October 1, 2025 • 37 mins
The John Kobylt Show Hour 2 (10/01) - Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt comes on the show to talk about Oklahoma being open for business. More on how bad California is for businesses. Michael Monks comes on the show to talk about the Convention Center expansion project. More on the Convention Center expansion project.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Can't I am six forty. You're listening to the John
Cobelt podcast on the iHeartRadio app. Welcome, It's the John
Cobelt Show and we're on every day from one until
four and then whatever you miss it's the podcast after
four o'clock. John Cobelt's show on demand on the iHeart app.
We're about to talk to the Governor of Oklahoma, Kevin Stitt,
(00:21):
and he and his staff is coming to Los Angeles Friday.
They're going to be at the Los Angeles Athletic Club
in downtown LA and.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
They have.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
They're trying to lure California businesses to Oklahoma and they
have all the whole presentation that they're going to do.
Let's get Governor Kevin Stitt from Oklahoma on. Welcome Governor,
how are you.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
All doing great? How you guys doing today?
Speaker 3 (00:47):
We're doing well.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Tell me what is the presentation going to look like
to these California business owners. What are you going to
be telling them?
Speaker 4 (00:55):
Well, first off, we just want to we want all
businesses to know that Oklahoma is open for business. We're
the most business friendly state in the country and unlike
you know, some of the other states that are just
over regulating, and their idea is that business is bad
and they're trying to harm people and we need to
over regulate them. In Oklahoma, we are excited when people
(01:19):
start businesses and invest capital. And our overall philosophy is
that businesses are trying to do the right thing. They're
trying to take care of their employees, their customers, the environment.
And that's the philosophy we have in Oklahoma. And I
come from the business world, and before I ran for governor,
I've never been in public been in public office, and
(01:39):
so we just have a different perspective. And I just
started realizing it's not like this in other states. And
so every time I have We've got tons of companies
that have moved here and they were California businesses. Now
they're thriving in Oklahoma. And they said, Governor, you've got
to come over here and tell some of my friends
how great it is in Oklahoma with the cost of
living and just the overall quality of life.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
And and so that's what we're doing.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
It's lower taxes and you can make more money and
without the headaches in Oklahoma.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
That was the next thing I wanted to get into
because we had been hemorrhaging thousands and thousands of jobs
for years, and when you look at lists, it was
they were going to Texas, Tennessee, Florida, Nevada, Arizona, the
usual suspects. Oklahoma, you're you're actually getting a lot of
businesses in recent years contacting you to move.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
That's exactly right.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
I mean, energy is a is a big plus, and
Oklahoma has the most affordable, reliable energy grid in the country.
So as far as data centers manufacturing, you'll pay about
a third for your energy costs in Oklahoma than you
do in California. The cost of living, it's just it's
amazing the difference. I think we're about four hundred percent
(02:51):
cheaper in housing than than California. So just a lot
of a lot of reasons that people are moving to,
like you said, states like Oklahoma and Texas and Tennessee,
and yeah, we just we're top ten right now and
people move into our state. Oklahoma has four point one
million people in Oklahoma City Go Thunder, the NBA reigning champions.
(03:18):
We're the twentieth largest city in the country now, and
people just don't realize that.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Yeah, I didn't know that crazy, I know, I know
and listen.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
We've got a lot of friends in California, and we
love California, but as governor of Oklahoma, we're just I
want to I want to try to recruit every company.
I came from Texas to Oklahoma, from Kansas to Oklahoma,
and from California and Oklahoma. So we just want everybody
to know that Oklahoma's open for business.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Everybody I talked to business out here. Two main categories
of discussion. Number one, Texas business taxas what's it like
in Oklahoma.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
Yeah, well, if you're a sea corp, if you're a
Sea court versus an S corp, our C corporate is
down to is four percent. I don't know exactly what
it is in California, but I think it is much
higher than that.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
And then personal income.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
Tax in California, I think you pay thirteen point three
percent is the top end, and we're at four point five.
Four point five ordered this four point five And do.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
You have an empty radio studio in Oklahoma City?
Speaker 4 (04:24):
I could use absolutely, and then I put us on
a path to zero. So next year when we have
growing revenue, it automatically triggers a court of a point
tax cut to the people because after all, it's the
people's money, it's not the government's money. We don't when
we have access revenue, we don't create more government programs.
We give it back to the tax payer. And that's
(04:46):
what we believe in Oklahoma. What about regulation, Yeah, so
obviously there has to be makes sense regulation to set
the rules of the road. But I tell all of
my regulatory bodies that, hey, we'll never play got you
with the company.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
We want to be clear with the rules.
Speaker 4 (05:03):
But then we just let companies go compete. And when
I ran my companies, that's that's all you want is
you just want to level playing field. And uh and
that's the way we do it in Oklahoma. So you know,
time and time again. I mean I had one big, huge,
billion dollar company that called me and they just said Governor,
they said thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
They said we we.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
Had a permitt to buy water from a municipality and
for whatever reason, there was a you know, they busted
the permitt for something that was not unsafe. It wasn't
their fault, it was something, but they were gonna have
to close their plant down and it was going to
be cost them millions of dollars. Well, they called our office,
We called the Department Environmental Quality and we got them
(05:48):
a waiver within thirty minutes, and it saved them millions
and millions of dollars. That's the kind of business friendly
approach that I'm talking about, And I remind them that
would never happen in some of these other states where
the regulators are always playing gotcha. We are, We're we
make common sense in Oklahoma, and we're going to work
(06:08):
with industry because we know they're trying to do the
right thing.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Well, a few years ago, if you suggested that, hey,
if you keep up this onerous regulation and this tax
structure and everything else, companies are going to go. They're
going to you know, they'll go to Oklahoma. And people
in government here with scoff at that, Oh, they're not
going to leave the California sunshine. That's crazy, that's ridiculous.
But it's happening. I mean not just Oklahoma, but all
(06:31):
those other states that I mentioned. I mean, the place
here is managed so badly that you know, you're going
to be getting a lot of phone calls because everybody's
sick of it. Everybody's just fed up with the way
this place is run.
Speaker 4 (06:45):
Yeah, well they're in a death spiral what we call
in business because now right now their only option they're
having to raise taxes on the people that are there
to pay for all the services that they promised and
then and then they're going to drive or businesses away.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
So they're in a real pickle.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
Over there, and they need to have some common sense
on their leadership that says, hey, we want to be
business friendly, because until you get the economy booming.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Guess what the economy is.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
What pays for teachers, and it pays for education and
infrastructure and health care. You have to take care of
the economy first and then all these other things work
with it. The other thing I want to tell you
is we just passed business courts. And what that means
is I was tired of, you know, business is not
(07:35):
getting a fair shake, and you were going to a
maybe a family law judge, or you were going before
this court that didn't understand complex business transactions M and.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
A's or business disputes. And so we passed business court.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
So now much like Delaware has a chancery court system,
Texas has just passed that. And so we want to
make sure that businesses know that they're going to have
a business minded judge that understands the complex cases, and
they don't have to spend all this money getting them
up to speed.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
And also speed of the decision is important to businesses.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
We're not going to take five years and run them
through all these different things. These courts will get decisions
out quickly for the business disputes.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
All right, You're gonna be at the Los Angeles Athletic
Club in downtown LA Friday morning to make this presentation
to any California business owners who are attending. I have
never been to Oklahoma. There's four states I haven't been
to yet, and Oklahoma is one of them. Two of
my sons have been there in recent years and they
were surprised how much they liked it. So one day
(08:43):
I want to get there soon.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
Well, you've got a personal invite from the governor and
I'll have you over to the Governor's mansion and we'll
grab coffee together and you will love it.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
We'll show you around.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
And Chet hit is another great He was in Oklahoma
that moved to California, started business, very successful.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Had him on yesterday to Oklahoma.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
He was on the show yesterday.
