Michael observes that LA should be just as enjoyable as Carmel-by-the-Sea, so why isn't it? LA's broken budget has gotten worse in recent weeks as police overtime piles up and hundreds of employees prepare for layoffs. A retiring city official shows up at City Hall with a warning for LA: the current path is not sustainable.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio APT.
This is Michael Monks Reports on Michael Monks from KFI
News with until nine o'clock tonight. We got lots to
talk about the week that was and the week that
will be in Southern California. There's something I've been wanting
to talk to all of you about, but as soon
(00:26):
as I had planned to do that, more craziness, of
course across the region with the immigration enforcement and the
demonstrations against them. I had gone up to Carmel by
the Sea for several days and had just an amazing time.
It was great to get away for a few days
(00:48):
and taken the beauty of that area. I had never
been before. It was just everything everyone has said it
would be. It was a storybook kind of town, beautiful
vacation town. And what I noticed about it in contrast
to where I live here in Los Angeles, it was
(01:08):
so calm, it was so clean, and the beauty of
it was not difficult to see the way that it
often is here. You really have to dig through some
of the grimes sometimes in Los Angeles, but something struck
me as I was driving there, the gorgeous drive up there, frankly,
(01:32):
through all the different topography that we have to offer
here in this stretch of California to being there in
the city itself, I was just thinking, Wow, you know,
California doesn't suck. There's this idea. You know, it's easy
to just dismiss all of California. California is terrible. California's
(01:58):
dirty and dangerous and disgusting expensive, and yeah, Carmel was expensive,
but California doesn't suck. I experienced this unfortunate realization that
maybe maybe we suck here because we have all of
(02:20):
the same basically geographic characteristics in this part of California
that they have in Carmel and Monterey. But it's cleaner there,
and it's safer there. And I'm sure there are societal reasons,
of course, that larger cities endure, but we seem to
(02:41):
endure them so poorly in Los Angeles. So I just thought,
it's not fair to dismiss the whole of California when
there are so many places like Carmel, and really it's
it's kind of us that drag the name down because
(03:02):
of what we accept in Los Angeles and Los Angeles County.
You know, just a couple days ago, I'm in my
apartment building downtown and I'm doing laundry in the laundry room,
and I take a moment to look out the window
down to the fashion district below, and just as there
always is, there's some old guy standing outside his suit shop.
(03:25):
When this guy, clearly homeless, clearly suffering a mental health episode,
is punching in the air at nothing, punching at windows.
But then he turns his attention to this shopkeeper outside
the store and puts his hands on him, attacks him.
(03:46):
I'm watching this. It all happened within a split second.
A couple other shopkeepers nearby ran over to help in
This crazy man moves on punching into the air, punching
at doors and windows, and eventually makes his way out
of sight. But that's not a one off situation. That's
happening all the time down there, and it's just one
(04:07):
of those things that we endure. And we know that
these immigration enforcement activities that are taking place here are
getting a lot of attention, not just from us in
the media because they're happening and it's different, but from
our local officials who seldom put that kind of energy
into the everyday scary situations that so many of us
(04:30):
are enduring. And it's not just a homeless guy in
the fashion district in downtown Los Angeles, it's all over.
Police have identified the guy accused of opening fire at
a police officer at Santa Monica Place Mall this week.
Same guy who was allegedly shooting at a way mow
(04:52):
in downtown Santa Monica on Sunday and that injured two juveniles.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
David Harriston was wanted for alleged shooting two teenagers inside
of a Waymo autonomous vehicle this week. When police officers
caught up to him, Hairston allegedly fired at a rookie
officer multiple times, hitting the officer in the hand. It
prompted active shooter worries and the lockdown of the popular
Santa Monica play Small. Hairston was later caught after police
(05:18):
got a tip. Now he's charged with a list of counts,
including attempted murder, but criminal proceedings have been put on
hold over his mental competency. Alec Stone ab Sinews, Los Angeles.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
And that's not all that we have to endure even
in the ritziest parts of this area brent Wood, where
a gardener doing his job also attacked brutally by a
guy believed to be homeless.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
The nearby transient is complaining about the noise. The gardner
tries telling him to leave. Moments later, that's when the
man violently begins beating him.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
That guy ended up covered in blood that gardner did.
And I'm gonna have more in that story coming up
after the break to dive in a little deeper on
what that means about the situation that we're living in here.
But I mean, I'm talking about the fashion district, which
looks different than downtown Santa Monica, which looks different than Brentwood.
But even if you're elite, even if you're extraordinarily wealthy,
(06:21):
even if you're world wide famous, you're not safe from
the everyday trouble that we endure here in Los Angeles.
Speaker 5 (06:32):
Hollywood superstar Brad Pitt is the latest celebrity victim in
a string of brazen home burglaries. Law enforcement sources tell
ABC News police responded to a call at the actor's
home around ten thirty. They say three suspects scale defense
to gain entry to the yard that smashed through a
front window. The pit was not home at the time.
The star has been on the road promoting his new
(06:54):
movie f One Here at the London premiere earlier this week.
Pt Lease say the suspects ran at the stars home
with an unknown number of items taken. Investigators are now
searching for any surveillance video from the home and the area.
The break in is the latest in a series of
alarming crimes at the homes of Hollywood's biggest stars. Just
last month, police say a man smashed his vehicle through
(07:16):
the gate at Jennifer Aniston's property while the actress was home,
and he was detained by private security. Nicole Kidman's house
was burglarized in February, and Tom Hanks was victimized last year.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
I mean, it's it's crazy, and I don't understand it.
I mean, it can It doesn't have to be as
peaceful and quaint and storybook as Carmel by the Sea,
but it can be better than what we're dealing with.
And I don't know why it's not. And maybe you
can help me. By the way, that was ABC's Trevor
(07:48):
Alt reporting my question to you tonight. Why is it
like this here. But what do you think leads los Angeles,
La County other parts of southern California to and feel
the way that it does. I want to hear from you.
Let it out. What are your theories about why we
endure what we endure? Here? Open up the iHeartRadio app,
(08:11):
click on that talkback button, and we're going to play
some of your comments throughout the evening. We have a
busy two hours ahead. We've got more on the assault
of that gardener in Brentwood at the hands of a
guy believed to be homeless, more on that burglary at
Brad Pitt's house, plus the troubling financial outlook for the
City of Los Angeles. That might be one reason why
we endure what we do. The priorities at Los Angeles
(08:35):
City Hall, despite their well meaning efforts, as stated by them,
city is so broke, declared a fiscal emergency this week
to prepare for hundreds of layoffs. There was also a
blistering goodbye from a longtime city employee who tells the
LA City Council right to their face that Los Angeles
(08:57):
is in deep trouble. And then in our next now
we're starting at eight the impact of immigration enforcement here,
who the federal agents are getting and why food banks
and farmer markets they're in trouble, and what local officials
want to do about it, including a request to find
ways to keep writers on the metro system. All of
(09:18):
that and more on Michael Monks Reports right here on
KFI AM six point forty Again. Join our conversation by
opening up the iHeartRadio app, click on that talkback button
and tell us your feelings about what I just talked about.
Why does LA and La County look and feel the
way it does when to me, it just seems like
it really doesn't have to. And now let's get the
(09:40):
latest news from Brigitta Dagostino in the KFI twenty four
hour newsroom.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
This is Michael Monks Reports on Michael Monks from KFI News.
