September 17, 2025 • 30 mins
Phil Brock ex-mayor of Santa Monica gives his perspective on the city’s fiscal mismanagement
LA Times fails to publish real reasons for Santa Monica’s failures
No Menendez brother retrial
LA city councilwoman Katie Yaroslavsky refuses to take action on neighborhood homeless problems
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Can't. I am six forty.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
You're listening to the John Cobel podcast on the iHeartRadio app.
Yesterday we talked extensively about Santa Monica. And you may
not live anywhere near Santa Monica, you may not even
visit it, but it is really a symbol of what's
gone haywire in the entire state. Because the politicians are
(00:27):
so extremely progressive. They have an absurd homeless situation and
I see it every day. And they allowed with George
Floyd Riot, they allowed the writers to destroy a lot
of buildings, and now that and other things has led
(00:49):
the Third Street Promenade to be just left almost for dead,
and the Santa Monica Place, the big shopping mall there
is seventy percent empty. The revenues in town are way down,
and now they've run out of money. They've got some
kind of physical emergency. And you read Los Angeles Times
(01:10):
and it was sorry was much of it was about,
you know, one pedophile who somehow was able to abuse
hundreds of people he worked. He volunteered at the Police
Activities League, Eric Uhler, which its own separate bizarre scandal
mentioned in the story In the twenty third paragraph, Phil Brock.
(01:35):
It was not even a direct quote, but an allusion
to homelessness being an issue in Santa Monica.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Twenty third paragraph.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Took him twenty paragraphs before they mentioned Phil Brock's comment
on the tax revenue being down sharply the retailing tourism revenues.
Phil used to be the Santa Monica mayor up until
last year and also was a city councilman. Did not
make it through the last election. Let's get phill on.
(02:05):
He's been with us a few times on the show.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Phil. How are you.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
I'm good. I'm good. I wish my city was better,
but I'm great.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
What why is it? I mean, I'm sure you read
the La Times article. You were in it. Were you surprised?
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Were you shocked that that wasn't the thrust of the story.
How the homelessness and the perceived crime that the homelessness
brings has kept tourists out of their daily visitors out
of there and has helped ruin you know, the retail,
the retail businesses, the restaurant businesses, the promenade, the Santa
(02:44):
Monica Place, maw.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
I mean they barely glanced at that in the article.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Well, I spoke to the La Times reporters one of
the reporters for almost thirty minutes. An emphasis of mine
was on homelessness, the lack of reaction in the homelessness,
the fear factor that residents feel real or perceived in
downtown Santa Monica and throughout the city. And also lastly,
(03:11):
I talked about the fact that we knew there was
a problem with the budget. We've known this for a
long time. And last year, for instance, and budget deliberations,
I asked that every department reduced expenditures by four percent.
That would have given us about sixteen million, which would
have taken care of this year's deficit, plus given US
(03:33):
four million for more police officers, which we desperately need.
The city council rejected that. So, look at this is
a long time coming. The Euler issues have been going
since twenty seventeen, the voting rights lawsuit's been going since
twenty fifteen. So the fact that the city hasn't really
(03:57):
dealt with his problems, he's pushing him down, and then
on top of that, looks at the expenditures for the
city and feels that the cash cow will come in forever.
My view has always been the cash cow is people's
hard earned money that they're paying in taxes. It's our
obligation to keep the city safe. It's our obligation to
(04:19):
make sure as much as we can that the city
is prosperous. We're not succeeding in either. And Santa Monica.
You alluded to the fact that, look at, Santa Monica
has a great worldwide reputation that's being tarnished, and that's unfortunate.
We're still a wonderful city with great people. However, we
have to deal with the issues at hand and deal
(04:42):
with them promptly and with common sense. And in Santa Monica,
common sense is almost a forgotten luxury rather than a necessity.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
These writers, Saldor Hernandez, Richard Winton. You talked with him
for a half an hour. You told him everything that
you just told me, and almost none of it got
into the news article. What little did came twenty paragraphs in,
when most people have given up. I mean, how's the
public supposed to know what's really going on here? If
the largest newspaper in the city, Prince really garbage. This
(05:20):
was absurd. Who were they protecting here?
Speaker 4 (05:24):
Well?
Speaker 3 (05:25):
I don't think they know. They're protecting people. Those report
two reporters are not Santa Monica area residents. James Rainey
is the only reporter there who really has a connection
to Santa Monica. Have it graduated from Samohai doing stories
in the area that usually have more truth to them.
(05:46):
This lost over the real issues. And that's unfortunate because
you're right. Unless we have a real, transparent government and
a transparent press, then nothing gets accomplished because people aren't
alerted to the problems.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Why didn't you survive the last election for city councilor.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Well, very simple, I guess I was. Even though I'm
a lifelong Democrat, I was too conservative for the city.
The Santamnica dem Club and smur came out against me
and said I wasn't democratic enough, even though, for instance,
last August I had opened Kamala Harris's office in Henderson, Nevada,
(06:30):
helped open an office for in Reno. But they decided
that I wasn't I wasn't part of their cabal.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Well, it's not because being democrat isn't isn't good enough anymore.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
You have to be this whack job progressive and well.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
And that's a problem. You see that in LA. You
see what four or five council members in LA who
are socialist ebs. You see four, five, six of the
Santa Monica council members who are progressive gbs. They snowed
the residents because whether you're a renter or an owner,
(07:08):
you need you must. You want public safety. You want
to feel safe walking out of your apartment, even more
than a person is in a house who has a
fence around them, who has some protection. And we haven't
done that in Santa Monica. It's up to the voters
to wake up.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
But how do they not see it?