Speaker 4 (09:04):
Yeah, great friend. And also Oklahoma is a flat organization.
You can get the governor on the phone, to the
University of Oklahoma president, to.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Our regulatory bodies.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
I tell people we're a flat organization. You're not going
to be messed around with bureaucracy. We're all talking and
singing from the same hymnal that we want businesses to
be successful in our state.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
All right, well, Governor Kevin Stick from Oklahoma, thank you
for coming on, and let's talk again soon as your
planning progresses.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Okay, thank you so much, talk you letters.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
All right, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stick. We got more coming up.
John Cobelt Show caf I.
Speaker 5 (09:40):
You're listening to John Cobelt on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
We just had the Oklahoma governor on, Kevin Stick. I
hope you heard him, and if you didn't, that's what
the podcast is for after four o clock John Cobelt
Show on demand and you should listen to what he's
got to say. He was making a pitch for La businesses,
California businesses to come to Oklahoma, where there's a lot
(10:07):
more space. Land is a lot less expensive electricity, I
mean energy is one third the price. To notice that
energy is one third the price. Top tax rate for
individuals is four percent. It's an and as I mentioned,
(10:34):
you know, a couple of my sons happened to go
through Oklahoma recently. They both were surprised about how nice
it is, how nice the people were. They do have
a major league World champion basketball team right now, the Thunder,
And it's one of those places that we're just conditioned
to think about the world being New York, Chicago, LA.
(10:55):
But you know, as I was traveling in the southeast
a few weeks ago, uh, it's Florida, North Carolina, and
it's Tennessee, and it's Texas and maybe Oklahoma now along
with you know, Arizona and Nevada. These places are growing
(11:15):
fast because the tax and business environment, for one, is
far better. And it's like you, I have no idea
why these progressives. Well I do know it's there. It's
their weird ideology from Karl Marx. But they hate business
(11:38):
so much. Eventually their tax base is going to crumble.
It's already happened in Santa Monica. It's already happened in
downtown LA. It happened in San Francisco. The tax base
it gets destroyed and now you have no money for anything.
(12:01):
There is one guy, and we've had him on the
show a couple of times, and I think I wout
to have him on again. He's the mayor of San Jose.
He's Matt Mahon, m a h an. It's only forty
two years old, and.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
He was.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
A businessman and he ran as a Democrat. He says,
he's uh, he's been a Democrat all his life. But
he breaks with all these progressive lunatics. And he really
dislikes Newsom's anti business attitude. How can you possibly be
(12:38):
an adult, a responsible adult and intentionally try to drive
business away? And Mayhead wrote a piece in the San
Francisco Standard SF Standard dot com a few weeks ago,
and he was upset with the way Newsom was handling
bed Beth and Beyond. Bet Beeth and Beyond had had
(12:59):
hundreds of outlets, ran into trouble, went bankrupt. They've opened
one store, and the new CEO says, we're going to
rebuild the chain. It's an extremely valuable, popular brand name
and eventually we're gonna have three hundred stores. But he
pointedly wrote a public letter and said none of them
(13:21):
in California. And I read the letter at the time
and obvious reasons and the Governor Newsom's press office, but
this is Newsom. He didn't retract this. Governor Newsom's press
office responded to bed Bath and Beyond by saying, after
(13:43):
their bankruptcy enclosure of every store, like most Americans, we
thought bed Bath and Beyond no longer existed. We wish
them well their efforts to become relevant again as they
try to open a second store. This is because the
CEO ripped news them, so the snarky little toddlers over
(14:04):
at the Newsom press office what adults would have done
is said, you want to expand three hundred stores. Geez,
obviously you ought to be opening about ten or twenty
here in California. Let's talk what do you need to
help you come back. Let's talk about locations, about tax breaks,
about no It's like, oh, well, good luck being relevant again. Hi,
(14:30):
we have important jobs writing tweets for Gavin Newsom. You
imagine how insufferable these people are in that office. Can imagine?
And Matt Mahon, the mayor mayor of San Jose, said,
I was taking a back when Newsom's vaunted social media
(14:51):
team disparaged an announcement from the CEO of Bet Bath
and Beyond that it wasn't going to operate any stores
in California because of the state's business climate. The governor's
team responded to the feedback not with a reasoned argument,
but with an extended attack in their new Trumpian voice
of belittling those who disagree with them. The message to
(15:12):
the CEO was take your business elsewhere, given that California
currently has more than one million unemployed residents. That was
not the reaction I was expecting or that was called for.
Newsome supporters say he's breaking the Internet. That's stupid phrase.
He's owning Trump another stupid phrase. But the governor needs
(15:36):
to own up to the truth that California has the
highest unemployment rate in the nation at five and a
half percent, and almost half the nation's unsheltered homeless.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
So you've got the highest unemployment rate.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
And almost half the homeless, and you're telling the CEO
of Bet, Beth and Beyond, who wants to open up
three hundred outlets, to go screw himself because he finds
the business climates so terrible. And now you have the
Oklahoma governor coming to La to pitch businesses to move
(16:15):
to Oklahoma. Not because he just thought of this yesterday,
but because they've been getting many calls from California businesses.
What would it cost to relocate to Oklahoma? California businesses
are looking for a place to go. They're canvassing other
states to get out of here. And again it's proven
(16:36):
thousands and thousands and thousands of businesses have left California
under the Newsom Brown years. It's atrocious. That's why the
tax rate is so high, because it's got to cover
all the businesses and all the people who've left, who
stormed out of here. Now, if there's some kind of
(17:00):
law in life that the governor of California has to
be a Democrat, it ought to be Matt Mayhan because
it seems like he's intelligent and grounded and normal. You
think he'd hire those vicious little snots in his press
(17:23):
office to put out that kind of snarky garbage, garbage
to it to a CEO wants to open up three
hundred stores. We should get twelve percent of the three
hundred stores, you know, we should get about thirty five
of them. We're gonna get zero. We're not at full employment.
(17:43):
We're last in employment, last, worse state for unemployment, worst,
but a bunch of jackasses in that Newsome office. So
if Matt Mayhan runs to run for governor, would he
even win if he ran in the Democratic Party? More
(18:06):
coming up? Oh, we got Michael Monks coming. Now here's
another one. LA is going to be spending billions of
dollars on a convention center when it's broke and they
want to get it built real soon for the twenty
twenty eight Olympics, and.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
They just don't have any money.
Speaker 5 (18:31):
You're listening to John Cobel's on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
We are on every day from one until four o'clock
and then after four o'clock whatever you missed. It's the
podcast John co Belt's show on demand on the iHeart app.
Let's get to Michael Monks now, because while the Palisades
is still in ruins, Karen Bass is now obsessed with
building a new convention center two and a half billion
(18:59):
dollars and having it renovated by the twenty twenty eight Olympics.
It sounds absurd, but she had some kind of media
event today about it, and how are they gonna pay
for this.
Speaker 6 (19:13):
Your cynicism is appropriate in just about everything you mentioned
in that short amount of time. Whether the city can
still give its full attention to the Palisades while the
conventions that our project goes on, whether the city has
the money to pay the debt service that they will
be financing this project over the next thirty years to
pay for this thing, and whether it can be done
in time for the Olympics, considering the city does not
(19:34):
have the best track record in completing its projects.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
So the reason they're doing this is specifically for the Olympics.