We're to gather till nine o'clock tonight. Got a lot
to talk about this evening. And it may not seem
like a big deal to you that actor Brad Pitt's
house was broken into.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Law enforcement sources tel ABC News Brad Pitt's home in
the Los Phelis area of LA was ransacked by burglars
on Wednesday night. LAPD officers responded and found the burglars
had been inside and took an unknown amount of items.
They were gone. At that point. Three suspects had jumped
a fence and broke a front window to get in.
Pitt was not at home. He's been publicly on the
(10:31):
road promoting the movie f One. The LAPD is investigating
the burglary Alex Stone, ABC News, La Sancheles. But there
are a lot of brad Pits out. We're all Brad
Pitts in a way.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
We may not be as attractive, or as wealthy, or
as successful, but we live here and we're vulnerable to this.
We endure this, and I just don't understand why or how.
There is probably a multitude of reasonable explanations. Doesn't justify it,
(11:06):
but explanations as to why we endure the chaos of
Los Angeles in southern California when we do not have to.
If you missed our opening segment, I went to Carmel
by the Sea or earlier this month before everything got
crazy with the immigration demonstrations, and just marveled at how
calm and beautiful it was and just couldn't help but
(11:28):
notice that we have all that they have there. We're
just a little grimy and a little dangerous, and no
one with any local power seems to talk with the
urgency necessary to address it all. Something horrible happened in
(11:49):
Brentwood's We're talking about Brad Pig, one of the most
famous actors in the history of acting in this country,
and his house is vulnerable. And now I'm going to
take you back to Brentwood courtesy of our friends at
kat LA who have this report that you may have
(12:10):
heard about this week. A gardener doing his job accosted
by man believed to be homeless. And there are so
many issues in this story that are part of the
reasons why we endure what we endure here. Take a listen.
The local gardener is viciously assaulted by a suspected transient
and the attack is captured on surveillance video.
Speaker 6 (12:30):
Katla's Jennifer McGraw is live in Brentwood, where she spoke
with the gardener and a neighbor who recorded the confrontation.
John Yeah, Sharon Micah. Neighbors are frustrated and fed up.
They say the growing homeless population in this area is
become extreme, and they say this shouldn't have ever happened.
Speaker 4 (12:50):
Morning dog, the nearbyd transient, is complaining about the noise.
The gardener tries telling him to leave. Moments later, that's
when the man violently begins beating him.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Because my lips listen.
Speaker 4 (13:05):
Jac Brudolfo Roman recounting the crazy encounter Doctor three, I'm
going to down to the floor and I'm the second
second trunk to me. I'm pulling my family.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
That keeps him as hard as he can and he
hits him all he's down and he hit him without
conscious and he hit him full strength.
Speaker 4 (13:22):
Sean Hefron says he's living next door to neighbors from hell.
The owner abandoned the two properties after one burned down
ten years ago, and now it's home to vagrants.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
And this has been.
Speaker 4 (13:35):
A living nightmare and he's not alone.
Speaker 7 (13:38):
This is my West nightmare. What happened this morning? I
was hoping he wasn't he could get to that. You know,
We're spoken to that landowner multiple times.
Speaker 4 (13:45):
Brittan Yuill says he could hear his gardner screaming.
Speaker 7 (13:48):
Extremely upset you know our gardener who comes every week,
the most beautiful guy in the world down the side there,
and he was just covered in blood.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
The issue with the property has been going on for
years and escalating in the past couple of months.
Speaker 7 (14:02):
You know, the place been called multiple times. It was
a fire here last week. The fire department had to
come and put out.
Speaker 4 (14:09):
He's even offered to buy the vacant properties, but to
no avail. He says, the owner won't budge.
Speaker 7 (14:15):
I've got two young kids. I've got a three year
old and a five year old, and you know, we're
just scared, scared.
Speaker 8 (14:20):
For the neighborhood.
Speaker 7 (14:21):
This guy's violent, is mentally ill, and he needs to
be taking off the streets.
Speaker 4 (14:26):
A man that caused extreme injuries to Ridolpho, breaking his
hand and doctors had to staple the gash on his head.
And now the added worry of when he'll be able
to get back to work.
Speaker 9 (14:37):
Brigaido. Yes, I think it's.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Gone brigato for me, this problem.
Speaker 8 (14:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (14:41):
A neighbors say that they've tried everything.
Speaker 6 (14:43):
They've contacted the LAPD by phone, by email, DHS City Council,
and they say nothing has been done. I also reached
out to the property owner, and I haven't heard back
from her again.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
That's from KTLA. And the reason I wanted to play
the report just about in its entirety is because of
the various issues that compose this story and their relationship
to the status of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County. Homelessness, violence,
a vacant house, mentally ill transience, in action by city
(15:18):
officials and police, and families feeling unsafe. This happened in Brentwood.
I talked earlier this hour about a violent altercation I
saw in the fashion district, and unfortunately, we just expect
those things to happen downtown, right, this was Brentwood. Why
(15:41):
do we endure what we endure here?
Speaker 1 (15:44):
Why?
Speaker 2 (15:45):
What are the circumstances that allow this to play out?
That's my question to you tonight. You can join the conversation,
open up the iHeartRadio app, click on the talkback button
and let us know, enlighten us.
Speaker 10 (15:56):
Here's Scott Michael Viiforia has parts of the whole United
States in it. It is such a beautiful place. It's
too bad some people have to ruin it. But you know,
but anyway, what is really a pretty down.
Speaker 8 (16:13):
Do you know it?
Speaker 2 (16:15):
Sure, is Scott. You're absolutely correct. I mean, Carmel's gorgeous,
Monterey was great. Los Angeles is gorgeous. We got to
clean it up. It's just so grimy. Let's hear from Brad.
Speaker 11 (16:30):
Now, Okay, here's why LA people think the Democrats going
to give them stuff, which they do to get votes,
and that's what's happening in LA. They vote Democrat to
get free stuff, and yet they don't realize what's happening
around them that the whole society has turned to hell
(16:51):
just for a few bucks in their pockets.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
That's what's happening. Brad. Thanks so much for your perspective.
Open up the iHeartRadio app, click on that talkback button
and we'll talk some more. Now, there was clearly some
city in action alleged in that story out of Brentwood
that there's been a vacant home there. Calls have been
made by neighbors. They've called it the neighbors from Hell.
They're not even legal residents of that property, just taking
(17:17):
up home there because the owner of the property is
also unresponsive in Brentwood. Well, if there are people at
city hall who can deal with that, there may be
fewer of them very soon, because the Los Angeles City
Council approved this week a resolution declaring a state of
fiscal emergency unanimous vote, because that is a mechanism needed
(17:41):
to start their layoffs process. We know that they were
crafting a budget that was facing a billion dollars shortfall.
They closed it. There were going to be sixteen hundred
plus layoffs at one point. They saved a thousand of
those jobs. Officially, they hope that the six hundred remaining
layoffs don't happen, that they can move some people into
(18:03):
other departments. They've called it a transfer portal that they've created,
like in college sports, to move people from one department
to another to save their jobs. But if residents aren't
able to get through to get assistance with the neighbors
from hell, what difference does it make. And if there
are fewer employees after all, should we expect fewer services.
(18:27):
Apparently the answer is yes, because the people managing the
money did something this week also that struck me as
very interesting. Concerning last week, I reported that the city
Council approved a five million dollar loan from its own
reserve fund to cover overtime for the Los Angeles Police Department.
(18:50):
And their response to the immigration enforcement activity demonstrations. It's
been a lot of police activity in response to this.
But this week they had to vote on another loan
for the same reason because that first loan underestimated. Why
(19:11):
because it only covered the police officers who responded directly
to demonstrations. But remember there was a citywide tactical alert
issued that means that any police officer who was on
duty anywhere in Los Angeles was commanded to stay on duty.