Speaker 2 (07:28):
I just drive there once or twice a day, and
it's glaringly obvious. I tried.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
I go there for a bagel every morning.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
I couldn't get into the bagel shop the other day
because there was a weird guy who looked like he
had washed it about six years who was talking to
himself and waving his arms in the air right at
the entrance, and I parked the car in front of
the shop, and it's like, all right, how am I
going to get around this lunatic?
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Well, this happens. Look at I see it every day,
and this is something I told you on your show.
A year ago and a year and a half ago
is very simple. It's the city can't do it all
on their own. The homeless issue is a federal, state
and county problem, and we need the mental health facilities,
(08:15):
we need the support, and look at Santamica does not
have enough police officers to be at every person's house
to chase away a homeless person who may be in
whether their house or on their property.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Did you hear me?
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Did you hear me talking about my other experience this
morning if someone told me about it?
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Yeah, yeah, I was. I drove into Santa Monica.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
I was usually a cut through street to get onto
twenty sixth. I'm looking at a house right in front
of me as I'm at the stop sign, and there's
a guy living on the front on the front wall.
They have a low front stone wall, and he's got
a billion possessions and bags and things. He's talking to himself.
He's all animated and upset about something. You know, his
(08:59):
imaginary friend said, I call nine to one one. I
got an interrogation from the nine to one one operator
who seemed suspicious about what my motivation was.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
Right, and that's unfortunate. Look at as the bottom line
is we should have enough police officers and mental health
support personnel in the city that we can dispatch someone
within five minutes to that location, talk to that person,
moved them off someone's private property, et cetera. We don't,
and that's the issue. So they stacked the calls in
(09:31):
a one to five ratio, and your call, since he
didn't have a bayonet autumn, that wasn't breaking the window
of the house, may have become a low priority call.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Well, yes, because the police showed up two and a
half hours later and sent me a message that there
was nobody there anymore.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
Well, of course there wasn't at that point. That's ludicrous,
But that really comes down to the state not doing
their job, the county not doing their job, and the
city not reacting in a fourth right manner to the
homelessness we see on the streets. The only person who
is really reacting and trying to do her job in
(10:10):
that city Council and I want to get for props
is Mayor Lana Negrete, and you should have her on sometimes.
All right, Lana's fourth right, She's honest, she's talking to
residents sucinkly, and she wants to deal with the issues.
She is not someone who wants to push him down
the road.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
We will get her on Laana Negrete Phil Brock, I
got to run. Thank you for coming on with us.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
Good it's good to talk to you.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
But you're listening to John Cobelts on demand from KFI
A six for.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
I have to take a minute too. Even though we're
sick of these stupid bastards, the Menendez brothers, we gotta
take a minute and give a lot of credit to
the district Attorney Nathan Hawkman, because Nathan Hakman has not
only through his his abilities to argue a case and
(11:09):
to do the research to bolster to bring the facts
of the case into the courtroom, he was able to
successfully get a judge to reject Eric and Lyle's Menendez
Eric Lylem Menendez's position they wanted a new trial, and
(11:32):
they were arguing that they had new evidence that they
suffered sexual abuse at their father's hands, and Nathan Hockman
put together a very effective argument along with his staff
that Eric and Lyle Menendez would have been found guilty
(11:53):
whether this sexual abuse evidence had been entered into the
case thirty five years ago or not. That evidence of
sexual abuse in no way explains or excuses this double murder.
And not only has their petition for parole been denied
(12:14):
both of them, they lost their parole hearing, which is
not easy to do in California, but now they both
lost their bid for a new trial. They had three
paths to get out get out of jail, and two
of them are closed for the moment. They're not going
to see parole again for three years. I have no idea.
(12:37):
I'm sure they'll come back and demand another trial for
other reasons, but this sexual abuse reasons not flying, not
with this La County Superior Courts Judge William C.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Ryan.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Now the only thing left is Gavin Newsom giving him clemency.
And the question is what's the more powerful source, what's
the more powerful impetus in Newsome's brain. He's capable of
being very stupid and doing very destructive things. He also
(13:12):
is extremely ambitious, and I'm sure he was so hoping
that the parole board would let him off the hook
by releasing these two, or that at least there'd be
a new trial. That's why he never issued his decision
on clemency on releasing them outright immediately. And now he's
(13:33):
the only thing left. I cannot fathom with all the
baggage he's got that he's going to add while on
Eric Menendez being free to his resume.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
He couldn't possibly let those two guys go, could he?
Speaker 3 (13:51):
No?
Speaker 2 (13:52):
Right, even he's not that stupid and self destructive the
h And by the way, where's Mark Garragos. This is
a total failure, a total wipeout. Garrigos was I was
(14:13):
even on our show.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
He was in all.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
The media constantly pontificating, made it sound like it was obvious. Well,
of course they're going to be released. Of course they
have to be released. And what Hawkman cleverly did is
he kept bringing everybody back to nineteen eighty nine, when
the crime was committed, and these two guys went out
(14:37):
of their way to go and reload their shotguns and
blast the mother a second time as she was trying
to crawl away. How they went out partying for months,
spending money for months, traveling for months. There was no remorse,
there was no regret. It was not an accident. It
(14:59):
was planned, it was premeditated. They felt it was necessary
and there was a lot of upside in their mind
to blowing these people away and then living off the money.
