Eric Swalwell responds to the allegations rocking the Governor's Race

00:00:00
Speaker 1: And very happy Wednesday to you. At twelve oh seven. In the West, it's the John Phillip Show, Mister Randy Wings in Culver City.

00:00:07
Speaker 2: John.

00:00:07
Speaker 3: As the race for California governor heats up, expect to see a lot of polls dropping every single week. We might get to the point where it's every single day. The latest poll today comes from the internal polling from the Eric Swalwell campaign, been to research eight hundred likely voters, polled from April first through the sixth, so just a couple of days ago, but notably before any of these Eric Swalwell stories came out. In of the Eric Swalwell internal poll, not Sure is not in first place.

00:00:42
Speaker 2: Well, that's a first.

00:00:44
Speaker 3: Not Sure's only got ten percent of the vote. In first place with twenty two percent of the vote is Steve Hilton in second place, And again this is a Swalwell poll has Swallwell at eighteen percent, and then there's a big leap into third place Bianco at thirteen percent, Styer at twelve percent, and rounding out the top candidates kt Porter at eleven percent.

00:01:13
Speaker 1: Right here, Well, leave it to Eric Swalwell to whip out his own pole. If you're wondering how it's going for the lower polling candidates. This poll shows a little bump from Mayheon at five percent, Bessarah at four, Thurman Yee, and Via Gosa at two.

00:01:33
Speaker 2: Well.

00:01:34
Speaker 1: The theme to this campaign might be Eric Swalwell whipping out his own pole.

00:01:38
Speaker 3: You know what, I'm going to just put the hammer down right now. Stop using that phrase.

00:01:45
Speaker 1: Now, Speaking of which, there were allegations about Eric Swalwell sexually harassing subordinates in his office that hit the internet yesterday, not specifics, not with any individual names, but there is a Democratic lawyer and former candidate for office who says that she is working with women who have worked with Swalwell in the past who claim that he sexually harassed them and then forced them to sign NBAS And now Eric Swalwell was responding to those rumors.

00:02:17
Speaker 3: Eric Swalwell was at a town hall in Sacramento and he was asked about these allegations and did not ignore it, decided to come out against it. Here is what he told KCRA three in Sacramento.

00:02:30
Speaker 4: So tonight Democratic governor, a candidate for governor, I should say, Eric Swalwell was in Sacramento denying online claims that he behaved inappropriately with female staffers now post on social media have not offered details or evidence, but claimed the women are hesitant to come forward because they signed non disclosure agreements.

00:02:50
Speaker 5: So tonight I asked him about this.

00:02:53
Speaker 4: Did you ever behave inappropriate way with female staffers?

00:02:57
Speaker 6: No? Now it's false. And also some of the allegations I've seen, which is that we've had NDAs in the office. Never, There's never been an allegation, and there's never been a settlement. And you know, I will also just take stock that, Look, we're twenty seven days before and an election starts.

00:03:15
Speaker 5: Why address it? Have their internet rumors?

00:03:17
Speaker 4: Why even come out and address this?

00:03:19
Speaker 6: Yeah, I don't want there to be any question.

00:03:24
Speaker 2: I see getting out in front of the story.

00:03:28
Speaker 5: Fell off the Espace cars.

00:03:30
Speaker 3: And by the way, it didn't get reported on by any mainstream publications, including Politico in the La Times, until Swallwell started denying it at that point if it was just a rumor, until he started speaking up about it, And notably in the Politico story, it says that we never did any NDAs in the thirteen years he was in Congress. But some of these allegations might be going way further back than his time in Washington.

00:04:00
Speaker 1: Well, according to the woman who is blowing the whistle on all of these allegations, she claims that it goes back to his time on the Dublin City Council. And as I mentioned yesterday, there are a number of different relationships that members of Congress have with employees. People who work directly for your office, that's one of them. But you have staff members who work for committees that you happen to sit on. You have staff members who work for the campaigns that you are engaged in. You have staffers that are involved in the independent expenditure groups that are supporting your campaigns, those sorts of things. So because someone didn't directly work for your office staff in Washington, DC, doesn't necessarily mean that there wasn't an employer employee relationship.