That's over time too, and it was not accounted for
in that original request for money. So this week the
(19:34):
city council had to approve another loan, not for five
million dollars more, but for seventeen million dollars more twenty
two total million dollars because of an accounting error. I
think that might be one of the reasons we're in
the state we're in. So I wanted to talk to
(19:56):
Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mahea about that specific issue
related to the LAPD. It's overtime in the loan that
the city council had to approve not once but twice
now totally more than twenty two million dollars, and also
what this fiscal emergency means and what can we expect
in lower services? He joins us next, and then after that,
(20:21):
a top deputy in the City Controller's office has left
his position, but not before issuing a warning to La
City Hall over the way it does business. You do
that right to their faces. We're going to hear from
him as well as Michael Monks Reports continues.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand KFI.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. This
is Michael Monks Reports. I'm Michael Monks from KFI News
with you till nine o'clock tonight. It's officially a fiscal
emergency at La City Hall, as hundreds of layoffs of
city employees now loom. La City Controller Kenneth Mahea is
with us now. Controller Mihea thinks, so much for joining
(21:00):
us again.
Speaker 9 (21:01):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
So the only city council has basically declared a fiscal emergency.
This is not a surprise. It seems to be the
mechanism that they need to move forward with these hundreds
of layoffs because of the financial constraints that the city
is facing. But before we dive into that, there was
something that struck me at the city council meeting on
Tuesday that I don't know, almost fell out of my
(21:25):
chair because the city council last week approved a five
million dollar loan from its reserves to cover police overtime,
and then today the city administrator comes back and says,
we made a miscalculation that five million dollars was just
for the direct response to protest and not the full
(21:45):
city wide tactical alert, and we actually need a total
of twenty two million dollars. This seems like some strange
accounting practices, a very severe miscalculation. What are your thoughts
about this?
Speaker 8 (22:00):
You know, I think from an accounting perspective, what they're
doing is they will want to see all the you know,
direct then in direct costs because of the city's response
to the ice rays, right, and so because the LPD
(22:22):
went on the city wide tactical.
Speaker 9 (22:23):
Alert, although they had you know, a.
Speaker 8 (22:26):
Certain amount of officers around the area or directly there
at the protest, it did require pretty much the rest
of the other officers in the department to be on
you know, standby or still be around, right, And so
because of that, those are workable hours, which are overtime hours.
(22:48):
Which are paid at a higher rate than your regular hours.
Speaker 9 (22:52):
So that's what is.
Speaker 8 (22:54):
Being considered here. And basically because of that, there needs
to money to pay for that OT. So because the
city doesn't have money they or wasn't budgeted for for this, right,
these are unexpected coasts, they knew you need to get
it from the reserve fund.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Yeah, I mean, look, we've already talked before, we've talked
with you, We've talked a lot on the station about
the city's financial problems. We're still in the current fiscal
year and all of this is going on, so I
would imagine from your perspective, this isn't helping things.
Speaker 9 (23:28):
Yeah, its financially, it's very bad. You know, we were bad.
Speaker 8 (23:34):
Before the federal government sent an ice and you know,
not only the federal.
Speaker 12 (23:40):
Government, you know, ripping families apart, but they're also impacting
our finances. Right and you know, since we are a
local government, when you take money away from something, you
take it away from spending it on other essential city
services like you know, infrastructure, sidewalks.
Speaker 8 (24:00):
Lights, trees. You know, whether it's more recon parks programs
or anything, it's it's having a devastating effect.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
I know, that the city was facing a one billion
dollar budget shortfall. I certainly sat through all of those
budget committee hearings where they were trying to figure out
a way to close that gap. They seem to be
content that they were able to do that. Obviously not
totally happy about it, because there's still some pain to
be felt. Is that what we felt at the meeting
(24:30):
this week where the fiscal emergency was approved? I mean,
is this sort of the end stage of this budget process?
Speaker 4 (24:38):
Right?
Speaker 8 (24:38):
It's sort of like you said, right now and once
July first takes effect, that's when the new fiscal year begins.
And you know there are six and fourteen filled jobs
right now that are on the shopping block for layoffs,
right and in order to do that, in order to
balance the budget, needed to declare it this Cisco emergency.
(25:03):
And so you know the city is going to do
it's the best try to transfer employees out, you know,
proprietary departments, other departments, or fill other vacancies. But either way,
those positions are going to be gone, right, and that
person who is filling it is going to be somewhere else, right,
or they're going to have a different position or a
different role. So to your question, Yeah, it's sort of
(25:25):
at that stage where we know that this weird begins.
We know we're going to do a layoffs, so this
is what we have to do.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
We're talking about more than six hundred different positions here.
Speaker 8 (25:35):
There.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
There is obviously a hope, a desire, maybe even a
plan to move some of those folks to other departments,
but regardless of whether that works, the functions they perform
in their current positions seem like they'll be gone. So
where do you think the people of Los Angeles will
see the impact of that?
Speaker 3 (25:55):
First?
Speaker 8 (25:56):
I mean, you know, the largest group that's getting cut
is the police civilians. So out of the six hundred
and fourteenth positions, about two hundred and forty eight represent
police civilians. And one of the points of discussions that
were made is that, well, if the civilians are gone,
(26:17):
sworn officers are essentially going to have to fill those roles, right,
So that's one area. You know, when it comes to
things like.
Speaker 9 (26:30):
You know, infrastructure related, building related.
Speaker 8 (26:36):
Type services improvements, you know, those are areas as well
that you'll see, you know, an impact. We have cuts
to sanitation, the street lighting, the street services, basically your
public works infrastructure related, so people could feel it around there,
and everyone knows that our infrastructure and our response times
(26:57):
the tackling these is not good. In addition, we are
going to see consolidations of departments. Basically they're going away
to be you know, grouped in. But we'll wait to
see that happens. But an area that you know, some
people might feel it would be in the Youth Development department.
Right A lot of youth Development is in charge of
(27:19):
promoting and getting the word out about youth programs, opportunities,
you know, So just things like that that people will
will feel because of these impacts.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
And now that we see this sort of coming to fruition,
what are the lessons that the city council and the
city leadership should be taking away not just from the
budgeting process but from their own spending priorities.
Speaker 8 (27:52):
You know, I think are like good officials my colleagues
big just need to have hard conversations and discussion and
really look at the city finances. I would say, on
a monthly basis, you know, not on a quarterly basis,
which is what we do, but on a monthly basis,
in real time, seeing where the money is going, see
(28:12):
where it's projected to go, and then making hard decisions
as to do we want to keep spending this way
and keep providing this? Can we afford to keep providing this?
And then if the answer is you can't, and then
we have to be honest with constituents and let them
know that, hey, in order to keep this going, we
(28:33):
need to cut this service or this department and just
have those hard decisions, sorry, a hard discussion, so that
way people can know either fight for what they want
or at least race for those impacts that are to
be made because of these decisions. And so I think
that's one thing that the city needs to do a
lot better on, is to just be more transparent and
(28:56):
honest about those cities finance is that. I think they've
come a long way, to be honest, We've sounded the
alarm since we took office and it's sort of gotten
to this point where we are. We've exhausted a lot
of resources and options in order to balance the city's budget. Right,
I think layouts are the last resort, but we finally
(29:16):
hear and people are starting to talk about it. So
I think we guess we need more residents to keep
pushing there like that to answer the tough questions about
what are we spending our money on and then what
are we doing in order to keep that spending? Are
we cutting somewhere else? And this or that?
