Professor Barbara Stone on the shakeup in the governor's race

00:00:00
Speaker 1: And we continue at one oh five in the afternoon on the John Phillips Show, Mister Randy Wings in Culver City.

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Speaker 2: John, I'm going to need Henry Lee for this one.

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Speaker 3: It's happened yet again.

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Speaker 2: A blown insulator shut down the Barton Barcadero station yesterday.

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Speaker 3: It's happened yet again.

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Speaker 1: And they wonder why people don't want to use public transit.

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Speaker 2: I wonder how many people are going to sign that petition knowing just how maybe actually it works in their favor. Bart says, Hey, we need this money. Obviously, we're broke. We can't even keep the system running.

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Speaker 3: It's happened yet again.

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Speaker 1: Eight hundred two two two five two two two is Jellphone number one. Eight hundred two two two five two two two. It is our pleasure to welcome our next guest to the program. She is the Professor of Political Science emeritus at California State University at Fullerton. Professor Barbara Stone.

00:00:55
Speaker 4: Welcome, good afternoon, John Well.

00:00:59
Speaker 1: I don't know if you heard any of the interview that Julie Watts did with Tom Steyer, but did you get the impression that he was man explaining to her.

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Speaker 4: Probably remember he's of a different generation, and he thinks he's pretty wonderful and he can't even hide it in his ads. So of course, all.

00:01:25
Speaker 1: Right, well, let's shift gears and talk about a different candidate, because Eric Swalwell is now in a heap of trouble, as we have learned from a Democratic attorney and former congressional candidate who says that she's spoken to a number of women on Capitol Hill who've experienced sexual harassment at the hands of Eric Swalwell. She has alluded to staffers and interns who have worked inside his office, both as a member of Congress, going all the way back to his time on the city Council in Dublin, California, up in the East Bay, and said that many of the stories are very similar, where sexual harassment took place at the office, they were forced to sign an NDA and they were asked to move on. She said that they're going through each of the claims that will be coming out and they're vetting them as best they can. She is doing some of that vetting. They're working with reporters at independent shops to do the same thing, and she said she has been overwhelmed with emails and calls from people who have been the victims of Eric Swalwell and his sexual harassment. She's also alluded to the fact that leadership in the Congress was aware of this and chose to do nothing about it, and that certainly Eric Swalwell is aware of what claims are coming because they are in fact true. What do you make of all of this and where do you think it leaves him.

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Speaker 4: I'm glad he's theirs and not ours, to be honest, John, people like this are scumbags, and it's good that they occasionally get caught. To put it in some kind of perspective, though, and you almost understand because knowing this is there, why would he run for governor, which is high profile? People are going to look And the answer, I truly believe is that because what he did happens in Washington. It happens in Washington all the time. And in fact, today, for some reason, I was laughing to myself, remembering, do you remember Wilburn Mills and Fanny Fox and the title pool where the poor ole committee chair from Arkansas was with a prostitute and drove into the title pool. And I remember reading at the time that what was wrong with him was that he did not engage in this kind of behavior all the time and therefore didn't know how to protect himself, but the rest of official Washington did and did so. My best guess, without knowing is that Swallwoll's a scumbag. That's not nice to say, but it's true, who is like many of the others in Washington, and that at one level he's very surprised that anybody cares. I'll draw, probably not very good analogy to Harvey Weinstein.

00:04:32
Speaker 2: Who.

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Speaker 4: Attacked and molested all kinds of want to be actresses and whatever for years and years and years, and that's just what happened, and the poor guy couldn't deal with it when finally the tide turned and for some reason they went after him. I spect you'll find the same thing with Swallwell.

00:04:52
Speaker 1: If you are Swallwell and you're giving up your safe congressional seat to run statewide and right now you're pulling pretty decently, whatever answer you give has to be an answer that a Democratic primary electorate find satisfactory. If you're Eric Swallwell and I assume that at least some of these allegations are true, what do you say to that electorate? To get them to vote for you, because that electorate stood behind Bill Clinton when he was accused of similar things and they didn't have a problem with it. So they're very situational with when they get offended and when they don't.

