Oakland Corruption Exposed

[00:00:06] If you're a California conservative, a libertarian, a moderate Democrat, believe in common sense, or just the sane person, this is the political podcast for you. It's the California Underground Podcast.

[00:00:27] What's going on, everybody? Thanks for tuning in to another episode of the California Underground Podcast. I'm your host, Phil, and as always with me, my trusty co-host, the best, the fastest researcher in the West. Camille, how are you doing tonight? I could. I could. I apologize. We have had major wind again, and my sinuses are going crazy. Bad hair day. It's a whole new look. Phil's testing out new lighting. You may not recognize this at all.

[00:00:53] Yeah, it's trying out a new studio look. So if you've noticed, I have new lighting and stuff like that. I got to move this around, though, because my monitor looks a little weird, and I'm like looking away from you. And anyway, so yeah. I'm stuck. It's like I'm leaning to my right. I don't know what's... All sorts of stuff going on. Listen to this on audio.

[00:01:18] Well, don't listen to it. I put all this work into all these new lights to make my studio look really good, and I want to show it off. It's been all weekend. So, but yeah, I guess that's sort of a good segue to talk about a little bit of an announcement starting today. Today, we have partnered with our good friends over at Gas Pack Media. They're going to be helping with editing and promoting a lot of our content.

[00:01:45] So a lot of our videos, we're going to be doing a big push over on YouTube. What that means for you as subscribers or listeners or people who tune into the California Underground podcast, it means we have to make a lot more content. And we're going to be making a lot more content because now we don't have to focus on that stuff. So they're going to take care of that stuff. And we're just going to have to make more content. So we're still... Is it going to be a second episode every week? Is it going to be just more YouTube clips?

[00:02:15] I guess we're going to find out. But, you know, stay tuned. If you are here on YouTube right now, make sure you subscribe. We're going to be putting out a lot more content, obviously staying on top of the topics, more like bite-sized things. And as always, just tune into the podcast. So I wanted to make that announcement. Yeah, you won't be about lighting. Our content is over my hair. No, it won't be. We're not going to drag out more content to talk about our lighting and whether or not I should put a painting over here on this white wall or something to make it look a little bit better.

[00:02:45] Because I put all these nice lights in. Critique us, criticize us, you know, tell us. Sure. I mean, if people want to say, hey, you should put this over there, I'll listen. But yeah. So anyway, tonight's episode, we got a lot going on. We're going to be covering a lot of stuff. Obviously, the headliner is we're going to talk about the Oakland mayor who is facing 95 years in federal prison. So no small sentence for her corruption.

[00:03:10] And we're going to go down the rabbit hole a little bit in terms of who she got involved with and whether or not they have more influence on other people in the state. Possibly someone who is trying to be governor. We'll talk about that in a little bit. We'll give you an update on the wildfires. And also San Diego residents a year later after the 2020 floor floor floods, the 2024 floods.

[00:03:35] If you don't remember, there was really bad floods down here in the south of San Diego City. A lot of residents down there were flooded. We're going to talk about what's the update. Has the city of San Diego done anything to help these poor people? Spoiler alert. Spoiler alert. No, they haven't. So. This episode. What's that? That was it. Spoiler alert. That's everything. And now, see, now this is bugging me. Now we're changing hairstyles.

[00:04:05] So if you're on audio, you're not seeing all the machinations that are going on right now. It's not about me and my hair. It's just. We got new lights. It's going crazy right now. I look at myself so I'm on the podcast and then I'm forced to look at myself because I'm, you know, staring. Yeah. Anyway, so this is not about me and my hair, but I'm going to be playing with it a lot tonight because it's irritating me. But also, does yesterday not feel like a million years ago? You mean the inauguration? Yeah.

[00:04:37] Yeah, I was actually just thinking right before I hopped on. I was like, was it yesterday that I was watching Trump dance at the ball and everything? It feels like Trump's just been in office. Like, it feels like that was a blip of, like, Joe Biden being in office. And now he's back in office. So here we are. Trump's back in office. He had his inauguration yesterday. Off to the races.

[00:05:06] Feels familiar, obviously, because it was four years of Trump. So it's not incredibly new to us. So maybe that's why it feels like a million years ago is you're like, this feels familiar. Like, we've done this before. So it doesn't feel so. I don't know. But yeah, I was thinking the same exact thing. Like, it's not like we're like, what is this new president going to do? We're like, we know. Yeah, we know. We could talk about that for a couple of minutes.

[00:05:33] I do want to give, like, if we had any quick thoughts about the inauguration. That's not really the point of tonight's episode is to talk about the inauguration. But I, you know, I was pleased. I was interested to see it inside. It was interesting to see it inside as opposed to outside. It's the first time. It's the inside. Yeah, I think it was nice inside. And I bet the people who've been to a lot of inaugurations out in on the Capitol Rotunda, they might have been happy that it was actually inside as opposed to outside. And I checked the weather.

[00:06:03] And like when I was watching Trump give his speech, I went on my weather app and was like, what's the weather in Washington, D.C.? It said it felt like 11. Now, I don't know how many people in California have actually felt what 11 feels like. But I'll give you the rundown. It sucks. Like 11 is awful. Like you can't be outside for longer than like 10 minutes before you're just like this. It hurts. Like it physically hurts to be outside when it's 11 degrees.

[00:06:33] It doesn't matter how many clothes you have on. Any skin that's exposed is starting to get frostbite. It's just not good. I have only lived in Southern California. But when I was 10, I don't know, my little sister had to have surgery. Well, we didn't know she had to have surgery. She had to go to the Mayo Clinic. She had this like weird thing going on with her knee and no one could figure it out here. And it was a whole thing.

[00:06:57] And so my dad being the adventurous man that he is, was like, instead of being like a normal person and just flying with your wife and your five-year-old daughter to Minnesota, he bought a camper for his truck and was like road trip with my four girls across the United States. And that movie, The Perfect Storm, which I've never seen, was based off of like a real blizzard. We were in that blizzard in Minnesota and it was below zero.

[00:07:28] And I think that was, I've hated snow since then. Not a big fan. That's sort of why I moved to San Diego. And when people are like, hey, let's go up to Big Bear and go hang out in the snow. I'm like, I didn't move 3,000 miles to go back to the snow and pay a lot of money to go sit in the snow. So that's just me. I honestly don't have a few thoughts on it. I mean, a couple of thoughts.

[00:07:56] The one biggest thought I had was, and tell me if you felt sort of the same way. It felt like there was a big shift in acceptance of Donald Trump as president. It didn't feel like in 2016 or 2017 when he was inaugurated, it didn't feel quite like so much resistance.

[00:08:19] Like there wasn't, I know people marched and stuff like that, but it felt like people were just like, okay, he's president again. And here we are. And maybe that's because I saw all the tech giants like Tim Cook and Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, who we know is a big Trump guy.