00:04:50
Speaker 3: Now, there were a lot of town halls last night in Sacramento as the campaign is really in full gear for everybody for a recap on all of that, including the Swalwell town hall. Here is Fox forty in Sacramento, Well, Eric.

00:05:04
Speaker 7: And Nikki for Republican Steve Hilton. It was a fairly normal campaign stop. He talked about fraud and wasteful spending a lot. He also touched on immigration and even vaccine mandates, but for Democrat Eric Swalwell. While his town hall was full of supporters asking questions about policy, much of the reporter questioning focused on recent allegations that he had inappropriate relations with staffers.

00:05:26
Speaker 3: This story is getting bigger by the minute, and we still don't have an actual allegation, not yet.

00:05:31
Speaker 1: But apparently the women, and there are a lot of them, are talking to reporters, reporters from left leaning outlets who are working to verify the checkable facts that are being provided to them by these women, and the stories will come out at a later date. That's what the women who were referencing said on social media today.

00:05:55
Speaker 7: A town hall in Sacramento tonight part of Democratic candidate for California Governor Eric Swallwells Fight for a New California tour. His main message tonight to voters, the.

00:06:04
Speaker 6: Next governor has to be a fighter protector for all Californians.

00:06:08
Speaker 3: He loves to call himself a protector. Yeah, what's the deal with that? A fighter protector. It's a little weird.

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Speaker 5: His message to reporters after the town Hall was different.

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Speaker 8: It's false.

00:06:20
Speaker 6: And also you know some of the allegations I've seen, which is that we've had nbas in the office. Never there's never been an allegation, and there's never been a.

00:06:29
Speaker 5: Settlement well denying allegation.

00:06:32
Speaker 1: I want to point one more thing out. At the very beginning, when he became a candidate himself, there is a Democratic strategist, a real strategist by the name of Michael Trehillo who works out of California, who tweeted that this campaign is doomed from the start because everyone in Democratic politics knows that he has sexually harassed staffers and interns, and this campaign would blow up and Democrats would be foolish to nominate this guy. And then at some point that tweet was deleted. I don't know why, I don't know who asked him to delete it, but that tweet was deleted.

00:07:14
Speaker 2: And then at a later date, after.

00:07:18
Speaker 1: It looked like Squalwell would be the candidate that the Democratic Party coalesced behind, that's when the tweets from this woman who were referencing came out. This former congressional candidate and attorney and the allegations that she has laid out, while not specific, are almost identical to what was in the Michael Treheo tweet when he said that everyone in Democratic Party politics was aware of it.

00:07:44
Speaker 3: Now, of course, you know these things will get adjudicated, but it always makes me think, if these stories are out there, and you know they're out there because you did them, how delulu are you that you think you can still run for governor.

00:07:59
Speaker 1: Well, you've been able to get away with it in a high profile position for quite some time. Not only is he a member of Congress, he was a confidant in Nancy Pelosi's he was part of the impeachment committee.

00:08:10
Speaker 2: He ran for president.

00:08:12
Speaker 1: This is not a guy who you would regard as a backbencher who no one knows.

00:08:17
Speaker 5: Swalwell denying allegations that he had inappropriate relationships with staff or interns during his career, He says the timing of these claims is no coincidence.

00:08:26
Speaker 6: I will also just take Stocktor, Look, we're twenty seven days before and an election starts.

00:08:32
Speaker 5: I also asked about Republican candidate Sheriff Chad Bianco, who called for Swalwell to drop out of the race Tuesday over the allegations.

00:08:40
Speaker 6: I think he's got some issues with not getting the endorsement that he was so thirsty.

00:08:44
Speaker 1: For, and Thursday he sounds sedate. Typically, Swalwell is firing on all cylinders. He's an aggressive attack dog. He's the one who's going after his political enemies with great vigor. And you could almost tell in his voice that he knows it's over. Because whether these allegations are true or not, people in radio land may not know, but he knows. And it sounds like he knows exactly what that answer is.

00:09:18
Speaker 6: I think he's got some issues with not getting the endorsement that he was so thirsty for, and you know, we're we're seeing somebody who wants to be relevant.