They just thought they would get away with it, and
then they pulled out their their, their sob story of
sex abuse. Well, we won't have to hear from them
(15:20):
for another three years unless Newsom does a most unthinkable
stupid thing and let him go. The Newsom wants to
be president, I don't think he's going to do that.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
You're listening to John Cobelt on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
We've discussed a couple of times, and yesterday the incredibly
stupid La Times article on why Sanmi is going broke,
giving almost no mention to the overwhelming homelessness, mental patients,
drug addicts who have driven away business is and customers,
so that retail revenue, tourism revenue have dropped.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
To a great degree.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
I mean, it's just collapsed because everybody's afraid to go there,
and the word is out and nobody wants to travel
to Santa Monica and deal with all these mental patients
allowed to run around. They have an ultra progressive city
council who seems to be suffering from some kind of
mass hallucination. We had the former mayor Phil Brockon, who's
(16:33):
dealt with these people.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
It is really bizarre.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
Well, along those lines, the La Times coughed up another
one about the homeless encampment in Korea Town. First of all,
I play you this story from Fox eleven so you
get a more factual idea of what's going on.
Speaker 5 (16:58):
Outreach workers trying to contact people living on a large
lot off Manhattan Place in Koreatown. A good view from
Skyfox of the sprawling encampment where you can see a
netted dirt court, residents and apartments overlooking all this, saying
off camera they see people playing pick a ball while
openly doing drugs. Hi, can I talk to anybody here?
(17:20):
The tents are mostly empty at this time, except for
one with a man who was not talking, although the
manager at the building next door is talking, saying, they've
been calling police and the city for over a year.
Speaker 6 (17:31):
We caught a homeless in the laundry room doing some
sexual stuff.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
They're tapping into our power.
Speaker 6 (17:38):
They're dugging their trash on our property.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
It's been a headache. It's been a headache.
Speaker 6 (17:43):
You got major safety, health and environmental dangers and hazards
with this.
Speaker 5 (17:49):
The president of the LA Urban Policy Roundtable, after visiting
the encampment.
Speaker 6 (17:53):
The city's gone after the private owner and saying you
got to clean the shild last year. The city did
come and cleaned it up, but right after when the
last a month after that they came back.
Speaker 5 (18:04):
There is a somewhat visible sign for a management company
which we reached out to. There are padlocks on the fans,
which doesn't seem to be stopping anyone, even the outreach workers.
Oh are you guys with the city trying to help
them out?
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Good?
Speaker 5 (18:18):
Anybody? No, No, one's in, No, one's in. No, this
is hard.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Do you think they'll move.
Speaker 6 (18:26):
All right?
Speaker 1 (18:28):
They just don't know now.
Speaker 5 (18:29):
A statement from Mayor Bath saying in a part that quote,
private property owners cannot be allowed to let their logs
become a danger and a nuisance to the neighborhood.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
We will work to hold the property.
Speaker 5 (18:41):
Owner accountable for the related costs. No word on when
the next cleanup would be. No word from that management
company either. Will keep you updated. I've seen a Gonzales
live in Korea Town.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Back to you guys, all right, straight ahead.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
Report you heard from a lot of the neighbors there
right up front on what's going on, the drugs, the
sex the fire danger. Now will take you to bizarre world,
and that would be The Los Angeles Times Andrew Corey
kho u r.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
I listen to this well.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
First of all, they have three bullet paragraphs where they
printed an overview of the story.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Paragraph one.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
A homeless encampment on a Korea town vacant lot features
unusual amenities, including a makeshift pickleball court and a small garden.
Unusual amenities like they're writing an ad for hot new
real estate available neighbors. Here's bullet point number two. Neighbors
(19:54):
complained about noise, safety concerns and drug activity, while residents
of the encampment say they've built a community. You see,
they summarized both sides in that bullet point. The neighbors
worried about the sex and the fire danger and the
drug activity and the but wait, we built a community,
(20:16):
says The La Times.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
Okay, now here's the body of the story.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Forced from his residence in an old Victorian house to
make way for redevelopment, Tim Gilbert says he was wandering
Koreatown in November looking for a place to live when
he ducked through a hole in a fence into a
vacant lot and found himself alone, forced from his residence
(20:44):
because of redevelopment. A lot of people I've known, a
few get forced out. Building gets sold, there's a new landlord.
Landlord wants to do renovations. Landlord is selling any number
(21:05):
of things. And you get noticed, and it's like it
looks like, you know, in a month, two months, you're
gonna have to pack up and go.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
And then you go and you.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Find somewhere else, and you put down your deposit, you
put down your security, and you continue with your life.
When you rent, nothing's ever assured. But this is forced
from his residence. And now he's wandering around and he
decides to duck through a hole and live on a
(21:38):
vacant lot, and.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
It's supposed to tug at your heartstrings.
Speaker 3 (21:42):
There.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
He set up camp because that's what normal people do,
that's what the sane do. He set up camp, and
others followed suit and began to build a little community
toward one corner of the lot. Gilbert erected at pickaball net.
He said he found near Wilship Boulevard. Behind the net,
(22:06):
where people volley from time to time, is a small
garden of tomatoes, cannabis. Ugradi's growing drugs and onions that
he tends to. That's a good meal. It's a good restaurant. Actually, tomato,
onions and cannabis. There are at least two barbecues, one propane,
one charcoal. Drugged out mental patients with two barbecues one
(22:31):
uses propane gas.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
What could go wrong there?