[00:08:37] And the guy from Google, which you sent me Google last night, and I was surprised to see that they had fireworks in the American flag for Donald Trump's inauguration when you searched it, which I was like, it wasn't, you know, the home screen wasn't some like Eskimo slam poetry writer, like their birthday or something like commemorating them. It was literally like it was inauguration day. It was fireworks, American flags. It felt like there was a shift in culture. And I think there's a lot more people who are like, okay, Trump's president. Here we go.

[00:09:07] You know, what are his policies? It didn't feel like so much of like the world throwing a temper tantrum to him being president again. But maybe that is just, maybe I'm seeing it through rose colored glasses. I agree. I mean, there's always going to be the squeaky wheels. I agree. But it feels like the temper tantrum shifted towards Musk, which is funny because he's not technically in office. He's just sort of like, yeah, they call him the first body.

[00:09:35] And it's like people are hating on him over Trump. Then they hate Trump. And they're like, there's this weird, like, well, you're associated with Trump. So therefore we hate you. And his whole that movement, which I feel like I do that a lot here. I feel like I'm always on this podcast. Like, I don't know. It just my hand just goes to my heart. And like, I just do that in life.

[00:10:01] But I'm annoyed because Elon Musk gets known that he's autistic. And I just feel like all these people, it's like, have you never seen an autistic person overwhelmed with emotion? And they have all these uncontrollable hand motions and body motions, if you will. And this podcast is not about Musk, but Musk was abused by his father. He's obviously a genius. And I feel like, and I could be wrong, but I feel like he was probably bullied throughout school.

[00:10:27] And maybe he didn't have a lot of friends because he was very socially awkward and different and didn't necessarily with most people. And so now here he is pretty much accepted. Like, people just love him. He's very accepted. And then his buddy Trump, he said this inauguration. And I feel like he was just, like, overwhelmed with emotion, excitement, and joy, and just reacted accordingly. But people want to be like, no, he's a Nazi.

[00:10:56] And then, sure, there's the right-wing extremists who are like, yay, Heil Hitler, all that. But, like, that doesn't mean that that's what Musk's intent or heart was. And I feel like that also overshotted a lot of the inauguration. It was most of the news. And I didn't watch the inauguration all day. That's actually why I searched it. I was looking for stuff last night and searched inauguration 2025. And that's when I saw the little fireworks and American flags come up. And then I texted you all in the group text. It was like, let's go look how cute.

[00:11:24] But anyway, that's my thoughts on the inauguration. I think they were really scraping the bottom of the barrel if that's all they had was stretching this whole Elon thing. That's what they're running. And then how it's, you know, so opinions are flying about it on X. And therefore, that goes back to Musk now because he's allowing right-wing extremists to say, like, we are so back, Hitler, yada, yada, yada.

[00:11:50] Like, as if it's up to Musk to get, like, you can do anything. And people are going to have opinions about it. And opinions aren't just that. They're not fact. I have all kinds of opinions. And they're not fact. And people disagree with me. And my opinions are probably wrong on many levels. But just because I have an opinion about something doesn't mean that that's, like, what we need to run with. And that's where people need to, like, stop the nonsense. And again, I'm totally guilty of that. I am absolutely, like, I have this opinion.

[00:12:20] And now I'm going to run with that. And that's my emotion. And that's just where I'm at. But collectively, like, 40% of America or whatever are being like, well, see, Musk, Hitler, Trump. Like, I think I tweeted something like, this is really, really not creative hate. Like, be better if you want to be hateful. Like, well, Hitler ate food once. Therefore, Trump ate food. And he's a Nazi. Right. Get over yourself, people. Yeah.

[00:12:49] I mean, they're grasping. I didn't really watch. Actually, I saw a tweet thread or X thread or whatever you call it about all, like, the media flub ups or, like, failures. And it was funny to watch. I didn't want to watch, like, CNN or anybody like that. It wasn't, like, election night where I wanted to revel in the fact that Trump won.

[00:13:15] I was more like, I just want to watch and, like, enjoy the inauguration without snarky comments. So we'll see. I love that he's back to bantering with the media. That's always fun. I love how he banters with the media and, you know, calls them out. I'm sure that's a big change to the media who has not been used to arguing with a president or anything like that. So flurry of executive orders. We'll see what happens.

[00:13:40] He's supposed to come to California on Friday regarding the wildfires so he can look at the wildfire damage, which is actually a perfect segue into our first segment for the night talking about the wildfires themselves. There were actually a couple of fires here. I don't know if they were naturally caused down here in San Diego. There were a couple fires. There's still questions of whether that was actually natural or was that was it arson?

[00:14:09] But looking at the Cal Fire update as of right now, let me see. Make sure I refresh this so I get the top. Oh, this is actually going on right now. They added San Diego as well. Palisades fire up in L.A. is still 65% contain. The Eaton fire is 89%. Palisades 23,713.

[00:14:37] Eaton fire has burned 14,000 acres. And San Diego, a couple fires. One is 100% contained. One is 50% contained. And one is 0% contained. So one was in Mission Valley, which is a little too close for comfort for me. But I think that one's under control. They said the evacuation order was lifted on that one.

[00:15:03] But in terms of another update, I guess this is a pseudo cringe moment of the week. But I want to talk about this because this has really been making the rounds. This is from this is let's see how you make sure I do this. This is Newsom talking about the idea of rebuilding L.A. and what it's going to look like. So here we go.

[00:15:31] And rewind a little bit. And here we go. I was just talking to Josh Green, the governor of down in Hawaii. You had some ideas about some land use concerns he has around speculators coming in, buying up properties and the like. So we're already working with our legal teams to move those things forward. And we'll be I was just talking. It's a short video.

[00:15:59] But if you I think the thing that grabbed people's attention that was kind of cringy about him was this little dance. What was what was this little dance that he was doing? He was talking about I talked to Josh Green down in Hawaii and we're talking about rebuilding. And he's like, we're rebuilding L.A. And this is what it's he like got a little too excited about. We're rebuilding. What happened? No, it's for real.

[00:16:25] Well, he's psychologically like I wanted to know, like, psychologically what is going through his head. And I don't know. But he says down in Hawaii. And I think he started to like luau. I think he was like belly dancing. Maybe he was trying to be like, this is what they do in Hawaii. They luau. So funny because Newsom is an excellent politician. I mean, he is the like epitome of politician with the hand motions. And like, he's very well spoken.

[00:16:54] You know, he's very articulate. And he's always got the look and he's always prepared and all that. So then all of a sudden when he broke into that, I like I sincerely was like, what is going on here? And I'm like, luau. He just went straight to like belly dancing. I didn't think of that. That's a good point. Maybe he just thought maybe he was just thinking drifting away on those Hawaiian sounds. You're just thinking down in Hawaii. They're talking about, you know, luau and how they're rebuilding Maui.

[00:17:24] But it is a little weird. It's weird for him to be talking about rebuilding L.A. And doing this kind of like, oh, we're going to talk about rebuilding. It's exciting. And you had sent me something about. So out of touch. In all of his benevolence. Still burning. Like, it's just.