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Speaker 4: I think that's a fair statement. And for him, let's put it this way, I'm not sure where his future is if this whole thing implodes, So you have to act as if it's going to work out and they'll move on for it. I suspect that what you do start with this is all Donald Trump's fault. Okay, Trump is the one putting out these stories and his people if a member. It started with Cash Pattel, and this is all trying to destroy him. Eric Swalwell the big threat to Trump to be governor of California and then just go from there. I wouldn't deny it because you're going to have I think it sounds like other having women coming forward going well, he forced himself on me and whatever it's they're gonna I'm not gonna be the only one here who's gonna believe. Oh come on, sister, someone like Swalwell is well known in Washington and you went to work in that office. I don't approve what he did, but give me, comp me some slack, and you just charge and you hope that something else starts filling the airwaves, although there isn't very much time left, which is not good either. You just John. What I would expect him to do is just sort of bull through it because I'm not sure of what else is. I'm not actually sure. But the downside there is unless his donors stop giving.

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Speaker 1: How about this for an answer? And I bet you a certain element of what I'm about to spitball with you is true. He could say, Look, I was part of the impeachment of Donald Trump, which turns you into a target in any number of ways. I was a regular on cable news. I was on c Span leading the prosecution. I was a close confidant of Nancy Pelosi. In the world of Washington, DC and left wing cable. I was a star. And these women pursued me. They came after me because they saw me on TV. And yeah, I did some things I shouldn't have done, but I never beat anyone up. I never raped anyone. I never did anything illegal. And because I was in high demand, when I would get done with one of them, I'd move on to the next one, and again it's a it's a personal failure, but it's nothing illegal, and it's nothing abusive. They were the ones pursuing me.

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Speaker 4: I love it. By the way, that would be my second line of defense. My first line of defense is this is all Donald Trump going after me. Then when the women emerged, then I would do that and you hope to God from his point of view that they no abuse is true. Coercion coersion can be in the eye of the beholder. If it turns out he has certain kinky things he likes to do, then this isn't going to work. The other thing we'll play in here somewhere, if it's true, are the stories.

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Speaker 5: That he.

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Speaker 4: Favors Asian women and that those that's what he hired, and that that's what you're going to see coming forward. I don't know how that plays out if that's true. We certainly know fang fang fit, but that was different. A spy is better than abusing someone in your office. Yeah, that might work. I honestly, John, expect him to do all of the above because I don't see him backing off. The time is short, and if he can get by and say, be the one Democrat in the runoff with a Republican I he might survive.

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Speaker 1: Okay, so we know that the California Teachers Association endorsed them, we know that the SEIU endorsed them, We know that Adam Schiff endorsed him, and I think he has the most members of the House of Representatives endorsing him. Do you think any of those people are getting nervous right now or do you think they're in for the long haul?

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Speaker 4: Well, two things, one of which is, of course they're getting nervous. Dear Lord, someone's going to associate me with that guy. Secondarily, though, where are they going to go? Katie Porter? I don't know how popular or unpopular Swallowell is, but compared to Katie Porter, he's probably beloved. And it gets difficult cult it gets very difficult to know what happens because Stier clearly must be at least somewhat obnoxious. Well, you just talked about his interview and that fits and I, yeah, I guess what I think. And I obviously haven't thought about the question enough that what you could hit is the scam breaking if one important person or one important union backs off, if they don't John, I don't know. The guy might survive. And right now UTLA is not paying attention because they're all about to go on strike.

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Speaker 1: Let's just say for the moment there's something in one of these outlocations. It causes him to blow up. Who benefits what candidate that's currently in the race. Because the filing deadline is coming gone, no one new can decide that they're going to run.