Speaker 6 (19:39):
It seems that this motivated them to get moving, but
they can't come out and directly say that that's exactly
why they're doing it. Because this was supposed to be
the no build Olympics. It's not going to cost as anything.
We're not gonna have to build any permanent structures, we're
gonna have to make any significant infrastructure investments to host
the Olympics.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
When it is the twenty twenty eight Olympics some years ago.
They did right after the twenty twenty Yeah, yeah, because
they gave twenty twenty four to Parish, twenty twenty eight
to LA so they knew about this probably for three
or four years, and they didn't do anything to renovate.
Speaker 6 (20:14):
It's been kicked around for a while, but the city
just finished paying off its long term debt from the
last time this convention center was renovated back in the
nineteen nineties. The argument from the convention center folks, from
people downtown, and from city and civic leaders is that
LA is the second biggest city in America, but we
are not competitive on the convention market. We're losing to
(20:38):
much smaller cities all across the country. And the reason
john it's not because of the conditions surrounding downtown Los Angeles.
It's because the convention center is not capable of hosting
events the way other cities are able to do. What
is missing. They are looking to add more space. They
think that having a larger convention center more activities, will
(21:00):
will allow for larger events. And this is also supposed
to spur some economic development. So the concern about the
two point six billion dollars price tag is supposed to
be offset because immediately the construction is supposed to create
about thirteen thousand jobs. Those are temporary, of course, these
are construction jobs, but they estimate and they're forecasting that
(21:23):
there will be each year around two thousand jobs. Additionally,
like say it opens two thousand jobs that year, two
thousand more of the year after that, and so forth
by the activity that it generates around that area of downtown.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
And I got to do this in two and a
half years, not all of it.
Speaker 6 (21:39):
They broke ground today ceremoniously, so Mayor Bass and some
other city and local officials lifted up shovels, spread some
dirt around for the photo. And they're going to do
it in two phases. This center is hosting Olympic events.
The concern and the reason that they weren't sure they
could do it. There was a lot of debate about
(22:00):
this is if that is a construction site when the
Olympics roll through, they will have to move Olympic events.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
But the plan is to do this in two phases.
Speaker 6 (22:07):
They want to finish the first phase before the Olympic Games,
and then after the Games leave, they'll get started at
number two. But the biggest concern is over the money.
We saw a few council members voice opposition to this.
A couple of the people that seem like they would
vote against it. Councilman Bloomenfield Councilman Rodriguez, they were not
(22:27):
present for this meeting. In fact, Councilman Rodriguez says that
she had already been excused from the.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
Meeting before this vote was scheduled.
Speaker 6 (22:35):
She was pretty upset about that, but it did pass
pretty overwhelmingly. Counselman Katie Arslovski's the chair of the budget Committee,
advise the council not to do this. What has been
interesting is the comments from the supporters, not just on
the council, but also the mayor.
Speaker 3 (22:50):
Here's what she said today.
Speaker 7 (22:51):
We take bold actions to assure that we can deliver
in a way that is of course fiscally responsible. That
include so it's implementing cost saving measures and streamlining processes
which will be key to ensure that the convention center
has an on time completion.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
What does that mean?
Speaker 3 (23:10):
What does that mean?
Speaker 6 (23:12):
It seems to be a recognition that this is an
expensive project. The city is already in dire financial condition. Yes,
they spared those city workers layoffs by moving some money
and people around, but even before this vote, the city
was forecasting very serious budget challenges for at least the
(23:32):
next three to five years, similar to what they just
dealt with significant financial challenges. With this vote, the city
has committed itself to annual debt payments for the next
thirty years in an amount that's been estimated anywhere between
eighty million and two hundred million dollars thirty years of that. So,
(23:53):
if they are already having trouble making their budget add
up correctly, now they have just added this deficit.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
Are they doing this just for the Olympics, because, as
you said, and you're open, they had said, we don't
have to build anything. We already have all the venues
we need, and I think this place is holding uh, fencing, wrestling,
table tennis, among other things that they can't They can't
do that now.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
I mean it's big enough.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
To hold a told wrestling matches or play table tennis.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
I mean they get it.
Speaker 6 (24:23):
The Olympic folks would not have assigned those events to
this center were it not capable of hosting right. Okay,
So the answer is technically no, because that would be
violation of what the city said originally. This is a
no build Olympics. You know, they're not building the Memorial Coliseum.
You know, they're not doing that for these games. It's
not that period anymore. Everything is already here, you know,
(24:45):
will be you know, spraying some things down.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
But Bay, we've got all these teams in all these sports.
We've had two Olympics here. I mean, there's there's enough
venues and the universities and whatnot.
Speaker 6 (24:58):
You're not the only one flus to a city councilman. Current
price collapsed during this, uh, this presentation day because he
was so upset. Apparently his office now, Eric Sklar, you
are burned in the fiery depths of hell.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
For that.
Speaker 3 (25:19):
I couldn't resist.
Speaker 6 (25:21):
I want to be clear that is not actual audio
from the councilman, uh going around. I did not know,
absolutely not that was Eric Sklar, but it was a
pretty dramatic scene. He was down on the ground and
kind of wiping his brow looking maybe he had been overheated.
Mayor baths attended to him, you know, she's a foreigner nurse,
(25:42):
and they got him into an ambulance. No, his next
court appearance, because he is of course facing multiple felonies
for over allegations of public corruption.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
His office says he was dehydrated.
Speaker 6 (25:54):
So if you're getting a little dry mouth over the
price of this convention center, you can certainly relate to
councilman price.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
That's the old purpose excuse dehydration. Yeah, so.
Speaker 6 (26:11):
I know it's hard to find the words because this
is a broke city that has just committed to a
very serious purchase.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
They can't build anything.
Speaker 6 (26:17):
They're very bad at building on time. And another concern
you mentioned the Palisades. The Palisades involves there you go, LADWP,
A lot of the rebuild is going to require utility reconstruction.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
And that sort of thing.
Speaker 6 (26:29):
So those questions were raised, and initially it seemed that
there was serious concern about whether any LADWP folks could
be moved out of the Palisades to have to focus
on this convention center. Project engineers and those sorts of
things are going to do that they're just going to abandon.
By the time the vote came, there were reassurances from
folks that that was not going to happen.
Speaker 3 (26:51):
Believe, the.
Speaker 6 (26:53):
City government does not have a great track record with
maintaining trust from folks.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
Rocking on the homeless project. So all the shelters and
all the low income housing they were supposed to build,
none of.
Speaker 3 (27:03):
It ever gets built.
Speaker 6 (27:05):
But this is this is what's going to change all
that John the expanded Convention Center, and I know you're
looking forward to seeing the table tennis Olympic event.
Speaker 8 (27:13):
You know.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
I see a quote in a story here for Politico, uh,
where Mike Bonnan, of all people, says, uh boy, and
this is high risk, very high risk optimism. If we
have to move events, that's egg on the face of
the city. That's an embarrassment when Mike Bonnan is telling
you to slow down.
Speaker 6 (27:32):
You know, and he's from the camp politically, I think
it's it's fair to say with some current council members.
He used to be on the council and now some
of the current council members like Unsses Hernandez Maezlado, Oh yeah, yeah,
So he's kind of in the same campus. They voted
for this project. And I did not expect, especially Councilman
Unisses Hernandez, who's been a bit of a budget hawk
recently about the priorities we're losing out on. Uh, you know,
(27:55):
we spend too much on police and lawsuits and all
that sort of thing. We're not spending enough on a
lot of the services that people use every day. She
gave one of these weird responses before her vote that
I'm not happy about this, but you can bet I'm
gonna keep my eye on this, this budget situation moving forward.