00:09:28
Speaker 2: He sounds like he got shot with a tranquilizer gun.

00:09:33
Speaker 5: That endorsement Swalwell is talking about was President Trump's Steve Hilton campaigning in Roseville.

00:09:39
Speaker 9: You just need a bit of pummon, says, that's what you need, and what I'm governor, that's what we're going to have.

00:09:45
Speaker 3: In there fresh off What microphone did they give him, I don't know.

00:09:49
Speaker 2: It sounds like the clowns knows a jack in the box.

00:09:52
Speaker 5: Hush off that endorsement.

00:09:54
Speaker 3: I'm just going to advise every candidate for governor do a sound check before you start a town hall.

00:10:02
Speaker 5: Push off that endorsement from the President.

00:10:05
Speaker 9: We had a brief conversation on Sunday night after I texted him to say thank you, how much I appreciate it, and we had a quick call after that.

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Speaker 5: Hilton also outlined his Califordable Plan.

00:10:17
Speaker 3: I wonder if Trump picked Hilton over Bianco because Trump hates facial hair.

00:10:22
Speaker 1: He doesn't like it. He's like Walt Disney in that respect.

00:10:26
Speaker 2: And that mustache was offensive to him.

00:10:28
Speaker 3: Well, he looks like wyat Er.

00:10:32
Speaker 7: Califordable Plan, which includes eliminating the state income tax for Californians earning less than one hundred thousand dollars a year.

00:10:39
Speaker 2: Do you hear that? Katie Porter liked that idea so much she's ripping it off.

00:10:42
Speaker 5: Oh does she restricting medicals?

00:10:45
Speaker 2: What's just saying, I'm ripping off Steve.

00:10:46
Speaker 7: Hilton restricting medical for undocumented immigrants and targeting fraud only.

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Speaker 9: California has a cost of living that is completely out of control regular working families and small businesses that is entirely because of Democrat policies.

00:11:08
Speaker 1: One attendee urge Okay, so he doesn't want anyone making under one hundred thousand dollars a year to pay taxes.

00:11:14
Speaker 2: State taxes, Yes, state taxes.

00:11:16
Speaker 1: Okay, I completely disagree with that everyone should be forced to pay taxes. If you create a class of people that doesn't pay taxes, you create a class of people who will vote for every tax increase under the sun. I don't care how much money you make, you should have to pay taxes. All of us live here, all of us should have to kick in well.

00:11:38
Speaker 3: And when you have these specific income thresholds. We see this with medical we see this with food assistants. But what do you do if all of a sudden you're making one hundred and one thousand dollars, but now you're taking a ten thousand dollars hit to your salary You just lost money when you got a raise.

00:11:55
Speaker 1: Well, and this opens up the door to all kinds of idiotic ideas where I could easily see them saying nurses shouldn't have to pay taxes at all because they perform such a valuable service to the people of California, we shouldn't expect them to pay taxes too. Well, guess what you should have to pay taxes along with everyone else. Isn't it enough that we look the other way when you steal the drugs from your patients.

00:12:21
Speaker 7: One attendee urged Hilton to stop a tax on fellow Republican Chat Bianco, calling for party unity. Hilton pushedback, saying Bianco is mud slinging more than he is.

00:12:31
Speaker 2: I don't know about that.

00:12:34
Speaker 3: There's a lot of mud slinging going on from all of them. Personally, I enjoy it and think only will imagine how boring these would be without it. I think only one of them has bought the domain name blmbianco dot com.

00:12:50
Speaker 1: And it's not because of the wyatt art mustache that he works at the Bureau of Land Management.

00:12:55
Speaker 5: But said if Bianco one in the primary with a Democrat, Hilton would support them.

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Speaker 3: Sheriff seriously, who checked on the acoustics for Hilton's rally?

00:13:10
Speaker 1: I don't know, but it's probably something that they should look into.

00:13:17
Speaker 5: And Sheriff.

00:13:17
Speaker 7: Bianco also had a private campaign fundraising event in Sacramento tonight.