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Kenith Mahea is the La City Controller. Thank you so
much for the explanation. Again, of course, thank you for
having me up next. A top deputy in the Controller's
office has stepped down. Before he left city hall this week,
he looked the city council right in the face with
the warning, this is Michael Monk's reporting.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand I Am.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
Six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. Wan to
let you know about this lake fire as they've called it.
In San Bernardino County, the County sheriff Department has issued
an evacuation order for south of Highway one thirty eight
from Highway one seventy three to Summit Valley Road. There's
a road closure Highway one thirty eight from Old Mill
(30:15):
to the fifteen road closure Highway one seventy three At
Highway one thirty eight. The San Bernino County Sheriff's Department
says it is now in unified command here's what we
know about this fire right now as of just minutes ago,
according to cal Fire. They say, as of Saturday evening,
the Lake Fire continues to burn actively in the silver
(30:37):
Wood Lake area north of Asperia, prompting mandatory evacuations south
of Highway one thirty eight. Between the fifteen and Highway
one seventy three. Firefighters are engaged in aggressive suppression efforts
supported by multiple aircraft and ground resources due to increased
fire behavior and visibility concerns. Portions of the fifteen remain impacted.
(31:00):
Will continue working overnight to build containment lines and address
hotspots along the active flanks of the fire. This thing
is at four hundred and seventy eight acres right now
that has grown pretty rapidly from where it started about
three hours ago. They say. Weather conditions are playing a
significant role in fire activity this evening. Gusty south winds
(31:21):
ranging from fifteen to twenty five miles per hour are
expected to persist before gradually weakening after ten o'clock tonight.
Relative humidity will rise from around twenty percent to near
forty five percent overnight, helping moderate fire behavior. Excuse me
helping moderate fire behavior, however, they say conditions will dry
out again on Sunday, with humidity dropping back to twenty
(31:41):
percent and winds gusting up to twenty five miles per
hour in the afternoon. They say Monday is forecast to
bring stronger wind gusts exceeding thirty miles per hour, which
could challenge suppression efforts. Fire personnel remain vigilant and monitoring
the weather to adapt operational strategies accordingly. A morning update
include refined acreage and containment figures. That's the Lake fire
(32:05):
in San Bernardino County. Was a hot day today, a
dry day today, and there was words in out that
fire conditions could be heightened today and we are seeing
that right now in that part of San Bernardino County.
Will bring you updates throughout the evening here on KFI.
The Riverside Fire Department is working to stop a two
acre wildfire in the eighty seven hundred block of trout
Wine Road that's off Van Buren Boulevard. They say forward
(32:28):
progress has stopped there and in Marino Valley. Earlier, firefighters
took about three hours to keep a vegetation fire from
spreading beyond fifteen acres north of Marino Valley between Riverside
and San Bernardino Counties. They called it the Smiley Fire.
It was reported just after two point thirty this afternoon,
and they were able to stop forward progress of that
(32:50):
just before six o'clock the night, and then at six
point twenty, officials reported the fire was fifteen percent contained
by lines of cleared vegetation and that firefighters will work
in steep terrain to extend excuse me, extend containment lines
in that steep terrain tis the season, unfortunately. Hope everybody
stays safe in those areas and heed the evacuation warnings
(33:13):
as they come back to the issue at hand, the
City of Los Angeles and its very troubling financial situation.
He's the chief Deputy City Controller in Los Angeles and
a city councilman in Pasadena. He served in a variety
of municipal leadership roles across southern California for decades. His
name is Rick Cole. He's also made headlines earlier this
(33:35):
month when his twin daughters were arrested at a protest
against immigration enforcement, arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police
officer with a deadly weapon. One of those women works
in the office of La City Councilman Isabelle Herado. The
timing is interesting, but Rick Cole has decided to leave
La City Hall again, and he had some strong words
(33:56):
for city leaders as he was recognized at a city
Council meeting this week.
Speaker 13 (34:02):
I could not let this occasion pass without sharing some thoughts,
and I asked for your indulgence. I have never forgotten
the awe that I felt when I walked into these
chambers on December twenty first, nineteen eighty five. I was
senior deputy to Richard Alatory on his first day in office. Now,
(34:25):
after four decades of public service, I have never been
more alarmed about our future.
Speaker 2 (34:31):
So what is it that is alarming, mister Rick Cole?
Speaker 13 (34:34):
You know the converging crises facing this city. A state
of emergency on homelessness, a devastating firestorm, thousands of city
jobs eliminated, a crisis of affordable housing, and a federal
administration literally at war with the government and the people
(34:55):
of Los Angeles. Those are the headlines, but the there
are also the insidious threats of a weakening economy, a
crumbling infrastructure, grotesque inequality of income, and a failing public trust.
In government's ability to confront these existential challenges.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
Ricole also brings up right at City Hall, in front
of a city council meeting, the challenges the city will
face hosting a pretty big events in a few years.
Speaker 13 (35:25):
If we can't pave our streets, repair our sidewalks, house
our homeless, trim our trees, light our bridges, and fix
our fire trucks, how can we host an Olympics in
three years? La is a complex city of four million people,
over four hundred square miles, more than forty departments, more
(35:49):
than forty.
Speaker 2 (35:50):
Thousand city staff.
Speaker 13 (35:52):
On a good day, it's an incredibly difficult city to manage,
and we haven't had very many good days lately.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
We have not had very many good days lately. So
what are we supposed to do about it?
Speaker 13 (36:05):
But things that can't go on forever don't. For decades,
this city has ridden the cycles of boom and bust,
making short term decisions with long term consequences. For decades,
this city systematically underinvested in its in modernizing its infrastructure.
(36:25):
For decades, city government systematically invested in our city staff's training, technology, equipment,
and facilities. And for decades, city government has systematically perpetuated,
outmoded practices that are simply unsustainable in the world we
(36:46):
live in.
Speaker 2 (36:47):
So ricalled the outgoing deputy city controller in Los Angeles,
a sitting city council member in Pasadena whose twin daughters
were arrested at an anti immigration enforcement demonstration, accused of
assaulting a police officer. One of those women working for
Isabelle Herno. The LA City councilman Rickole ended his remarks
with what he called a moment of truth being needed.
Speaker 13 (37:09):
This is a moment of truth. I know some people say, well,
you know LA's had hard times before we can come through.
This will be better than ever. It's tempting to rely
on our resilience to hope that this too shall pass,
but that's not the world we live in.
Speaker 2 (37:29):
Hope is not a plan.
Speaker 13 (37:32):
Two months ago, in these chambers, Mayor Bass recognized the
gravity of this moment, and she said, we need a
fundamental overhaul of city government to deliver the clean, safe
and orderly neighborhoods that Angelino's deserve in the place they
call home and reverse decades of failure on homelessness. She's right,
(37:54):
that is exactly what we need. A complete overhaul of
city government bold systemic change. It's time to redesign LA
to actually work.
Speaker 2 (38:09):
He did not provide any examples on how bold systemic
change might look or what LA might look like were
it designed to work, but I wanted to share with
you those remarks which I thought were pretty damning coming
from inside the house at Los Angeles City Hall. Though
Rick Cole has left his position now as Deputy City
Controller for the City of Los Angeles, he is a
(38:31):
city councilman at the City of Pasadena. We got another
hour head. The next hour, we're going to focus on
immigration enforcement across Los Angeles. Who are they getting, who
are the federal agents getting, will also check on its
impact at the broader community, local officials, responses and plans,
including trouble facing the La Metro system. Because of this,
(38:52):
we get another hour of Michael Monks reports right here
on KFI AM six
Speaker 1 (38:57):
Forty KFI AM six forty on demand
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio APT.