Speaker 2 (22:38):
The encampment is one of thousands in Los Angeles that
are both ephemeral refuges from the dangers of sleeping alone
and a constant frustration for the people nearby who pay
rent and mortgages and want their neighborhoods clean. Oh, that
is such a pesky crowd.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
Those people who.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
Pay mortgages, rent and want their neighborhoods clean. Don't they
understand this is an ephemeral refuge.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
According to Andrew Corey, what the hell.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
By the way, if you notice the only time story,
we haven't gotten to all the bad stuff yet. Then
they get to neighbors lodged complaints about the encampment. Complaints. Oh,
those neighbors are so irritating. Concerns over fires. Yeah, they've
(23:32):
seen the palisades in the news. Encampment residents have appeared
to appeared to have broken into a street light and
attached extension cords to receive power. Oh is that what
they're upset about, That there's an illegal electrical supply that
could cause some kind of charge to ignite a fire.
(23:58):
Uh al Deberto Aguire, seventy two, lives across the street,
says residents of the encampment constantly yell and fight at night,
making it difficult to sleep, because that's what mental patients
and drug addicts do. They're up all night fighting and
doing their drugs. Another neighbor, Oh, she must be a headache.
Christine Package, thirty, says there's constant broken glass on the
(24:20):
sidewalk in front of the encampment, so it's dangerous to
walk her dog.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
Who do you think you are? You think you have
a right to walk a dog.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
After the sun sets, she says. She said she sees
what looked like drug deals. Notice all qualifiers there. Well,
this is what she says, But she sees looks like
drug deals. People popping into the encampment for only a
few minutes before they leave. What else would they be doing?
(24:52):
Trash strewn between the tents and makeshift shelters, grass, brown
flies swarmed a piece of excrement, right because there are
no toilets in the encampment.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
Maybe there'll be an outbreak of typhoid.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
We come back, I'll tell you about their cancel women,
one of the stupidest women in politics.
Speaker 4 (25:16):
You're listening to John Cobelts on demand from KFI A
six forty coming.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
Up after three o'clock. The hits keep on coming.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Susan Shelley is from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. She
also writes columns for the Southern California news.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Group like the Orange County Register in LA.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
Daily News, and she's coming on to warn us about
a new movement to damage Prop thirteen. You know, Prop
thirteen keeps our property taxes stabilized, and so Howard Jarvis
(25:58):
Taxpayers Association wants people to sign petitions to close some
loopholes that some I guess some judges have created in
Prop thirteen. This is important stuff. This is going to
mean a lot of money to you if you own
a home. So there's a website Saveprop thirteen dot com.
(26:20):
Saveprop thirteen dot com. Susan Shelley is going to explain more.
Coming up after two o'clock. We were talking about that
homeless encampment in Koreatown which comes complete with a pickleball court,
and how the well we played Fox eleven, a straight
ahead story by Christina Gonzalez, and then we read you
(26:41):
the poetry from Andrew Corey at the La Times, who
talked about how the encampment is actually ephemeral refuge from
the dangers of sleeping alone and constant frustration for the
people who pay rent and mortgages. Yes, those heathens, And
he talks about how the first guy there built a
(27:03):
little community found to pick a ball net and now
they have a garden.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Of course they grow marijuana in the garden.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Other people said, well, there's people screaming all night. These
are residents in the building. They're having sex, there's broken glass,
there's drug deals, propane gas tanks for their barbecue grills.
So they go to katy Yarislavsky. Katy Arslavsky is really
(27:32):
a stupid person, and she married into the Araslovsky family
and Pilford her father in law's names. Erry Raslovsky was
well known city councilman and supervisor. And so people are
so dumb in Los Angeles that they probably thought he
was still running No, it's the daughter in law. And
(27:54):
the daughter in law is a piece of work. She
was the one who wouldn't do anything when there was
a naked woman living on a sofa in the middle
of Sanva Sente Boulevard.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
Remember that story from some years ago.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
There was a naked and she wouldn't call the police
or the mental health people and have the naked woman
removed or the sofa.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
Neither way.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
They didn't.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
I mean, at least they could have moved the sofa
with the naked lady on it and put her in
an alleyway somewhere. No, she was right out there for
the whole world to see.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
Well.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
She tried to explain that their office has been working
to move the city bureaucracy to act on this for
several months.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
Several months. How does that work? How far is.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
The city bureaucracy from Yaroslovsky's office? How far is it
from Bassar's office? Can't Katie call Karen and they can
call in the head of the Department of Building in
Safety and say get this encampment closed now. Now you
have till the end of the day or your fired.
(29:02):
And if you have some kind of civil service protection,
go to court direct order. What keeps Kenny Arooslovsky and
Karen Bass from doing that? Well, the Department of Building
and Safety is down touch with the property owner and
they're working to clear the lot.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
And it's completely unacceptable.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
Private property owners put entire communities at risk where they
let vacant properties spiral out of control, and the city
bureaucracy makes things worse by moving far too slowly. You
are the city bureaucracy, Katie. You look in the mirror,
that's the city of bureaucracy. It starts with you call
up your good girlfriend Karen Bass and say can we.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
Get rid of this?
Speaker 2 (29:43):
They're having sex in the lot, they have pro paying
tanks in the lot. They're growing pot on the lot.
There's broken glass. They're shouting and they're screaming. Oh, and
they're playing pick a ball and having a sense of
community and they're tending to their garden growing marijuana.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
Hell.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
In fact, a story on Channel seven said reporters were
threatened when visiting the site. The reporters trying to cover
this are threatened. I don't understand. I don't understand anything.
(30:25):
We come back, Susan Shelley. Apparently, another assault on prop thirteen.