So I don't know what kind of conversations took place
behind the scenes to convince those folks they're they're strong
(28:16):
allies of Mayor Bass.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
Uh that that.
Speaker 6 (28:18):
Got you get the sense that everyone voted for this
knowing that it is going to be a challenge, Like
you just heard the mayor say, you know, she kept
the enthusiasm up today, but recognizing and kind of using
those platitudes about how we're gonna, you know, be creative here.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
There are a lot of qualifiers and exit rams.
Speaker 6 (28:39):
It's scary I think, uh, as someone who watches the
city dollars and these budget conversations all the time, that
there aren't a lot of specifics about how they're going
to be creative.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
Yet all right, well more material for us.
Speaker 3 (28:51):
Indeed, very good.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Michael Monks caf Ie News, excellent reporter.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
Uh, best one we have, debor Mark Wise, is any
of the only one quiet?
Speaker 1 (29:02):
It's you and your big mouth again trying to give
him a compliment.
Speaker 9 (29:06):
I'm just kidding, Michael Monks, He's.
Speaker 3 (29:09):
One of a kind.
Speaker 6 (29:09):
I'll say that that's better.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
There you go.
Speaker 5 (29:14):
You're listening to John Cobels on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 1 (29:20):
We just had Michael Monks on because sounds really stupid,
But the city of Los Angeles is spending over two
and a half billion dollars to renovate the Convention Center.
They want to do it in time for the Olympics,
not because they need to. They have enough space to
do the wrestling and table tennis and other sports at
(29:43):
the Convention Center. They just need to get it done
because if the construction makes the Convention Center uninhabitable, then
they're in a lot of trouble. And Mike Bonnen, who
I didn't realize was still with us. He he's was
skeptical of this. I'm telling you, Mike Bonden is saying
(30:07):
you better slow down. Here's another angle from Fox eleven
reporter Gina Silva.
Speaker 7 (30:14):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
People saying, well, wait, there's other parts of downtown LA
that are neglected. Why why are we blowing all this
money on the Convention Center.
Speaker 7 (30:23):
The expansion of the Convention Center is much more than
just another project. It is an investment in our city,
an investment in our economy, and it's a major step
forward in the effort to revitalize downtown LA.
Speaker 9 (30:38):
Mayor Caroen Bas announces a two point six billion dollar
convention Center expansion, saying the project will bring jobs, growth,
and a cleaner downtown Los Angeles.
Speaker 7 (30:49):
And while we'll do everything to fast track this project
in a fiscally responsible way, we will also continue to
focus on the overall revitalization of Downtown LA, including safety
and cleanliness.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
Which is at the center.
Speaker 9 (31:05):
But while the mayor is making big promises, critics say
the city has neglected downtown Los Angeles for years, leaving
some of its most visible landmarks decayed and ignored.
Speaker 8 (31:17):
It is de moralizing to see the state of the city.
I mean, you look at our beautiful skyline of downtown LA,
and what do you see an I sword, You see
three graffiti towers, And it is embarrassing because we become,
in a sense, the laughing stock of other cities and
in some other.
Speaker 9 (31:34):
Cities in the world.
Speaker 8 (31:35):
How is that allowed to occur here in Los Angeles.
Speaker 9 (31:38):
LAPD Commander Lillian Caranza says she's sped up with how
local officials have led downtown LA slip.
Speaker 3 (31:45):
She points to.
Speaker 9 (31:46):
The Sixth Street bridge covered in graffiti and left dark
for more than a year. The Third Street tunnel tells
the same story, and even the towers across from the
Convention Center are tagged from top to bottom.
Speaker 8 (32:00):
A myriad of reasons as to why we have gotten
to where we're at now, one of them being zero bail,
the progressive policies that we have seen, and some of
elected leaders they do not like.
Speaker 9 (32:13):
Working on the police department, Caranza says the current policies
have created a revolving door. Officers arrest taggers and other offenders,
but they're quickly released back onto the streets, making it
harder to keep downtown clean and safe. She says city
officials need to work with the LAPD to really make
a difference.
Speaker 8 (32:33):
This be a premier city that can host not only
a World Cup, but the Olympics in twenty twenty eight.
We need to work in partnership and collaborate, and we
need their support just like they need our support in
order to serve the community that we all love so much.
Speaker 9 (32:49):
Councilwoman is Abehuado issued a statement that says, in part,
public safety begins with the equitable delivery of city services
and strong the neighborhoods and improve the quality of life.
Speaker 3 (33:00):
That's why our office.
Speaker 9 (33:01):
Has already taken swift action to add the sixth Street
Bridge to weekly Graffitia Bateman routes and expand cleanup services
across Council District fourteen. The statement goes on to say
that relighting the bridge should be taken care of in
the fall.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
Why does Karen Vass turn the city over to the
graffiti animals and all the all the vandals and the
felons who steal the copper wire and turn entire neighborhoods
off at night? I mean, I mean, these neighborhoods go
to black because there's no electricity. There's no street lights
(33:41):
working anymore because the copper wires are stolen because Karen
Bass allows it to be stolen constantly, and all these
progressive a holes with their no bail policies, and so
these guys go out and committed all these crimes. City
looks like Hell Bridge is ruined. They just renovated that thing,
(34:02):
it was glittering just a couple of years ago. That's
a disaster. And the tunnel and then those two disgusting
towers run across from the convention center. What are they
gonna do about that. A city administrative officer in March
said that the project getting done before the Olympics was
(34:25):
not feasible, and then a chief legislative analyst said the
same thing. Renovating the convention center not feasible. The city
controller said, you're not gonna generate revenue from the convention
center for thirty years, and then you have the fencing,
(34:48):
the wrestling, and the table tennis. If they don't get
it done in time, then they're gonna have to go
to the Olympic Committee and have these I don't know.
We've already got some Olympic events going to Oklahoma. Speaking
of Oklahom, we had the governor on earlier, so they're
not only getting California businesses. They're all ready getting some
of our Olympic events. Maybe they'll get some more here.
(35:13):
According to Kitty Roslavsky, who's an idiot normally, she said
the expansion is unrealistic, unaffordable, and irresponsible. Over the next
nine hundred and ten days, crews would have to work
six days a week every week, with only twenty float
days and a few more for bad weather and other contingencies.
(35:35):
So there's five weeks of slack time in one hundred
and thirty week construction schedule. The smallest disruption disruption or
supply chain delay or weather or labor shortage, or the
city's own approval process, which we all know what that is,
will push us off schedule. Well, Katie, why don't you
fix the approval process. That's a second time this month
(35:55):
she's complained about the city bureaucracy.
Speaker 3 (35:58):
Fix it?
Speaker 1 (36:00):
What's wrong with you? Who else is supposed to fix it?
If not you, what are you doing? Well, another two
and a half billion will be fleshed down the toilet
and maybe the part of some of the Olympics will
have to be relocated to some other state.
Speaker 3 (36:21):
And it's so ugly.
Speaker 1 (36:22):
The city is so ugly right now, the bridge, the tunnel,
the towers. It's ugly, it's gross, it's embarrassing. I'd never
bring anybody from out of town to any of these places.