00:13:22
Speaker 1: Nikki, back to you, all right, Riley, thank you new for you with.

00:13:24
Speaker 2: So there you go.

00:13:26
Speaker 3: There are the latest on all the town halls that happen in Sacramento. But of course, there's a lot going on in this governor's race all throughout the state of California. And Katie Porter has a new ad that's out and it's touching on an issue central to most Californian's daily lives.

00:13:45
Speaker 5: What does it mean to be a people powered campaign?

00:13:48
Speaker 2: Oh boy, there's some alliteration.

00:13:53
Speaker 10: What does it mean to be a people powered campaign? It means proudly having the support of ten.

00:13:58
Speaker 2: She really loves the vibe violins.

00:14:01
Speaker 1: Oh she does because it makes her sound like a pro Wrestlerho's trying to sell tickets to Madison Square Garden.

00:14:06
Speaker 10: It means probably having the support of tens of thousands of donors, the people who understand that I'll always have your back. That's why I'm not taking any corporate money and never have.

00:14:18
Speaker 3: What we're still on this This is what she ran on for US Senate and no one cared. Then I don't understand why she thinks that anyone cares.

00:14:28
Speaker 2: Now, I call it.

00:14:29
Speaker 5: The shift gift.

00:14:30
Speaker 10: That's why I'm not taking any corporate money and never have. And I'm the only candidate in the race who's always refused corporate money. I'm Katie.

00:14:40
Speaker 2: Why are the violins getting so much louder?

00:14:46
Speaker 1: I guess because you can't hear her. And if you're one of her staffers that's recording this for us, she's probably cursed you out fifteen ways from Sunday already. You know, it's kind of an old joke that like the people who get into pow politics, they do it because they're failures and everything else, and this is the only way they can get money, fame, or power. I think the people in political salt consulting it's the same thing, and the people putting together political ads it's the same thing. They all can't make it in the real world. Even the people putting together these commercials are uniquely terrible.

00:15:24
Speaker 10: I'm Katie Porter, and I still think democracy shouldn't be for sale.

00:15:29
Speaker 2: I couldn't even hear her. Well, that's probably for the best.

00:15:33
Speaker 5: If you agreed, I'd love to have your support.

00:15:36
Speaker 2: Give me money.

00:15:39
Speaker 1: Here's something else, it's interesting. I'm looking at a tweet that she put out earlier today, and she has a graphic of a Politico article that said Eric Swalwell received just under thirteen thousand dollars in contributions from Apak for his congressional races. That's the American Israeli Public Affairs Council. According to Open Secrets, the two other gubernatorial hopefuls who previously served in Congress, Katie Porter and Javey Aarbicera, didn't get any money from this group.

00:16:10
Speaker 2: End quote. Here was Katie's tweet.

00:16:13
Speaker 1: I've never taken APAC money, and I'm the only major candidate in this race who has never taken a dime from corporations. California deserves a governor who isn't for sale and doesn't think democracy should be either. They don't give money to state races, do they They don't.

00:16:33
Speaker 3: That's why she's making the distinction. They gave him money when he was running for Congress. Okay, but she's been out of Congress for some time. Yeah, she has, because she ran and lost for Senate.

00:16:48
Speaker 1: Of all the political action committees that exist out there, she singles out the Jews.

00:16:56
Speaker 3: I've never had a noise on cutting carrots.

00:16:58
Speaker 1: I've never taken money from that or the rest of them.

00:17:04
Speaker 2: So weird.

00:17:07
Speaker 1: Eight hundred two two two five two two two Easy telephone 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.

00:17:23
Speaker 2: And Randy.

00:17:24
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00:17:29
Speaker 2: You need more.

00:17:30
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00:18:33
Speaker 1: In the meantime, what do you say we make a couple of listeners very happy. Seven ninety KABC welcomes You Be forty featuring Ali Campbell with special guests the Legendary Whalers featuring Junior Marvin at the Pacific Amphitheater on May fourteenth. Tickets are on sale now at pacamp dot com, but right now colling number nine at one eighty eight seven ninety five two two two gets a pair of tickets to the show. All concert tickets are good for one time admission to the OC Fair on Wednesday or Thursday's. Tickets furnished by the Pacific Amphitheater. Good luck dialing. Did you see my Angels last night involved in a bench clearing brawl?