She's with the Howard Jarvis tax Payers Association. There's a
referendum they want to get on the ballot to save
Prop thirteen. There's a website, there's petitions to sign. We'll
tell you about it next Tay. You've been listening to
the John Cobalt Show podcast. You can always hear the
show live on KFI AM six forty from one to
(30:47):
four pm every Monday through Friday, and of course, anytime
on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Can't. I am six forty.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
You're listening to the John Cobel podcast on the iHeartRadio app.
Yesterday we talked extensively about Santa Monica. And you may
not live anywhere near Santa Monica, you may not even
visit it, but it is really a symbol of what's
gone haywire in the entire state. Because the politicians are
(00:27):
so extremely progressive. They have an absurd homeless situation and
I see it every day. And they allowed with George
Floyd Riot, they allowed the writers to destroy a lot
of buildings, and now that and other things has led
(00:49):
the Third Street Promenade to be just left almost for dead,
and the Santa Monica Place, the big shopping mall there
is seventy percent empty. The revenues in town are way down,
and now they've run out of money. They've got some
kind of physical emergency. And you read Los Angeles Times
(01:10):
and it was sorry was much of it was about,
you know, one pedophile who somehow was able to abuse
hundreds of people he worked. He volunteered at the Police
Activities League, Eric Uhler, which its own separate bizarre scandal
mentioned in the story In the twenty third paragraph, Phil Brock.
(01:35):
It was not even a direct quote, but an allusion
to homelessness being an issue in Santa Monica.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Twenty third paragraph.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Took him twenty paragraphs before they mentioned Phil Brock's comment
on the tax revenue being down sharply the retailing tourism revenues.
Phil used to be the Santa Monica mayor up until
last year and also was a city councilman. Did not
make it through the last election. Let's get phill on.
(02:05):
He's been with us a few times on the show.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Phil. How are you.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
I'm good. I'm good. I wish my city was better,
but I'm great.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
What why is it? I mean, I'm sure you read
the La Times article. You were in it. Were you surprised?
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Were you shocked that that wasn't the thrust of the story.
How the homelessness and the perceived crime that the homelessness
brings has kept tourists out of their daily visitors out
of there and has helped ruin you know, the retail,
the retail businesses, the restaurant businesses, the promenade, the Santa
(02:44):
Monica Place, maw.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
I mean they barely glanced at that in the article.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Well, I spoke to the La Times reporters one of
the reporters for almost thirty minutes. An emphasis of mine
was on homelessness, the lack of reaction in the homelessness,
the fear factor that residents feel real or perceived in
downtown Santa Monica and throughout the city. And also lastly,
(03:11):
I talked about the fact that we knew there was
a problem with the budget. We've known this for a
long time. And last year, for instance, and budget deliberations,
I asked that every department reduced expenditures by four percent.
That would have given us about sixteen million, which would
have taken care of this year's deficit, plus given US
(03:33):
four million for more police officers, which we desperately need.
The city council rejected that. So, look at this is
a long time coming. The Euler issues have been going
since twenty seventeen, the voting rights lawsuit's been going since
twenty fifteen. So the fact that the city hasn't really
(03:57):
dealt with his problems, he's pushing him down, and then
on top of that, looks at the expenditures for the
city and feels that the cash cow will come in forever.
My view has always been the cash cow is people's
hard earned money that they're paying in taxes. It's our
obligation to keep the city safe. It's our obligation to
(04:19):
make sure as much as we can that the city
is prosperous. We're not succeeding in either. And Santa Monica.
You alluded to the fact that, look at, Santa Monica
has a great worldwide reputation that's being tarnished, and that's unfortunate.
We're still a wonderful city with great people. However, we
have to deal with the issues at hand and deal
(04:42):
with them promptly and with common sense. And in Santa Monica,
common sense is almost a forgotten luxury rather than a necessity.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
These writers, Saldor Hernandez, Richard Winton. You talked with him
for a half an hour. You told him everything that
you just told me, and almost none of it got
into the news article. What little did came twenty paragraphs in,
when most people have given up. I mean, how's the
public supposed to know what's really going on here? If
the largest newspaper in the city, Prince really garbage. This
(05:20):
was absurd. Who were they protecting here?
Speaker 4 (05:24):
Well?
Speaker 3 (05:25):
I don't think they know. They're protecting people. Those report
two reporters are not Santa Monica area residents. James Rainey
is the only reporter there who really has a connection
to Santa Monica. Have it graduated from Samohai doing stories
in the area that usually have more truth to them.
(05:46):
This lost over the real issues. And that's unfortunate because
you're right. Unless we have a real, transparent government and
a transparent press, then nothing gets accomplished because people aren't
alerted to the problems.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Why didn't you survive the last election for city councilor.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Well, very simple, I guess I was. Even though I'm
a lifelong Democrat, I was too conservative for the city.
The Santamnica dem Club and smur came out against me
and said I wasn't democratic enough, even though, for instance,
last August I had opened Kamala Harris's office in Henderson, Nevada,
(06:30):
helped open an office for in Reno. But they decided
that I wasn't I wasn't part of their cabal.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Well, it's not because being democrat isn't isn't good enough anymore.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
You have to be this whack job progressive and well.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
And that's a problem. You see that in LA. You
see what four or five council members in LA who
are socialist ebs. You see four, five, six of the
Santa Monica council members who are progressive gbs. They snowed
the residents because whether you're a renter or an owner,
(07:08):
you need you must. You want public safety. You want
to feel safe walking out of your apartment, even more
than a person is in a house who has a
fence around them, who has some protection. And we haven't
done that in Santa Monica. It's up to the voters
to wake up.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
But how do they not see it?