This is Michael Monks Reports on Michael Monks from KFI
News with until nine o'clock tonight. We got lots to
talk about the week that was and the week that
will be in Southern California. There's something I've been wanting
to talk to all of you about, but as soon
(00:26):
as I had planned to do that, more craziness, of
course across the region with the immigration enforcement and the
demonstrations against them. I had gone up to Carmel by
the Sea for several days and had just an amazing time.
It was great to get away for a few days
(00:48):
and taken the beauty of that area. I had never
been before. It was just everything everyone has said it
would be. It was a storybook kind of town, beautiful
vacation town. And what I noticed about it in contrast
to where I live here in Los Angeles, it was
(01:08):
so calm, it was so clean, and the beauty of
it was not difficult to see the way that it
often is here. You really have to dig through some
of the grimes sometimes in Los Angeles, but something struck
me as I was driving there, the gorgeous drive up there, frankly,
(01:32):
through all the different topography that we have to offer
here in this stretch of California to being there in
the city itself, I was just thinking, Wow, you know,
California doesn't suck. There's this idea. You know, it's easy
to just dismiss all of California. California is terrible. California's
(01:58):
dirty and dangerous and disgusting expensive, and yeah, Carmel was expensive,
but California doesn't suck. I experienced this unfortunate realization that
maybe maybe we suck here because we have all of
(02:20):
the same basically geographic characteristics in this part of California
that they have in Carmel and Monterey. But it's cleaner there,
and it's safer there. And I'm sure there are societal reasons,
of course, that larger cities endure, but we seem to
(02:41):
endure them so poorly in Los Angeles. So I just thought,
it's not fair to dismiss the whole of California when
there are so many places like Carmel, and really it's
it's kind of us that drag the name down because
(03:02):
of what we accept in Los Angeles and Los Angeles County.
You know, just a couple days ago, I'm in my
apartment building downtown and I'm doing laundry in the laundry room,
and I take a moment to look out the window
down to the fashion district below, and just as there
always is, there's some old guy standing outside his suit shop.
(03:25):
When this guy, clearly homeless, clearly suffering a mental health episode,
is punching in the air at nothing, punching at windows.
But then he turns his attention to this shopkeeper outside
the store and puts his hands on him, attacks him.
(03:46):
I'm watching this. It all happened within a split second.
A couple other shopkeepers nearby ran over to help in
This crazy man moves on punching into the air, punching
at doors and windows, and eventually makes his way out
of sight. But that's not a one off situation. That's
happening all the time down there, and it's just one
(04:07):
of those things that we endure. And we know that
these immigration enforcement activities that are taking place here are
getting a lot of attention, not just from us in
the media because they're happening and it's different, but from
our local officials who seldom put that kind of energy
into the everyday scary situations that so many of us
(04:30):
are enduring. And it's not just a homeless guy in
the fashion district in downtown Los Angeles, it's all over.
Police have identified the guy accused of opening fire at
a police officer at Santa Monica Place Mall this week.
Same guy who was allegedly shooting at a way mow
(04:52):
in downtown Santa Monica on Sunday and that injured two juveniles.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
David Harriston was wanted for alleged shooting two teenagers inside
of a Waymo autonomous vehicle this week. When police officers
caught up to him, Hairston allegedly fired at a rookie
officer multiple times, hitting the officer in the hand. It
prompted active shooter worries and the lockdown of the popular
Santa Monica play Small. Hairston was later caught after police
(05:18):
got a tip. Now he's charged with a list of counts,
including attempted murder, but criminal proceedings have been put on
hold over his mental competency. Alec Stone ab Sinews, Los Angeles.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
And that's not all that we have to endure even
in the ritziest parts of this area brent Wood, where
a gardener doing his job also attacked brutally by a
guy believed to be homeless.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
The nearby transient is complaining about the noise. The gardner
tries telling him to leave. Moments later, that's when the
man violently begins beating him.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
That guy ended up covered in blood that gardner did.
And I'm gonna have more in that story coming up
after the break to dive in a little deeper on
what that means about the situation that we're living in here.
But I mean, I'm talking about the fashion district, which
looks different than downtown Santa Monica, which looks different than Brentwood.
But even if you're elite, even if you're extraordinarily wealthy,
(06:21):
even if you're world wide famous, you're not safe from
the everyday trouble that we endure here in Los Angeles.
Speaker 5 (06:32):
Hollywood superstar Brad Pitt is the latest celebrity victim in
a string of brazen home burglaries. Law enforcement sources tell
ABC News police responded to a call at the actor's
home around ten thirty. They say three suspects scale defense
to gain entry to the yard that smashed through a
front window. The pit was not home at the time.
The star has been on the road promoting his new
(06:54):
movie f One Here at the London premiere earlier this week.
Pt Lease say the suspects ran at the stars home
with an unknown number of items taken. Investigators are now
searching for any surveillance video from the home and the area.
The break in is the latest in a series of
alarming crimes at the homes of Hollywood's biggest stars. Just
last month, police say a man smashed his vehicle through
(07:16):
the gate at Jennifer Aniston's property while the actress was home,
and he was detained by private security. Nicole Kidman's house
was burglarized in February, and Tom Hanks was victimized last year.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
I mean, it's it's crazy, and I don't understand it.
I mean, it can It doesn't have to be as
peaceful and quaint and storybook as Carmel by the Sea,
but it can be better than what we're dealing with.
And I don't know why it's not. And maybe you
can help me. By the way, that was ABC's Trevor
(07:48):
Alt reporting my question to you tonight. Why is it
like this here. But what do you think leads los Angeles,
La County other parts of southern California to and feel
the way that it does. I want to hear from you.
Let it out. What are your theories about why we
endure what we endure? Here? Open up the iHeartRadio app,
(08:11):
click on that talkback button, and we're going to play
some of your comments throughout the evening. We have a
busy two hours ahead. We've got more on the assault
of that gardener in Brentwood at the hands of a
guy believed to be homeless, more on that burglary at
Brad Pitt's house, plus the troubling financial outlook for the
City of Los Angeles. That might be one reason why
we endure what we do. The priorities at Los Angeles
(08:35):
City Hall, despite their well meaning efforts, as stated by them,
city is so broke, declared a fiscal emergency this week
to prepare for hundreds of layoffs. There was also a
blistering goodbye from a longtime city employee who tells the
LA City Council right to their face that Los Angeles
(08:57):
is in deep trouble. And then in our next now
we're starting at eight the impact of immigration enforcement here,
who the federal agents are getting and why food banks
and farmer markets they're in trouble, and what local officials
want to do about it, including a request to find
ways to keep writers on the metro system. All of
(09:18):
that and more on Michael Monks Reports right here on
KFI AM six point forty Again. Join our conversation by
opening up the iHeartRadio app, click on that talkback button
and tell us your feelings about what I just talked about.
Why does LA and La County look and feel the
way it does when to me, it just seems like
it really doesn't have to. And now let's get the
(09:40):
latest news from Brigitta Dagostino in the KFI twenty four
hour newsroom.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
This is Michael Monks Reports on Michael Monks from KFI News.
We're to gather till nine o'clock tonight. Got a lot
to talk about this evening. And it may not seem
like a big deal to you that actor Brad Pitt's
house was broken into.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Law enforcement sources tel ABC News Brad Pitt's home in
the Los Phelis area of LA was ransacked by burglars
on Wednesday night. LAPD officers responded and found the burglars
had been inside and took an unknown amount of items.