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Speaker 4: Who benefits well, Katie Porter does because she has name ID. I mean, I have no doubt about that. She doesn't have loving supporters, she doesn't have colleagues who want to rush to her defense. But from her run for Senate, she has name ID, So you have to put the woman first. Out there with her is Tom Steyer. Because he's been spending money like there's no tomorrow now. It should tell him something that with all all that money spent, he has the endorsement of one Democrat member of the Assembly. I think because he keeps running that the guy has real personal limitations. And by the way, Swallwell be ongoing after him in interesting ways. But those two just from name I d one bought, the other bought by having run. I honestly believe, but may be wrong. I'm making this up that the person who thinks he would be there and who does poll next is Javier Besserah, you know Javier Bakaria, the former anyway, the former federal official.

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Speaker 3: It's the Secretary of Health and Educations.

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Speaker 4: Are I nominated Javier Bakaria. I've just loved that in case you ever wanted proof of what affirmative action does for you. But the bottom line is that apparently he has some money, and I think he thinks if the others drop off in this state, that an ethnic vote and some level of connection will get him there. The others, I just don't see how they do it in a way never have beens or have beens, and I might be entirely wrong. I just can't find a path forward for any of the others.

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Speaker 1: Do you think it's over for Matt Mayhan?

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Speaker 4: H ask me after the next polls come out.

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Speaker 1: Well, there was one that came out today having him at four percent.

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Speaker 4: Okay, I didn't see it, because he's he has spent some money. He's after sty He's about the only one that has and I hate to say it, and Heaven help us with our state. John that the guy. He is a Democrat mayor of a very large northern California city, and he's much too moderate for the party at this point in time, and he started with virtually zero name.

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Speaker 6: I d.

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Speaker 4: Probably he's not going anywhere. You notice he didn't even flip into my mind, although he'd be the one Democrat I would think might not be horrible, and that's a real bad sign for him.

00:14:12
Speaker 1: Let's shift gears here and talk about the Republicans, because Donald Trump came out over the weekend and endorse Steve Hilton for governor. In the poll that just dropped today that was taken before the endorsement, it was Bianco and Hilton tied in first place, with the Democrats being left out of the money. If the election were today.

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Speaker 4: I wish he hadn't done that. I understand, by the way, at one level he didn't do that, although it's logical he knows. Hilton apparently has known it for quite some time, has a real affinity for Fox News, so I'm not surprised. I just wish he hadn't done it. Not because I think we're going to win, but at least we had a shot. I saw somewhere that his advisors had. Well, let me back up. Donald Trump is not thinking about this. Donald Trump is thinking about bombing Iran and trying to get oil through the straits of horror moves. Donald Trump is not putting deep thought into this. So that's number one. So we're actually talking about his advisors against the background of Trump knowing the guy and we will presume liking him well enough. But something they've put out is twofold, one of which okay, the other of which I don't regard, is okay. The one was that, well, yeah, they knew the argument that maybe two Republicans could be in the runoff and that's how you'd get a Republican governor. They concluded that the odds were that wouldn't happen. Okay, certainly the odds are won't happen. But I saw a thing where some big time Democrat consultant was getting all hysterical because they figured the chance of it happening we're up to twenty five percent. Okay, that means the odds are that it's not going to happen, but it means you have a shot. And in this crazy state, I do a whole lot just to elect a Republican. I don't even care what Republican to break the train somehow, dear heavens, and you never know. I understand that argument, but I don't like it. Okay, the other argument, and I've been reading that the wonderful War Lumer and other people close to Trump don't like Chad Bianco because he's a rhino. John someday and I'll let this go because this one upsets me. I'll bore your listener out of their minds by explaining that if you're idiological, you can be conservative, you can be populous. Those two are different, they are not the same. But as you go forward, you combine people under a single banner to try to reach a majority so you can run the place. And I'm with Ronald Reagan who said, as long as you agree with me on eighty percent of the issues, you're welcome in my party. The other side of this is the people who look and go, ha, I just found the ten percent you don't agree with me on. You are a rhino, and therefore I throw you out of my party. I think i've rand and raved you about this before. That's what we did in California, and it shows you what it gets you, which is a bunch of absolutely leaning toune left wing Democrats running the state. So if that's what you want find but don't come yet telling at me about rhinos when what you're trying to do is take a small minority and make it smaller. So anyhow, if you wanted my opinion on the Trump endorsemuth, that's it.

