't 1380 01:08:13,840 --> 01:08:16,439 Speaker 2: going to do it. How do we put that into action. 1381 01:08:18,160 --> 01:08:21,280 Speaker 2: But one of the things I'd like to let people 1382 01:08:21,320 --> 01:08:26,480 Speaker 2: know is that please don't assume that all elected officials 1383 01:08:26,720 --> 01:08:29,679 Speaker 2: don't care about you. Get well, some don't, some don't. 1384 01:08:30,000 --> 01:08:33,800 Speaker 2: We got some, especially Republicans that I work with, who 1385 01:08:33,880 --> 01:08:38,360 Speaker 2: run for president every four years, and trust me, I 1386 01:08:38,360 --> 01:08:40,679 Speaker 2: wouldn't invite them over for dinner. I don't have time 1387 01:08:40,720 --> 01:08:44,640 Speaker 2: for them because they're just not good people. But there 1388 01:08:44,640 --> 01:08:46,640 Speaker 2: are a lot of good ones on both sides of 1389 01:08:46,640 --> 01:08:52,439 Speaker 2: the Republicans and Democrats. So please don't assume that you 1390 01:08:52,439 --> 01:08:55,840 Speaker 2: shouldn't call them that they don't care. Find out if 1391 01:08:55,880 --> 01:09:00,680 Speaker 2: they do, challenge them to show that they care about you, constituent, 1392 01:09:02,040 --> 01:09:07,120 Speaker 2: and whatever language you speak, and make sure that you 1393 01:09:07,800 --> 01:09:12,400 Speaker 2: participate in democracy. One of the reasons why poorer communities 1394 01:09:12,400 --> 01:09:17,479 Speaker 2: get disrespected by too many politicians is because, for example, 1395 01:09:17,479 --> 01:09:21,920 Speaker 2: congressional seats in California are all about one hundred just 1396 01:09:22,000 --> 01:09:26,280 Speaker 2: over seven hundred thousand people human beings each. But if 1397 01:09:26,320 --> 01:09:29,120 Speaker 2: you look at a seat on the west side of town, 1398 01:09:30,560 --> 01:09:33,920 Speaker 2: they might have of the seven hundred thousand people, they 1399 01:09:34,000 --> 01:09:40,720 Speaker 2: might have about three hundred thousand registered voters. And like 1400 01:09:40,720 --> 01:09:43,880 Speaker 2: in my district, I might have like two hundred thousand 1401 01:09:43,880 --> 01:09:45,479 Speaker 2: registered voters. But wait a minute, we got the same 1402 01:09:45,520 --> 01:09:48,040 Speaker 2: number of people. Yeah, right, But in my district, I 1403 01:09:48,160 --> 01:09:53,519 Speaker 2: might have maybe three hundred and twenty thousand eligible American 1404 01:09:53,560 --> 01:09:56,200 Speaker 2: citizens over the age of eighteen who could register to vote. 1405 01:09:56,800 --> 01:09:59,800 Speaker 2: And then another district I just described, they have about 1406 01:09:59,800 --> 01:10:03,040 Speaker 2: three hundred and twenty eligible adults who can vote, but 1407 01:10:03,120 --> 01:10:05,960 Speaker 2: three hundred thousand registered to vote, and my side of 1408 01:10:06,000 --> 01:10:09,479 Speaker 2: town one hundred and twenty thousand don't bother to register. 1409 01:10:09,760 --> 01:10:11,280 Speaker 2: And then we take it down and chop it down 1410 01:10:11,360 --> 01:10:14,200 Speaker 2: even further. On my side of town, when election time 1411 01:10:14,240 --> 01:10:16,639 Speaker 2: comes around, of the two hundred thousand who are registered 1412 01:10:16,680 --> 01:10:19,920 Speaker 2: to vote, only one hundred thousand decide to vote. But 1413 01:10:20,000 --> 01:10:21,719 Speaker 2: on the other side of town, we're three hundred thousand 1414 01:10:21,840 --> 01:10:24,720 Speaker 2: registered to vote, two hundred and fifty thousand turn not 1415 01:10:24,840 --> 01:10:28,120 Speaker 2: to vote. All of a sudden, the governors and the 1416 01:10:28,120 --> 01:10:32,400 Speaker 2: mayors and all that stuff, they're going like man there's 1417 