They were gone. At that point. Three suspects had jumped
a fence and broke a front window to get in.
Pitt was not at home. He's been publicly on the
(10:31):
road promoting the movie f One. The LAPD is investigating
the burglary Alex Stone, ABC News, La Sancheles. But there
are a lot of brad Pits out. We're all Brad
Pitts in a way.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
We may not be as attractive, or as wealthy, or
as successful, but we live here and we're vulnerable to this.
We endure this, and I just don't understand why or how.
There is probably a multitude of reasonable explanations. Doesn't justify it,
(11:06):
but explanations as to why we endure the chaos of
Los Angeles in southern California when we do not have to.
If you missed our opening segment, I went to Carmel
by the Sea or earlier this month before everything got
crazy with the immigration demonstrations, and just marveled at how
calm and beautiful it was and just couldn't help but
(11:28):
notice that we have all that they have there. We're
just a little grimy and a little dangerous, and no
one with any local power seems to talk with the
urgency necessary to address it all. Something horrible happened in
(11:49):
Brentwood's We're talking about Brad Pig, one of the most
famous actors in the history of acting in this country,
and his house is vulnerable. And now I'm going to
take you back to Brentwood courtesy of our friends at
kat LA who have this report that you may have
(12:10):
heard about this week. A gardener doing his job accosted
by man believed to be homeless. And there are so
many issues in this story that are part of the
reasons why we endure what we endure here. Take a listen.
The local gardener is viciously assaulted by a suspected transient
and the attack is captured on surveillance video.
Speaker 6 (12:30):
Katla's Jennifer McGraw is live in Brentwood, where she spoke
with the gardener and a neighbor who recorded the confrontation.
John Yeah, Sharon Micah. Neighbors are frustrated and fed up.
They say the growing homeless population in this area is
become extreme, and they say this shouldn't have ever happened.
Speaker 4 (12:50):
Morning dog, the nearbyd transient, is complaining about the noise.
The gardener tries telling him to leave. Moments later, that's
when the man violently begins beating him.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Because my lips listen.
Speaker 4 (13:05):
Jac Brudolfo Roman recounting the crazy encounter Doctor three, I'm
going to down to the floor and I'm the second
second trunk to me. I'm pulling my family.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
That keeps him as hard as he can and he
hits him all he's down and he hit him without
conscious and he hit him full strength.
Speaker 4 (13:22):
Sean Hefron says he's living next door to neighbors from hell.
The owner abandoned the two properties after one burned down
ten years ago, and now it's home to vagrants.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
And this has been.
Speaker 4 (13:35):
A living nightmare and he's not alone.
Speaker 7 (13:38):
This is my West nightmare. What happened this morning? I
was hoping he wasn't he could get to that. You know,
We're spoken to that landowner multiple times.
Speaker 4 (13:45):
Brittan Yuill says he could hear his gardner screaming.
Speaker 7 (13:48):
Extremely upset you know our gardener who comes every week,
the most beautiful guy in the world down the side there,
and he was just covered in blood.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
The issue with the property has been going on for
years and escalating in the past couple of months.
Speaker 7 (14:02):
You know, the place been called multiple times. It was
a fire here last week. The fire department had to
come and put out.
Speaker 4 (14:09):
He's even offered to buy the vacant properties, but to
no avail. He says, the owner won't budge.
Speaker 7 (14:15):
I've got two young kids. I've got a three year
old and a five year old, and you know, we're
just scared, scared.
Speaker 8 (14:20):
For the neighborhood.
Speaker 7 (14:21):
This guy's violent, is mentally ill, and he needs to
be taking off the streets.
Speaker 4 (14:26):
A man that caused extreme injuries to Ridolpho, breaking his
hand and doctors had to staple the gash on his head.
And now the added worry of when he'll be able
to get back to work.
Speaker 9 (14:37):
Brigaido. Yes, I think it's.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Gone brigato for me, this problem.
Speaker 8 (14:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (14:41):
A neighbors say that they've tried everything.
Speaker 6 (14:43):
They've contacted the LAPD by phone, by email, DHS City Council,
and they say nothing has been done. I also reached
out to the property owner, and I haven't heard back
from her again.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
That's from KTLA. And the reason I wanted to play
the report just about in its entirety is because of
the various issues that compose this story and their relationship
to the status of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County. Homelessness, violence,
a vacant house, mentally ill transience, in action by city
(15:18):
officials and police, and families feeling unsafe. This happened in Brentwood.
I talked earlier this hour about a violent altercation I
saw in the fashion district, and unfortunately, we just expect
those things to happen downtown, right, this was Brentwood. Why
(15:41):
do we endure what we endure here?
Speaker 1 (15:44):
Why?
Speaker 2 (15:45):
What are the circumstances that allow this to play out?
That's my question to you tonight. You can join the conversation,
open up the iHeartRadio app, click on the talkback button
and let us know, enlighten us.
Speaker 10 (15:56):
Here's Scott Michael Viiforia has parts of the whole United
States in it. It is such a beautiful place. It's
too bad some people have to ruin it. But you know,
but anyway, what is really a pretty down.
Speaker 8 (16:13):
Do you know it?
Speaker 2 (16:15):
Sure, is Scott. You're absolutely correct. I mean, Carmel's gorgeous,
Monterey was great. Los Angeles is gorgeous. We got to
clean it up. It's just so grimy. Let's hear from Brad.
Speaker 11 (16:30):
Now, Okay, here's why LA people think the Democrats going
to give them stuff, which they do to get votes,
and that's what's happening in LA. They vote Democrat to
get free stuff, and yet they don't realize what's happening
around them that the whole society has turned to hell
(16:51):
just for a few bucks in their pockets.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
That's what's happening. Brad. Thanks so much for your perspective.
Open up the iHeartRadio app, click on that talkback button
and we'll talk some more. Now, there was clearly some
city in action alleged in that story out of Brentwood
that there's been a vacant home there. Calls have been
made by neighbors. They've called it the neighbors from Hell.
They're not even legal residents of that property, just taking
(17:17):
up home there because the owner of the property is
also unresponsive in Brentwood. Well, if there are people at
city hall who can deal with that, there may be
fewer of them very soon, because the Los Angeles City
Council approved this week a resolution declaring a state of
fiscal emergency unanimous vote, because that is a mechanism needed
(17:41):
to start their layoffs process. We know that they were
crafting a budget that was facing a billion dollars shortfall.
They closed it. There were going to be sixteen hundred
plus layoffs at one point. They saved a thousand of
those jobs. Officially, they hope that the six hundred remaining
layoffs don't happen, that they can move some people into
(18:03):
other departments. They've called it a transfer portal that they've created,
like in college sports, to move people from one department
to another to save their jobs. But if residents aren't
able to get through to get assistance with the neighbors
from hell, what difference does it make. And if there
are fewer employees after all, should we expect fewer services.
(18:27):
Apparently the answer is yes, because the people managing the
money did something this week also that struck me as
very interesting. Concerning last week, I reported that the city
Council approved a five million dollar loan from its own
reserve fund to cover overtime for the Los Angeles Police Department.
(18:50):
And their response to the immigration enforcement activity demonstrations. It's
been a lot of police activity in response to this.
But this week they had to vote on another loan
for the same reason because that first loan underestimated. Why
(19:11):
because it only covered the police officers who responded directly
to demonstrations. But remember there was a citywide tactical alert
issued that means that any police officer who was on
duty anywhere in Los Angeles was commanded to stay on duty.