00:18:14
Speaker 1: All right, Well, we're going to have to leave it there. Professor Barbara Stone, Professor of Political Science Emeritus at California State University at Fullerton, thanks so much for stopping by. Okay, John Bye, eight hundred two two two five two two two is a jellphone number one eight hundred two two two five two two two. If you'd like to email the show, you can do so at Johnny don't Like show at gmail dot com. That's Johnny Don't Like Show at gmail dot com. And Randy. Now that we've hit the halfway point of today's show, if you want to continue listening to us after we sign off at three, that's easy to do.

00:18:50
Speaker 2: All you got to do is search for the John Phillips Show. Wherever you get your podcast, whether it's the Apple podcast app, iHeart, Spotify, search for the t John Phillips Show. Hit Subscribe, you could download all the episodes. You could do a Google on the YouTube. You can get that KABC app, the KSFO app, or the KMJ now app. Because we're on in the Central Valley Saturday's at noon on that big KMJ. You can listen to this show wherever you want thanks to streaming, and you can listen whenever you want thanks to podcast.

00:19:22
Speaker 1: Eight hundred two two two five two two two. Is the telephone number one eight hundred two two two five two two two. Well, the La Times is doing quite possibly the most La Times thing they've done in a very long time, and that is they're going after LA mayoral candidate Eate Spencer Pratt, who's pulling in the top two because he no longer lives in the city of Los Angeles. And you go, okay, well, you should live in a city if you want to represent that city as mayor. Well consider the following. The city burned his house down and then doctored up a report to deny that they did it. He has no place to live, so now he's living with relatives in Santa Barbara County. Now, the La Times is suggesting that he's ineligible to run for mayor of a city because he's not a resident in that city, because his home no longer exists.

00:20:22
Speaker 2: Even though the La Times in their own story didn't ask the La County Registrar, who has said, Well, because your house burned down, your temporary address doesn't count. Your real address is still your burned out lot.

00:20:38
Speaker 1: That newspaper is the absolute worst.

00:20:44
Speaker 2: I still remember that video you sent me during the Covid Times where you three years in the trash.

00:20:49
Speaker 1: Oh I did, and I canceled my subscription and I'm never coming back.

00:20:54
Speaker 2: Well, Spencer Pride is speaking out about this for more. Here's a report from SLA.

00:21:01
Speaker 7: A former reality show star and candidate for La mayor, Spencer Pratt is blasting the La Times tonight. Yeah, the Times reported a story questioning whether Pratt is still living.

00:21:12
Speaker 2: In It was one of those headlines where it says Spencer Pratt's residency is raising some questions. Questions were raised by who you.

00:21:21
Speaker 1: And answered by the registrar if you bothered to ask.

00:21:26
Speaker 7: Is still living in Los Angeles, which is a requirement for candidates. Pratt's home was destroyed in the Palisades fire and CBSLA political reporter Tom Way to sear with Pratt's response and the latest poll numbers in this racetime right, the.

00:21:38
Speaker 8: Poll is interesting and also Pratt a fiery defense from this article. So Pratt responded to The La Times with a combative video pointing out that his home burned to the ground, but he's also claiming he is living in a trailer on his lot.

00:21:53
Speaker 2: Pratt also questioned he got an airstream.

00:21:56
Speaker 1: Those things are pretty slick.

00:21:58
Speaker 8: Pratt also questioned whether this story was reported because of this recent poll showing he's in second behind incumbent Mayor Karen Bass.