Neither would you. Karen Bath has no shame. We come back,
We are going to talk. Oh yeah, yeah, we discussed
(36:43):
this a bit yesterday. And no, we're gonna have Jamie
Page on from Westside Current dot com. We're spending one
hundred and twenty thousand dollars a year for a single
motel bed for the Vagrants deb Remark live in the
KFI twenty for our newsroom. Hey, 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
four pm every Monday through Friday, and of course, anytime
(37:03):
on demand on the iHeartRadio app
Can't I am six forty. You're listening to the John
Cobelt podcast on the iHeartRadio app. Welcome, It's the John
Cobelt Show and we're on every day from one until
four and then whatever you miss it's the podcast after
four o'clock. John Cobelt's show on demand on the iHeart app.
We're about to talk to the Governor of Oklahoma, Kevin Stitt,
(00:21):
and he and his staff is coming to Los Angeles Friday.
They're going to be at the Los Angeles Athletic Club
in downtown LA and.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
They have.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
They're trying to lure California businesses to Oklahoma and they
have all the whole presentation that they're going to do.
Let's get Governor Kevin Stitt from Oklahoma on. Welcome Governor,
how are you.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
All doing great? How you guys doing today?
Speaker 3 (00:47):
We're doing well.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Tell me what is the presentation going to look like
to these California business owners. What are you going to
be telling them?
Speaker 4 (00:55):
Well, first off, we just want to we want all
businesses to know that Oklahoma is open for business. We're
the most business friendly state in the country and unlike
you know, some of the other states that are just
over regulating, and their idea is that business is bad
and they're trying to harm people and we need to
over regulate them. In Oklahoma, we are excited when people
(01:19):
start businesses and invest capital. And our overall philosophy is
that businesses are trying to do the right thing. They're
trying to take care of their employees, their customers, the environment.
And that's the philosophy we have in Oklahoma. And I
come from the business world, and before I ran for governor,
I've never been in public been in public office, and
(01:39):
so we just have a different perspective. And I just
started realizing it's not like this in other states. And
so every time I have We've got tons of companies
that have moved here and they were California businesses. Now
they're thriving in Oklahoma. And they said, Governor, you've got
to come over here and tell some of my friends
how great it is in Oklahoma with the cost of
living and just the overall quality of life.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
And and so that's what we're doing.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
It's lower taxes and you can make more money and
without the headaches in Oklahoma.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
That was the next thing I wanted to get into
because we had been hemorrhaging thousands and thousands of jobs
for years, and when you look at lists, it was
they were going to Texas, Tennessee, Florida, Nevada, Arizona, the
usual suspects. Oklahoma, you're you're actually getting a lot of
businesses in recent years contacting you to move.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
That's exactly right.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
I mean, energy is a is a big plus, and
Oklahoma has the most affordable, reliable energy grid in the country.
So as far as data centers manufacturing, you'll pay about
a third for your energy costs in Oklahoma than you
do in California. The cost of living, it's just it's
amazing the difference. I think we're about four hundred percent
(02:51):
cheaper in housing than than California. So just a lot
of a lot of reasons that people are moving to,
like you said, states like Oklahoma and Texas and Tennessee,
and yeah, we just we're top ten right now and
people move into our state. Oklahoma has four point one
million people in Oklahoma City Go Thunder, the NBA reigning champions.
(03:18):
We're the twentieth largest city in the country now, and
people just don't realize that.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Yeah, I didn't know that crazy, I know, I know
and listen.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
We've got a lot of friends in California, and we
love California, but as governor of Oklahoma, we're just I
want to I want to try to recruit every company.
I came from Texas to Oklahoma, from Kansas to Oklahoma,
and from California and Oklahoma. So we just want everybody
to know that Oklahoma's open for business.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Everybody I talked to business out here. Two main categories
of discussion. Number one, Texas business taxas what's it like
in Oklahoma.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
Yeah, well, if you're a sea corp, if you're a
Sea court versus an S corp, our C corporate is
down to is four percent. I don't know exactly what
it is in California, but I think it is much
higher than that.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
And then personal income.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
Tax in California, I think you pay thirteen point three
percent is the top end, and we're at four point five.
Four point five ordered this four point five And do.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
You have an empty radio studio in Oklahoma City?
Speaker 4 (04:24):
I could use absolutely, and then I put us on
a path to zero. So next year when we have
growing revenue, it automatically triggers a court of a point
tax cut to the people because after all, it's the
people's money, it's not the government's money. We don't when
we have access revenue, we don't create more government programs.
We give it back to the tax payer. And that's
(04:46):
what we believe in Oklahoma. What about regulation, Yeah, so
obviously there has to be makes sense regulation to set
the rules of the road. But I tell all of
my regulatory bodies that, hey, we'll never play got you
with the company.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
We want to be clear with the rules.
Speaker 4 (05:03):
But then we just let companies go compete. And when
I ran my companies, that's that's all you want is
you just want to level playing field. And uh and
that's the way we do it in Oklahoma. So you know,
time and time again. I mean I had one big, huge,
billion dollar company that called me and they just said Governor,
they said thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
They said we we.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
Had a permitt to buy water from a municipality and
for whatever reason, there was a you know, they busted
the permitt for something that was not unsafe. It wasn't
their fault, it was something, but they were gonna have
to close their plant down and it was going to
be cost them millions of dollars. Well, they called our office,
We called the Department Environmental Quality and we got them
(05:48):
a waiver within thirty minutes, and it saved them millions
and millions of dollars. That's the kind of business friendly
approach that I'm talking about, And I remind them that
would never happen in some of these other states where
the regulators are always playing gotcha. We are, We're we
make common sense in Oklahoma, and we're going to work
(06:08):
with industry because we know they're trying to do the
right thing.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Well, a few years ago, if you suggested that, hey,
if you keep up this onerous regulation and this tax
structure and everything else, companies are going to go. They're
going to you know, they'll go to Oklahoma. And people
in government here with scoff at that, Oh, they're not
going to leave the California sunshine. That's crazy, that's ridiculous.
But it's happening. I mean not just Oklahoma, but all
(06:31):
those other states that I mentioned. I mean, the place
here is managed so badly that you know, you're going
to be getting a lot of phone calls because everybody's
sick of it. Everybody's just fed up with the way
this place is run.
Speaker 4 (06:45):
Yeah, well they're in a death spiral what we call
in business because now right now their only option they're
having to raise taxes on the people that are there
to pay for all the services that they promised and
then and then they're going to drive or businesses away.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
So they're in a real pickle.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
Over there, and they need to have some common sense
on their leadership that says, hey, we want to be
business friendly, because until you get the economy booming.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Guess what the economy is.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
What pays for teachers, and it pays for education and
infrastructure and health care. You have to take care of
the economy first and then all these other things work
with it. The other thing I want to tell you
is we just passed business courts. And what that means
is I was tired of, you know, business is not
(07:35):
getting a fair shake, and you were going to a
maybe a family law judge, or you were going before
this court that didn't understand complex business transactions M and.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
A's or business disputes. And so we passed business court.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
So now much like Delaware has a chancery court system,
Texas has just passed that. And so we want to
make sure that businesses know that they're going to have
a business minded judge that understands the complex cases, and
they don't have to spend all this money getting them
up to speed.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
And also speed of the decision is important to businesses.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
We're not going to take five years and run them
through all these different things. These courts will get decisions
out quickly for the business disputes.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
All right, You're gonna be at the Los Angeles Athletic
Club in downtown LA Friday morning to make this presentation
to any California business owners who are attending. I have
never been to Oklahoma. There's four states I haven't been
to yet, and Oklahoma is one of them. Two of
my sons have been there in recent years and they
were surprised how much they liked it. So one day
(08:43):
I want to get there soon.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
Well, you've got a personal invite from the governor and
I'll have you over to the Governor's mansion and we'll
grab coffee together and you will love it.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
We'll show you around.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
And Chet hit is another great He was in Oklahoma
that moved to California, started business, very successful.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Had him on yesterday to Oklahoma.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
He was on the show yesterday.