[00:17:45] In all of his benevolence, our esteemed and sympathetic ruler, Gavin Newsom, told the people whose houses have now burned to the ground. There's nothing left of him. He said, don't worry. You don't have to pay your property taxes right now. You can pay them later. On the house that's been burned down. Now, obviously, you're paying on the property. I get it. I know people are going to be like, you're paying on the property.

[00:18:11] But it feels kind of like, well, we're just going to delay it six months. You don't have to pay right now. You can pay later this year, your property tax, which is still do. Enjoy your burnt down house. I agree about that. I have a whole reel on my Instagram about that. Because it, like, it bugged me for days. And I just needed to get it out. Yeah. It's kind of. That's tone deaf to tell people as if that's a good thing.

[00:18:41] That you don't have to pay your property taxes when your house is gone. He literally says this. He's standing in front of someone's burnt down house. And he's like, I signed this executive order. Which, okay, yes. Absolutely. I agree with that. But it felt like a breadcrumb. You know, like, standing in front of your burnt down house telling you that you can wait to pay your property taxes. Most of you probably know property taxes are generally split into two payments.

[00:19:11] One being due in around December. And then another one in April-ish. I think that's how pretty much most property taxes work. And your property taxes are based on your land value and your improvement value. And then there's taxes on top of those. And depending on where you live, obviously you have different. My property tax bill is going to be different from yours. All that. There's a cap on how much of a percentage that the state can charge. But then they have little things.

[00:19:39] And if you are in a fire zone, you typically do pay more. Or like there's an extra whatever. So your property taxes in LA, the city of LA, are going towards the mayor's salary. They're going towards your school systems. They're going towards infrastructure. They're going towards, what else are they going towards? Fire, firefighters, first responders, police, et cetera, et cetera.

[00:20:04] So we're standing in front of this house being like, I know you lost your home. So you don't actually have improvement value on your property taxes anymore. There's no improvement value there. Your land value likely went down. Karen Bass wasn't even in the country when this all started. The firefighters weren't able to save your home and your children don't have a school. But you now have an extended deadline to pay the property taxes.

[00:20:32] Like, oh my gosh, that's such a slap in the face. And of course, yes. But I just feel like it was almost like, well, duh. Of course their property taxes can be extended now. Like, I just, obviously. But property taxes. Property taxes. Let's go home, Newsom. Go home. Yeah, it is incredibly tone deaf.

[00:21:02] It is just, you know, this whole thing has been a disaster for him, public perception wise, how he hasn't been able to handle this. You know, we all know he's going to run for president in 2028. We all know he's trying to maneuver his way through and blame other people on this. And he's not coming out smelling like roses, which is why they're probably pivoting as fast as possible to sue Donald Trump.

[00:21:30] I saw on the San Francisco Chronicle, which I posted right before we hopped on here, that they are now suing Donald Trump over birthright citizenship. We're not going to get into that in terms of, like, what that's all about. I haven't even really looked into it. I know it's a disputed legal question whether or not the 14th Amendment does it. I'm sure people might come at me and say it's unequivocally. That's not the point of tonight's episode. I haven't read into it. So I'm just going to say, I don't know.

[00:22:00] I haven't read it to form a legal opinion about it. I'll watch your opinion when you do. Okay. Pretty much said it to you, though. I was like, hey, find this out. Let me know. Yeah, I'll have to look into it a little bit more. But that wasn't the point of tonight's episode. So they're trying to pivot as fast as possible away from the fires, because I think now there's a huge spotlight on L.A.

[00:22:22] And like we talked about last week about salaries and disclaimer, just to address the fact that sometimes when you start to grow a little bit of a following on social media and people who listen to your podcast, sometimes you're going to get a troll who comes out from under the bridge. And there was one particular troll who wanted to make a whole deal about how we talked about salaries related to the L.A. Department of Water and Power.

[00:22:51] And I guess he thought that it was. It was okay for them to get paid that much money. And I don't remember ever saying it in the video that was on Instagram about how they're funded. They are funded by rates, not by taxpayers. So that's just clarification, which to me, I'm just going to say this. I think that sounds way worse if the L.A.

[00:23:19] D.W.P. is funded by rates and you're paying a lot of your employees almost a million dollars, which makes me think you may be gouging the citizens of L.A. by making them pay exorbitant rates to fund these salaries. But that's besides the point. Well, there's taxes on those. On your property taxes, you pay a rate, but there's a tax on that rate.

[00:23:44] And I should have sent you because I definitely looked at a lot of images of actual property tax bills. Because you can just pretend like you're trying to pay your taxes and type in an address. And I was typing in like addresses of homes that were probably lost in the Palisades area and looking at property taxes. And it won't put the name, but you can find the address and everything and look through the actual what are they being charged for. And there's taxes on those rates.

[00:24:13] So, yes, in fact, taxpayers. But yes, then they're gouging the rates. Which, you know, they're all Karen Bass and Gavin Newsom. And they're like, I'm going to do this now every time I say Gavin Newsom. That's just going to be our new thing for Gavin Newsom. It's all just in advance, but I'm just going to go on to my Luau mode, you know. But, you know, they're saying like they put out these statements that anyone caught price gouging.

[00:24:42] Like, no, you've been price gouging for years. That's the job. If I hear Robert Reich talk about how much CEOs may compare to entry-level positions. I looked this up this weekend because it was bugging me. I was like, okay, let me just look this up. Entry-level position in the LA Department of Water and Power. The starting pay is $56,000.

[00:25:08] $56,000 I don't think in Los Angeles can buy you a room or rent a room in LA if you share it with six other people. Like, that's despicable. And yet the CEO is getting paid $750,000. And you have people who are making overtime of almost a million dollars. Like, yeah. I don't want to hear Robert Reich talk about how private CEOs, they make so much money over their entry-level people.

[00:25:36] And it's like, okay, but let's talk about these public monopolies that are granted by the government and how much their CEOs are getting paid. As opposed to the entry-level people who are at $56,000 probably couldn't afford anything in Los Angeles. So, we got all that. And I wonder if you're not against people making a fair wage. But I do believe that when it comes to politics, you're a public servant. You're supposed to be from that area. You're serving the people of your area.

[00:26:04] You probably ran, hopefully ran, because you were like, I feel like I could maybe fix these things or improve on things. Or I would be good at handling these things. And I just think, no, there should be term limits for everything, including Congress. Run and serve your people and not for the money. And, you know, a decent salary, yes. And then move on. Let someone else do the job.

[00:26:30] And, I mean, it's just like you hear people, like, tax the churches. They're doing this and this isn't. And, like, yeah, I get that to a point. But I think a pastor should draw a salary that, you know, from their church that is – it makes sense for whatever reasons. But if they write a book and that book takes off, like, they earned that money fair and square, I think.

[00:26:53] But, yeah, when it comes to the politicians where we know that these are public jobs, you're not a public servant for almost a million dollars. Like, no. And LA is expensive, but $750, that's going to get you really far. Yeah. Speaking of where the money is going to these public servants, these people at the top, I can tell you where it's not going.