00:22:06
Speaker 2: Yeah, at this point, we have two polls that kind of show the race of the same place, with Bass in the low twenties and then Pratt. And then there's that weird outlier poll that showed that everyone loves the DSA and Nity is at thirty percent. I don't know about that one.

00:22:23
Speaker 1: Well, that was a screwed up LMU poll. The two legit polls have him in second place. And by the way, go back to the interview that we did with him when he appeared on the program.

00:22:33
Speaker 2: Remember the last thing I told him, you said, they're going to come after you. They're going to do you dirty the way they did Larry Elder.

00:22:43
Speaker 1: That's right, and I specifically mentioned the La Times. They're going to try to kill him, not literally but figuratively. They're going to try to kill him off if they.

00:22:54
Speaker 9: Want to try and write a hip piece about me about my residency.

00:22:57
Speaker 8: Candidate for LA Mayor Spencer Pratt lashing out at The La Times over a story questioning whether Pratt is living in LA a requirement for mayoral candidates.

00:23:07
Speaker 1: Pratt lost his home.

00:23:08
Speaker 2: He literally films his podcast on his burned out lot.

00:23:14
Speaker 1: I don't even know if that's healthy.

00:23:16
Speaker 8: A requirement, no, but it's powerful. That's true, a requirement for mayoral candidates. Pratt lost his home in the Palisades fire disaster.

00:23:26
Speaker 9: I think want to attack me for not living in the Palisades while running for mayor. Hey, brain surgeon, my house burned down.

00:23:36
Speaker 1: I mean, FactCheck true.

00:23:38
Speaker 2: I don't know who thought that this was a good idea or if this is some kind of favor to the bass campaign, but it only reiterates and puts out there that Spencer Pratt is running because the city burned his house down.

00:23:51
Speaker 1: And don't forget about the second part of it. They doctored up the after action report to try to shift the blame elsewhere.

00:24:00
Speaker 8: The former reality show Starr says in the video posted in response to the Time story that his family is sheltered up at his father's rental property in Santa Barbara, but a defiant Pratt says he's still staying at his property in the Palisades.

00:24:14
Speaker 9: Pratt dad used his SBA disaster loan to get an airstream, craned into my burnt outlaw in the Palisads.

00:24:22
Speaker 1: I'm trying to think if my house burned down in a fire and I had to find some other place to live, I don't think I know anyone well enough in my particular city to go live with them. I would have to live with a relative or live with a friend somewhere else, definitely a different city, probably a different county.

00:24:48
Speaker 8: We reached out to a Pratt's campaign for an interview. They directed us back to the video posted on social media.

00:24:54
Speaker 6: The common Sense tells me, uh.

00:24:57
Speaker 2: Boy, every single time there's any kind of political story, CBS gets zev on the line.

00:25:04
Speaker 1: He's their go to.

00:25:05
Speaker 6: The common Sense tells me, uh, you know, he lost his home in the Palisades. He's got to find a place.

00:25:11
Speaker 2: How do you think he likes the daughter in law using his name?

00:25:14
Speaker 1: Oh, he's got a hater. He was a rational voice. I disagreed with him on many subjects, but there was always an argument that justified whatever it was that he was doing, and you could follow the argument even if you disagreed with it. And she plays footsie with the DSA, she's in with that crowd. It has to drive him nuts.

00:25:38
Speaker 2: But of course she runs with his name, so people assume that it's his daughter and it's the daughter in law.

00:25:47
Speaker 6: The common sense tells me, uh, you know, he lost his home in the Palisades. He's got to find a place to live. So I'm not sure this is an issue that gets any traction. I don't think it's consequential to the mayor's race.

00:26:00
Speaker 2: In fact, it helped Spencer Pratt.

00:26:02
Speaker 1: I think so because it shows the La Times going after him in an unfair way. And by the way, it was their endorsed candidate who was responsible for this mess.

00:26:13
Speaker 2: They told us vote for Karen Bass, She'll keep you safe.