01:10:32,439 --> 01:10:35,080 Speaker 2: a lot more people paying attention to who they're voting 1418 01:10:35,080 --> 01:10:36,760 Speaker 2: for on that side of town, and the ain't that 1419 01:10:36,760 --> 01:10:38,680 Speaker 2: many people are paying attention to who their mayor is, 1420 01:10:38,760 --> 01:10:40,360 Speaker 2: or who their governor is on that side of town, 1421 01:10:40,439 --> 01:10:44,439 Speaker 2: or president of the United States. And so sometimes they're like, well, 1422 01:10:44,479 --> 01:10:46,920 Speaker 2: I'm going to spend my time paying attention to people. 1423 01:10:47,000 --> 01:10:48,400 Speaker 2: I'm gonna paying attention to people. 1424 01:10:48,240 --> 01:10:52,320 Speaker 1: Over there, so we that's why we have to vote. 1425 01:10:52,360 --> 01:10:55,200 Speaker 2: That's why we have to vote. If you want respect, 1426 01:10:55,560 --> 01:10:58,120 Speaker 2: you don't have to yell, you don't have to go 1427 01:10:58,200 --> 01:11:00,960 Speaker 2: around screaming or anything like that. The loudest thing you 1428 01:11:00,960 --> 01:11:03,320 Speaker 2: could do for elected officials and people who want to 1429 01:11:03,320 --> 01:11:06,320 Speaker 2: be your representative is vote. That's the best way to 1430 01:11:06,320 --> 01:11:08,360 Speaker 2: get their attention. And you don't even have to speak 1431 01:11:08,360 --> 01:11:10,639 Speaker 2: English to vote. As long as your United States citizen, 1432 01:11:11,240 --> 01:11:13,200 Speaker 2: they'll even let you vote in another language. 1433 01:11:13,560 --> 01:11:18,280 Speaker 1: Wow, I will say this, just being completely transparent some 1434 01:11:18,320 --> 01:11:20,600 Speaker 1: of the reasons why I know I've been hesitant to 1435 01:11:20,640 --> 01:11:23,280 Speaker 1: vote in the past. Oh God, just going to buy 1436 01:11:23,320 --> 01:11:26,439 Speaker 1: me in. But is sometimes I feel, especially come from 1437 01:11:26,560 --> 01:11:31,639 Speaker 1: marketing advertising background, I'm always like, what if I vote 1438 01:11:31,640 --> 01:11:35,080 Speaker 1: for somebody, and you know, I'm like, I like this 1439 01:11:35,160 --> 01:11:39,240 Speaker 1: one agenda that they have, but they may have another 1440 01:11:39,360 --> 01:11:42,360 Speaker 1: agenda that I don't like, and I make the decision 1441 01:11:42,439 --> 01:11:44,840 Speaker 1: based off this one thing that I like. I vote, 1442 01:11:44,880 --> 01:11:47,719 Speaker 1: but I mess it up for everyone because I wasn't 1443 01:11:47,720 --> 01:11:51,559 Speaker 1: reading the fine print. Is that, Like, how do. 1444 01:11:51,520 --> 01:11:55,800 Speaker 2: You that that is a recipe? If you think like that, 1445 01:11:55,800 --> 01:11:58,360 Speaker 2: that's a recipe for more often than not not voting 1446 01:11:58,560 --> 01:12:04,040 Speaker 2: than voting. Yeah, let me put it this way. My 1447 01:12:04,120 --> 01:12:07,960 Speaker 2: wife and I next week will be married thirty two years, 1448 01:12:08,520 --> 01:12:12,000 Speaker 2: and I can guarantee you she doesn't like everything about me, 1449 01:12:13,320 --> 01:12:18,800 Speaker 2: but that commitment has lasted thirty two years. I mean, 1450 01:12:18,840 --> 01:12:21,160 Speaker 2: I love everything about her. What's there not to love about? Norma? 1451 01:12:21,200 --> 01:12:27,040 Speaker 2: But I'm not perfect, But yet there's a commitment to 1452 01:12:27,439 --> 01:12:32,360 Speaker 2: that relationship. If you care about your community, the best 1453 01:12:32,439 --> 01:12:34,600 Speaker 2: way that you can show your love and care for 1454 01:12:34,640 --> 01:12:36,120 Speaker 2: the community is a lot of things, but one of 1455 01:12:36,120 --> 01:12:40,479 Speaker 2: the things is is don't worry about being the perfect voter. 