[00:27:19] It's not going to the LA Fire Department, the actual department. So it's not making it down to the actual department. So we talked about Kristen Crowley, who was the chief last week, making almost $440,000 a year. And then we found a captain who, through open the books, was making $800,000 a year, $600,000 just through overtime alone.

[00:27:43] But it's not making it down to the actual departments where the firefighters, the people who are the first responders, are getting out there. I found this video on X, and I want to share it because I saw it and was like, people have to see this because this is unbelievable. And, you know, it will open your eyes to the mismanagement of Los Angeles in terms of how they're treating their firefighters, especially now in the midst of the wildfires. So let me pull this up right now.

[00:28:15] And there are some that are even dangerous. Over the past few days, I've probably been to 20 firehouses, and what I've seen has been absolutely infuriating. It is impossible to get anything fixed. Most of the firemen I've talked to this week do the repairs at the stations themselves with their own money. I'm not exaggerating this. The very first firehouse I pulled up to, there were firemen in the back filling in a pothole with sand. If LAFD finds out you've made any of your own repairs, you're punished.

[00:28:43] I have talked to firemen that have to barter supplies with other stations to get the supplies that they need. At the next station, when I asked the fireman if I can come in and document the damage, he said, just take pictures of the outside of the building and you'll know what the inside is like. This fire station, its garage door has been broken for a year. They've begged and begged LAFD in to fix it, who was punishing them for not having quick enough response times. And it got repaired this week only because the local community stepped in and fundraised money.

[00:29:12] There's stuff like this citywide. And LAFD is terrified you'll find out because they know you'll be pissed. The mold infestation at Los Angeles fire station 112 was so bad, it sent its fire chief to the hospital. He was on life support for three weeks. His leg turned black and they had to amputate his thumb.

[00:29:30] That to me, I heard that story and went, this is unbelievable that in a city with Karen Bass as the mayor who is trying to pretend like they haven't cut any money from the budget and how much they're paying the people at the top of the LA fire department. If you're listening on audio, I highly suggest you go find this video. It was on access from the free press. Just type in Los Angeles fire department and free press and you'll find it.

[00:29:59] The shape of these buildings is despicable. And this is what they're giving our first responders in Los Angeles who are now out there risking their lives fighting wildfires. These buildings look like they should be condemned and no one lives in them. Like the windows are all blacked out. They're falling apart. The paint's coming off. I've just heard that story about the fire chief lost his thumb because of mold.

[00:30:28] Like this is disgusting. And this is how they're treating them. And you get punished if you try and fix anything yourself, which is insane to me that the city punishes you. If you use your own money and sacrifice your own finances to fix these departments that are clearly falling apart just to make them operate like just basic necessities. The garage door has to open so the fire trucks can get out. Like, let's start there.

[00:30:57] That should be a basic thing for most fire departments. But the community had to come together and raise money and pay for them to fix the garage door. I mean, that is this video. When I heard the whole mold story, I was like, this is unbelievable, especially in the light of everything that's been going on in Los Angeles. And all the money we talked about last week going to salary. So what are your thoughts?

[00:31:19] Well, yeah, you know, I don't know if all firehouses operate the same, but I think their shifts are usually like two days on. So they are quite literally living at the firehouse until they're called out to a job for, I think, like two days. Like I just said, like, I think it's like 48 hours. They're there. They're sleeping there. They're working out there. They're cooking there. It's their second home.

[00:31:47] And would you expect someone to live in those conditions? Like, is that, you know, for all of you who are so compassionate about like, you know, everyone needs a home. Would you expect them to live in these conditions? Do you want to live in these conditions? Do you live? Do you choose to live in these conditions? Like, no. No.

[00:32:07] Have Karen Bass go down and visit that one fire department where the guy lost his thumb because of a mold infestation. Make her drink the tap water and sit there and eat a meal and hang out there for a few hours. Yeah. She doesn't have to stay overnight. Just go there and see how bad it is. You know, if she thinks everything's fine. Okay. Go have lunch with the firemen down there at that fire station.

[00:32:34] If you're too scared to go because there's a mold problem, then maybe you need to address that. All right. Let's keep watching. It's halfway through. So. Mold is a huge problem. It isn't just one fire department. It's like 15 and very well documented. Going back to station 112. After complaints and complaints, I talked with a guy who self-financed his own mold test.

[00:33:02] When the inspector came, he told him it was the worst case of mold he'd seen in his life. Another fireman here refused to go into the kitchen because every time he did, his face would break out and hide. The firemen here were sleeping on the fireboat until their higher up told them they had to stop doing that because it looked bad. Why is this like this? There's multiple reasons, but the biggest is the union. An active fireman told me there's a lack of funding, goes nowhere bureaucracy, inaccessible chain of commands, and mismanagement.

[00:33:29] So look, I'm not intimate with this union's policies, but if it's any indication, they might have the one flagpole I have seen in the city that's not flying at half-mast. Seems like they have a lot of respect. A fireman told me every fireman in the city are terrified to talk to you. This is actually the reason why firemen can't talk to media. As the firemen told me, it's their way of damage control. And anyone knows if they talk to media, they'll be fired.

[00:33:54] I've had a gut-wrenching week talking to people who have lost their houses every single day. And this is the first story where I've had someone in tears in front of me. I need to thank Watchdog LA for pointing me in the direction of these stories. Over the next few weeks, you're going to see people behind podiums downtown being like, These are our city's heroes. And I just want you to know. What's going on, everybody? I want to take a quick minute and talk about today's sponsor for our show, Stopbox.

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[00:35:19] So go to stopbox.com forward slash California Underground for your discount. And let's get back to the show. Yeah. I mean, that does upset me. And it's just the hypocrisy. It's the hypocrisy of those elected officials in L.A. who get up at the podium, and they say all the right things, and they say, no, we love our first responders, and we give them the best, and we are so thankful for them.

[00:35:47] And it's like, really, are you thankful for them? Because they're out there getting mold infestation and infection and going to the hospital and losing limbs. And they are living in complete squalor, and you're trying to stand there behind a podium and praise them. And I think this goes back to Kristen Crowley. She's the head of it. Buck stops there. And I know she's trying to point the finger related to the wildfires at everybody else but herself.

[00:36:18] She's saying, well, it's their fault. It's the L.A. and D.W.P.'s fault. We didn't get enough money. They cut our budget. You're still the head of the fire department, which gets, what, $800 million? Like, that's what they got for this year, was almost $800 million. Almost a billion dollars. You can't properly maintain firehouses. Like, let's start there.

[00:36:43] Let's go back to the basics of, can you properly take care of the people who are fighting fires? It's kind of like the same way that the school systems are run. Mm-hmm. It's like, it's at the top. They were sitting in their, you know, comfortable offices, getting up the podiums here and there. They're just raking in all kinds of money while the actual schools and the teachers are the ones not getting.

[00:37:13] Getting, well, the schools as far as like, I know they have often like broken air conditioning and heating systems and run down bathrooms and this and that. And of course, we constantly hear about teachers don't make enough money. They don't, they barely make a living wage. Meanwhile, all the administrators are just raking it in. Yeah.