00:26:18
Speaker 8: Zev Yuroslovsky, who served as an La City councilman and an La County Supervisor is with UCLA's Luskin School, which just put out a poll showing a wide open race for LA Mayor. A whopping forty percent of voters remain undecided. Among the top three candidates LA Mayor Karen Bass, her support is at twenty five percent.

00:26:39
Speaker 1: That is so pathetic, But I guess if you burn the town down, it's understandable.

00:26:45
Speaker 2: The only incumbent that I think has ever pulled lower than that was Eric Adams, So that's not great company to be keeping.

00:26:53
Speaker 1: Karen Nope.

00:26:56
Speaker 8: Pratt is in second with eleven percent, an LA City councilwoman, and if the oraman is in third with.

00:27:02
Speaker 6: Nine percent of the undecided or shopping. They're not thrilled with the mayor, but they don't hate her.

00:27:10
Speaker 2: I don't know, they're not voting for her.

00:27:15
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think he's making certain assumptions.

00:27:19
Speaker 2: If you have somebody that is currently in charge running for another four years and you're in the unsure category, you're not going to her. No, you've already decided that she's bad at the job. Karen Bess has a ceiling. Any of the voters that are looking at Nit, the other're looking at Spencer they're looking at Ray Hwang or Adam Miller or undecided. They are all a vote against Karen Bass. Seventy five percent of the electorate, according to his poll says no to more Bass.

00:27:52
Speaker 1: It's really appalling that she's even running for reelection. If you were that bad at your job, wouldn't you just find something else to do with your time.

00:28:00
Speaker 2: Politicians are de Lulu.

00:28:03
Speaker 1: She thinks she's doing great, but they don't hate her.

00:28:07
Speaker 8: In California's jungle primary, the top two vote getters in the June primary will face off in the November general election. Unless a candidate scores more than fifty percent of the vote in the primary.

00:28:18
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's not happening. No, No, this is definitely going to a runoff.

00:28:23
Speaker 8: And then they win outright, with so many voters' minds not made up. Pratt Season opening.

00:28:29
Speaker 2: So there you go, Spencer Pratt lashing out at this insane LA Time story, trying to go after his residency because he was temporarily living in CARPENTERIEA at his dad's rental property because the city burned his house down.

00:28:47
Speaker 1: I wonder if this is going to be one of these situations where we go to bed on election night and she's sitting at twenty nine percent, and then a month later they go, yeah, we finished counting all the ballots. She's at fifty plus one. No runoff.

00:29:01
Speaker 2: I certainly hope not. But you know what's interesting is this might be all they have. You know, Spencer Pratt has pretty much worn all of his faults on his sleeve for the past twenty years, and so people know everything they need to know about him. There's not going to be any skeletons you find in that closet.

00:29:19
Speaker 1: You want a prediction, Yeah, here's where I think the La Times is going to go next. They're going to say that because he keeps talking about the fires, he's a racist, because the racial makeup of Pacific Palisades is primarily white and it's not reflective of the city as a whole, And because he spends a disproportionate amount of time talking about a city failure that only impacts a largely white community, he's a racist.

00:29:54
Speaker 2: That does seem preposterous, But this is the same organization that called Larry Elder the black face of white supremacy.

00:30:03
Speaker 1: I'd be willing to bet a dinner that they do that. I think that's gonna happen.

00:30:12
Speaker 2: I think your odds are too good, so I'm not taking that bet.

00:30:15
Speaker 1: Eight hundred two two two five two two two is the telephone number? What eight hundred two two two five two two two. And Randy, you may have found some sound for us for tomorrow's show.

00:30:28
Speaker 2: Well, CNN is not great about posting any of their stuff on YouTube, and I'm not dealing with going on their website and filling out my HBO Max password. But Katie Porter's on with Casey Hunt right now complaining about the crowded field in the California's governor's race.

00:30:45
Speaker 1: I wonder if she weighed in on the accusations against Wallwell, that.