Speaker 2 (07:28):
I just drive there once or twice a day, and
it's glaringly obvious. I tried.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
I go there for a bagel every morning.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
I couldn't get into the bagel shop the other day
because there was a weird guy who looked like he
had washed it about six years who was talking to
himself and waving his arms in the air right at
the entrance, and I parked the car in front of
the shop, and it's like, all right, how am I
going to get around this lunatic?
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Well, this happens. Look at I see it every day,
and this is something I told you on your show.
A year ago and a year and a half ago
is very simple. It's the city can't do it all
on their own. The homeless issue is a federal, state
and county problem, and we need the mental health facilities,
(08:15):
we need the support, and look at Santamica does not
have enough police officers to be at every person's house
to chase away a homeless person who may be in
whether their house or on their property.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Did you hear me?
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Did you hear me talking about my other experience this
morning if someone told me about it?
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Yeah, yeah, I was. I drove into Santa Monica.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
I was usually a cut through street to get onto
twenty sixth. I'm looking at a house right in front
of me as I'm at the stop sign, and there's
a guy living on the front on the front wall.
They have a low front stone wall, and he's got
a billion possessions and bags and things. He's talking to himself.
He's all animated and upset about something. You know, his
(08:59):
imaginary friend said, I call nine to one one. I
got an interrogation from the nine to one one operator
who seemed suspicious about what my motivation was.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
Right, and that's unfortunate. Look at as the bottom line
is we should have enough police officers and mental health
support personnel in the city that we can dispatch someone
within five minutes to that location, talk to that person,
moved them off someone's private property, et cetera. We don't,
and that's the issue. So they stacked the calls in
(09:31):
a one to five ratio, and your call, since he
didn't have a bayonet autumn, that wasn't breaking the window
of the house, may have become a low priority call.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Well, yes, because the police showed up two and a
half hours later and sent me a message that there
was nobody there anymore.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
Well, of course there wasn't at that point. That's ludicrous,
But that really comes down to the state not doing
their job, the county not doing their job, and the
city not reacting in a fourth right manner to the
homelessness we see on the streets. The only person who
is really reacting and trying to do her job in
(10:10):
that city Council and I want to get for props
is Mayor Lana Negrete, and you should have her on sometimes.
All right, Lana's fourth right, She's honest, she's talking to
residents sucinkly, and she wants to deal with the issues.
She is not someone who wants to push him down
the road.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
We will get her on Laana Negrete Phil Brock, I
got to run. Thank you for coming on with us.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
Good it's good to talk to you.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
But you're listening to John Cobelts on demand from KFI
A six for.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
I have to take a minute too. Even though we're
sick of these stupid bastards, the Menendez brothers, we gotta
take a minute and give a lot of credit to
the district Attorney Nathan Hawkman, because Nathan Hakman has not
only through his his abilities to argue a case and
(11:09):
to do the research to bolster to bring the facts
of the case into the courtroom, he was able to
successfully get a judge to reject Eric and Lyle's Menendez
Eric Lylem Menendez's position they wanted a new trial, and
(11:32):
they were arguing that they had new evidence that they
suffered sexual abuse at their father's hands, and Nathan Hockman
put together a very effective argument along with his staff
that Eric and Lyle Menendez would have been found guilty
(11:53):
whether this sexual abuse evidence had been entered into the
case thirty five years ago or not. That evidence of
sexual abuse in no way explains or excuses this double murder.
And not only has their petition for parole been denied
(12:14):
both of them, they lost their parole hearing, which is
not easy to do in California, but now they both
lost their bid for a new trial. They had three
paths to get out get out of jail, and two
of them are closed for the moment. They're not going
to see parole again for three years. I have no idea.
(12:37):
I'm sure they'll come back and demand another trial for
other reasons, but this sexual abuse reasons not flying, not
with this La County Superior Courts Judge William C.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Ryan.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Now the only thing left is Gavin Newsom giving him clemency.
And the question is what's the more powerful source, what's
the more powerful impetus in Newsome's brain. He's capable of
being very stupid and doing very destructive things. He also
(13:12):
is extremely ambitious, and I'm sure he was so hoping
that the parole board would let him off the hook
by releasing these two, or that at least there'd be
a new trial. That's why he never issued his decision
on clemency on releasing them outright immediately. And now he's
(13:33):
the only thing left. I cannot fathom with all the
baggage he's got that he's going to add while on
Eric Menendez being free to his resume.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
He couldn't possibly let those two guys go, could he?
Speaker 3 (13:51):
No?
Speaker 2 (13:52):
Right, even he's not that stupid and self destructive the
h And by the way, where's Mark Garragos. This is
a total failure, a total wipeout. Garrigos was I was
(14:13):
even on our show.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
He was in all.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
The media constantly pontificating, made it sound like it was obvious. Well,
of course they're going to be released. Of course they
have to be released. And what Hawkman cleverly did is
he kept bringing everybody back to nineteen eighty nine, when
the crime was committed, and these two guys went out
(14:37):
of their way to go and reload their shotguns and
blast the mother a second time as she was trying
to crawl away. How they went out partying for months,
spending money for months, traveling for months. There was no remorse,
there was no regret. It was not an accident. It
(14:59):
was planned, it was premeditated. They felt it was necessary
and there was a lot of upside in their mind
to blowing these people away and then living off the money.