[00:37:33] So again, this kind of goes with our theme last week where we are, and maybe this is good for, it's horrible to say that it's good. It's, it's good that it is, this has happened and people are starting to look at how much these officials are making.

[00:37:53] There's been a lot of talk about how much they're making and people like these independent journalists are going, okay, let's look into what's going on here. And if that starts to get these stories out and people start to investigate and people start to ask the real tough questions, that's ultimately good for the LA fire department and those firefighters because it exposes a light and someone's got to answer for it. Yeah.

[00:38:20] Um, I mean, I think maybe there's enough, maybe there's enough stuff that like, this is such a calamity. People are going to kind of right, left or center are going to look at this and go, there's a lot of questions. And I knew this, when this happened, that there's going to be a lot of questions. We'll be talking about these wildfires. I'm sure we will discuss this scenario and what's been going on with it for the next year.

[00:38:46] If not longer, I think we will touch upon this every so often. There'll be new stories that are coming out. Um, this is not going away just because the fires are contained and people move back in and try and rebuild. This is going to be an ongoing story. And LA, this might just show a lot of the rotten decay kind of pun intended, rotten decay of city government in LA. And maybe it kind of wakes people up to what's going on.

[00:39:16] So I don't know. Yeah. Um, speaking of rot and decay in city government, uh, headline story that we want to discuss is about the Oakland mayor. If you don't know Oakland mayor, Sheng Tao, probably should have figured out how to say her name before I hopped on. But anyway, she was recalled just recently.

[00:39:41] Um, but the bad news does not end for Sheng Tao now. She has now been indicted by the feds and is facing up to 95 years in prison. So, uh, this is an article from the San Francisco standard. I've become a fan of the San Francisco standard. Um, I've been using them a lot recently. I just feel like it's a, it's a different article. I don't know which way they lean. I just like their writing.

[00:40:11] Um, it's not the chronicle. It's the San Francisco standard. So there you go. You can go check it out and you don't need a subscription, which is nice as opposed to the chronicle, which always ask you for subscriptions. Uh, all right.

[00:40:23] So this is from the San Francisco standard Sheng Tao, who was ousted as Oakland mayor in a recall election in November has been indicted by a federal grand jury on bribery charges along with her boyfriend, Andre Jones and two brothers from the powerful Duong family owners of California waste solutions. We'll get to them in a little bit. Federal prosecutor said Tao received kickbacks from the Duongs in exchange for political favors.

[00:40:49] Those included paying for a negative mailer campaign and $95,000 in direct payments disguised as wages for a no show job for Jones. I didn't know that part. No show job. Well, so there was a negative mailer and then there was also a no show job. Like I was confused. Did this mailer actually go out or did they just disguise it? I don't know. I didn't understand that little clipboard there. Uh,

[00:41:19] I think they paid for it, which I don't think you're allowed to do because that's a contribution in kind and it probably exceeds the limit. Right. Um, as an Italian from New Jersey, I understand very much what a no show job is. Not that I've ever been on one. Um, it basically is you get paid to not show up or not work. Okay. You get put on the payroll and you get paid.

[00:41:47] Where Reddit, it felt like it was two different things. And I was very confused about like, was he responsible for this mailer and it didn't happen? I don't know. I was just sorry that that little piece confused me. I apologize. I think it, I think it was two things. I think it was the negative mailer campaign and $95,000 in direct payments to her boyfriend for a no show job. I would like that job. Well, who wouldn't like to get paid to just not do anything? For almost 100K. Why not?

[00:42:15] Um, Dow Jones and Duongs are charged with conspiracy aiding and abetting bribery concerning programs that receive federal funds conspiracy to commit honest services, mail fraud, aiding and abetting honest services, mail fraud. And two counts of aiding and abetting honest services, mail wire fraud.

[00:42:36] Andy Duong was also charged with lying to the FBI in a June 23 hour interview in which prosecutors said he denied any knowledge of payments to Jones. According to the indictment, Thao promised to purchase housing units from a company owned by the Duong brothers and to extend a recycling contract between the city and Calway Solutions. Thao argued to or agreed to appoint senior city officials selected by Duongs.

[00:43:04] In exchange, the Duongs and unnamed co-conspirator paid $75,000 for campaign mailers targeting Thao's rivals in the 2022 mayoral election and made $300,000 in payments for a no show job to Jones. After the election, the Duongs and the co-conspirator paid Jones $95,000 for the benefit of Jones and Thao with the promise of additional payments according to the indictment.

[00:43:28] In a written exchange around November 10th, 2022, Andy Duong and the unnamed co-conspirator acknowledged they were engaging in criminal activity. The indictment said, quote, so we may go to jail, but we are $100 million richer. The co-conspirator said in a message to Andy Duong, according to an excerpt listed in the indictment, quote, money buys everything. Duong replied, the co-conspirator replied, quote, you are right.

[00:43:56] Plus, we have a 10-year extension to recycling company. The indictment read attorneys representing. Oh, so this was the one part that really stood out to me. I mean, she is from the Bay Area, so not to be outdone. What do you think she blamed all of this on? Not that, you know, that she's innocent or that they got the wrong person. I bet you.

[00:44:26] Well, close. Close. They blamed it on racism. Oh, well, that. Yes. Okay. I. Of course. Yeah. It's obviously they're just going after her because of her race. They go on to say attorneys representing Andy Duong said the charges are baseless. An example of bias against Asian Americans.

[00:44:53] Quote, but disappointingly, Andy instead is today the most recent in a long line. This is their attorney in a long line of Asian Americans who unfairly are singled out and forced to pay a price for daring to be active in the political sphere. Their statement said at a press conference days after the June raid, thou struck a defiant tone. Quote, I have done nothing wrong. I can tell you with confidence that this investigation is not about me. I will not be charged with a crime because I am innocent.

[00:45:23] Well, surprise. Spoiler alert. You got charged with a crime. You got charged with a whole bunch of crimes because you're facing 95 years in federal prison for all of this stuff. So, a lot going on there. Pause. Time out. Because there's also a lot going on on our YouTube chat. So, just shout out to the chat. Thank you for being here. Okay. This is a good time. You found a lot of stuff because you went down the rabbit hole.

[00:45:52] And again, this is why I call Camille the best and fastest researcher in the West. She started to look into who California Waste Solutions, how they're involved, and what they've been doing. So, why don't you tell us what you found? What did I find? I sent it to you so that you don't know. Okay. So, I think the first thing I sent you was that they were involved in some shady business way back in 98, which is a long time ago. And, like, things can change.

[00:46:22] I think they became a business in 1992. So, they've been around for how long ago was 92? In my head, it's 10 years ago. That's, like, 33 years. Okay. Anyway, I'm glad we're all collectively doing math here. Yeah. I'm not a mathematician. We're a new-ish business. Mistakes can be made, yes. So, I don't think I have that article even open on my computer.