00:19:09
Speaker 2: What happened there?

00:19:11
Speaker 1: Well? Jorge Celaire, who was our designated hitter, hit a home run in the first hitting. I was watching the game and of course I go to bed super early, because that's what I do, and I apparently just missed the brawl. So after he hit the home run, the picture was upset and was thrown at him, and he understood exactly what that meant, and so he charges the mound and the Atlanta Braves pitcher takes the ball, which is still in his hand, and uses it as a pair of brass knuckles and hits him with it. Holy go, it was full on, Jerry Springer.

00:19:55
Speaker 3: Now what was your feeling when you woke up and saw that and you knew that you could have seen that live?

00:20:02
Speaker 2: Oh?

00:20:02
Speaker 1: I of course was kicking myself, But of course I go to bed early, and I watched Vegas Matt play the slot machines and then I fall asleep.

00:20:11
Speaker 3: That's your bedtime story, huh, pretty much? You live a fascinating life.

00:20:16
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. So we know that the fire victims in Pacific Palisades have been disrespected in just about every way. The government can disrespect fire victims, but Randy, it's not just the government who is disrespecting them.

00:20:36
Speaker 3: Now, the fire victims in the Palisades in Malibu are getting disrespected in a brand new way because the taggers are taken over the burned out lots in the abandoned homes. If everything burned down, what's even left to tad? There are some walls for more. Here is Fox eleven and Matthew Sedorf.

00:20:57
Speaker 11: Chief meteorologist Adam Krueger will be along in just a moment to check that forecast. In the meantime, let's get to this story. This is and only on Fox eleven. Outrage in Pacific Palisades tonight. Fire victims targeted again, this time by vandals with spray cans. Fox eleven is Matthew se Rphy's Live with a closer look at this growing problem.

00:21:21
Speaker 3: Matthew, what percentage of spray paint sold at home depots for legitimate purposes?

00:21:27
Speaker 1: I think if they only sold it for legitimate purposes, they wouldn't even carry it.

00:21:33
Speaker 3: Yeah, Marl, this is so f like when I see people painting a house, they're using brushes and rollers. What is spray paint actually legitimately used for?

00:21:43
Speaker 2: That's a good question.

00:21:45
Speaker 8: Yeah, Marl, this is so frustrated and you just think back to everything that these fire victims have experienced the last fifteen months, and now this on top of it all. Take a look at this video. You can see just some of the graffiti around the Palisades today, and it looks like on trash cans, street signs.

00:22:02
Speaker 1: Fences, everything they can tag what happened, did Chaka turn fifty and we let him out of prison too?

00:22:10
Speaker 8: And a retaining wall for what was a home that burned down. The message is sometimes hard to read, but in other instances it says, quote eat the rich.

00:22:19
Speaker 1: Oh boy, so it's the left wing political people Antifa.

00:22:27
Speaker 3: Well let's see what some of the other messages are. Maybe they have a diverse set of opinions.

00:22:32
Speaker 8: Eat the rich or free Palestine.

00:22:36
Speaker 3: Okay, I knew eventually we'd get to.

00:22:38
Speaker 2: The Jews.

00:22:40
Speaker 12: Now.

00:22:40
Speaker 8: Last month, the La County Sheriff's Department arrested two people in Malibu who admitted to tagging homes destroyed by the Palisades fire. In that case, they had more than fifty cans of spray paint with them.

00:22:55
Speaker 1: I'm sure their criminal defense attorney would say, well, that doesn't mean anything.

00:23:00
Speaker 3: I mean, you want to talk about being caught red handed. The pain was all over their hands and it was red time.

00:23:06
Speaker 8: Many people here say it's just another example of them getting hit while they're down.

00:23:11
Speaker 2: I think it's.

00:23:13
Speaker 8: Just being people who are already down, and I don't think it does any good no matter whose property it is.

00:23:19
Speaker 13: So that's just salt in the wounds. That's disheartening. But there are bigger crimes here. The fire department's pointing the finger at the state. The state. The State's pointing the finger at the fire department.