They just thought they would get away with it, and
then they pulled out their their, their sob story of
sex abuse. Well, we won't have to hear from them
(15:20):
for another three years unless Newsom does a most unthinkable
stupid thing and let him go. The Newsom wants to
be president, I don't think he's going to do that.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
You're listening to John Cobelt on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
We've discussed a couple of times, and yesterday the incredibly
stupid La Times article on why Sanmi is going broke,
giving almost no mention to the overwhelming homelessness, mental patients,
drug addicts who have driven away business is and customers,
so that retail revenue, tourism revenue have dropped.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
To a great degree.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
I mean, it's just collapsed because everybody's afraid to go there,
and the word is out and nobody wants to travel
to Santa Monica and deal with all these mental patients
allowed to run around. They have an ultra progressive city
council who seems to be suffering from some kind of
mass hallucination. We had the former mayor Phil Brockon, who's
(16:33):
dealt with these people.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
It is really bizarre.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
Well, along those lines, the La Times coughed up another
one about the homeless encampment in Korea Town. First of all,
I play you this story from Fox eleven so you
get a more factual idea of what's going on.
Speaker 5 (16:58):
Outreach workers trying to contact people living on a large
lot off Manhattan Place in Koreatown. A good view from
Skyfox of the sprawling encampment where you can see a
netted dirt court, residents and apartments overlooking all this, saying
off camera they see people playing pick a ball while
openly doing drugs. Hi, can I talk to anybody here?
(17:20):
The tents are mostly empty at this time, except for
one with a man who was not talking, although the
manager at the building next door is talking, saying, they've
been calling police and the city for over a year.
Speaker 6 (17:31):
We caught a homeless in the laundry room doing some
sexual stuff.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
They're tapping into our power.
Speaker 6 (17:38):
They're dugging their trash on our property.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
It's been a headache. It's been a headache.
Speaker 6 (17:43):
You got major safety, health and environmental dangers and hazards
with this.
Speaker 5 (17:49):
The president of the LA Urban Policy Roundtable, after visiting
the encampment.
Speaker 6 (17:53):
The city's gone after the private owner and saying you
got to clean the shild last year. The city did
come and cleaned it up, but right after when the
last a month after that they came back.
Speaker 5 (18:04):
There is a somewhat visible sign for a management company
which we reached out to. There are padlocks on the fans,
which doesn't seem to be stopping anyone, even the outreach workers.
Oh are you guys with the city trying to help
them out?
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Good?
Speaker 5 (18:18):
Anybody? No, No, one's in, No, one's in. No, this
is hard.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Do you think they'll move.
Speaker 6 (18:26):
All right?
Speaker 1 (18:28):
They just don't know now.
Speaker 5 (18:29):
A statement from Mayor Bath saying in a part that quote,
private property owners cannot be allowed to let their logs
become a danger and a nuisance to the neighborhood.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
We will work to hold the property.
Speaker 5 (18:41):
Owner accountable for the related costs. No word on when
the next cleanup would be. No word from that management
company either. Will keep you updated. I've seen a Gonzales
live in Korea Town.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Back to you guys, all right, straight ahead.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
Report you heard from a lot of the neighbors there
right up front on what's going on, the drugs, the
sex the fire danger. Now will take you to bizarre world,
and that would be The Los Angeles Times Andrew Corey
kho u r.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
I listen to this well.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
First of all, they have three bullet paragraphs where they
printed an overview of the story.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Paragraph one.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
A homeless encampment on a Korea town vacant lot features
unusual amenities, including a makeshift pickleball court and a small garden.
Unusual amenities like they're writing an ad for hot new
real estate available neighbors. Here's bullet point number two. Neighbors
(19:54):
complained about noise, safety concerns and drug activity, while residents
of the encampment say they've built a community. You see,
they summarized both sides in that bullet point. The neighbors
worried about the sex and the fire danger and the
drug activity and the but wait, we built a community,
(20:16):
says The La Times.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
Okay, now here's the body of the story.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Forced from his residence in an old Victorian house to
make way for redevelopment, Tim Gilbert says he was wandering
Koreatown in November looking for a place to live when
he ducked through a hole in a fence into a
vacant lot and found himself alone, forced from his residence
(20:44):
because of redevelopment. A lot of people I've known, a
few get forced out. Building gets sold, there's a new landlord.
Landlord wants to do renovations. Landlord is selling any number
(21:05):
of things. And you get noticed, and it's like it
looks like, you know, in a month, two months, you're
gonna have to pack up and go.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
And then you go and you.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Find somewhere else, and you put down your deposit, you
put down your security, and you continue with your life.
When you rent, nothing's ever assured. But this is forced
from his residence. And now he's wandering around and he
decides to duck through a hole and live on a
(21:38):
vacant lot, and.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
It's supposed to tug at your heartstrings.
Speaker 3 (21:42):
There.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
He set up camp because that's what normal people do,
that's what the sane do. He set up camp, and
others followed suit and began to build a little community
toward one corner of the lot. Gilbert erected at pickaball net.
He said he found near Wilship Boulevard. Behind the net,
(22:06):
where people volley from time to time, is a small
garden of tomatoes, cannabis. Ugradi's growing drugs and onions that
he tends to. That's a good meal. It's a good restaurant. Actually, tomato,
onions and cannabis. There are at least two barbecues, one propane,
one charcoal. Drugged out mental patients with two barbecues one
(22:31):
uses propane gas.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
What could go wrong there?
Speaker 2 (22:38):
The encampment is one of thousands in Los Angeles that
are both ephemeral refuges from the dangers of sleeping alone
and a constant frustration for the people nearby who pay
rent and mortgages and want their neighborhoods clean. Oh, that
is such a pesky crowd.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
Those people who.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
Pay mortgages, rent and want their neighborhoods clean. Don't they
understand this is an ephemeral refuge.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
According to Andrew Corey, what the hell.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
By the way, if you notice the only time story,
we haven't gotten to all the bad stuff yet. Then
they get to neighbors lodged complaints about the encampment. Complaints. Oh,
those neighbors are so irritating. Concerns over fires. Yeah, they've
(23:32):
seen the palisades in the news. Encampment residents have appeared
to appeared to have broken into a street light and
attached extension cords to receive power. Oh is that what
they're upset about, That there's an illegal electrical supply that
could cause some kind of charge to ignite a fire.