[00:46:50] But it was – I think there was a strike. People were saying they weren't being paid fair wages. Yeah. I have it up here and highlighted. It was one incident. Yeah. One incident. Well, depending on the incident. Yeah. So, this article is from 98. And then this goes way back.

[00:47:16] The upheaval at California Waste Solutions began this spring when its workers, almost entirely immigrants from Mexico, decided to organize a union. We're very unhappy about the wages. Almost everyone here makes $6 an hour, just a handful, or paid a little bit more. Workers also complained about conditions on the garbage line. There's no adequate eye protection against dust and grit from the recycled materials, they say. Sorry. I just want to say that was like in 98, 99, $6 was minimum wage.

[00:47:45] I remember my first job making minimum wage in the 90s, in the late 90s. Yes. Although the company provides gloves, workers still get cut on the picket line. Francisco Hernandez showed a deep gash on one of his fingers. When a glass bottle got stuck in the line, it cut right through my glove when I tried to get it loose. Other workers showed similar cuts, abrasions, and eye inflammations they said were due to the job.

[00:48:11] So, these Duongs don't run a very up-and-up business. They don't run a great business. Pulling up our doubts because there was more. He goes on to say, not only that, but the city had basically set Duong up in business, giving him a loan of $350,000 for the express purpose of purchasing vehicles. So, this goes way back, Oakland's corruption with this company.

[00:48:39] This is not like, you know, Sheng Tao is not the first person to deal with them. It looks like their history goes way back in Oakland, farther and farther. There was even stuff I didn't add to the notes, and so now I can't really speak on it. But there was things with them, going back to the 90s and early 2000s, of bribery with city council members and stuff. So, contracts.

[00:49:05] I don't know if every California county or city or whatever is run this way, but for the most part, like, you and I don't need to go out and pick our trash and recycling company. Our cities have our emblems. And then whether we pay it on our property taxes or directly to the company. Like, I know my company is Republic, and they pick up my trash recycling yard waste organics, all the things. Like, it's all run by Republic.

[00:49:28] So, it sounds like in Oakland, the same setup, but they were originally had contracts for the trash and recycle, but then eventually got rid of cow waste for trash and then only had them for recycle. And there, so another article that I sent you was regarding their gouging, price gouging of multi-units.

[00:49:56] So, like apartment complexes, they were charging landlords far more, like four times more, four times as much as they should be for picking up curbside carts. And so, a lawsuit happened in 2017 against, it was like the city or maybe the landlords against Cal Waste Solutions for saying like, hey, you've been overcharging us and by lots of money. Well, so that was 2017.

[00:50:25] And then they ended up settling the lawsuit in 2021 for over $6 million. And also part of the settlement was agreed upon that instead of charging them $134 per cart as they had been, it was now like $38 per cart, which is very significant. Huge, huge savings. I mean, huge. Huge.

[00:50:46] I don't know if you want to pull any of this up or if you just want me to walk it through or whatever, but in 2020, okay, so they settled this lawsuit 2021 for over $6 million. 2020, they got, let me reference my notes, forgiven PPP loan of $6,808, like literally almost $7 million forgiven.

[00:51:10] And then they turned around and settled the lawsuit just, you know, the following year, months later for just over or just under that amount. So how convenient to get free, almost $7 million and then be like, oh, hey, let's settle this lawsuit now. And I don't know exactly how that went down. Settlements are usually, you know, private, but shady, very shady. Yeah.

[00:51:38] So it says right here, I'm going to highlight it so people can see. A settlement was reached in 2021 with CWS agreeing to refund landlords for a total of more than $6 million to significantly reduce their monthly service rate going forward. And then you had shown me something else. You had connected the dots. So let me pull that up as well. You can look this up because it's public knowledge.

[00:52:00] So then here is their PPP borrower search and they were given, like you said, $6.8 million and 6.8 was forgiven by our federal government. Why there was the total forgiven is higher than the. Yeah. I don't know why they gave them more in forgiveness. Why did they do? I'm like, but I was, I wasn't going to go into that. I'm like, whatever. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:52:29] But yeah, they took out 6 million and then a year later they somehow settled for 6 million. I mean, that, that does reek of corruption and shadiness. Like this company is, they are deep, deep in corruption in the Bay Area. And, uh, Sheng Tao is one of the, well, I guess they're all finally going down because of this federal indictment.

[00:52:53] Uh, someone who is connected to them, um, well, has been a recipient of their contributions has been gubernatorial candidate and current attorney general, Rob Bonta. Uh, Rob Bonta. He's not running for. Rob Bonta. Yeah. He's running. He's running for attorney general again. Right. Yeah. I thought he was running for governor. I have it open. Hold on. I was pretty sure he was running for governor.

[00:53:23] I. Nope. It says. Fact check this. Not to. But I'll just. Did you, wait, do you have an answer? I thought it was. That's right. Not to say that he can't change his mind. He's, he's for 2026. 2026. He has filed to run for attorney general. Ah, I thought he announced he was running for governor. I've seen his name alongside everybody else. So if he did and then change his mind. Right.

[00:53:52] Um, so anyway, regardless, he's running for attorney general. My mistake. Running for a statewide position again. And, and attorney generals, I mean, you should probably be on layup with your ethics. Yeah. I mean, uh, makes sense. If you're this kind of business that gets in a lot of legal trouble, you want to get really close with the state's attorney general. Yes. That's what I'm like. They have given him a lot of money and it's kind of like, Hey, we like you stay away from us.

[00:54:22] Yeah. In. Let's see. In 20, actually 2003 when he ran for, oh, that's Bustamante. Uh, heiress when she going way back. I mean, they're like giving prominent Democrats who running in these high statewide positions, a lot of money. When he ran for assembly, he got, uh, 2018, he got $8,800 2020 for assembly. He got $8,700, uh, for attorney general, he got $8,100.

[00:54:51] Um, he, they even donated to his wife's campaign $4,900. Um, so there are a lot of, uh, Democrats, Tony Thurman, who I believe is Tony Thurman is running for governor. Uh, yes. Yes. So he got money. Um, but it, it does feel like, and there's, and there's something wrong with donating to

[00:55:21] politicians, but, um, like it was like the treasurer, the secretary of state. I swear. It just felt like, Hey, look at us. We, we, we help. We're here. We give all this money. So don't actually look at us, like, look at us as financial help, but don't look at us as shady finances. Right. Um, so we'll see how this goes. This will be an interesting case to follow, but, uh, Oakland mayor who's been recalled

[00:55:46] shing thou, uh, she not having a good year recalled out of the mayorship. And now she's facing 95 years in prison. So it's a lot of years. Um, it's a lot of years. Um, I imagine they call that a lifetime or probably two life sentence. I don't know. Uh, but that's a long time to be sitting in federal prison for all this.

[00:56:09] Uh, so last story of the night, um, that I did want to get to is regarding a local story down here in San Diego. Uh, so if you don't know the story, you're not from San Diego. There was floods last year because we had a ton of rain. So last year, 2024, there was a ton of rain, very wet.