00:23:34
Speaker 3: There's a lot of crimes.

00:23:36
Speaker 13: You can erase that it's offensive, but there's bigger offenses here.

00:23:40
Speaker 3: Yeah, they might be pissed about the graffiti, but their anger is still mostly directed at Karen Bass.

00:23:48
Speaker 1: Could you imagine that being a person who looks at the fire victims and goes, you know, these people have lost everything they own down to their toothbrush. Why didn't I take their remaining rubble and use it as a canvas to apply on Middle Eastern politics.

00:24:04
Speaker 8: So, driving around the Palisades tonight, the graffiti is by no means widespread. It's pretty scattered. But despite that, we did reach out to Councilman Tracy Park. She says that her office already reached out to LAPD. They're going to try to increase patrol, especially around the bluffs area where this is taking place tonight.

00:24:21
Speaker 3: And by the way, this morning, she was out there herself trying to clean it up.

00:24:26
Speaker 1: I saw that. Well, if she doesn't do it, who with the city is going to.

00:24:31
Speaker 2: That's the thing.

00:24:33
Speaker 3: This city is so broken that the city council person making two hundred and twenty thousand dollars a year, if she wants to see it cleaned up, she's going to have to go do it. She's gonna have to roll up her sleeves and get the job done.

00:24:47
Speaker 1: Roll up her sleeves. I think this is a job that requires overalls.

00:24:51
Speaker 8: And they're hoping to get in contact with the homeowners impacted so they can help clean it up. We're live in the Palisades. Matthew Sedoor Fox eleven News.

00:24:59
Speaker 11: What about help of any private security. When I've been out there, I've noticed some of those private security vehicles patrolling the area.

00:25:06
Speaker 5: That's during the day, though, are they there at night?

00:25:09
Speaker 2: Do those private security companies actually do anything? I think they're just armed with flashlights.

00:25:16
Speaker 8: Yeah, they are.

00:25:17
Speaker 3: It is the appearance of safety because they're in a car that looks kind of like a cop car.

00:25:24
Speaker 5: Yeah, they are at night.

00:25:25
Speaker 8: But you know where we are on the bluffs, it is eerily quiet.

00:25:28
Speaker 13: I know.

00:25:29
Speaker 8: One resident told us he referred to it as the wild wild West.

00:25:34
Speaker 1: Well it's not quite Oakland, is wow wow West out here?

00:25:39
Speaker 2: So there you go.

00:25:41
Speaker 3: The victims of the fires in the Palisades who still cannot rebuild their homes are now having what is left of their homes tagged up by vandals, because of course that's what the down ass kids in Los Angeles love to do.

00:25:59
Speaker 5: The neighborhood kids, the down as kids.

00:26:01
Speaker 2: Don't like it.

00:26:02
Speaker 1: Just another totally normal day here in the Insane Asylum eight hundred two two two five two two two easy telephone number one eight hundred two two two five two two two. Well, we know that in the race to be governor of California, a right of passage is to go observe the stench in the sewage.

00:26:21
Speaker 2: That is the you't want.

00:26:23
Speaker 3: A river, You can smell it right here.

00:26:26
Speaker 1: The latest candidate to take the plunge is former state Controller Betty e. Here is NBC seven in San Diego, who sat down with Betty Yee after she toured the TJ.

00:26:40
Speaker 3: Maill Ballas go out in just about a month here in California, and candidates for governor are campaigning at full speed.

00:26:46
Speaker 12: They no time to make a name for themselves is ticking.

00:26:49
Speaker 5: Former state Controller Betty Yee is in San Diego today and she spoke one on one with NBC seven political reporter Joey Sapschik.

00:26:58
Speaker 14: This is a very crowded field. Everyone has an impressive political resume. What do you need to do to increase your name recognition and set yourself apart?

00:27:06
Speaker 2: For Joey, you don't even know who she is.

00:27:10
Speaker 3: You know, she sounds good for having a close bit on her nose in it. I don't think they're doing this interview at the Tijuana River. Oh really, that would be difficult. You don't want to be asking questions and have to wretch in the middle of them.