(23:58):
Uh al Deberto Aguire, seventy two, lives across the street,
says residents of the encampment constantly yell and fight at night,
making it difficult to sleep, because that's what mental patients
and drug addicts do. They're up all night fighting and
doing their drugs. Another neighbor, Oh, she must be a headache.
Christine Package, thirty, says there's constant broken glass on the
(24:20):
sidewalk in front of the encampment, so it's dangerous to
walk her dog.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
Who do you think you are? You think you have
a right to walk a dog.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
After the sun sets, she says. She said she sees
what looked like drug deals. Notice all qualifiers there. Well,
this is what she says, But she sees looks like
drug deals. People popping into the encampment for only a
few minutes before they leave. What else would they be doing?
(24:52):
Trash strewn between the tents and makeshift shelters, grass, brown
flies swarmed a piece of excrement, right because there are
no toilets in the encampment.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
Maybe there'll be an outbreak of typhoid.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
We come back, I'll tell you about their cancel women,
one of the stupidest women in politics.
Speaker 4 (25:16):
You're listening to John Cobelts on demand from KFI A
six forty coming.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
Up after three o'clock. The hits keep on coming.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Susan Shelley is from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. She
also writes columns for the Southern California news.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Group like the Orange County Register in LA.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
Daily News, and she's coming on to warn us about
a new movement to damage Prop thirteen. You know, Prop
thirteen keeps our property taxes stabilized, and so Howard Jarvis
(25:58):
Taxpayers Association wants people to sign petitions to close some
loopholes that some I guess some judges have created in
Prop thirteen. This is important stuff. This is going to
mean a lot of money to you if you own
a home. So there's a website Saveprop thirteen dot com.
(26:20):
Saveprop thirteen dot com. Susan Shelley is going to explain more.
Coming up after two o'clock. We were talking about that
homeless encampment in Koreatown which comes complete with a pickleball court,
and how the well we played Fox eleven, a straight
ahead story by Christina Gonzalez, and then we read you
(26:41):
the poetry from Andrew Corey at the La Times, who
talked about how the encampment is actually ephemeral refuge from
the dangers of sleeping alone and constant frustration for the
people who pay rent and mortgages. Yes, those heathens, And
he talks about how the first guy there built a
(27:03):
little community found to pick a ball net and now
they have a garden.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Of course they grow marijuana in the garden.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Other people said, well, there's people screaming all night. These
are residents in the building. They're having sex, there's broken glass,
there's drug deals, propane gas tanks for their barbecue grills.
So they go to katy Yarislavsky. Katy Arslavsky is really
(27:32):
a stupid person, and she married into the Araslovsky family
and Pilford her father in law's names. Erry Raslovsky was
well known city councilman and supervisor. And so people are
so dumb in Los Angeles that they probably thought he
was still running No, it's the daughter in law. And
(27:54):
the daughter in law is a piece of work. She
was the one who wouldn't do anything when there was
a naked woman living on a sofa in the middle
of Sanva Sente Boulevard.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
Remember that story from some years ago.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
There was a naked and she wouldn't call the police
or the mental health people and have the naked woman
removed or the sofa.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
Neither way.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
They didn't.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
I mean, at least they could have moved the sofa
with the naked lady on it and put her in
an alleyway somewhere. No, she was right out there for
the whole world to see.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
Well.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
She tried to explain that their office has been working
to move the city bureaucracy to act on this for
several months.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
Several months. How does that work? How far is.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
The city bureaucracy from Yaroslovsky's office? How far is it
from Bassar's office? Can't Katie call Karen and they can
call in the head of the Department of Building in
Safety and say get this encampment closed now. Now you
have till the end of the day or your fired.
(29:02):
And if you have some kind of civil service protection,
go to court direct order. What keeps Kenny Arooslovsky and
Karen Bass from doing that? Well, the Department of Building
and Safety is down touch with the property owner and
they're working to clear the lot.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
And it's completely unacceptable.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
Private property owners put entire communities at risk where they
let vacant properties spiral out of control, and the city
bureaucracy makes things worse by moving far too slowly. You
are the city bureaucracy, Katie. You look in the mirror,
that's the city of bureaucracy. It starts with you call
up your good girlfriend Karen Bass and say can we.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
Get rid of this?
Speaker 2 (29:43):
They're having sex in the lot, they have pro paying
tanks in the lot. They're growing pot on the lot.
There's broken glass. They're shouting and they're screaming. Oh, and
they're playing pick a ball and having a sense of
community and they're tending to their garden growing marijuana.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
Hell.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
In fact, a story on Channel seven said reporters were
threatened when visiting the site. The reporters trying to cover
this are threatened. I don't understand. I don't understand anything.
(30:25):
We come back, Susan Shelley. Apparently, another assault on prop thirteen.
She's with the Howard Jarvis tax Payers Association. There's a
referendum they want to get on the ballot to save
Prop thirteen. There's a website, there's petitions to sign. We'll
tell you about it next Tay. You've been listening to
the John Cobalt Show podcast. You can always hear the
show live on KFI AM six forty from one to
(30:47):
four pm every Monday through Friday, and of course, anytime
on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
The John Kobylt Show News
Host
John Kobylt
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