[00:56:36] I guess you could say wet winter is very heavy with the rainfall. Um, South San Diego, which I would say is probably, they call it the underserved community of San Diego. Um, not the ritziest part of San Diego had a lot of their homes destroyed. Uh, people had to rebuild. Um, people were underwater. It was just, it was a disaster.

[00:57:05] Like it, it just absolute calamity. It looks like a hurricane aftermath. It did. That's a good way to put it. That's a perfect way to put it is like, if you look at all that footage of like in Florida or in the South, when a hurricane hits, that's what South San Diego looked like last year. Like people were taking boats to like get down the street. Like that's how bad it was. Mostly because the city is not maintaining that part of San Diego and they're not keeping up with the storm drains. They're not keeping up with the infrastructure.

[00:57:35] Um, remember they were trying to raise our sales tax in here, say down here in San Diego just for that purpose. Although really the purpose was to plug that huge deficit hole that they had and then use some of it for infrastructure. But you know, whatever the devil's in the details, that's why you don't ever vote for any of these bonds or anything like that. Um, so I want to watch this quick video. I saw it the other day. Uh, they were reporting on this and I was like, yeah, what happened to those, those poor people down in San Diego?

[00:58:03] So we're going to watch this as an update from NBC seven after this ad goes away. Awkward silence. Just awkward silence. Cause I'm waiting for this ad to go away. Oh no, we got it. Anyway, uh, let me refresh the page. Let's see if we can get that, get it that way. Now there's another commercial. Okay. NBC seven. Um, you want to put more ads before I get to your news? I don't want to call them out too much. They're, they're good. They like you. They, they do.

[00:58:33] So I'm not going to call them out too much. I like NBC seven. So they, they have me on and let me come on and talk about elections. So can't complain about that, but boy, does it take a long time for them to get through their ads. I think I pay those bills somehow. So anyway, if you want to advertise with us, see, this would be the perfect, the perfect time. It'd be your perfect time. And put you right across. We can just do a live show. Read just like Ben Shapiro does. Okay.

[00:59:02] So for this, anyone in the chat, tell us where you're watching from. You don't have to talk to yourself. Just count your city or whatever. Yeah. Let us know where you're watching from. We like to hear where people are watching from just because like it's a big state, I don't know where people are watching. Are you a new subscriber? Are you just doing it? Like, have you just found us recently? Yeah. Yeah. Just want to share. Okay. Okay. Now we got the video. I'm going to pull it up. So here we go.

[00:59:34] San Diego's historic flooding displaced more than 1,200 people and damaged thousands of homes. Tonight, NBC7's Janet Casada spoke with presidents about recovery efforts and city leaders about the progress the city has made over this past year. Many flood victims have returned to their homes, but others still have a long road of recovery ahead. The water was this high. Harold Roberts is among the hundreds of San Diegans still recovering from the devastating floods last January.

[01:00:03] So that's why I said it was perfect. How you described it, if you're really seeing on audio, you're not seeing this on video. The image right now of people, it looks like a hurricane. Like it looks like people are getting washed away, which they are literally getting washed away. The home he's lived in for 25 years sits on Beta Street, one of the areas severely affected by the rising waters. The water came through here. Boom. He still hasn't been able to move back in.

[01:00:33] The floors, they had to come out. We had to do this whole back window. A process he describes as stressful, very stressful. A few doors down, Greg Montoya's home was also flooded. He's among many flood victims suing the city over the damage the water caused. Montoya says before the floods, he made several requests on the city's Get It Done app to clean out Choise Creek because it posed a flood risk.

[01:01:01] That day at 122-24, there was no storm drains, any. The creek was clogged at the bridge. This is non-functional. And the only storm drain that is functional was clogged. District 4 Council Member Henry Foster represents the area. In November, he asked Mayor Todd Gloria to allocate $5 million in relief funds for flood victims.

[01:01:25] I think it's prioritizing and investing in our underserved communities. Again, this is about obligation. And I think sometimes we tend to cater to what we like to term high-revenue generating areas.

[01:01:47] And we don't put the proper attention in the residents that I feel played a significant part in making the City of San Diego what it is. District 9 Council Member Sean Eloy Rivera recognizes the city is in a tough budget situation, but also acknowledges many flood victims are still struggling. My hope is that San Diego across the city hasn't forgotten what it looked like to have San Diegans

[01:02:15] displaced from their homes, displaced from the neighborhoods, that there is a disaster that people are still recovering from. And we will make the necessary investments to make sure that we do everything we can to prevent that in the future. Meanwhile, Montoya says he will continue fighting for his neighborhood. I want a concrete statement, a concrete with dates and times when stuff is going to be done. And if it's not going to be done, that they are held liable. Janet Quesada, NBC7.

[01:02:45] Let's get that guy on the show. Yeah, I like that guy. I like that guy. The Montoya guy. So going back 2024, these floods happen. Infrastructure was not taken care of, as Montoya pointed out in that video. Storm drains were not well maintained. San Diego has this app, which I believe was created when Kevin Faulkner was mayor. And it worked really well when Kevin Faulkner was mayor. It's called the Get It Done app.

[01:03:13] So what it is, is basically it's a portal. It's an app on your phone. You can take pictures and you can show the city like, hey, this sidewalk needs to be cleaned or someone left garbage or like a whole number of things. I've, you know, I've used it to say like, hey, you forgot to pick up my garbage like you're supposed to. And they come and they pick it up. But what he's referring to is that he has put in all these Get It Done reports to the city and they were never completed.

[01:03:41] So he's telling the city through this app that goes directly to them and it gets filtered to the necessary department that needs to do it, that he put in all these requests. Storm drains were not well maintained. This reservoir was not well maintained. Everything was clogged up. And this was all right before the floods. City of San Diego just completely ignored it. Um, now this was now they're crying the blues.

[01:04:07] So you hear the councilman from District 4 and then you hear Sean Elo Rivera, who's the president of the city council, now sporting a new North Park hipster kind of look. It looks like, um, now he's trying to say, well, there's a financial issue. We need to invest in these people more.

[01:04:26] And, um, now they're crying the blues that they don't have the money because the sales tax that they were trying to dupe San Diego citizens into passing, which again was to close the hole or fill the hole of their budget deficit. And then maybe use some for infrastructure was not passed. And now they have a problem of there's a huge budget deficit and they don't have money to fix this infrastructure.

[01:04:53] So this part of San Diego continues to go neglected. So now matter how much the councilman from District 4 talks about underserved communities, no matter how much Sean Elo Rivera talks about serving these people and what San Diego is supposed to look like and serving these people down here in Southern San Diego. None of them are serving any of them. And it comes back to the same question, which we were talking about with the fire departments and these huge budgets. You can't do the basic things.

[01:05:22] That's the incompetence is that you can't do as a city. You can't do the basic things. You can't clean storm drains. And I can't emphasize enough that like it's sad that these tragedies expose this, but it does help people see like, wait a second, what am I paying taxes for? Why did I elect these people?