Speaker 4 (09:04):
Yeah, great friend. And also Oklahoma is a flat organization.
You can get the governor on the phone, to the
University of Oklahoma president, to.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Our regulatory bodies.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
I tell people we're a flat organization. You're not going
to be messed around with bureaucracy. We're all talking and
singing from the same hymnal that we want businesses to
be successful in our state.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
All right, well, Governor Kevin Stick from Oklahoma, thank you
for coming on, and let's talk again soon as your
planning progresses.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Okay, thank you so much, talk you letters.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
All right, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stick. We got more coming up.
John Cobelt Show caf I.
Speaker 5 (09:40):
You're listening to John Cobelt on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
We just had the Oklahoma governor on, Kevin Stick. I
hope you heard him, and if you didn't, that's what
the podcast is for after four o clock John Cobelt
Show on demand and you should listen to what he's
got to say. He was making a pitch for La businesses,
California businesses to come to Oklahoma, where there's a lot
(10:07):
more space. Land is a lot less expensive electricity, I
mean energy is one third the price. To notice that
energy is one third the price. Top tax rate for
individuals is four percent. It's an and as I mentioned,
(10:34):
you know, a couple of my sons happened to go
through Oklahoma recently. They both were surprised about how nice
it is, how nice the people were. They do have
a major league World champion basketball team right now, the Thunder,
And it's one of those places that we're just conditioned
to think about the world being New York, Chicago, LA.
(10:55):
But you know, as I was traveling in the southeast
a few weeks ago, uh, it's Florida, North Carolina, and
it's Tennessee, and it's Texas and maybe Oklahoma now along
with you know, Arizona and Nevada. These places are growing
(11:15):
fast because the tax and business environment, for one, is
far better. And it's like you, I have no idea
why these progressives. Well I do know it's there. It's
their weird ideology from Karl Marx. But they hate business
(11:38):
so much. Eventually their tax base is going to crumble.
It's already happened in Santa Monica. It's already happened in
downtown LA. It happened in San Francisco. The tax base
it gets destroyed and now you have no money for anything.
(12:01):
There is one guy, and we've had him on the
show a couple of times, and I think I wout
to have him on again. He's the mayor of San Jose.
He's Matt Mahon, m a h an. It's only forty
two years old, and.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
He was.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
A businessman and he ran as a Democrat. He says,
he's uh, he's been a Democrat all his life. But
he breaks with all these progressive lunatics. And he really
dislikes Newsom's anti business attitude. How can you possibly be
(12:38):
an adult, a responsible adult and intentionally try to drive
business away? And Mayhead wrote a piece in the San
Francisco Standard SF Standard dot com a few weeks ago,
and he was upset with the way Newsom was handling
bed Beth and Beyond. Bet Beeth and Beyond had had
(12:59):
hundreds of outlets, ran into trouble, went bankrupt. They've opened
one store, and the new CEO says, we're going to
rebuild the chain. It's an extremely valuable, popular brand name
and eventually we're gonna have three hundred stores. But he
pointedly wrote a public letter and said none of them
(13:21):
in California. And I read the letter at the time
and obvious reasons and the Governor Newsom's press office, but
this is Newsom. He didn't retract this. Governor Newsom's press
office responded to bed Bath and Beyond by saying, after
(13:43):
their bankruptcy enclosure of every store, like most Americans, we
thought bed Bath and Beyond no longer existed. We wish
them well their efforts to become relevant again as they
try to open a second store. This is because the
CEO ripped news them, so the snarky little toddlers over
(14:04):
at the Newsom press office what adults would have done
is said, you want to expand three hundred stores. Geez,
obviously you ought to be opening about ten or twenty
here in California. Let's talk what do you need to
help you come back. Let's talk about locations, about tax breaks,
about no It's like, oh, well, good luck being relevant again. Hi,
(14:30):
we have important jobs writing tweets for Gavin Newsom. You
imagine how insufferable these people are in that office. Can imagine?
And Matt Mahon, the mayor mayor of San Jose, said,
I was taking a back when Newsom's vaunted social media
(14:51):
team disparaged an announcement from the CEO of Bet Bath
and Beyond that it wasn't going to operate any stores
in California because of the state's business climate. The governor's
team responded to the feedback not with a reasoned argument,
but with an extended attack in their new Trumpian voice
of belittling those who disagree with them. The message to
(15:12):
the CEO was take your business elsewhere, given that California
currently has more than one million unemployed residents. That was
not the reaction I was expecting or that was called for.
Newsome supporters say he's breaking the Internet. That's stupid phrase.
He's owning Trump another stupid phrase. But the governor needs
(15:36):
to own up to the truth that California has the
highest unemployment rate in the nation at five and a
half percent, and almost half the nation's unsheltered homeless.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
So you've got the highest unemployment rate.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
And almost half the homeless, and you're telling the CEO
of Bet, Beth and Beyond, who wants to open up
three hundred outlets, to go screw himself because he finds
the business climates so terrible. And now you have the
Oklahoma governor coming to La to pitch businesses to move
(16:15):
to Oklahoma. Not because he just thought of this yesterday,
but because they've been getting many calls from California businesses.
What would it cost to relocate to Oklahoma? California businesses
are looking for a place to go. They're canvassing other
states to get out of here. And again it's proven
(16:36):
thousands and thousands and thousands of businesses have left California
under the Newsom Brown years. It's atrocious. That's why the
tax rate is so high, because it's got to cover
all the businesses and all the people who've left, who
stormed out of here. Now, if there's some kind of
(17:00):
law in life that the governor of California has to
be a Democrat, it ought to be Matt Mayhan because
it seems like he's intelligent and grounded and normal. You
think he'd hire those vicious little snots in his press
(17:23):
office to put out that kind of snarky garbage, garbage
to it to a CEO wants to open up three
hundred stores. We should get twelve percent of the three
hundred stores, you know, we should get about thirty five
of them. We're gonna get zero. We're not at full employment.
(17:43):
We're last in employment, last, worse state for unemployment, worst,
but a bunch of jackasses in that Newsome office. So
if Matt Mayhan runs to run for governor, would he
even win if he ran in the Democratic Party? More
(18:06):
coming up? Oh, we got Michael Monks coming. Now here's
another one. LA is going to be spending billions of
dollars on a convention center when it's broke and they
want to get it built real soon for the twenty
twenty eight Olympics, and.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
They just don't have any money.
Speaker 5 (18:31):
You're listening to John Cobel's on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
We are on every day from one until four o'clock
and then after four o'clock whatever you missed. It's the
podcast John co Belt's show on demand on the iHeart app.
Let's get to Michael Monks now, because while the Palisades
is still in ruins, Karen Bass is now obsessed with
building a new convention center two and a half billion
(18:59):
dollars and having it renovated by the twenty twenty eight Olympics.
It sounds absurd, but she had some kind of media
event today about it, and how are they gonna pay
for this.
Speaker 6 (19:13):
Your cynicism is appropriate in just about everything you mentioned
in that short amount of time. Whether the city can
still give its full attention to the Palisades while the
conventions that our project goes on, whether the city has
the money to pay the debt service that they will
be financing this project over the next thirty years to
pay for this thing, and whether it can be done
in time for the Olympics, considering the city does not
(19:34):
have the best track record in completing its projects.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
So the reason they're doing this is specifically for the Olympics.
Speaker 6 (19:39):
It seems that this motivated them to get moving, but
they can't come out and directly say that that's exactly
why they're doing it. Because this was supposed to be
the no build Olympics. It's not going to cost as anything.