00:27:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, that could go viral.

00:27:29
Speaker 3: You know.

00:27:29
Speaker 12: Well, for me, it's really about the experience that I bring. I'm the only woman who's served in the state wide office. I've been a state executive. My deep fiscal financial experience is what people resonate with. And look, we need someone who really is kind.

00:27:42
Speaker 3: Of Betty you have an interesting tick that I just picked up on what she can talk very quickly, but most of the words are for rare eggs. And you know, listen to how many ums and as there are while she's talking about her resume.

00:28:03
Speaker 12: You know, well, for me, it's really about the experience that I bring. I'm the only woman who's served in state wide office. I've been a state executive. My deep fiscal and financial experience is what people resonate with. And look, we need someone.

00:28:16
Speaker 3: Who's maybe they are at the river. I'd be distracted too.

00:28:25
Speaker 12: And you know, it really is going to tackle the affordability crisis. And you can't have tackle the affordability crisis without a governor that's going to fix the state budget. I mean, that's just where you begin.

00:28:35
Speaker 2: And so we have a wait.

00:28:37
Speaker 3: You were part of that state budget for many, many years up till twenty twenty three, including some of her most recent deficits.

00:28:48
Speaker 1: They act like they're just sitting in their easy chair screaming at the TV instead of someone with significant amounts of power who could theoretically do something about it.

00:29:00
Speaker 3: And by the way, this is in office that the legislature and the governor completely ignores, and she's not speaking out about that about how her office has done audit after audit after audit that nobody took any action.

00:29:11
Speaker 1: On well, and you could use that office as a way to highlight the waste, fraud and abuse, or highlight changes that should be made to the budget based on investigations and audits that come from your office. We saw that at the local level in Los Angeles with Laura Chick, who rode the council and rode the mirror and embarrassed them on a regular basis when she would highlight all of the abuses that were going on on their watch. Betty could have done that, but she decided to play nice instead, Like if you really knew you were going to be running for governor, and she's been running for about two years, so she probably was preparing for this her entire last couple of years as controller. Wouldn't you think that maybe a good way to get your name out there would be to speak out very loudly on the thirty billion dollars of fraud that went out through edd during the lockdown. But then you'd have to be willing to offend Gavin and the legislature and all the interest groups who benefit from the graft. One of the audits that her office put out was how the edd system was ripe for fraud. It was pointed out in Julie Watts's report, and the state took no action on it, and thirty billion went out the window. She could have had a great I told you so moment, But everyone's of course in lockstep with each other, and no one's to blame for the state situation. They all admit the state is a mess, but they will never say whose fault it is. That may have been her opportunity to become governor and she blew it.

00:30:43
Speaker 12: And so we have a structural budget deficit that we're going to have to contend with. Yes, we're gonna have to make cuts, not like Doze by any means. We don't want to hurt people. At the same time, we have looming healthcare cuts that are facing California as well. We're probably going to have to increase revenue as well.

00:30:57
Speaker 2: That means taxes. She wants to increase your taxes, Oh boy.

00:31:03
Speaker 12: But what I like to focus on is the attributes that we have throughout this state, and that is our people and our innovation, and here in San Diego, that's just such a model where we can grow the economy and be sure that we're generating more revenue.

00:31:15
Speaker 2: Wait, how is San Diego the model? Right now?

00:31:18
Speaker 3: San Diego is in a massive budget deficit to the point where they started jacking up parking fees and trash fees and.

00:31:26
Speaker 12: Our innovation, and here in San Diego, that's just such a model where we can grow the economy and be sure that we're generating more revenue on our own.

00:31:34
Speaker 3: Wait a second, So does that mean if San Diego's the model, her idea is to jack up parking fees on state property.

00:31:42
Speaker 1: I think that's what she's saying because San Diego used to be an incredibly well run big city, but they had Republican mayors Kevin Faukner among them, and they would push back on tax increases. But now you have a Democratic majority on the council and a Democratic mayor who came from Sacramento, and they just raise the fees every opportunity they have. So from her point of view, that's victory. What are who ruined the reputation of the San Diego Republican Party?