[01:05:49] Maybe I should really look into who I'm electing and not just check their name because they're a D or an R because that's my party. Like people should be paying attention to what these local politicians are doing, because clearly most of them are just collecting a nice fat paycheck. And then they go on the news and cry the blues about how there's no money. Oh, there's no money for us or anything like that. And then they don't help you anyway. So that's my rant about this because, you know, I feel bad for these people. This is right in my backyard.

[01:06:18] And it's been a year and these people still are rebuilding. And the city of San Diego is just like, yeah, whatever. We'll get to it when we get to it. Todd Gloria got reelected, so he doesn't care. He's off doing whatever he wants to do. So anyway, any thoughts about that? Yeah. First off, yes, absolutely. First and foremost, the people. This is not fair to these people who who knows where they're having to live right now. And, you know, their homes are not livable yet.

[01:06:47] And they've probably lost things that were important to them. And that's all very, very sad and tragic, first and foremost. But second, it goes back to kind of like just what we always talk about, like you said, with the virus and everything. But California is such a beautiful state. We are, you know, we've got this entire, I don't even know how many miles of coastline. We have gorgeous beaches. And we have Yosemite. We have the Redwoods.

[01:07:15] We have got like Shasta Mountain and big beer that you don't like to go to. And it's just, it's a beautiful state. Like take everything, you know, out, away, ignore the politics. It is, and we have fantastic weather for the most part. It's a gorgeous state. The more we do this podcast, the more I'm saddened by what we are letting this state become and how there's lack of accountability. And no one can seem to budget for anything.

[01:07:44] And then it's constantly being passed on to the people via, you know, raising the taxes. And now people can't even like afford to do things because they're taxed to high heaven. And it's just like people are living paycheck to paycheck, just trying to survive. And, you know, we used to have this, like California used to be this pride of ownership with our homes that we could put money into our homes and our gardens and go on vacations and enjoy our state.

[01:08:13] And now I feel like the majority is just like, look, I'm just trying to eat and like keep my house clean. And now their houses are being burnt down and they're being flooded. And then they're adding extra taxes because these things happened and it just seems like San Diego government issues. I mean, I know Orange County has plenty of them, but Los Angeles issues. We've got San Francisco has issues like all up and down the state.

[01:08:41] Literally, the government is running the state into the ground. And now I'm going on my own rant, but it's like, it's very sad to me. Especially as someone who grew up here and has been, you know, camping and has traveled the state and just all the things. And yeah, sorry.

[01:09:02] No, I, it furthers my theory or strengthens my theory that these people who get in these positions are wholly not equipped to handle these type of disasters. They just aren't. Like we, we put these people in positions, we vote them in and, Oh, I don't know. I don't vote them in because I don't, I haven't voted for any of these people who are responsible for what's happening in LA or San Diego.

[01:09:30] Um, but I just think these people are not prepared. They have no idea how to handle a crisis because most of them are just on this upward trajectory of like, I want to make a career out of being a politician. Yeah. And how do I do that? I have to keep reaching. I have to run for Congress or something like that. Like it's always, I have to reach for the next brass ring. So they're not worried about doing their job. They're worried about how good can I make myself look to get to the next ring.

[01:10:00] And I imagine someone like Sean, Elo Rivera, his next thing is while you city council president, I can't wait until he announces in a couple of years that he's going to run for mayor. Cause that'll be the next thing. Cause he wants to run for mayor. Um, so I, I do want to get to some of these comments because the chat is full of life tonight, life tonight. So, uh, it's, uh, awesome that everyone is just going nuts. Um, captain Kirk asked, is that below the flood pain plane, or is it a lack of drainage?

[01:10:29] Um, my understanding it's a bit of both that it was, um, it is a little bit lower. So like that part of San Diego, like you come down off the Hill of San Diego, South San Diego, and like there's a Hill of San Diego and then it comes down in South San Diego. Uh, and that's, so it's, it's a little bit lower. So all the water runs down to South San Diego. And like that, that gentleman said, it is a lack of drainage. They just aren't taking care of the infrastructure down there.

[01:10:57] Um, GI Jose said the most basic thing is taking their paycheck and they can definitely do that. That's for damn sure. They can definitely check cash that paycheck paid by our taxes. Um, so let's see. Uh, people are checking in from Tulare County. What's up to there. Is it to layer to Tulare to Laurie? I can never get it. It's Tulare, right? Tulare. That's like, uh, Visalia above Bakersfield, right?

[01:11:26] I think it's Tulare County. Tulare. Okay. Tulare. Can you just like phonetically? Yeah. Like the two layer, um, checking in from San Francisco. Awesome. North Cal people. That's awesome. Um, Marietta. Awesome. It's your San Francisco politics. Like, how are you happy with them? I'm curious. Um, I mean, we just talked about Oakland, so they got a new mayor up in San Francisco.

[01:11:55] Hopefully that goes well for them. Uh, any other Camille said it right. So you got it right. Is it Tulare County? Tulare. Okay. Tulare. Got it. Um, yeah. So thanks everyone for tuning in. This has been a really great chat. And hopefully all you new people who found us, if you're new and you've just found the

[01:12:19] channel, um, definitely keep hitting that subscribe button and that notification button. And I'm feel like I'm cutting us off at the end of the show. Um, before I asked if you had any final thoughts on the show, I, I did have a thought or two, but now I think it's, it's escaped me. So next time. So yeah. Any thoughts tonight? Oh, there was one thing that that's really out of left field, not really out of left field.

[01:12:47] We were talking about the inauguration and I saw it right before you hopped on. Um, it's from Cal matters. We asked 58 California sheriffs about immigration enforcement under Trump. Here's what they said. I thought this was actually pretty interesting. Uh, I'm just going to read off those that are going to work with ice rather than those that are not going to work with ice. Uh, Fresno, John Zanoni emphasize how state law allows working with ice.

[01:13:15] Um, let's see, uh, Placer County, Wayne Wu also emphasized how state law allows working with ice, uh, Riverside, Chad Bianco. Obviously he's going to cooperate with ice. San Diego emphasize how state law allows working with ice. Kelly Martinez. She said she's going to, she's not gonna listen to the sanctuary status and San Francisco emphasize how state law allows working with ice.

[01:13:40] So I was surprised about San Francisco's actually thinking about working with ice, but it's going to be an interesting year, especially Trump is in office, a new governor coming in in a couple of years. So it's going to be a crazy year, but any other final thoughts? We've been, we went a little over tonight, but that's okay. I appreciate everyone who was here. I hope that you will continue to stay with us and, you know, let us know if there's anything

[01:14:05] specific you want us to talk about in California and yeah, thanks for being here. Uh, all right. So with that, make sure you like subscribe, hit that notification bell, all that stuff helps with the algorithm, especially on YouTube. Um, and the best thing you can do to support this show that is 100% free. It doesn't cost you anything is just go share it with someone. Just say, Hey, they talk a lot about California politics and what's going on and all the corruption. You better go check them out.

[01:14:34] So with that, we will see you on the next one later. Thank you for listening to another episode of California underground. If you like what you heard, remember to subscribe, like, and review it and follow California underground on social media for updates as to when new episodes are available.