00:30:49
Speaker 2: Has not made cable news yet, and they mostly and I'm surprised they're even doing this right now because I thought they'd be going wal to Wall and what's going on in Iran. But Katie Porter's on the TV.

00:31:02
Speaker 1: All right, Well, something interesting was said there. We'll have that for you on tomorrow's program.

00:31:07
Speaker 2: If they put it on YouTube, which they probably.

00:31:10
Speaker 1: Won't, Well, maybe someone will put it on Twitter.

00:31:14
Speaker 2: Do you know I have to have Elex personally post stuff on YouTube when he does something on his show come on CNN. That's where all the young people are. They're on YouTube. Get with it.

00:31:28
Speaker 1: I wonder what the deal is over there because the other stations post everything, right, I don't understand it. Maybe they think, oh no, if they'll go to our site, then they'll see our ads. But that YouTube is where the young people are at all, right, Well, La may or Caring Bass. Her signature issue is Project Inside Safe, where she said the homeless problem was the number one problem in the city and she was going to take the homeless off the streets and put them indoors through Project Inside Safe. We've spent a fortune on it, and Randy, we now know that it's not working.

00:32:06
Speaker 2: Forty percent of the people that went through Project Inside Safe went back to the streets. Some went to the encampments, some went to the sewer, some went to the bridge pillar.

00:32:19
Speaker 1: Which means we're spending a fortune, we're destroying the motels, and they're ending up back on the streets. For more, let's go to NBC LA.

00:32:31
Speaker 10: Roughly forty percent of the people put in housing through the city's Inside Safe program have ended up back out there on the streets. Despite the thirty million dollars being spent on that program's.

00:32:42
Speaker 2: Oh, it's way more than thirty calling.

00:32:45
Speaker 1: What does that tell you regarding the argument that this is a housing problem.

00:32:51
Speaker 2: It's complete nonsense. We have spent so much money on taking a small portion of the population, putting them indefinitely in motels into they finally say enough is enough already, I'm going back to my tent. And some of them still had a tent during the daytime.

00:33:06
Speaker 10: Anyway, being spent on that program.

00:33:09
Speaker 5: That's according to data from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority otherwise known as LASA. As McCallum medina tells us, some people are finding.

00:33:16
Speaker 2: And by the way, you know what's interesting about this is we had even though Karen Bass has had this program for years. Do you know why LASA is speaking out about it now because Karen Bass is handpicked head of LASA, Doctor Velicia Adams Kellum had to resign in shame for doctoring a whole bunch of things, including how effective Karen Bass's inside Safe program was.

00:33:39
Speaker 1: Doctor This town is so corrupt yep.

00:33:43
Speaker 5: As McCallum medina tells us, some people are finding shelter in very dangerous places.

00:33:51
Speaker 11: Seed away from busy roads and under an overpass. At least three people are calling this makeshift shelter home. It's off Washington and Soto and east.

00:34:00
Speaker 1: How long have you been here?

00:34:01
Speaker 11: And if you had got any help from the city before.

00:34:07
Speaker 1: Sounds like a perfectly sane person.

00:34:09
Speaker 11: No Wood wanted to talk on camera, but many are back on the streets after getting temporary help from the Inside Safe program. They say the biggest reason why, well, the housing wasn't permanent.

00:34:22
Speaker 1: That reminds me of that line from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation when cousin Eddie was unemployed for many, many years and they go, why have you been unemployed that long? And he goes, I've been holding out for management.

00:34:37
Speaker 11: They told us most placements rely on short term subsidies or motel stays, not long term housing stability, and when those subsidies expire, people often can't afford rent and fall back into homelessness.

00:34:49
Speaker 2: So what you're telling me is the program makes no sense.

00:34:52
Speaker 1: NOPEI we showed you this.

00:34:58
Speaker 11: Good Samaritan Juan last week attempting to help a couple he accidentally found living inside this bridge off Washington and Soto.