1456 01:12:41,960 --> 01:12:47,680 Speaker 2: Be more concerned with letting people believe that that community 1457 01:12:47,720 --> 01:12:53,479 Speaker 2: doesn't care enough, And therefore you're encouraging selfish elected officials 1458 01:12:53,560 --> 01:12:56,720 Speaker 2: or candidates to not care about your community either. So 1459 01:12:56,760 --> 01:12:59,880 Speaker 2: the best thing you can do is participate is participate, 1460 01:13:00,280 --> 01:13:01,639 Speaker 2: don't worry about being perfect. 1461 01:13:01,800 --> 01:13:04,000 Speaker 1: I mean, I mean, it makes a lot of sense 1462 01:13:04,040 --> 01:13:06,440 Speaker 1: when you paint the whole. 1463 01:13:06,960 --> 01:13:10,280 Speaker 2: Who on this planet after the age of thirty or 1464 01:13:10,280 --> 01:13:16,320 Speaker 2: forty or fifty has only ever ever dated one person 1465 01:13:16,360 --> 01:13:19,080 Speaker 2: in their life because they were waiting for that perfect, 1466 01:13:19,439 --> 01:13:20,280 Speaker 2: perfect person. 1467 01:13:20,600 --> 01:13:23,439 Speaker 1: It doesn't exist, doesn't exist, right, So the thing. 1468 01:13:23,320 --> 01:13:26,080 Speaker 2: Is, why are you going to put that standard on 1469 01:13:26,120 --> 01:13:31,880 Speaker 2: you participating on voting for people to represent your community. 1470 01:13:32,520 --> 01:13:34,720 Speaker 2: How many roads get fixed in your community depends on 1471 01:13:34,760 --> 01:13:38,160 Speaker 2: elected officials. Whether or not they help out that hospital 1472 01:13:38,240 --> 01:13:42,759 Speaker 2: or put one in your community depends far too often unelected. 1473 01:13:42,760 --> 01:13:44,800 Speaker 1: That's why when you go over to Beverly Hills, I 1474 01:13:44,840 --> 01:13:46,640 Speaker 1: hate to say this, but like you never see like 1475 01:13:46,640 --> 01:13:49,880 Speaker 1: a liquor store or like a McDonald's over there, because 1476 01:13:49,920 --> 01:13:52,400 Speaker 1: they're always voting and participating, and then you come to 1477 01:13:52,439 --> 01:13:55,920 Speaker 1: our neighborhoods and we're not really participating. I did not 1478 01:13:56,240 --> 01:13:59,840 Speaker 1: know that that alone, not participating had such a. 1479 01:14:00,040 --> 01:14:02,400 Speaker 2: Huge impact down to how many liquor stores you have 1480 01:14:02,479 --> 01:14:03,920 Speaker 2: in your community. Your darn right. 1481 01:14:05,200 --> 01:14:07,599 Speaker 1: I know there's a school also in Panorama City where 1482 01:14:07,640 --> 01:14:09,800 Speaker 1: the liquor store. I think the principles were going up 1483 01:14:09,800 --> 01:14:13,200 Speaker 1: against the liquor store because they were selling alcohol too 1484 01:14:13,200 --> 01:14:15,280 Speaker 1: close to the school and the kids were walking in 1485 01:14:15,960 --> 01:14:20,040 Speaker 1: with it. But okay, okay, I am definitely encouraging. I 1486 01:14:20,080 --> 01:14:22,960 Speaker 1: hope everyone else out there is encouraged to participate and 1487 01:14:23,040 --> 01:14:27,320 Speaker 1: be the voice of your community and the voice of 1488 01:14:28,200 --> 01:14:31,280 Speaker 1: who you are as an individual in your family. That matters. 1489 01:14:31,680 --> 01:14:32,000 Speaker 2: It does. 1490 01:14:32,080 --> 01:14:34,200 Speaker 1: That's one thing I definitely learned. I'm so glad that 1491 01:14:34,280 --> 01:14:37,479 Speaker 1: you came down here. I was super, super, super nervous. 