That's over time too, and it was not accounted for
in that original request for money. So this week the
(19:34):
city council had to approve another loan, not for five
million dollars more, but for seventeen million dollars more twenty
two total million dollars because of an accounting error. I
think that might be one of the reasons we're in
the state we're in. So I wanted to talk to
(19:56):
Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mahea about that specific issue
related to the LAPD. It's overtime in the loan that
the city council had to approve not once but twice
now totally more than twenty two million dollars, and also
what this fiscal emergency means and what can we expect
in lower services? He joins us next, and then after that,
(20:21):
a top deputy in the City Controller's office has left
his position, but not before issuing a warning to La
City Hall over the way it does business. You do
that right to their faces. We're going to hear from
him as well as Michael Monks Reports continues.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand KFI.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. This
is Michael Monks Reports. I'm Michael Monks from KFI News
with you till nine o'clock tonight. It's officially a fiscal
emergency at La City Hall, as hundreds of layoffs of
city employees now loom. La City Controller Kenneth Mahea is
with us now. Controller Mihea thinks, so much for joining
(21:00):
us again.
Speaker 9 (21:01):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
So the only city council has basically declared a fiscal emergency.
This is not a surprise. It seems to be the
mechanism that they need to move forward with these hundreds
of layoffs because of the financial constraints that the city
is facing. But before we dive into that, there was
something that struck me at the city council meeting on
Tuesday that I don't know, almost fell out of my
(21:25):
chair because the city council last week approved a five
million dollar loan from its reserves to cover police overtime,
and then today the city administrator comes back and says,
we made a miscalculation that five million dollars was just
for the direct response to protest and not the full
(21:45):
city wide tactical alert, and we actually need a total
of twenty two million dollars. This seems like some strange
accounting practices, a very severe miscalculation. What are your thoughts
about this?
Speaker 8 (22:00):
You know, I think from an accounting perspective, what they're
doing is they will want to see all the you know,
direct then in direct costs because of the city's response
to the ice rays, right, and so because the LPD
(22:22):
went on the city wide tactical.
Speaker 9 (22:23):
Alert, although they had you know, a.
Speaker 8 (22:26):
Certain amount of officers around the area or directly there
at the protest, it did require pretty much the rest
of the other officers in the department to be on
you know, standby or still be around, right, And so
because of that, those are workable hours, which are overtime hours.
(22:48):
Which are paid at a higher rate than your regular hours.
Speaker 9 (22:52):
So that's what is.
Speaker 8 (22:54):
Being considered here. And basically because of that, there needs
to money to pay for that OT. So because the
city doesn't have money they or wasn't budgeted for for this, right,
these are unexpected coasts, they knew you need to get
it from the reserve fund.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Yeah, I mean, look, we've already talked before, we've talked
with you, We've talked a lot on the station about
the city's financial problems. We're still in the current fiscal
year and all of this is going on, so I
would imagine from your perspective, this isn't helping things.
Speaker 9 (23:28):
Yeah, its financially, it's very bad. You know, we were bad.
Speaker 8 (23:34):
Before the federal government sent an ice and you know,
not only the federal.
Speaker 12 (23:40):
Government, you know, ripping families apart, but they're also impacting
our finances. Right and you know, since we are a
local government, when you take money away from something, you
take it away from spending it on other essential city
services like you know, infrastructure, sidewalks.
Speaker 8 (24:00):
Lights, trees. You know, whether it's more recon parks programs
or anything, it's it's having a devastating effect.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
I know, that the city was facing a one billion
dollar budget shortfall. I certainly sat through all of those
budget committee hearings where they were trying to figure out
a way to close that gap. They seem to be
content that they were able to do that. Obviously not
totally happy about it, because there's still some pain to
be felt. Is that what we felt at the meeting
(24:30):
this week where the fiscal emergency was approved? I mean,
is this sort of the end stage of this budget process?
Speaker 4 (24:38):
Right?
Speaker 8 (24:38):
It's sort of like you said, right now and once
July first takes effect, that's when the new fiscal year begins.
And you know there are six and fourteen filled jobs
right now that are on the shopping block for layoffs,
right and in order to do that, in order to
balance the budget, needed to declare it this Cisco emergency.
(25:03):
And so you know the city is going to do
it's the best try to transfer employees out, you know,
proprietary departments, other departments, or fill other vacancies. But either way,
those positions are going to be gone, right, and that
person who is filling it is going to be somewhere else, right,
or they're going to have a different position or a
different role. So to your question, Yeah, it's sort of
(25:25):
at that stage where we know that this weird begins.
We know we're going to do a layoffs, so this
is what we have to do.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
We're talking about more than six hundred different positions here.
Speaker 8 (25:35):
There.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
There is obviously a hope, a desire, maybe even a
plan to move some of those folks to other departments,
but regardless of whether that works, the functions they perform
in their current positions seem like they'll be gone. So
where do you think the people of Los Angeles will
see the impact of that?
Speaker 3 (25:55):
First?
Speaker 8 (25:56):
I mean, you know, the largest group that's getting cut
is the police civilians. So out of the six hundred
and fourteenth positions, about two hundred and forty eight represent
police civilians. And one of the points of discussions that
were made is that, well, if the civilians are gone,
(26:17):
sworn officers are essentially going to have to fill those roles, right,
So that's one area. You know, when it comes to
things like.
Speaker 9 (26:30):
You know, infrastructure related, building related.
Speaker 8 (26:36):
Type services improvements, you know, those are areas as well
that you'll see, you know, an impact. We have cuts
to sanitation, the street lighting, the street services, basically your
public works infrastructure related, so people could feel it around there,
and everyone knows that our infrastructure and our response times
(26:57):
the tackling these is not good. In addition, we are
going to see consolidations of departments. Basically they're going away
to be you know, grouped in. But we'll wait to
see that happens. But an area that you know, some
people might feel it would be in the Youth Development department.
Right A lot of youth Development is in charge of
(27:19):
promoting and getting the word out about youth programs, opportunities,
you know, So just things like that that people will
will feel because of these impacts.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
And now that we see this sort of coming to fruition,
what are the lessons that the city council and the
city leadership should be taking away not just from the
budgeting process but from their own spending priorities.
Speaker 8 (27:52):
You know, I think are like good officials my colleagues
big just need to have hard conversations and discussion and
really look at the city finances. I would say, on
a monthly basis, you know, not on a quarterly basis,
which is what we do, but on a monthly basis,
in real time, seeing where the money is going, see
(28:12):
where it's projected to go, and then making hard decisions
as to do we want to keep spending this way
and keep providing this? Can we afford to keep providing this?
And then if the answer is you can't, and then
we have to be honest with constituents and let them
know that, hey, in order to keep this going, we
(28:33):
need to cut this service or this department and just
have those hard decisions, sorry, a hard discussion, so that
way people can know either fight for what they want
or at least race for those impacts that are to
be made because of these decisions. And so I think
that's one thing that the city needs to do a
lot better on, is to just be more transparent and
(28:56):
honest about those cities finance is that. I think they've
come a long way, to be honest, We've sounded the
alarm since we took office and it's sort of gotten
to this point where we are. We've exhausted a lot
of resources and options in order to balance the city's budget. Right,
I think layouts are the last resort, but we finally
(29:16):
hear and people are starting to talk about it. So
I think we guess we need more residents to keep
pushing there like that to answer the tough questions about
what are we spending our money on and then what
are we doing in order to keep that spending? Are
we cutting somewhere else? And this or that?