00:32:12
Speaker 12: Just a question and be sure that we're generating more revenue on our own and being sure that people are getting into those stable, high paying jobs.

00:32:21
Speaker 14: Would you declare a state of emergency?

00:32:23
Speaker 2: Here we go, it's TJ time?

00:32:26
Speaker 3: Uh oh?

00:32:27
Speaker 2: Would you do gas mask?

00:32:29
Speaker 14: Would you declare a state of emergency in the t you wanna seewage crisis?

00:32:32
Speaker 9: Yes?

00:32:32
Speaker 12: Yes, I have been with this crisis since I was the state controller.

00:32:37
Speaker 3: So if you've known about it this whole time, then why weren't you advocating for Gavin, the current governor, call a state of emergency. Why are you, as a candidate go calling for the current governor to call a state of emergency.

00:32:49
Speaker 2: If what's going on in the.

00:32:50
Speaker 3: Tijuana River is an emergency, then do we really have time to be waiting another eight months before someone's even going to declare it in an emergency?

00:33:01
Speaker 1: Okay, if she thinks this is a good look, she's smoking something because it looks like she's a smart lady, and it looks like she's aware that the state failed on this particular issue, but out of partisan loyalty, she didn't do anything about it because it would be embarrassing for Gavin.

00:33:21
Speaker 12: Deal with this crisis since I was the state controller and actually sitting on the State Lands Commission. I just recently visited.

00:33:29
Speaker 3: It's not really a great thing to say. I've known about this for a really long time.

00:33:34
Speaker 1: No, because if you saw an environmental disaster that was negatively impacting the lives of people who live and pay taxes here, and you had the power to do something about it, and you chose not to because it would make your friends look bad. I don't know why you would assume that we would then elevate you to become governor.

00:33:56
Speaker 3: This is a state that loves to talk about how environmental they are and look at all of our regulations. Well, there is a sewage crisis that has been going on for years and years and years, making it so bad that kids can't go play outside during spring break, and businesses are shutting down and they pay at lip service. But nobody actually wants to do anything about it.

00:34:19
Speaker 1: No, because then they'd have to go tell Mexico to knock it off. And if Mexico refuses to stop dumping raw sewage directly into the river, then there has to be a stick. It's a carrot and a stick. And all they want to do is they want to meet at fancy resorts and talk about problems, but they don't actually want to do something about it. Well, if they're not altering their behavior, at some point, you have to be the bad guy and you have to start threatening them.

00:34:48
Speaker 12: Visited the site again, and I have to say, I'm pretty disgusted that it's gotten worse rather than better. And when I talk about declaring a state of emergency, it's not necessarily the dollars. That's about just marshaling all the resources, information and resources tools that all of our state departments have that can really be helpful to these communities.

00:35:04
Speaker 1: And why isn't the current governor doing this? Okay, so you're going to give them more dollars, You're going to, I don't know, clean up what you can clean up on this side. If Mexico doesn't stop dumping ross sewage in that river, this is going to be a problem forever. That's where you have to fix the problem. But none of them want to tell Mexico to knock it off.

00:35:26
Speaker 12: The fact that we're in a border community suggests to me that if we were somewhere else, we probably would have done that already. But I visited the schools and just talk to some of the families who are there. This cannot continue. It is affecting their health and certainly for our young people.

00:35:40
Speaker 2: What do you think property values are like right now in that area.

00:35:44
Speaker 1: Well, we've talked to people who have lived in what was it, Imperial Beach. Yeah, our business owners in Imperial Beach, and they say that the smell is so disgusting. No one could stand to be there for any length of time.

00:35:57
Speaker 12: Their ability to to learn and to develop is going to be really significantly effective.

00:36:02
Speaker 14: You're pulling in about two percent based on the most recent polls from California Democrats. What gives you confidence that you're going to be able to break away from the path?

00:36:09
Speaker 2: I think nothing.

00:36:11
Speaker 1: Well, if Eric Swalwell has a rough month or two, maybe the deck of cards.

00:36:16
Speaker 2: Will be shuffled. Time will tell