1492 01:14:37,520 --> 01:14:39,360 Speaker 1: I was like, man, he has no idea what he's 1493 01:14:39,400 --> 01:14:42,080 Speaker 1: walking into. I pray for him. I hope it's not 1494 01:14:42,120 --> 01:14:46,320 Speaker 1: too uncomfortable. But I'm thankful that you were really passionate 1495 01:14:46,320 --> 01:14:49,559 Speaker 1: about this interview and really brought it home. So I 1496 01:14:49,560 --> 01:14:50,080 Speaker 1: appreciate it. 1497 01:14:50,120 --> 01:14:52,559 Speaker 2: Thanks for inviting me, and I learned a lot today 1498 01:14:52,760 --> 01:14:53,640 Speaker 2: and I really appreciate you. 1499 01:14:53,560 --> 01:14:56,679 Speaker 1: You learned oh yeah, oh yeah, like this is how 1500 01:14:56,720 --> 01:15:00,799 Speaker 1: that silent voter thinks. Okay, thank you guy for tuning 1501 01:15:00,840 --> 01:15:03,160 Speaker 1: in to another episode of Eating while Broke. You can 1502 01:15:03,240 --> 01:15:08,320 Speaker 1: keep up with Congressmantoni hardness. I'm pretty sure at Rep. 1503 01:15:08,439 --> 01:15:11,040 Speaker 1: Cardness on every social media and everything. 1504 01:15:11,479 --> 01:15:18,760 Speaker 3: Okay, peace out, guys. 1505 01:15:18,800 --> 01:15:25,240 Speaker 4: Secret ingredient After my conversation with Congressmantoni Cardness. One thing's 1506 01:15:25,280 --> 01:15:28,360 Speaker 4: for sure. This man is seasoned through and through with 1507 01:15:28,439 --> 01:15:32,120 Speaker 4: an adamant portion of his secret ingredient purpose. 1508 01:15:32,640 --> 01:15:35,800 Speaker 1: See most politicians, they get all wrapped up in the 1509 01:15:35,840 --> 01:15:39,080 Speaker 1: white bread of the political game, the backroom deals, the 1510 01:15:39,160 --> 01:15:42,960 Speaker 1: partisan gridlock, the ego trips. But not Tony Cardness. 1511 01:15:43,160 --> 01:15:46,400 Speaker 4: This man didn't just stumble into politics by accident. 1512 01:15:46,880 --> 01:15:50,559 Speaker 1: Nah. He saw the injustice, the disrespect his people were facing, 1513 01:15:50,600 --> 01:15:52,280 Speaker 1: and he said enough is enough. 1514 01:15:52,800 --> 01:15:56,400 Speaker 4: That fire in his heart, that unshakable drive to lift 1515 01:15:56,479 --> 01:15:59,400 Speaker 4: up his community, that's the purpose that powers his. 1516 01:15:59,439 --> 01:16:02,880 Speaker 1: Every move, and you better believe it's opened some major 1517 01:16:02,960 --> 01:16:06,080 Speaker 1: doors for him. When others are content to pump fake 1518 01:16:06,200 --> 01:16:10,040 Speaker 1: and flex on empty rhetoric, Cardiness is out there moving mountains. 1519 01:16:10,280 --> 01:16:14,799 Speaker 1: He's passing landmark legislation, mentoring the next generation of leaders, 1520 01:16:15,120 --> 01:16:18,479 Speaker 1: and making damn sure everyone, no matter there's zip code, 1521 01:16:18,720 --> 01:16:22,799 Speaker 1: economic background, or skin color, gets a seat at the table. 1522 01:16:23,240 --> 01:16:27,040 Speaker 1: So take notes, fam when purpose is your secret ingredient, 1523 01:16:27,479 --> 01:16:31,080 Speaker 1: ain't no obstacle too big, no opponent too tough. You 1524 01:16:31,240 --> 01:16:34,360 Speaker 1: just put your head down, channel that energy and get 1525 01:16:34,360 --> 01:16:36,519 Speaker 1: to work reshape in the system itself. 1526 01:16:36,880 --> 01:16:39,120 Speaker 4: That's the card in this way, and if you ask me, 1527 01:16:39,400 --> 01:16:40,439 Speaker 4: it's a recipe we. 1528 01:16:40,520 --> 01:16:41,639 Speaker 1: All need to be following. 1529 01:16:42,320 --> 01:16:44,519 Speaker 4: I'm calling wet and you just got a taste of 1530 01:16:44,600 --> 01:16:47,160 Speaker 4: eating wild broke, So stay hungry, y'all. 1531 01:16:47,240 --> 01:17:05,560 Speaker 3: Peace out 1532 01:17:07,600 --> 01:17:10,799 Speaker 1: For more Eating while Broke from iHeartRadio and The Black Effect, 1533 01:17:11,000 --> 01:17:14,559 Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen 1534 01:17:14,600 --> 01:17:15,719 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.