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Kenith Mahea is the La City Controller. Thank you so
much for the explanation. Again, of course, thank you for
having me up next. A top deputy in the Controller's
office has stepped down. Before he left city hall this week,
he looked the city council right in the face with
the warning, this is Michael Monk's reporting.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand I Am.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
Six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. Wan to
let you know about this lake fire as they've called it.
In San Bernardino County, the County sheriff Department has issued
an evacuation order for south of Highway one thirty eight
from Highway one seventy three to Summit Valley Road. There's
a road closure Highway one thirty eight from Old Mill
(30:15):
to the fifteen road closure Highway one seventy three At
Highway one thirty eight. The San Bernino County Sheriff's Department
says it is now in unified command here's what we
know about this fire right now as of just minutes ago,
according to cal Fire. They say, as of Saturday evening,
the Lake Fire continues to burn actively in the silver
(30:37):
Wood Lake area north of Asperia, prompting mandatory evacuations south
of Highway one thirty eight. Between the fifteen and Highway
one seventy three. Firefighters are engaged in aggressive suppression efforts
supported by multiple aircraft and ground resources due to increased
fire behavior and visibility concerns. Portions of the fifteen remain impacted.
(31:00):
Will continue working overnight to build containment lines and address
hotspots along the active flanks of the fire. This thing
is at four hundred and seventy eight acres right now
that has grown pretty rapidly from where it started about
three hours ago. They say. Weather conditions are playing a
significant role in fire activity this evening. Gusty south winds
(31:21):
ranging from fifteen to twenty five miles per hour are
expected to persist before gradually weakening after ten o'clock tonight.
Relative humidity will rise from around twenty percent to near
forty five percent overnight, helping moderate fire behavior. Excuse me
helping moderate fire behavior, however, they say conditions will dry
out again on Sunday, with humidity dropping back to twenty
(31:41):
percent and winds gusting up to twenty five miles per
hour in the afternoon. They say Monday is forecast to
bring stronger wind gusts exceeding thirty miles per hour, which
could challenge suppression efforts. Fire personnel remain vigilant and monitoring
the weather to adapt operational strategies accordingly. A morning update
include refined acreage and containment figures. That's the Lake fire
(32:05):
in San Bernardino County. Was a hot day today, a
dry day today, and there was words in out that
fire conditions could be heightened today and we are seeing
that right now in that part of San Bernardino County.
Will bring you updates throughout the evening here on KFI.
The Riverside Fire Department is working to stop a two
acre wildfire in the eighty seven hundred block of trout
Wine Road that's off Van Buren Boulevard. They say forward
(32:28):
progress has stopped there and in Marino Valley. Earlier, firefighters
took about three hours to keep a vegetation fire from
spreading beyond fifteen acres north of Marino Valley between Riverside
and San Bernardino Counties. They called it the Smiley Fire.
It was reported just after two point thirty this afternoon,
and they were able to stop forward progress of that
(32:50):
just before six o'clock the night, and then at six
point twenty, officials reported the fire was fifteen percent contained
by lines of cleared vegetation and that firefighters will work
in steep terrain to extend excuse me, extend containment lines
in that steep terrain tis the season, unfortunately. Hope everybody
stays safe in those areas and heed the evacuation warnings
(33:13):
as they come back to the issue at hand, the
City of Los Angeles and its very troubling financial situation.
He's the chief Deputy City Controller in Los Angeles and
a city councilman in Pasadena. He served in a variety
of municipal leadership roles across southern California for decades. His
name is Rick Cole. He's also made headlines earlier this
(33:35):
month when his twin daughters were arrested at a protest
against immigration enforcement, arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police
officer with a deadly weapon. One of those women works
in the office of La City Councilman Isabelle Herado. The
timing is interesting, but Rick Cole has decided to leave
La City Hall again, and he had some strong words
(33:56):
for city leaders as he was recognized at a city
Council meeting this week.
Speaker 13 (34:02):
I could not let this occasion pass without sharing some thoughts,
and I asked for your indulgence. I have never forgotten
the awe that I felt when I walked into these
chambers on December twenty first, nineteen eighty five. I was
senior deputy to Richard Alatory on his first day in office. Now,
(34:25):
after four decades of public service, I have never been
more alarmed about our future.
Speaker 2 (34:31):
So what is it that is alarming, mister Rick Cole?
Speaker 13 (34:34):
You know the converging crises facing this city. A state
of emergency on homelessness, a devastating firestorm, thousands of city
jobs eliminated, a crisis of affordable housing, and a federal
administration literally at war with the government and the people
(34:55):
of Los Angeles. Those are the headlines, but the there
are also the insidious threats of a weakening economy, a
crumbling infrastructure, grotesque inequality of income, and a failing public trust.
In government's ability to confront these existential challenges.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
Ricole also brings up right at City Hall, in front
of a city council meeting, the challenges the city will
face hosting a pretty big events in a few years.
Speaker 13 (35:25):
If we can't pave our streets, repair our sidewalks, house
our homeless, trim our trees, light our bridges, and fix
our fire trucks, how can we host an Olympics in
three years? La is a complex city of four million people,
over four hundred square miles, more than forty departments, more
(35:49):
than forty.
Speaker 2 (35:50):
Thousand city staff.
Speaker 13 (35:52):
On a good day, it's an incredibly difficult city to manage,
and we haven't had very many good days lately.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
We have not had very many good days lately. So
what are we supposed to do about it?
Speaker 13 (36:05):
But things that can't go on forever don't. For decades,
this city has ridden the cycles of boom and bust,
making short term decisions with long term consequences. For decades,
this city systematically underinvested in its in modernizing its infrastructure.
(36:25):
For decades, city government systematically invested in our city staff's training, technology, equipment,
and facilities. And for decades, city government has systematically perpetuated,
outmoded practices that are simply unsustainable in the world we
(36:46):
live in.
Speaker 2 (36:47):
So ricalled the outgoing deputy city controller in Los Angeles,
a sitting city council member in Pasadena whose twin daughters
were arrested at an anti immigration enforcement demonstration, accused of
assaulting a police officer. One of those women working for
Isabelle Herno. The LA City councilman Rickole ended his remarks
with what he called a moment of truth being needed.
Speaker 13 (37:09):
This is a moment of truth. I know some people say, well,
you know LA's had hard times before we can come through.
This will be better than ever. It's tempting to rely
on our resilience to hope that this too shall pass,
but that's not the world we live in.
Speaker 2 (37:29):
Hope is not a plan.
Speaker 13 (37:32):
Two months ago, in these chambers, Mayor Bass recognized the
gravity of this moment, and she said, we need a
fundamental overhaul of city government to deliver the clean, safe
and orderly neighborhoods that Angelino's deserve in the place they
call home and reverse decades of failure on homelessness. She's right,
(37:54):
that is exactly what we need. A complete overhaul of
city government bold systemic change. It's time to redesign LA
to actually work.
Speaker 2 (38:09):
He did not provide any examples on how bold systemic
change might look or what LA might look like were
it designed to work, but I wanted to share with
you those remarks which I thought were pretty damning coming
from inside the house at Los Angeles City Hall. Though
Rick Cole has left his position now as Deputy City
Controller for the City of Los Angeles, he is a
(38:31):
city councilman at the City of Pasadena. We got another
hour head. The next hour, we're going to focus on
immigration enforcement across Los Angeles. Who are they getting, who
are the federal agents getting, will also check on its
impact at the broader community, local officials, responses and plans,
including trouble facing the La Metro system. Because of this,
(38:52):
we get another hour of Michael Monks reports right here
on KFI AM six
Speaker 1 (38:57):
Forty KFI AM six forty on demand
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