We're not gonna have to build any permanent structures, we're
gonna have to make any significant infrastructure investments to host
the Olympics.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
When it is the twenty twenty eight Olympics some years ago.
They did right after the twenty twenty Yeah, yeah, because
they gave twenty twenty four to Parish, twenty twenty eight
to LA so they knew about this probably for three
or four years, and they didn't do anything to renovate.
Speaker 6 (20:14):
It's been kicked around for a while, but the city
just finished paying off its long term debt from the
last time this convention center was renovated back in the
nineteen nineties. The argument from the convention center folks, from
people downtown, and from city and civic leaders is that
LA is the second biggest city in America, but we
are not competitive on the convention market. We're losing to
(20:38):
much smaller cities all across the country. And the reason
john it's not because of the conditions surrounding downtown Los Angeles.
It's because the convention center is not capable of hosting
events the way other cities are able to do. What
is missing. They are looking to add more space. They
think that having a larger convention center more activities, will
(21:00):
will allow for larger events. And this is also supposed
to spur some economic development. So the concern about the
two point six billion dollars price tag is supposed to
be offset because immediately the construction is supposed to create
about thirteen thousand jobs. Those are temporary, of course, these
are construction jobs, but they estimate and they're forecasting that
(21:23):
there will be each year around two thousand jobs. Additionally,
like say it opens two thousand jobs that year, two
thousand more of the year after that, and so forth
by the activity that it generates around that area of downtown.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
And I got to do this in two and a
half years, not all of it.
Speaker 6 (21:39):
They broke ground today ceremoniously, so Mayor Bass and some
other city and local officials lifted up shovels, spread some
dirt around for the photo. And they're going to do
it in two phases. This center is hosting Olympic events.
The concern and the reason that they weren't sure they
could do it. There was a lot of debate about
(22:00):
this is if that is a construction site when the
Olympics roll through, they will have to move Olympic events.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
But the plan is to do this in two phases.
Speaker 6 (22:07):
They want to finish the first phase before the Olympic Games,
and then after the Games leave, they'll get started at
number two. But the biggest concern is over the money.
We saw a few council members voice opposition to this.
A couple of the people that seem like they would
vote against it. Councilman Bloomenfield Councilman Rodriguez, they were not
(22:27):
present for this meeting. In fact, Councilman Rodriguez says that
she had already been excused from the.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
Meeting before this vote was scheduled.
Speaker 6 (22:35):
She was pretty upset about that, but it did pass
pretty overwhelmingly. Counselman Katie Arslovski's the chair of the budget Committee,
advise the council not to do this. What has been
interesting is the comments from the supporters, not just on
the council, but also the mayor.
Speaker 3 (22:50):
Here's what she said today.
Speaker 7 (22:51):
We take bold actions to assure that we can deliver
in a way that is of course fiscally responsible. That
include so it's implementing cost saving measures and streamlining processes
which will be key to ensure that the convention center
has an on time completion.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
What does that mean?
Speaker 3 (23:10):
What does that mean?
Speaker 6 (23:12):
It seems to be a recognition that this is an
expensive project. The city is already in dire financial condition. Yes,
they spared those city workers layoffs by moving some money
and people around, but even before this vote, the city
was forecasting very serious budget challenges for at least the
(23:32):
next three to five years, similar to what they just
dealt with significant financial challenges. With this vote, the city
has committed itself to annual debt payments for the next
thirty years in an amount that's been estimated anywhere between
eighty million and two hundred million dollars thirty years of that. So,
(23:53):
if they are already having trouble making their budget add
up correctly, now they have just added this deficit.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
Are they doing this just for the Olympics, because, as
you said, and you're open, they had said, we don't
have to build anything. We already have all the venues
we need, and I think this place is holding uh, fencing, wrestling,
table tennis, among other things that they can't They can't
do that now.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
I mean it's big enough.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
To hold a told wrestling matches or play table tennis.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
I mean they get it.
Speaker 6 (24:23):
The Olympic folks would not have assigned those events to
this center were it not capable of hosting right. Okay,
So the answer is technically no, because that would be
violation of what the city said originally. This is a
no build Olympics. You know, they're not building the Memorial Coliseum.
You know, they're not doing that for these games. It's
not that period anymore. Everything is already here, you know,
(24:45):
will be you know, spraying some things down.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
But Bay, we've got all these teams in all these sports.
We've had two Olympics here. I mean, there's there's enough
venues and the universities and whatnot.
Speaker 6 (24:58):
You're not the only one flus to a city councilman. Current
price collapsed during this, uh, this presentation day because he
was so upset. Apparently his office now, Eric Sklar, you
are burned in the fiery depths of hell.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
For that.
Speaker 3 (25:19):
I couldn't resist.
Speaker 6 (25:21):
I want to be clear that is not actual audio
from the councilman, uh going around. I did not know,
absolutely not that was Eric Sklar, but it was a
pretty dramatic scene. He was down on the ground and
kind of wiping his brow looking maybe he had been overheated.
Mayor baths attended to him, you know, she's a foreigner nurse,
(25:42):
and they got him into an ambulance. No, his next
court appearance, because he is of course facing multiple felonies
for over allegations of public corruption.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
His office says he was dehydrated.
Speaker 6 (25:54):
So if you're getting a little dry mouth over the
price of this convention center, you can certainly relate to
councilman price.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
That's the old purpose excuse dehydration. Yeah, so.
Speaker 6 (26:11):
I know it's hard to find the words because this
is a broke city that has just committed to a
very serious purchase.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
They can't build anything.
Speaker 6 (26:17):
They're very bad at building on time. And another concern
you mentioned the Palisades. The Palisades involves there you go, LADWP,
A lot of the rebuild is going to require utility reconstruction.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
And that sort of thing.
Speaker 6 (26:29):
So those questions were raised, and initially it seemed that
there was serious concern about whether any LADWP folks could
be moved out of the Palisades to have to focus
on this convention center. Project engineers and those sorts of
things are going to do that they're just going to abandon.
By the time the vote came, there were reassurances from
folks that that was not going to happen.
Speaker 3 (26:51):
Believe, the.
Speaker 6 (26:53):
City government does not have a great track record with
maintaining trust from folks.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
Rocking on the homeless project. So all the shelters and
all the low income housing they were supposed to build,
none of.
Speaker 3 (27:03):
It ever gets built.
Speaker 6 (27:05):
But this is this is what's going to change all
that John the expanded Convention Center, and I know you're
looking forward to seeing the table tennis Olympic event.
Speaker 8 (27:13):
You know.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
I see a quote in a story here for Politico, uh,
where Mike Bonnan, of all people, says, uh boy, and
this is high risk, very high risk optimism. If we
have to move events, that's egg on the face of
the city. That's an embarrassment when Mike Bonnan is telling
you to slow down.
Speaker 6 (27:32):
You know, and he's from the camp politically, I think
it's it's fair to say with some current council members.
He used to be on the council and now some
of the current council members like Unsses Hernandez Maezlado, Oh yeah, yeah,
So he's kind of in the same campus. They voted
for this project. And I did not expect, especially Councilman
Unisses Hernandez, who's been a bit of a budget hawk
recently about the priorities we're losing out on. Uh, you know,
(27:55):
we spend too much on police and lawsuits and all
that sort of thing. We're not spending enough on a
lot of the services that people use every day. She
gave one of these weird responses before her vote that
I'm not happy about this, but you can bet I'm
gonna keep my eye on this, this budget situation moving forward.