00:35:06
Speaker 2: And apparently the whole thing smelled like, well, I can't even say what it smelled like.

00:35:12
Speaker 1: Does Katie have a description for us?

00:35:14
Speaker 3: You can smell it right here.

00:35:16
Speaker 11: We reached out to LASSA to see if they were aware of the encampment in the bridge. They asked us for the address and we've not heard back. Mayor Bassil's office told us.

00:35:25
Speaker 2: In this how is it that all of our local news channels can find all of these incredibly dangerous places that people are living, and the city and the county and laws are like, oh, that's interesting. And sometimes they just don't return the calls, like in this case, and sometimes they say we're only going to get rid of them if you agree to move and bring the cameras with you. That's what happened to the guy on the bus bench. Christina Gonzalez from Fox eleven was there, and they're like, we're not giving this guy any help until you go away.

00:35:56
Speaker 11: Mayor Bassil's office told us in a statement, writing in part, this is unacceptable and tragic.

00:36:02
Speaker 2: It's happening on your watch and this is your number one issue, which means you've ignored everything else in the city to focus on this. The city is in a deficit because of all the money we waste on inside safe and that's the best you can do.

00:36:17
Speaker 1: Well, she's boxed in. She can't pivot because if she pivot, she's going to have to acknowledge that her program didn't work. So she's just going to double and triple down on it. This is what California politicians do best. They double and triple down on stupid, because nobody can ever admit that something they thought of didn't work.

00:36:37
Speaker 11: Mayor Bassil's office told us in the statement, writing in part, this is unacceptable and tragic. We are working closely with council Member Ferrado to Now.

00:36:46
Speaker 2: Good luck with that.

00:36:47
Speaker 1: Yeah, another one that won't answer calls.

00:36:50
Speaker 2: You know, it's got to be really bad when people in your district are thinking about the good old days of Kevin da Leone.

00:36:57
Speaker 1: It is hot as hell, or the good old.

00:36:59
Speaker 2: Days of Hosea whos are are the good old days of Antonio Viragosa?

00:37:05
Speaker 1: Is jose out of prison.

00:37:06
Speaker 11: Yet to evaluate the site and determine the appropriate next steps? Where did reach out to the Councilwoman's office for common and have not heard back either.

00:37:14
Speaker 3: These are humans, They're human beings. They should get help.

00:37:19
Speaker 11: One who started a nonprofit to clean up La streets once threet the time has seen the effects of LA's homeless problem firsthand, encountering people living in rough places like sewers and drainage pipes.

00:37:30
Speaker 2: And one's from Ecuador and he says, Ecuador ain't like this.

00:37:34
Speaker 1: I believe him.

00:37:35
Speaker 11: Some of them told us that support systems they needed, like mental health care, job assistant or long term stability just weren't there.

00:37:43
Speaker 2: No, Karen Bass's whole idea was to shove people inside a Rundown motel six and we'll figure out the rest later.

00:37:52
Speaker 1: And of course we can't put these people in mental institutions where they belong, so we have to pretend like they just can't afford housing well.

00:37:59
Speaker 2: And it's worth pointing out the number because it is shocking. These people who weren't getting any help were just getting put in a motel room. We were paying seventeen thousand dollars per bed per month.

00:38:15
Speaker 1: What would you pay at the four seasons?

00:38:18
Speaker 8: Not that.

00:38:20
Speaker 11: Mary Bass's office told us because of her efforts.

00:38:23
Speaker 2: Even if you're at a hotel where it's one thousand dollars a night, that means it's that means it's oh that's about thirty thousand a month. So yeah, okay, maybe it's not that high end, but it's still pretty damn high end for a rundown motel where one of the crooked contractors was giving out Ramen noodles as the food and cashing off all the rest of the money.

00:38:47
Speaker 1: Yep, the taxpayers are being fleeced and the people in charge won't acknowledge that we're not getting our bang for our buck.