So I don't know what kind of conversations took place
behind the scenes to convince those folks they're they're strong
(28:16):
allies of Mayor Bass.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
Uh that that.
Speaker 6 (28:18):
Got you get the sense that everyone voted for this
knowing that it is going to be a challenge, Like
you just heard the mayor say, you know, she kept
the enthusiasm up today, but recognizing and kind of using
those platitudes about how we're gonna, you know, be creative here.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
There are a lot of qualifiers and exit rams.
Speaker 6 (28:39):
It's scary I think, uh, as someone who watches the
city dollars and these budget conversations all the time, that
there aren't a lot of specifics about how they're going
to be creative.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
Yet all right, well more material for us.
Speaker 3 (28:51):
Indeed, very good.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Michael Monks caf Ie News, excellent reporter.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
Uh, best one we have, debor Mark Wise, is any
of the only one quiet?
Speaker 1 (29:02):
It's you and your big mouth again trying to give
him a compliment.
Speaker 9 (29:06):
I'm just kidding, Michael Monks, He's.
Speaker 3 (29:09):
One of a kind.
Speaker 6 (29:09):
I'll say that that's better.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
There you go.
Speaker 5 (29:14):
You're listening to John Cobels on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 1 (29:20):
We just had Michael Monks on because sounds really stupid,
But the city of Los Angeles is spending over two
and a half billion dollars to renovate the Convention Center.
They want to do it in time for the Olympics,
not because they need to. They have enough space to
do the wrestling and table tennis and other sports at
(29:43):
the Convention Center. They just need to get it done
because if the construction makes the Convention Center uninhabitable, then
they're in a lot of trouble. And Mike Bonnen, who
I didn't realize was still with us. He he's was
skeptical of this. I'm telling you, Mike Bonden is saying
(30:07):
you better slow down. Here's another angle from Fox eleven
reporter Gina Silva.
Speaker 7 (30:14):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
People saying, well, wait, there's other parts of downtown LA
that are neglected. Why why are we blowing all this
money on the Convention Center.
Speaker 7 (30:23):
The expansion of the Convention Center is much more than
just another project. It is an investment in our city,
an investment in our economy, and it's a major step
forward in the effort to revitalize downtown LA.
Speaker 9 (30:38):
Mayor Caroen Bas announces a two point six billion dollar
convention Center expansion, saying the project will bring jobs, growth,
and a cleaner downtown Los Angeles.
Speaker 7 (30:49):
And while we'll do everything to fast track this project
in a fiscally responsible way, we will also continue to
focus on the overall revitalization of Downtown LA, including safety
and cleanliness.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
Which is at the center.
Speaker 9 (31:05):
But while the mayor is making big promises, critics say
the city has neglected downtown Los Angeles for years, leaving
some of its most visible landmarks decayed and ignored.
Speaker 8 (31:17):
It is de moralizing to see the state of the city.
I mean, you look at our beautiful skyline of downtown LA,
and what do you see an I sword, You see
three graffiti towers, And it is embarrassing because we become,
in a sense, the laughing stock of other cities and
in some other.
Speaker 9 (31:34):
Cities in the world.
Speaker 8 (31:35):
How is that allowed to occur here in Los Angeles.
Speaker 9 (31:38):
LAPD Commander Lillian Caranza says she's sped up with how
local officials have led downtown LA slip.
Speaker 3 (31:45):
She points to.
Speaker 9 (31:46):
The Sixth Street bridge covered in graffiti and left dark
for more than a year. The Third Street tunnel tells
the same story, and even the towers across from the
Convention Center are tagged from top to bottom.
Speaker 8 (32:00):
A myriad of reasons as to why we have gotten
to where we're at now, one of them being zero bail,
the progressive policies that we have seen, and some of
elected leaders they do not like.
Speaker 9 (32:13):
Working on the police department, Caranza says the current policies
have created a revolving door. Officers arrest taggers and other offenders,
but they're quickly released back onto the streets, making it
harder to keep downtown clean and safe. She says city
officials need to work with the LAPD to really make
a difference.
Speaker 8 (32:33):
This be a premier city that can host not only
a World Cup, but the Olympics in twenty twenty eight.
We need to work in partnership and collaborate, and we
need their support just like they need our support in
order to serve the community that we all love so much.
Speaker 9 (32:49):
Councilwoman is Abehuado issued a statement that says, in part,
public safety begins with the equitable delivery of city services
and strong the neighborhoods and improve the quality of life.
Speaker 3 (33:00):
That's why our office.
Speaker 9 (33:01):
Has already taken swift action to add the sixth Street
Bridge to weekly Graffitia Bateman routes and expand cleanup services
across Council District fourteen. The statement goes on to say
that relighting the bridge should be taken care of in
the fall.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
Why does Karen Vass turn the city over to the
graffiti animals and all the all the vandals and the
felons who steal the copper wire and turn entire neighborhoods
off at night? I mean, I mean, these neighborhoods go
to black because there's no electricity. There's no street lights
(33:41):
working anymore because the copper wires are stolen because Karen
Bass allows it to be stolen constantly, and all these
progressive a holes with their no bail policies, and so
these guys go out and committed all these crimes. City
looks like Hell Bridge is ruined. They just renovated that thing,
(34:02):
it was glittering just a couple of years ago. That's
a disaster. And the tunnel and then those two disgusting
towers run across from the convention center. What are they
gonna do about that. A city administrative officer in March
said that the project getting done before the Olympics was
(34:25):
not feasible, and then a chief legislative analyst said the
same thing. Renovating the convention center not feasible. The city
controller said, you're not gonna generate revenue from the convention
center for thirty years, and then you have the fencing,
(34:48):
the wrestling, and the table tennis. If they don't get
it done in time, then they're gonna have to go
to the Olympic Committee and have these I don't know.
We've already got some Olympic events going to Oklahoma. Speaking
of Oklahom, we had the governor on earlier, so they're
not only getting California businesses. They're all ready getting some
of our Olympic events. Maybe they'll get some more here.
(35:13):
According to Kitty Roslavsky, who's an idiot normally, she said
the expansion is unrealistic, unaffordable, and irresponsible. Over the next
nine hundred and ten days, crews would have to work
six days a week every week, with only twenty float
days and a few more for bad weather and other contingencies.
(35:35):
So there's five weeks of slack time in one hundred
and thirty week construction schedule. The smallest disruption disruption or
supply chain delay or weather or labor shortage, or the
city's own approval process, which we all know what that is,
will push us off schedule. Well, Katie, why don't you
fix the approval process. That's a second time this month
(35:55):
she's complained about the city bureaucracy.
Speaker 3 (35:58):
Fix it?
Speaker 1 (36:00):
What's wrong with you? Who else is supposed to fix it?
If not you, what are you doing? Well, another two
and a half billion will be fleshed down the toilet
and maybe the part of some of the Olympics will
have to be relocated to some other state.
Speaker 3 (36:21):
And it's so ugly.
Speaker 1 (36:22):
The city is so ugly right now, the bridge, the tunnel,
the towers. It's ugly, it's gross, it's embarrassing. I'd never
bring anybody from out of town to any of these places.
Neither would you. Karen Bath has no shame. We come back,
We are going to talk. Oh yeah, yeah, we discussed
(36:43):
this a bit yesterday. And no, we're gonna have Jamie
Page on from Westside Current dot com. We're spending one
hundred and twenty thousand dollars a year for a single
motel bed for the Vagrants deb Remark live in the
KFI twenty for our newsroom. Hey, 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
four pm every Monday through Friday, and of course, anytime
(37:03):
on demand on the iHeartRadio app
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